Our trip through to Vietnam started off badly. We had organised a connecting bus ticket from Siam Reap through to Saigon in Vietnam. Our travel agent had written on our ticket 'pick up at 06:30am.' So as usual we rose early packed and were waiting downstairs in reception at 6:25. We were not particularly phased as the minutes passed as bus travel in Asia is notoriously late and we have never been let down before. At 7am our receptionist at the hostel called the bus company for us and informed us that we were actually meant to meet the bus at the bus station but we showed him the ticket and he organised for a minibus to come and get us. We arrived at the bus station a little after 7am to be told that our bus had already left... sorry what? We showed the ticket officer our envelope with the incriminating 'pick up' sentence and he proceeded to argue with us that he had come to pick us up and we weren't there. Knowing this to be blatantly untrue we asked what time he had gone past. '6oclock' he stated. "Well - no wonder we werent bloody there we were still in bed as we were told 6:30." However illogical his argument he was not budging and advised us that the only way we would get to Saigon today was to catch his bus (scam if ever I heard one) for an extra $5 each. We argued till we were blue in the face but he just walked away and so we had no choice but to pay the extra $5 for a very local bus and then catch a tuktuk to our proper bus in Phnom Penh. Thankfully we made it in time and we had a long day on the bus before arriving into Saigon city around 9pm. We were dropped off in the backpacker district and managed to find a cheap guesthouse where we crawled into bed.
GOOD MORNING VIETNAM! A new day a new country seems to be our motto at present as we are moving so quickly. Christina woke up feeling sick our first morning in Saigon but she battled on during the day as we attempted to sightsee. We managed to walk around the sights starting with a trip to Ben Tanh market in the centre of the city. This was our first real effort at crossing roads in Vietnam which we had been warned was an experience in itself! Saigon style road crossing involves picking a stretch of road, closing your eyes to say a prayer and then stepping out onto a horrendously busy highway and death staring motorbike/car drivers to ensure they see you and swerve to miss you. If possible I aimed to put a local and/or Christina or Lou on the traffic side to take the impact if things went pearshaped (sorry guys!) At one point we managed to cross a whole highway hiding behind a fruit cart surmising that at least we would die a happy fruity death. From Ben Tanh market we walked to the Fine Arts Museum which was interesting and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed looking at the paintings considering I am not usually into the finer arts... maybe I will enjoy Europe after all!
We then headed across town to the post office which was an impressive example of Vietnamese architecture and situated right next door to a replica of Notre Dame Cathedral - an impressive example of non-Vietnames architecture. We then walked past the reunification palace which was not exactly a 'palace' and looked more like a 1960's government office building. I guess we have been spoilt for palaces in Cambodia and Laos. We tortled onwards towards our next destination, stopping for lunch at aa nice Vietnamese restaurant. The War Remnants Museum was our final must-see attraction of the day. It was a brilliant museum and well set out with lots of moving photo displays and information boards although it expressed very anti american sentiments throughout some exhibitions. We would later find that this was a common theme in Vietnam. Christina had done well to make it this far so we found a cozy coffee shop where for a purchase of a $3 drink and muffin we were treated to our own gold class cinema to watch a new release movie. Bargain! We decided to spend only one day sightseeing in Saigon as we wanted to move on up the coast so we booked an open-tour ticket which would take us right through to Hanoi with a few stops on the way and embarked on our first segment to Nha Trang early the next morning.
Nha Trang was a full days bus ride away with a lunch stop in the sleepy seaside town of Mui Ne for lunch. We were dropped in Nha Trang at a hotel associated the company but for $12 we couldn't be bothered scoping around in the dark. We ended up with a HUGE room on the top floor with 3 double beds and an enormous balcony overlooking the whole city! Christina was still not feeling well but we convinced her to book a 'booze cruise' with us for the next day which is Nha Trang's speciality.
We woke up early with outfits planned and laid out ready for our party day in the sun... until we looked outside and it was pouring with rain and somewhat cold. BUGGER. We shrugged on some trousers and packed a jumper and were picked up by a minibus to take us to the pier at 8am. When we arrived at the pier we discovered that out of about 40 people packed onto our boat there were only 10 westerners. Still our guide made the most of things and revved us up with a comedy speech and finishing off with a request to call him the 'funky monkey!' Our first stop was at an island for snorkelling. Not such an appealing prospect in the cold and the rain but I tried to make the most of a bad situation and was first to don the bathers and dive over the side. Lou was right behind me and then another 3 people got in to look at the unremarkable coral. Still the water was really clear and it was nice to be immersed in salt water again - plus now I can say I went snorkelling in Vietnam!
