Our ‘sleeper / open bus’ arrives at Hoi An mid-afternoon. We find our hotel, have lunch in a little street restaurant, then take the free shuttle into ‘the old town’ in time to join the celebration of the monthly lunar or "Full Moon Festival”. We are walking down a major road together with throngs of locals. This arterial route, connecting the ocean at An Bang beach to the Old Town, suddenly narrows to a lane & still we are passed by scooters. Suddenly we emerge on the river bank. Wow! Lanterns everywhere; hanging from all buildings, restaurants, ice cream parlours, cafes. Families line the pavements selling small paper cups each with a glowing candle balanced inside. Choruses of "buy one from me". One burst into flame, there's a flurry of activity to stomp it out. A lantern is hooked onto the end of a long pole and carefully lowered into the river, creating a magical scene.
Dozens of restaurants, on the shore and on boats, to choose from, all dimly lit using no artificial light. We enjoyed a relaxing evening; a ‘happy hour cocktail’ (half price and for us usually involving mango), and a set menu for two. The only downside was the slow pace meant that we missed the last complimentary shuttle at 9pm back to our hotel. Not so bad as walking the streets is the usually the very best way to orientate and get a feel for a new place. At 9.30pm to 10pm the street was packed with all the locals returning home. Apparently the city monitors the late night activities closely.
Returning to the old town the next day dulled some of the magic. As with many Asian waterways the river is silted, polluted and choked with garbage. The boats, romantic in the dim moonlight, now appear scruffy and lodged in place, unable to move.
Water is such a valuable commodity; we only hope that these third world countries in their quest to seek parity with the western world are able to clean up the rivers, lakes and beaches. There does appear to be a drive to ensure food and water safety and although many kitchens are very basic there is evidence of water purifiers and locals drinking bottled water.
Areas of old Hoi An boast whole blocks of typical French colonial houses, painted in mustard yellow. Much of the rich history of this area was saved from destruction of recent wars with the French and America. 800 buildings have been preserved by UESCO and many are currently been renovated. There is evidence of Chinese, Japanese as well as French influence and records indicate that human habitation dates back 2,200years.
We visited the ‘Japanese covered bridge’ near the old town, built in the 1590’s and were shown through a Vietnamese house built 250 years ago, by a family stating to be the 7th generation living here. It was so austere and authentic looking that it appeared more like a museum. The brothers and sisters fell over each other to point out special architectural features - the ‘kings book’ carved into the apex of the roof, ornate carvings framing doors and windows, intricate sliding wooden window frames which enable residents to check out visitor, and a whole array of ancient wood & silver making tools. But then the hard sell began. Oops, a little embarrassing.
We rented a. scooter to explore the beaches. An Bang recommended in the LP was not to our liking, offering only the rented beach umbrella & loungers. But Cua Dai, the local area, 2 Km's south along a stretch of beautiful beach, is great. Many coconut palms offer shade, the whole area is uncrowded until about 5pm when all the locals arrive on mass.
The sand is golden & clean, that is except the cigarette butts left behind. The locals work hard to keep it clean. An old lady squats on the sand quietly watching. She is covered head to foot to avoid the darkening properties of the sun, complete with a straw conical hat tied with a ribbon. Occasionally she stands & shuffles to collect an empty water bottle and at the end of the day she has a garbage bag full. Her lips red and full with the juice of the betel nut she chews. Her whole being lights up with a smile as our eyes meet.
The ocean is as described in the guide books; clean, blue and clear. This in addition to the small surf and the views out to the Cham Islands, has to be close to a perfect. The salt water is cool, refreshing and healing. We spend the best part of 4 days here and my man is finally healthy again.
We took advantage of the pleasant hotel amenities on our last day in Hoi An dealing with a few chores such as sorting bills, accounts and GST, before reading and relaxing by the pool until it was time to catch our ‘sleeper bus’ again for a 12hour journey south to Nha Trang, which is described as the beach capital of Vietnam.
