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Published: April 30th 2009
Back when I was in Nam (in an American accent)!!! Sorry I've always wanted to say that!!!
doofus! little things Hey folks, Vietnam baby! What a place. I mean WOW! By far the best place
country we have ever been too. The food, the people, the shopping, its just all amazing.
We didnt think we would like this place as we had heard some horror stories about the locals being rude and aggressive and to some extent things can be percieved this way, but in reality its just the way they speak which might give that impression.
But like a lot of the countries we have visited thus far we are always 'their fwriends...!' The locals in fact are kind and helpful and funny. They love tourists and there is quite a lot of pressure selling going on but noway near as much ripping off as places such as Thailand.
We found they get really confused with us. They look at us and go yeh definitely Indian, but then we speak and they have jaws to the floor in shock! English but they look Indians...it is hilarious, i have taken to answering the most common question of 'where you from?' and saving the confusion by just saying Índia!'
So we landed safe and sound from our journey from Vientiene on this crappy little plane. Hanoi, what a place. The first thing you notice are the millions and millions of scooters and bikes. They are like ants, literally everywhere which makes crossing the street very interesting.
Even if you look to your left and right in a very fast motion we will not anticipate the motorcycle idiot who comes out the sky...literally. Erin, Jit and I ended up making a bit of a game out of it as well. The things these motorcycles carry would put the trucking business at home out of business and to shame!
List of things seen on the back of a motorcycle (highlights only!):
A truck windscreen
A chandelier (quite a large one)
Wedding cakes
Pig carcasses
Oil drums
Canon printers (in abundance)
Ladders
Dining tables and chairs We did a bit of site seeing in Hanoi, but there isnt really much to see, its more about soaking in the atmosphere. We found ourselves travelling with the Italians, Fabio and Mario and the Canadian, Erin. We hit up the Hanoi Hilton, a
prison converted into a museum which was pretty good although very bias towards the Vietnamese. Had some amazing pork and some seriously cheep beer too...at 12p a glass its hard to complain hey!
alchi and cheap! We booked a tour to Halong Bay which is 3000 odd limestone island which pierce the sea...so we had to check it out.
Jit paint a better picture...all these islands are different shapes and sizes...no one is the same. They just protrude from the sea and are absolutely huge. Watching the boat weave in and out of them was mermising. Doing it in style we booked ourselves onto a 2 night 3 day 3 star boat....and boy was it worth it. The bay was seriously jaw dropping. I mean absolutely stunning. I hope the pics do it justice. We had the best of both worlds as the first day it was misty which gave the place a real lord of the rings vibe and the following day it was glorious sunshine which really set off the crystal green water.
it was hot! We were served up some amazing food although it was the same stuff everyday and even treated ourselves to a few
bottles of wine (wine in Asia aint cheap...).
Kay finally got some wine, Kay was so happy, Kay was a lil tipsy...cheers everyone! Its amazing how entire villages manage to live on floating villages...we stopped at one, where the Italians bought some fresh fish and seafood and cooked up a storm (Mario is a chef, and Fabio runs one in Sydney). I even got to fish but with no luck, guess the little buggars were on holiday.
Well saying 'here fishey fishey fishey every 5 seconds doesnt exactly welcome them in hun! Coupled with the fact you never keep the fishing line still and were swinging it here and there whilst fighting with Erin's fishing line would equal no fish! After 3 days of boating, biking, kayaking, caving and eating, we heading back to Hanoi to catch our overnight sleeper bus to Hue.
The overnight sleepers are an experience. Hard work for anyone over 5''4!
Hey i am 5'2 and it was hard work for me to stretch! And Vietnamese people always get priority which is a bit of a piss take as most of them are only 3ft tall!
It's great i am taller then the majority of them here! We arrived in Hue nice and early and as we were leaving the next day, we thought we cram in loads!!! We happened to stubble upon these guys called the "Breezy Riders!!!" who all spoke impecible English. They offered to drive us around on their motorbikes for a day of sightseeing. The Citidel, some tombs some viewpoints and an amazing ride through the country side, all in all, made it an amazing day. Onto another bus to Hoi An, another place both of us had been waiting for.
Hoi An doesnt really offer much in the way of sightseeing, but if your fashion freaks like we are then you have just found heaven. Tailors everywhere,
everywhere! some of the best material money can buy and above all everything is "chip chip" as the locals like to call it. We ended up going mad, 2 suits for me, 2 winter coats, 10 ties, and Kay well she got, a 3 piece woollen suit, a winter coat, 2 silk dresses and a silk jacket.
he makes it sound a lot but it really wasnt, we BOTH kept finding things we really wanted...Jit;s ties are the best! Even the
place as a town/city was really elegant. Nice little back alleys with loads of little treats to discover and even an amazing beach just a short bike ride away. This country so far had blown our expectations out of the water. After a million fittings, these two happy
very very very happy customers made there way to Nha Trang, a beachy touristy place on another overnight sleeper only to catch another sleep the same night to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City).
Nha Trang was nice, but we only had 12 hours here. Kay wasnt feeling to great
we said to you that we would tell you when we got the squitz...i had it bad and if that was not enough i threw up a few times too! So Erin and I left her to rest in a room while the pair of us went diving. Supposidly the diving here wasnt supposed to be great, but it turned out to be great. I was a little nervous getting into the water but it all came flooding back to me and before I knew it I was acting like a pro.
Dinner was quite fancy as Kay's tummy wasnt fantastic
i had pesto pasta if anyone is interested and we bumped into Matt and Laura. We had to cut this short as we had our night bus to catch, but this time it was the final goodbye. We would not be seeing them again until we get back home.
I dont think it has sunk in that we will not be seeing them, as we keep bumping into them every 5 minutes Definitely made friends for life with the crazy pair. See you guys soon, its been emotional, JK-LM...DONE!
Saigon, well this place is even busier than Hanoi, if thats possible. Our time here was short, so we crammed in the sites....yet again. Visited an amazing War Memorial Museum which was pretty graphic and hard hitting.
sickening is another word that comes to mind We will definitely be reading up on the Vietnam war when we get back.....this place really did show how cold hearted and ruthless the Americans were
no reason for a lot of it...truly disgusting. It was pretty sick and a serious eye opener. For the Vietnamese people to still be accomodating to the Americans after what happened is seriously forgiving.
Vietnam, well what
can I say, I've been to a few places in my life, but nothing prepared me for how much I would love this place.
ditto! It surpassed my expections and its a place I would reccommend to anyone for their next holiday. 2 weeks is a perfect amount of time to hit the main spots like we did.
If you do decide to go, Jit and I are available for tour services all year round! Goodnight Vietnam!!!
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Monica
non-member comment
Looks like your having fun
You guys look like your having grt fun! We are loving your blogs. Make sure you have a home coming party.