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Published: April 12th 2008
So after my very quick stay in Phnom Phen (only 1 night since there really wasn't much to see and I wasn't really feeling the city), I hopped onto my bus over to Hoi Chi Minh City to meet up with Abi and Bianca again. Now imagine a city with 10 million people that has about 5 million motorcycles/vespas in it, plus there are no rules on the road...left side, right side, stop light, green light, they're all suggestions which no one really follows. To make matters worse, there are 4 way intersections (major intersections) without any lights or signs, just a free for all...and the best are the round-a-bouts (huge circles to navigate intersections), these ones are just cars and motorcycles going in all directions. Plus there are so many motorcycles that on every 2 lane street, 1 out of the 2 lanes are dedicated to motorcycles and cars get an instant ticket for crossing over. Needless to say it is a sea of motorcycles and almost impossible to cross the road since there is never a break in the constant streams of them. So how to cross? Simply walk and look straight, don't stop, keep going, don't turn back,
and they go around you...hopefully.
After meeting up with the UK girls we went to the famous Water Puppet show, which was pretty cool yet a little hard to explain (wait for pictures), then the next day we went out to see the Cu Chi Tunnels which the Viet-Cong created to be able to go around, evade, escape, and ambush the American soldiers during the war. Now what's cool is that they had 3 different levels of tunnels, the lower the level the smaller the tunnel. Just to give you an idea of the size, they let us go through the 1st level of tunnels and I actually got stuck at one point (Then again I was still wearing my backpack but after some immense wiggling got myself free). But those tunnels are like hot boxes, after quickly going through them we were all drenched in sweat...I couldn't imagine what it must have been like to dig them let along hide out in them.
After the tunnels I made my way over to the war museum (be forewarned I took some pics of the pictures on the walls and will be posting some of them so for those
with queasy stomachs you may want to skip them). It was in the war museum that I learned about Agent Orange. This was released by the Americans as a herbicide over the Vietnamese which didn't cause any pain or death to those infected but instead affected their next several generations of children of those infected. The children were prone to major birth defects, cancer, and genetic disorders. Even today on the streets you can see people with these major defects, most of them having to beg for food and money. But one of my stops was at a factory that was teaching Vietnamese infected with agent orange from previous generations how to create some of the most beautiful crafts, art work, and furniture I've ever seen.
After saying goodbye to Abi and Bianca for the final time since I was heading up the coast of Vietnam and they were heading back to Ko Pha Ngan for yet another full moon party, I booked a quick 1 day Mekong Delta trip before heading to the sleepy beach town of Nha Trang. The Mekong Delta trip itself was ok, far too touristy for my liking, but I got to see how
they make coconut candy, banana candy, and got to hold a real python snake around my neck (just a little freaky).
My last night in Hoi Chi Minh I had a major craving for some real Thai food (didn't get enough of the great curried food)...so I must have walked over an hour to the place mentioned in the Lonely Planet, which had burnt down to the ground a couple of weeks prior. So pretty discouraged I walked all the way back to my hotel, looked across the park and saw a restaurant with Christmas lights hanging from the rafters (for those that know me well, know how I like my Christmas lights) so venturing closer low and behold it was an authentic Thai restaurant (angels singing in the background...or only in my head). Now maybe from the way I dress now, the fact that my tan is so dark my teeth are pearly white, or the slow travelers walk I've picked up, or maybe the fact that I walk around everywhere with my Canon 40D SLR I'm starting to get mistaken as a professional photographer/critic (some guess working for the Lonely Planet). Its even gotten to the point
that after I lined up a shot and walked away, I'll look back and see a bunch of people attempt to take the exact same photo...but back to my story...this Thai restaurant was one of those places that mistook me as a critic...I had no joke about 4 people serving me, even had the manager come join me a couple of times even though I said that I really don't work for the Lonely Planet, they didn't believe me. Anyways, the food and service was so amazing (probably the best Thai I've had even within Thailand) that I'm going to write to Lonely Planet and make them put this restaurant on the map (it had only opened 4 months prior and was still trying to get a reputation).
That night after having my satisfying Thai meal I made my way back to the travel agent that I booked my night train with a "soft" sleeper 4 person cabin over to the sleepy beach town of Nha Trang to pick up my tickets for my train leaving at 11pm and arriving at 6am. Happily my Vietnamese travel agent gave me my tickets and goes "you're in luck the price of
your ticket went down so we got you a discount"...sweet! I remember thinking...ah not so much. This was my first lesson in you get what you pay for in Vietnam. Getting to the station I walked all the way to practically the first car passing all the "soft" sleeper cars and thinking hmmm, maybe I got upgraded...um nope. I was in the local car, with regular seats made of stone and expecting to see chickens flying over my head from the rafters. Needless to say I didn't get much sleep and cursed that travel agent the entire trip 7 hour throughout the night to Nha Trang.
Nah Trang, ah Nah Trang, this has to be put on everyone's destination list in Vietnam. The beach was amazing, quiet, and the room in the guest house I got had the most amazing balcony and sea-side view with a rooftop pool. The people were beyond friendly and since there were few, if any cars on the road, just motorcycles, I actually attempted my first motorcycle taxi to take me around to see what's there to be seen. The only thing though is that in a couple of years, maybe even just 1,
this sleepy beach town won't be so sleepy no more. They already have billboards of the new Crowne Plaze building a huge new convention centre right on the beach to host the Vietnam Pagents, and all other huge events...welcome westernization, good bye local charm.
After a couple of days of bliss on the beach I jumped onto my first "sleeper" bus which is like a double decker coach bus with beds in it and made my way over to the gov't preserved town of Hoi An. This town is one of the original trading posts of Vietnam and also home to all the famous (and dirt cheap) tailors. Thanks to Abi and Bianca's advice I found the same tailor they used and got me 2 custom made suits, 3 pants, and 3 monogrammed shirts for a total price tag cost of $240 USD. All done within 24 hours. The rest of the day I rented a bicycle (they only had a girl's bike left with a basket in the front...yah go ahead and laugh, I sure did) and biked the 4KM's over to the beach. Now for one of my mis-adventures. This bike ride was beyond scenic, through more
rice paddies so I decide to get off the beaten track and walk through some rice paddies. So I prop up my girlie bike and start trekking though some paddies. I'm following the trail and see that on either side of the half a foot ledge through the paddies is water which the paddies grow in. "Cool" I think. After a good distance I whip out my camera, take some good shots, put my camera away, and...lose my footing on the Paddie ledge. Now, little did I know that beneath the water is pure, black, thick mud. So after the rest of the 4KM bike ride, covered in mud, I made my way to the beach, toss the bike and walk across the beach straight into the ocean past quite a lot of interesting looks from the touristy sun worshipers. But hey, the pic of the fields was worth it 😉
Ok, next stop...tomorrow afternoon heading to the sleepy town of Phong Nha which has supposedly the best caves in South East Asia!
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