Vietnam Part 2 – Hoi An, Hanoi and Halong Bay (15 - 26 September)

So I wrote this whole entry but while cleaning up my laptop I deleted the word document and now I have to write it from memory, so like a few of the last entries, it will be more of a summary of the places.

Jordie and I left Nha Trang and headed north to Hoi An, a city known for its tailors that can make anything from a photo. This was about all we knew about Hoi An was that it was close to Da Nang, a city that housed a major air base used by both the South Vietnamese and United States air forces during the Vietnam War, and close to China Beach, a surf spot that soldiers used on their R&R. Hoi An is recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, so from that you can gather the city has some charm, a charm that is different to the rest of Vietnam; slower pace then everywhere else, cleaner, and even the buildings were completely different with an impressive French Colonial look.

We arrived and checked into a guesthouse recommended by someone we met and it was perfect, $5 a night for a room with aircon, bathroom and double bed, accommodation in Vietnam was proving to be the best value for money. Not wasting any time we went for a wander and quickly got lost, but it was no worry as the city moves at a slow, relaxed place and everyone is smiling. The first day we just chilled, ate some amazing soup, drank Vietnamise coffee and just relaxed.

Over the next six days (we stayed a little longer then expected, as it was an amazing town) we were pretty busy, but a good busy.

We got some clothes and shoes made which turned out amazing. For US$114 I had a pair of leather dress shoes and a pair of casual canvas shoes made custom to my feet, a big woolen duffle jacket, pair of chino pants, pair of chino shorts and a shirt made all custom fit. The quality was good and the gear looked good, so from now on I think I may fly there every new season and get clothes made! Its cheaper and better! Not only are the tailors good, but the markets themselves were good fun to wander through and buy some bits and bobs. Everything from souvenir t-shirts to home wares, through to weird and wonderful looking vegetables and meats of all kinds. The smell would sometimes get a little overpowering, but it was still a fun way to kill a couple of free hours.

We ate a lot, and at a variety of places over the week. We had one regular restaurant on the river we visited every day for a snack of fresh spring rolls, Vietnamese coffee and a good hour or so of people watching. We ate in the markets too, which was interesting but cheap and delicious. Normally we’d be sat on tiny plastic chair at a table with local Vietnamese people, given a bowl with some noodle soup and some mystery meat and then given a tea or coffee of some sort. A lot of people avoid eating at these kinds of stalls due to hygiene worries etc, but it is well worth doing and you won’t get sick, well we didn’t. But it was just a good experience sitting with the locals, watching the way they go their day-to-day lives, interacting with them as well (although many in these markets speak limited English).

We did get recommended one restaurant there which had no menu, you sat and they brought out the one thing they made, which to this day I still do not know how to explain, except for amazing.

They brought out several plates, one with rice paper wraps, one with lettuce and cucumber, another with cabbage(?) and pineapple pieces, one with spring rolls, one with chicken and prok bbq skewers and then a bowl of sauce. Once everything is out on the table, one of the staff show you how its done. They grab a two rice paper sheets, put some lettuce and cucumber, then the cabbage like mix, then a spring roll, then a skewers, wrap it up and dip it into the sauce. Sounds weird and not to appetizing? Wrong, its frickon amazing! So amazing that we ended up eating there the last three nights in a row. The food was amazing, they kept bringing it till you were about to pop, good bear and to top it of the staff there were so friendly and they remembered you when you came back. An amazing dinner with a few beers only set you back less then $5.

Every night along the river-front they put out plastic chairs where you could go sit with locals or tourists and enjoy cold beers for less then $1, which was always a good way to wind down after a big day. Jordie and I frequented the river side quite a lot, but who wouldn’t, cheap beers, amazing location and fun people!

Besides eating, shopping and observing the day to day life of the locals, we got on a motorbike and did some exploring in the quest for waves. As the waves in Mui Ne were good, unfortunately the conditions for getting some good photos for the article weren’t, so we were hoping that we could find some waves to go with the bluebird days we were having.

