Vietnam or should that be VietScam?

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We suspected the bus ride to Hanoi from Vientiane was not going to be the most comfortable but after 24 hours of dodgy stomachs, blocked toilets and having nothing to do we were glad to be getting out of Laos!!

Arriving at the bus station however we were delighted to find that although compact, the bus was clean and the seats reclined 5 degrees...... We left at 7pm and after about an hour on the bus became decidedly more cramped as we started to pick up locals along the way. By 10pm the 20 seater bus now had 35 people plus all their luggage pilled high along the center isle. With fitful sleep the bus suddenly ground to a halt up a mountain pass at 3am in the morning. The Laos Vietnam border doesn't open until 6am so it appeared we had arrived 3 hours early & had to wait. With no announcement from the bus driver he turned off all the lights & air con and we sad in complete darkness with our fellow travelers and tried desperately to get some sleep with our knees up to our chests in stifling conditions. As soon as we nodded off the locals on board woke up and began discussing the day in voices loud enough to wake the dead. A very hungover Australian (who spent 8 days in Vang Vieng pissed in his very obligatory wife beater) didn't take kindly to this and started shouting at them to shut the F?$k up. All of this was going on at 5am in the pitch blackness of the night. The two local lads in front of us found this hilarious and the more wound up Australia got the funnier they found it and decided to wind him up further by playing music on their mobile at maximum volume and waving it around the bus. Aggressive Ozzie eventually realized getting angry was fueling them and finally shut his trap. 6am and the bus driver thankfully opened the doors so we could get some air before we piled back on to drive another couple of k m's to the border......

We had hoped crossing the border into Vietnam would be a little more civilized than crossing into Laos - sadly not. The counter was 5 deep by the time we arrived all pushing and shoving. Our passports were snatched from our hands and we then had to pay a variety of border taxes including one for health Quarantine and another for as bloody stamp before being given them back. Whilst we Irish and British tend to get a little bit tetchy when having our personal space invaded, it would seem the locals here found the whole pushing and shoving hilarious so we soon realized if we wanted to get through immigration before our bus left we would have to push and shove our way through. 2 hours later we finally reached the other side and even though we had another 10 hours to go we were relieved to be back on the bus in relatively sane conditions.

Driving along the roads of Vietnam towards Hanoi from the border the landscape and weather changed dramatically. The Lush rainforest's and mountains of Laos were replaced with acres of flat paddy fields, bamboo huts as far as the eye could see. Although now cloudy the air was a lot cooler, a fantastic relief from the stifling heat of Laos. 10 hours more soon turned into 12 as our bus driver decided to make a number of stops on the way including one to his mother in law to have a quick chat, but eventually at 7.30pm we arrived at a bus station not in Hanoi as promised but a few k m's outside. Getting off the mini bus a girl who conveniently owned a hotel in town offered to get us a cheap taxi to her hotel. Tired and smelly we didn't have the energy to argue and jumped in, which we figured would drop us at least a bit closer to the hotel we had already booked .

Reading lonely planet (aka lying planet) does tend to make you a nervous wreck when arriving in a new city, detailing all the nasty things that happen there. Having still not learnt to ignore it we were a little wary of taxi drivers in general. When our driver stopped we attempted to get out, but he started screaming in Vietnamese and trying to close his doors. Convinced he was trying to kidnap us Seamus managed to jump out, but I was trapped in the back and so hysterically started screaming and banging to be let out. It turned out the poor guy was only trying to reverse into a parking space behind to stop us being run over. Apologizing profusely once I realized, stepped out a little red faced to join Seamus and make our way to the Queen star Hotel.

The old quarter of Hanoi is filled with hundreds of tiny buzzing streets with a million mopeds and cars zooming in all directions with no road rules whatsoever. To make matters worst they all beep their horns constantly, so the noise is also deafening. Negotiating crossing the roads was terrifying as the only way to cross is to just walk out into the oncoming traffic and let everybody else swerve around you, so after 10 near misses and 20 years taken off our lives we finally got to the hotel.

Pretty much as soon as we were through the door to our hotel the staff were trying to ram their tours down our throats, but were also helpful enough so we didn't get too annoyed. The room was nice and even had cable tv. So showered and clean we headed out for some food before collapsing into bed to catch up on much needed sleep. Waking up in Hanoi on our first day we went for a walk and were so excited to see that the streets were buzzing, there were shops and market stalls on every corner adn the noise of the traffic and people bustling about was exactly what we wanted - a million miles away from the nothingness of Vientiane...

