Trip back to Saigon

Over the past few days we've visited a couple of places.

We spent a few days in Hoi An. A fairly small place with alot of character. One thing that is quite apparant as soon as you get there - the number of tailors in town. The streets are lined with shops only too willing to custom make western clothes. The trick is finding a pre-made sample and getting them to make that. Because if you start getting too creative you may not like what you end up with. The other trick is to ensure that the tailor is actually making the clothes on site so that when you go in to get fitted they can make adjustments right there and then. I learned this after getting a number of items made including a suite , coat, top and even some silk running shoes.

We rented a motor bike in Hoi An and went to see China beach along with the marble mountains which had spectacular caves with religious relics in them and pagodas.

After Hoi An we headed off to Mui Ne. It took us about 17 hours to get there. It was a very long and sleepless night on the "sleeper" bus as we lay in our highly air conditioned coffin like beds rolling around trying to get some rest.

Mui Ne is a resort town - resorts are spread out across the beach which is about 14 km long. It's a place that we thought would be good for some rest and relaxation before returning to Canada. Mui Ne appears to be big on kite surfing - something we did not know until we got there. It is low season there right now so there weren't alot of people. We got a room on the beach which was nice albeit expensive at $23 - average prices so far for guesthouses/hotels has been about $10-15. While in Mui Ne we rented a motor bike and went to see the sleeping buddha. Carved on top of a mountain which you can either hike up for 2.5 hours or take a cable car - we opted for the cable car. The buddha lays 50 meters long from head to toe. Set amidst it's natural environment - it's really impressive.

Mui Ne is also known for its sand dunes - white and yellow sand dunes. We had visions of prestine dunes as we headed out thinking we'd be the first ones there at 5am to watch the sunrise. Not the case. When arriving at the dunes, the visitor is swarmed by entrepreneurial children wanting you to pay money to use their crazy carpet to slide down the dunes. Not wanting to get sand in our crevices and not wanting to hike back up the dunes we opted out. It was also a little disappointing to see all kinds of footprints in the dunes so early in the morning. We went to see the Fairy springs which were very spectacular. Fresh water springs running through sand. Kind of looked like we were on mars - with reddish and yellow sand lining one of the sides of the stream and vegetation lining the other. The idea is to walk for 15-20 minutes through the stream until you get to some waterfalls.




While in Mui Ne we met some cool travelers which we shared dinner and drinks with. Our bus back to Saigon left at 1am in the morning. Yup another "sleeper". After entertaining ourselves at the bar until 1 with our new friends, getting spit out at 5:30 am in Saigon has been a rude awakening. We have about 10 hours here before we fly back home. Shopping and massages are on the agenda but first we must eat. Hopefully restaurants are open now. Mike is falling asleep as he waits for me to get off the computer.

We will be back in Canada on June 1st.

Things worth noting in Vietnam -

- many women cover themselves from head to toe - wearing surgical facemask type getups, long gloves, socks with flipflops - it's sweltering here but it's all in an effort to keep themselves looking white. Not sure if they are aware that white people are trying to look tanned!
- gas "stations". There are actual gas stations and then there are gas kiosks. These kiosks are set up willy nilly all over the place. They pump gas out of a barrel type apparatus, which has a gage that looks something like a beaker with litres marked off up until the 4 or 5 litre point.
- hotels/guesthouses - as mentioned - average prices have been about $10-15 USD per night, that normally includes free internet (if you're lucky the hotel will have more than one computer) and sometimes free breakfast
- the Vietnamese love tv - not only do they own tv's but they appear to be constantly be watching tv. I've even seen people rig up a tv so that they could watch it on the street while selling their goods.
- this is the only country I've been to where I can say I was a millionaire. $1 USD = 16000 VND. So for every $100 we converted we received 1,624,500 VND. Most common bills come in 100,000, 10,000, 5000 and 2000 increments. We mainly use travelers cheques when we travel - it was a bit of a pain in some places to get them cashed. USD are widely accepted.

Hue

We've been in Hue for a couple of days now. We've visited a number of tombs, citadel and other monuments. It is beautiful here albeit HOT. Hue is known for it's culinary delights which started when one of the emperors demanded that each of his meals consist of 50 different dishes made by 50 different chefs!

The most common way to see the sights in Vietnam is by motorbike taxi. Did I mention there are no rickshaws here (thank god). The drivers wear helmets and they even have helmets for the passengers (something that was completely foreign in India). Mike drove a motorbike the other day. It took some getting used to the Vietnamese way of driving but after about an hour he was well on his way (with some coaching from our grumpy motorbike guide).

