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Published: March 12th 2006
Mui Ne. Me at the dunes
These are the dunes we found by accident, not the one's on the tourist trail...Yep, when beer is cheaper than water and a big bottle of whiskey sets you back a buck you know it's gonna be good times. Just remember to look for the sign saying 'Bia Hoi' or 'Bia Tuoi' and you'll know you've struck bargain basement liquid gold. I wouldn't say I've ever been a beer coniseiur* myself until now but at 50 cents for 2 litres it doesn't taste bad! And more on the cheap whiskey later...
So here we are in Hoi An, before that Nha Trang, before that Mui Ne and before that Ho Chi Minh City. This entry is my attempt to catch up on the news of my travels without being too long winded. The way I babble on that is unlikely but wish me luck anyway! I've put in sub headings for anyone wanting to scan through.
THE CURRENCY
You feel like a billionaire here. Or maybe, more like a rock star. Yeah, I think more like a rock star. Why? Well for a start eveyone waves and smiles and says hello so you get a lot of attention (and not only from people wanting to flog you stuff). And yes, things
Jim
Mama Linh's island tour are very cheap so you can - depending on your budget - get things or do things you may not do at home, like fancy restuarants. But the main reason is the currency exchange. 15,000 dong = $US1. You go to the bank and pull out millions and millions. You might have dinner and drinks for 2 people and pay in excess of 100,000. The size of the numbers you're dealing with seems like a fortune but its actually not. Dealing with such large figures takes some getting used to and is confusing, especially if you've been through a couple of countries already. Your head becomes a jumbled mess of conversions, a scrambled computer. I mean, if you convert dong to US dollar thats one thing but if you then want to convert it to your homelands currency thats another. If you have Thai baht and Cambodian riel running around in your brain as well then mistakes can happen, especially if you are under pressure from vendors or motodrivers etc. My advice: Bring a calculator.
HO CHI MINH
I'll start with Ho Chi Minh - Previously known as Saigon, which was our first port of call
Bia Hoi
Bia Hoi = beer + cheap = fun after the Mekong Delta. Had a good time here but really its just another big city. After being forewarned about pick pockets and the like from many, many people we were, well, paranoid to be honest but we had no such encounters. We stayed in the main backpacker area which had been describe to us as Khao San Rd (in Thailand) but nicer. I guess it sums it up reasonably well. Nowhere near as tacky or racey and not so many roaming vendors but a million places to stay, eat, drink and book tours to the famed Cu Chi tunnels and elsewhere.
The first day we arrived we found a Bia Hoi place on a street just off the main traveller drag. It had vietnamese patrons rather than westerners (there is one Bia Hoi place on the strip but usually its packed) and we enjoyed a lunch time beverage with the 2 cyclo drivers we hired for the afternoon. When I say 'on the street' I mean literally on the street - there is usually limited - if any - indoor spots to enjoy this delightfully cheap beer, but I think that is half the appeal.
Afterwards we
Inside Cu Chi Tunnel
Pitch black and squeezy... roamed around the city and found that cyclo is a very good way to see the place. Moto's move too fast and in the heat and scope of a city like Ho Chi Minh it's not really viable to walk everywhere. You move slow enough to soak it in as the traffic zooms by you and you can take in the sights and grab a few snapshots. We went to 2 pagoda's and a crazy market before having dinner with our drives and more Bia Hoi - of course - and heading home.
CU CHI TUNNELS
The next day we were up early to tour the Cu Chi Tunnels. I can recommend Happy Tours. Our guide was awesome and this was definitely a tour that I enjoyed and the first time I was happy to be on one, probably because he acted like a real guide and did a good job. By the way, I think a good tip is if it is historic then a guide is a good idea (as long as he speaks your language ok and knows what he's on about) and if it is natural and you can get to it and
Cyclo
An interesting courier. do it yourself do that.
