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Ok kids, so I'm not going to lie - I've been so slack with my blog in Vietnam, but thought I'd update a little summary of my crazy adventures in Vietnam for you..
So we started off in Ho Chi Min City (aka: Saigon), which I absolutely love & wish I'd spent more time there. Such a beautifully designed City thanks to the French. I'm not connected to the Internet as I write this, so I'm not sure of I've told you about the Cu Chi Tunnels, but I felt so brave for going trough the original tunnels with the bats & cockroaches, crawling on my hands & knees in the dirt & leaves (you can see the terror on my face in my selfies! Haha)..
We then headed off to the Mekong Delta for a 'homestay'. We cruised across the river on a boat before feasting like kings for lunch on freshly caught fish.. We then headed for our home for the night, and the accommodation was actually more like a School Camp type facilities, not actually in someone's house. We enjoyed a lovely 45 minute bike ride around the local village, that actually lasted 2 & half hours. We then did a local cooking class & ate what we made for dinner. We then played some crazy local Vietnamese game which involved all of us having charcoal marks drawn on our faces. The pictures are hilarious, & I have to admit that I've never laughed so much in my life while sober! Haha.
The next day we headed back to HCMC for the arvo (where I used the opportunity to shop! Haha), before boarded an overnight train to Nha Trang. The experience was actually quite ok, the cabins were clean & as there were 4 girls in our cabin, we spent the night gossiping & eating junk food we'd purchased earlier.
The 5am wake up call when we got to Nha Trang was not however enjoyable! Haha
Nha Trang is a tourist hub, the beaches are STUNNING, the weather warm & the seafood fresh. Clearly the Russians think so too, as we soon discovered that there are direct flights from Russia, therefore the beaches are filled with well built over-sized Russian men in the 40s-60s, in speedos that are 4 sizes too small. Haha. Then there are their teenage children that are six-foot & also in teeny-tiny speedos. It was entertaining & a few of us gave ourselves Russian names, mine was 'Natasha'!! Lol.. The food everywhere we ate was AMAZING, evening eating fresh BBQ on the beach from an illegal stall that was shut down by the police as we ate about 5 metres away!! We also spent a day out Snorkeling some of the local reefs & having the most ridiculous feast for lunch I've ever had. That afternoon I got up some courage & took a leap of faith into the water from the roof of the boat. I got such an adrenaline rush that I did it twice! Haha.. Before a few of us used life jackets as floating chairs to spend the afternoon sipping beers in the ocean :) the sunburn was not good, but BCF could use that as their 'this is living' campaign! So brilliant :)
One afternoon in Nha Trang, we also went to the Mud baths, where we soaked in mud before soaking in mineral water. It was a binding experience, especially as we all tried to get the mid out of our bikinis in a public area with a hose (awkward), but what a binding experience & boy did our skin feel brilliant afterwards! :)
After a few amazing days in Nha Trang, we were sick of the Russians, & boarded yet another overnight Train to Dah Nang, before a quick bus trip to Hoi An.... O. M. F. G... Hands down my favorite place I've EVER been! Cafes everywhere. Went to the Red Bridge Cooking class & learnt how to make savory crispy pancakes! (Dangerous knowledge as these things are AMAZING!!).. Got myself a few too many items made at the local tailors, & spent many an afternoon just wandering the streets, popping into a cafe for a drink & a snack between a few of us, before wandering off again. I seriously just grazed the entire time. Went out for a drink one night, what an adventure that was. Got doubled around the streets by a random that I beat in Foozball, before my tour leader yelled at him haha. We then went to another bar where we danced & played pool & Julia had control of the Laptop in the DJ box (and therefore we had Thrift Shop play about 6 times! Haha).. It was a fabulous night, though I spent half of the night behind the bar talking to the owner & ended up leaving with a job offer if I want to work there! Haha :) one night we also went to Karaoke, where I'd had a few too many of the local 'Hanoi Vodkas' as I did a solo rendition of Whitney Houston's 'I will always love you'.. Shame!!
On our final night in Hoi An, we went o Morning Glory, for the most AMAZING Caramelized pork I've ever had in my life. Then 3 of us jumped on the back out our Tour Leaders Motorbike for a very dangerous & crazy ride back to the Hotel... Haha
We then took 'Highway 1' to Hue. This 4-5 hour drive was spectacular but scary. We wound out way around narrow roads with minimal barriers & cliffs below us. I was freaking out, but loving every moment of it to be honest. Haha.
Hue is the ancient capital of Vietnam & has the imperial city. We arrived late in the afternoon & basically just wandered out for dinner. We went to a Royal themed restaurant where we dressed up in costumes & a king & queen were elected. It was one of the girls birthdays, so Morgan got to be the queen for the evening. After that we all went to a local bar (without the costumes), for some surprise birthday cake for Morgan! A few of us then kicked on with some drinks & dancing till about midnight, but we were all exhausted after traveling all day & called it a night fairly early.
