Vietnam is bleedin' deadly

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Ho Chi Minh City to the Mekong Delta HCMC again to Da Nang to Hoi An - it's been a hectic week!

So, I'll try to make this as brief as possible, since there ís loads to update on and this PC keeps reverting to Vietnamese spelling, ưhich í a (which is a) tad headwrecking and takes forever to correct! And certain people think I write too much!

On arrival in Ho Chi Mihn City we immediately knew we were going to love the place. It had such a good buzz about it, and was nice and quirky, totally different to Phnom Pehn - we were a bit worried that it might be similar, but it's great. We stayed in packpacker central, lót ôf bars, restaurants and street kitchéns - yum. Its much more modern than PP but it has a nice mix of new buildings and those quaint old tall but really skinny shophouses more characteristic of the country. The traffic is mental, but after Cambodia a walk in the park. We had heard all sorts of stories about how hard it was to cross the road, and having little old grannies taking tourists by the hand and leading them across. No problem to us! Mind you, we did use the odd local as a sheild every now and then! The people are great, really friendly, and the hawkers, xe om (motorbike) and cyclo drivers are positively tame compared to Cambodia. They pretty much take no for an answer almost straight away!

We đid the usual sights - on foot - the huge central market, The Rex Hotel, Hotel de Ville, Notre Dame, Reunification Palace and The War Remnants Museum. You can really see the French influence in some areas of the city - very grand. Stupidly ignorant thing to say, but I điđnt quite realise quite how horrific the Vietnam War was - the pictures in the Remnants Museum of GIs holding up mutilated bodíes and rounding up ordinary people for concentration camps, massacres, and the ímages of the victims of Agent Orange and Napalm bombings - Jaysus. The amount of people killed & injured and the land rendered barren...I wont go into it too much for fear of a really depressing blog like last time. So, Reunification Palace was a nice little surprise. Its the Presidential Palace that has been left exactly as it was when the Viet Cong troops liberated it in 1975 - doesnt sound that cracking, but it was great. Retro 70's furnishings and artwork, massive old school phones and massive radio equipment & computers down in the basement in the president's underground war command centre. It was so cool!

We spent two days doing a Mekong Delta trip which was good, but honestly a LOT of travelling for a relatively short time spent sight seeing. But you cant complain really as the good stuff isnt exactly on the city's doorstep. But we got to do the little canals in the rowing boats wearing conical hats. Which leads me to an aside - EVERYONE wears the conical hats here, its absolutely an everyday item of clothing. I thought it might have been in the 60's but that it would only be a tourist thing now - not so. And, even further off the point, the helmets that everyone wears on their mopeds and motorbikes are the dogs. You can get any pattern you want - tartan, flowers, camouflage (spelling?), burberry, stars, flowers, whatever colour, and in different shapes like bowler hats or horse-riding helmets. I want one.

Anyway, the Mekong Delta trip - we went to a big floating market near Can Tho where all the farmers come with their produce and they live on these boats selling their stuff until their stock is gone, then they go back to the farm and restock and so it until it all runs out. Its a wholesale market that supplies all the markets and restaurants etc. The punters pull up along side your boat and try to sell you fruit, veg, drinks etc and if they are very smart, they have a gorgeous kid on board (maybe dressed in a Santa outfit and fishing hat) as an effective marketing tool. Never underestimate the cute factor. We also went to a bee farm, a fruit farm, a coconut candy making working shop, a rice noodle making workshop and a rice husking factory - Simon's favourite part of the trip so far! Actually, the bit where the locals sang to us while we sampled dragon fruit was his favourite bit...he loved that, so he did. Actually, some of it wasnt as bad as it sounds (I got to wrap a huge python around my neck) and our guide was great, giving us interesting intro into the history for the Vietnamese political and economic situation since 1975. I know it may not sound interesting, but it was! She told us they cant say anything bad about the government or "that great man" Ho Chi Minh... The Mekong area was funny, as despite getting a lot of tourists, Westerners are clearly still a bit of a novelty - we were stared at, waved at & giggled at and had our photo taken. Or maybe we are just really ugly...

