Views of Vietnam - Long Newsy Post

Alright chaps -now to give you a bit of a rundown on how we found Vietnam and what we got up to. We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC or Saigon as it was formerly known) around 9pm on the Saturday night. Our transfer was waiting for us and off we went into our hotel. HCMC has a population of 9million and 5million motorbikes! So our first impression of driving in the city was that it was bedlam - an accident waiting to happen. However after a day or so we realised that although the bikes swarm around like bees (Bloss's description) and everyone beeps their horn constantly - they are actually driving quite slowing at only around 25/30kph and they are fully aware of their surroundings, and in fact there are apparently hardly ever any accidents in the city. Certainly there was no evidence of prangs and bangs on the cars (not like say Bali). Crossing the road is a mastered art - I had read in the Lonely Planet that the worst thing you can do is make a run for it - the best way is just to set off from the pavement when there seems a slight slackening off in the traffic and then just slowly make your way across the road thus allowing the traffic the opportunity to divert around you! We actually got quite good at it.

Here come the swarming bees!

Street scene in HCMC Our hotel was really nice - quite old - built in 1930 but had been refurbished and was quite lovely. Even had a fresh orchid growing in our room. The staff there and in fact everywhere we went were excellent - incredibly friendly and keen to help you. The next day we headed back out to the airport around lunchtime and flew to Hanoi. We were staying in a lovely little boutique type hotel in the Old Quarter. This is an area that had 36 streets each of which was devoted to selling a different commodity eg flowers, lacquer ware, shoes, tinware, wood, embroidery etc. This is still pretty much the case today. The streets are quite narrow with lots of activity. Because houses are rated on the size of their frontage, they have very narrow fronts but go quite high and a long way back - looks quite weird!

One of the tall skinny houses After a night in Hanoi, we were picked up the next day where we had private car transport to Halong Bay (about 2 hours away). There we were taken out at about 12noon on a tender boat to a beautiful big junk moored in the bay. This was home for the next 24 hours. We had lunch, dinner, breakfast and lunch the next day on board. There were about 30 of us on board with some magnificent staff who really looked after us - there were several different nationalities (Spanish, Dutch, German, Japanese, French and Australian) and it was amazing how well we all got to know each other in the space of 24 hours. As well as the meals we visited a huge grotto with magnificent stalactites and stalagmites, an artificially created beach, a hidden bay which could only be reached by sailing through a small gap in the rock. We also cruised around the bay - over 3000 limestone islands - quite beautiful. We had a lovely cabin with double bed, aircon and our own bathroom. This little treat including all meals cost us $145 each including our private car transport to and from Hanoi.

Taking home the shopping!

The entrance to the hidden bay

The view from the cave at the top of the Grotto Next day it was back to Hanoi for another night - we had only taken backpacks with us on the junk and left our cases at the hotel. We spent the afternoon walking around the Old Quarter and down to the Lake and the Temple there. We had a nice meal that night in a little restaurant just down from the hotel.

At the temple by the lake in Hanoi On the plane again next day to Nha Trang. This is where we had treated ourselves to a bit of luxury and as you'll have gathered from my earlier post it certainly lived up to expectations. We didn't get up to much here - we took full advantage of all the comforts and lazed around the pool, had a jacuzzi, enjoyed the fabulous breakfasts and I had a wonderful holistic massage - felt just great. We walked around the town one day and another afternoon we went to the markets there - they weren't that great but fun to visit anyway. There is a very nice sailing club there - great favourite with the backpackers and tourist alike. We had a lovely cold beer there one lunchtime and dinner there on the beach one night.

The entrance to the spa All too soon our three nights there were over and it was time to head back to HCMC. We stayed at the same hotel where they greeted us like old friends - a lovely touch. There is no doubt mind you that Aussies (even if not by birth!) seem to be pretty well liked around world. On the next day, Sunday, we hit the pavements and explored the shopping possibilities. We found a large department store where although the prices were fixed, they were open to a bit of negotiation. We then continued walking and found the Ben Thanh Market - this is a huge area of market stall - under cover - but a lot of tarps and corrugated iron so hot as hell. There were many bargains to be had here and you've seen most of mine. Prices were pretty good and the people great fun to barter with. That night we headed out to the Vietnam House for dinner - you've seen the pics. Monday we had arranged to have a tour to the tunnels at Cu Chi. I had full intentions of going into the tunnels (and Bloss was the one who wasn't sure about it) but when it came down to it - climbing 10 metres down stairs underground then having to stoop and keep my elbows by my side and follow one guide, with Bloss behind me and another guide behind him, and pitch black - claustrophobia kicked in - I didn't even realise that I had that tendency. Anyway the idea of being confined like that for 30 metres before I could get to the surface again freaked me so I didn't go. And Bloss said thank goodness 'cos he didn't want to go either! But nonetheless our visit was fascinating - we had a brilliant guide who was very knowledgeable and it gives you a different perspective on the whole thing. The Vietnamese people were very wily, clever and full of initiative as well as being very small and the Americans must have really struggled to cope with their ingenuity.

One of the hidden entrances to the tunnels - check it out alongside Bloss's Size 12

I got just inside here before I freaked In the afternoon after we got back to HCMC we visited the War Remnants Museum. I found this a very unsettling experience. There are old plans, weapons etc which didn't bother me. But there are also lots of pictures and information on those who were burned with napalm and then the aftermath of Agent Orange. We had already seen at first hand (we visited a couple of large centres for handicapped people where they make lots of crafts) the effects a generation on of this defoliant. The handicaps are dreadful - young people with no eye/s, partial limbs, or no limbs and on it goes. Seeing those photos in the museum just made me so sad and left me questioning why - that war didn't appear to change anything but left this devastation in Vietnam and hundreds of families in US, Australia and New Zealand either lost loved ones or had them come home severely injured sometimes physically but more often with terrible mental scarring. I don't have any answers but it certainly was a humbling experience for me and made me more aware than ever of the terrible waste of war - I acknowledge mind you that this is not a black and white subject and I don't want to get into a debate over it. Our little guide who was the son of a peasant farmer in the Mekong Delta who had gone to uni and was now extremely proud to be a tour guide (and who had fantastic English) had recommended a French restaurant (remember Vietnam was formerly French) called Le Mekong - so we went there for dinner and it was wonderful.

Lots of lovely bonsai around Our last day - we paid for an extra half day so that allowed us to check out at 6pm - money very well spent - otherwise you have to be out at 12noon and our flight wasn't till nearly 10pm at night so you end up losing that day. We didn't - got ourselves organised then went off shopping again then ended up lunching at a little cafe we'd found a couple of days earlier where the staff were just lovely. Then after a few final Tiger Beers we headed back to our room to do the final packing and have a shower and change and off to the airport.

The lovely guys at the Ciao Cafe

Another wonderful holiday in the annals of the Travelling Tart!! Whilst I've enjoyed everywhere we've been in the past on holiday and would happily go back again we don't usually as there are too many other place in the world we want to visit but could maybe make an exception this time - we still haven't visited the Mekong Delta or Sapa in the north and of course we're just next door to Cambodia and the magnificent Angkor Wat. I've peppered this with a few photos but if you want to see them all click on the link in my sidebar and it will take you to my Picasa web albums where you can view them as a slide show. Changing the subject completely - eating has been spot on since I got back, no alcohol and I signed up for a year's membership at the gym and did my assessment tonight and have a neat program which I plan to start Friday morning before work. Smokin!!!! Take care everyone Love Z xx