Our next stop was off another island for lunch. Lunch was an amazing spread of fresh, gorgeous food and we gorged ourselves before clearing the tables for some table top dancing. The usual floating bar was out of action but 'Funky Monkey' led the Nha Trang boy band through some great tunes and we danced to keep warm. The next island had a beautiful beach but because of the weather we ended up drinking hot cups of tea and sheltering from the rain instead of the envisaged sun, sea and sand frolicking. We visited one more island on the way back to the dock and then we enjoyed the warmth of a hot shower and a night in watching movies when we returned to the hotel. The islands of Nha Trang were beautiful and the day was good fun and good value so I can imagine the amazing time we would have had had the weather been on our side but sometimes you just can't plan these things!
The next day Christina still felt really sick so we decided that after 4 days it was time to visit the doctor. We checked out of our room and the receptionist ordered a taxi to drop us off at the clinic. The clinic was a small, clean premises just out of town and Christina was shown into the doctor's room straight away. After half an hour she emerged having been poked and prodded within an inch of her life. The doctor took a blood test, advised Christina to get insurance sorted and asked us to come back after 3:30. We taxied back into town for a nice lunch and a walk to the beach - again a beautiful beach but still overcast. Upon our arrival back at the doctor Lou and I settled into the couch at reception whilst Christina disappeared for nearly 2 hours. We debated various possible illnesses and were eventually rewarded when she returned after a chest x-ray and ultrasound to inform us that she had a kidney infection. Loaded up with drugs we headed back to the hotel for some street stall food and boarded the night bus for our next destination Hoi An.
Hoi An is a world heritage destination and is an ancient trading port with Chinese and French Colonial influences. We arrived in this beautiful city at 6:30 in the morning having endured the usual night bus hell of continuous horn honking, non-reclining seats and the awkward midnight loo stop. So we were very pleased to find ourselves dropped off at a luxury hotel which would let us check in straight away and was only $6 each a night. We made the most of the comfortable beds by falling asleep until midday when we emerged refreshed and determined to explore the town despite the dismal rain. Food being our first priority (again) we wandered into town and soon found somewhere to sit and absorb the French old quarter atmosphere. We ordered a mini banquet of Hoi An specialities including Cao Lau (pork noodle soup made only from the water from the in-town well), Spring Rolls (best we have EVER had), White Rose (steamed shrimp wontons), Fried Wontons topped with vegetables and Rice Pancakes (crispy & stuffed with bean sprouts.) Feeling at least ten kilos heavier each we began our tour of Hoi An. Hoi An is a tailoring town and every second shop is a tailor, handmade shoe shop or handicrafts gallery. GIRLS - WE ARE IN HEAVEN! We simply couldnt resist the beautiful clothes on offer at the bargain prices and we wiled away the rest of the afternoon browsing through a few different tailors before selecting 3 through whom we all ordered various items. I walked away with a gorgeous grey winter coat (for England), 2 work shirts and a skirt. Lou and Christina ordered even more but justified the purchases as they are both heading home soon. They each had to purchase an extra wheely carry on bag to get their purchases home! We had an absolute ball picking designs then fabrics and then linings together and if I wasn't restricted by space I could have spent thousands!
The next day we joined a tour to see the Champa ruins at My Son village about an hour and a half south of Hoi An. These ruins are also a World Heritage site and were built in the early 9th century which is even earlier than Angkor Wat. Having a tour guide was an unusual experience for us and we had to giggle as he proceeded to inform us the history of the area in a strange animated 'South Park like' voice. Unfortunately about halfway through the tour he turned into an anti-american preacher and told us more about the war than the temples. The temples were good but we have been spoilt for temples in Cambodia and are now rather 'templed out.' Still the tour had some good moments including when half the group stood in shocked silence as the guide informed us that "the bricks from this temple are traditionally used to make baby quiet by hitting the baby with them..." Sorry - hitting the baby!?! and then with a sigh of relief somebody went "heating - he meant heating!" Aahhhhhh - thank god for that! On the way home we jumped off the bus for an hour boat ride back to Hoi An. As we munched on Fried Rice and the sun came out for the first time in a few days it was the most pleasant part of the tour.
That afternoon we were filled with excitement as we traipsed to our respective tailors to pick up our clothing. All the items were just gorgeous including a 3 piece suit which Christina had made. It was a streetside baguette for dinner followed by a hot chocolate in the old quarter before we headed back to our room for a fashion show!