Anyhow, as I was saying, our guide, Jaki was fantastic. He had worked with the Americans as a translator in the Vietnam war. After the fall of Saigon he was jailed for 3 yrs for being an officer. He said he didn't mind being in jail too much as he knew he would be fed something and probably nobody would shoot him. He was very interesting to talk with, having many stories, first hand accounts and accounts from friends - some who he drinks with now but who were Viet cong at the time of the war.
We visited a rice paper 'factory' (really its a little hut) and rubber tree farm before arriving at the tunnels where they showed us a sweet, original North Vietnam propaganda film/documentary. It told us of the viet cong soldiers who were given medals for being 'Great American Killers' and it was interesting to see before we got to the tunnels. Before the tunnel you follow trails that show you various points of interest, such as booby traps and how they worked and Jaki explained the tunnel system.
Basically there were 3 levels in the tunnels:
Divinity
At a Pagoda in HCMC 1 at 3mt, the 2nd at 6mt and the 3rd level at 10mt. Some lived in the tunnels for over 2 decades which is incredible. The 1st level was for living, the others for moving from one place to the other and for fighting. They had living and sleeping areas, hospital areas and kitchens with ingenious ways of concealing the smoke as it surfaced from the ground. They did exceptionally well to conceal the trapdoors and would go so far as to sprink fine pepper and chilli powder so that the American forces dogs would not pick up their scent. They hid the ventilation holes with tubes of bamboo. If an enemy did find the tunnel and entered they more often than not were killed by booby traps. The viet cong would set them in different places 2 or 3 times a day so that nobody could know which way was safe. If you were the enemy you would come to a fork in the tunnel. Left might be safe, or right may be safe. How could you know? Well if you were viet cong you would ask your comrade in charge of that area where the trap was. He
Dried Prawns
At the markets HCMC would tell you, for example " On the right is safe until 3pm then it is unsafe so take the left." If you were the enemy you prayed that today was a lucky day.
You wouldn't want to bugger up your left and rights or get confused inside the tunnels. Also the tunnels extend for over 200 km, pretty incredible, and they were all dug by hand using small shovels and similar tools. The tunnels were originally dug to fight against the french, took in the vicinity of 2 decades to finish and came in equally handy when fighting the yanks. In places the tunnel would fill with water from the river for spaces of maybe 50mt or more. If you needed to get to the river (some guys would do this crossing several times daily) then you took a tube of bamboo, held your breath and swam. You knew where the breathing holes had been dug straight to the surface, so at the right spot you'd stick your tube up and take a breath before continuing on. Remember you're 10mts down and its pitch black. If you dropped your tube by accident then you had to make it
Jim
On the cyclo in HCMC to the breathing holes that were dug big enough to wedge your head into for a breath.
Jaki told a story of his drinking buddy who used to be viet cong. He was one of the fellows who did this daily trip. Once an American soldier had seen a viet cong emerge from this spot and killed him, but because of the booby traps, water and cammoflage could not enter the tunnels. After that a helicopter or American soldiers would lie in wait almost daily. Jaki's friend over came this by emerging - very, very slowly mind you - cammoflaged by water lilies and laid waiting, moving slowly and breathing through his bamboo tube, often for hours, until they left.
The tunnel that visitors are allowed to enter are bigger than most of the orignial tunnels - this tunnel is reconstructed to fit in our large western asses - and they are a tight fit, pitch black and musty. It stretches for 100mts with 2 holes along the way from which to escape from the tunnel if you're getting claustrophobic. Most people opted to get out early but about 5 of us stayed the distance and if
Incense
Countless coils hang overhead at this pagoda with an overpowering aroma. you can I recommend it. After the exit points it gets tighter, smaller and you must crawl hands and knees the rest of the way. It takes about 15minutes all up and gives you a tiny taste of what living and fighting in there for years might have been like.
No matter which side of the war you were on or whether you are against war altogether you can't help but admire the cunning, determination and resourcefulness of the viet cong. No wonder they won the war.