Day one we got a bike and rode to the nearest beach, which was no more then a 5-10 minute ride away. This beach was beautiful, but flat as a tack. So we ventured further north to try and find China Beach where the soliders used to surf. We turned down a little sandy road off the main road and hit the beach, which was littered in Vietnamese fishing boats (which are like an oversized woven basket), white sand and crystal clear waters (some of the clearest I have ever seen), it was like paradise, only not many waves.

Jodie still went in for a paddle and got a few waves, but nothing outstanding. A little bummed, we were about to leave when a few local kids (maybe 6-8 years old) came over and didn’t speak a word of English, but within 2 minutes Jordie had them out in the water giving them a surfing lesson. Even though the language barrier was there, this didn’t stop the kids having an awesome time and the smiles and laughter on their face said it all. And to top it of, we got some amazing snaps of the kids on the board, in the water, having fun, so it turned out to be pretty good in the end. Oh and to top it off after their free surf lesson, they asked us for money. So to take photos of them and give them a surfing lesson, it cost us about $3 haha.

Day two was better then the first. Even more amazing conditions then the previous day, but this time there were some waves, nothing massive, but enough to get some good shots in.

That was the best day we had surfing easily, but even though the other days exploring were still great. One day we even drove to Da Nang (about 30km north of Hoi An which was good fun on one little motor bike, two people, board and gear) to search for more waves, but nothing much going on, except we saw some old airbase buildings and some old hangers, and on the beach near where we went in the water there was an old bunker right on the sand. No waves definitely didn’t mean no fun.

So our time in Hoi An eventually ended, although we weren’t too keen on leaving as we fell in love with the place, but it was time to move on as we had to head north as the date of our flights were fast approaching. So from Hoi An we headed straight north to Hanoi.

To eb completely honest, I don’t really have much to write about Hanoi, it’s not that it was bad, we just didn’t do much. It was a bit of a relaxing time. The city itself is pretty cool, with a nice big lake in the middle, some crazy shopping and a massive indoor market that was too overwhelming to explore.

There were a few highlights though to Hanoi, the lads we met on the bus brought a Vietnamese shuttlecock, which is like a spring with some plastic and some feathers on the end and you kick it around like a hacky sack. We took it one afternoon to the park and four of us started kicking it around (very badly) and within 20 minutes our four had grown close to 14, with locals coming in a joining us and helping us keep it up in the air. We played for ages and it was a good laugh, although we couldn’t really talk to each other we all laughed and played and had a good time.

We did have a nice messy night out one night which was unplanned but turned out to be good crack. We tagged along with a hostel pub crawl and got pretty messy and met some good people and had a laugh. Jordie and I also went to a fund raising gig for an English guy who came off his bike in Bangkok and is now paralyzed and to make matters worse he had no insurance, so they were raising money for him to pay for hospital bills etc. It was a good night, loads of ex-pats there (didn’t know there were so many in Hanoi) good music, drinks, food and a good time. And an interesting motorbike ride there and home, with me, Jordie and the driver all crammed onto on motorbike that could barely fit two people!

I did take a trip out to Halong Bay though, which was amazing and well worth it. Ha Long Bay has an area of around 1,553 km², including 1,960 islets, most of which are limestone, which makes it a pretty amazing sight to see.

We did a two day cruise which literally involved getting on a boat, chilling out on the top of the boat, taking in the breathtaking scenery, kayaking around the limestone peaks and then enjoying a few cold beers as the sun went down over the water. It was pretty special!

After the cruise though it was back to Hanoi for a day, then headed to Bangkok. Thailand, my last country before I head home!

Boats at night, Hoi An

Jordie eating breakfast with the locals, Hoi An

Young girls playing cards in the street, Hoi An

Locals getting their surf lesson, Hoi An

Jordie and the local kids, Hoi An

Surf lesson, Hoi An

The crew at our favourite restaurant with the staff, Hoi An

River at night, Hoi An

Jordie shredding, China Beach

Jordie shredding, China Beach

Paradise, China Beach

Fishing boats, Hoi An

Roadside barber, Hoi An

Caves, Halong Bay

Halong Bay

Local fisherman, Halong Bay

Sunset, Halong Bay

Swimming at sunset, Halong Bay

Halong Bay

Vietnamese masks, Hanoi

Roadside BBQ pork buns, Hanoi

Three on a small bike, Hanoi

Beach side bunker, south of Da Nang

Vietnam Part 1 – Ho Chi Minh (Siagon), Mui Ne and Nha Trang (4 - 14 September)

