VIETNAM

GOOD MORNING VIETNAM
Saigon/ Ho Chi Minh

Our bus ride from Phnom Penh brought us to the capital of Vietnam – Ho Chi Minh City formerly known as Saigon.We got confused as people still call it both so we weren’t really sure what we should call it. We found a nice little guesthouse in the Pha Gnu Lao area, which is where many of the backpackers and tourists stay.
On the morning of our first day we decided that we would do a self-guided walking tour that is outlined in the Lonely Planet which takes you throughout the city and guides you to all of the tourist attractions along the way. The first place we went to was a restaurant called Pho 2000. Pho is the Vietnamese word for noodles and this restaurant was made famous because a certain President Bill Clinton and his first lady went there to try this national Vietnamese dish. So we decided that this would be a great place to have some breakfast (as locals have noodle soup for breakfast regularly). They were absolutely delicious and we would have many more bowls throughout our time in Vietnam.
We continued on throughout the rest of the city and visited the Independence Palace where the Viet Cong stormed with tanks when they overran the once American protected Saigon and renamed it Ho Chi Minh City.
As the All Blacks were going to be playing South Africa in the opening Tri-Nations match I was desperate to make sure that we could see the game and mistakenly thought that it was on early in the afternoon so we checked out an Australian owned pub called the Blue Gecko where we hoped it would be on. We found out that it would be on that night at 7.30pm instead so went to see the War Remnants Museum. We had 50 mins or so to see it before closing and even in this time we got yet another terrible reminder of man’s atrocities to his fellow man. There were horrific photographs of disfigured children attributed to the side effects of Agent Orange that the US Air force sprayed extensively over the jungle during the Vietnam War. There were numerous other photos depicting soldiers in all different situations and various war paraphernalia to be seen also.
One thing that anyone will tell you who has been to this city is that crossing the road is an adventure in itself. We had never seen so many motorbikes in our lives and intersections were absolutely chaotic. Basically if you wanted to cross the road you just picked out a spot, focused on it and then walked at a steady pace towards it. The key was not to stop so that the motorcyclists could avoid you - which they did but it was still unerving to say the least.

We finally made it back to our hotel, got changed and caught a cab to the Blue Gecko and had about 45 minutes to kill so we popped next door to a cool restaurant called 33. Outside on the footpath one of the chefs was cooking a whole suckling pig on a spit and we knew we were in for something special. There were many different types of meat on the menu so we decided to try crocodile meat. We got our own little barbeque on which to cook the meat and it came in a gorgeously delicious marinade. It was so much fun preparing our own dinner in this way and it tasted absolutely amazing. It came with some local vegetables that also tasted great cooked in this way. When dinner was done we went back to the Blue Gecko in time for kick off and watched the All Blacks triumph over South Africa in a tight fought encounter.
The next day we went on a half-day tour to see the famous Cu Chi tunnels. On the way we stopped to see a factory where lacquer furniture and other items were being made. It took about 5 months to complete one item and one of the steps of the process was to do the designs using egg shells. It was amazing to watch the incredibly intricate and delicate work unfolding before our eyes. They were true craftspeople.
We got to Cu Chi which was an area where the Viet Cong used a network of tunnels some 200 or so kilometres long to outwit the US Army and its allies in an incredible show of guerrilla warfare and ingenuity. So intricate were these systems that there were even underground kitchens for cooking which had specially designed chimneys that would take the smoke away from the cooking fires and dissipate it slowly out into the surrounding jungle. The smoke was fed into another room dug out of the earth and then fed via an underground vent to a pile of earth made to look like a termite mound. Once it came out it merely looked like mist and didn’t alert the enemy. We went to see how rice paper for spring rolls and rice wine was made. They had some people demonstarting using traditional methods.
There were trenches dug all around the area that allowed the Viet Cong to ambush enemy troops while under good cover and then retreat quickly back into tunnels to escape to somewhere else. Their ingenuity didn’t stop there. They would collect unexploded US bombs and then cut them open and take the gunpowder out of them and make booby traps and land mines of their own to fight with. They made any number of other gruesome booby traps from various types of pit traps to even ones for doorways that almost always involved some sort of impalement.
Eventually we got to go into some of the tunnels to see what it must have been like. Luckily for us our guide gave us the option of using the original tunnels or some others that had been widened for Westeners. At first being somewhat claustrophobic I couldn’t bring myself to get in the tunnels and backed out. Olivia however charged right on in leading the way for our group – she was amazing. There were two Kiwi boys from the South Island – one a farmer and the other a plumber who wouldn’t let me not give it a crack and at their insistence and support (one in front and one behind me) I finally got through and was totally relieved to come out the other end some 30 metres or so away unscathed. Olivia then told us that when she went through at the head of our column she took a wrong turn and ended up down a dead end tunnel and had to back out. She gave someone one heck of a fright when her legs and backside came out of nowhere and into the tunnel as there wasn’t that much light down there. We had another go in another tunnel that was about 50 metres long. This one had a couple of tight turns and also different levels too. After the tunnels we went to a shooting range where you could try and shoot AK 47s through to M60s.
Finally we went to an outdoor dining area where we got sample some local green tea and tapioca (in Fiji cassava or tavioka) which was one of the root crops that allowed the Viet Cong to survive during the war.
We got back to Saigon later in the afternoon and went shopping and we ended up buying some more DVDs. Olivia was wrapped as she managed to pick up the entire series, yes that’s 7 seasons worth of her favourite show ‘Sex in the City’ amongst the 80 other movies we got in some box sets all for about $40.00 NZ. That night we went to a travel agent and bought some bus tickets for future legs of our journey and organised to leave for a small beach side town called Muine the next morning.

