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Published: December 9th 2007
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Halong Bay
Sailing in Halong Bay It seems an age since I last wrote, but we've been keeping busy, spending time in the Kathmandu Valley (in Kathmandu itself, Patan and Bhaktapur) and Bangkok, before flying to Hanoi and travelling overland through Vietnam to Ho Chi Minh City.
We've had a few disappointing moments - notably some very wet weather in central Vietnam, which meant we couldn't visit a few sights we wanted to and also led to a 20-hour delay on an overnight train - but overall we're continuing to have a fantastic time.
Perhaps the highlight of Vietnam was a trip to Halong Bay in the north, where we spent 2 nights. Our 1st night was aboard a beautiful wooden junk, where we ate dinner whilst drifting through the islands. The 2nd night on Cat Ba Island was not quite so atmospheric, but we spent the day sailing further, exploring some of the inlets and kayaking round monkey island (which was great fun until we hit open water, when the waves were a little too rough).
The scenery in Halong Bay was stunningly beautiful, and sitting on deck watching the sun-set a real privilege. The only downside - and this is probably true
Halong Bay
Relaxing on the boat (beware of the glare off the lily whites!) of much of Vietnam - is that you never felt you'd escaped civilisation. They were numerous other boats in the bay, although the number of 'enthusiastic' sellers of local handicrafts/soft drinks was perhaps not quite as intrusive as in many other parts of the country.
We also really enjoyed Hue, which was Vietnam's political capital from 1802-1945. During this period, 13 emperors of the Nguyen dynasty reined, and many of their tombs can be visited today - the largest are spectacular. Hue also has an ancient citadel, although much of it was destroyed during the Vietnam war.
The big cities (capital Hanoi in the north and HCMC - formerly Saigon - in the south) certainly get the adrenalin rushing. Crossing a 10-lane road of motorbikes is daunting, especially when traffic lights (especially in Hanoi) are simply ignored. It's not surprising that there are an estimated 40 deaths per day on Vietnam's roads.
Whilst we enjoyed some of the sights in and around Hanoi (the Ho Chi Minh Museum, the Perfume Pagoda, Tam Coc, the Temple of Literature and the Water Puppetry), we preferred HCMC, although it perhaps has less to see - we found the atmosphere and
Halong Bay
Sunset on the boat the people more relaxed.
Probably the most visited sight in HCMC is the War Museum. Whilst it gives an unrepresentative overview of the Vietnam War (you're left with the impression this was a war between the US and Vietnam, whereas in reality it was between Communist-backed north Vietnam and the US-backed south), certainly the photos throughout the museum give a graphic depiction of what the war was like - and in particular, the impact of Agent Orange and other chemicals (72 million litres of which were used by the US as defoliants), which continues to affect many Vietnamese today.
We also journeyed out to the Cu Chi Tunnels, part of the 200km+ of tunnels that the Communists constructed, initially during the 1950s when fighting the French colonists, and which were then expanded and improved during the Vietnam war. The tunnels consisted of 3 levels, littered with booby-traps and trapdoors. Whilst the complexes housed hospitals, sleeping quarters, munitions factories and other facilities crucial to the war effort, the inter-connecting tunnels were typically only 80cm high by 60cm wide (the Vietnamese as a race are very small, and on several occasions during our time there I had people walk up
Halong Bay
Sunset on Monkey Island to me to measure themselves against me!).
The US troops had huge support networks. Their Cu Chi base received an average of 4 convoys a day, each of 60 trucks, to support the officers' clubs, radio station, sports fields, air-conditioned sleeping quarters, swimming pools and ice-machines used at the base.
The US army as a whole was using 850,000 tonnes of supplies a month and firing an estimated 1 trillion bullets, 10 million mortar rounds and dropping 4.8 million bombs (the number of bullets seems extraordinary, but the M16 fires up to 850 rounds per minute, whilst more bombs were dropped over the course of the Vietnam war by the US than by all sides during WW2).
Having found the 100m of specially widened tourist tunnels (120cm by 80cm) unbearable - especially the humidity - I can't imagine what it was like to try to fight in those conditions. The tunnels were so successful, that for many months the US couldn't even secure their bases, as many of the hidden tunnel entrances lay inside the base perimeters.
Enough of war! On a lighter note, we also visited Cao Dai temple near HCMC, went to the old
Hue
Tomb of Khai Dinh, the last King of the Nguyen dynasty town of Hoi An, visited the beaches of Nha Trang, and the lush countryside around Dalat. Dalat, reknowned for its famous Easy Rider motorbike tour guides, was perhaps our favourite location (relaxed atmosphere and beautiful surrounds) although the food and ambiance of Hoi An came a close second.
We've since travelled through Cambodia and returned safely to Bangkok. We'll try to get those photos on the blog soon.
In the meantime, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone. I know we'll be missing everyone back home over the Christmas period. For now, I'll leave you with the massive quantity of photos that Sarah spent ages selecting and uploading - enjoy!!!
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