Vietnam

Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City, South Vietnam

What are you going to Vietnam for? This was the most common question I got the past year in the USA. Having grown up in Australia, Vietnam is a neighboring place I have always wanted to visit and not unusual for Australians to vacation to. My big rush more so was to get to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos before it turns too touristy and turns into an unrecognizable westernized version of itself. From talking with fellow travelers along the way, this is exactly what is coming in the next ten years.

Saigon, also known as Ho Chi Minh city was our first stop. It is one of the busiest and most high octane cities I have ever been too claiming to be the home of five million documented tax payers, and likely another 15 million who aren’t. The city has so much energy and life, if you sit back and relax you might just collide with a scooter. Crossing the road was like a game of American gladiator where you had to dodge 100 scooters in a two-line street. No exaggeration! Believe it or not, crossing roads, it got better with practice. You literally weren’t even safe on the pavement, because if the street was jammed you had to hide behind a tree. There are absolutely no traffic laws. Streets lights and crosswalks were just decorations. Funnily enough to be a traffic police man was every child’s dream. They can pull over anyone, anytime for no reason collecting up to 20,000 dollars in cash a month.  Luckily tourists were safe, because most police officers ‘speak no English.’

Restaurants and hotels ranged from a few dollars to luxurious American priced resorts and restaurants, all within walking distance from our central location. People were everywhere. In the backpacker district the lights flickered like Vegas and music blared from the bars at night. Massage parlors each had 10 girls trying to lure you into their salons with their short skirts, easy persuasion considering it was four US dollars for a one hour massage. I opted for eyelash extensions at that time, especially knowing the pricey cost of them at home. The rest of the city was covered with many sights to see, whether it was temples, cathedrals, pretty post offices, statues or fountains in the center of big intersections, it was even more dazzling with the decorations everywhere for the lunar New Year festival.

It was already on our first afternoon that we had our first introduction to the war that once existed in Vietnam for 17 years! Sure, the American war in Vietnam captured the attention of the west, but for the Vietnamese, the Americans were simply the last in a long line of visitors who had fought, come and gone. It was interesting to learn, however impossible to recap for you briefly or without resources. The war remnants museum was not for the faint hearted, and was definitely biased against the Americans, making me sick to my stomach. While the tiger cages, torture methods and conditions for prisoners was unforgivable, the effect of Agent Orange, a poison designed to kill all vegetation to make future armies weak, were far more devastating for years to come especially due to the side effects in civilians and children. I went from knowing very little about the war to hating America’s involvement in about two hours. Vietnam has come a long way since then. My new-found views were put into perspective very quickly by the Vietnamese people themselves including tour guides who explained the story with a more unbiased version of Americas involvement and the events that unfolded throughout the years. Today Americans and Australians from the war are returning every year to the hell they once knew, but this time without any resentment from either party of what once happened.  

One of the tours we did was to visit the Cu Chi tunnels, 250 km of underground tunnels with several floors, alleys and branches like a spider web built to fit the body of a child crawling through it. Of course, we had to try it, well at least a tourist sized one that was 30% bigger than the original. Our bare knees were covered in dirt from squeezing through, 10 meters’ underground. This was definitely not for the claustrophobic, however it did even get my heart racing when we came across a bottle neck section designed specifically to block ‘American tunnel rats,’ causing my backpack to be covered in mud from scraping against the enclosing walls. This was a lifestyle I definitely could not have lived. I was absolutely drenched and out of breath after crawling for just 60 meters. The Cu Chi tunnels belonged to the Viet-Con (Vietnamese communists) and were in an ideal location just outside Ho Chi Minh city and allowed for vital communication between other Viet-Con areas isolated by south Vietnam or the Americans. They had everything from trapdoors, living areas, hospitals, weapon factories and kitchens, all allowing them to disappear without a trace. It was incredible how these residents of 80,000 people lived. The USA in fact built their base unknowingly right on top of it and it took them months to figure out why they were being shot at in their tents at night. It was absolutely fascinating and I still remember the voice of a friend of ours (a Vietnam veteran) telling us how he had been ordered to go into the tunnels due to his small size at the time, his reaction was ‘no way in hell am I going down there.’

One of my favorite things to do in Saigon was to eat! The food was so mouthwatering, fresh and vibrant, I just never wanted to leave. By day two we had already hit the market and tried every strange looking shellfish, snail, squid and crab as well as shrimp the size of a dinner plate. We picked fruit juice by what we could not pronounce, had not seen or couldn’t get at home and tried sandwiches from definitely questionable street venders. We took a day trip down the Mekong delta by boat which took as too multiple tiny islands, each time switching to a smaller boat until finally a small canoe took us through water canals to our hidden lunch spot. We dined in a homestay eating the traditional specialties of South Vietnam. *Note: the big famous Mekong delta floating market is also on this river, something I would have loved to do if we had time. For this you need to do an overnight homestay.