Nga Trang 26 - 29 August
This time we took a public minvan to Dalat for 3 hours instead of the 'Sleeper bus' which was to take 7hours
Nga Trang 26 - 28 August - Known as the party capital of Vietnam.
Travelling into Nga Trang we are again struck by the beauty of landscaping to really show off a beautiful curving coastline. We arrived about 6am after a long night on a claustrophobic ‘sleeper bus’. Our ‘Nice Hotel’ is a 2 minute walk down an alley and after catching another hour or so of sleep we head out to explore. We are amazed on our return, to find that we have the only room on the top / 10th floor, complete with our own large balcony with a fabulous view over the bay.
We took in the ‘Alexander Yersin Museum’ on Pasteur St. Dr Alexander Yersin is an important character here in Vietnam having spent much of his life in Nha Trang. He grew up in Geneva, trained as a doctor, studied and worked with Pasteur. He established Nga Trang’s Pasteur Institute 1895, introduced rubber and quinine producing trees and discovered the rat-borne microbe that causes bubonic plague.
Day 2 we took a full day boat tour which was really great, particularly the snorkelling off an island. It was just perfect. We escaped the crowds gathered in a packed cordoned off area and swam toward the turquoise water. Yes! Peace and quiet. And a good range of fish & coral with reasonable colour.
We actively tried to avoid the ‘Party’ aspects of these tours, but that was not possible and actually was really funny. Our guide was the ultimate extravert. He sang rather raunchy songs to us, coerced people to get up and karaoke and had us all diving / jumping off the boat to partake in a ‘drinking and floating’ in a floatation ring activity.
The next day we enjoyed an early morning swim right in front of our hotel. We were impressed with the number of people, tourists and locals, out and about exercising and enjoying this beautiful stretch of beach. The water is reasonably clear and drops away for pleasant swimming. Then after relaxing the remainder of the morning we were back on the bus for 3 hours to Dalat.
We travelled inland through jungle covered mountains, following the switchback roads. The flora is quite different to everywhere else we have been so far, waterfalls gushing and vertical cliffs dropping off the side of the road. It reminded us of bush clad NZ.
Dalat - 29 August to 2 Sept. Established as a Central Highland resort.
Dr Yersin apparently explored this area & suggested to the government in 1893 that a hill station resort be established due to the clear air and cooler temperatures. Dalat is at 1500m & Vietnam s second highest mountain "Langbian" at 2,200m can be viewed from Dalat’s outskirts
There are so many bakeries offering baguettes, sticky rice cakes, and many European style cakes. Again, a gastronomic experience.
During our 4 days here we hired a tandem bike and circumnavigate the banana shaped, man-made ’ Xuan Huong Lake’. As some of the terrain is quite flat, traffic is less crazy and it is a very comfortable temperature of 25 – 28 degrees, biking was perfect. We then walked for miles, explored Vietnam’s first railway station built in 1928. Not surprising, given the terrain to get here from Nga Trang or Saigon, it only functioned until 1964. We discovered a new mall which seems to be built underground. And along with masses of Russian tourists we clambered around a bizarre "crazy house". The Crazy House is a work in progress over many years. Designed & lived in by a now 72 year old female architect who gained her Architectural PhD in Russia in 1972. We paddled around the lake in ‘swan boat’ and on another day, we took another tour. This time a highland countryside minibus trip to visit; the local horticulture, there are hundreds of flower green houses and Dalat has a significant flower festival every December. Dalat means water of the ‘Lat’, or the local minority hill tribe people. We met a 68 year old woman in her village, who has 11 children & something like 60 grandchildren. We hear d that in marriage, a woman’s family pays up to 5 water buffalo for a very strong man. You only need to pay 1 - 2 buffalo for a weakling. And that to become stronger they eat monkey brains. And to make you very strong they boil the monkey bones & eat them. We felt a little sorry for the monkey on chain. The couple lives with the wife’s family & take woman's name. This is one of a few Matriarchal societies.
Today is one of several firsts.
