Vietnam

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Saigon - Nha Trang - Hoi An - Hue - Hanoi & Halong Bay

26th April to 16th May 2011

We got dropped in Pham Ngu Lao area of Saigon, exactly where we wanted which made a pleasant change from getting dropped at a bus station thats actually miles outside the city, a bit like a ryanair flight. From here we had just a short walk to a line of guesthouses on Bui Vien and chose Van Trang hotel. Once chekced in we walked to the Ben Than market then to the Remunification Palace, getting a cool coconut on the street along the way (sounds nicer than actually was). After this we took a walk to Notre Dame Cathedral and then the impressive war remnants museum. After studying the various planes, B52's, choppers, artillery and tiger cages where prisoners were kept in the entrance we spent a couple of hours reading about the war in the museum, a lot of it new to us and the majority of it frightening. Although very much from a Vietnamese point of view the US do not come out of this one smelling of roses. Pictures of people being killed at point blank range, accounts from various reporters who saw the treatment first hand, and photos of the aftermath (possibly the saddest of all) where children particularly were affected by a gas (Agent Orange) which was used to kill forested areas and expose the Viet Cong in hiding. We walked back to our hotel during rush hour traffic which brought us to the next sight we wanted to see..traffic in Ho Chi Minh City - manic. We soon learned from the locals that the best way to cross a road was literally to just keep walking, slow pace, giving the motorbikes time to avoid you. We had a few beers in the evening, at Le Pub and another more local place.

The next morning we booked a trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels. We had a great guide here explaining the history of the Viet Cong and some of their techniques used against the Americans...a clever bunch. Somethings that stood out were wearing sandals back to front on opposite feet so when the US were following their tracks they were being lead in the completely wrong directions or as we later found out at the tunnels straight into a trap of bamboo poison. We were shown the tunnels where they hid, tiny passageways not designed for anyone on a diet other than Vietnamese tapioka, and the traps that caught the Americans. I gave the entrance to the tunnel a go but just about fitted in, but then there was a westernised tunnel, still small but wide enough to fit us westerners, 200 metres in length but with breaks every 20 metres this was plenty and we got the idea. We got a local lunch of tapioka, the diet of the Viet Cong. No wonder they were able to fit into the narrow tunnels. On the way back to the city we stopped off at Minh Phong handicrafts where they carved beautiful wooden and egg shell paintings. That evening we booked a bus to Nha Trang for the following evening but as it was the weekend of Vietnam's Independence Day, prices were double but we had no choice.

The night bus to Nha Trang was our first proper sleeper bus where there were 3 columns of bunks beds. Were the area for the legs not covered these 'beds' would have been fine but again just not designed for anyone over 5 foot. Despite this we both slept alright and arrived in Nha Trang at 7.30 am with a lot of guesthouses fully booked or charging ridiculous prices for the holiday period. We found a lovely place though, Phong Lan, Orchid Hotel who gave us a good deal as we were going to stay here for the guts of a week. A mini bar in the room constantly restocked was the highlight here after a day on the beach, along with the nicest breakfast of our travels of fresh fruit, fresh bread and eggs. And thats essenentially how our time in Nha Trang panned out, on the beach for the day and in the evening dinner somewhere nearby, usually 'The Local' which did good local food aswell as pizzas which was a welcome break from rice dishes. We went out for beers a couple of nights but found one lcoal place that sold jugs of beer for less than the price Lonely Planet's recommended places were charging for one beer. I did find out at the end of the night that the jugs for the beer were the same jugs they used to flush the toilet with. The hangover the next day perhaps explained the kind of beer we were drinking too. We did take a break from the beach one day for a snorkelling trip to Hon Mun Island and Mot Island, seeing gorgeous corals and the highlight, a lion fish. On the way back we saw some floating fishing villages and when back at the mainland a provincial beach soccer tournament was going on which kept me entertained for the evening.