After a rather good bus ride where I had two seats to myself, I arrived in Ho Chi Minh around 7pm and with a very rough address where I was staying. Ho Chi Minh was a little different to what I expected and to what I was used to. It is a big, bright, bustling city that never sleeps. I gave a taxi driver my address, insisted on the meter so he couldn’t overcharge me and got in what was supposed to be a short 5 minutes drive. 15 minutes later though I was still in the cab, and I could tell was being taken for a sucker, and to alter my senses even more, I saw the cab driver play around with his meter and have it go very quickly from 50,000 to 480,000 with a swift bump of his hand on something underneath. So I asked him if we were nearby and he said yeah two minutes, and we drove past where we had already been and I said it to him and he said something along the lines of one way streets make hard, although all the roads we had been on were dual way.

I’d had enough and told him to pull over as he was taking the p*ss out of me and I saw him tinker with his meter and he laughed as though I was joking, and finally another minute or two of gradually getting more stern with him he pulled up at my address (which to this day I am not sure if it was even the right address) and pushed another button on the meter and it finished at 910,000 (nearly £30) which is a lot in Vietnam. I refused to pay him that as I knew he took me around the traps and he messed with his meter and he wasn’t opening the door. Lucky a tourist officer (kind of like a police officer without as much power but are there for the safety of tourists and for information etc) walked by and I started banging on the cab window saying he won’t let me out and is trying to rob me. Long story short, the cab driver I think got scared, told me it was now 91,000 (that his meter has an extra 0 on it for some reason) and opened my door, and the back door so could get my bag out, and then refused to give me my change from 100,000 which really is worth nothing but I wanted it out of principal. He quickly drove off before the tourist officer could take down his details and I was left on a random, but at least busy street, located a guesthouse, different to the one in my original plan but it did the trick.

Not impressed with Siagon already I was a bit sour and thought I would get out of here asap as I heard scams and robberies were common and last thing I wanted on a holiday was those kind of worries. Luckily while strolling the streets I randomly ran into Binks and Nat who I had hung out with in Laos and they had met some locals and we went and sat on plastic chairs on the street and drank beers with the locals and my thoughts on the place rose with the locals we were hanging with being super friendly and also Nat and Binks reassuring me that Vietnam was awesome. So we enjoyed some beers and laughs and general chat on the road side and eventually retired to bed, saying my byes to Nat and Binks as they were leaving the next day.

The next day I did was I do best, explore the city, try and find a post office to post some crap I had been lugging around for weeks that was getting annoying and checked out the market there that was supposed to be one of the best in South East Asia, but to tell the truth it was just like all the others which was still cool. Although I did have an amazing feed there which costs £3.50 and consisted of a bowl of Pho with prawns and 6 prawn rice paper rolls and a can of drinks. The best thing about these markets which I ate at a couple of times was that you didn’t have to order, they just gave you what they thought you wanted or would like, and it always worked out well. Second night I booked a trip to Chu Chi Tunnels and then hit the hay pretty early, as the tour was an early start.

The Chu Chi Tunnels were pretty interesting, and pretty amazing at the same time. How these people lived in these networks of tunnels amazed me, the sizes of the tunnels were tiny! One tunnel you could try get into was so small that I barely fit and had to raise my arms to get in. Another that is opened for you to crawl along is a couple of hundred meters long, is bigger then the majority of tunnels (but is still only about 75cm tall and wide and after crawling through the small section of the tunnel, you come out with a glossy shine on your skin courtesy of the instant sweat brought on from the heat of the tunnels.

Also interesting and disturbing at the same time were the traps and methods the Vietnamese used against their enemies which involved sharpened bamboo pits, hidden spike wheels and some other barbaric contraptions. The ventilation of the tunnels also impressed me, with the Vietnamese using termite mounds to disguise their ventilation holes, and also making chimney like tunnels that made the smoke raise far from where they were actually cooking. They even used to rub American soldiers clothes around the entries to the tunnels so the sniffer dogs would not pick up a foreign scent and think that there were Americans around, not Vietnamese, clever little fellas they were. I capped off the tour with what every good tour should finish with, shooting a few rounds of an M-16 at some targets on the open air shooting range.

