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Published: March 4th 2009
Cambodia/Vietnam border
Does anyone actually know what's going on?Another new country. Vietnam this time. My favourite Vietnam joke is in there somewhere. Apologies if you've heard it before. If you find it insulting - tough luck! Happy reading!
Tuesday 03rd February Up at 0700 for an 0800 bus. It cost us 10$ for a five hour journey from Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Learn a bit of this:
Ho Chi Minh City is the largest city in Vietnam. Under the name Saigon it was the capital of the independent state of South Vietnam from 1954 to 1975. Immediately after the communist takeover of South Vietnam in 1975, a provisional government renamed the city after Ho Chi Minh, a former North Vietnamese leader. Sài Gòn is still the most common way to refer to the city in conversation. Sài Gòn is used officially in company names, book titles and even on airport departure boards (the code for Tan Son Nhat International Airport is SGN). God I'm good to you teaching you all this stuff! So, from now on, Ho Chi Minh City will be known as HCMC though you may well prefer to still call it Saigon in your heads! The Cambodia/Vietnam border was a
Ben Thanh Market
It's hard work selling fruit you know! bit of a pain. It took about 45 minutes of mainly standing around not sure what was happening, but it all worked out in the end. Vietnam is a lot more developed than Cambodia. They have brick/concrete buildings as oppose to just mud/wriggly tin. It was quite a non-descript journey down to HCMC. As we got off the bus we were immediately surrounded by tuk tuk drivers and touts for accommodation. Naturally we ignore them all and walk around the corner to the hostelly area. We get one for 10$ a night, double with private bathroom, TV, air con and even a fridge - which we had to "borrow" from a room next door! Now is the Vietnamese currency conundrum. Remember in Cambodia where they have a riel but they use the dollar? Well, here they have a dong. 1$ is 17500 dong, so at the moment 1 pound is 24,500 dong. Cool huh?
Wednesday 04th February A bit of sightseeing around HCMC today. We went to a Hindu temple which was closed and covered up for building work, had a wander around the huge, indoor Ben Than market before walking to the bus station for info for onward
travel. Saigon's Central Mosque was nothing special so we headed to the Saigon River to see Me Linh Square and Tran Hung Dao statue before passing the Opera House and Bac Ho statue. Next came the cathedral, follwed by the Reunification Palace - which is where the tank crashed through the gates at the end of the Vietnam war on 30th April 1975. You can see our photo, but the original picture is subject to copyright so I can't add that to my blog. If you search Google images for "reunification palace 1975" it comes up if you're interested. We found the Thai consulate to enquire about 60 day Thai visa's. Finally, after nearly three months of searching, somebody official gave us an answer. YES, it is possible to get a 60 day Thai visa from a consulate
outside of Thailand for 35$. We can do it from Laos a bit nearer the time which is great news! It was then back to the hostel via the supermarket. The traffic here is incredible! Everybody has a motorbike. Nobody pays attention to any rights-of-way or traffic lights. They all work on the popular saying, "the bigger they are the harder they
Re-unification Palace
The gates that the tank crashed through in 1975 hit!" The smaller you are, the more you have to avoid! We' booked a trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels tomorrow. It was 10$ each, plus the 80,000d entrance fee which we pay when we get there.
Thursday 05th February The tunnels of Củ Chi are an immense network of connecting underground tunnels. They are part of a much larger network of tunnels that underlie much of the country. The Củ Chi tunnels were the location of several military campaigns during the Vietnam War, and were the Viet Cong's base of operations for the Tết Offensive in 1968. The tunnels were used by Viet Cong guerrillas as hiding spots during combat, as well as serving as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches and living quarters for numerous guerrilla fighters. The role of the tunnel systems should not be underestimated in its importance to the Viet Cong in resisting American operations and protracting the war, eventually persuading the weary Americans into withdrawal. The sections we visited are part of a 200km long stretch and have three levels to them. They are really small tunnels, ideal for Vietnamese women and children, not so great for your typical, big,
Vietnamese Traffic
Try crossing roads like these. fat, yank soldier. They had loads of clever stuff inside them too, like air-holes disguised as termite mounds, wells for drinking water (the yanks poisoned the rivers), and chimneys that take the smoke away from the kitchens and tunnel network before it surfaces above ground. This way, even if the smoke was seen, the tunnels could still remain hidden! We also saw reproductions of some of the traps they set for the US soldiers - very ingenious and many aimed to maim rather than kill. Official figures state that during the war, 85%!o(MISSING)f US soldiers killed were black. Eyewitnesses say that the reason is simple: Whenever anybody shouted out "GET DOWN!" all the blacks got up and started dancing! Also at the tunnel site was a captured American M-41 tank and a shooting range where you could fire
real bullets/rounds. At 1 quid per round though that's quite expensive, especially when you consider an AK-47 gets through ten rounds per second! We chilled a bit this afternoon. Aimee is not feeling to good again. She started off with gravy bum a few days ago, but since then she hasn't had a turn out for about four days. We decide
that alcohol might loosen it up a bit so we go and buy a litre of rum (2 quid) and some coke.