Muine
The new day dawned and we checked out of our hotel and went to pick up some washing that we thought would be ready to collect at 7.30am which would then give us good time to go around the corner and wait for the bus. Of course the Laundromat was closed wasn’t it. So there we were standing outside this Laundromat waiting for our clean clothes and hoping that the bus would be late so we could still catch it. In the end we had to miss our bus, as the laundry still wasn’t ready, rebook for the next day and check back into our hotel. How useless aye!
After one more unplanned day in Ho Chi Minh we set off for Muine. This was a relatively short bus trip or about 6.5 hours. When we arrived we stopped outside a restaurant and there we saw our Canadian friends Tom, Marc and Anna sitting having lunch. What made this even more of a coincidence is that they didn’t even stay at that guesthouse but had only decided to go there and try the food for their final meal before catching the bus to the capital. They showed us where they had been staying and we got ourselves a room right on the beach and sat down and caught up before seeing them off on the bus a half hour later or so. We then took a dip in the sea, had a shower and changed clothes and went to a restaurant about 10 minutes walk down the beach and had the most amazing dinner. The waitress recommended a local speciality – ‘Muine Fish Salad’ and it was out of this world. There was a platter of marinated fresh snapper sliced into thin strips with salad, rice wraps and peanut sauce. You basically made a parcel out of all the food dipped it in the sauce and ate it. Silly thing was normally we had experienced that Asian portions were really small – but this time they were huge. To make matters worse we also ordered a BBQ platter that had BBQed samples of meat and seafood on it. We were absolutely stuffed when we finally finished that meal!
We had booked to catch an afternoon bus at 1.30pm the next day so we got up early had some breakfast and then hired two Motos (motorcycles with drivers) to take us around to see the sights.
First stop was the White Sand dunes that were about 45 mins ride away. We drove past some absolutely gorgeous coastline and scenery on the way and what we saw when we arrived was breath taking. The dunes looked like something straight out of the Sahara desert but sitting right next to a lily shored lake. We walked up the dunes to take a closer look and got some amazing shots.
Our next stop was the Red Canyons, which were quite remarkable. The red of the sand like soil made it look like the Australian outback.
Next up were the Pink Sand dunes and they too were a beautiful spectacle. We then stopped off at a little fishing village to watch the fisherman at work, it really stank but was interesting to have a look. We rounded off our tour with a visit to Fairy Stream and ended up with two young “guides”. At the end of our little tour they asked us for a tip and when we gave them some money as if on cue the younger one started sighing ‘Oh no, oh no… one more, one more’. It was a nice wee walk though and was refreshing to have a paddle through the stream. The bank on one side of it was really cool as it was pink and white sand in pretty formations.