That night was nice and relaxed, a couple of Americans I met on the tour (Jen & Jen) and also two Irish (Ian and Marian who I met in Laos) went for a couple of 30p beers on the little plastic table and chair set ups on the road side in town. These little set ups are everywhere and not only provide the cheapest beer in town, they are also much more enjoyable then the bars where beers were four times the price. You could sit there and people watch for hours, meet both locals and other travellers, enjoy cheap beer and food and just lap up the Vietnamese culture.

The next day I boarded a bus to Mui Ne, about a five hour bus ride away from the chaos of Siagon. I hadn’t heard many people go to Mui Ne, but I read it was a chilled out beach town that gets some small waves. That was all I had to hear, beach, chilled and waves.

The bus pulled up at a rather nice hotel and straight away was hussled inside and showed rooms, which were nice, but just a standard hotel style room. I wanted a little shack/bungalow that had water views, and this concrete jungle with not even a glimpse of the water wasn’t my cup of tea. So I literally crossed the road, went into the first little place I found and it was perfect. $8 a night for my own room with big bed, view out my window to the beach (which was only about 25m from my door as well) my own bathroom and wooden shack style walls.

Not wasting any time, I dumped my bag and headed down to the beach. Greeted by a Caribbean fella (Didier) who was smiling and super keen to chat with everyone, he ordered me a tea (like a mojito without the bicardi and some ginger, amazing!) and got chatting about where I was from and what I was doing etc and he told me about himself and how he came there for a holiday and ended up opening a kite boarding school. He then introduced me to Jordie who was another Australian (the first I think I have met since China) and we started chatting just about everything and anything and ended up grabbing a few beers and playing some pool. Turned out Jordie was writing an article for a new surfing magazine coming out and he had no photographer and wasn’t sure what he was going to do, so I put my hand up and assumed the role as his photographer, which was really good fun, challenging at times due to no zoom lens and having to stand in the water to shoot while avoiding the rain and waves, but was wicked fun.

I don’t really need to go on day by day of Mui Ne as it was all nearly the same thing, get up, swim or surf, eat, swim or surf, eat, maybe swim or surf depending on waves and then finish the night with some food, beers and pool. Sounds repetitive but it was just what I wanted, no need to have to do anything except chill, and getting back on a board after more then two years was hard, but still just as much fun as always! Planned to stay there three days, I think I ended up staying nearly a week and loved it. Weather wasn’t perfect but got some sun and got some rain, didn’t matter still loved the place.

Only down side to Mui Ne was their Red Dunes, which when you google image them, they look stunning! So I got up early one morning, got on my motorbike and rode there for sunset. I got there, it was cloudy so sunrise was shite, but to rub salt into the wounds, the dunes were extremely sub par. The photos of them were either taken years and years ago, or photoshopped to the max, or simply not those dunes. So pretty disappointed, the start of my one day seeing touristy stuff was not off to a good one, and it put me in a sour mood, so I just decided to skip the 20km ride to the White Dunes as I couldn’t be disappointed again and then have to ride a long way back to town. Unfortunately I was informed later that the white dunes were actually pretty impressive, oh well I’ll survive!

So a week passed in Mui Ne and decided it was time to make a move up north, so Jordie and I booked an overnight bus to Nha Trang, an overnight bus north of Mui Ne, but still on the coast so still time to get some sun and some time in the water, although there was no chance of waves here.

Spent day one exploring the beach, getting some sun and taking some shots and then got some amazing dinner and played pool, which had become a bit of a ritual and then retired to bed pretty early as the bus rides aren’t the most relaxing.

The next day we caught up with Sean, Kai and Danni, three Californians that we met in Mui Ne and we chilled with them, just caught up on bits and pieces I’d been putting off for a while, explored some more and relaxed at the beach. No sights to see here, just time to relax which is nice for a change. So far Vietnam had been pretty relaxed, until our third and final night in Nha Trang.

