We headed for Vietnam on a ‘hotel bus’ leaving Siem Reap, Cambodia, at midnight on 13th January. Now the photo shown to us by Viet Buntham bus tours made this sleeper bus actually look like a mini hotel room. I’m sure there was even a small tv at the end of the bed. For just $19 this seemed like a bargain. Too good to be true? Of course. In actuality it was a single bed that was supposed to sleep two of us. We were top level and shook and rolled with every bump in the road and teamed with the common erratic driving seen throughout Asia, our journey was somewhat more of a thrill seeker ride than a sleeper ride. I don’t want to sound all negative though, it wasn’t, we did have free WiFi.
14 hours later we arrived in Vietnam, our first stop Saigon, now known as Ho Chi Minh. Ho Chi Minh is mental. It’s a very over populated city and has literally been taken over by mopeds. With a population of around 8 million, it feels like there are also 8 million mopeds in this city, ok exaggeration there are actually around 3.5 million. Forget your usual rules for crossing a road here, just walk. Don’t stop, don’t look back, just go! It did not surprise me to hear only 40% of said moped drivers have a valid license and even less surprising that there are around 12,000 deaths a year caused by motorcycle accidents in Vietnam.
Other than re-learning how to cross a road, we also discovered more about the somber history of Vietnam. For $6 we paid for a guided bus to the Cu Chi tunnels plus the entry fee of $4. The Cu Chi tunnels were built under the city with just basic tools and bare hands in the 1940’s. Quite the handymen.
These were then expanded during the Vietnamese war in the 1960’s, providing refuge from American soldiers. It is absolutely amazing, I crawled through just a 20m stretch of the tunnel system and at a mere 5 ft 3 inches myself, I was crouched walking through and couldn’t face the 100m fortified stretch open to the public. Here we learned how life continued beneath the soil; the tunnel residents ate, slept, cared for the sick and planned attacks from within the depths of the tunnels.
Particularly gruesome jungle inspired traps are also on display, such as the tiger trap below, which were in place to attack the American soldiers.
From the tunnels we visited the War Remnants Museum. Outside there are US armoured vehicles, artillery pieces, bombs and infantry weapons on display. All very fun and interesting to look at. However, inside the museum is a very different feel.
Inside the ‘aggression war crimes’ gallery the walls are lined with photographs, statements, bullets and weapons which show the brutal side of the war. All be it, a one sided point of view, the horrifying atrocities are documented. From this gallery we moved onto the ‘agent orange aftermath’ gallery. This is something we studied in history classes but I’m ashamed to say not something I really remember learning about. Now, I cannot erase the truly saddening images of Agent Orange aftermath victims from my head. The gallery walls are lined with photo after photo of disfigured people, more types of disfigurement than you could even imagine. 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to the highly toxic chemical dioxin during the wartime, whilst more than 3 million people have suffered illness as a result. Many million more have also been exposed indirectly and so the true effects of the war are to this day still being realised.
From Ho Chi Minh I was excited to continue the journey north to Da Lat, leaving at 8am to commence the 7 hour journey. Again another need for speed journey, nothing new there, but perhaps the most annoying driver ever. I lost count after the first 5 minutes how many times the horn was beeped. You overtake another vehicle, beep. You stop in a normal traffic jam, beep. The driver is bored, beep. If the saying goes “honk if you’re horny” god help this driver.
Driving into Da Lat already appeared much more postcard picturesque than Ho Chi Minh. Emptier roads, cleaner and prettier scenery. We stayed at the most friendly hostel we will probably ever come across – the Da Lat Family Hostel. ‘Mama’ and her two daughters welcomed us with a cuddle and Vietnamese kiss. Come 5pm dinner was served by an all dancing and singing mamma. A banquet for 20 or so guests, home made in their tiny kitchen and all for just $2. Following dinner Sarah and I enjoyed a jug of ‘sexy sexy passionfruit mojito’. Mamma entertained all evening, she is amazingly nuts. I would love to know what sexy sexy drink she is consuming!