We got back to our guesthouse in time for a refreshing shower and something quick to eat before catching the bus for Nha Trang.

Nha Trang

Once we had escaped the clutches of the touts trying to get us to stay at their hotel etc we walked off determined to find somewhere on our own. WIth the Lonely Planet in hand we set off for the area it said had the best value for money accomodation. Not even 5 minutes later is absolutely bucketed down! It came so fast and heavy that we were soaked in a matter of seconds so we just continued walking in the monsoon downpour and got some very funny looks from locals and other tourists alike. Luckily we had out trusty pack covers on our bags but we found out once we finally found a hotel that even they couldn’t keep our bags completely dry in rain that heavy. Some of our stuff was a little damp so our room turned into a drying rack with things hanging all over the place – including our portable clotheslines courtesy of Kathmandu and Aunty Penny.

The next day we hired a motorbike and rode off to see the sites. First up was yet another temple and then we rode to the local Mud Spa. We opted for the Mud Spa Experience package and had a 45-minute massage at the end thrown in for good measure. The Experience started with a hot mineral water shower that was surprisingly refreshing considering how hot it was. Then we got into a huge spa-bath that was filled with mud and literally bathed ourselves with it. It was so much fun ladling mud over each other and it felt absolutely amazing on the skin. After 30 mins or so of that we got out and lay on some terraces where the mud dried on our skin and once this was done had another hot mineral shower. Then we went to this cool ‘shower corridor’ where we were sprayed with more hot mineral water from either side. We met this really nice young English couple and we all jumped into the last stage of the process that was a ‘Jacuzzi’ type pool where we had one final soak. After this we were all ready for a massage and after 45 mins of the masseuses walking on our backs and twisting our limbs we emerged floating on air. It was an amazing experience to say the least! We had dinner at a little restaurant called 'Olivia' which was really nice and then headed off for a sleep.
The next day we rode our bike about 40 kms out of town to another magnificent waterfall called Yas Bay. We took a wrong turn on the way and decided to stop for directions and something to eat. This was the first time on our whole trip when we truly experienced what it was like to be somewhere where no one at all spoke English. Somehow we managed to order what turned out to be a really nice lunch and even get instructions (a lot if miming and hand signals) too. Once we arrived there we of course had a swim in the beautiful falls which was pretty nice after our long hot bike ride.
That night we went to a bar/ club called ‘The Nga Trang Sailing Club’. It was all that you can imagine a place with a name like that being. We met some other travellers from various parts of the world there and have a real fun night – so much so that we decided that after we checked out the next day we would spend the day on the beach, lounging on the deck chairs there while waiting to catch our train later that night.
So we did :) We left our bags at reception of the hotel and parked up on two deck chairs and basically spent the day lazing, reading books, swimming and sipping on cocktails. For lunch we had a special treat as there was a local lady cooking fresh seafood on a portable barbeque right on the beach. So we got a crayfish and two crabs for next to nothing and topped it off with some New Zealand Natural ice cream - hard life aye!
That night we watched the All Blacks play Australia in a local Irish bar but had to leave with 10 minutes to play so we could get to our train to Danang on time. It turned out that we lost that game so it wasn't so bad that we missed the end. We met a couple from Australia - Tony (originally from New Zealand) and Claire - from Melbourne who we would end up seeing and spending time with further along our trip.
We only managed to get soft seats on the train which doesn't sound so bad, but when its a 12 hour journey its terrible. The air conditioning was turned up so high that is was freezing and then some bright spark thought to turn it off and it was the complete opposite - baking hot!

