Vietnam

Well it's another morning and another city, it's the first time it's been a bit overcast but still warm.

Today we are on our own and going for a walk round the city. Andrew has been here before so knows some of the sites to head for.

We have a walk along the narrow streets of the old town and head out towards the Ancient Citadel area. We have had to go the long way round today as some of the main roads are barriered off due to President Obama being here for a state visit. This means some of the monuments and tourist sites are difficult to get to or are even closed.

Negotiating the roads is a tricky business again today as there is no let up in the number of scooters on the road, however it does add to the excitement of the day.

We end up at Truc Bach a large lake on the edge of the city where there are some large boats moared, most have been turned into restaurants or coffee shops so we hop on one for coffee and a cake to recuperate after are the long walk.

From here we head through to the botanical gardens, there is a charge to enter which is only 16p but this probably puts locals off and the gardens are empty, its nothing special and a bit disappointing.

The municipal parks that we have gone through along our way are much nicer and have lots of colourful planting. At this time of the year there are many tree's lining the streets that are in flower.

From here it's a walk back through the city to Hoan Kiem Lake which is in the old town area. By now it's 3pm so we find a nice roof top bar to have some lunch, there is a great view of the old town for here.

Well that's been a great walk taking in the sites and sounds of the city and seeing how the Vietnamese people live and work. Now back to our hotel to cool off and relax for a while then freshen up before we meet the group at 6pm.

We meet up with the other group members and the tour guide and he takes all the required details and again we introduce ourselves one by one to our fellow travellers.

The guide gives us some background on himself and his career. Like many of the guides here in South East Asia they have had none or little education and have taught themselves English which has then given them the opportunity to work in tourism.

After all the introductions are done we are off out for a meal as a group.

The guide takes us through the busy streets dodging all the motor bikes along the way as we attempt to cross the roads. For some of the group this is their first experience of the traffic and they are a bit unnerved by it.

We end up at a lovely Vietnamese restaurant and the guide suggests which foods to try, all are delicious, the local beer is good too.

From there we head back along the street a little to a lively bar.

The waitress can see us looking and asks how many in our group, 16 I reply, with that she ushers the locals out of the way and pulls up more seats for us on the street edge so we can have a drink and watch the world go by.

Its a good chance to get to know people more and a great start to the trip.

Day 2

Today we are up early and off to Ha Long Bay which is a 4 hour drive from Hanoi.

Another guide has joined us for this part of the trip and along the way tells us about Hanoi.

It has 7 million inhabitants and is the capital of Vietnam, the city is tightly packed with buildings which are 3, 4, 5 or more stories high but only 3 - 4 metres wide.

One reason for this is people like to sit out at the front of their property and the government has allocated 3 - 4 metres as sufficient space.

Property tax is based on this as well so if you have a double fronted business it will cost you a lot more, therefore people will extend backwards onto their plot or go upwards as this is a much cheaper option.

You will also pay rates once a year based on the square footage of your property and it has been known for the government to decided to collect this twice a year so owning your own property can be expensive.

As the journey is 4 hours it's broken up with a stop at a service area which also has workshops set up for locals and deprived unskilled people to learn a trade and become skilled.

There are weavers that are making beautiful pictures out of silk, jewellery makers and stone carvers. Its a very interesting stop and great to see what local people do.

We stop here for half an hour then off again for another 2 hours, eventually we arrive at Ha Long Bay, it's a bit misty today so difficult to see the islands out in the bay from here.

Our bus drops us off at a jetty and we get onto a small tender to take us to our boat which we will be our home for that night and the following morning before returning to Hanoi.

The boat is one of the medium sized ones as we are only a small group but it is beautifully appointed inside with varnished wood flooring and walls and every comfort you could need.

The bedrooms have their own bathrooms with toilet and showers and the room is air conditioned, much better than we were expecting.

Once we are on board and settled into our cabin we head up on deck to take in the stunning scenery as we cruise out between the limestone rock formations, apparently there are 1969 of them.

In between the shelter of these huge outcrops there are bays where people are living on floating houses. To survive and provide an income these small comunitities make a living from fishing.

