Vietnam Days 1 - 9 (22nd Nov. - 1st Dec.)

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We have left it ages to update our blog this time - really bad - it was just a ploy to keep people wanting more, but strangely it hasn’t worked! Ha ha ha. No - that’s not true - we are just lazy. To pick up where we left off anyway, we were picked up from our accommodation in Phnom Pehn at 7.30am to get the bus to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon) and made our way to the border. The bus was amazingly spacious and equipped with air-conditioning - our new best friend. The border crossing was comparatively easy compared to some stories we have heard, but we still had to get off and on the bus several times and once with all our baggage to put it through the x-rays. Vietnam is quite strict on border control. We were since told a story by a fellow traveler of a couple that he had met who were crossing the border from Laos into Vietnam. They had taken a local bus (not the tour operated ones that we are kind of going for) and apparently they were the only two Westerners on this bus. Anyway customs officials boarded the bus at the border to search it. What they found was snakes hidden in the a/c unit up above the passenger’s heads. They were being smuggled across the border. Police were called etc, but luckily for the couple it was obvious they hadn’t a clue, and they were let off fairly quickly.
Immediately on crossing the border between Cambodia and Vietnam you know you have entered a different country. Vietnam is a world away from Cambodia - which we found surprising but I suppose in our own ignorance we had kind of lumped them together. We were dropped off in one of the two backpacker districts and luckily our accommodation was only a short walk away. Once we dropped our bags, we mooched around and got our bearings. Straight away we both fell in love with the city - and writing this with the benefit of hindsight; we both agree that it would top the list of places to return to. It is full of energy. There was such a mix of people here - all ranges of ages and all types of travelers. Everybody is incredibly friendly and helpful too. We immediately booked a half day trip for the next day to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels which are situated outside the city.
The next morning we were up early for our trip and got a minibus with about 12 other people to the Tunnels. On the way we stopped at a workshop (can’t remember the name-so bad!!) where they make lots of things such as paintings, jewellery boxes, place mats, trays etc (can’t list everything there is so much!) and then they lacquer them. Vietnam is famous for these lacquered items. People who work in this centre have been left disabled or otherwise affected by the use of Agent Orange and other dioxins by the Americans during the war. We walked in through the workshop where people were working on various things and the work is incredibly painstaking.
After visiting there, we left for the Tunnels. In all honesty, I hadn’t actually heard of Cu Chi until I arrived in HCMC. The tunnels are basically about 200km of underground tunnels that the Vietcong constructed during the war as a place to hide themselves. They reach a depth of about 8m into the ground and there are 3 storey’s of tunnels!! They even had large caverns within the tunnels, such as for kitchens, hospitals and the like. Apparently everyone had a hand in digging them at the time, including the women and children. They had the tools they used to dig them on display and all they consisted of was what would be a small gardening trowel to us and a small metal pole. They also moved all the soil that they dug up far away so that American planes could not spot where the tunnels were. We went into the tunnels as well - just for a short time - it was so so hot down there. In the compound they had a range of traps that the Vietcong used to lay during the war. We got some pictures of them - some of them were pretty gruesome, for example they would dig a hole and fill it with sharpened bamboo sticks, dipped in poison, pointing upward and then cover it over so that some unsuspecting soldier would walk into it. Our guide described these traps with serious relish and of pride in the steps they took to defeat the Americans. And they were amazingly clever really. They all used shoes made from old tyres - so that it would be impossible to tell in which direction they were going. And they had a method for channeling away any smoke they produced from their cooking fires. They left nothing to chance.
We were able to fire a real gun as well. We chose an M16 assault rifle and fired 5 bullets each (a bit of a gimmick if truth be told). After I felt the recoil from the first shot, I basically held it as far away as I could, closed my eyes and pulled the trigger. Joe fared a bit better here, actually aiming at the target in front of us. Our ears were ringing for ages after as well. Although we were wearing ear protection, it was beyond useless and the noise from the guns was deafening.
On the way back in the bus to the city, we hopped off at the War Remnants Museum. This is by far the best museum either of us has ever been to - museum buffs that we are and all that! It was far more than a museum though. It was the most detailed chronicle of the Vietnam War we had ever seen. I think it has recently be renovated and they have probably put a lot into it considering it is one of the main attractions of the city - and it is amazing for it. Outside they had actual machines left over from the war, such as B52 bombers and Black Hawk helicopters, different missiles etc. Inside then there were various displays of photographs and accompanying information. We hadn’t realized but an awful lot of war photographers were killed in Vietnam during the war. And so lots of the photos displayed were developed from the film that they were carrying on them when they died. So awful. It was the most incredible display either of us has ever seen-beyond description really. There was a full section dedicated to the ‘dirty war’ fought by the Americans also. Basically, because of their use of deadly dioxins such as Agent Orange, tons of people were affected by it. Mostly children born after the war, to parents who had been somehow in contact with these dioxins. The pictures were graphic and awful and the stories behind them worse. To people born with these severe disabilities in a country like Vietnam, the outlook is bleak. It was pretty horrendous stuff, but left us kind of wanting to know more about the background politics of the Vietnam war (well actually in Vietnam it’s referred to as the American war - to distinguish between the French invasion in the 1950’s).
