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Good Morning Vietnaaaaaam!!
We're just about to leave Vietnam after just over 3 weeks here and have had the most amazing time! This has been arguably our favourite country on our travels so far! Again, it's probably a mistake trying to cram all our experiences into a single blog but I will try anyway.........
We travelled to Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon) from Cambodia with the famous Sinh Tourist who dropped us smack-back in the backpacker district. As an aside, anyone travelling in Vietnam should go with Sinh Tourist who are 100% reliable and always drop you in the city centre. Anyways, upon arrival, we had no idea that this was the main street so asked a taxi driver how much to take us to a hotel which was basically on the street we were on! Of course he was honest and kindly pointed to our hotel across the street.....not!! No, the guy quoted us $5 and thank Goodness another taxi driver came up and just kept saying "no, no" or we would have been seriously fleeced!
We wandered around looking for a hotel for a while, as they all seemed to be much more expensive than Laos and Cambodia and a little old lady dressed in her PJs came up and said "I have lovely room" so we were like "how much?" but it was too expensive so we declined. She wouldn't go away though so I said we had a reservation elsewhere and she screamed "BULLs***! YOU LIAR!" Then as we hurried away, she screeched down the street "THAT'S RIGHT WALK AWAY BULLs***!" Ah, the joys of Vietnamese hospitality!
Eventually we found a decent hotel and managed to get our room down to a reasonable price by agreeing to book a day trip with them too. And when we decided later in the week that we'd need another night in Saigon, we asked the guy if we could stay another night and he was like "you want another night, you need to book your bus through me." I was like em...surely it benefits you, not us if we stay another night?!
Apart from the Vietnamese people in Saigon, we totally loved the place. We visited the Cu Chi Tunnels where the Viet Cong hid from the American soldiers during the Vietnamese War and where we had the opportunity to go about 12ft underground and travel along the tunnels. They were pretty cool but really tight and hot and we were stuck behind a very excitable Japanese guy who keep taking a million photos of us along the way. We were shown a Vietnamese propaganda video at the start which made me actually laugh out loud as they referred to American solders as "crazy American devils" and showed the Viet Cong being rewarded as "Hero American Killers." The lcoals were staring at us as if to enquire what was remotely funny....hmmmm!
We also did the walking tour of Saigon that was in the Lonely Planet book (our bible) one day which turned out to be a great day! We visited Ben Thanh market which is unparalleled by any other market on South-East Asia and where we had some scary experiences with the vendors. One in particular quoted us 60,000 dong for a little vest top which I liked and Craig came back with 40,000 dong to try and start the haggling process. However, the woman glared at us and exclaimed venemously "How dare you bargain with me?!" We slowly edged away.....
The walking tour also took us to Fanny's ice cream parlour where we had 100% natural fanny ice cream which was absolutely delicious, past various bustling street markets and through the streets where all the grand buildings such as the Municipal Theatre and Reunifcation Palace were. It was totally stunning. We paid a visit to the War Remnants Museum which was, to quote an Ozzie friend "interesting but awful," showing the after effects of Agent Orange and the brutalities of the war itself. The only down point of the day was getting the taxi home where, yet again, we were exposed to the true spirit of the Vietnamese people. We agreed a price of 50,000 dong up front with the guy and when he dropped us off Craig handed him a 50,000 note. However, as we were getting out, the guy started waving the note and saying "50, 50" and when we looked, we had swapped it with a 10,000 note, trying to claim we gave him that!! Craig told him firmly "No chance" and he didn't put up much of a fight!
Our last day in Saigon was spent at Dam Sen waterpark which we'd decided to go to to take a break from the city and to have a bit of fun! It was a great day and much fun was had by all! On the first flume, Craig wasn't allowed to go on because he had a zipper in his shorts so he went and got changed into his fisherman shorts that he'd also brought with him. However, on the way down they ripped, like majorly, and when he came off the flume, all the locals were pointing and laughing at his loss of dignity! That led us to head to a shop inside the complex which sold swimwear in an attempt to salvage his dignity but all they had in his size were a pair of tight little blue shorts (a la speedo style) and we had no choice but to buy them! Every time I looked at him after that I laughed my head off!
After Saigon, we headed to a little place in the hills called Dalat which is apparently the Vietnamese honeymoon capital. Dalat experiences very cool temperatures and, in contrast us Britons, the locals flock there in the summer to escape the heat of the rest of the country. It was so busy when we arrived and we totally panicked that we wouldn't find a hotel but eventually we found a lovely one in the centre of town.
We only stayed a couple of nights in Dalat and embarked on a day trip hosted by Sinh Tourist. It took us to a couple of stunning waterfalls within National Parks, one of which was reached by taking a rollercoaster to the bottom of the hill. so bizarre! We also visited an exmbroidery village and a place called 'Love Valley' which was probably the most random place I've ever been. It was like a little park with lots of love hearts and love statues and was extremely cheesy! Craig was laughing cos I was standing inside one of the hearts eating an oreo biscuit and he claimed never was it more true that my one true love was chocolate biscuits!
The World Cup started when we were in Dalat and then and since, we've realised that the Vietnamese love their football! We were worried about not being able to find somewhere showing the matches but they are on literally everywhere! We've also found that the locals do not necessarily support a team, they just love it when anyone scores a goal so for every goal screams of joy can be heard all over the town! It's really cute!