Whilst we enjoy the scenery the crew are sorting out lunch and it's not long before we sit down to a 8 course meal which is very tasty and we all enjoy it. Our guide then gives us the itinerary for the rest of the day and the following morning.

Later we are off on a trip to the caves and then off to Titpot beach and Pergola.

The caves have three chambers each one more spectacular than the last with lots of stalagtites and stalagmites. When you get to the end of the caves there is a great view looking out over the water at the many islands.

At Titpot on top of the rock, some 400 steps up, a pergola has been built to enjoy the view. Its quite a challenge to get to the top especially in the heat of the day but well worth it.

After that it's back down to the lovely sand beach for an hour and a dip in the sea to cool off before we head back to our boat to shower and freshen up for our evening meal.

Along the way we see some small fishing boats casting their nets and some women in rowing boats that have their boats filled with snacks and drinks which they sell to the passing tourist boats.

That evening we all gather on the top deck for a drink and watch the sun go down.

Its lovely and peaceful and a beautiful view across the bay we are moared in as the water is still and the lights of the boats reflect on the water.

We head down for dinner and again we are served some great food, another 8 course meal.

After dinner one of the chefs shown us how they make the flower decorations from vegetables and the net from a carrot, it's very intricate work all done with a small sharp knife and amazing to watch.

Well its time for bed, it's been a great day.

Day 3

Its another lovely day, not too sunny which is good for our Kayaking around the islands, the mist has gone today and the sea is calm. We head out between the rocks and through a cave into a lagoon area that is surrounded by the tall cliffs covered with lots of tree’s and bushes which make it very green and tranquil. Being on the water in the kayaks is a great way to see more of the limestone rock formations and get up close. We spend a few hours out on the water and then it’s back to the boat to cool off and shower for an early lunch as we will shortly be heading back to port.

Lunch again is a great feast of 8 courses, it’s a bit much but it all looks so good you just have to try it, we have a long 4 hour journey ahead of us back to Hanoi that afternoon and don’t know when we will eat again.

We finally arrive back at the same hotel in Hanoi where we started and have some free time so we go and find some takeaway food and drink to take with us on the next part of the journey as there will be no food provided on the sleeper train we are taking to Hue overnight.

At 6pm we all gather and are taken by bus to the train station, only a ten minute drive away. The guide sorts the tickets whilst we stay in the waiting room, we all wonder what the train will be like.

We get onto the platform and the train seems to stretch for miles, its about 14 carriages long made up of compartments of seats and sleeper berths, they are all of differing standards but our sleeper is a V.I.P carriage with 4 beds in each compartment, pillows, sleeping bags and air conditioning, we are all pleasantly surprised.

Each carriage has a toilet and washroom area at each end and you have a couple of train attendants allocated to each section to look after you. The attendant provides us with a bottle of red wine and some cups which will go very nicely with the snacks we have bought earlier.

Andrew and I have the top bunks, they’re not bad and we soon master the art of climbing into them. We open a can of beer and have some of the food as it’s about 7.30pm by now and we are a little peckish.

Its not long before the train is moving and we open our red wine. The girls next to us have Jaeger bombs on the go and have started a party so we all take our drinks to that cabin and join in. It’s very cosy with 16 people crammed into the small room but great fun and a good atmosphere. The party goes on into the early hours.

Day 4
We are woken by the train staff at 7.30 and provided with tea and coffee, another half an hour and we will have reached our destination of Hue. Its been a fun trip on the train but not the best nights sleep. A bus is waiting at the station to take us to our hotel, we hope it’s nice.

We arrive at the Asia Hotel which is in a good location with bars and restaurants close by, we check in and have a little wait for our rooms but decide to go for breakfast at the hotel while they get them ready. Its not long and by 10.30 we are in. The room is great, good size with extra wide single beds, nice bathroom and air conditioning.

We have time to freshen up and relax before we are off on a tour of Hue on mopeds for the afternoon.

The moped tour is a project to help the locals earn some money and for us to get to know them. Each member of the group is allocated a driver who takes care of you making sure your helmet fits and you are comfortable on the moped, once sorted we are off to see the sights.

We first go to the Citadel which is the old city and palace of the last Vietnamese Dynasty, it was the original capital of Vietnam for nearly 150 years until in 1968 it was bombed by north Vietnamese and then later recaptured by the Americans.

