Hue: 15 - 16 June

Our next stop was the historical city of Hue. Located along the Perfume River (which unfortunately does not smell like Perfume), Hue was the national capital, and base for the Nguyen dynasty, which ruled from 1802 until 1945, when emperor Bao Dai abdicated in favour of Ho Chi Minh’s revolutionary government (thanks wikitravel).

During the Vietnam War, Hue’s location very close to the border between North and South Vietnam, resulted in some tough times and damage to some parts of the city, although we didn’t find this noticeable today.  

Interestingly, we were told that given the relative isolation of the centre of Vietnam during the War, the Vietnamese spoken here is very different and pretty much incomprehensible to Vietnamese from the North or South.

From Hue you can trek out to the Demilitarized Zone and the Vinh Moc tunnels, the former supposedly created as a buffer between the North and South, but which suffered intense fighting.  We decided to give this a miss and instead focused on the sights of Hue itself.

Throughout Hue, relics of the Nguyen dynasty are numerous, and include the Imperial Citadel, several pagodas, and the various tombs of the Emperors. The grounds of the Citadel were quite vast, but we found the Tombs to be the most beautiful – particularly that of Tu Duc, which is situated on a lake filled with beautiful lily pads.

There really is a lot to see in Hue, and we could have spent longer exploring the various tombs and pagodas.

As ever, we’re always keen to try the local specialties, and in this case, it was the Bun Bo Hue – a delicious noodle dish.

From Hue we took the sleeper train north to Hanoi. Arriving at Hue station, we ran into Ylan and Jerry, who were headed on the same train. The carriage Kylie and I were in contained two other beds, one occupied by a rather annoying Vietnamese woman. In the middle of the night, this woman suddenly decided it would be a good idea to watch home movies on her video camera, at full volume of course. She also carried on a number of lengthy, loud, phone calls. All this meant that by the time we pulled into Hanoi at 6am, we were pretty shattered.

Hoi An: 10 – 15 June

Hoi An is beautiful, with part of the city designated a UNESCO world heritage site. There are some truly stunning buildings and temples left over from French colonial times and before. The riverfront houses the historic area of town, but also some great little restaurants, food stalls, and markets. At night, this area really comes alive with beautiful coloured lanterns, and the hustle and bustle of people eating, shopping, and selling.

In Hoi An we met up with old friends Torika and Mike from NZ, also travelling around the region, and briefly saw Ylan and Jerry again. To combat the heat, (which reached as high 42 one day!), we enjoyed many a cold ‘fresh’ beer together. ‘Fresh beer’ or ‘bia hoi’ is beer brewed locally and available in restaurants straight off the keg. It goes for as cheap as 3000 Vietnamese dong a glass – roughly 18 cents NZ! A lot of it was quite tasty too.

Something else Hoi An is known for is tailored clothing. Many people come here expressly for some tailored clothes, and you can see why. Turns out we couldn’t resist the temptation either. Depending on the quality of the materials and workmanship, many times you could get some clothes tailored for you for the same price or less than you would pay for off the rack back in NZ. Kylie got a suit, some pants (oops, trousers to those in UK…), shirts, and a jacket made – which we’re sure will come in handy for job interviews in London. Meanwhile, I got a jacket, two dresses and some shirts as well. Not wanting to cart this around with us for the next month, we shipped it all off to my brother in London.

Hoi An also has a nice beach, which you can reach easily by bicycle, and we spent a nice afternoon there, cooling off in the water or with cold drinks. One real downside about the beach however, is the ladies hawking their wares. Never have we come across more persistent and annoying vendors, some were quite simply rude. In fact, also in central Hoi An, we found the many tailors vying for your custom got a little old after a while too. Sadly it seems as though many of the locals have grown weary of the mass of tourists which visit Hoi An, and have little patience or thought for marketing strategy. That said – the town is definitely still worth a visit.

