Vietnam

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We boarded a bus to cross over into Vietnam; the border crossing was fairly simple, as we had already organised our Vietnamese visas when we were in Thailand. Arrived into Ho Chi Minh City to absolute mayhem. You can never see the actual roads due to the sheer quantity of tightly packed motorbikes! It would seem there were a world motorbike convention passing through every street at any given time. This makes it a death wish to cross the roads, and this is something you really have to master! The trick is not to run if you see an opportunity, but instead to walk across very slowly in intervals, as this allows the traffic to decide which side of you to zoom past!

Holly had started to get a slight cold on the last day of Cambodia therefore was a little concerned she’d be quarantined during her medical test at the border, so decided to face all the air con holes on the bus onto her just before they took the temperatures! Unfortunately, this cold developed into high temperature, fever, vomiting, bad stomach and flu for the next 4 days. On the 4th day we decided we both had no choice but to see a doctor as Kev still hadn’t got fully over his stomach problems!! We saw a French doctor in the international medical centre, who diagnosed our ailments and stocked us up with meds. Fortunately we didn’t have swine flu, malaria, TB, Typhoid or yellow fever, all of which have the exact same symptoms!!!!!

On the 5th day we managed to drag ourselves from our sick beds, and out to the Cu Chi tunnels, those based in Ben Dinh, about an hour and a half out of the city. The tunnels were a result of the Viet Cong literally digging themselves out of harms way during the war with America. The underground tunnels are a complex network consisting of three levels which go further deep into the ground on each level. The Viet Cong soldiers lived in, hid in and planned attacks on American soldiers from deep within the tunnels. Our guide told us how sometimes the Viet Cong would secretly build a way out of the tunnels deep within the American soldiers camp territory. In the dark of night the Vietnamese soldiers would then pop up from the opening and fire bullets into American tents & camps and then disappear back down into the tunnels without a trace, leaving the Americans if not dead, completely confused as to where the attack was coming from! These days the tunnels have been slightly widened to cater for tourism & western frames, although the experience is extremely tight, pitch black, claustrophobic, insect ridden, sweaty & sometimes dips to the point where you have to slide down mud on your back. Holly made it to the end (not for lack of fear!), but Kev standing at 6ft2 had to take one of the early exits, as the combination of a hop/skip/jump/run type movement in the tunnels was causing severe muscular pain! The end of the tunnel actually finished up in an old kitchen, and you walk up from there. Both our legs were shaking from the strain! We looked around the forest that surrounds the tunnels, saw old booby traps made from flipping grass slabs hiding ditches ridden with bamboo spears. We were shown a hidden entrance to the underground, which is TINY. It seemed impossible looking at it that any human being could get in there.

The Vietnamese guy demonstrated to us how you slide the lid over, lower yourself in, put leaves on the lid, hold it above your head and crouch down until the lid is place back on the hole - we then mimicked this. It was so tiny, and once the lid is one you cant move & you can feel insects all over you! Holly couldn’t seem to get herself back out, and the guide had mentioned some people had broken their arms trying to do so! She eventually got out but with only 1 flip-flop, so the next person to go down had to rescue it!! Around the site we saw bunkers, which were a result of B-52 bombs, tanks, smoke holes (hidden holes where the smoke from cooking could be let out from underground without drawing attention of US soldiers), and a shooting range. Initially when we heard gunshots through the forest we thought it was a tape recording over speakers making a tacky attempt at creating a similar atmosphere to what it would have been like during the war. But as we drew closer to the sounds saw it was indeed a shooting range where you had the opportunity here to shoot pretty much anything you wanted - M8 machine guns, AK-47’s, anything that was used during that war which is obviously still readily available. We opted out as it seemed a bit wrong to use weapons that were used to murder other people, basically we didn’t want our hands around the murder weapons. The sound of the guns, when you’re stood right next to them & they’re fired - is extreme. Most people wore protective ear wear, but we just tensely covered our ears with our hands! Still then, it was extremely loud and the vibrations tore straight through you; Holly couldn’t help but jump a little, every time a shot or round was taken.

We stopped in the forest around some long wooden tables to taste the ‘food’ and drink that kept the Viet Cong alive during times of battle. It basically consists of some sharp tasting tea & hot water, and tapioca (colourless, odourless, tasteless starch that was reminiscent of potato texture) dipped in crushed peanuts. Needless to say it was entirely unappetising & unbelievable this was all they had to give them energy to fight a war; not just any war at that, a guerrilla war. We were shown all sorts of traps that the VC made and how they functioned, painful just to see what they were capable of inflicting.

That evening we, once again, headed to the corner of our road to ‘Allez boo’ for some food, deciding to sit up on the 3rd floor balcony outside, which overlooks the chaos of the streets! We also spotted a traditional game being played over on the other side of the street, a kind of badminton game. The shuttlecock flies over your head and they cross their leg behind them and kick it from behind, back over their heads and to the other opponent on the other side of the court - it is amazing! No idea how they do it, so we decided to cross the death road in the dark and cross over to get a closer look at the game.

