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Published: December 15th 2007
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Almost three weeks have gone by since I entered Vietnam. My route has been Sapa, Hanoi, Halong Bay, back to Hanoi, Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang, Dalat and now finally Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC or Saigon). The computers I have been on have been very slow and without cd drive, so I haven’t bothered to write a blog or to upload pictures for some time. It’s been a good experience and a lot of familiar faces here, which is nice. People tend to do the same route, north to south or vice versa, so you bump into people as you go along. The “Open Bus tour” allows people to buy a cheap ticket with five or six stops, which is cheaper than doing the train. I was quite pleased to be doing buses in Vietnam, after travelling mainly by train in China. But then again the distances are nowhere near as far here as they are in there, and so far I have only had two overnight bus rides. The system seems to work a lot better here than in China. For instance, the buses pick you up at your hotel and drop you off wherever you want to stay.
That makes it a lot easier than having to take a taxi or tuk- tuk to your hotel. It is also a lot cleaner than most Asian countries I have visited, in terms of hotel standard that is. Here you get towels, soap and sometimes ever toothbrush and toothpaste, and the showers are excellent with 24hrs hot water and western toilets. It’s funny the things we take for granted back home are most of the time considered to be a novelty over here. I think that sometimes we westeners are too clean and hygenic to the degree of making our bodies not be able to cope with the slightest amount of dirt. I’ve been sick a few times on this journey, bad tummy and chest infection and all that. Normally I don’t get that sick at home, at least not that often, but here it seems harder for me to fight back any germs that might come my way.
Anyway, since last time I wrote I have befriended quite a few people and met some odd characters. I have been best friends with people for two days which felt like an eternity. Ronald the dutch guy stayed with me
all the way to Hoi and and then our journey ended as he was in more of a hurry than me. In Hue I went to the Vinh Moc tunnels which are the tunnels the Vietnamese used during the war to hide from bombs and the American. It’s amazing, and a little bit frightening, to see how these people lived underground for days to avoid death. I’m not claustrophobic but those tunnels are small enough to make anyone fear closed spaces. I also saw the DMZ, demilitarised zone, which drew the line between north and south Vietnam before the war. It was interesteting to see how much the vietnamese people have had to suffer at the hands of not only the Americans, but the French, the Chinese and also at the hands of their own. Agent Orange, napalm and other chemicals used by the Americans has forever scarred the people, past, present and future. There are still people being born with disabilities as a result of Agent Orange. A lot of information and horrendous pictures of people in pain are on display at the War Remnant Museum in Ho Chi Minh, which I highly recommend anyone whose in this city
to see (although it’s not for the fainthearted).
After Hue I went to Hoi An, which is a beautiful city on the coast of central Vietnam. It is famous for its old city and ancient buildings which are a part of the UNESCO heritage site. It is also known for being the cheapest place in Asia to get clothes tailor made. Needless to say tailors are a dime a dozen and it reels you in like a fish on a hook. I had some things made, but only things I need. Being a logical woman (!!!!), I was faced with the option of carrying a backpack twice my size and it didn’t appeal to me. I have been contemplating getting rid off my sleeping bag, but it is a good one and I might need it further down the line and it was quite expensive so I have decided to keep it on.
After Hoi An I made it to Nha Trang, which is pretty much a party town. It reminds me of Spain and what I can imagine (since I haven’t been there) Costa Brava, Ibiza and all that to be. It has big highrise buildings by
the shore and a white beach with wooden decks and a path to walk on. The weather wasn’t the best, it had been raining in Hoi An the last days I was there, and the floods were coming back. Luckily I got out just before it got too bad, and the weather in Nha Trang was much better. However, there’s not much to do there other than party so I left after a day as there weren’t many people around.
Next stop on my agenda was Dalat which is in the highlands. The weather was cooler here as it is at a higher altitude, kind of like Sapa. However, the atmosphere was much more mellow and less touristy, and I did a few day trips with some guys I met. The scenery was stunning, although it was quite a long and bumpy road to travel on.
I arrived into HCMC two days ago and yesterday I went to the War Museum, as mentioned earlier, the Reunification Palace and the central market. There are more things to do here than in Hanoi and it reminds me more of Bangkok than any other city I’ve been to so far. Basically, it is humid, chaotic and has a massive amount of motorbikes. I’m just happy to be in a warm place for once, and this is definitely the warmest place I have been to so far (I only have a cold shower in my dorm room). But I wonder- where has time gone? My time in Vietnam is coming to an end and tomorrow I head over to Siem Reap in Cambodia. It is sad to leave, but I take with me a lot of experience and a handful of new and interesting friends. I guess that is all that one can ask for……
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