In Hoi An, there are a few great places to eat. One street stall we found served the most amazing banh mi – this is a Vietnamese sandwich; served in a baguette, with all types of meat (including ‘head cheese’ (google it), cucumber, carrot, chilli, fish sauce, coriander, and sometimes egg – while it doesn’t sound like much, it’s simply delectable. We also discovered another delicious dish – bun bo nam bo – a type of noodle salad, served with grilled beef, fresh vegetables, sprouts, chilli, cucumber, mint, coriander and peanuts.  

Da Lat: 8-10 June

We suffered a long and very bumpy and windy ride from the coastal town of Mui Ne to Da Lat, in Vietnam’s Central Highlands. Later we read that this particular journey is a bit renowned – so we didn’t pick it very well. In Dalat, high up in the central highlands, the cooler temperatures were a welcome relief from the heat of most of Vietnam. We stayed at a great little hotel there (Thien An), with the most amazing breakfast spread, complete with fresh avocadoes, mango, delicious bread, eggs, and more.
Over breakfast we chatted to some fellow travellers, including two Canadians, Jerry and Ylan, who we got to know quite well and ended up travelling with on and off for the rest of our time in Vietnam.

Dalat has a lot of local Vietnamese tourists, but not so many international tourists. We were there in the school holidays and many families were taking the opportunity to enjoy the cooler climes of Dalat, and the products that go along with that, like avocadoes, coffee, and roses. As a consequence, we found the town to have quite a different feel. At night, the markets in the centre of the town came alive with street vendors serving all kinds of delectable nibbles.

While in Dalat we enjoyed being able to walk around without feeling sweaty the second you step out the door. We visited Bao Dai’s palace, went up the cable car/gondola, for a view over the city, and spent some time just chilling out in a café.

The following day we went on an organised tour which took in; a factory producing silk garments (quite interesting to see the whole process), some impressive waterfalls, a coffee plantation, flower garden, a pagoda with a huge blue-ish Buddha, the Dalat railway station, and the ‘crazy house’.

As part of the tour, we were offered the chance to try the ‘weasel-poo coffee’ – which naturally, we jumped at. For the uninitiated, the story behind this follows that a particular animal (weasel, or civet cat in Indonesia I believe), naturally eats coffee beans as part of their diet. This animal has a finely tuned sense of smell and can detect the good beans over the average or bad. It then eats the beans, and what comes out the other end is the bean, still intact in its husk. These beans are then collected and processed as per normal, resulting in a particularly delicious brew.

In Dalat however, the weasels are simply kept in cages and fed coffee beans (rather than going and foraging for the best beans), so presumably the result is a little different. At any rate, we tried it, and can’t say that it really tasted any different to other coffee we had had in Vietnam, so that was a bit anti-climactic.

The ‘crazy house’ was really something different. I can’t remember the story behind it, but it’s basically a ‘house’ that has been created with the most eccentric, weird and wonderful architecture. It includes trees growing inside the house, odd shaped beds and rooms. Imagine a cross between Alice in Wonderland and an Antoni Gaudí building. You can also actually stay the night there, however while I’d recommend it for a visit, I wouldn’t suggest you stay.

After our marathon bus effort to Dalat, and given the distance to our next stop, Hoi An, we decided to fly out – our first flight in a number of months.

Mui Ne, 5 – 8 June

Next stop was some more beach time. We had heard that Mui Ne was a little less touristy than Nha Trang and so decided to try there. There turned out to be, however, quite an abundance of Russian tourists and resorts all along the strip of beach. The restaurants left a lot to be desired, unless you were prepared to fork out a decent amount for some seafood. We did manage to find a nice local food stall though, and enjoyed some good ole’ pho (noodle soup) for a fraction of the cost.
The main road along the beach was stiflingly hot at the time, but in our hotel high in the dunes, we were very glad of the breeze that made its way to us. We spent a few days enjoying a nice hotel, view, and a little bit of the beach, and then decided to move on.

Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) 1st- 5th of June

Small alleyways filled with locals hunched over small plastic tables sharing food, children chasing each other through these alleyway suburbs. Swarms of motorbikes flying along the roads in organised chaos. Tourists standing on the side of the road trying to figure out the best way to cross the street, bright lights and designer stores; this is Saigon.