After Dalat, we headed on to Nha Trang, a beautiful beach resort which is so chilled out and laid back and where you can just relax most days. We had an awesome time there and even ended up staying a couple more days than intended just to catch some more rays. The weird thing about Nha Trang was that every second day there was no electricity, due to measures to conserve water or something, so we would wake up absolutely sweating with no air conditioning and struggled to get a cooked meal anywhere. Very bizarre!
Whilst in Nha Trang, we took a boat tour to four islands which was very random but lots of fun! At the first island, we got off the boat and snorkelled amongst the coral and tiny fishes and I realised how wonderful life jackets can be! They are so amazing, you just float without trying-immense! After the snorkelling, Craig and I were a bit confused that we hadn't actually seen the island itself but were hopeful for the next island. Lunch was served on the top deck of the boat when we arrived at the next island and afterwards when we ventured back down to the lower deck, it had been set up as a big stage and our tour guide broke into a rendition of "Backstreet's Back" accompanied by 'his band' which consisted of the rest of the crew! It was totally surreal! The guide claimed he could sing a song from every country so after getting Russians, Canadians and Japanese people up and indeed singing a song from their country, he started dragging me up! I was so embarrassed but decided to embrace it and waited for Flower of Scotland or something similar to start. Instead the band started playing Yellow Submarine! I sang and danced in a confused state and was so thankful when it was all over!
After the fun on the boat the crew then announced that the "floating bar" was now open and started chucking life rings into the sea. Everyone then abandoned ship and headed for the rings, whilst the tour guide floated about in the water, pouring us glasses of red wine whilst we bobbed around! I told you it was random! Hilariously fun but random! Needless to say, we saw nothing at that island either!
The food in Nha Trang was delicious and we spent a number of nights eating fresh fish or Vietnamese specialities. I couldn't understand how Craig could look at a menu full of mouth-watering food and be like "eh...a jumbo hotdog please!" Typical boy!
Our journey from Nha Trang took us on to Hoi An, which was our favourite town in Vietnam and worth a visit for anyone visiting the country. It's a very old town which is so compact and quiet that you can take a bicycle and cycle away aimlessly for most of the day, taking in the sights and exploring. Similar to other Vietnamese towns, it's very laid back and there are not many touts so you can spend much of the day not being pestered.
We found a lovely hotel with a pool and were lucky enough to get a room on the ground floor with sliding doors which opened right onto the pool. I say lucky but really it was only beneficial during the day when you could open your doors and take a quick dip. During the night it was a nightmare when the teeny boppers returned from a night of clubbing and proceeded to take a swim at 4am, smashing bottles and squealing right outside our door. Bliss!
Hoi An is famous for its tailors and Craig and I both got outfits for work, Craig opting for a tailored pin-stripe suit and me getting a dress and jacket. It was really exciting getting fitted and choosing the material and we were both really happy with the outcome! I could've bought so much more but unfortunately I was reminded of our tight budget - boo!
The other highlight of Hoi An was a little restaurant we stumbled across called Cafe 43 which was amazing! We were hooked after the first night and proceeded to go there every night whilst we were in Hoi An! We tried all the local specialities including White Rose, Shrimp Pancakes and Fish wrapped in banana leaves and for once Craig didn't opt for pizzas and burgers! We were sad to say goodbye to the family who ran the cafe and managed to get a quick photo with them before heading off!
Our last port of call in Vietnam was Hanoi and we got the sleeper bus from Hoi An straight there. The bus journey was eventful to say the least! The seats are incredibly uncomfortable and tight and the roads which are underdeveloped provide endless bumps and jolts throughout the night. At one point I was awoken by us swerving in the road and when I looked out the window to see what was going on, we were sitting on a railway line and a train was coming straight for us. The train actually had to stop for us to move! Crazy!
From Hanoi, we went straight to Halong Bay on a 3 day boat trip which was one of the highlights of our time in Vietnam! Our boat and the surrounding scenery was beautiful and on the first day we visited a place called Surprising Cave which was out of this world and like nothing I've ever seen before. Afterwards, we went kayaking which we were pathetic at and found ourselves in front of huge ships on numerous occasions whilst we frantically oared with Craig barking "RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT" as we steered out of danger!
The night on the boat was so peaceful, as we lay under the stars and tried a bit of squid fishing in the moonlight. On the second day we cycled around Cat Ba National Park in the pouring rain, again in our matching navy rain jackets and visited a place called Monkey Island which was a bit disappointing. On the third day we took in more of the stunning scenery and headed back to Hanoi.
The last few days have been spent seeing some more of Hanoi and trying not to get ourselves killed on the crazy roads. So far, I've been hit a number of times by Scooter handlebars and rider's feet but managed to avoid anything more serious! There is a knack to crossing the road in Vietnam but it's scary and if you're hesitant you're either going to get stuck in the middle of the road or squashed to death!
Hanoi is a dusty, bustling city with winding, criss-cross roads within the old quarter and more grand, colonial buildings outwith the old quarter. The city centres around a lake which is absolutely stunning at night. So far we've made it to Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum which was cool but a bit eerie, the Army museum and to see the famous Water Puppets!
We're disappointed to be leaving Vietnam, after having such a great time, but looking forward to seeing more of Thailand and Malaysia!xxxx
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