Friday 06th February Chilled out because of Aimee's tummy. Booked a two day trip to the Mekong Delta for tomorrow. It's 332,500d (13.60 quid) each including two meals and an overnight stay. The Mekong Delta is the region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea through a network of distributaries. The Mekong River is one of the world’s major rivers. It is the 12th-longest river in the world, and 7th longest in Asia. Its estimated length is 4,350 km. From the Tibetan Plateau it runs through China's Yunnan province, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Saturday 07th February Up at 0715 for an 0800 start. We drove down to My Tho where we got on a boat and took a sail along the Mekong River. We stopped at a coconut candy factory - famous in these parts, and watched them make some before trying a sample or two. We then transferred to a smaller, 6-man boat and were taken up a smaller, tributary to a bee farm. As the boat
was "parking" (do boats park?) we could see things jumping out of the water on to the muddy banks. They were like small amphibious fish - just like the ones you saw pictures of in "evolution class" at school. They didn't have back legs, they propelled themselves with their tails. Their front legs were just little stubs - basically like overgrown fins. They were wierd! At the bee farm we were seated at the table with a couple from Canada, Shelby and Ilan and tried honey tea. We then sailed some more up little rivers for our lunch stop. Another boat collected us after lunch. It was a four man rowing boat which we shared with Shelby and Ilan. Of course Aimee made sure we all wore traditional Vietnamese headgear. Being a smaller boat it was able to go up even smaller rivers and really reminded me of the Vietnam war movies. It was then back on to dry land for the three hour drive down to Can Tho where we stayed the night. We wandered out for a cheap meal with Shelby and Ilan before heading back for an early night. Watched Chelsea vs Hull followed by Portsmouth vs
Liverpool. Got to bed at about 0230.
Sunday 08th February Up at 0615 for a 0700 breakfast of omelette baguette. We walked the two minutes down to the river where we boarded our boat to Cai Rang which has the biggest floating market in the Mekong Delta. This is the main reason we booked the trip (apart from the scenery). It was mainly fruit and veg and ready to eat/fast-food Vietnam style and we even saw a floating coffee shop. Next was a traditional rice noodle factory where we watched the process from start to finish. The fish market was next - more like a normal market but with a fish section as well. That was the last stop before sailing back to Can Tho for the five hour bus journey back to HCMC. We were tired after the late night/early morning so we slept most of the way - though we got off the bus when we went on the ferry and took a photo on the bridge (that's a boats' cockpit). Back in HCMC we booked an overnight bus ticket for Nha Trang tonight. It cost 8$ each, leaves at 2015 and should take nine hours. The
bus left on time and we read for a bit before sleeping.
Monday 09th February Arrived Nha Trang 0600, only one hour late. Ignored the general hoard of persistent moto drivers as it's only a five minute walk into town. Hostel hunted and eventually settled on a really nice private double, with en-suite and TV for 10,4370d (4.26 quid) per night. Had a quick shower then bed for a couple more hours. The plan was to go to the beach today but guess what! After 34 days of red, hot sunshine (34 days when we have been in towns and cities and nowhere near a beach) today is cloudy! We went for a walk instead to check our surroundings and finished off at the huge Dam Market where we bought lunch. Continued exploring then had quite a chilled evening.
Tuesday 10th February It's still cloudy so we shopped today. I got some shorts. Aimee got several tops and some combats. Went out for "Happy Hour" and stayed out till quite late! Beer was 15,000d (61p), double rum and coke was 20,000d (81p) and buckets of alcoholic stuff were 35,000d (1.43 quid).
