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Published: March 1st 2018
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We crossed into Vietnam relatively untroubled considering the stress we had had the previous evening getting Julia an express visa. It was me that had the stomach dropping moment when an unofficial man told me my E-Visa wasn’t valid because I didn’t have a photo but having been in Asia for the past 4 months I didn’t fall for his trick and funnily enough I entered the country no problem. Why they let these scam artists hang around at border crossings etc. I don’t know, it doesn’t make for the best first impression!
We were met off the bus in Ho Chi Minh City by the usual welcoming committee of taxi drivers who had never heard of your hostel, can’t read a map and yet able to pluck an inflated price that was double what we’d been told to expect to pay by the hostel owner before arriving! But we were left with little choice than to hop onto the back of a couple of scooters and tear around the city holding on for dear life with one hand whilst trying to navigate with Google Maps with the other to get to the hostel we were spending the next few
days and Christmas in. For Christmas and New Years we’d decided that we would stay in hostels that had a free beer hour each evening and dorm rooms in order to meet people easily. It was a plan that seemed to have worked the first night as we got chatting to people in the bar but we were soon having second thoughts later that night when I was woken up to the sound of Julia pushing away an Indian lad trying to get into her bed after he’d obviously had one too many Christmas beers - no harm was done and he left the next day, thank god!
It was odd to say the least being away for Christmas, especially being in a country that doesn’t celebrate it with a bunch of strangers and eating bowls of pork and noodles whilst getting pictures of dinners from family and friends back home! But a good group of us went out on Christmas Eve to a market for food and a load of beers and on Christmas Day Julia and I went for a walk to Chinatown where the highlight was walking through a market and getting presented with multiple shots
of rice wine and food by one of the stall owners before heading for cocktails in the evening with another couple Pat and Kelsey. We had seen earlier in the day that there was a band playing live music so we went to check them out to find we were the only ones to have turned up but despite it only being the four of us we sang along and danced until it was time to go home!
After three days of dodging scooters and trying to figure out how on earth you are supposed to cross the road in Ho Chi Minh we took an overnight bus to Dalat. After the hustle and bustle of the city Dalat in the hills was a welcome change of pace for a few days. We stayed at a place called Dalat Family Guesthouse which was one of the best places we’ve stayed in so far. Having arrived very early in the morning we had some breakfast and as other guests arrived they bundled us all together and broke the ice with what seemed like an endless supply of banana pancakes and tea as everyone got to know each other. By the
time everyone had stopped arriving and eating there were ten of us in total: 3 Canadian lads, 2 Australian girls, a couple from Australia - Lachlan and Nicole; Krissy from the States and us. Everyone got on like a house on fire and we all booked to go canyoning the next day.
The canyoning was great fun. There were a few nerves as we put our wet suits and harnesses on but after a couple of practice attempts at abseiling down a wall we were ready to get stuck in with the days obstacles, which included: abseiling twice next to two waterfalls, sliding down a natural slide forwards and backwards, a 7 metre jump and to finish off the washing machine - which involved abseiling vertically into the path of a waterfall and then letting go of the rope in order to let the waterfall wash you under and spot you back up near the shore! In between all of this we were climbing and hiking so we were always on the move and never standing around too long. I’d really recommend it and I think our day was only made better by the group we were with.
Nha Trang was where we were heading for New Years. We hadn’t heard glowing reports from fellow travellers (none of who had actually been there!) but we stuck to our guns and made the bus journey there. The bus journey down the mountain was interesting! When you looked at the route on the map it looked like someone had thrown some spaghetti onto a plate and as we headed down the mountain the conditions were far from ideal. There was water rushing down the roads and at certain points you could barely see a metre out of the window the cloud was so thick but we made it and checked into our hostel. Luckily we got a good room with a couple of Kiwis, Scott and Lee, Johannes from Australia and another guy from Australia who didn’t talk to any of us! After the journey and being New Years Eve we took it easy and rested up for the following night.
New Years Eve was spent exploring the beach of Nha Trang and the area despite the weather not being great and killing time before the free bar (which was two hours instead of the usual one!) at 5pm. By 7pm everyone was well on their way helped by the bar staff syringing two beers down my neck and handing out an array of shots. It’s a surprise that we even made it down to the beach for the New Years countdown - although I’ll admit to not remembering a great deal about it but the way I was feeling when I woke up the following morning was evidence enough that I’d been there. We went to the cinema during the day before heading for a curry with the Kiwis to get 2018 off to a good start! They are also heading north but on their motorbikes but hopefully our paths will cross again.
Our first couple of weeks in Vietnam had been busy but a good start of our month here. We’ve met some great people and from here looked forward to spending a week in Hoi An and heading north.
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Kate
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Strange time zones!
Mark told me that you have reached New Zealand so not sure what is happening here! But never mind. Hopefully you'll get this brief message. Hope all still going well with you? Gave up and a took a day off just got fed up with the cold and the over the top weather reports. It is b***** cold outside so I didn't fancy working in the stores so a day at home in the warm is fine by me! Have been looking closely at the old photo albums but there is no info as to where Great Grand father & mother Leon George & Queenie Pearl lived in New Zealand. Just a few views of a bungalow, sheep and some shacks! And a couple of families that befriended them. So hopefully you have received similar hospitality. Good to see that you are still enjoying it all. Hopefully Julia is surviving your company and manages to get a bit of a break from the beer fuelled events! She seems to hold her own! Great times to you both Lots of love Kate & Mark