It also transpired that Claire &Gav who we had met in Bolivia & again in Oz as well as Mike & Jordana who we had met in Patagonia were also there!!! We spent the day wandering around city catching up with the others which was great and in the evening Gav took us to a local alleyway bar which sold its own home brew bear for 18p a pint!! lets party!!. Now you cant argue with that...The following day Rich & Carinna also arrived with Hennie & Ronel who they had met on the bus, so with a ready made tour group we decided to all embark on a tour to Halong bay north of Hanoi together.

Halong Bay

Now I mentioned before about our hotel being slightly pushy about the tours and after being hassled every time we walked into the hotel ( they even joined us at breakfast) with the usual barrage of questions about were we were going to Halong bay?? When we finally caved in and booked through them for $40 we were told we get our meals , 1 night on the boat at Halong Bay, kayaking and a visit to the fishing village for the price. All sounded good so we all signed up to leave the next day. The next morning the tour starter off well with our own air con mini bus picking us up at the hotel. We left at 8am to be at the port by 12 to get our boat which we thought was a little odd seeing as Halong Bay was only 90km away from Hanoi. WE put it down to traffic, of course what we didn't factor in was that we would be stopping at 2 souvenir shops for foreigners disguised as toilet stops. As soon as we got our of the mini bus it drove off leaving us there for 20 minutes in the hope we would spend our money there. Naturally being seasoned travelers at this stage we saw through this and waited outside and refused to even look inside the shop which was full of crap anyway.

Finally we arrived at Halong bay where we then waited another 45mins for another bus to arrive with tourists and from here the whole trip turned into a shambles. We were assigned a new guide who lead us onto a boat, but then disappeared. With no one to tell us where to go we assumed we had to go and choose a cabin. We all took a cabin on board (which were very nice indeed) only to be screamed at 2minutes later by the captain in Vietnamese to get out and go upstairs. Upstairs on deck we were then ordered to show our passports, but not a reason why. The hotel hadn't mentioned we would be required to bring them so we hadn't. Claire & Gav didn't have theres on them as they were in the process of applying for a visa for India. This sent the captain into a frenzy who started screaming even more in Vietnamese and at our tour guide who then in turn started screaming at us for not bringing our passports. What was going on we asked????

Finally we managed to establish that with our our passports we would not be able to stay on the boat over night as the local police needed all passports to see who was on the water overnight. With Claire & Gav without passports we decided we would stick together and all refuse to give them ours (which we actually had on us) so the guide eventually decided to put us up in a local hotel for the night instead on Cat Bay island and pick us up the next morning with the boat to take us to the fishing village and then back to Hanoi. All sounded good to us. Wound up and annoyed by the whole experience we decided we had little choice but to agree and realized we probably had a better deal anyway by this stage it was now drizzling and cloudy. At least we would be able to drink the bears we had bought without having to pay the corkage fee imposed by the captain for having our own booze.

Halong Bay itself is a beautiful sight with towering limestone mountains climbing straight out of the sea everywhere. Unfortunately the weather wasn't on our side which meant it was shrouded in a thick mist so we didn't see it in its full glory. By 4pm we had been dropped off at Cat Bay and found ourselves on a bus straight to the hotel without so much as even glancing at a kayak, not that we were too bothered in this weather as it had now began to rain heavily. When we arrived at the hotel for the night at reception they asked us again for our passports. We again explained we didn't have them and after much arm flapping the manager agreed to let us stay even though we had been assured by our guide it had been cleared by the hotel it would appear the hotel knew nothing about our forced change of plans. Exhausted by the days events we cracked open the beers and after dinner the manager opened the Karaoke room for us. So a messy drunken evening was had singing along to 80's classics. Seamus was in his element when the he realised the CD had Lady in red and got the evening going. Returning to Hanoi the next day we never did stop at the fishing village but did get dropped off at another tourist souvenir shop .

Back in Hanoi Mr not so friendly receptionist who hadn't so much as even grunted a good morning since he got our money for the tour was nowhere to be seen as we had complaining to do. The nicer lady who also worked there was a little more apologetic having been already been told about our scenario over the phone, but was unwilling to give us any money back as it appeared the fault was the tour company, she did however give us a discount on nour room which I suppose was better than nothing. In short if we were to book a tour again we would definitely not be pushed into it by anyone and rather shop around a bit more....