Unfortunately lots of the palace was destroyed and looted by both sides in the fighting but today there’s a programme of restoration going on to sympathetically rebuild what is left so visitors can get an idea of what the place would have been like.

Now it's back on the mopeds and we head to Thien Mu Pergoda overlooking the Perfumed river. The Pergoda has 7 floors each one with a golden Buddha on each level to symbolise the 7 lives you have to go through to reach Nirvana.

In 1963 a Buddhist monk from the Pergoda drove to Saigon in his Austin Car poured petrol over himself and set himself alight in protest against religious intolerance and interference in south Vietnam. The car is now on display with pictures of the event at the Pergoda.

We get back on the mopeds head off to our next stop which is a temple for Buddhist nuns. They have put on a lunch for us of rice, noodles and cooked vegetables with bread and cold drinks.

Its looking a bit grey as we set off to the next place and just after we have set off the heavens open. Our moped drivers are well equipped and have waterproofs for us and quickly get us covered up to keep dry.

The continuing journey is quite an adventure as we spreed along the narrow roads some of which are no more than dirt tracks and are now floaded and running like rivers, our feet get soaked and at times it's difficult to see where we are going.

We arrive at Hu Guyen, an arena built for the Emporer in 1830 for Elephant and Tiger fighting. The tigers wouldn't have a chance of killing the elephants as the tigers would have had their claws and canine teeth removed. The Elephant was a symbol of power and dominance so the Emporer staged the shows to symbolise that he could assert his power and authority over his subjects.

From here we head to the Imperial Tombs where the last Emporer of Vietnam is burried. The site was looted and damaged by the French in the past as they had tried to find the Emporers Tomb which was said to hold lots of gold and jewels. The Emporer being clever had decided that like the Egyptian burial sites he would be laid to rest in a secret chamber under the mausoleum with a secret tunnel running to it. The workers that constructed it where then killed after it was finished so know one could give it's identify away at a later date.

Our guide tells us that with today's technology of being able to scan the ground they have identified the burial chamber and the secret entrance which is hidden beneath the lake. The tomb has never been opened as the Buddhist Vietnamese believe it will bring them bad luck if they open the tomb.

Luckily the rain has now stopped and we take off our Ponchos and head to the next place along our trip which is a beautiful view from on top of a hill covered with pine tree's over looking the Perfumed River.

Up here there are two gun turrets as this was a strategic spot used to control goods and arms bought in by boat up the river, firstly when under the control of the French and later under the Americans.

On the way to our next stop we pause for a quick look at the Japanese Bridge and continue into a small village where we stop to watch how the traditional bamboo conical hat is made.

From there we head out into the countryside and across the rice fields where we see them cultivating the fields for the next crop.

The fields use to be cultivated by buffalo drawn ploughs but today it is done using sit on mechanical rotavators.

As we get back nearer to the city the traffic gets heavier and it is now 6 o'clock and a lot more traffic about. The mopeds all keep grouped together and push their way through, its not long before we are back at our hotel, Its been a great day and a great way to see the sights.

That evening we all go out for dinner together and end up in the local bar across the road from our hotel and play some pool.

Its not a late night as tomorrow we have a 4 hour bus ride to our next destination Hoi An

Day 5

We set off today at 8 am and head out of the city and travel along the coast road. Along this part of the coastline there are many seafood producers and oyster beds.

As we get further on the landscape changes and the road start to weave its way up the mountains. There is a great view of the coastline from several view points that we stop at along the way.

We eventually reach the top and stop for a break and stretch our legs. The road over the mountain is called The Hai Van Pass.

In the Vietnam war this was a strategic site occupied by the Americans and up here there are old derelict bunkers.

These would have houses large guns which would be used to protect America supply ships or destroy enermy ships coming along the shipping channel

To the south side of the mountains is the the city of Danang which during the Vietnam war was the hub for all the American forces as it had a large port and airfield which at the time of the war was said to be the busiest in the world.

Today Danang is the 4th largest city in Vietnam. It has lots of development going at the moment and is becoming a valuable area for Vietnam as a tourist destination due to it having a major airport and stunning white sandy beaches stretching along it's beautiful coastline.

