We arrived in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) around eight o'clock on Monday night. After a full day of travelling, it was a welcome change to be on the ground. Unfortunately, our first taste of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) was to find that our hotel had neglected to organise the airport pick up we were expecting.
We made or way over to the Taxi Rank, where someone informed us that a taxi to or hotel would cost us 180 000VND. After the initial alarm, we figured out that was equivalent to only $10AUD, so we hopped in.
The ride through the city was certainly a culture shock. My first impression of Saigon was the inconsistency. Block after block, we saw a homeless man sleeping next to a Mercedes Benz dealership, next to a street food stall, next to a vintage boutique, next to a rickshaw driver hassling Western tourists, and security guards were everywhere. The general guards in blue, and the Tourist Police in green. The amount of scooters and motorbikes was incredible. They were everywhere, and road rules seemed to be suggestions. In Vietnam, the drivers are supposed to keep to the right side of the road, but in HCMC, they drive wherever they please. The scooter drivers only stopped at red lights if they pleased, and there was an alarming amount of babies and small children riding the bikes with no helmets. Another thing I noticed (with a wince) was the lack of turning lanes. Apparently, in Saigon, drivers can turn left or right at any time, and from anywhere on the road. All that's required is the sounding of the horn (the sound track for Ho Chi Minh City).
We arrived at out hotel, the Sherwood Residence, about nine o'clock. It was immaculate. The staff welcomed us, and showed us the pool, gym, electronic games room, ping pong table, dining room, and mini putting green. They pointed out what they called the 'best supermarket' across the road, and carried our bags to our room.
We were up early, and headed downstairs for breakfast. We were glad to see both Asian and Western choices. As good as the Vietnamese food is, I just can't stomach fried rice, dumplings, dim sums, and sir fry so early in the nothing.
After breakfast we hopped aboard the free shuttle bus and headed to the Ben Tanh markets, the largest market in Saigon. Here we found thousands of tourist T-shirts, hippie pants, coffee, tea, sunglasses, bags, trinkets, and suspicious looking, wrapped up food. There were also plates of brains and livers sitting out in the open, most covered with flies.
The amount the sales-people try to rip off the tourists is really quite incredible. We'd read before we left to offer one third of the office the shop keeper first gives, and with a firm hand and pretending to leave the shop, we could usually get the price right down where we wanted it. All the sales-girls were very pushy, and 'just looking' wasn't an option. We were quite alarmed by many of them grabbing us, and physically pulling us in to their stalls.
When we left the markets, there were a group of rickshaw drivers waiting for us. One promised he would take us to a restaurant for lunch for 15 000VND (less than $1AUD).
'For all three of us?' We questioned, and he nodded, and all but pushed us in to the seats.
The ride was quite peaceful, and lunch was delicious, and ended up costing us $13 AUD for four plates and drinks. We went back outside to ask the rickshaw drivers yo take us back to our hotel, which happened to be just around the corner, but they insisted on taking us past the Notre Dame building (there is still a lot of French architecture in HCMC). We obliged, and they pointed it out as we passed, and then took us by the Saigon river. They then insisted that they needed to stop for a drink, which they did so in a dodgy-looking alley. He took out his guest book for us to write what a lovely time we'd had, and then told us it was time to pay. We took out the 15 000, as we had negotiated, and they laughed, and pointed to the 100 000 VND note, and said 'fifteen of these'. For all three of us? No. 1 500 000 VND each. After we reluctantly paid (there was nothing else to do, we were in a secluded street in a strange city), they put us back on our rickshaws, and we were of to our hotel. It then started to pour down with rain. They hurried us off, under an awning, and said they would pay for a taxi back to our hotel. We rode in the taxi for what felt like far too long, and when we got out, it was the wrong hotel, two districts away from ours. We caught another taxi home.
We were quite wary after that adventure, and decided to have a look around on foot. We came across the War Remnants Museum, where they had the leftovers of the jails when the American Army tortured the Vietnamese, and a few jets, tanks, and helicopters. After having a look around, we made or way back to the hotel, making a stop at the Co-Op Mart, which had everything from clothes to cosmetics, to kitchen appliances, to whiskey, to Milo.
I went to the gym and for a swim that night and the others went to a Japanese restaurant down the street for dinner.
