Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An, Hoi Chi Minh City - does everywhere in Vietnam begin with H!?

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Hanoi:
+ arriving at Bodega Hotel we were greeted by an army of hoteliers who were literally falling over each other trying to help us carry our bags, offering glasses of water and frantically grabbing at maps and leaflets providing us with any information we may need in Hanoi! Whilst we would be complaining had they have been rude and unhelpful, this was slightly overwhelming and surprisingly difficult to exit the lobby area and retire to our room!



+ 6 million inhabitants, 4.5 million of which own and appear to always be beeping down the streets of hanoi on their motorbike! There was literally nowhere to walk... The streets were full of motorbikes as were the pavements with parked bikes taking up the whole side walk! Negotiating our way from A to B became a bit of a maze.



+ Crossing the road was a life or death experience which we soon got the hang of... Seemingly stepping out and maintaining a constant pace while the motorbikes dodged you was the way forward... They anticipated your movements, to have suddenly become chicken and stop would have resulted in a collision and imminent death! It seems to work for them....

+ Cars were not quite so easy to work out, and literally came within inches of running over your big toe.... While still edging forward into a non existent 'space'. At one point we had to hit the front bonnet to warn it not to come any closer!

+ We are now the proud owners of Vietnamese calligraphy scrolls, each with a sentimental life phrase written and inscribed with our names! These will take pride of place at some point on our walls!

+ We decided it was time to educate ourselves, can't have everyone from home thinking we're living life on a constant holiday!! We visited the Hoa Lo Prison and learnt a bit about Vietnam's history. Firstly the revolution that overthrew the French colonials, and then the war with the USA and the reunification of the North and South. Hoa Lo prison was first used by the French to keep the revolting Vietnamese... the conditions that prisoners were kept were pretty dire! The prison was later nicknamed the Hanoi Hilton and was used to house American Pilots who had been shot down over the north of Vietnam.

+ Women play an integral role in Vietnamese life and are often referred to as "Heros" after their part in the revolution and war. We visited the 'Women's Museum' which must have been interesting as for the first time in her life Rach actually took notes and didn't complain of being bored!! Particular areas of interest were everyday life and Vietnamese weddings! A detailed journal entry establishing these facts is available upon request for anyone who is interested...

Halong Bay:

+ Voted as one of the seven wonders of nature, and one of Vietnam's most famous tourist destinations, the limestone cliffs of the 1969 islands are truly breathtaking! + We had paid for a '2 day one night deluxe' experience after reading many horror stories about people being accompanied by rats on their boats and were anxious whether we would actually get it! We needn't have worried, whilst the 'one year old' boat looked shabby from the outside, inside was a different story with first class dining and spotless rooms!





+ The food we were served was something else, and we enjoyed experiencing the best of seafood with a Vietnamese twist! Having never eaten seafood before Rach's attitude to give anything ago paid off as the food was delicious! Sampling prawn soup, crab cakes, king prawns, clams, grilled fish, deep fried fish, salted fish we enjoyed every mouthful... It was a wonder we didn't sink when we kayaked we were so full!





+ As part of the experience we visited the 'Hang Sung Sot' which translates to the 'amazing cave' which would have been more spectacular had it not been for the hundreds of tourists filing through the man made paths while spotlight lighting detracted from the natural feel of the cave. The tour guides stop at many of the features of the cave such as the incredible stalactites and stalagmites, not to tell you about the history but to ask you what you think it looks like... a woman washing her hair and a nose were some of the highlights.



+ The majesty of the scenery was marred somewhat by the sheer number of tourists, whichever way you looked there were tourist boats, notably we were one of them.





+ The effect of the tourism was also beginning to show in both the number of people touting goods to the tourists, and the accumulating amount of rubbish and pollution that could be seen in the water. With tourism in the region increasing rapidly, it would be a shame to see the emerald waters and majestic cliffs ruined.



+ It was a bit chilly on deck in the morning!



Hue:

+ The Old capital of Vietnam with many imperial and royal tombs and is home to the crumbling Citadel.

+ We had one day to learn as much about this city as humanly possible, hiring bikes seemed like the sensible option... What we had not anticipated was rain! And lots of it! Prepared with our rain coats (which were pretty pathetic in comparison to the Vietnamese full body armour of a coat) we set off without letting the weather dampen our spirits!



+ Navigation to the entrance of the Imperial Citadel was a bit of a challenge, one lap of the surrounding wall complete before finally purchasing our ticket! + Inside was a bit unclear and its safe to say neither of us really had a clue what we were looking at! Where were the red arrows and mapped out route to guide us on our way? Even our trusty Lonely Planet could only provide us with minimal information.



