Oogs & Mich's World Trip 2008

We had a SCARY introductory taxi ride from the airport but arrived at the 5 star Melia Hotel in Hanoi safely where we met Oogs' friend Jurgen who he is the Head Chef there. Once we arrived we asked the receptionist to please call him, she replied "Are you checking in?" So we like, "Nope, not us, just want to talk to the chef please..." So she says, "Yes, chef has checked you in..." (Of course he has!!!! Silly me!) Then we looked around and our backpacks were gone - off to the room, what a pleasure! Jurgen had surprised us and not only booked us a room but a SUITE!! We were in our element as you can imagine...We caught up over some drinks & then he had to go so sent us off for steaks and wine in the restuarant...delicious! Was so fun and just what we needed as were feeling a bit tired of all the travelling but were of course rejuvenated again after that...Amazing what 5 stars does to a backpacker?! The funniest part was leaving...the porter asked if we wanted a taxi so we said, "No thanks, we will walk!!!" Have they ever seen such a sight?!?! And off to our $17 hotel we walked...Classic! After that we did a trip to Halong Bay & stayed on a junk (boat) and cruised around the hundreds of karst mountain islands jutting straight out of the sea all around us which was beautiful and kayaked around some too. Then we started making our way down the coast on hair raising buses!! Its a free for all on the roads and everyone hoots for EVERYTHING! They hoot to say Hello, Goodbye, I am on your right/left, I am irritated, I am going to overtake & You are in my way...to name a few! Our first crazy sight from the airport was a bicycle with two people on it coming down the highway on the wrong side of the road in the fast lane with no light!!! The traffic is crazy and you put your life in your hands crossing the roads... We explored a place called Tam Coc and its surrounds which was beautiful, climbed 400 steps in the humidity for a view well worth it - overlooking the rice paddies and a river through the valley which we had a ride on later by a lady using mainly her feet to row the boat!! Went through 3 really long caves straight under huge mountains which was amazing and got to see the locals working the land & planting rice...Then we went to Hoi An which is such a quaint town taking you back in time in a sense with the buildings surrounding you, really enjoyed the atmosphere there and of course the tailoring!! Had to have a few things made - so cheap & fun of course! Next was Nya Trang & Mui Ne for some beaches - we counted 80 kitesurfers off Mui Ne beach the one day with about 20 getting ready on the beach...and thats excluding the 30 windsurfers in the bay - an amazing sight of colourful kites & sails... We also did a tour to some sand dunes which we slid down at speed on a piece of hard plastic - you could also call it Exfoliation Express - ouch! Sand & sunscreen mix far too well so I was covered in sand for the rest of the tour...beautiful! Visited a fishing village with hundreds of boats in the water after that & also walked through the "Fairy Stream" which is a red canyon nearby which was lovely! Ho Chi Minh City was next - the locals still call it Saigon though! We did a tour to the Cu Chi tunnels which was so interesting, an underground tunnel system of 400km which they used during the war - ingenuis! We only saw about 15m of it! They have widened the tunnels for Western tourists & we still didn't travel too far on our knees as it was tight down there!! We then did a 2 day tour of the Mekong Delta visiting a coconut candy making operation, tasting banana wine, seeing rice paper being made, drinking honey tea & listening to locals singing...all a bit touristy for us but still interesting to see but its sad how dirty the river & surrounding areas are. The best part was the floating market which we cruised around watching trading being done, a different way of life for sure!! To top off the most brilliant time in this country we decided to head to Phu Quoc island for 5 nights where we enjoyed the beach & the good company of a couple from South Africa & Scotland who we met on the bus... Hired motorbikes to visit other beautiful beaches and areas on the island and did lots of reading & relaxing. We also ended our Vietnam experience with 5 star treatment thanks again to Jurgen in Hanoi...he has a South African friend who is conveniently the Head Chef of the only 5 star hotel on this island so we enjoyed yet another delicious steak, wine & great company before we left Nam. We are now in Thailand enjoying more sun & beaches...Until next time. Photo's of our time: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=224407&id=639785606&l=84eb0