Hoi An
From Danang we caught a mini bus to our next stop - Hoi An. We stayed at a hotel called the Tran Binh III and it was awesome value for money, especially as it had a pool, buffet breakfast and free internet. Hoi An is a beautiful quaint town situated on a river and is known amongst the travelling community for one thing - TAILORS! There are tailors everywhere in Hoi An and you cannot go anywhere without someone offering to make you a suit or dress. They also make shoes, belts, handbags and pretty much anything that you want. If you can show them a picture they will make it for you. We were recommended a place called Yaly by some people staying in our hotel. They were a bit more pricey than their competitors but the quality was top notch. We both had clothes made there - one suit, two business shirts, a full length woolen trench coat, a dress and two skirts. We were measured up in the morning of the first day and that evening had a fitting for the clothes which fit perfectly. A couple of items needed minor adjustments but the final products were awesome.
We also hired bikes and cycled out to the beach about 30 mins away and spent the day lounging and swimming there before riding back into town and having a lovely meal down on the riverside. The town was quiet a spectacle at night with beautiful laterns on sale everywhere that lit up the streets.
We had been swimming in the pool and discussing whether or not we would be going to Sapa in Northern Vietnam and an Australian girl suntanning said that we definitely should. When we told her of how long we had she insisted that we could squeeze it all in and told us to ring Hanoi Backpackers Hostel and that they would be able to sort it out for us. So we called them and Michael the owner (An Aussie too) said that we had the time to do all of our trips if we wanted to and that he would organise it for us. It was such a relief to talk to someone that could speak good English and we decided that we would do the tours through him. This meant that we would fly to Hanoi and arrive in the early afternoon. Take our bags to the Hostel and pack a day pack each. Leave our big packs with them to look after and then catch on overnight train to Sapa up north. We would spend a night in Sapa on a homestay then catch another overnight train back to Hanoi with a quick stop at the Hostel- get a change of clothes and go straight to Halong Bay. We would spend one night there and the next day get back to Hanoi at 4.00pm ish where we would stay one night. Finally we would fly via Bangkok (for one night) to Hong Kong the next day! PHEW! With this all sorted and due to time constraints (as we had to meet Ken, Amanda, Simon and Richard in Hong Kong on June 11) we caught our 45 min flight and our new friends Tony and Claire were on it also. (You will recall we had met them watching the rugby in Nha Trang and ended up meeting them again in Hoi An and having dinner with them at this cute little restaurant on the river where we had a really good Vietnamese hot pot).
Sapa
We got to Hanoi Backpackers hostel and Michael greeted us with a nice cold beer as he went over the details for the next few days with us. We packed our day packs and went out for a walk around the area where we were and ended up having dinner at a place simply called 'Pho'. It was so delicous and incredibly cheap and we said that we would be sure to go back there again. One of the staff from the hostel took us in a cab to the railway station and there we met Martin and Alex from Switzerland and Carol from England. We found our Soft Sleeper - First Class cabins and bedded down for the nights journey. We were woken up by a train guard banging on our door around 5.00am in Lao Cai and then caught a mini-bus from there to Sapa township. Once there we were met by our guide Vim at the tour office. We all had showers in the hotel and were about to have breakfast when Tama realised that he had left his whale bone pendant on the train and began to freak out! I was trying to calm him down and so was Vim but he was absolutely distraught. It was decided that Vim and Tama would go and get a picture of it printed up so that they could send it back to the train station (an hours drive away) to see if anyone had found it. After a couple of phone calls it didn't look promising! However the guy at the place where the picture was to be printed asked what had happened and Vim told him to which he asked - 'How much are you willing to pay to get it back?' Tama told him $10 US and asked how come? (He would have paid more but that's a lot to them so we started at that!) The guy replied 'I know station big boss - he can get for you - it will be here tomorrow when you come back from your trek!' Man was Tama (and I) so relieved and the others in our group were so supportive as well.
With that all out of the way our day trek started with a drive in a van about half an hour out of town to a little village. We were met by a group of locals tryng to sell us there wares and they followed us as we began our 8 hour hike. Little did we know but they would be with us for most of our journey that day. The hike took us through many villages of the various tribes of the area and some spectacular scenery. The rice paddies on the sides of the valley floor were so beautiful and it was hard not to want to take pictures of everything. It was a really hot day and the going was pretty tough in some parts and we were all relieved when VIm asked us if we would like to go for a swim soon in a waterfall? Of course we all said yes and about half an hour later we arrived at a waterfall tumbling to the valley floor below. Tama got straight in (of course) and I followed soon after. The water was so refreshing and cool - just what the doctor ordered. After our swim we set off again and were soon walking through a shady bamboo forest. We descended to the valley floor and crossed a swing bridge to the other side of the river and then it was a steep hike up some steps to a little village where we stopped for lunch. All the while we had been doing this a determined old local lady had been continuously trying to get us to buy things off her. She was really sweet and the poor thing sounded like she was on deaths door as she would bark as if she was coughing up her lungs every couple of minutes. The funniest thing about that was when we stopped for lunch she tried her sales pitch again but this time for what turned out to be some sort of mouth organ thing. She gave us a lovely demonstration and then proceeded to try and get us to buy it! This had us all in fits of laughter. We continued on after lunch and walked on through more gorgeous scenery. Our Swiss friends were feeling the heat and put towels under their hats and did their best Laurence of Arabia impressions. The final part of our trek was a steep descent again to the village of Ban Ho where we would be spending the night at the homestay. The track was trecherous and Vim told us that we would be climbing back up it to our transport out of there the next day. None of us were too keen on this idea as it was so steep and slippery. Once at the homestay we had a cold beer and stowed our packs in the lodge. Then we got into our togs and walked about 10 minutes to an incredibly gorgoues river for a swim. There was a huge waterfall here and a big rock that Tama, Martin and Alex swam too and of course Tama had to do some bombs and staples off of. We all decided there and then that we didnt really want to be doing any more hiking the next day but would rather spend the morning swimming and relaxing back here at the river instead.
When we got back to the homestay Vim, his wife and the hosts had been busy in the kitchen (which was an open fire) making the most delicious Vietnamese meal we had had to date. We had a starter of fries with garlic (seemed strange but was delicious) and then 5 incredible dishes rounded off with desert of fresh fruit. They also gave us some local rice wine to have with dinner which was not too bad either.
We taught our friends how to play grass and they loved it - so once dinner was over we back into the cards. We had a really lovely night playing cards and having a couple of drinks and being in the countryside with only the sound of the river and the breeze in the trees was a welcome change to the constant noise of honking horns and screaming touts in the city. Later on that night though we were awoken by the loudest thunder storm I think any of us has ever been in. The rain was bucketing down and we all had rather restless sleeps after that.
Breakfast was just as good as dinner - pancakes with freesh fruit and fresh hot Vietnamese coffee. After breakfast we packed up our stuff and went to spend the rest of the morning before lunch at the river. Due to the rain it had risen somewhat since the previous day and the currents were really strong. We had another enjoyable and relaxing swim and then returned to the homestay where there was yet another delicious meal waiting for us. This time it was fried noodles and plenty of fresh fruit for lunch. We all agreed that there was no way that we would be able to climb back up the path especially now that it had been rained upon so Vim organised for jeep to come and pick us up. The jeep that arrived was a Russian one from the Cold War era and it had no problem whatsoever climbing up the dirt/ mud road and then taking us back to Sapa. Once there Tama was able to collect his necklace but the price had risen to $20.00 US (the price always changes over here!) then we went for a lovely dinner and a beer to celebrate. After dinner we all jumped in the mini van to the train station and caught the overnight train again back to Hanoi.

