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Published: September 28th 2007
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Last time I wrote this I was getting a sleeper bus to Hue. The sleeper buses are basically glorified chairs that you can sort of lie on but they are very much designed for asian people who are generally shorter than your average westerner. There is not enough leg room and you have to sleep with yours knees up in the air which can lead to severe cramping! If you are over 5ft9 I'd recommend getting the cheaper soft seat buses where you do have to sit up but at least you have leg room.
Hue is a fairly spread out town and it is easy to get a nice cheap hotel. We only stayed for two days but we went round the markets and did the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) tour. The DMZ tour was disappointing as we sat on a coach for nearly 10 hours and only stopped off a few times. It was good to learn a bit more about the Vietnam-American war and the highlights were the DMZ museum and the Vinh Moc tunnels. The museum has a tank, a couple of helicopters and a crashed plane that was used in the war. While we were at the museum a guy came round selling old dog tags which was a bit disturbing to think that the bodies of these soldiers may not of been identified or even found. The tunnels were really interesting as the Vietnamese villagers lived in them for 5 years during the war. The tunnels were extremely cramped and obviously a depressing place to be. One tunnel brought us out onto a beautiful bay and it was hard to imagine what it was like during the war.
After Hue we headed to Hoi An. Hoi An has been one of my favourite towns as there is very little hassle and there is a lot to do in and around. Here I managed to get a tailored suit and shirt made for just over 50 pounds! Bargain! While in Hoi An we took mopeds out to a place called My Son where you can see old ruins. The ruins are quite beautiful but Im not sure if it was really worth the one hour drive. But on the way our guide took us to see a silk worm farm and factory and how rice paper is made. On the way back we visited a beach in Hoi An which was apparently where part of Apocalypse Now was filmed. The bit where they napalm a village to go surfing. ("Charlie don't surf!).
Next it was onto Nha Trang where we have been for the past four days. Nha Trang has a beautiful beach and is quite a westernised town. This in some way is good but in others it isnt as there is little culture. As my friend Woofy was leaving to go home on our first night in Nha Trang we decided to go an get extremely drunk in some of the local bars. The night ended up with me being ill after having too many hollowed coconuts with copius amounts of alcohol poured in. It was sad to see Woofy go the next day and an all day hangover did little to help cheer any of us up. The next day however we had a really good day. We took a boat trip around the islands off Nha Trang where in the morning we did some snorkeling around a small coral reef. I saw lots of eels and multicoloured fish that I couldnt identify. After a big seafood brunch we were treated to a live band which consisted of our vietnamese crew attempting to perform old beatles and bob marley songs. Their version of La Bamba was also shocking but very funny. We were then treated to a free floating bar where you dive out with rings and swim over to a floating bar where we were shakily poured glasses of Da Lat wine. This stuff is lethal! Then in the afternoon we stopped off at a little beach where we all did some parasailing. Id never done it before but it was not the adrenaline pumping ride I thought it would be. Its actually very calm but pretty cool none the less. On our final day in Nha Trang we went round the markets and chilled on the beach. I have now acquired myself some cool chopsticks which I am loving to use. At first I couldnt pick up anything and had to stab my food but now its ace using them.
Right so tomorrow I am off to Da Lat which is supposed to resemble the french alps! Lets hope its as good as the rest of Vietnam.
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Jodie
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Im very jealous
Wow your trip so far sounds amazing. You seem to have done alot more of Vietnam than we did in two weeks so good on you. Keep us all smiling with your brilliant travel writing. Think you may have found a career for yourself. Cant wait to hear your views on Saigon (Ho Chi Minh).