Vietnam; Hoi An, Nha Trang, Mui Ne, Ho Chi Minh (Saigon)

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Hellloooo!!

Hope everyone is keeping well at home. Sorry for the lateish blog, the internet has been understandably been fairly slow in Cambodia.

But anyway, after leaving Hue and experiencing a slightly more enjoyable time we headed south to Hoi An feeling optimistic that we would get back on the happy traveller's trail! We arrived in Hoi An after a fairly long day on the bus. We picked a guesthouse to stay in, there are lots in Hoi An but spread fairly sporadically and we got really lucky. We set about discovering the town, which has some amazing French styled architecture that sit on the side of small cramp roads. Again motorbikes are everywhere and it is difficult to escape the constant requests of "Tuk Tuk?" or "Moto?" Hoi An homes lots of small bricky bracky shops selling all sorts of what could be describes as both tack and souvenirs! We found a really nice place to eat, a small restaurant on the back streets that boasted good food and cheap beer - 14p a glass. Happy days!

Hoi an is famous for it's silk and tailor shops. So after being recommended to one near the hotel we headed round for a fitting. It was quite a strange experienced being measured up by a overly friendly Vietnamese lady who fed us for free and let us pick our materials from a vast array. Mark opted for a snazzy number that would rival Jeremy Clarksons - see Top Gears Vietnam Special! The suits and dress - for Suz!- would be ready the next day so we returned to our food haunt for dinner (seeing the worlds fattest dog on the way) after Suz went to bed, leaving Mark hunting for a suitable location to watch some world cup footy. After rejecting an enormous "arena" housing about a thousand Viets he found a small bar with some rowdy and friendly locals. A great night was had, it was really fun to see a Vietnamese evening out!

The next day we returned for our clothing and after some readjustments etc we were both very happy! In the afternoon we visited the famous Chua Cau Japanese bridge which was a little less exciting than anticipated but still a very old and interesting structure. We found that we could also visit the beach that was nearby and spent a couple of days sunning ourselves. It was full of locals on the weekends but we found the weekdays quiet and very relaxing! The sea was warm and the weather, despite England's relative "heatwave" was very good. Knocking on 40 in the sun - Ha! Hoi an was fantastic, we really enjoyed ourselves and it was very relieving to find a place that was enjoyable where we weren't constantly hassled and on edge of cons and scams all the time. We left for Nha Trang both agreeing Hoi an was one of our favourite places that just about has everything.

Nha Trang is comparable to Surfers paradise in Australia, its a large city that is thriving and will definitely only get bigger busier, more expensive and filled even more with sun seeking tourists. We were dropped in the toursits heart which was nice and it was very easy to find a cheap hotel in "hotel alley". Our hotel was cheap but thus found us located on the top floor, no fun with increasingly heavy bags! We spent a few lazy days on the beach, soaking in the rays and swimming in the clear sea during the day and heading out to the markets at night. Nha Trang was really nice, but there wasn't a whole lot to do there other than sunbathe. Even the constant haggling of sunglass sellers could not dampen our spirits.

We left for Mui Ne, again anther beach town, but this time a little bit smaller. The beach is about 10km (miles have now been forgotten!) long. We arrived after telling the bus which resort we wanted to go to with them kindly dropping us off at the door! The hotel was still quite cheap and came with a pool! Which i think is our 7th hotel swimming pool - good times! The staff were friendly but i think were used to slightly classier clientele - if they exist - but we spent our days around the pool again in the fantastic weather. There is little on the beach front apart from hotels so ours became our home. We found a nice restaurant down the road, finding that again smaller places house friendlier staff. We went for a sunset stroll down the beach which provided one of the prettiest sunsets we have seen.

