Advertisement
Published: July 28th 2008
Edit Blog Post
Good afternoon from Vietnam! (not good morning.....) Helen and I arrived by an overnight bus from Hue yesterday and we are currently in Ninh Binh which is probably the least touristy place we've been to so far in Vietnam which, in our opinion, is better! We started our journey in Saigon (or Ho Chi Minh City as it's officially now called although the locals still call it Saigon) which was very busy and full of mopeds! I've honestly never seen so many mopeds in my life!!In fact the first thing i noticed as i walked out of the airport was the communist flag waving next to the Vietnamese flag outside the airport. I've never been to a communist country before although the communists in Vietnam have a weak hold due to the money the country is bringing in from tourism. We spent a few nights there in the backpacker district of Pham Ngu Lao and went to a few sights including the reunification Palace and the Cu Chi tunnels. The reunification Palace was where the president lived and was stormed by the communists the day Saigon surrendered in April 1975. The Cu Chi tunnels are a network of underground tunnels built
to house the Viet Cong (communist army) and stretch for approx 200km long! Some of the people of Cu Chi lived underground for 25 years. I went through them for about 20 metres and had to come out as i was claustrophobic! You literally have to crawl to get through them- it really is amazing how these people lived underground for so long. They literally did everything underground..cooking..sleeping...going to the toilet....!
The thing about Vietnam which differentiates itself from other countries is the fact that the sights you see relating to the war are not dated 100 years ago but literally only about 30 or 40 years ago. In this sense it's history is very recent. When you visit these sights you are aware that you're not learning about something that related to people of a few generations ago but the people living today. Parents of the younger generations lived and were apart of the fighting and mass destruction that occurred. When someone asked the tour guide, 'what are your feelings towards the Americans?' he answered, 'i can't answer that question.' Even though it was his parents who were involved in the war, he still feels very much affected
on a cyclo in Saigon
i had to sit in between Helen's legs- a little close for comfort haha by it. And he was a Southern Vietnamese man. The War Remnants museum was one of the most harrowing museums (or the most harrowing) i've ever been to. It wasn't shy in showing you photo's of American soldiers laughing to the photographer whilst they sat down in front of the heads of severed bodies lined up before their feet. Nor did it refrain from showing photographs of disfigured people (even children a generation later) who were cruelly affected by the lethal chemical Agent Orange which the Americans invented and which now, to this day, families are still trying to get some kind of compensation for the destruction it has caused to their lives. Children are still being born with deformities due to their fathers serving in the war.
Anyway, moving on...our trip hasn't all been a history lesson! After Saigon, we moved up north to Nha Trang. We ended up staying here for quite a few days due to the cheap beer (4000 dong for a pint and 30,000 is a pound) and the 6km long palm tree lined beach . We also went to the Thap Ba mud baths where you soak yourself in mud and then onto
Cu Chi tunnels
Helen was a little tall...... some hot springs which was nice (although my white bikini is now ruined.) We did some diving and a party boat tour and ended up drinking wine on a floating bar off the coast of Nha Trang. (It did taste of vinegar!) The diving was good and was good to do again after so long. We met a couple of guys called Jeremy & Matt and ended up partying with them for a few nights. I liked Nha Trang but it was really touristic. In India they call white people "white chicken" so Helen and I have adopted that phrase wherever we go now..... so there were lots of white chicken in Nha Trang.
Next stop was Hoi An which was set on the beautiful Thu Bon river and has a stunning old town. There are lots of Chinese, Japanese and European influences in the architecture there due to it being an international trading port in the 17th Century. It's also famous for it's abundance of tailors which make literally anything you want - from designer shoes to winter jackets and cocktail dresses- all measured to fit and so cheap! We got a few things but if we were
in Bia Hoy!
4000 dong for a beer! Score! We played a few drinking games here... coming straight back to the UK we'd be buying shops out i'm sure. People even come from Europe to have wedding dresses fitted! Alot cheaper after all! From Hoi An we visited My Son which is the most important remains of the ancient Cham (Hindu) empire. We did a beach stop also at Cua Dai Beach which was really beautiful and alot nicer than Nha Trang. Less white chicken too!!
After Hoi An we moved on up a few hours north along the coast and went to Hue which is the town that served as a political capital from 1802-1945 under 13 emperors of the Nguyen dynasty. Hue is near the demilitarized zone which divided north and south Vietnam and was the only southern city to be occupied by the communists in the war (even though it was only for a couple of weeks) before the Americans came in. There was a huge citadel which was built by one of the emperors and was beautiful to walk around although the effects of the American bombs did alot of damage. In Hoi An we also did a boat cruise along the Perfume River and visited a beautiful Pagoda and the
tomb of Tu Duc (one of the Nguyen Emperors.)
So i am now writing from Ninh Binh and we plan to stay here for a few nights before heading to Halong City to go and see the legendary Halong Bay which i'm really looking forward to. Then onto Hanoi for our flight to Bangkok on the 6th. So far we're really enjoying it here in Vietnam and are sad that we have to leave soon (our visa expires) as there is so much more to see, especially inland where it is less touristic. Tourism is relatively new here and the one problem we find compared to other countries is that it is harder to do things independantly without having to be part of a tour which is catered just for tourists and can be incredibly cheesy.... i don't think they have it quite right yet. But aside from this, it is such a beautiful country and the people are charming. Nowhere else have i seen mile long beaches with a mountainous backdrop. Tourism is on the increase in Vietnam bringing in more business and money- i only hope it doesn't take hold of the country too much.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.531s; Tpl: 0.065s; cc: 10; qc: 55; dbt: 0.0606s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Sophie
non-member comment
Cor
Hi Emma, so glad you're having a good time it sounds amazing I'm so jealous - wish I was still there! Did you go to the sailing club in Nha Trang? Muchos dancing fun to be had there! Enjoy Halong and Hanoi where next after BKK? Soph (from my vair vair boring desk job in London!) xxx