South Vietnam

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Okay guys have to admit im not doing to well with this whole blog effort but it takes me about 2 bloody hours to post a blog, too much of a perfectionist i suppose.

Anyway... i believe the last place i reported from was Hoi an from there we stumbled on down the coast in an effort to find a hidden beach resort that had been recommended to us by an aussie couple in halong bay. The biggest issue with this place was getting to it as it was very much off the beaten track. We took the overnight bus from hoi an to nha trang and got dropped off at the side of the road pretty much in the middle of nowhere, the only sign of life were the people opening up the petrol station and a few locals sleeping in deck chairs at the side of the road. Not knowing where we were we therefore had to wake up the locals and ask them how to get to Jungle Beach Resort, supprise supprise they could take us for "cheap cheap" and out of knowhere came three mopeds. After a 20 minute ride down a dirt track passing through a fishing dock and a sailor town which both stank we finally arrived at Jungle beach resort where we were greated by a nice glass of FREE lemon juice. This place was paradise a secluded 3 km stretch of beach shared by approximately 20 guests and a few local cockel pickers. No Resteraunts, bars, high rise hotels. Just a few beach shacks some very friendly kiwi's and two dogs that had been trained to bark and go for vietnamese.

After two days of sizzling on the beach we moved on too the Costa del sol esc City of vietnam Nha Trang, totally the opposite of where we had just come from, lots of Bars, High Rise Hotels etc. But after being tucked away from the world for a few days we were ready for a good drinking sesh, which was fuelled even more by the fact that we met my stepsister and friends which ment we had alot to catch up on!! Any excuse!! After 4 days of Vietnamese Buckets (lethal), hangovers, booze cruises which included a floating bar (Genious) and Mud Spas we thought it time to say goodbye to The Drunkeness and move on to something a little more relaxing.

Our next destination was therefore Dalat apparently the Honeymooners choice. (No we havent tied the knot) Supposed to be very picturesc, lots of waterfalls, valleys etc. But i have to say it was all very dissapointing everything had been fully taken advantage of and didnt feel at all authentic. The waterfalls all charged admission fees there was building works going on everywhere there were lots of animals in apaling conditions all in all resulting in a pretty unpleasant stay. The one positive was we had a very nice guesthouse and i now know how to ride a geared moped.

From Dalat we ventured on to Ho Chi Minh, Although everyone there still calls it Saigon. We Spent three really interesting days swatting up on our war history and agriculture as we visited the Cu Chi tunnels and the Mekong Delta. The Cu Chi Tunnels was where the viet cong whooped the americans. I tell you they were amazingly resourcefull considering there primative lifestyle, examples include making sandles that they could wear backwards totally confusing the americans to where the hell they were actually going. The Diversion of smoke to the river bed which the americans would see and then bomb. Unfortunate for them that most of them would get stuck in the mud and then be used against them. Then there were the 250km of actual tunnels which housed more than 10,000 troops which were amazing. I cant say that i learned a hell of alot about the mekong delta as our guides english wasnt the best, but i can safely say they grow alot of coconuts there. And we did get to try fresh honey tea, the bees almost attacking us while we drank it and also got to sample coconut candy which was fairly addictive.

As Time in vietnam was pretty much running away from us we thought it best to sever ties with the country and move on to Cambodia.

Check out the previous blog for photos

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