Back in HCMC we went to the Cu Chi Tunnels - a village wholes VC guerrillas built a network of tunnels over 200km and on three levels to fight the US troops. Secret entrances led to living areas, kitchens, storerooms, weapon making rooms, bedrooms and they were fully ventilated and even had fresh water wells. In the rainy season they used to fill up with water and snakes, but with the enemy above, the Cu Chi villagers still had to live underground. The VC even had all female troops that took out Amercian bombers & tanks. Go'wan the ladies! Some people squeezed into the impossibly small entrances at their original size, but I was sure Id get stuck by my fine childbearing hips and be morto, so I gave it a miss! We had a brief squeeze through the tunnels, and even those they had been widened and heightened for westerners they were still tiny. We had to squish through, bent double and it was really hot and dark. Every so often the person in front would block out the light and it would be totally dark. Not for the claustrophobic, I tell you. I climbed out at the first exit we came to about 30m in - I'd had enough. Another couple stayed in so far they were crawling along on their bellies. Eh, no thanks. But I did shoot an AK47 so I felt well'ard!

We flew up to Da Nang (about half way up the country) as we wanted to save some time and maximise our time up north. It was really cheap and beat spending 22 hours on a bus - plenty of time for that in South America. We said in a little chilled out place called Hoa's Place near China Beach for two nights - lazed on the beach and climbed the not very mountainous Marble Mountains where there are all these deadly little pagoda's and shrines in caves. Si was having a few issues and got locked inside one of the temples by the monks. He was gone for ages, I though maybe they mistook him for one of their own. Hoa's Place is apparently a bit of a cult destination among backpackers and he's been written up in the press as "the coolest man in Vietnam" (he showed us the clipping - modest, much?). It was really chillaxed, you have the entire beach to yourself with no hawkers, the food was great - Hoa's wife does a yum home cooked dinner every evening, but my god the bed was like sleeping on knobbly plank of wood.

Yesterday we arrived in Hoi An and its such a great little town. Its an ancient trading centre and you can see a mixture of Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese culture and architecture - every street you walk down is like a postcard, which lantern shops, art galleries, tailors, shoe makers and cute little restaurants. There are old restored family houses you can visit, museums, Chinese Assembly Halls with temples and dragon-y statues. Ive had some clothes made (a very modest amount compared to some who are buying the whole of next year's wardrobe in one go) and Si got these deadly pair of runners made to measure for only $23 - unbelievable. Last night we ate with the locals in this little restaurant hidden down a side street. We were the only Westerners, and drew a few stares, but my god the food was incredible. It was a pork BBQ spring roll feast - the waitress had to show us how to put it all together, cause we hadnt a clue. They had a laugh at my chopstick skills and the bloke beside Si asked him how many sheep he ownes! Today, we went to the Sleepy Gecko cafe and its run by an Aussie who used to be in advertising of allt things - a creative director of McCanns in Oz and Fortune in the Middle East, apparently. Steve something. He hatesaccount handlers, and told me never to go back! He was getting out his big book of fonts and Colour-Aid so himself and Si were having a great auld chat.

Just off the bus to Hue - one thing about Vietnam, and Cambodia, is the bloody beeping. There is no such thing as carefully looking before going to over-take, indicating your intent and then moving out only when it is safe to do so. Instead, imagine driving along the Malahide Road and beeping at EVERY car, motorbike, scooter and bicycle at least five times in quick succession and then barging on through, regardless of lanes or any on coming traffic. My head was killing me by the time I got off the bus and I wanted to slap the bus driver. The only other annoying thing is that you have to say "no" five times to every offer of a cyclo, motorbike, tour etc etc. Five seems to be the magic number here. Anyway, on that mini rant, Im off for a swim in our new hotel. Cant complain, really!

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Photos

Hello?
Would you mind awfully not bombing the bejaysus out of our country? Thanks.

Snake & Scorpion Wine
Cure's everything and "keeps the man interested in the bedroom" apparently...

Cu Chi Tunnels
A slimmer girl manages to get into the secret tunnel entrance. When the wooden lid it put on and is covered over with leaves you cannot see it at all.

Comments

[Maggie]

hotel
Hi! I'm really enjoying your blog. I'm researching hotels for our trip at Christmas. Would prefer one's with a pool. Where are you staying as I see you mentioned going for a dip in the pool:) And what price is it?

[Adrian Stewart]

:)
Love the blog guys,looking forward to the next instalment. You are making me very jealous though, take care A