We continue on our journey and arrive at our hotel in Hoi an, we are staying at Vinh Hung 2 hotel right on the edge of the old town.

The hotel is traditional and very nicely appointed, its another great surprise to be staying in a nice hotel. It is set out in a square over 3 floors with balconies looking into a courtyard and a lovely swimming pool in the centre.

The bedroom is a good size with larger than average single beds and a lovely ensuite, and when we settle into the room we discover it has great air conditioning. The beds are made up with a lovely finishing touch of a few flowers laid out on them.

Time to go exploring again, so the group meets in the lobby and we head to the old town where a guide meets up and we purchase a ticket.

The inner town area is pedestrians only but there are designated times in day when bicycles and mopeds can enter, once in the early morning and once in the evening.

The ticket gives you entry to any five places you may wish to visit. The guide gives us a map and takes us on a tour of the streets pointing out the best sites to see as after lunch we will have free time to do the ones we want on our own.

Lunch today is traditional Vietnamese and we go to a lovely restaurant overlooking the river. Andrew has prawns wrapped in banana leaves and I have chicken in a clay pot, both are served with rice.

Andrew says his prawns are the best he has ever had, everyone's food looks delicious. We wash ours down with a nice cold beer.

After lunch we spend our time walking around the streets seeing the temples, the main food markets and the narrow streets full of shops with the finest tailoring shops where you can get clothes made, leather goods and just about anything that you can imagine.

Many of the streets are festooned with beautiful coloured latterns and at night they can be seen at their best when they are illuminated, in fact Hoi An is known for this and the floating candles that you can buy and let go on the river which created a spectacular atmosphere at night.

That evening we do just that and after head to a bar on the far side of the river called Tiger Tiger.

Its a very lively place with great music, a pool table and a few other games we haven't see but people seem to be enjoying them.

Our guide Bopha joins us there and we all drink and dance the night away, what a great way to end a great day.

Day 6

Today we get to have a lie in and take it easy in the morning, We are meeting up with our guide late morning and heading out to a project called Oodles of Noddles.

This project helps support young adults from poor backgrounds to have the opportunity for a better future by providing them with an apprenticeship in hotel and catering.

They are taught to cook a variety of international cuisine, how to provide a good level of service and taught English and computer skills.

We are lucky to go and have lunch at the training school to learn more about Vietnamese food and given a demonstration by some of the guys and girls learning these new skills. We also get to have a go ourselves at making rice pancakes. After the students serve us a noodle soup lunch they have cooked.

Its a great lunch time experience, something quite different and nice to know that the contribution and donation we have given today will help to continue this project on.

Vietnam has a growing tourism industry and this project is making sure they have the qualified and skilled individuals to do the work whilst giving young under privileged Vietnamese adults a future and way out of poverty.

After lunch we have some more free time to explore the streets.

Its hot here again today, 35 degrees so after a while we decide to head back to the hotel, relax and have a swim in the lovely pool.

By 5pm we head back to the town as it has cooled down and go to a nice coffee shop. Its on the second floor of the building and has a balcony overlooking the river so we sit there watching the world go by below. With our coffees we also indulge in a piece of cake each, yummy.

Its now getting dark and once again the lights are coming on making the place look magical. We head off to one of the restaurants for dinner and a long island iced tea or two, then it's back to the hotel and time for bed.

Day 7

Today we are up and out on a bike tour by 8.30. We head out of the town and into the countryside and our first stop is to see how they grow rice in the paddy fields.

There are waterways along the edge of the roads with small sluice gates to allow water to flow into the rice fields and regulate the depth as the rice has to be grown in water but no deeper than 10 centimeters as it will rot, not enough and it will not produce a good yield.

Many of the fields have been harvested already this year as you can produce on crop in the spring and two during summer and autumn.

When the rice plants start to go yellow it's time to harvest them, they are pulled up and set aside in bundles to dry, once dry the rice pods are separated from the leaves and husks. At this point they can be bagged and stored for a few years or ground up to make them into rice flower.

Along the way we see groups of ducks which are being bred for food but are allowed to roam free through the paddy fields.

