Month: November 2016

We left Hue after our short 1 night visit. We found the time to be sufficient for the key sights.

For our trip south to Hoi An we were on a bus for a 4 hour ride. Some unusual seating for sure. But for $9, not too bad.

Hoi An is a smaller city just south of the busy, and up and coming, larger city of Da Nang. The sheer influx of hotels being built just south of Da Nang was interesting and worrisome at the same time. I hope they will manage the impact on the local environment sufficiently.

One of the first stops in Hoi An was the scooter place across the street. One stop shop for water, snacks, laundry, and scooter rental. We took our scooter down to the beach and grabbed lunch. Weather was not on our side as we were in the middle of the monsoon season. Note: Vietnam has three separate climate zones so you are bound to have some rain somewhere on your trip. It wasn’t bad and we were quickly in the dry again.

After the beach and lunch we zoomed to downtown Hoi An for some custom made/tailored clothes which Hoi An is known for. A few dresses, shirts, and blazer were designed and ordered for us. Turn around time 24 hours, and at a fraction of the cost of the USA. Hello custom made clothing.

Hoi An’s beautiful walking streets and canals were great to immerse yourself in. Less hectic than Hanoi for sure.

We also rode bicycles to an organic farm where we got to do some planting, and then cooking some lunch afterwards. We succeeded at both, but we’re experienced farmers 🙂

From Hoi An we drove north to Da Nang and caught a flight south to busy Ho Chi Minh City, formerly, and to some degree, known as Saigon.

Since it was Jessica’s birthday I may have requested some help with party preparations at our trusted Marriott family hotel (home sweet home Renaissance Saigon)

We walked and walked, checking out this more modern city. Also managed to visit the War Remnants museum which showed the very ugly side of the Vietnam war. The sheer destruction and impact that the war had left some impressions on both of us. Agent orange, napalm, torture, bombings. All terrible things that war brings. Unfortunately, as most war related information, the museum was single sided only and only showed what the USA and their allies did during the war. I am sure there were equally ugly sides of War from the North Vietnamese side. Welcome to communism.

We also had a visit to the Cu Chi tunnels located outside Saigon. These tunnels stretched over 250 km/155 miles. People simply lived underground fighting the Americans during the war. Terrible traps and killing methods were used here. 
We did get to go through these tunnels, located around 20-50 ft underground, and these were certainly not designed for walking, more crunched over or crawling. They did a great job at concealing everything from chimneys for smoke located far from kitchen areas, and ventilation shafts concealed as termite mounds.

From Saigon we headed south west to the Mekong Delta. A larger river area where people truly utilize the river as their livelihood, transport, and pleasure. Small islands with no bridges, instead they use canals linking houses, and the river keeps the commerce flowing.

We spent 2 days here with our own boat, and enjoyed a local homestay for a night. No a/c, plenty of mosquitoes at night, and a palm sized spider in the shared bathroom. Those things aside… we did get to learn some cooking and I got to make some mean spring rolls in the fancy kitchen, over a wood fired stove.

During our Mekong tour we got to visit local factories, fruit farm, bee farm, and a coconut candy “factory”. All very interesting. 

Back in Saigon we had a buffer day before our trip to Cambodia. We managed some shopping and an evening food tour by Motorbike/scooter. I was thoroughly impressed with these drivers skills, and that’s coming from me as as motorcycle rider! Food was great, and our young university students were great guides and they were eager to talk to us in almost perfect English.

And that’s it for Vietnam. Next stop Cambodia. We had a great time touring this country, but the cities are a bit of a chaos, but I guess that’s part of the experience. Hoi An was a beautiful city and a great stop. Cruising Halong Bay was also very pretty. Overall I hope that Vietnam takes care of their country and manages development and tourism better.

Hanoi is a city with almost as many scooters/motorbikes as people. I seriously doubt this is an exaggeration. Traffic is a cluster, no rules, other than the fact that one should honk every 5 seconds. Traffic lights? Who cares…. 5 people on a scooter? Sure. Scooter towing a trailer with a full size pig? Done.

As planned, I met Jessica at Hanoi Airport after my quick Hong  Kong flight, and her quick Thailand flight where she’d been touring on her own for the past 3 weeks.

Vietnam can be experienced for pretty cheap if you are willing to go a tad out of your normal comfort zone. Dinner for two, and two big beers? $US 2.50. But you do end up sitting on tiny chairs and kids tables at “illegal” street restaurants occupying Hanoi’s sidewalks. We even did a private food tour one evening. Bun Cha, Snails, Sea Worms, quail eggs with embryo, egg coffee, and some local strong alcohol shared with some enthusiastic locals who ended up buying us some beers, and sharing their appreciation for the US and especially Bill Clinton, less enthusiasm was shown towards Trump.

Time in Hanoi was spent walking around the city, watching locals simply celebrating life and having fun. On the weekends, some streets in the old quarter are blocked off for traffic where after thousands of  people take them over. Music, games, selfies, lake, concerts – you name it. These guys are loving it. I think we could learn a bit about this in the US!

On the sightseeing part we visited Hoa Loa prison that was used over various wars and conflicts. Including keeping some US Prisoners of War captured. Senator John McCain was held here. The museums description of the US POWs conditions vary a bit from the one shared by the US POWs, but it wouldn’t be any good communist proaganda if we stretched the truth a bit (I’m sure the US is guilty of similar stories themselves)

Also managed to visit the Womens museum which was a great way to learn about women in Vietnam as well as traditional family life and culture.

While Hanoi was a major target of US air raids, there is no grudge held against any American or foreigner here, more the contrary. Smiles and happy people everywhere you go. Still a bit odd to know that not long ago Americans were dropping bombs on Hanoi, and today they’re dropping dollars (or Dongs as they are humorously called)

One part that we had decided as a must do was Halong Bay, unfortunately it seems as most tourists considers this a must-do as well and it was rather busy. We spent two days on a cruise boat, also known as a “junk boat” crusing around stunningly beautiful Halong Bay. With just 8 cabins on our boat it was not crowded at all, and always great meeting other travelers from all over the world. Our crew was great and spent time with us showing us Halong Bay, including some kayaking during sunset. We did manage to visit a cave that was inundated with tourists, to the point where it was a bit ridiculous. Managing Vietnam’s natural beauty is an area where some urgent attention is needed before it is destroyed.

Heading south

We caught a domestic flight south to Hue (pronounced ¿Hué or whey?) which is a much smaller city compared to hectic Hanoi. We visited multiple sites, including the Imperial City with a massive wall surrounding impressive buildings.

Too bad these buildings were severely damaged during the war, and restoration is at a snails pace. Hue suffered some of the most intense battles between the North and the South/US during the Vietnam war. 

We enjoyed some $9 hour long massages along with some $0.50 beers from the small street vendor next door. Grabbed dinner at the beautiful riverside. 

It was a quick visit to Hue since we only had one night, but well worth our visit here. 

Next, heading further south…