We strolled back to our accommodation after the museum and in the process took our lives in our hands by crossing a busy road. The Vietnamese are CRAZY drivers. It’s bananas. They all drive mopeds so there could be about 80 mopeds waiting to take off from lights at any one time. Anyway, this particular time, we REALLY had to cross the road and there was no point heading up a block to the junctions because our choices there were two roundabouts. (forget about it!!) We stood there a good 10 minutes and waited for some mild break in the traffic. There was none. Eventually we went for it - basically walked into the middle of the road - apparently this is what you do and the onus is on the drivers to avoid YOU! We made it across anyway, clinging to each other (well…….me clinging to Joe really….) safe and sound and high on life afterwards. It was ridiculous!! I’m making a big deal of this because basically it is a big deal. I would not have driven in Vietnam if I was paid in diamonds - and anyone we spoke to felt the same. It’s basically a death wish and crossing the road safely is a serious achievement.
Just after we got back to our accommodation, there was a torrential downpour, which included mega thunder and lightning. This began at approx. 4.30pm. I’m nailing down the time there because at around 7.30pm, when we were having our dinner, the lightning was STILL going on. It was incredible.

The next day we did some shopping in the market and general mooching around. I don’t know if we have had complete overload of markets at this stage but it did absolutely nothing for us and we were in and out in about 40 minutes - most of that time spent looking for the nearest exit. After that we basically knocked around for a bit, got some stuff posted home and then got back to pack for our departure the next day. We were heading for Hoi An, a small UNESCO heritage town up the coast. After looking at buses and trains to the town we decided to fly - it’s almost as cheap and waaay less time. The taxi ride to the airport was horrendous. Numerous near-misses as far as we could see, but the driver seemed to take them all in his stride. Safety belts are nowhere to be seen in Vietnam and by the time we got to the airport, my nerves were shattered.
We arrived at Hoi An early evening time and were picked up from the airport by our accommodation - this is such a bonus, not to have to figure out bus times etc etc. We got to the hotel, which was situated a little outside the town, dropped our bags and decided to have a nose around. Hoi An is a town that is known for its’ UNESCO heritage status but also for its’ tailors. They are basically every second shop. It’s crazy. I was primed to buy a whole new wardrobe, but after a quick reality check (from Joe!) came to my senses. The weather wasn’t great in Hoi An - it was quite stormy and there had been some severe flooding in the town. The streets directly parallel to the river were completely flooded and the streets just perpendicular to the river were flooded about halfway up! There were some people walking through the dirty river water (if you can believe it!) but for the most part people were availing of the rides on the canoes that local women were operating. We booked tickets for the next day to go and visit Marble Mountain and China Beach. The next day we were picked up and brought to Marble Mountain. It’s phenomenal looking for sure - these mountains made entirely of marble. We had a short climb up to the top (easy peasy to us after that trek!!) but unfortunately the view wasn’t as spectacular as it might have been because of the bad weather. There were still things to do on the mountain though, a few caves to explore and the like. At one of the caves actually, we met this woman who was pretty scary looking. Her whole mouth was bloodied as if her gums were bleeding really badly. She had to have been about a hundred years old and turned out to be the nicest person ever, giving us a guided tour of this one cave - well…..she had no English and we had no Vietnamese so ‘guided’ might be an overstatement - but we basically followed her around for a bit and then she commandeered our camera and proceeded to take loads of photos of us at each landmark. She even went as far as to pose our hands when she was about to take the picture!! She was so sweet, we didn’t have the heart to tell her that we had had our fill of photos at Buddha statues (the place was full of them!) and so we kept posing until she decided we had seen enough. It was priceless. We came down a different way to the way we went up and said we would just stroll back to meet your man the driver. Unfortunately these two women latched onto us as we walked back and my one and I were completely bonding until she invited us into her shop and I realized what is was all about. Had 15 minutes then of trying to extract ourselves from the clutches of the women and shelve the guilt until we could get away again!!
We met the driver again anyway and he drove us to China Beach. China Beach was used during the Vietnam War as a rest and recuperation area for American soldiers. The weather was so cloudy that the pictures aren’t great - and as we walked down to the beach, this girl latched onto us giving us her whole life story and how we would be helping her schooling if we bought something off her blah blah blah which was incredibly distracting. My efforts to explain to her that we had been encouraged NOT to buy things from children because it encourages them NOT to go to school were falling on deaf ears and we ended up hightailing it out of there sooner rather than later.