As we get further along our route we come to a village which grows all sorts of vegetables, things like lettuce, spring onions, basil, fennel and papaya and mango trees.
We are greeted by an old couple that have been married for 70 years, he is 93 and she is 87 and they are still working on the land.

The old man shows us how he waters the young plants with the large watering cans he has attached to a piece of bamboo that he rests across his back. Some of the group have a go at this and find it's not as easy as it looks.

On our way to the next village on the river we come across some water buffalo and get the chance to stroke and ride two of them.

At the river we have a light lunch of a traditional pancake filled with beanshoots and you add extra salad and chili sauce if you like and roll the whole thing up in a rice pancake.

After lunch we go out on the river in round coracle boats that are made out of bamboo. Each boat takes two people in it and a local person to row for you. We head out between the palms that grow straight out of the water.

Along the way the boat rowers stop and makes each of the group a hat, crowns, rings, flower brooches, and a couple of grasshoppers all made out of the leaves stripped from the palms, Its very clever.

On the way back to the river bank the rowers start a race and Andrew and I are the winners. Hurray - champions.

The rest of the trip down the river is back on a larger boat and our bikes have been stacked on the back.

Along the way we see some lovely scenery and clusters of houses on the river banks. There are large fishing nets positioned over areas of the water which get lowered down each day to catch fish, crabs and any other seafood which is sold in many of the restaurants in Hoi An.

The river boat trip takes us all the way back to Hoi An old town and we have the rest of the afternoon and evening to ourselves.

That evening we head to a bar across the river so we can look back at the lights. Andrews has fish in banana leaves which comes with rice and I decide to have a pizza, We chuckle to ourselves when we see a delivery man with a heat bag arrive and come into the bar and a minute later my pizza is at our table.

The menu was rather extensive and I'm not surprised they don't do all the food one site, it's probably cheaper and easier to get a pizza shop to do it and deliver, it is very nice though.

Well a early night as we set off for the airport at 6.30 to catch our next flight as we are going from Hoi An to Ho Chi Minh for the last part of our trip in Vietnam.

Day 8

We set off to the airport and as it is too early for breakfast at the hotel they have arrange a little bag with bread, egg, cheese, and some jams and some UHT milk drink.

We arrive at the airport and go to check in. As we are in a group they open another check in for us which makes it easy, today we are flying with Vietjet airlines.

The seats are wider than most and luckily Andrew and I have two seats next to the emergency exit and lots of leg room. The flight is about an hour.

When we arrive at the other end our transfer is waiting and takes us to our hotel right in the middle of Ho Chi Minh city. The city used to be called Saigon and most of the locals still refer to it by the old name.

The south of Vietnam was a democracy and was a French colony for 150 years. There is a lot of architecture here in the French style and compared to other Vietnamese cities the roads are a lot wider.

The city is the largest in Vietnam and has some 9 million inhabitants. The roads are packed with vehicles but the mopeds still out numbers other forms of transport.

Our guide Bopha walks us around the city to get our bearings and we go for lunch at PHO 2000 which is famous for a visit made by President Clinton in 2000.

Whilst having lunch it starts to rain and continues for most of the afternoon so puts pay to the rest of the orientation walk.

However Andrew and I go exploring in the covered market across the road. It is packed tight with lots of small stalls selling clothes, gifts, electrical items, food and small eateries. Its quite something to see.

From here we head back to the hotel for a rest but on the way get caught in the heavy rain and get soaked through to the skin.

Our guide has managed to change our itinery and arranges a Cyclo tour of the city for us, this is on a bike in a Rikshaw type bicycle but you sit upfront and the cyclist sits behind.

As it's still raining they have canopies on them and the guides make sure we are covered up with a waterproof sheet. How great is that.

The first stop it the war museum which gives an insight into the Vietnam war and the American involvement, there are many photo’s showing the human cost to either side and the devastation inflicted on Vietnam, we only have 45 minutes here which isn’t enough time.

From here the bikes take us to the reunification palace which was the ex-presidential palace and onto the Christian cathedral built to resemble Notre Dame in Paris, apparently all the masonry was shipped over from France to construct it.

Opposite is the old post office which is again in the French style and quite grand, it was designed by Gustav Eiffel who designed the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

From here we go past the Old Opera House and onto Ho Chi Minh City Hall, once called Hotel de Ville. In front of the city hall there is a large statue to Ho Chi Minh and in the opposite direction the grand avenue stretches as far as the eye can see.