Halong Bay
We arrived in the early hours about 5.00am and got a cab back to the hostel where our big packs were. Once there we had a shower and repacked some clean clothes for out trip to Halong Bay. We had some freshly baked bagguettes with NZ butter and jam for breakfast and then the bus picked us up and we were off again. On the way we stopped at a trashy tourist place for us to look at souvenirs which was supposed to be for 15 mins but turned out to be about 40 instead. From here it was straight to Halong Bay pier where we boarded the junk/ boat that would be our floating hotel for the next couple of days. It was an amazing boat and the inside looked like a 5 star hotel with all the trimmings. Once on we checked into our rooms and we got a twin room that had a fan over each bed, air cons, towels, soap, shampoo and even a toothbrush with toothpaste. It was gorgeous.
Then we had lunch and the food was incredible. We knew then that we were in for something special. From the pier we sailed across Halong Bay and the spectacle was nothing short of breathtaking. The islands rose out of the sea like huge rocks and they reminded us of Ko Phi Phi in Thailand. We arrived at a landing where we all got off and climbed a steep path up to this amazing set of caves that we explored with our guide. The people here tend to be able to get some sort of religious twist to everything and this was no different. Our guide showed us animal and people shapes all throughout the caved and many of them you needed a great deal of imagination to see what he did that's for sure. On the way back to the boat we saw these little dinghies that were basically floating shops. You could buy pretty much anything off them but our guide told us that it wasn' the best idea as the produce was usually well past its use by date. From the caves we sailed further into the bays (alot like sailing through Malborough Sounds actually) and stopped at another jetty where we all got kitted out to go kayaking. Right next to the kayaking place was a fresh seafood market where the fish and seafood were swimming in floating nets attached to the pontoon that we were standing on.
We jumped into our kayak and paddled off into the bay to have a look around. We all followed our guide who took us around into another bay where we paddled through a hole in the rock (not as good as the one in New Zealand) into a lagoon. We paddled around in there for a short while then returned to the pier and were back on the boat heading for our next stop. We ended up anchoring in this huge bay and then we all went swimming. Tama was in his element as we were allowed to jump off the boat into the water and he loved it - BOMBS AWAY! I forgot to take off my bracelets when I jumped in and one that I bought in Thailand came off and disappeared into the bay below. We were swimming for an hour or two when the guide shouted out from the boat that fresh fruit was being served on the roof top deck, so we all got out and went up to the roof for some refreshments. The sunset up on the deck was stunning with the sun setting behind the islands. All the tourist boats had anchored in what was pretty much a huge circle in the bay and it made a pretty picture. Dinner was served in the dining room and it was incredible. We had entrees of steamed clams (little ones like cockles) followed by prawns. After that we had a crab each done in a chilly sauce and then mains which included a whole cooked fish with rice and vegetables. This was all followed up with more fresh fruit for desert. After dinner our host announced that he had something very special for us - KARAOKE! It took awhile for everyone to get into it - especially as the guys running it kept choosing randon Maddonna songs and asking people to sing them. Tama finally had turn singing a Frank Sinatra number - My Way and we were all getting into it when they turned it off and we all had to head off to sleep.
Breakfast the next day was another delicious meal and we stopped off to drop off people on our boat who were doing the two day tour option on the island where they would be staying and pick up those that had just spent the night there. Next thing we knew we saw Tony and Claire (our friends from Hoi An) getting on the boat. We had a good catch up as we sailed back to shore and decided we would all meet up later that evening when we all got back to Hanoi for dinner and drinks. Once back on shore we all went to a hotel for a smorgasborg lunch and then it was into the mini-buses for the drive back to Hanoi.