+ Easily distracted we didn't worry too much and decided dressing up in Vietnamese Style clothes was more fun anyway!



+ The weather went from bad to worse and by the afternoon the phrase 'pouring out of the heavens' can't even describe how heavily it non stop rained!

+ Like drowned rats we battled on determined to cycle and see 'The Tomb of Tu Duc' which was about 10km away! We arrived and the road had been replaced by a flowing river of water and gratefully we sheltered in a women's shop!

+ For the first time ever witnessed by Rach, Tom finally snapped when a Vietnamese women came and requested money for us parking our bikes outside the tomb, (why was this land hers?!) and with rain still thundering down said 'Can we just go?'... So like two people on a mission we cycled back to Hue to dry off, without seeing the Tomb!



+ The rain did not tire and went long into the night, we didn't leave 'Hue Backpackers' instead taking a positive view on things ordering ourselves a few drinks, enjoying Happy Hour and embracing the backpacker lifestyle and playing some beer pong with some fellow travellers.



Hoi An

+ Situated beside the Thu Bon River it is a beautiful town with many gorgeous colourful riverside restaurants!

+ Hoi An is a city famous for tailor made clothing, an experience we were disappointed not to try but carrying around a suit in a backpack for 5 months was never going to be ideal!

+ After getting a map and checking out the old town, we read 4km to the beach, pffffttt 4km for two fit, athletic sporty people to walk... What a doddle?! Right!! Well, after every corner we turned there was no sight of the sea, Tom's exasperation increased, because yes it was hot and it became more of a mission than a casual stroll!



+ Recommended by our friend the 'Lonely Planet' we tracked down 'The Morning Glory' restaurant, which had a buzzing crowd of people awaiting seats outside. Good sign! We indulged in both the food and the price and sampled Vietnamese food at its best devouring three courses each!

+ Hiring bicycles we visited the famous 'Japanese Bridge' which has a dog guarding one entrance and a monkey on the other! After, with clear blue skies we decided to head for the beach!

+ Sunbeds, straw umbrellas, waves crashing and relaxation led to an enjoyable day but when Rach set the timer on her camera to take a photo in the sea, smiles soon became tears when it toppled over into the sand and refused to work! Lets pray we can get it fixed!

Hoi Chi Minh City

+ Successful start to the morning... Woken up at 6.40am after arriving after 12am to confirm we did infact want to visit the Chu Chu tunnels, only to go downstairs and discover it still hadn't actually been booked!

+ Then receptionist in Lify Inn tried to pull the wool over our eyes not once but THREE times:

- Firstly, conveniently making a typo error with the calculator and overcharging us for our room

- Secondly overcharging us by 60,000 dong for our trip and when 5 minutes later we realised and questioned her she claimed it was because her 'friend' was picking us up for our trip and that was extra... Bullshit!

- Thirdly when the bus still hadn't shown kindly coming out to tell us her friend was coming to get us... Rach had just about hit boiling point and the girl sensing this proceeded to tell her how much more beautiful she was than Tom with lovely skin and blue eyes. She wasn't fooling anyone and when the guy did eventually show she gave Rach a warm hug to say goodbye like they were BFF's... Very odd and frustrating morning!

+The Chu Chi Tunnels was a worthwhile and educational visit, for once actually having an English speaking guide which made all the difference to our appreciation of what we were seeing! How the Vietnamese lived and took shelter for weeks at a time in these underground tunnels is beyond me!

+ We got to crawl through an extended tunnel measuring 120x90 which believe me was quite small and confined enough! It was a wonder Tom made it along our 100m route through the tunnels as not only was it hot, sticky and claustrophobic there was enough room to crawl and that was it... and to make matters worse we were both wearing backpacks that we weren't prepared to let out of our sight! We surfaced feeling very hot and bothered but completely amazed by the short experience.



+ Incredibly, when the tunnels were used in the war they measured only 80x60, which is incredible!! Our guide Mr Minh, who was 70 years old was very knowledgable, however it would have been nice if he could have stopped for breath occasionally as we were literally whisked from one thing to the next frantically trying to hear the valuable information he divulged on what we were seeing and giving demonstrations on how all the cleverly made boobie traps worked!

+ It was clear to see the Vietnamese were extremely proud of their efforts to defeat the Americans!

+ One thing we have become aware of in a city as huge as this is to check your change! Nearly everyone we have encountered has given us the wrong change.... In their favour of course!! Having to always have your wits about you can be pretty tiring!

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Comments

[BuiNga]

So I can see your smile, happiness in every picture you post. Thanks your post, and I hope you'll come back to Vietnam as soon as possible!