On a slightly different note I gave Jaki some vegemite on bread and he really liked it, even asking for seconds. I marvel at him, for he is the first non-aussie I have come across that likes vegemite. Jim pointed out that after being in the war and in jail Jaki's idea on what is edible and tasty might be a little skewed compared to most...
THE WAR MUSEUM
After the tunnel we returned to the tour office for our free lunch (well they call it free but really the cost is just absorbed into your tour price, there's no such thing as a free lunch). Then we got
SUPERDONG
Jim claims this boat is named after him... our free ride to the war museum. I do believe the museum is a must do, especially if you are interested in the history of the vietnam war or in photography and journalism. This museum has the usually info on torture and appaulling conditions for prisoners but what I found excellent was the photo journalism exhibition. A picture really can say 1000 words and these were no exception. Some would bring a chill down your spine, some you'd want to turn away from and others - if your a big sap like me - would bring a tear to the surface to trickle down your cheek. Many of the photo's were from war correspondents who met missing in action in Vietnam or Cambodia and they had the bio's of the journalists and some photo's were accompanied by quotes from the journalist describing what was going on behind the photo. It was really well done. We only had 2hours there before it closed at 5pm so my advice is get there earlier. Another hour or so would have been good for me.
BICYCLE! BICYCLE!
I rode a bicycle for the first time since I was about 10yrs old. May
Rice paper factory
The lady making the stuff. She pours each sheet by hand and gets them all identical. not seem too amazing but for me it is noteworthy enough to write down. How was it? It was just like riding a bike! What can I say? Cliches become cliches often cos they're true.
TRAVELLING BY BUS
We purchased an open bus ticket which takes you from Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi and you hop on and off as you like. You don't get a lot of choice about the time of day you travel and its rammed to bursting with travellers but it is cheap - $US16-22- and you just confirm a space the day before you want to move on. We got up early to bus to Mui Ne and the few hours travel were uneventful. I got a lot of reading done.
MUI NE
Lots of natural stuff and quiet, easy roads means you can take yourself to sightsee on a moto. I recommend NOT doing a tour by moto or jeep if you can drive yourself. We spoke to a few different people who all reached the same concensus after doing tours. You can hire a jeep and driver for 4hours for $US25 or do what we did: hire
Rice mill
Grinding the husk off the corn-not as easy as it looks. Don't think I'd make a good factory worker here... a moto for $US9 for a day and a half and take yourself where you want, when you want and stay as long as you want. Because the roads are good and places a pretty easy to find it was a comfortable ride for 2 on one bike.
Having said that we didn't find the white sand dunes on the first afternoon because we turned one road too early. On the up side we did find a patch of red sand dunes by the sea in a non-tourist spot, had it all to ourselves, no vendors or 'guides' or anything and the colours were beautiful as the sun sank, affording us some great photo ops. Sometimes taking yourself and getting lost can be the best move ever.
FINDING THE WHITE DUNES
There are no signs. So the next day we stopped along the way out of town at a guy selling petrol and to overcome the language barrier and explain the shape and colour of the dunes I used undulating hand gestures and pointing to my shirt (which was white) and saying "white". He could understand us however we had a little trouble understanding him. I used
Cu Chi Tunnel
Jim trying out the entrance my trusty 'stick in the dirt mapping technique' and that worked fine.
If you are heading out there you follow the main road out of Mui Ne and whenever the road forks follow the main part. When you get to an intersection where straight is dirt to a pagoda and right is dirt, turn left on the bitumen and take the second dirt road to your right and follow it. You'll see the dunes and the lake on your left so just follow the road til you get to the 'parking lot'. It costs 5000 dong to park.
Along the way we picked up Lun aged 8yrs who is, by my estimation, a serious contender for youngest,smallest hitchhiker in the world. He is one of the 'guides' at the dunes so getting a ride was probably a fantastic start to his shift.