The next day we board a sleeper bus at 8am heading north to Hoi an, a mammoth journey, and Kev is starting to feel a bit unwell again. We leave from Ho Chi Min, arrive in Nga Trang at midnight, change buses and eventually arrive in Hoi an at 8am the next morning. We didn’t get any sleep with our driver going ridiculously fast in the pitch black, on uneven road, beeping his horn for no reason whatsoever every 15 seconds! Locals on our bus were slapping our legs every time they hung down slightly (we were on the top bunks & they were below us). The second the bus stops in Hoi An (and we are still lying down) people pour onto the bus and start slapping our legs and one man starts slapping Kev’s arm and shaking him to show him his guesthouse! I could not believe it, especially as Kev was ill, so I snapped at him to go away and leave us alone. Kev is so unwell when we arrive, so luckily the guesthouse we stop outside is great value, with a refreshing indoor swimming pool. Result! Although having to climb 10 flights of stairs with heavy back packs (feeling ill) to what seemed to be the furthest away room possible didn’t help! As the heat is unreal - we hadn’t felt anything like it so far. Kev spent the day in bed, and Holly caught up on some lost sleep too. We went down for lunch where Holly bit into a completely raw chicken sandwich and had to spit out everywhere! It was all wobbly, just like it had been cut off the chicken! Eurgh!

That night was full moon, and in Hoi-an they celebrate this next to the river by hanging lanterns all through the streets; have dragons dancing through the streets; selling traditional foods etc. We walked to the riverfront which is lined with quaint little wooden colonial style restaurants and cafes. Lanterns hung from above everywhere, traditional music was being played live and in motion; people were out & about everywhere, it was beautiful. The moon shone down onto the river, and they had a ground projector beam light shining back up to the moon, which looked amazing. We picked a restaurant next to the river where they served a speciality of grilled snapper in banana leaf with spring onions, garlic, lemon sauce, coriander and allsorts. It was absolutely delicious food!! Poor Kev could not eat his food as his illness deteriorated, and spent the meal back and forth from the toilet, which was really unfortunate. We headed back to the guesthouse.

The next day Kev is really unwell again, and spends the day in bed trying to recover. On top of this he develops a rash all over his body and we start to wonder if he will ever get a break! Holly goes for some laps of the pool and that night Kev is too ill to leave the room so we order some food from the guesthouse which they kindly bring up to us.

The following day, Kev is still ill, but we both manage to get out for a walk that evening around beautiful Hoi An. We eat at another cheap riverside restaurant, where Holly sampled the local speciality of ‘Cao Lau’ (Hoi An is famed for this centuries old noodle dish), made with water fetched from the local well pale. It was incredibly tasteless! We walked over the very unsafe wooden bridge that crosses to the other side of the river to the crazy night market for locals. There wasn’t much of interest there, and as the only ‘falang’ there we received lots of funny looks from people! Next day - Kev’s rash is awful and we seek advice and meds from the pharmacist across the road. Holly spends time in the swimming pool!

Following day, Kev feeling slightly better, we both take a walk around Hoi An, which is just gorgeous. One of our favourite places so far! We stayed in the old quarter and everywhere is so quaint. The buildings have a unique look, paint peeling from the outside, wooden shutters, wooden balconies, very colonial. The streets are cobblestone and peaceful with lots of old buildings and old art houses to see. We stopped for a delicious milkshake in a café on a wonderful quiet old street. We then headed to the ‘Japanese Bridge’ - a popular feature of Hoi An, which was constructed in the 1590’s by the Japanese community of Hoi An to link them with the Chinese quarters across the stream. Built into the north side of the bridge is a small temple. We walked back along the river, which is lined by trees with families underneath seeking shelter from the torturous sunshine. That night we went back to the ‘grilled snapper’ restaurant so Kev could taste the magic & Holly could once again enjoy her favourite dish! We tried some ‘white rose’ which is also a local speciality - and also extremely bland!

Following morning, we headed to Hanoi in the North on another lengthy bus trip, which we were told was straight forward, with one change of bus, no wait. However, we arrive in Hue, and are told we have a 6-hour wait there!! Extremely angry we have been misled, we finally get over it, and try and find something to do with the day, but soon realise Hue is dead and boring! Spent most of the afternoon walking around, reading and playing pool!! Finally get on our next bus and start the journey to Hanoi…We arrive the next morning, shattered and needing rest. We head for the old quarter, and find ourselves a place to stay. Take a walk through old quarter and in search of food. Chill out for the day. We take another walk out that night, and have dinner down one of the streets this side of town.

Head to Halong Bay the next day for a day trip. Board a traditional old ‘junk boat’, lined up with many others. We are out in the bay for around 4 hours, sailing through huge, dramatic, limestone formations. Stop for some traditional lunch; visit some colourfully lit caves, and a floating fish market, which had squared off sections of the water with huge fish swimming about waiting to be picked out. When we arrive back on dry land a thunderstorm starts and we all dash to the minivan. We nearly die on the 4 hour return journey - but we barely bat an eyelid. Overtaking vehicles, travelling directly into the path of another oncoming vehicle, veering back into correct lane with a second to spare before a crash - this is the norm of driving in Asia! The typical scenery on these drives is rice paddies, rice paddies and more rice paddies! People working the fields in traditional conical hats poking up amongst the paddies.

Our time in Vietnam was a little misfortunate, plagued with the flu and general sickness we spent most of our time in Vietnam, unwell in bed. Although the locals were more hostile than other places we had previously visited in Asia, we found the country both beautiful and intriguing, and Hoi an remains one of Holly’s favourite places visited. The history of the Cu Chi Tunnels, the craziness of Ho Chi Minh City, the beautiful relaxed town of Hoi an, and the dramatic scenery of Halong Bay made for a varied and interesting time in Vietnam.

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