Rosie & I decided to skip the group tour the next day & explore the imperial city ourselves in the morning before some shopping in the arvo.. Holy s***e, we have never sweated so much it was so stinking hot. We thought we were both being stinky smelly sooks, till I checked the weather that night to discover we had walked all day in 39 degree heat!.. The afternoon of shopping was very unsuccessful, with all the shop keepers telling us we were too fat & some even grabbing clothes out of our hands! It was 'interesting' & depressing after the fun that was had in Hoi An.. Oh well.. We made ourselves feel better by calling each other fat & then gorging at a french bakery! haha The next day we ventured to the actual shopping centre & managed to find some XL clothes that fit out size 10 frames (damn tiny Asians!).haha. It was such a weird shopping centre though, as your bag either had to be 'heat sealed' in a big plastic bag, or put in a locker before you could go into the department store or even the supermarket.. Then we were followed around by security guards the whole time! Urghh.. We had enough & decided to treat ourselves to a spa treatment & massage. Apparently they do things a little differently then western spas. In Vietnam, you strip off as a group, shower, then lay on towels on the floor wearing torn disposable undies (cause they are Asian sized & ha to rip them to fit us!), while we get a full body scrub, with the breast region being paid an uncomfortable amount of attention, before another shower. We then heard into the massage room, & laid on the floor next to each other again while still mostly naked (let's be honest, torn disposable undies don't leave much to the imagination!), for the best massage I've ever had in my life! It was incredible. Then we headed back to the shower room to wash off the oil. 4 showers in less than 2 hours! Haha..
Then we boarded our 14 hour overnight sleeper train to Hanoi..
Hanoi.. Crazy crazy place.. Initially I didn't like this place at all, as our tour leader took us to the 'old quarter' & told us that this was the beat place. As he lives in Hanoi, we believed him. After a few hours I hated it though. It was over crowded, the people rude & the food overpriced & rubbish.. That night we also went to 'the number one water puppets show in Vietnam'. I'd hate to see the rest, the puppets hasn't been painted in 10 years, an arm of one puppet fell off during the show & just floated there for the rest of the time. It was comical & an experience. The story telling behind the puppets was good though, as was the local music that played during the show.
The next day we boarded a bus for a few hours to catch a private boat to Halong Bay.
Far out, words can not describe Halong Bay. The islands just keep popping out of the water, so gravity defying with their height & beauty. We stopped at a port & walked a few hundred stairs to a cave, I didn't have very high expectations, the island didn't look very big - but my oh my this cave was MASSIVE! It's been done really well for tourists too, with lost of different colored lights to highlight the beauty if the cave. I've got some cracker pictures which will astound you! We then stopped at a local fishing village & a few of us went Kayaking through some tunnels that opened up into gorgeous little oasis where you were surrounded by sheer cliff. Poor Annie got stuck with me as the photographer (using my waterproof camera), so she did most the paddling, but the pics are worth it :)
That night we stayed on Cat Ba Island, apparently a bit of a 'tourist hub' but the streets were abandoned, (still managed to find a Lowi bar to have a drink after dinner) there was nothing much around & the beds were cement with a sheet on top. I honestly think the lino floor was softer - WORST SLEEP EVER!!
The next day we boarded a 'public ferry' (aka: a car barge like the one to Maggie Island) back to the mainland & then bused it back to Hanoi.
Hanoi take 2 was much more fun. I visited the 'Hanoi Hilton' which is an old prison, built by the French & also used for American POWs during the Vietnam war. It was interesting & actually a little bit scary (aka: dimly lit & creepy music playing in the background)... Wandering the streets of Hanoi & finding little gorgeous craft shops to buy handmade goodies (who know when I will need my new tape measure that has a purple crochet cat cover! Haha), finding gorgeous Cafes & of course my favorite thing about Hanoi: BEER HOI!!
Beer Hoi are little stalls on the street, where you sit on children sized plastic chairs & tables, shell your own fresh peanuts & drink the Local Beer that's icy cold & has been brewed on site. It's so light & drinkable. The locals couldn't believe there were females drinking beer & proceeded to challenge us to skulking competitions, & then buy us more rounds when I beat them (aren't you proud Mum & Dad!) haha.. We stumbled away spending about an hour & $10 between us on about 6-7 rounds each. Such cheap fun! When I left on a bus a few days later, the locals were waving goodbye to me from the Beer Hoi across the road from our Hotel! Haha :)
The road to Laos was not so fun.. 19 hours driving over 2 days, to travel 430ks.. Over the Ho Chi Min Trail (aka through the windy mountain roads in the fog). Next time I will be flying... But eventually arrived safely in Vientiane Laos :)
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