Vietnam -
Trip Start
Aug 03, 2004
1
11
Trip End
Jan 27, 2005
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Thursday, December 30, 2004
On entering Vietnam there were some striking differences to Cambodia. It was immediately obvious that is much better developed and more prosperous than its neighbour as shown by the smooth sealed roads and the standard of buildings. The other thing that strikes you about Vietnam is the sheer number of motorbikes on the road. Motorbikes are a common mode of transport throughout SE Asia but Vietnam really is the motorbike capital, and the throng of bikes got heavier as we approached HCMC. These bikes carry anything and everything - from entire families with kids hanging onto their parents or the handlebars, to mountains of fruit or dead chickens. Given that what few road rules there are appear to be ignored (this includes traffic lights, helmet wearing and even which side of the road to drive on) it's surprising there aren't more accidents.
Anyway, on arriving in HCMC we quickly settled into the backpacker area Pham Ngu Lao where we planned to celebrate New Year as well as seeing the sights of the city and surrounding area. The Pham Ngu Lao area is like a smaller version of Bangkok's Khao San Road and contains a mixture of bars, restaurants, travel agencies, internet cafes and shops selling everything from pirate CD/DVDs to paintings. This was the ideal environment for us to celebrate New Year.
New Year's eve day was spent with a wander around the city. The Reunification Palace was closed but we did manage to see the Notre Dame cathedral, the impressive interior of the main post office building, and the war history museum. The latter was the highlight giving details of the Vietnam war, with photographs and journalistic accounts of the conflict including military hardware, details of atrocities carried out by the Americans, and the long term effects of the use of defoliants such as Agent Orange. Although the museum undoubtedly looks at things from an Vietnamese perspective, the facts cannot be denied and it quickly balances out any perceptions of the war gained from watching Hollywood war films.
In the evening we had a nice meal and joined the street party to celebrate the New Year. There were dancers, bands, music and (a slightly premature) midnight countdown, giving it a feel similar to Edinburghs Hogmanay celebrations - but with an obvious oriental twist of course. After recovering from our hangovers we planned out the rest of our travels through Vietnam and booked day trips from HCMC to the Cu Chi Tunnels and the Mekong Delta.
The Cu Chi tunnels were famously used by the Viet Cong (VC) army during the war to hide and launch attacks against the Americans in the 'occupied' south. The day trip we booked onto first visited a Caodai temple where we admired the weird and wonderful architecture and saw midday mass. The Caodai religion is best described as a mixture of many other religions, and whilst it was interesting to see, we weren't convinced it was worth the extra hours spent on the bus to reach the temple. The Cu Chi tunnels were far more interesting and we saw details of the guerilla fighting techniques used by the VC and got chance to crawl through a reconstructed part of the tunnels. The original tunnels existed on 3 levels and were 60 x 80cm in section. This tunnel size minimised the risk of bomb damage and made it harder for the larger bodied American GIs to enter the tunnels. The reconstructed part of the tunnels are double the original size but even this was too claustrophobic for us and we bailed out at the first exit after 30m of the 90m section. The tunnels were fascinating to see although it would perhaps have been better to take a half day trip there rather than combining it with a visit to the Caodai temple.
Our day trip to the Mekong Delta was very enjoyable and involved a bus trip followed by travel on several different sized boats along different parts of the Delta, from the wide main channel to sub channels only a few metres wide. We got to see quite a lot of delta life including a typical fruit and veg market, a coconut candy factory, and a couple of island villages. Ig got to hold a python (keep the jokes to yourself please!) and we tasted rice wine and honey straight from the comb. The highlight however, was being paddled along a narrow canal in a small canoe by two old Vietnamese women - we donned the typical Vietnamese conical hats to give the trip a more authentic feel.
Having seen what we wanted to see in HCMC we decided to take a time saving flight up to Danang in order to visit the World Heritage listed sights of Hoi An and Hue. Hoi An was a great to spend a few days and we first spent some time wandering around the old town with its well preserved narrow streets, typical Chinese houses and temples. We also took a trip out to see the Cham ruins of My Son, which were ok but not that impressive if you've already visited Angkor in Cambodia. Bikes were hires and we cycled to the beach although the climate had cooled as we'd headed north and the clouds meant it was just a bit too cold to sunbathe. Instead we sat in a beach side cafe with a beer and watched the world go by.
Besides the old town, Hoi An is famous for it's tailors and is one of the cheapest places in SE Asia to have clothes made. After wandering around a few tailors we plumped for one and wandered in to look at some designs and material. All the tailors have the Next catalogue and can copy any style you choose for a fraction of the price. Ig had gone in looking for a new suit whilst Mary wanted a couple of pairs of trousers. However, the sales assistant was very good at her job and before we knew it Ig had ordered a three piece suit, three pairs of trousers and two shirts, whilst Mary had ordered two pairs of trousers and a skirt - all for less than you'd pay for one off the peg suit back home. We were comprehensively measured and told to come back in 24 hours! When we did we were relieved to find that with a few minor alterations the clothes fitted perfectly and we were more than satisfied. As a result of our spending spree we had to buy a new bag to carry the clothes back home.
From Hoi An it was up to Hue via the Marble Mountains and the spectacular scenery of the mountain pass which runs along the coast. We weren't all that impressed by Hue although it was worth seeing the tomb of Emperor Tu Duc and the Citadel. After just one day in Hue we took an overnight sleeper train to Hanoi. The conditions on the sleeper train were OK but not as nice as the Thai equivalent. Following a 12 hour journey we were delivered to Hanoi at 4 am and managed to get a bit more sleep in our hotel in the Old Quarter of the city.
The climate in Hanoi was a bit of a shock - the first proper cold weather we'd experienced since New Zealand, and the sun didn't manage to struggle through the clouds once during our few days there. We wandered around a few temples, saw Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum and in the evening saw a performance of water puppetry which was quite impressive.
A day trip to Halong Bay involved a cruise round the bay where the huge limestone monoliths and eerily lit caves were the main attractions.
Towards the end of our stay in Vietnam we were losing patience with the street hawkers and manic traffic and there were several incidents of 'pedestrian rage' as we attempted to walk through the Old Quarter. Overall we liked Vietnam although ideally we would have gone at a warmer time of year and had more time to visit the beach areas of Mui Ne and Nha Trang.