We chose to do a countryside Easy Rider tour in Da Lat. Along with 2 other girls we each had a moped with a local driver.
They took us to the oldest pagoda in Da Lat, followed by a coffee factory where we learnt all about the weasel that eats the coffee beans and poops them out before being roasted – all in the name of a good cup of coffee.
From here we drove through the beautiful countryside scenery onto a silk factory. I had no idea silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of a silk worm! Naturally I also ate one, probably won’t do that again. We also visited Elephant Fall waterfall as well as a flower garden.
2 nights in Da Lat was enough time for us, it was cold at night. This was the first time in over a year that I needed to sleep with a hoodie and socks on. Chasing the sun, we continued north to Nha Trang, arriving 17th January to the beach town. Again very much a resort feel, a Russian resort feel. Nha Trang is a Russian holiday hub, so with this meant slightly higher prices and an over crowded beach. Now the beach is nice, however you do become a bit of a beach snob whilst travelling and a beach lined with sunburnt bodies and litter didn’t quite compare to the stunning beaches we were spoiled with in Cambodia.
Worried that the weather was going to be colder the further north we travelled, it was a pleasant surprise to arrive to a beautifully warm Hoi An come 21st January. Hoi An is all I hoped it would be, my favourite stay in Vietnam. Lanterns hang from the trees and shops around the town and yellow painted wood architecture make this city of lanterns a picture perfect place to walk or cycle through for that matter.
Our hostel came equipped with free bikes to use so we joined one of the daily bike tours. 24 of us cycled through the market, on through the rice fields and ending on the beach; a really great way to explore the town despite the bum ache after.
A lot of cycling and walking definitely earned us the Vietnamese rolls we found a new love for in Hoi An.
Banh mi thit is a Vietnamese baguette filled with pork (lemongrass pork and pate), cucumber, pickled carrot, spring onion and corriander; minus the chilli for me. Absolute bargain at 20,000 dong, that’s about $1.
The majority of our time in Hoi An was spent in the tailors being fitted for made to measure anything you want. I had a few dresses made at around $20 a dress as well as some custom made leather shoes for just $30. Absolute bargains, however with each item at the cost of my daily budget this did have to unfortunately end.
From Hoi An we took our final bus; 760km and 19 hours later we finally reached Hanoi. Relieved to be off the bus and racing to our hostel resulted in me tripping over. Imagine this, 17kg backpack flies over my head and I am literally lying in the road, now complete with a few cuts and grazes to add to my already scabby mosquito bitten legs. Sound funny? Yeah, apparently the locals eating their breakfast along the road also thought so. Hanoi provided a base for us to visit Halong Bay; 1 of the 7 natural wonders of the world. More than 2000 islands rise from the emerald green waters, it really is spectacular to see.
We booked a Halong Bay cruise, which in actuality was a forced booze cruise. Best part of this was jumping off the boat into the water. Never having really done something like that before and trying to look ballsy I just went for it. Turns out it’s a sensible suggestion to hold your nose unless you want to swallow a mugs worth of very salty water. After choking and gagging I re boarded the boat and it was freezing.
We ended our 1 night Halong Bay stay kayaking on the search for the caves. Fantastic arm workout and certainly earned us our dry chicken and soggy rice lunch included in the Castaway Tour.
Lessons learned in Vietnam…
The open bus ticket is the cheapest way to travel through Vietnam and a very easy option. For just US$50 we travelled from south to north Vietnam. However we did spend a substantial amount of time on buses.
Here’s how to make the most of your bus journeys:
– get a travel pillow. Perfect if like me you head bang EVERYWHERE otherwise.
– don’t buy Pringles and M&M’s every journey if you don’t intend on getting a bus belly.
– the drivers do honk their horns, as courtesy to other drivers apparently. If this is going to piss you off, which it will, you do have a few options to help drown this out. Put your music on and try sit towards the back of the bus. Or like a lot of travellers stock up on Valium, I hear it works a treat.
Asian & Australian Adventures 