Our next stop was to Hoi An further north up the coast, another night bus. We were stuck with 2 seats down the very back beside group of English lads...very cosy. I spent more time in the air than on my seat/bed so wreckless was the driving and never so glad to get at our destination with not a wink of sleep. We walked a bit here to find somewhere to stay but got a nice place with a pool called Thien Trung. After a bit of time to recover from the trip we took a walk. All we had heard about Hoi An was tailors everywhere, which indeed there was, but nobody thought to mention how nice a little town it was. The area by the river was beautifully and tastefully decorated with lights and we walked by the Japanese Bridge, saw some local wood carving and silk lantern making in workshops. We stopped in a tailors, Kate with the plan of getting something made. I hadn't planned on getting anything but when in Rome and all that so I got 2 shirts. We had local dishes for dinner, Kate had Cao Lao, a noodle and pork dish and I had White Rose - no idea what it was but delicious. The next morning we picked up our stuff from the tailors. They turned out great and 5 more shirt fittings later we said goodbye until the following morning. We had some beers in the evening at Retreat bar and watched some football where I was told by an English man I reminded him of a young Georgie Best. Whether this was to do with my beer intake, long hair, facial hair or a combination of all I wasn't sure. It certainly wasn't my football ability. After picking up the extra shirts the next day we hired bikes and cycled to the beach, only 5 km from the centre on a lovely scenic road.

The next morning we had a short bus trip to Hue (4 hours). We were lured into a mini van at the bus station by a hotel which we were more than happy to do, not fancying walking around the city looking for somewhere, Binh Duong Hotel. We walked to the Old Citadel set for walking it only to find out it was a 10km circuit so we got 2 guys to take us around on a tricycle type bike. They showed us places we wouldn't have seen on our own, sites that were bombed during the war and a tower where the VC hid to attack the US. During lunch we were casually approached by a guy clearly selling something. But we listened to what he had to say as we usually did and after some haggling booked ourselves a motor bike tour for the next day. Mr Loc and Ni picked us up at 9am and brought us to places well off the beaten track: a pagoda where young monks prayed, an old arena where tigers and elephants would fight (yes against each other, the elephant winning as they'd cut the tigers claws before hand), Vang Canh Hill, a US bunker during the war, the Emperor King's Tomb and a village that made conical hats and incence. It was a great day and saw some great scenery along the way. We had lunch in his restaurant after. I had had enough of the Jungle book hair by now and asked Mr. Loc if there was somewhere I could get it cut. He brought me to a local guy with no English, always a risk. The first draft ended up like a drummer with a mullet from an 80's soft rock band. A few alterations and Take 2 was fine.

We got another night bus to Hanoi, glad that this was the last one as my hips were in bits from being flexed up around my chest for 12 plus hours. Again taking the easy option we checked into hotel right outside where the bus stopped, Elizabeth Hotel, which was actually right in the Old Quarter of the city, the nicest part. We were disappointed to find the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum closed so just walked around the Old Quarter for the afternoon and booked a trip to Halong Bay for the next day for 3 days and 2 nights.

4 hours saw us at Halong Bay where we got onboard for a pleasant trip. We stopped off at Thien Cung Grotto on the way, a huge impressive cave with stalagmites/tites but very manufactured looking with neon lights shining at various angles creating cool shades but would be just as impresive without this. As always with these trips when we got talking to the others in the group we soon found out we were all told different itineries and some people had even paid more. We stopped at a floating fishing village with the biggest fish i've ever seen, did some swimming and jumping off the top deck of the boat, played some cards and went to bed, spending the first night on the boat.

A lot of thunder and lightening during the night continued as rain for the early part of the day which meant there would be no trekking in the national park on Cat Ba island. Instead we were dropped off at the hotel on the island and given 'free time'. Some people opted to stay the second night on the boat too and this may have been the better option as the island is nice to look at from the water but once on the island its actually quite an ugly little place, dirty with lots of rubbish. It did brighten up in the afternoon and we took a walk to the harbour, had some beers with an English couple at dinner and got to bed. The next day we made it back to the boat and did some kayaking at the fishing village nearly getting bowled over by another tour boat but also getting into some lovely caves.

We had lunch in Halong City before the bus trip back to Hanoi where we stayed another night in Elizabeth catching a flight the next day for Bangkok.

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

I loved the tunnel photo
Great shot of the floating fishing village.