Vietnam Trip Report – Jan07

We spend 24 days traveling overland through Vietnam from Hanoi in the North to the mighty Mekong Delta in the South.

Hanoi

Our arrival booking at Hanoi went somewhat astray, but was quickly sorted after a few phone calls to our hotel. As it turned out they had lost our booking but made amends by finding us an alternate hotel for the night and then got us settled the next morning.

The next couple of days we spent seeing the sights of Hanoi and in particular the “Old Quarter” where we were staying. The narrow streets of Hanoi’s old quarter were always busy, with every street catering for a different product. Jan quickly got accustomed to referring to them as “shoe” street or “dress” street…even “zip” street as it seemed that the streets specialized in selling or making just one product.

 

 

Our first visit to see Ho Chi Minh (Uncle Ho) was a failure as the Mausoleum was closed unbeknown to us on Mondays and Fridays. That gave us the opportunity to wander the streets and eventually get lost walking back to the old quarter, which is always an adventure in a city where no one can speak English or even read a map.

 

 

Next day we headed off early and lined up to see Uncle Ho lying in state. All very serene, no cameras allowed, no hats, no bags, no firearms, no talking, no sunglasses! Certainly an interesting experience.

That afternoon we toured the Hoa Lo prison which was built by the French in 1896 to house Vietnamese patriots and revolutionary fighters. During the Vietnam war, Hoa Lo Prison (aka the Hanoi Hilton) was used to house American Prisoners of war, mainly pilots who were shot down in the area.

 

 

Before departing the North, we spent a relaxing 2 days cruising on Halong Bay, sailing amongst the limestone karsts in out traditional Junk. Unfortunately visibility was not the best while on the bay and temperatures a little too cool for swimming. We will return one day to this marvelous area, next time making sure that it is in the warmer months.

 

 

Ninh Binh

As we had an extra day or so up North due to our sleeper train being fully booked, we decided to take a side trip 2 hours South to Ninh Binh. What an experience when our bus arrived to pick us up. We were passengers number 59 & 60 to board the 60 seater bus. We thought great timing, fully loaded and off we go….NOPE. We stopped at another hotel where we loaded another 20 or so passengers and their luggage. The luggage was loaded in the aisle to waist height with passengers sitting on top. Only in Asia…..ya gotta love it!

We arrived in Ninh Binh an hour later than scheduled and were pleasantly surprised to find that our hotel driver was still waiting for us at 11pm to take us to our hotel.

 

 

Ninh Binh is referred to as “Halong Bay on Land” and for obvious reasons. The limestone karsts and caves are just as spectacular as Halong Bay. We hired a motorbike (trust me, it is very interesting riding in Vietnam with all the traffic and on the RHS of the road) and headed out to visit Tam Coc. Here we hired a very small boat and were rowed up the river through all the karsts and through some very impressive caves.

 

 

On our boat trip back we spotted a temple on top of a mountain and decided to try and find it. The back roads were very interesting and people along the way extremely friendly. We had to cross a flimsy bamboo bridge at one point and the locals nearby assured us that it was safe to cross. Just to be sure Jan dismounted and walked across leaving me to get the bike over. I now have the utmost faith in bamboo constructions.

 

 

The climb up to the temple was exhausting but worth the effort as the scenery was breathtaking. Ninh Binh area proved to be a real treasure and we were glad that we made the effort to explore the area. Once again half the fun was getting lost in the back blocks, seeing the farmers up close and having the kids greet us on the side of the road when we would stop for directions.

 

 

This is yours truly having a shave on the footpath back in Ninh Binh town. Not something for the faint hearted and certainly not for anyone with a 4 day beard growth as there was no hot towel or hot water. I think I felt every whisker cut. Never mind, at least I helped contribute to the economy.

 

 

Hue

From Ninh Binh we caught the train back to Hanoi and then the overnight sleeper train to Hue. Our time in Hue was quite short but gave us enough time to see the sights. Day one we spent walking around the Citadel, exploring the ancient city. Unfortunately quite a bit of damage was done there during the various wars however there is an ongoing restoration project to restore many of the buildings and walls.

 

 

That evening we decided to go to Y Thao Garden for dinner. They serve an 8 course meal, set in a beautiful Imperial villa. As they only have 6-7 tables so it is advisable to book early. Whole meal for the 2 of us…less than US$20.

 

 

The following day we hired a tour guide who took us on a tour to the outlying areas. His knowledge of Hue and the wars gave us a good insight to the history of Hue. Our guide took us to a temple where the Buddhist Monk, Thich Quang Duc lived. You may remember the scenes on TV where in Saigon on June 1963 he sat in the middle of a Saigon street and set fire to himself (see insert of picture below). This was a protest against discrimination of Buddhist Monks and religious freedom.

 

 

Hoi An

What a charming town. From moment we arrived in Hoi An we knew we would love the town. Hoi An is a quaint little town situated near the coast and is known for its glorious food and clothing shops. We spent a few days here walking the cobble stone streets, exploring the markets and one lazy afternoon soaking up the sun on the beach.

 

 

The evenings we spent walking the streets looking for restaurants to try. Thankfully we had a few recommendations for Hoi An and they all lived up to their reputations. I think we both put on a few extra kilos here.

 

Nha Trang

Another lengthy train trip had us arriving in the seaside town of Nha Trang in time for New Year’s Eve. Quickly sorted we sussed out the best place in town to see the new year in……the Sailing Club. We met several fellow Aussies that night, drank way too much alcohol and danced on the beach in the rain.

As you can imagine, New Year’s day was a very quiet day for us. We manage to find our way back to the beach and spent the afternoon laying on deck chairs and eating BBQ lobsters which were cooked right on the beach. Not sure that it gets much better than that…Yum!

 

 

Our plan was to fly from Nha Trang to Saigon as we were starting to get a little “trained out”. Unfortunately all flights out of Nha Trang were booked for several days so we had to jump the day train down to Saigon.

 

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

We were both glad to arrive in Saigon, hence ending our train journeys. Three days on Vietnamese trains and watching people eat fertilized duck embryos was starting to take its toll on us. * Duck embryos are fertilized eggs which are a just a few days short of hatching. They are eaten soft boiled, web feet and all.

Saigon was a lovely city and we spent several days here exploring the region and visiting the Cu Chi tunnel complex. I managed to get down one of the tunnels but was totally exhausted after traveling 50 meters underground. I can only imagine how the VC felt traveling up to 5 km underground at a time.

 

 

Just before departing Vietnam we did a 2 day tour of the Mekong Delta. We met a great bunch of tourists on this trip and enjoyed seeing the region. The morning floating markets have to be seen to be believed.

If we had more time we would have crossed into *Cambodia, but that will have to wait till next time.

* Postscript: Our Cambodia Trip Report from the following year.

 

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