We got picked up early on departure day, a little earlier than the hotel said and were slightly rushed to leave, however, we were pleased when we arrived in Ho Chi Minh religiously still called Saigon by the southerners. We found that the Vietnamese people are different in the north, probably slightly like in England, but the differences are far more pronounced. On the whole we found we enjoyed the hospitality of the South more. Saigon is vast. made up of countless districts. We again found ourselves in the center with other travellers. We preferred it to Hanoi in the north, the streets weren't as busy and it was far easier to navigate around. We found it easier to relax here compared to Hanoi and although sellers would come into your restaurant during feeding times, they were friendly and not pushy.

The next day we went to the tunnels of Cu Chi. Reverting to first person. I, Mark, had been looking forward to this probably since i started my dissertation research nearly 18 months ago. After reading so many books about the subject of the Vietnam war and the tunnels of Cu Chi in particular this was one of my most anticipated outings to date. Briefly the Cu Chi tunnels were occupied by the Viet Cong guerrillas in opposition of the American invasion in the south. The area of Cu Chi was different to what i expected, after queuing to get in - it was quite busy - we were taken by our guide through to a bunker where we watched a video understandably steeped in Viet Cong bias that outlined the cause of the problems and how the Cu Chi guerrillas armed themselves and effectively fought the US army. The loss of life here was enormous, still with unconfirmed numbers. to counter the Us the Viet Cong dug a vast tunnel network that would both protect them from enemy bombs as well as providing the platform for any attacks. We were able to see some of the booby traps that were in use, most of which i had not come across, which were lethal and pretty inhumane. There are stories of Viet Cong living in the tunnels for 5 years, constantly harassing and confronting the enemy using whatever they could including home made bombs and stolen weapons. We were able to try to squeeze into one of the tunnel entrances made so small to provent large US soldiers entering. I literally could not fit. My shoulders would not get through the gap. We were shown the typical network including kitchens and hospital wings as well as firing outposts and ways of letting smoke out undetected. One of the most interesting parts of the day was our tour guide explaining the subtleties of the Viet people and trying to help us understand what they have been through and thus why there is some hostility towards the west still. This was very insightful and had we had heard him in Hanoi we might have understood more the reasons behind the peoples personnas.

When we returned back we were dropped off at the war remnants museum, a museum that shows highly graphic photos taken at the time explaining the history of the "American" war and showcasing many artifacts from the time. This was very traumatic and although i knew of the horrors involved i hadn't seen such a large amount of images as well as images showing the deformed babies that resulted from the use of Agent Orange. We left feeling quite overwhelmed and although the day had been very interesting and insightful especially to Suzanna, we were very down and emotionally flat. It was very interesting to see first hand what i had learned so much about. On the way out of the museum i had to turn down book sellers selling many books that i have read and are sitting on my shelf at home. My dissertation probably would have been a little better had i have visited Cu Chi at the time of writing. . .

The tunnels of Cu Chi brought the end to our stay in Vietnam and we left for Cambodia having had a difficult time in the north, very much enjoying the south and feeling sad as well as guilty for our northern feelings due to our own slight ignorance. Either way Vietnam has definitely been a life changing place.

Photos to follow soon. We are safe and left before any typhoon attacks. We're currently in Cambodia in Siem Reap and looking forward to temples of Angkor. Please keep comments coming its great to hear news from home. Much love. xxx

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Comments

[anonymous]

Hello! glad to hear you are enjoying south vietnam! Great you have had a Vietnamese evening out and have had a comfortable few days in Mui ne. Cu Chi tunnels sound horrific, great Mark had read about what had happened, im sure it was very interesting. Arrived home from Benicassim last night, we had a great time, but glad to be away from the heat and sand. (I hate sand) much love x

[maureen saunders]

Good to hear Vietnam lived up to your expectations eventually. I knew you would find the tunnels interesting having read so much about them and its good to see the museum, although horrific and draining. Travelling is about life changing experiences and you certainy seem to have had one. I knew you would try to outdo Jeremy Clarkson Mark - can not wait to see it! Take care, enjoy Cambodia, love mum xxxxx