We all went out for dinner and then the others went to the pub for a few drinks while I went out and took some photos at night. I only took a few as I didn’t feel that comfortable walking around with big camera and tripod by myself in the dark as there is a lot of chatter about men (yep men) being mugged by kamikaze hookers, who ride up and steal whatever you have on them, some just ride and snatch, some pick pocket and some may even pull a knife on you.

So after snapping a few shots, I took my camera back to the hotel and met up with the others at the Red Apple and started what would turn out to be a pretty messy night. The night in bullet point went a little like this:

• Casual drinks at Red Apple with just the 5 of us

• Moved to another table and the group grows to 12+

• Tequila suicides and flaming Sambucas are ordered.

• Happy hour ending soon so every orders more then enough drinks

• Move to Oasis(?) another bar, play some pool and the cut some serious shapes on the dance floor that had no one on there until we showed up, Dj loved us

• Jordie and Sean have their way with the stripper pole

• Moved onto Ice Bar, which is a bar in a giant freezer pretty much and the furniture is made from blocks of ice. Order some hectic strong cocktails that we had never heard of before

• Free shots so made the most of them.

• Caused havoc in Ice Bar for a while

• Vietnamese guy comes in and says if the guys get nude for a minute they get free shots (cause everyone really needed it)

• Jordie and Sean are chased around by the Vietnamese guy who is smacking them with a rolled up newspaper. And then swaps the newspaper for a ice cold bottle of vodka.

• After the shots and dressing again, move down to Sailing Club, a big bar on the beach.

• Bouncer kindly points us away, no idea why

• Go onto the beach, Jordie attempting to run while undressing while hammered resulted in a few comical tumbles.

• Swimming in the water

• Some annoying Australia girl coming over and telling everyone to get out cause its to dangerous as rips are strong at this time, and then hammering in the fact she was Australian so she knows everything about the surf. Except she didn’t let us get a word in to realize she was talking to two Australians who I guarantee spent more time in the water then her (she wasn’t the most beach looking girl). And more to the point, everyone was in shin deep water in pretty much a bay with not even a ripple, so there was no rips, she was just one of the many giving Australians a bad name abroad.

• Walk home from beach, Sean taking one of the cyclos for a ride.

• Retire to bed, ready for an early wake up as we had a whole day boat tour planned the next day.

It was a fun night!

Our last day in Nha Trang and we did a boat tour which took us around a few island and to one of the most depressing aquariums I have ever seen in my life. The tanks were tanks, maybe a rock or two in there but that’s about it, some faded wallpaper on the back of the tanks with some rocks and coral on there. No much stimulation for the poor incarcerated animals.

Next stop was an area for snorkeling, but we heard the snorkeling was lame, so we decided to throw ourselves off the top of the boat into the crystal clear water instead (and really I think this was what the three of us boys were most looking forward to all day). Ate some nice local cuisine and chatted to the others on the boat.

Next stop was another island, this one had nothing on it but was a pretty nice island. We just lazed in the sun and swam and chilled. Then after we got back on the boat and the crew put on a bit of a show and played some songs and got people from the crowd up onto the stage to sing some songs from their countries which was a good laugh. Then it was some more swimming in the ocean and a floating bar, so we jumped, swam, floated in tubes and drank some weird fruity wine concoction before boarding the boat again and setting sail back to the mainland, just in time to get our next overnight bus up to Hoi An.

Tasty snack in markets in Siagon

Chu Chi Tunnels

Little bit of traffic - Siagon

View from my room in Mui Ne

Beach out front in Mui Ne

Jordie getting some airtime

Red Dunes in Mui Ne

Red Dunes in Mui Ne

Sunrise over the beach in Mui Ne

Drying fish in Mui Ne

Jordie carving - Mui Ne

Artist shot - Mui Ne

Nha Trang

Roadside barber - Nha Trang

Nha Trang

Flowers - Nha Trang

Local fisherman - Nha Trang

Moon over Nha Trang Beach

Turtle - Nha Trang

Floating bar - Nha Trang

The crew chilling on island just off Nha Trang

Beers and plastic chairs - Siagon

Nude in the Ice Bar - Nha Trang

Sean taking cycle for a ride - Nha Trang

Crew on the boat trip - Nha Trang

Boat jumping - Nha Trang

Inside the Chu Chi Tunnels