Hanoi
We got back to Hanoi and retrieved our packs from the hostel and checked into a nice little hotel called the New Prince just down the road. After a shower and change of clothes we met Tony and Claire (who had incidentally checked into the same hotel as us on our recommendation) and went to the Pho restaurant around the corner to have noodles for dinner. Once again we were not disappointed as they were so delicious. After noodles we went to bar down by the lakeside (which is in central Hanoi) and had some desert and a couple of cold beers. After that we went to meet some people that Tony and Claire had met on their Halong Bay trip and then went to a place that is called 'Bia Hoi' junction. 'Bia Hoi' is something that was started in Hanoi and is basically a small shop that sells beer from the keg very cheaply. In the Lonely Planet is says that if you go to 'Bia Hoi' junction with $10 US in your pocket you would be able to shout everyone there a glass of beer. We thought that this couldn't possbibly be true but it was. At the junction there was a 'Bia Hoi' on every corner and they all sold a glass of beer for was equated to 18 cents NZ each. We ended up having a real fun night and walked home with Tony and Claire once our little shop closed. The next morning we were up nice and early and after breakfast at a nice cafe around the corner we went for a walk through Hanoi. After checking out the shops we got a couple of cyclos (rickshaw type bikes) and got them to take us to the infamous 'Hanoi Hilton' Prison. This place was given its nickname by the American servicemen that were held prisoner here during the Vietnam war. After the prison we walked back into town and had lunch before going back to the hotel for a quick shower and change then catching a cab to the airport to get our flight back to Bangkok.