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Published: February 20th 2010
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Uncle Ho
After the war museum, I have a different opinion of the great unifier. Propaganda's a wonderful thing It's not long since we last spoke, but we've managed to cram a lot into a short space of time. We have no choice really, as we have a flight booked on 2 March from Siem Reap, in Cambodia, to Singapore. So that has given us only about 12 days to travel all of Vietnam, on to a small island called Phu Quoc that we're dying to visit, and from there overland into Cambodia. And considering that we still don't have a Cambodian visa and will be relying on the power of the US dollar to grease a few palms and ease our entry, it's a pretty tight schedule.
With no time to spare we were only in Hanoi for a night before we boarded a boat to Halong Bay, for an overnight cruise among the 300 limestone islands. We booked on the same tour as the Australian/English couple that i mentioned before, which was cool because as well as them we ended up with 10 or so other similraly-aged people. That is always likely when you book the bargain basement tour. Us and our shoestring friends went on the "tour". I put the inverted commas because the word tour
Aboard our junk in Halong Bay
The weather was poor, but the boat was called Blue Paradise. Rather over-sold it turns out, but it was a lot of fun and would have been more like paradise of the sun had shone gives the guide undue credit. As does the word "guide". We basically had a bloke with a few numbers in his phone herd us from one place to the next, holding our passports to ransom. Turns out this was so that they could ensure we paid our bar tab the next day!
Despite that, the bay was amazing. The food on the boat was pretty good too, as was the room, and it passed off pretty predictably until the evening. Then Tet and rice wine combined. In a big way. One of our group, Sammy, an affable Aussie with a penchant for drinking and Blue Steel photo poses, broached the crew about sharing some wine. Seconds later the music was blaring, the wine was being downed in shuddering gulps, and everyone was partying. Perhaps because it was unexpected, perhaps because we hijaked the much posher boat that was moored alongside ours, the evening was a great success. Made all the funnier by the cook, who took a liking to Sammy and effectively molested him all night, slapping his belly and roaring with laughter.
Hung over but happy we boarded an overnight train to Da Nang, leaving at 11pm
and arriving around 1:30pm the next day. From here it was a short taxi ride to Hoi An, our next stop. This is about half-way down Vietnam, and is a beautifully preserved town, heavily influenced by Chinese trading and architecture. We only stopped here a night because we needed to get a train to Saigon (AKA Ho Chi Minh City) the next day. Because of Tet most locals were travelling home after visiting family so everything has been super busy and booked.
Hoi An really is gorgeous, especially over the last week because it is dripping in lanterns for Tet. We hired bikes here and rode to the local beach. It was an overcast day, but that didn't stop the locals hanging out and enjoying the massive waves. Cycling around Hoi An is an experience, which at times feels like a near-death experience. People don't stop at cross-roads, they just honk their horns to let you know that they're coming. But they all do the same, informing you only that everyone's coming. All the time.
To get to Saigon (I prefer that name to its new, post-1975 official one) we had to take a train. But with the
Kayaking, Halong Bay
We shared a two-man kayak, and went off exploring the islands. Wet bums, but a lot of fun. Sounds like a maxim for life four-berth soft sleepers sold out we had to make do with a 6-berth hard-sleeper. This wasn't as bad as it sounds, despite being a 20-hour journey. We had the cutest little boy in our cabin. Most cabins had families of about ten people, despite only sleeping six, so we fared pretty well. The biggest problem was the inneffective air con. But we made it, and Saigon is awesome.
Only the second day here today, and we fly to Phu Quoc tomorrow. But last night we saw the crazy traffic, which is ten times busier than Hanoi and an amazing sight to behold. Today we've visited the War Remnants Musem, which has some horrific photography and some one-sided information. It's worth seeing but is a very sad place to be. On a lighter side we also visited Tao Dan Park, where there is a flower show to mark the spring festival, which is somehow linked to Tet although I don't really know how.
Best run now as it's hot outside and the bar beckons. Next time we write it'll be from Phu Quoc, which promises white sandy beaches, seafood and hammocks.
'Nam rocks.
Love you, bye
x
Party time
Sammy gets acquainted with the chef
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