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Published: October 7th 2008
Hi once again sorry for the delay in writing this but i have just been having too much fun!! Plus the internet here in Vietnam is a little temperamental. Well it is my last full day here as i leave, hopefully, for laos this afternoon - fingers crossed that everything goes to plan and i arrive there tomorrow morning, however, not too optimistic about that as i have heard many stories about the border crossing so i will keep you posted. Anyway decided i should really write about my time here in veitnam so this is a summary of the places i have been -
Mekong Delta - two day one night tour
Did a tour to the mekong delta through tnk travel - would have prefered to have gone by myself but it worked out too expensive, but as it happened this tour was actually very good. On the first day we got on the boats on the mekong delta and went to one of the islands where we saw how they make coconut candy, also got to try snake wine - was quite surprised how good it was although the snake in the bottle was a little
off putting!! Then we went along one of the smaller tributaries in a little rowing boat, we also went for a short pony and trap ride - this was my least favorite part though because the ponies were very old and in poor condition and at some points the driver had to get off to assist them up the hills!! We also went to see how they make rice noodles and listened to some traditional music and then i got to hold a snake. It wasnt entirely voluntary, in fact i really would have preferred not to!! but when i walked over to look at the guide just dropped it over my head!!
That eveing i had opted to do a homestay instead of staying in the hotel and this was the highlight of my trip. I was collected by a man on a motorbike and then travelled for about 25mins out of town along a very narrow and bumpy dirt track, made even more interesting by the fact that his headlights went off everytime he slowed down!!! Anyway eventually arrived in one place at his uncle's house - hungs homestay. His uncle spoke very good english and his
eldest son spoke a little. I was shown to my room which was in a little straw hut by the river edge, very nice including ensuite bathroom. Soon i was in the kitchen and helping to prepare dinner! As i am sure many of you know cooking is not a strong point of mine and the lady helping me was getting very frustrated at my inability to make spring rolls - everytime i put them in the frying pan i dropped them and they fell apart!! The meal howver, still turned out to be lovely despite my attempts to ruin it. I had fried spring rolls, fresh spring rolls (which you roll yourself at the table kind of like duck pancakes but without the duck!!), elephant ear fish - a local speciality, rice, tofu in tomato sauce (now my fav dish ever!), and loads of veg! so much food and they said it was all for me! Afterwards i had moon cake - this is a strange type of fruit cake type thing apart from the egg in the middle! Not sure i am a fan but they were celebrating mid autumn festival so all the children dress up and
light lanterns and then get moon cake to eat so i thopugt i should try it. After i went with the children onto one of the boats and we made paper boats, placing lit candles in them before sending them downstream. It looked lovely as all the village were doing the same thing so the river was full of floating lights, then we lit candles all around the house, a slight fire hazard as we were being assisted by their 3 yr old nephew! but it still looked very pretty.
In the morning Mr Hung took me on the boat down the river to meet the others, this was brill as i got my very own private boat ride. Once we had collected the rest of the group we wnet to can tho floating market. This wasnt quite what i had been expecting as it was mostly trade boats making big sales rather than smaller boats where we could buy things but it was still very interesting. What is amaxing is the way the people rely on the river for so much, they wash in it, they wash their clothes in it, they do their washing up in it,
they fish on it, use it for water in their house, but they also dump their trash and sewage in it!!
Mui Ne - beach time!!
Arrived in Mui Ne and as usual was greated by hundreds of motor bike riders all trying to get you to go to their hotel. After starting a riot asking for the cheapest place was taken to a really nice little place with its own private beach for 7dollars a night. Unfortunately arrived a week too early as the pool was not finished yet but with the sea only 100m from your room i guess you dont need a pool!!
Mui Ne is a strange town as it is really spread out along the coast in a thin strip so it doesnt really have a centre and it is hard to venture too far without a bike or a lot of walking. On the first afternoon i met Nicole who was also travelling alone and knew how to drive a motorbike (well sort of but i'll explain that later!!!) and so we decided that we would hire a bike and take a look around by ourselves rather tahn paying for a
guide. We set off to the sand dunes which according to lonely planet aka the bible!! are meant to be excellent for sand sledding. After some very interesting conversations with no english speaking locals we found the red sand dunes. Immeadiately we were surrounded by children with their sleds in their hands trying to demand extortionate amounts of money from us, eventually after a very hot a sweaty 10 mins standing in the sand we managed to get the use of the sleds for a reasonable price. We headed up to the top of the dunes very excited about the forth coming sand sledding experience only to be a little disappointed when we just crawled down the sand and due to my excess intake of food recently i just sunk!!! Anyway determined that it would get better we climbed back to the top and tried again, a slight gain in speed was made so we decided to give it another go, each time getting a little faster but after the forth go i felt like i was going to have a heart attack as i am now so unfit and let me tell you climbing up sand dunes in 36degree
heat is a lot harder than you would imagine!!! On returning to the bike we realised we needed some more fuel so we went back to ask the children where there was a petrol station, it was decided by them that it would be easier if one of them came with us so a boy of about 5 just jumped on the bike between Nicole and the handlebars. Now we felt like a proper local family with us all crammed on the bike, and we set off to the station with our hostage!! The young boy was brilliant and although he didnt speak much english he filled the bike up and everything whilst we just stood there!! On returning him to his friends i gave him the coconut candy that i had - well he was sooo pleased and as all the other children swarmed round he held the power to decide who would get the candy!!