Today we went on a tour out of the city, to the Mekong Delta . We took a shuttle bus (about an hour and a half drive) first to a Vietnamese temple, where they invented a religion - Cao Dai - in the 1920's, which combines Catholicism, Buddhism, and Taoism. We then went on to the dock, and there we boarded a river boat which took us across to the small local village. When we got off the boat, we saw a water buffalo tied up by the water. We walked in to the village, where we were told we'd see the locals going about their business, but there's no knowing whether or not it was for our benefit. The people who lived in the village lived much more of a laid back lifestyle than the people of HCMC. They get up early to tend to the rice patties, then come hone for a nap, and go out to the patties again in the mid-afternoon. We took a donkey-drawn cart through the village, and we finished up at a covered area, where locals brought us fruit and honey-sweetened tea, which was all very delicious. We then made or way down to the creek, where we boarded a canoe, and had a trip downstream, back to where our river boat was waiting. The tour agency organised a set menu at a restaurant, which was very good, about four courses, the best of which was an Elephant Ear Fish, and a cooked rice ball that swelled to look like a crystal ball.
That night we went to the night markets, and had dinner at a little cafe on the street near the Ben Tanh markets.
The taxi ride home was interesting. We seemed to choose the party taxi. When we hopped in, the driver promptly put on a poppy Asian remix, complete with music video, turned it up to a brain rattling decibel, and bopped his way to the Sherwood Residence.
This morning we walked in to the central part of the city for a look around. The Tourist Police were very helpful, assisting us cross the road. We went on a search for some markets we had read about in Lonely Planet, but on the way, we had an incident with a lady on a scooter. We were waiting to cross the road, a one way street, so we were looking towards the oncoming traffic, and there was a gap, and we walked out, only to run in to the scooter coming the wrong way up the street! The collision caused a bruised up leg, and the driver fell off sideways, but just as she was about to yell, a local lady hurried out, and roused on her (we guessed, four driving the wrong way up a one way street), and age carried on her way after the little bingle, we had coffee at quite an upmarket cafe, and did some shopping at Saigon Square, which was much more peaceful than our experience at Ben Tanh. The shop keepers stood back, and we were free to look in peace.
We headed back to our hotel for lunch, where we had fried rice in a hollowed out pineapple. Very nice.
We went out after lunch for a private tour, where we looked at the Reunification Palace, which had some very interesting artwork, and we then took a taxi to one of the Saigon temples, and as we were standing on the curb to pay the taxi driver, a scooter driver beeped their horn, and drove past, between us and the taxi, and on the way through, grabbed our wallet, and managed to take 2.2 million VND. After that, we boycotted the temple tour, and returned home.
That night we went for dinner at a Korean restaurant just around the corner from us. There was a hot plate in the middle of the table, and we choose different meat dishes to cook, and made our own spiders. It was a good way to end our time in Saigon.
After breakfast downstairs, we packed up our things and purchases and headed downstairs for the taxi. Or ticket instructed us to arrive at the airport two hours early, but in hindsight, it was unnecessary. We sat around at the airport for hours, eventually checked in, had coffee and tea, then boarded the plane headed for Da Nang.
We arrived at Da Nang, and the Resort had our shuttle organised, and we took a painfully slow ride to the Sandy Beach Resort.
Da Nang was a surprising, yet welcome change from Saigon. It was much quieter, and cleaner.
We soon arrived at the resort, and were shown the restaurant, pools, bar, and finally, our bungalow.
Once we settled in, we headed down to the Beach Bar for some cocktails, kebabs, and pizza, and to enjoy the view of the beach and sunshine. We then relaxed by the pool and on the sand until dinner at the resort restaurant, where we had some authentic Vietnamese dishes, with more cocktails.
This morning we booked in on the shuttle to Hoi An for later in the day, and had breakfast at the resort restaurant. We then had time to swim and relax by the pool and the beach until the shuttle bus left at two.
It took us around half an hour to get to Hoi An, and when we arrived, we headed towards the Japanese bridge, which is where the old part of Hoi An begins. We strolled through the streets that were lined with markets selling dresses, lanterns, fans, and other trinkets tourists are excited by. We stopped at a cute little cafe for coffee and sweet snacks, and did a bit more shopping. We walked down by the river, where all the restaurants and docks are, and found a cafe/bar having a 2-for-1 Happy Hour, so we had some drinks and chips, then wandered a bit further until the sun went down.
It happened to be the Children's Holiday, and the kids of the town were banging drums, and yelling and dancing all over the street. When it got dark, they all lit lanterns to put on the river, as they said a prayer for their family.
We found a place for dinner, and as we were sitting down, they turned the lights off, as customary for the holiday, and lit gas lanterns.
We choose the seven course set meal, for about $5 AUD.
They brought the courses out very swiftly. We had dumplings, dim sums, fish in banana leaf, pancakes, and some other stuff I couldn't name.