The next day we had dedicated to exploring the town itself. As I mentioned, it’s a UNESCO heritage town and there are lots of protected buildings and museums within the old quarter of the town. A lot of these buildings have a Chinese influence, because the town used to be a port for Chinese merchants. It’s quite interesting - and of course the tailors are still every second shop, shouting at you and tempting you all the way. Managed to escape fairly unscathed anyway, to the outskirts, where we ended up booking a flight to Hanoi. Again we looked at the train and bus times and durations and figured that a flight was the way forward. So the next day we got a Taxi to the airport around lunchtime and left for Hanoi. The taxi ride was the usual, leaving you slightly breathless and thankful to be alive. We had an uneventful flight to Hanoi and got picked up by our accommodation crowd again. On the way into the city, I don’t know if I had had overload of the crazy driving or was it just severe tiredness, but at one stage on the motorway, the driver was looking at something he had left on the passenger seat, maybe his next pick-up or whatever, but suddenly to me it seemed as if we were headed for the central median (I have since realized it was just the angle of view from where I was sitting) and I let out this involuntary shout - which was the worst thing I could do really, because his head swiveled around toward me wondering what was going on - all I could do was point and whimper. The rest of the trip was as uneventful as a journey on Vietnam roads can be. (Read: several near misses and we were lucky to make it.)
We arrived in Hanoi city centre anyway and were lucky enough to be staying in a fairly central spot. That evening we had our dinner and went for a stroll around the lake. Our first impression of Hanoi I have to say wasn’t great. Every second shop, people are cooking outside - basically a wok over a gas burner - and local people pull up chairs and sit around eating and socializing. It all sounds nice, except for the fact that it’s actually pretty dirty and we saw plenty of rats and cockroaches that first night. The thing about it is, is that this type of socializing is what characterizes Vietnam to an extent, but it was a little filthy. The next day we booked our trip to Halong Bay. In Hanoi, it’s all about Halong Bay - this is one of those things that they are trying to get recognized as the eighth natural wonder of the world. It looks pretty amazing in all the pictures so we went for a trip where you stay over on the boat for the night. After booking that trip, we decided to explore the city a bit. There is an ‘Old ‘Quarter’ in Hanoi, where the streets are really narrow and all the shops spill out onto the edge of the pavement. It’s the most bizarre place. Walking through, you’re fighting for space on the narrow streets with the motorbikes going both ways. And the shops sell everything imaginable. Each shop is like a little pound shop at home, selling all sorts of knick knacks and we constantly wondered how on earth any of them turned over a profit.
We kept walking anyway and eventually ended up at what was known during the war as the ‘Hanoi Hilton’. This was the prison where the US prisoners of war were kept when they were captured by the Vietnamese. It is set up as a museum now and is really interesting. Among others, John McCain (recent US presidential candidate) was kept here during the war. Apparently now he cannot raise his arms above his head due to the torture he sustained here. Obviously they don’t highlight that kind of thing in the museum, but all in all it was really well done.
We headed back and packed up our stuff because the next day, we were heading to Halong Bay.

We were picked up from the hostel at 8 am and brought to the harbor area where our boat was leaving from. It was pandemonium down at the harbor. Hundreds of people were doing the same trip, some just going for day trips, some like us for 1 night and others were staying out on the bay for 2 nights. We got on the boat anyway with our group - there were maybe 12 of us in total - and set off. Halong Bay is incredible, but so commercialized it was hilarious. We were 1 of maybe 100 boats all headed in the same direction. Halong Bay is basically made up of hundreds of limestone islands all stretching kind of upwards. They are all uninhabitable. Spectacular to see at the same time.
On the way out to the bay, we stopped on the way at a cave filled with stalactites and stalagmites. It was pretty incredible (although to anyone who has visited the Ailwee Caves at home, not a patch). We got the opportunity to kayak around the bay a bit, which was really nice, just Joe and I on a kayak, him kayaking and me supervising. After that there wasn’t a huge amount to do except bunk down for the night after a few beers with the others on the boat. It was a bit surreal actually - once night fell, the darkness was so complete that all you could see were all the other boats lit up so if you squinted your eyes a bit, it felt like you were in the centre of a town! Bizarre.
The next day, we headed back to the harbour. On the way we went into a lagoon that had apparently been used in a James Bond film. (Can’t remember which one!) We arrived back in Hanoi for our last night there and in fact our last night in Vietnam, before we headed to Laos the next day. On a whole, both of us would go back to Vietnam in a flash. It’s got so much more to offer than we even had time to see…..but you never know…………..we’ll head back there someday hopefully.

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