Wednesday 11th February Went to Nha
Cai Rang Floating Market
The biggest in the Mekong Delta Trang's "famous" Thap Ba Hot Spring Centre. It cost 40,000d for return transport, then 100,000d each to get in (5.71 quid each altogether). At first it looked like it was going to be a bit of a production line. There was a set order to go around the pools and a time limit in each section. It didn't work out at all like that though. First we should have had 15 minutes in the mud baths. It's a snot green, liquidy slime - not hot, but not cold either. We shared our tub with two Aussie girls (Sheila's?) as a private tub would have cost 400,000d each! We stayed in the mud for about half an hour before getting out. We are supposed to sunbathe for ten minutes but as today is cloudy, we sat in the wind while the mud dried. After showering it off we went through the car wash (cold water hydrotherapy treatment) which blasted cold water all over our bodies, before relaxing in our own, private, heart shaped, hot-mineral bath. We weren't supposed to be in a private bath but they must have thought we'd paid the extra - well, we're not going to tell them
Floating Coffee Shop
Not quite Starbucks! are we? We had a 30 minute soak - which was plenty. In fact, we're glad it's overcast today. This would be torture in the hot sunshine! We had the rest of the day to relax around the complex, with several super-hot swimming pools (40 degrees) to relax in and waterfalls to stand beneath. We left thoroughly relaxed and probably cleaner than we've been since we left Burnley on 31st May 2008. We planned a nice meal out tonight, but it took "us" so long to get ready we had gone past the point of hunger. Decided to have an easy meal and a few drinks instead so we ate some local stuff at a vendor (no idea what - meaty/ricey/noodley/soupy concoction) and hit the town. It was a late one! Not a good idea when you have to be up early to check-out and travel in the morning!
Thursday 12th February Up at 1000 so we can pack and leave. It's sunny outside though so we decide to stay and hit the beach. It's a very quiet, sandy beach with quite big waves in the sea. The problem is the litter! There are plastic bags everywhere. The sea
Diseased Market man
Did we give him money? No, we photographed him to show our friends! is strewn with them. It's a real shame as it would be lovely withouth them. We spoke to some girls who did a snorkelling trip and they said they couldn't see anything because of all the bags clinging to the coral/rocks! We obviously didn't let it spoil things for us but it was a little sad to see. We overdid it slightly and feel a bit tender this evening. We went out for the meal we should have had yesterday. 35,000d (1.43 quid) for a three courese Vietnamese meal consisting of soup, rice, vegetables and fish/chicken.
Friday 13th February We've decided to stay in Nha Trang for Valentine's day. There's plenty going on and it's cheap enough. Chilled out today. We can't hack more sun after yesterday!
Saturday 14th February Decided on drinks rather than a meal to celebrate. Chilled out during the day then had a few looseners in the room before heading out. We had a late one, and even managed a few freebies "for being a couple."
Sunday 15th February Happy Anniversary Will and Jodie
Travelling today but not until 1900. We went to buy tickets first. they're 140,000d (5.71 quid) each for an
11 hour journey to Hoi An. Next we took a walk up Nha Trang's promenade to a harbour and wooden "ghetto" area that we saw the other day on tghe ride back from the hot baths. It was nice to see how the locals live and work when
not dealing with the Tourists. We ate at a cross between a restaurant and a street vendor - steak, egg, chips, salad and bread for 23,000d (94p). Our bus picked us up on time then spent the next 45 mins. driving around Nha Trang picking others up. Both mine and Aimee's seat back is broken so every time we go over a bump, brake or accelerate our seats throw us around. We stop at 0000 for tea (luckily we brought our own and ate it a a reasonable time) and a wee. Then slept...............
Monday 16th February ..................until 0530. We are due to arrive in Hoi An at 0600, but that's for another blog! You'll have to hang on for that one. It shouldn't take us too long to get round to typing it. We're in the future now, in Laos and we have plenty time to fill here, so hopefully
we can get round to finishing Vietnam's blog soon.
Hope everybody is OK. If the credit crunch is getting you down, why not consider travelling? It's a lot cheaper than staying in the UK! As an approximate guide our flights cost us 1800 quid each. Speak to a good friend of mine, Leanne Rudd (details to follow). She's a Grimsby lass who I met working in the Austrian Alps. She has settled in London for now and works for the Flight Centre. Tell her I recommended her and I'm sure she'll give you the best price. (Get a second opinion from someone like Trailfinders just to see how amazing she is). Contact her at
Leanne.Rudd.lon@flightcentre.co.uk or phone 0207 357 9368. Apart from that the rest of the budget is up to you. We have spent 10,000 quid for the two of us (that's 5 grand each you maths buffs) which has been quite a struggle in some places - it can be done though! Read the rest of our blogs for inspiration and up to date prices on accommoation and transport! Good luck to all! Speak soon.
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