We had heard many stories that detailed the madness of Saigon so when we arrived it wasn’t as bad as we had anticipated. Our guesthouse owner in Can Tho had told us that the bus would stop far from the centre and that dozens of motos would try and take you there for an inflated price, but the bus company would provide free shuttles to the centre but generally don’t advertise it.
So as we watched confused tourists get off the bus and get mobbed by moto drivers we asked the bus driver where the shuttle was, and sure enough there was a mini bus waiting to the side.

We got into town and managed our first road crossing without incident, we knew from other’s experience that the only way to cross the road is to walk in a straight line at a consistent speed, so the motorbikes can predict your next step and avoid it. This works extremely well, just make sure they are looking at you, and not talking to the person behind them. We saw a few people who would hesitate or back track which caused chaos as they became unpredictable.
We found our guest house nestled in a small alleyway just off one of the main roads, hotels and noodle stands lined the alley.

Barber in the alleys of Saigon

Saigon alleyway guard dog

Just walk

We knew that with any big city the main star was the street food.
So the next day we ventured out to find the infamous “lunch lady” I had seen her on an Anthony Bourdain episode and there are many blogs that mention her, her stall has become a must do for foodies looking for what many regard as the best bowl of noodles anywhere. Every day she does a different soup, after becoming so popular her family members have opened up stalls to support her, there’s a fruit shake stall and fresh spring rolls also.
I could write on about here but lots of others already have, so to read more visit gastronomyblog.com

Lunch at "The Lunch Lady" oh my god.....these noodles oh my god....

We visited the war remnants museum which shows the horrific results of agent orange, but the museum is heavily focussed on the “Vietnamese heroes vs the American imperialist puppets”
which is a bit off-putting that such a tourist attraction in this day and age can be so filled with propaganda; it doesn’t mention much if anything about the years of war between the north and the south before the US joined in.
A more interesting visit is the reunification palace which was the home and workplace of the South Vietnamese president, and also the site of the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnamese war.
There were lush meeting rooms, theatres and parlours upstairs, while downstairs there war bunkers and command centres. The place looks to be frozen in time, worth a few hours’ visit.

replica of the tanks that broke down the gates

Communications room in reunification palace

Reunification palace 

We booked a day trip to tour the Cao Dai temple and Cu Chi tunnels,
Cao Dai is a religion that was created in South Vietnam, but to be honest I can’t remember a lot about it and you would be better off checking out Wikipedia for more info on it Wikipedia
The Cu Chi tunnels are a huge network of tunnels spreading for hundreds of kilometres and gave the Viet Cong a huge advantage during the war; they even had underground kitchens with sophisticated smoke dispersion systems so they wouldn’t be seen from the air, hospitals and supply rooms.
At the park they have opened a section of the tunnels up to visitors roughly 100 metres long, which has been made wider (for the fat westerners). Even with the tunnels being wider the closed in space and the heat makes for quite the claustrophobic experience.
At the end of the park there is a shooting range where you can shoot down the range with some old war weapons ranging from handguns to the huge m60 mounted machine gun. I decided that this would be one of the only chances I would ever get to shoot the iconic AK47. Wow these things are loud, they walk you to the spot and hand you some ear muffs, the problem is that to walk there you walk past other people firing guns and without ear protection these things are scarily loud. It was a good bit of fun but at over $1 US a round it’s not cheap.

Cao Dai temple

Worshippers at the noon service

Worshippers at the noon service

Rakatatatatatata!

Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City (make sure the latter is used when speaking to police or any government official) is a great place to visit with a bit of pre-visit study online. It’s not as scary as people make it out to be.

Can Tho – 31st May – 2nd June

We arrived into Ha Tien from Cambodia and stayed a night getting out bearings. For what is meant to be a small town, the fast pace hustle and bustle took us by surprise after two months in the some of sleepiest places in Asia. There isn’t a lot to the place so I won’t bother writing about it.
The next day we hopped on a small bus and are taken to Can Tho, the capital of the Mekong Delta, and famous for its floating markets.