We had another walk along the river, then caught the shuttle back to our place, and went straight to bed.
After we were shopped out, we sat by the river, and soaked in the sights, then we took the shuttle bus back to Sandy Beach.
We went to the Beach Bar for lunch and cocktails, and had a bit of a swim, and lay by the pool.
We then headed down to the Spa for manicures and pedicures, and came back to our bungalow for coffee and movies.
We had 'free drink' vouchers tonight, so we headed out to the 'Garden Bar' to retrieve them, and had dinner and a delicious creme brulee for dessert.
The airport was quiet - there was an average of two flights an hour, but we had some Won Ton Soup, which was quite nice, and reasonably priced.
We flew out about midday, and arrived at Hanoi an hour later. It was 31 degrees, the hottest since we've been here, but it was dry heat, and the sun was shining, which was a welcome change.
The ride to our hotel took nearly an hour, and on the way, we witnessed an accident involving a taxi and a man on a scooter. The driving was quite terrifying, or driver seemed to have a neglect for the centre line, so we spent the majority of the ride panicking.
The hotel was quite nice and the doorman brought us 'welcome tea' and 'welcome fruit'.
We decided to follow one of the Lonely Planet's walking tours, which took us through crowded streets selling silk, toys, sunglasses, wooden Buddha's, taps, hinges, mirrors, masks, and suits.
We got trapped in the 'plumbing district', and we were getting hungry,so we boycotted the walking tour in search of a cafe or bar. We came across a five story bulling with two cafes, a restaurant, and a bar. We headed to the top floor to a fantastic view of the city.
When you're trying to cross the road, the traffic is terrifying, but from the sixth floor, it's very interesting, and we witnessed a few close calls and traffic jams.
We started with some drinks and snacks, but ended up having dinner as well. As well as a view of the traffic, out the other side, we could see the lake, which was apparently home to giant tortoises, which brought good luck to the locals who could spot one.We left the restaurant and had a walk along the lake, and back to our hotel, having a look at the shops and cute French cafes and bakeries on the way.
We got an early night, as we have to be up early to have breakfast before we leave for Halong Bay.
We got to Halong Bay at lunchtime, and stopped at a café to wait for our boat. They then took us by tender to our ship, and showed us around, and to our room.
We had a seafood lunch, which was absolutely delicious, and consisted of stuffed crabs, shrimps, clams, and a fruit platter afterwards. After lunch, we visited a fishing village, and we were rowed around by the local girls, to see how they live. We were surprised to discover there were TV sets in all the houses, and a particularly loud sound system in one.
After, we came back to the boat for some swimming and cocktails on the deck, and dinner at 7:30. Again, dinner was very good, and there was mountains of it.
Or first stop was the rock caves, which were huge, and quite incredible. The guide pointed out shapes in the rocks that looked like Buddha, dragons, lions, and bears. In the third and final cave, there was a heart shaped hole in the rock, and the story goes that if a boy tells a girl he loves her, she takes him to the cave, and he must put his left hand in the whole, and if he's lying, the dragon will not release it.
We then went out on the tender to the 'day boat', and from there we went to a private beach on one of the islands. The sand was white, and the water was clear, but there was a lot of let in the ocean, and on the beach. It was beautiful at a distance. We swam for an hour or two, and took some photos, then boarded the boat to our next location.
We anchored near a quiet bay, and hopped in the kayaks. Although it's still the sea, all around the islands at Halong Bay the water is flay, and there's very little wind, so it was easy going. We went through a few tunnels, and had a look around for monkeys and flying squirrels, unfortunately to no avail.
When we came back, there was time for some sun baking, and then lunch, which seemed to just keep coming. Lobster, then veges, chicken, chips, other veges, rice, and then fruit for dessert. After lunch, we turned around, and headed back to the cruise ship, and arrived back around four o'clock, just in time for drinks on the front deck, and a foot massage before heading up to dinner.
After yet another huge meal, we retired to bed.
We then returned to the cruise boat to pack up our rooms, and have brunch.
After brunch, we boosted back to the dock, and waited at the café (our pick-up service didn't show - don't use IndoChina), and the boat company took us back to our hotel in Hanoi. The most interesting part of the road trip back was seeing a couple on a scooter with matching cardigans. After a long, four hour bus trip, I just wanted to snuggle up in bed, watch The Help on the movie channel, eat Nutella, and try to set myself back three hours to Australian time.
Tomorrow we'll be flying first to Saigon, then to Singapore, where we'll be waiting eight hours, then finally boarding the plane for the nine hour trip to Brisbane.
