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Published: October 9th 2006
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We flew from Hong Kong to Hanoi in the North and travelled down the East coast to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) in the South. Vietnam was a big surprise to me as I have only ever seem it in US war films - instead of it being a war torn country, it was absolutely stunning with a lot of very friendly people. I thought it would be hard to better China but I think Vietnam may just have!
Hanoi was absolutely nuts! There are just thousands of mopeds buzzing all over the place and crossing the road is a task and a half. There wasn't much to do in Hanoi but the highlight was when we saw a building on fire (sounds a bit sick but bear with me), if you have ever seen 'Gangs of New York' where they argue over who should put the fire out and by time they decide it is too late...well it was just like that, it took the fire brigade (I use that term loosely as they were dressed in shorts and flip-flops and clearly had no intention of fighting any fires) 20 minutes to turn up. By this time there was
around 250 people watching as locals put the fire out with anything they could find. Very entertaining to watch in the safety of a nearby cafe!
From, Hanoi we headed on a three day trip to Halong Bay and Cat Ba Island. They are a collection of nearly 2,000 islands in a National Park. They are like being on the island from 'The Beach' except unlike Thailand if someone is already on the island you can just go to another where it is deserted...it really was paradise! Golden sand, warm water and cheap beer - what more could I ask for!? We spent one night sleeping on the boat and during the day we swam in the warm water and looked round some of the islands on Kayaks. It was a great couple of days and gave us a chance to rest after the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong and Hanoi (that sounds really bad but it was needed, honestly).
Our next stop was Hoi An which we only really visited because they make amazing, but cheap, tailored suits between the three of us we ended up with 9 suits, which will be good for when the
day comes that I have to get a job. We also spent a lot of time on mopeds riding through the local villages and markets...we were like a very slow version of Easy Riders. This was where the first near disaster happened...the day after we left Hoi An it was hit by a Typhoon that flooded the whole town, killing 30 people and the whole area had to be evacuated! So we were very lucky to be out of there as it ended up that no one could get in or out of the area. While all this was happening we had just arrived in Nha Trang - the party capital of Vietnam...and we did plenty of partying!
Nha Trang is Vietnams Ibiza with loads of bars, beaches and great people. The day after we arrived in Nha Trang was Rob's birthday so we decided to celebrate with a few drinks in the legendary Sailing Club (known to all travellers in Vietnam) and it is legendary because of the 'buckets' they sell. They are more like jars of a mixture of who knows what and after two walking becomes a major issue, being Brits abroad we decided to have
a third then a fourth and suddenly everything is a blur! Rob fell asleep in the bar only waking up to be sick on Ricks shoes (sure sign of a good birthday) and I just disappeared for about three hours and know one know where I went but I turned up eventually with a nicely swollen eye. As we are not sure what happened to me there have are a few theories so just pick your favourite...1) someone tried to mug me and I had no money so they hit me (likely) 2) a 'ladyboy' tried to mug me and I had no money so he/she hit me (everyone else's favourite story) - just to explain ladyboys hang around outside the sailing club waiting to pick pocket drunk tourists, don't ask why they need to be ladyboy's to do this??? 3) It was a mosquito bite on my eye that made it swell up (I'm sticking with this one). Anyway we all just about survived and all in all it was a great night. After Rob's birthday we stayed off the drink for a few days so I did some scuba diving which was nice as I hadn't done it
for about 6 months. I saw an alarming number of deadly sea snakes and I couldn't help thinking that they might take revenge for there friend that I eat in China. I also saw a giant Moray Eel (there is a picture of it head) but it was actually about 2 meters long and had razor sharp teeth so it was slightly worrying! I loved Nha Trang so ended up spending a week there just relaxing, diving and drinking.
We ended our stay, in Vietnam, in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) the capital of the south which was much like any other city in South-East Asia. We did get the chance to go to the Cu Chi tunnels which are over a hundred of miles of underground tunnels where the Viet Cong fought the US army. Our guide was a very bitter (understandably) war veteran called Mr Bean!? - I'm just glad I'm not American because I think he might have dragged me into the jungle and buried me in one of the tunnels...but again it was understandable as he had been shot twice by them! After going through the tunnels we went to a shooting range and for
just over a tenner were allowed to shoot a Kalashnikov (AK47) rifle and a M60 machine gun (600 bullets a minute) - have a look at the video at the top of the page, if it works?? It was so so much fun, the kick-back of the gun nearly took my arm off but it really gives you a feeling of power, especially when you sting the gun round and everyone hits the deck!!! Brilliant!!
After the tunnels we went to the War Museum and we soon hit the ground with a massive bang. It was the most somber and horrific place I have ever been to. It told, although slightly one sided, the story of the Vietnam War with pictures of the atrocities scattered over the wall. It was the sort of things that might make you ill at the sight of them...limbs where they shouldn't be etc. They, rightly, haven't censored any of it, they just tell it how it happened. I don't think anyone said a word the whole time we were in there. It really was very irry, sickening and moving at the same time.
Despite the somber end to my stay in Vietnam
I have had a great time in a, surprisingly, amazing country. The best part of this country has been the Vietnamese people, despite that amount of shit they have been through they are the friendliest people I have ever met, that had me in stitches every time they spoke to me and/or tried to sell me something.
From here I am heading up the Mekong Delta into Cambodia on Speed boat...James Bond style, but it is Vietnam so it may end up just being a boat with very little speed!
Hope your all well, miss you all.
Andy
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