THE 'GUIDES' AT THE DUNES
Are children who will expect money. They follow you even if you don't want a sand board, even if you say you don't need a guide, even if you physically chase them away. They follow, undeterred. We know this because Jim tried all of the above. The chasing turned
Cu Chi Tunnel2
Jim trying out the abandoned US Tank into a big game, especially since the 2 boys were 11, so I filmed it and got them to 'beat' Jim up and other funny stuff. We gave in in true "if you can't beat 'em join 'em" style and it was good, we came back, bought them a drink and showed them the footage which they got a big kick out of. Then they hit us up for some money and they are definitely of the 'aim high' persuasion out at the dunes wanting 50,000 dong each! This is a lot so we bargained them down. You feel a bit mean haggling with kids but you gotta do what you gotta do... again, ALWAYS ask how much FIRST!!!
FAIRY STREAM
I really enjoyed this. Again, easy to get to but a little tricky to find, it is off the main strip not far from where all the accomodation and beach resorts are. There is no sign here either but there is a little bridge and a restuarant where you walk up the stream. When you think you are near the spot stop and ask restuarant staff who'll direct you. You can usually leave your bike for free
Conical Hat
Yep, it's a hat. It's conical. It's a conical hat! and walk up the stream. The stream is stained red from the red sand dunes that border it and there are cool rock formations. It actually looks like it belongs more to the aussie outback than to asia and to cap it all off we bumped into an aussie bloke there named Reg. The stream is shallow (as in a trickle) with a couple of waist deep pools you can wade or else traverse the dunes. At the end is the waterfall which is small and unspectacular. A greater reward for your efforts is the shack at the waterfall that sells 650ml bottles of whiskey for a buck!
We got back to our guesthouse on dark, showered and drank our whiskey, killing time til our bus arrived at 1am. They were great in the bar at our guesthouse - they let us drink our dollar bottle in the bar, just ordering cokes. Nice!
The TM Brothers bus was good, new with good air con but still the ride was long and very uncomfortable - as expected - and we arrived in Nha Trang at 6:30am weary.
BEST MADE PLANS ARE LAID TO WASTE
The rationale behind
Jaki and snake wine
Snake wine: a bottle of liquid in which is pickled a cobra, sometimes with another snake, gekko or scorpion in it's mouth. It doesn't taste good... the night bus was that we would save the cost of a nights accomodation and arrive early with the whole day ahead of us to enjoy Nha Trang. Our whirl wind tour of Vietnam, with only 3 weeks here, means everyday counts. In reality we were exhausted, grabbed a room and slept til about 2pm. By the time we pulled ourselves together, had a shower and food the day and its hopeful prospects were all but gone. We took a walk, found the ATM and the well known Mama Linh's boat tour office. This place is lauded by every travel guide - especially Lonely Planet - as a rockin' booze cruise. The original boat tour was Mama Hahn but she's apparently cooling her heels in the pen after some derogatory comments regarding Ho Chi Minh. Although the official word is she was locked up for supplying weed to her boat trippers we have it on good authority that that was a bit of an excuse. Good tip: Don't slag off the leader of your country publicly, especially if its communist.
So we booked on expecting a wild party but it wasn't what we expected. We found ourselves onboard with
Peak Hour
You take your life into your own hands when crossing the street in HCMC. Just take a deep breathe and step out in to crazy oncoming traffic. Everything mum taught you not to do... a bunch of vietnamese and japanese tourists, 2 canadians and 2 irish (I think). Not much boozing with the cruising but it was still a fun day. The snorkelling was good, 1 of the canadian guys had a weird allergic reaction to something in the water and broke out in a mass of hives all over his body. He was understandably upset by this development and it didn't help that everyone crowded around him and started taking photo's. Apart from the snapping of photo's nobody paid him much heed, including the crew who seemed very unconcerned. He got better and the hives went away by lunch time but it put him off going back in the water...