We booked a bus through to Hue the next afternoon and spent our last morning in Hue checking out the obligatory sights including the old Japanese bridge and you guessed it... some last minute shopping! I managed to pick up two pairs of leather shoes for $20 with some good old bargaining and I left my old green pair of thongs with the shoe shop. The lady owner promptly put them on and proudly declared she was going to keep them as a souvenier of Australia.
We returned to our hotel at 1oclock to check out. As this was a 'posh' hotel they had kept our passports on check in and we recieved them back on payment and check out. As per usual they checked the room/mini bar etc and then returned to the desk to inform us that we had stolen the umbrella and would hence have to pay for it. We promptly replied that we had never seen an umbrella and if we had we would definately have used it rather than returning to the hotel soaking wet nearly every time we went out. Unfortunately however the usual western proverb of 'the customer always being right' doesn't seem to apply and they basically accused us of lying when we tried to declare that we had never seen it. Over the next hour we went through various stages of anger and disbelief. Lou accused the manager of calling her a liar and announced that clearly they had a problem with staff and she was going to call the British embassy, Christina tried to play good cop and did a good job until she lost it and on principle chucked a fit at the manager and receptionist and I tried to reason with the man even offering to sign a statutory declaration to state that I had never seen the bloody umbrella before going bright red in the face and nearly bursting into tears. They refused to budge and it wasnt until our bus arrived and they realised we weren't going to get on the bus until we recieved our passports back and didnt pay for the umbrella that they finally conceded... over an hour after the argument first started. We were triumphant on the bus and glad that we had finally one an argument in Asia and determined to warn every fellow traveller away from the An Phu Hotel.
Thankfully this bus ride was only a short 3 and a 1/2 hours and I sat next to a Belgian lady who taught International Dimplomacy in French at the College of Europe. At one point she wrote down a quote from me for a book she is writing on International Diplomacy. Apparently when faced with a disgusting looking toilet I said to her "it doesn't look particularly friendly..." We booked easily into a guesthouse in Hue and then walked down to the river to eat some Vietnamese food at a local restaurant before hitting the sack.
The next day we had breakfast brought to our room - service with a smile! We them headed off on foot for the forbidden city in the old quarter in Hue. Along the way as usual we got pestered by some cyclos but after five minutes of bargaining we walked off as they refused to budge anymore on price. We were halfway across the bridge when we realised that the same three cyclos had pulled up next to us and were now agreeing to our price. So we clambered over the railing (no health and safety needed here) and into the cyclos who were by now holding up traffic for us. It was an experience and a very relaxing way to see the city as they cycled us around for the next forty minutes. After our little ride we entered the citadel which was interesting but due to the bombing looked much older than its 200 years. The Chinese influences are definately stronger in the north and pagodas are becoming more prevalent than temples. We then walked to Dong Ba Market for a look around before heading off on a private boattrip up the river past a fishing village. It turned out to be a lovely way to spend the afternoon as the sun came out and we browsed through the driver's wifes collection of silk paintings. A traditional Pho Bo (beef noodle soup) finished off a very cultural day.
Our last day in Hue we had booked a tour on a Dragon Boat up the Perfume River. We jumped on the boat early in the morning along with about 15 others of varying nationalities and ages. Fortunately the sun came out and we puttered upriver stopping at Thien Mu Pagoda, Tu Duc Tomb, Manh Mieng Tomb, Ka Son Tomb and Ho Mienh Temple. We only took the chance to visit Tu Duc Tomb and Thien Mu Pagoda due to the high entrance fees but were very impressed by the beauty and extensive complexes. Included in our tickets were return motorbike trips to the tombs which were inland from the river so we jumped on the bikes at every opportunity for a fun ride even if we didnt enter the tomb! On the way back into town the vista sliding past was magical as we sat and soaked up the rare sun.
That night we caught the night bus to Hanoi our final destination in Vietnam. We had upgraded to a sleeping seat after our last experience which basically meant we were 5 in a row across the backseat on reclining beds. Unfortunately I was stuck in the middle so although admittedly more comfortable than the usual seat the bus trip still passed in a strange sleepless haze of spooning the strange girl next to me, sliding down the seat every time the bus braked and getting very cold feet as the blanket was a sum total of 4 feet long!
We arrived in Hanoi and got an expensive taxi ride tour around the city when the driver buggered up the address but eventually we got dropped off at our hostel. We have booked in for four nights and its strange to be back into dorm rooms again. I have just over two weeks to fill in the north of Vietnam with a trip to Sapa in the northern highlands and a trip to Halong Bay before heading to Thailand to rendesvouz with the gorgeous Katey.
