Advertisement
Published: July 14th 2010
Edit Blog Post
We arrived in Mue Ne after a dramatic five hour bus journey. The views were incredible as we winded up and down the mountains. It was a clear day and you could see hundreds of miles out to the sea. Whilst the view was amazing the ‘road’ was terrible. It was barely a road, often just a dirt track on the edge of mountains with huge potholes bouncing us around constantly. We found an awesome place to stay, in our own little bungalow right on the beach. We became very lazy in Mui Ne and spent most of our time just chilling out on the beach or swimming the sea. It was a beautiful place with the most gorgeous beach. We ate and drank far too much but was lovely just to chill out after spending so much time sight seeing in the cities. We had one brilliant night where we made our own cocktails and sat on the beach all night looking at the stars. After possibly a little too much drink I decided it was a great idea to go for a midnight swim which was incredible staring up at the stars in the pitch black but led to
us waking up in a bed full of sand. One day we managed to drag ourselves off the beach and rented a bike again and explored the sand dunes and surrounding area which had some spectacular views. In the end we stayed 5 nights which was possibly a little too long as there wasn’t much to do but was difficult to drag ourselves away.
Next we headed to Saigon (or Ho Chi Minh City) it was a bit of a shock to be in a big city again but we liked it immediately. It was so lively and had so much going on. It may be a little brash and load but there was so much going on it was difficult not to enjoy it. We got a great little hotel and a very good price - I was made to promise I wouldn’t tell anyone else how cheap I got the room ($3 dollars less than a single room!).
We visited the War Remnants museum, some of the exhibits including the tiger cages where prisoners were kept in horrific conditions and pictures of the effect of agent orange on people were really shocking and brings home just
how much this country has been through. I’m not going to get into it now but it just seems crazy that America were even involved, let alone the amount of money and lives that were lost. There was a great section at the end showing pictures during the war compared to present day photos, it shows how far the country has come in a short amount of time and how they are striving for economic development and success. The same day we visited the Reunification Palace, this was the home to the Southern Army and the war officially ended when Northern tanks burst though the gates and took power. This was really interesting especially in the basement where there are loads of tunnels and small rooms where battle plans were formed during the war.
The next day we went to the posh part of town. The streets are lined with designer shops, huge five star hotels and big business towers. Although Saigon isn’t the capital it is certainly the economic centre of the country with living conditions much better than Hanoi. This was all a bit strange to see compared to the rest of the country but again showed
how Vietnam is developing and striving to succeed in the future. One stand out part of the day was when walking not far from our hotel area we saw a group of men shouting and running around. It turned out there was a huge black snake in the street. It was the biggest snake I have ever seen and very scary as it slithered along trying to bite people. A few men got it with a by smashing it with wooden poles though and probably had it for dinner. Was very scary and Claire spent the rest of the day checking there wasn’t any more snakes anywhere.
For our last meal we went and had Bahn Xeo (one of our favourite dishes). It’s a pancake with pork, shrimp and bean sprouts which you roll up in rice paper with mint, basil and lettuce. It sounds a bit odd but is seriously tasty. We sat and had a few drinks and watched the busy street before heading back for an early night before our early flight back to Bangkok. It was a shame we didn’t have longer in Saigon - there was so much to see and lots going on.
The only bad part is the obvious prostitution and dirty old American men with young women, it obviously isn’t policed as it is so apparent.
We were both so sad to be leaving Vietnam and could have easily spent another couple of months in this incredible country. Its so difficult to sum up our month in Vietnam as every place we visited was so different from the last. It has some of the best food we have ever tasted - Paul is defiantly learning how to cook Vietnamese food when we get home! The whole culture of the country is just so different to back home and in a lot of ways so much better. The people made us feel so welcome and we didn’t have a single bad experience - reading the lonely planet book made me a bit wary before we arrived but it was all a load of rubbish. Even though we are very sad to leave we are excited to be moving on and start exploring Thailand.
We caught an early flight to Bangkok and found ourselves a seriously crappy hostel to stay in. As were here only a month ago it was all
very familiar so just headed out to the bars on Khao San rd. Had a great first night drinking and chatting to random people. We headed back to the hostel where it turned into a very load bar at night. Claire went to bed but I stayed up chatting to people and listening to the live music. The guy was mainly playing Neil Young and Bob Dylan so was very happy. The next day we went looking for better accommodation. We got a better place not far away but it did take a while looking at several horrible places first - same didn’t even have a window!
Today we went to China Town to explore the small alleyways and markets, after long negotiations with a Tuk-Tuk driver managed to get a lift. Nearly as soon as we were dropped of though a huge storm rolled in. The rain was so heavy and there wasn’t any cafes to sit in and we had to come back without seeing much of the place. Was a big shame but we’re going to head out and do lots tomorrow.
Sorry that this blog has been so late, its just been very busy
and hectic recently. Thanks for all your comments - keep in touch.
X
Advertisement
Tot: 0.086s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 9; qc: 56; dbt: 0.0418s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Mum
non-member comment
Incredible!
Love reading your blogs. It looks amazing. Love the sound of mue ne. It looks gorgeous. Missing you loads. Seems ages since you left. Love you Mum xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx