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Over the last few weeks I'd say we've developed a bit of a love-hate relationship with Vietnam.
We took a bus from Phnom Penh to Saigon. The bus journey was not unlike the one we took within Cambodia although things did improve slightly when we crossed the border. There seemed to be some degree of traffic law in Vietnam, unlike in Cambodia, but the relentless beeping and braking didn't stop. First thing we noticed was that the motor cyclists wore helmets and the number of passengers per bike was rarely more than two. This was a big improvement on things in Cambodia where nobody wore helmets and it was fairly common to see entire families (4 or 5 people) on one moped. As well as these differences we noticed a fairly significant improvement in peoples' living conditions when we crossed the border.
First stop in Vietnam was Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon. We spent 4 days there and loved it. The city was full of life and there was a constant buzz around-this was nice after coming from Phnom Penh which lacked that spark. While in Saigon we took a trip to the Cu Chi tunnels and the Caodai Great
Cu Chi Tunnels
Ed with an AK47 Temple in Tay Ninh. The tunnels were cool- I enjoyed crawling through but was glad they had been enlarged for Western tourists! We took a few shots with the rifles at the range they have there which was good fun too. The Caodai temple was interesting to see- reminded me a little of Disneyland and I don't mean that in a disrespectful way at all but the entire complex was really colourful and ornate. They have a daily prayer service which we were allowed to watch which I found kind of strange- almost like being at the theatre.
From Saigon we also took a trip to the Mekong Delta. This was a really good day- we got to see a bit of Vietnam that was very different from the city- the floating villages on the river and some of the local handicrafts. Saigon itself is a very busy city as I said, 11 million people and 5 million motorbikes/mopeds. We spent a few days wandering around, visited the war museum which is really good and well worth a look, the reunification palace, a very impressive building- a shame its not used anymore and of course the endless markets which
In the Cu Chi tunnels
There's not a whole lot of space! can be a lot of fun depending on how much patience you have.
In Saigon we booked an open bus ticket to the north which basically meant we could hop on and off as we pleased on our way to Hanoi. It was a fairly good deal even if the bus journeys were a bit of an adventure. The buses weren't too bad and probably would have been comfortable enough had they closed the doors when all the seats were full, but that never happened. People were lying/sitting/ standing anywhere there was space and when the floor space was full they just strung up hammocks between the bunks to create more space for people- crazy.
After Saigon our first stop was Hoi An, the town of the tailors. Its a pretty small town but there are over two hundred tailors. Hoi An's old town is a world heritage site and I guess its a charming enough little place, but I saw too many rats running around the tumbledown buildings for the charm to really impress me. I know there are rats everywhere but seeing them scurrying along the street beside you makes it much worse. We spent a
Cu Chi tunnels
That's me disappearing into a bunker few days in this town- long enough to get some clothes made. The whole tailoring experience was quite funny- the tiny little Vietnamese girl that was measuring me kept commenting on how big I was- not exactly confidence boosting!! The same girl told Eddie he had really bad posture. Oh, we've no photos of Hoi An because we got conned into buying dodgy batteries from the stalls there........
So with our rucksacks a few kilos heavier we left Hoi An and headed for Hanoi. We stopped in Hue for a couple of hours which in my opinion was way too long. There were very few tourists in town and as a result we were followed around by countless moped drivers wanting to take us on a tour. The polite 'No thank you' which seemed to be working up till now was no longer accepted. Restaurant owners and boat owners literally tried to drag us into their establishments. These people just wouldn't take no for an answer and we ended up hiding out in an internet cafe just to get some peace.
The next stop was Hanoi and we were hoping that a bigger city wold mean we would
have an easier time with the locals- unfortunately not. Sitting in a terrace cafe, the cyclos or mopeds pulled up beside us to ask 'Where you go?' I would have thought it was plainly obvious I was eating my dinner and I didn't want to go anywhere..... We soon learned to eat indoors or on upstairs balconies. It was impossible to walk around the city without a moped or cyclo practically running us over looking for our business. Saigon wasn't as bad- probably because there were more tourists around so if we declined they quickly moved onto the next people. Hanoi didn't make much of an impression on us- the pollution is pretty bad and it's a very difficult place to get around. Pedestrians would need eyes in the sides and back of their heads to avoid all the bikes, which can be coming from any direction on the streets or footpaths. Oh and the traffic lights only rarely worked and even then were mostly ignored by motorcyclists and motorists. Can't believe I actually thought the traffic in Vietnam was better than Cambodia- how bad was Cambodia................
From Hanoi we took a trip out to Halong Bay- another of
Vietnams' world heritage sites. The area has the potential to be absolutely beautiful but I was disappointed with the pollution. Lonely plant refers to the emerald green waters of Halong Bay but I'd say it's a while since these waters have been that colour. The water is blacker than black now and you can see a layer of grime sitting on the top. That said we had a really enjoyable trip and met a great group of people. We spent one day and night on the boat, went to see some really impressive caves, did a bit of kayaking and entertained ourselves with karaoke after dinner. The second day and night we spent mostly on Cat Ba island, with a side trip to Monkey Island in search of monkeys. Both islands were beautiful- we cycled around Cat Ba which was really nice and did a bit of a trek on Monkey Island- well more of a scramble over rocks than a trek. We didn't find the monkeys unfortunately 😞
After our trip to Halong Bay we came back to Hanoi for one night before moving on. We had to change accommodation in Hanoi as the owner of the place
we stayed in originally wouldn't reserve a room for us because we didn't book our trip through her... aaaaggghhh! Quite typical of the Vietnamese- they take it as a personal insult if you don't buy their product or service.
The food in Vietnam varied- some was really good and some just plain boring but this probably had a lot to do with our choice of eating establishments. Overall I would say the food is tasty enough, but lacks variety. I just can't get my head around having noodles or rice for breakfast followed by more rice at lunch and even more rice again at dinner.
Anyway time for another country........
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