Hoi An

The following day after Halong Bay karaoke night Seamus developed a serious bout of man flu/hangover and was not amused at having to get up at 4amto catch our flight to Danang. We said our goodbyes to Mike & Jordana who were off to China, but having arrived in Hanoi 2 days earlier than the others we decided to go on ahead of them and see them again in a couple of days in the southern coastal town of Hai An. Apart from Seamus feeling rough as a badgers arse and having to make numerous toilet stops we got on our flight and arrived in Danang at 9am which was a short 30min bus ride from Hai An. Having spent 3 days in Hanoi and enjoying the cooler climate we were looking forward to getting down south and were greeted with 30 degree plus sunshine on the runway of Danang airport. From the airport we got an overpriced taxi to the Hoi An bus stop in town. At the bus stop we had a couple of jovial moped taxi drivers chatting to us trying to take us to Hoi An, when they did realise we realy were getting on the local bus and no thank you we didn't need a “cheap cheap cheap” taxi they compared skin colour with Seamus (seemingly red hair and white skin is rarity in these parts!) and made sure we got on the correct bus to Hoi An. It still amazes us how a small gesture can change your impression of a place within a matter of seconds we changed from moaning old synics to happily discussing how nice some people are and how our faith in the human race had been restored. That is until 5 minutes later the bus to Hoi An arrived and we got charged 6 times the local price for the same journey. Luckily on this occasion it was only a couple of dollars,so we didn't get too upset over it. The sun was shining and we were delighted to find Hoi An to be a gorgeous little fishing village with French colonial buildings , cafes and restaurants and a hugfh number of suit and dress tailers on every street. Hai An is the centre for tailors in Vietnam and they aremeant to be the best. In addition the standard of hotels in Vietnam is excellent for $10-$15 a night you get a hotel with pool, tv and minibar giving us a chance to recuperate from the man flu/hangover which had by now developed into some sort of stomach bug.....

An obvious difference between Vietnam and Laos is that the vietnamese generally have much lighter skin than the people in laos. After a few days we soon realised why- its appears they especially the women will do anything and everything they can to avoid the sun. Despite temps well up into the 30's, the women wear long sleeved gloves and socks with a big toe so they can wear flip flops along with a surgical mask up to their eyes and a hat. Trying to buy moisturiser or suncream all contains whitening cream and when trying to explain to the women in the shops I don't want my my skin whiter she looked at me in amazement. We were eventually told by a westerner that the darker you are the poorer you are considered to be, hence the avoidance of the sun. It's a far cry from the westerners who bake themselves on the beaches to a crisp in order to look healthier.

We had 4 lovely days in Hoi An and couldn't resist venturing to a tailors to get a suit made, lets face it we wouldn't be able to afford one when we get home. We spent much of our 4 days going for fittings as we both bought suits, and I bought a dress and a top also. The Ladies at A Dong silk were lovely and' we enjoyed chatting to them about Vietnam and Vietnamese traditions while at our fittings. We also found a little cafe next to our hotel which we returned to daily for breakfast because the waitress's were so nice.

Joined by Carrina & Rich from Cornwall, Claire & Gav from Bristol, Hennie & Ronel from South Africa we eventually ended up having a merry night out and were also pleased to see Sebastian & Wendy from The Netherlands again, a couple we had met in Laos through Charlie & Angela.

With our suits finished and posted home it was time to leave Hoi An to head further south for some beach action in Na Trang. This was also our first experience on a Vietnamese sleeper bus. That night we got on our bus in Hoi An to find 3 rows of bunk beds lining the length of the bus. The beds are definitely not made for westerners and poor Seamus had to sleep with his knees bent for hours. We also had to sleep in the middle row which meant ever time the bus driver swung the bus around yet another corner at 120km/hr we were almost catapulted into the aisles onto of the unfortunates sleeping on the floor because of the lack of beds.

We passed a horrific accident that night (Seamus saw what was left of the motor cyclist which wasn't much) and after numerous near misses ourselves (all Vietnamese drivers overtake on blind bends) we were very relieved to get to Na Trang - something to figure out ourselves as the driver didn't bother to tell we were there.

Na Trang
Arriving in Na Trang at 5am was a blessing. Not only did we get to see the sunrise over the beach that morning we got to see hundreds of locals up at the crack of dawn to do their daily exercise of aerobics, tai chi and playing badminton which they love, all along the promenade. It also meant we could search for a hotel before it got too hot. Stalked by a moto taxi driver all the way we finally managed to find a small but clean room in a central hotel with free internet.