Next we decided to go to the white sand dunes hoping that sledding there would be faster!! I had a go at driving there as the roads were very quiet, and actually found it very easy, that was until we hit the
sand track that we had to go on for the last bit. However, i made it all the way with no drama much to my amazement. Once again the sledding was not so great but had another good workout climbing up even bigger sand dunes!! and met a really nice group of people also doing the same thing. Unfortunatelty on the way back we managed to fall off the bike right in front of the group of people we had just met - slightly embarrassing and no mum i was not driving and no we were not speeding just hit a patch ofd sand and the bike slid out from under us. Well actually it landed on top of us!! I got away lightly with just a small graze on my ankle and my knee, Nicole, however got a huge graze and a gash on her knee. This was just the start!!
We set off in the direction of home or so we thought, it actually turned out to be the wrong direction and having driven for 30km in the wrong direction we realised we were nearly out of fuel again. We managed to make it into a small
town and found a petrol station and much to the amusement of the locals bagan trying to ask if there was somewhere we could go to was our wounds, Nicole's leg was now entirely covered in blood!! They pointed us to a building next door which we assumed was a toilet, however, as we pulled up we realised it was in fact a clinic!! Lucky find!! I think we were the only patients the clinic had seen and certainly the only westerners as the entire staff seemed to come out to assist!! At first there was a slight panic when they brought out the scisors and we thought they were going to try and stitch Nicole's leg, but all was fine and they cleaned it out and bandaged it all for the great expense of 2dollars! We set off this time in the other direction to go home, Nicole was sat on the back with her leg stuck out and i was driving, well trying to but when it is only your second time of driving a bike, one which you have just fallen off of, and there are goats and cows all over the road it makes for a
very interesting experience!! Anyway we eventually made it home almost in one piece with a very good tale to tell!!
Dalat - easy rider bike tour 3 days and 2 nights
In the morning caught the bus - well actually a very crammed mini bus which continuously played local music (have a listen to vietnam music sometime and you will see how wonderful this experience must have been!!) - to dalat. Dalat is absolutely gorgeous, definately one of my favorite places yet. It is in the central highlands and so is a lot cooler. It was settled original by the French and still retains a very french feel about it, and due to the climate most of the countries veg and fruit are grown here - i got incredibly excited about having my first apple since i left to go travelling!! Sad i know!! Spent the afternoon looking around town with one of the other guys who had come here from mui ne, we went up one of the mountains (cant remember the name) which had amazing views over the whole town.
The next moring i set off for my easy rider tour. My driver was
Stephan and although i was paying slightly more than i really wanted to he promised me that if i saw another tourist he would give me my money back! We spent the first day looking round dalat and the surrounding area. In dalat i went to the crazy house - which really was crazy. It was built by a a local lady who studied archuitecture in russia - the house was amazing, probably not to everyones taste but i loved it. It was like being inside a massive play house, like the type you used to get at little chef service stations, but on a massive scale. Each room had its own theme and twisting staircases connected one building to another. Then we drove out of dalat into the countryside, saw many beautiful lakes and hills and vistied a couple of pagodas. In one was the statue of the 'fat happy budda'!! Which looked a bit like jack!! he he! and if you touch his belly it will bring you good luck.
That evening we stayed with a family in a little town with hardly any other tourists. It was great, ate dinner altogether sitting on a mat on
the floor. Unfortunately you have to eat whatever is put on your plate and drink what is put in your glass or they get offended. So i had to drink far too many beers but that probably helped wash down the dodgy bits of meat i was having to eat - every bit goes in the pot includiong the chickens feet and head!! Anyway i survived - just!
The next day was really amazing. Set off with the wind blowing in my hair - well actually know as my head was crammed into a bike helmet which was at least two sizes too small!! First we went to a silk factory and got to see the whole process including how they grow the silk worms - cant believe something so small can produce so much silk. Saw some more great waterfalls and then headed through the mountains for even more amazing scenery than the day before. On the way it started to rain so we stopped and took shelter in this roadside tent type thing, it was home to the guys who were working on the road. Dont think they had ever seen a white person from their reactions!!
Took some pics and they all went mad looking at themselves, it was sooo funny. Carried on over the mountain into the minority villages, whenever we stopped for a rest people would gather round me, i felt like a celebrity!!
In the evening we did another homestay, this one was even better than the night before. Had simply amzing food - fresh fish, wild venison and porcupine! Wasnt too sure about the porcupine as i think it may be a protected species but it tasted good!! Was slightly put off my food by their son eating the fish eyes! But they believe it helps your eyesight. Afterwards we were joined by 5 of the local men for some beers, they thought drinking with a westerner was great and just kept filling my glass up despite my refusals! And then everytime you drink you all have to raise your glass and toast each other before drinking most of the pint in one go!! I had to escape to bed by about 9.30pm after having downed 7 pints before the alcohol had time to take affect!
