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Published: June 22nd 2017
Geo: 10.7592, 106.662
We began our journey into Vietnam on a semi-minibus that seemed to also be the local postal service as we stopped what seemed like every few km along the way picking up and dropping off all manner of parcels and packages. Once we neared Hanoi we realised the bus was headed away from the city and just as we began to panic, we were very hastily ushered off the bus onto a main highway with our bags. Confused and nervous about what was happening, all we could do was say “Hanoi?” louder and with more emphasis to the bus guy who didn't speak a word of English, when we turned around another (much larger and pimped up) bus was all of a sudden parked on the other side of the highway ready to take us into the city! This bus had three parallel rows of seats that turned into beds with an upper and lower level to choose from. Well it didn't matter where we chose, old long legs Cahill didn't fit in any of them. He somehow managed to awkwardly fold himself into one and we then settled down to be brought into the Capital city.
This
was the day before Christmas eve. We'd read that Vietnamese celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve so were excited to see what festivities we might get involved in. Nothing. There wasn't anything apart from the “midnight mass” (it was finished by 10pm) at the city Cathedral. The city was rammed with tourists and locals alike so in the hope that things would pick up we wandered around and had a few drinks. When we realised everyone was going home we admitted defeat and headed back to the hostel in the hope that things may be better on Christmas day. Well to start things off Phil was hungover. After getting up (very late) We wandered around realising that Christmas was just another day in Vietnam and unless we'd booked a party/ meal with a hostel or a hotel, it was just going to be another day for us too. We admitted defeat on the Christmas front and booked a table at a posh pizza place ('posh' meaning it cost us £35 for a meal for 2 rather than £2-4!) down the road to cheer us up... And it worked! Probably the best pizza we have EVER eaten. So even though Christmas in
Vietnam was a bit of a non-event, food saved the day! Yay food!
Next on the bucket list, Ha Long bay. As usual we decided not to go with a tour company and go it ourselves. We got the train and hydrofoil boat (very fun) to Cat Ba island and got a day tour from there around Ha Long bay and Lan Ha bay. The day consisted of a trip through the floating villages of the bay with a mini tour around a fish farm, a kayaking trip through the caves and lagoons, jumping off the boat and swimming in the lagoons, a pretty impressive lunch and snorkelling to finish it off. An amazing day that we will never forget (partially due to us both being on the receiving end of some angry coral).
After Ha Long bay we travelled back through Hanoi (waving our bitter fists at it as we remembered our disappointing Christmas spent there) and landed in a place called Dong Hoi. This was our base for visiting “paradise cave” which is the biggest visited-by-tourist cave in the world! (Only one other cave is bigger but not visitable and it's just next door so it's OK,
this one is pretty much the biggest in the world) We hired a scooter and set upon the 1.5-2 hour drive through pretty epic (and pretty f-ing cold) cross winds to Paradise cave. We realised we may have made a mistake doing the scooter when the tour buses that we headed off early to beat started rolling on past us about half way there looking very big and warm. But we ploughed on, buzzing our way through the local villages and towns and we made it. The cave was neck-breakingly massive we realised as we were walking through, craning our necks around looking at all of the humongous stalactites and mites (yes we do know the difference, thanks Dad!). It was amazing. Not being one of the more well known sites of Vietnam definitely helped as it hadn't been hyped up and when we arrived it exceeded all expectations. Unbelievable.
On the way back from the caves, in an attempt to manoeuvre around a random pack of chickens (flock? Doesn't sound so dangerous) strutting out into the road, we got a flat tyre. We pulled over. We couldn't believe our bad luck. We'd just been charged twice the price
for a bottle of petrol when we realised we were running on fumes and there wasn't a petrol station in sight. Now we had no idea what to do with a bloody flat tyre in the middle of Vietnam! When all of a sudden a (roughly) 176 year old Vietnamese man just seemed to appear on the other side of the road. We pointed at the flat tyre and he gestured down the road like the wise old man he was (we had no idea where he was pointing too but proceeded pushing the bike back in the direction we came because the old man told us to). When we got to a junction about 200 yds away we thought we'd better ask someone else (as the wind had either blown the old man away or he was a figment of our imaginations). A local guy on a scooter pulled out of the junction, we pointed to the flat tyre, he pointed us to the house literally across the road from us! We wander in, get the tyre sorted, (we're nervous as we didn't agree on a price before hand which is sinful travelling through Asia) and he's asks us
for 20,000 dong which equates to around 70p! Awesome! Back on the bike, hand it back to the people as if nothing ever happened. Happy as Larry!
After our Christmas didn't quite go to plan we were determined to have a great new year. Most people who visit Vietnam and most people who we spoke to on our travels raved about Hoi An. We did a bit of research and found that the town that you go through to get to Hoi An (called Danang) is 'the' place for new year! It's where they have a massive concert, a firework display and a countdown that's shown on TV! Yes! We looked up where it was, slightly confusing but we got the gist and were ready to rock! Unfortunately the rain just wouldn't stop coming down. We'd heard on the grapevine that the fireworks were cancelled but we didn't let this deter us, a few pre-drinks down (and a couple for on the way) we were headed to the party! When we got there we were met with a very small, very wet, very empty green area in the middle of Danang. The party must have been cancelled because of
the rain. Gutted. Plan B. We jumped in a cab and headed to a bar we were told was 'the' place to be for new year! Yes! Off we go! What awaited us was a little bar on the other side of town that had about 20 people milling around (all tourists) at the most. Damn. We decided to admit defeat again and get drunk. Ah well. There's always next year! The next day we realised that the massive TV party/ concert/ fireworks/ countdown did happen, we just went to the wrong area of town! Bugger!
Hoi An we'll just cover by saying it's a bit of an over-rated tourist trap full of boutique clothes, coffee and souvenir shops. Not really us but you can't win them all!
It had pretty much rained since we arrived in Vietnam. We were craving some sunshine and some beach time by now so we checked the forecast and headed straight for the coastal town of Mui Ne. We found a cool little hostel with a lovely looking pool. The hostel wasn't what it was about though, it was the beach! We headed to the beach and after realising that it was a Russian wind-surfing
holiday mecca because it was a tad on the breezy side, the wind pretty much blew us back to the hostel where we lounged by the pool for a few days eating banh mi. Poor us.
After Mui Ne we headed back in land to Ho Chi Min City (or Saigon). From here we visited the war remnants museum (very graphic but interesting) and the infamous Cu Chi tunnels. The tunnels definitely flared up the claustrophobia but was an amazing experience. We visited the less touristy, less tampered with tunnels and had a fantastic tour around. We went through loads of tunnels and learned a lot about Vietnamese tactics and the innovation behind the tunnels themselves.
Thus is the end of our Vietnamese adventure. A lot of ups and downs but we had a brilliant time all in all. Next stop, Cambodia!
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Christopher Carroll
non-member comment
I will take Vietnam off the places to visit for Xmas and new year then! You are certainly packing it in, did the wise old man ever re appear?