Na Trang was a nice enough town with a number of bars and beach loungers to while away the day. We bumped into Sabastian and Wendy, Angela and Charlie who were there doing some kite surfing. The beach itself was nice enough but very windy which makes it the centre for kite surfing in Vietnam. We all met up that evening for for dinner. Angela and Charlie brought along their Vietnamese friend for an Italian pizza. The best pizza I had for a very long time. While in Na Trang we also embarked on a snorkelling trip out to some local islands, while only cost us $20, which was well worth it as we got to see loads of tropical fish, although sadly no reef or black tipped sharks.

On our final morning Clair & Gav arrived at out hotel as we were leaving so we said a quick hello - goodbye before catching our bus to Mui Ne - another beach resort 3 hours further south,where Claire and Gav, Rich and Carrina and Hennie and Ronel would join us in a couple of days time for Claires' 30th birthday celebrations.

Mui Ne
Mui Ne was a strange place which consisted of one very long straight road with luxury resorts on the beach front side and bars and restaurants on the opposite along with our backpacker more affordable accommodation. We found a nice hotel and settled in and managed to entertain ourselves quiet happily for 5 days, however much of our time there was spent with the others across the road in one of the resorts large pools. We found out in Laos that the resorts let you use their facilities for a small price which was great as the see was a bit choppy to be in all day. Deciding were to go next was a tricky one. We had to be back in Thailand by march 30thand had under 2 weeks to get through Cambodia and the rest of the south of Vietnam. We eventually decided to head down to Saigon and although not enthralled with the idea of spending more time in a hot, stuffy city we thought it would be the cheaper option. Plus it meant we got to stick with the others.

Ho Chi Minh city (Saigon)
On March 19th the 8 of us headed to Saigon. The Bus ride was easy and upon arrival the boys went to look for a hotel which the girls had the tougher job of looking after all the backpacks while sipping coffees and eating cakes in a air con cafe out of the stifling heat. When the boys finally returned two hours later after looking at over 20 shit holes of hotels and finding one good one we headed to our new abode for the week on the 6th floor of a recently refurbished (reception was still being plastered) hotel with great views out over the city.

Although sceptical about spending time here we were really pleased we had come. Ho Chi Minh city although hectic and congested was a really nice place and we preferred it to the capitol Hanoi in the north of Vietnam. The people were much friendlier than in the north and finding good cheap food was also not hard. We managed to find yet another alley bar selling cheap home brew for 23p a pint (thanks again Gav).

We did some shopping in the market stocking up on souvenirs and took a day out to visit the War remnants museum, so completely harrowing but well worth the visit. On our 3rd day in Saigon we took a tour to visit the Cu Chi tunnels in a province to the north west of Saigon. The underground tunnels had during the Vietnam war been home to the anti American guerrillas. As part of the tour we also visited a handicapped handicrafts market which employs many victims to the chemical agent orange attacks by the Americans in the war. They now make craft items and sourviners to be sold to tourists. On from there we visited a Caodi temple near Trang. The Caodi religion is unique to Vietnam and embraces parts of a variety of religions to make one. The Co Chi tunnels were really interesting and our tour guide who had fought as a soldier at that time explained how tunnels now twice as wide as the originals were home to the community for many years during the war. We also got the opportunity to go into the tunnels and although Seamus managed to crawl through on his hands and knees my claustrophobia developed in Bolivia in the silver mines reared its head and embarrassingly had to come back out after 5 seconds.

We were so glad we had taken the time to come to Ho Chi Minh city. We leave in the morning for Cambodia with a much more positive view of Vietnam. Although not a country either of us would return to we were both glad we had taken the time to visit as it wasn't initially on our list of destinations on our world trip. The war remnants museum has given us a new found respect for the people that have lived through the war and rebuilt their lives, although seeing some of the many victims of various naplam attacks was incredibly heart breaking. It also gave us a better appreciation as to why some of the people here are maybe not so embracing of westerners.....

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Photos

Embalmed giant tortoise
these are still found in the lake apparently

Halong Bay
Unfortunetly the weather wasn't the best......

Comments

[Claire and Gav]

Great photos
Love the photos guys, especially the Asian pose Tash! Looking forward to seeing more pics and reading the next few entrys. Cheers :-)