In the morning we meant to meet one of the guys we had been
drinking with the night before - he happened to be the village chief of police. He took us for coffee with his eldest daughters who both spoke very good englich although he didnt speak any. During the coffee a cock fight was taking place out the back, they have to keep it hidden as it is technically illegal but then the chief of police told his daughters to take me to have a look! So i guess if you know the right people you can do whatever you like! After coffee we were invited to join him and his family for dinner. First of all we had to go and catch the food - spent the rest of the morning fishing with all the children. Have to say i wasnt particularly good at it but the little kids were great. Had a reallly good meal with them, although unfortunately it involved more beer and i was feeling pretty rough still!! I was really sad to leave them as they had been so friendly and so kind treating me to all this food. But had to go to get to Nha Trang in time to catch the night bus up to
Danang where i was meeting back up with Nicole to fly to Hanoi. Had had such a good time i was really glad that i had spent the money on this because met some amzing people that i wouldnt have been able to if i had been part of a big tour group.
Sapa - 3 nights in the highlands
Nicole and I had booked to go to halong bay but it was cancelled due to the typhoon so we decided to catch the night train to Sapa as niether of us wanted to spend another day in Hanoi as it is not the greatest place. Sapa is really beautifull and much cooler - for the first time on this trip i was actually cold! Unfortunately it rained for a lot of the time we were there but we still had a good time. The first night we stayed in the Darling hotel which was $10 a night with stunning views of the hills. Then we decided to be proper cheap skates and moved to a $4 s night guest house for the rest of the stay. All the minority villagers friom the surrounding villages coem into Sapa
in their traditional costumes to sell their items - you buy from meeeee? why you buy from her and not from meeeee? Really funny, Nicole wanted to buy a blanket and at one point she was surrounded by 20 local women (ave age 70 judging by their teeth or lack of teeth!) and they were all holding blankets infront of her so there was no escape!! It could have been annoying but if you have a laugh with them and see the funny side so do they.
We meant a girl who was appropriately called Haha. She was so funny and said she hated saying the same things in and out to every tourist - where you from? how long you stay? you buy from me? maybe later/ i remember you (and they always did!!). She said she had to do it though because every few weeks her parents would come to Sapa to get hte money she had made and she would be in trouble if whe didnt have anything. We took her out for pizza and spent most of the day with her. Many of these children are so clever as they have taught themselves english and
have even learnt how to be sarcastic - when asking one young girl where she came from she promtly replied 'her mother!!'
Halong Bay - 3 days, 2 nights with TNK travel
Finally the typhoon had blown over and we were off to Halong bay, and because the typhoon had just been we got perfect weather. A little nervous to begin with as we had heard so many horror stories about people having really bad trips and our guide intially seemed a little crazy. However, we soon grew to love him and his slightly twisted sense of humour. And the tour turned out to be brilliant, although some of the people on our boat were a little strange. The karsts in halong bay are stunning but unfortunately many of the caves have been ruined by adding the vietamese touch - multi coloured lightinhg and fake waterfalls!! But at least they dont have their music playing inside them ........ yet! (Please go online and listen to some of their fav songs and you will know what i am talking about - it makes my singstar efforts sound good!). We cruised around the bay and then went kayaking for about
an hour. Saw some floating fishing villages which were really cool and spent the night on the boat or junk as they call them.
The next day we sailed to Cat Ba island. Here we did a bit of trekking in the national park and did a fair bit of climbing as we lost the guide - sort of on purpose - and accidently took the adventurous route!! Not the best thing to do in flip flops as some of us were! Then it was off to the hotel and then to the beach!! Nicole and I were planning to spend an extra day here as the weather was do great but we were woken up at 6am by our oh so lovely guide to tell us that there was another typhoon on its way so we had to get off the island now. All in all though the trip was really good and only cost $60 including all our meals so not too expensive either.
Hoi An - a week on the beach
Hoi An has to be one of my fav places in Vietnam and not jsut because you can get all your clothes and
shoes made to measure for next top nothing. It has a gorgeous old quarter which is closed of to the traffic and is so quiet, apart from all the people trying to force you to 'come in my restaurant' or 'look my shop'!! There were some great places to eat and gorgeous old buildings to wonder round. PLus it was only a 20 min bike ride from the beach which was also lovely and so quiet. The weather was great the whole time we were there and I had 3 tops made and a pair of shorts for 20quid. All made to measure and from the fabric of my choice the same day! I forced myself to resist the temptation to get any shoes made but they could recreate absolutely anything so i will be going back!!
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mumsy
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fascinating!
Oh Lauren I am sooo envious - this is a wonde3ful account of your Vietnam experiences - so glad you you have written so fully too- thankyou for sharing it! miss and love you lots xxx