Lunch was a feast then it was time for the floating bar, so everyone donned life jackets and floated around with glasses of 'wine'. The barman with a little raft came and gave refills. It tasted pretty bad but after a glass or 2 this rocket fuel made from mulberries didn't seem so bad. I had 3 small glasses and a bit of a head spin when I reboarded the boat. Oh, and I must mention the band comprising of 2 of
After the museum
Nothing bets Bia Ho after a full day of war, eath and destruction! The girls on the left and far right are our 'stalkers'. We took a cab to the border with them and ran into them everywhere after. Haven't seen 'em for a while, think we've ben moving to fast for 'em... the cooks and a guide. One on electric guitar, one on drums made with pots and pans and a singer. They started with a couple of vietnamese songs then would drag up a foreigner to sing a song from there country. Being the token aussie of the day I got up to do Waltzing Matilda and Jim was dragged up to sing a french song he didn't know, but the tune matched 'She'll be coming round the mountain'.
THE NIGHT BEFORE THE BOAT TRIP
This was a highlight of our stay in Nha Trang so I must backtrack to our first night after sleeping the day away. After booking the boat trip at the Mama Linh's office we walked a block up the street and saw a Bia Hoi sign, a cart with beer and several tiny plastic chairs and tables. You see these pint sized plastic furnishings everywhere, by the way, and they're the kind you see in kindergartens back home, a tight squeeze for foreigners with ample bottoms. The lady didn't speak english but the 2 vietnamese guys at a nearby table did and translated for us, offering us a seat at the table. We noticed
Fishing boat? What the?
Little a giant woven basket, men paddle out and net fish from them. they had Mama Linh shirts. They were cooks on the boat and members of the band. What ensued was a very funny night. They had ok english but one guys french was very good. You find that often with the older vietnamese due to the french colonialisation in the past. Jim speaks fairly fluent french so when english conversation was broken down one guy would speak to the other in vietnamese, that guy would then speak in french to Jim, who would speak back in french then that guy would translate back to the other guy in vietnamese and Jim to me in english. It was very interesting and a little arkward at times. Then a few more guys arrived and before we knew it there were 7 of us and they kept ordering us beer and wouldn't let us pay. When we said we were going to find some food they asked what we wanted, told us to say where we were and sent a guy to get it and bring it to us. They were awesome!
We all ended up intoxicated and the 2 guys went to the office and came back to us with guitars. We
Cows Cross Here
and they don't look overly impressed either! had a loud and off key sing along there on the side of the road. I particularly liked their rendition of Hotel California and Jim was happy they knew Neil Young and he played Heart of Gold and the guys sang. It was a lot of fun. We went back the next night to return the favour of the beers but everyone was subdued, tired after a long day and too many beers the night before or already at home so we followed their lead and retired early.
The next bus ride was the day after the boat trip and we had a 12 hour night bus to Hoi An to look forward to. In preparation we decided to hire a moto (only 3 dollars for the day) and take ourselves to the Thap Ba, the mineral mud and hot springs centre for a bit of pampering.
We had a little trouble finding it. We saw a sign for it on a main st but apart from Thap Ba and 2.5km it was in vietnamese. We followed the arrow and drove up and down the street twice and asked a lady at a ticket booth for a temple
and she said to take the next left. There had been no sign at the turn off but she was right and it worked out fine. The next 3 hours went like this:
First a hot shower in the natural hot mineral spring water, then a soak in a tub of mud built for 2. Then bake in the sun til the mud dries then shower in the hot spring water again. Then walk through these high powered jets of water, then soak in the mineral water bath, then in the hot spring pool, then shower again then get a massage and finish with a steam bath and a final shower. The massage was fantastic, it was the kind you see in the movies where they walk on you. I alway thought that this style didn't look that enjoyable but it really, really, REALLY was. The steam bath had herbs in it, lemongrass was what I could smell and after all that I was relaxed, calm and ready to undo all that good work with a 12 hour night bus to Hoi An.
So ends this entry. I'll be back with more soon. Til next time, take care!
*Spelt wrong I know, I know...
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treeka
non-member comment
guitar? did somebody say guitar?
so you jammed with a bunch of drunken veitnamise guys eh. good thing freddy wasn't there or it would have been " last dance with mary jane" all night long. then you would have gone back to your hostil by yourself. hahaha.