Because of the heat most people here sleep during the afternoon. As we roamed around the market yesterday we noticed half the vendors asleep on top of their goods. I think this is a good way to go. We've been out and about the entire day and by the end of the day we're exhausted and need to nap before dinner. Our new plan is to see sights in the morn, and later in the afternoon and go for a siesta from about 1-3. We'll see how that works.

We are off to Ho An today. Our plan is to make our way back down south to Saigon.

Mekong Delta

It's hot! The humidity here is killing us. From morning to evening we're hot, sticky and we smell. Lucky for us the rainy season is just starting. So on most days it rains a little which helps to cool things down for about 5 minutes.

We just got back to Saigon from a 3 day boat tour around the Mekong Delta which had us staying with a Vietnamese family the first night and sleeping on a boat the next night. We realized just how resourceful and organized the Vietnamese really are. One example is the tour we took. There are many tour options around the Delta which range from 1-3 days, staying in hotels, boats or at home stays, some even go to Cambodia. The logistics can get pretty complicated, but they run things very efficiently.

Over the past 3 days we traveled by bus, row boat, big boat, mini van, we had about 6 different tour guides who would join us at different points depending on where we were and what we were doing, and we were constantly picking people up along the way and dropping people off so the group was kind of fluid. Amidst all this activity the tour operators managed to pull it off without a hitch. The trip was great, we really got to see how people live along the water, different communities and what they do. At the homestay we even learned how to cook some vietnamese dishes.

The delta really is spectacular and the people are very friendly. As we floated along kids would be in hysterics trying to get our attention yelling "hello". They would scream to get our attention, then wave with one hand then both hands. I've never seen such enthusiastic greetings.
So far the hassle factor in Vietnam has been very low which is nice.

We're leaving Saigon at the crack of dawn tomorrow to fly to Hue (central Vietnam). From here we will work our way back down to Saigon.

We're here!

We arrived in Ho chi minh city (Saigon) on Sat morning. The flight (Cathay Pacific) was good - it left late and arrived early which was fine by us.

We were expecting to be mobbed at the airport by touts (wanting to take us to a hotel that they receive commission on) but this was not the case. We were amazed at how easy it was to get a cab, have him use the meter and actually take us to the hotel that we requested.

We've been in Saigon for 3 days now. First impressions:
- the city if fairly clean. We don't see alot of garbage on the streets, there are actually garbage can here.
- Reminds us of New delhi with the super wide sidewalks and the multiple lanes of traffic
- not alot of stray animals seen wandering on the streets
- sidewalks are easy on walk on
- the vietnamese are very friendly.
- they are efficient - they've made it super easy for tourists to travel in vietnam - they have tours for everything, and a pretty extensive tourist bus network

I was expecting alot more english to be spoken here but this is not the case. communication has been a little difficult, but the vietnamese are happy to try.

So far since our arrival we've been massaged by the blind (one hour full body massage for $2), experienced local delicacy (Pho is big here) - menus are not always in english so it makes ordering interesting, seen a water puppet show (just like it sounds - puppets on water - not sure how they do this, visited the war reminants museum (pretty intense - pics and relics of vietnam war - the americans were brutal with the use of chemical warefare) and the reunification palace.

Pic on left taken from Cu Chi Tunnels. The tunnels were used by the Vietcong during the war, and served as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches and living quarters for numerous guerrilla fighters/villagers. The US tried to bomb the crap out of the tunnels. 80% were destroyed. The pic provides an example of the size of the bomb craters.

Looks like the closest we'll get to Cambodia is the Cambodian embassy in Vietnam as mike's passport is only valid for 4 months more instead of 6. We took the local bus there yesterday. Not alot of tourists do this (because they don't need to with all the tourist buses, motorbike taxis and other modes of transport). It was good - albeit a bit confusing.

Gotta go - we're on our way to a 3 day boat trip along the Mekong Delta.

So we leave for Vietnam 2:55 am, Fri May 16. We decided on Vietnam after exploring flight options to central/South America, Mexico and Cuba only to discover that it would take about the same amount of travel time (and $$) to get to those places. The draw to Asia is much too strong and in Vietnam we look forward to familiar sights, sounds and smells in addition to culture, history and some fantastic food.

I must admit due to the sporadic nature of this trip, I do feel a bit unprepared. There's no itinerary, just a general idea of potential places to go. I want to try to hit Cambodia (if Mike's passport will allow it - it expires before the statutory 6 month mark). In Asia anything is possible.

I don't know how much time I'll have to update this blog since we have such a short timeline but we'll try our best. So stay tuned!