Sunshine and sweat and in Southern Vietnam

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The night bus from Hoi An to Nha Trang turned up early, which was first so far on this trip and even better, I was the first person on board which meant I had the pick of the seats in the bizarre arrangement that is the sleeper bus. I settled in
for the trip, which meant jamming myself into the small space as best as I could. Once again I was cursing being 6ft 3.

The seat next to me was soon taken by a South African girl, Derryn and we chatted away to pass the time and also to distract ourselves from the extremely scary view out the front window as our driver was intent on overtaking every vehicle he got up the arse of, regardless of whether there was a lorry coming the other way or not!

At the services I took the chance of some fried rice with pork, which was pretty dodgy and I was expecting the worst afterwards. Derryn and I talked till around midnight when we eventually tried to get some sleep. Sadly it wasnt forthcoming
and I laid awake most of the night trying to shuffle positions to get more comfortable until we pulled into Nha Trang at 4:30 in the morning.

Four of us from the bus decided to share a cab to where Derryn and her friend Kim had booked in but sadly the taxi only took 3, which meant that i was ferried round on the back of a morobike, complete with all of my bags and sans helmet. Have got used to this now though so wasn't quite as scary as the first time I did it in Laos.

Check in wasnt until 12 so we dumped our bags and took a walk down to the beach to watch the sunrise. It was the first time I had seen the sun in Vietnam and was a welcome change from the rain of the last few days. All along the front, people were taking their early morning exercise. It seems that all through SE Asia, everybody gets up at the crack of sparrow fart and engages in some form of activity, whether it be badminton, thai chai or even some crazy calisthenics which make people look more like they should be in a mental home than by the beach.

After a few hours sunbathing we checked in and grabbed some lunch before spending the rest of the afternoon working on the tan. Was great to finally get a bit more colour in the skin. In the evening we headed to the sailing club, a really nice beachside bar, for cocktails. We were surrounded by Russians, either on their honeymoon or enjoying a holiday. Apparently the Russian mafia had built the big theme park on the island off the beach of Nha Trang and now it is a big hotspot for them. The bar was beautiful and just like the one in Pollensa that I had been to when sailing with Tom. It felt pricey but in reality drinks were less than £2 and the food looked fantastic.

I was hoping for a quiet and early night but on getting back to the dorm room I found everyone else drinking and smoking and getting ready for a big night out. I was told I had to join them downstairs for a beer so tagged along for a bit, not
wanting to be the odd man out. I was soon nackered though and hit the hay. In the morning, I woke to find two girls in my all male dorm so obviously a couple of the lads had done ok....shows how tired I was that I slept through everything that went on!

Another day chilling on the beach was much needed and the water seemed to have cleared up after being very murky as a result of the recent typhoon. Derryn, Kim and I had dinner together and then boarded our second sleeper bus in 2 days to get down to Saigon. This one was incredibly loud, with rubbish local pop and noisy air conditioning meaning that sleep was impossible. Fortunately, the bus broke down at 1 in the morning and after a bit of a delay, we were alll transferred to another bus that was passing by and we continued the trip in much quieter surroundings. I even got a few hours of kip.

It was early morning again as we entered the huge urban sprawl of Ho Chi Minh city and the centre, still called Saigon. This time we had all booked ahead and we soon found our hostel down a small side street after the cabby had ripped us off for the short journey from the bus stop. Unfortunately we werent allowed to the rooms till 2 when all I wanted to do was sleep so instead we headed for some food and then split up as the girls needed to head to the Oz embassy to try and get some visas. I went for one of my customary long waks around the city, sweating buckets in the ridiculous humidity of the city.

First stop was reunification palace. This was the home and workplace of the President of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It was the site of the end of the Vietnam War during the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, when a North Vietnamese Army tank crashed through its gates. The palace itself was really just a concrete office building with some nice decoration and wasnt of much interest, despite the tour guide's best efforts to talk up the many dining rooms.

Second was the war remnants museum, which mostly contains relics and exhibitions from the US phase of the war. Outside were several tanks, planes and personnel carriers, as well as exhibits detailing the treatment of prisoners. As expected, there was plenty of propaganda but the main photography exhibit was really interestng, a collection put together by two guys which drew on photos taken by over 40 journalists during the war. Having only really read US accounts of the war before this trip, it was good to see the other point of view and to understand what impact the bombing and use of chemical weapons by the US had on the country.

It took me a good couple of hours to work through all of the exhibition rooms before I headed back out into the sweltering daytime sunshine of the city. From the museum I headed down through the city past Notre Dame, a very poor replica church of the famous Pairs landmark. It wasnt even open so couldnt bodge in for a look. I went straight past Louis Vuitton and a number of other designer stores....not much chance of me buying any of their stuff at the moment.

After an excellent 'eco' lunch I made my way back to the hostel as I was pretty nackered from the lack of sleep and the heat. The afternoon's entertainment came from the Hangover 2, which was a truly awful film but at least it past the time. The girls found out they were going to have to wait 2 weeks in Vietnam for their visas so were a bit down, especially as they were both unwell, so I headed for dinner on my own. As with all Asian cities, this one really seemed to come alive after dark, the
streets were teeming with people eating and drinking at one of the hundreds of restaurants and street vendors. I opted for a fish curry for something different.

After a cracking sleep I said fairwell to the girls and wished them well with their visas before heading off to catch my bus to Cambodia.

My lasting thoughts of Vietnam......the highlight was definitely Ha Long Bay, absolutely stunning and to couple the scenery with a brilliant bunch of people made for an unforgettable 3 days. It was a shame that I didnt get to see more of the North of the country, will have to get to Sapa and some of the central highlands if I ever get back here. The history of the central coastline was pretty interesting, if the places themselves werent overly exciting. Would also have been good to see more of war related stuff like the Chu Chi tunnels or the old american bases but as so often, time is against me. At least it looks like I will make it to Koh Tao for the Thai new year, with a bit of luck. Im looking forward to the few days in Cambodia,
though I suspect the trip to see the killing fields will be a somewhat sobering experience. I hope Angkor Wat lives up to my expectations but first its on to another big capital city, Pnomh Penh.

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