- Drinking coffee grown and processed by the "Lat" people – their specialty is ‘Weasel Moka’- locally grown arabica beans, fed to civet cats (weasels in a cage downstairs) After the beans pass through the ‘weasels’ they are soaked, dried and then roasted. Vietnamese coffee is dripped through a small aluminium pot, strong and drunk with sweetened condensed milk. 90% Vietnamese people drink coffee with ice, which is nice in this heat. I did try it and can say I’m still alive. It wasn’t bad, but I don’t think I’ll be drinking it at home.
- We tasted roasted crickets farm at a cricket farm
- Watched someone eat a silk worm. The silk factory employing about 40 - 50 women was noisy and fascinating.
2 September - Sitting bus to Ho Chi Minh City (HCNC) still known as Saigon
HCMC – 3 to 6 September
We have 4 nights here. Another big city, it feels more western, but still has the street carts, thousands of scooters, markets, hard sell tour operators, huge sky scrapers and a range of broad avenues and little back alleys. Somehow the chaotic traffic feels a little more law abiding, officers assist pedestrians across some pedestrian crossings as buses, cars and a zillion scooters dart either side.
Reunification Palace: - Our guide was short on detailed history. Plush environment for Party headquarters. Originally built 1868 as residence for the French Governor-general. Then home to the South Vietnamese President who was so unpopular it was bombed 1962. Rebuilt complete with basement, bomb shelter & secret doors& passages, 1966. Taken by force, tanks crashing the gates April 75 by the Vietcong.
War Remnants Museum: - well worth the visit. Interestingly the impact of the documented horrors of Death, Destruction & Disability fallout from the "American War" was highlighted/ accentuated by the crashes of thunder overhead as the pending storm brewed.
Fine Arts Museum: - spacious colonial private home of wealthy merchant. Some interesting works.
Ho Chi Minh Museum:- a lot of photos and writing. Not as impressive as the museum in Hanoi.
Ben Thanh Market:- as other large markets, an amazing crush of stalls and products from clothes, accessories, iPhone stuff ( only the latest) to foods. We were bombarded by sales pitch from every direction. They even physically pull you toward their product. This behaviour does recede after the initial few minutes.
Local buses:- It is so relaxing at about 60c (10,000dong) for 2 of us versus our taxi experience. The LP warns of crooked operators, but at the time we weren't paying particular attention. It was 5pm and rush hour as we were leaving the War Remnants Museum. The sky was black & threatening & it began to rain. Requesting metered rides seems to be somewhat consistent and a safer bet. So imagining the trip home would be between 40 & 60,000 VND (n$2.50 & $4.00) we were shocked to see the meter read 298,000VND. Our driver went into an absolute tirade when we didn't cough up. To quote the LP "rampant overcharging - taxis with meters that spin around faster than Kylie in her gold hotpants". Bob could see from his position that he was fiddling with the meter. So when Bob countered the threat to take us to the police whilst revving the engine, the meter was suddenly flicked back to zero. Anyway, we finally got out, paid 60,000VND which was possibly too much, & he sped off cussing. So much for the gentle, laid back Vietnamese character. I'd say generally true except men in the transport business.
Sadly Bob has come down with diarrhoea again since the evening of Aug 31. Today, 5 Sept he is feeling better but not 100% and we have been out all afternoon riding the buses and walking.
We have booked a 3 day ‘Delta tour’ leaving HCMC on Friday 6th traveling by bus and a range of boats, visiting floating markets, fish farms, then travelling up to Phnom Penh, Cambodia by Sunday night 8th Sept. We will stay one night in a hotel and a floating hotel on the second night.
8 Sept
Good Morning Vietnam.... starting at 6am.
The Delta trip was great. Last night we stayed in Chau Doc not too far from the Cambodia border, in a floating hotel on the Mekong. It was comfortable enough, but not anything like the picture the travel agent showed us. By 7am we were on the river; visited a fish farm then a village along the way. We were done by 8.30am and we waited for the 'fast boat' to pick us up. Not so far to the border. With help to get through the border 10.30 - 11am it was quite smooth and no surises.
Goodbye Vietnam.
Then a long 4+ hour trip to Phnom Penh.