 We stayed out of town in a homestay which was more like family run style hostel. The guests stay in little bungalows on the riverside and later on during the day Hung (owner) takes everyone up river then walks with them through the village, talking about the way people live, what is grown and how its changed. Later on that night we sit down and Hung’s family make us dinner and show us how to roll some spring rolls, unfortunately you don’t get to eat with the family. After dinner Hung pulls out a plastic bag of rice whisky and inserts a chop stick in top and pokes it out the bottom corner making a little spout and fills peoples glasses, then lowers the chopstick into the hole plugging it up for the next round; genius.

The next day we go by boat to the floating markets. Farmers from hundreds of kilometers travel by river to Can Tho to sell their produce, there are a few floating markets which are quite a sight. Small to large wooden boats painted brightly with eyes on the prow to scare away the river monsters, drop anchor and raise a sample of their produce up the flag pole so from a distance you can spot your target. Boats filled with tens of thousands of pineapples, watermelons, durians, jackfruits, onions, cabbages, the list goes on.

Pineapple farmers advertise their goods

Local business men buy some pineapples

 And in between these boats are small dingys owned by local businessmen that buy a few hundred of this and that then go to their local markets and sell it onward to stalls. Little dingys rowed by little old ladies go from boat to boat selling hot bowls of noodle soup or iced coffees; the market is its own little city. After tasting some of the local fruits we go around the city looking at the other trades popular in the region, which include a family run rice noodle factory where broken bits or rice are boiled with starch and made into a paste. Then this is ladled and smoothed in circles onto cloth which is above a steaming pot, moments later they are moved into the sun to dry, and then once dried they are put into a shredder and dispatched around town.

Making rice paper for noodles

Thousands of tiny seedlings

Woman making banana tube seedling holders

Many local nurseries thrive on the popular markets and sell small seedling any fruit of vege you desire, small teams of woman make small tubes from banana leaves and pack them with ash (from the business down the road which burns rice husks to power their rice noodle steam pots, nothing’s wasted) After our tour of the city we are dropped off at the bus station and head for Saigon.

Rice fields in Can Tho

Kampot and Kep 26 – 28 May

From Sihanoukville we moved further down the coast to Kampot. Here we stayed at a chilled out place by the riverside. Our room was a three sided bungalow set in the garden, with a curtain as a fourth wall for privacy. This was quite idyllic setting, however we later learned that the main building was in fact a former snake temple; explaining the cool designs on the balustrades, and also the fact that there had been several snake sightings in the area, which made us feel a little less secure.

The bar at this hostel turned out to be a popular hangout for a bunch of expats; it felt a little like ‘central perk’ from ‘Friends’, or the bar from ‘how I met your mother.’ It was a great group of people hanging out and working at the bar though, and we hung around there a bit just chilling out.

We also rented a motorbike and scooted around, checking out Kampot, which is actually filled with some great old colonial buildings, from the time of the French, and nice little shops and cafes. One café we went to was run by the deaf community, and you ordered by writing down your choices, or signing them (signs for certain things provided in the menu).

We definitely felt the presence of the rainy season at this time, but decided to brave the rain with a day trip on the motorbike, down to Kep, armed with our cheap ponchos (basically like wearing a massive plastic bag, and just as noisy). Kep is a seaside town well known for its seafood, particularly crabs. We arrived at the crab market, and saw all the local ladies, fully dressed and knee deep in the surf hauling up cages full of crabs. Just down the road were rows of restaurants, serving said crab and other seafood. We sat ourselves down and proceeded to feast on delectable crab with kampot pepper. Interestingly, kampot pepper is apparently famous in the culinary world, and will soon be awarded ‘geographic indication;’ therefore allowing no one else to use the name ‘kampot pepper’ unless it’s grown in kampot (as with champagne, brie, etc.).

From Kampot we bid farewell to Cambodia and headed for the Vietnamese border.