The area from here is now the financial district with lots of new high rise modern buildings and there is a new underground metro system being constructed beneath the city. The old and new make this a very interesting and vibrant place along with the hustle and bustle that a major city has, it’s a great place.

Continuing on we come to a monument dedicated to the Buddhist monk that came here and set himself alight as a protest to the regime discriminating against Buddhist freedoms to practice their religion.

From here it’s a short journey back to the hotel and the streets are getting packed with traffic, I have never seen so many mopeds on the street, at times you wonder how they manage to all fit on the road and not collide into each other, everyone is very patient though and polite even when the traffic has to cross each other, this can be quite hairy but they all seem to know what they are doing and with us having experienced riders taking us around you never feel unsafe.

We arrive back at the hotel in one piece and have a bit of time to relax before we go out as a group to the street food market for dinner.

It turns out to be a great place which is under cover with food stalls set out in the middle serving Vietnamese and European food of all kinds.

You decide what you want, order and pay for it, find a table and they bring your food to you. We have a delicious half of chicken served with rice and a salad washed down with a local beer. After dinner it's back to the hotel and time for bed.

Day 9

Today we are off on a guided tour to the Cu Chi tunnels which are about an hour and a half out of the city. It’s a bumpy ride along the way in the coach but well worth it .

We have a Vietnamese guide with us today who was a translated for the American army during the war. He is from the south of Vietnam and tells us that when the French left southern Vietnam the southern Vietnamese had a democratic state but didn't like their leader.

The north had a communist leader and was popular in the north, the north wanted to unite as one nation so an election was organised, it was soon realised by the south that as their leader was not popular they would lose the election anyway and be taken over by the communist northern government.

The south didn't want this so withdrew from the elections. The southern leader though unpopular with his people was then supported by the Americans.

As the southern Vietnamese where mainly poor farmers the Viet Cong from the north came into their villages and promised them a better life and prosperity if they followed the Viet Cong and the northern government.

The Americans supplied the southern Vietnamese government with weapons as support but over time the Americans got drawn into a war their shoulders didnt want to be involved in but had no choice.

The Viet Cong recruited both people in the north and south and soon Vietnamese people that had been friends or even brothers or sisters were fighting on different sides but neither would trust the other as they were not sure who was on who's side.

By 1973 the Americans had withdrawn from Vietnam and the fighting continued for two more years between north and south, eventually Ho Chi Minh bought both sides together but under communist rule, the Vietnamese people had had enough fighting.

At the Cu Chi tunnels site you can get a really good insight of the life these Viet Cong lived fighting not only the Americans but their own people, you can see and go into some of the tunnels they dug which where used to hide in and move around undetected, they are very narrow and dark, there were some 250 kilometres of these tunnels.

There were many barbaric man traps they came up with to kill the enemy, most involving spikes made from bamboo or metal.

The spikes would the be covered with faeces to posion the victim that fell into one of these traps.

The traps would be in two or three meter deep holes with a trapdoor or covered over with bamboo and leaves to make them invisible on the jungle floor.

The Viet Cong were very tough and resourceful and had the upper hand as they knew the terrain. They would collect anything that the

Americans tossed aside, such as spent bomb shells, these would be melted down and turned into their own bombs and land mines, old tyres would be collected and turned into shoes etc.

After the war any Vietnamese that had worked for the American war effort were sent to rehabilitation camps, our guide was one of these people, he spent threes year in one of these camps before being released.

After the visit it's back to the hotel and Andrew and I have to pack as it's our last day in Vietnam.

We have had a great time and I now have a much better understanding about this country, we have seen some beautiful places, met lovely Vietnamese people and made new friends, we have

been so lucky to have shared it with the great bunch of people that made up our group and best of all the guide Bopha who has a passion for what he has shown us.

Tonight we are out for a farewell meal, six of us are leaving the group and five new members are joining to go with the rest of the group on their next stage of their tour which is Cambodia.

After dinner and a drink we leave the group and get a taxi back to the hotel as we have to be up at six and off to the airport for our next flight which will be taking us to Hong Kong.