Hoi An, Central Vietnam

I would be lying if I didn’t say the most exciting thing was the custom tailoring available in Hoi An. It was out of control! Every second shop was filled with fabric and shop keepers trying to get your measurements and fabric choices. I read that 300 to 500 tailors worked there around the clock mimicking absolutely anything you could imagine or point to in a magazine. I’m embarrassed to say we too got lured and dropped over 500 dollars between the two of us in our short two day stay here. I can’t express the nervous excitement we felt about what we were going to get the next day, each outfit custom fitted to our body. We ended up getting nine custom one of a kind shirts for a Graham, a jacket, three blouses for me, a huge puffy Victorian dress, a summer dress, an evening gown and a long glitter skirt as well as a new leather bag to haul it all in. Each was made overnight exactly how we ordered it. The city itself was super atmospheric and charming along a river filled with colorful boats and floating candle lanterns at night. The buildings in the old town district were still original and open to the public to explore the beautiful and spiritual architecture inside. We were definitely in a tourist hotspot! The once major port, is now run by tourism making it one of the top 25 visits in Asia. We of course tried all the Hoi An cuisine specialties as well as lots of street food to make up for all the money we didn’t plan on spending. Hoi An was also just a three-kilometer bike ride from the beach, a bus ride from the My Son ruins and the streets themselves were filled with night markets selling colorful trinkets.

Hue, Central Vietnam

Feeling guilty about all our spending we gave up our pricey private car transport and took a five-hour bus trip for six dollars to Hue instead. To our surprise the bus was a sleeper tourist bus, where we each had our own bed and we literally just extended our sleep in. On arrival, we wasted no time and squeezed in visits to two tombs, pagodas, temples and the citadel also known as the imperial city. We also managed to get lost in time in two markets as well as refuel on some good street food. Our feet were sore and we were tired from walking by the end of the day, but it was all worth it, as we now had the next day free to explore some of famous caves in Vietnam. The Hang Son Doong cave is what got our attention. It is the largest cave in the world, the one that bedazzles you when you look at pictures of caves on Pinterest. It only was just opened for expeditions in 2013 and National Geographic photographers describe it as the most impressive natural site in the world. Did we go? Sadly, permits and a 7-day expedition costs about 3000 dollars, so we will definitely be returning to do that one. What we did see were two other famous caves in the same national park, both impressive, making Carlsbad Cavern in America look tiny. The Paradise cave system extended for 31km, and you descend into it through cathedral like space, surrounded by colossal stalagmites and glimmering stalactites of white crystal that resembled glass pillars. To get to the cave you had to trek a kilometer or so through a jungle. Naturally being on a time crunch we walked faster and arrived early so we had the entire cave to ourselves for an hour. The second cave was my favorite. It was a wet cave, with access only by hand propelled boats, ducking under boulders, surrounded by glittery and violet colored snowflake looking stalactites. It also revealed a secluded sunless sand beach perfect for my skin type.

Hanoi, North Vietnam

That night we flew to Hanoi, another energetic city which became even more alive at night. A complete sensation overload with tooting horns, smell of street food, glow of lanterns and glittery New Year decorations combined made me feel like Alice in Wonderland…well my style anyway. Our day was jam packed again, with a self-guided walking tour to just about all the major sights. We started with the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum to beat the crowds. We however didn’t beat the crowds. There were thousands of Vietnamese people lining up to see Ho Chi Minh, the Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. In other words, a creepy waxy looking dead guy in a glass decorated Snow White coffin on grounds beautifully decorated with botanical gardens and enough white uniformed guards resembling British guards at Buckingham palace. We got stuck in line with a few five thousand school children. They were having a blast lining up with their friends. Funnily enough for them we were more of a tourist attraction than Ho Chi Minh himself. We were the only Caucasian visitors and the kids starred at us as if we were animals at the zoo. They thought my red pony tail was the funniest thing and we got no less than five hundred high pitched giggling hellos as we pushed through. The walking tour continued to the literature museum, Hanoi Hilton prison where the senator John McCain was kept prisoner, the old citadel, the army museum where the tanks brought back exciting memories of my time in the army reserves and of course the Hanoi Old Quarter for its shopping and nightlife. I knew the time would come that Graham would get tired of me dragging him from one site to the next, especially since the street food at one point gave him a complete bowel cleansing. While he rested, I decided to fill the time with getting a much-needed haircut. Unlike in Africa, where they have no idea how to deal with non-African hair, I knew the Vietnamese were ‘pros’ at chemical treatments, especially hair straightening. I ended up getting a perm and got the best beach waves I could have asked for. The cut, wash, head massage and tip ended up costing me a grand total of 37 dollars. Much better than the 150 alternatives in the States.  Our night ended with s street food tour. Our guide said we were weird because unlike other tourists, we wanted to see the local specialties including the Balut Egg (developed fetal duck eggs), which tasted not bad with your eyes closed, spiders and snakes. We left with full bellies, delicious egg coffee, recipe ideas and formal education on how to eat some of the more normal street food, which we had been eating incorrectly for the last week.

Halong bay

Halong bay was our next stop. It started with the good news that our 3-star overnight boat cruise booking on booking.com was cancelled, so we were upgraded to a 5-star cruise instead. Halong Bay was amazing and stands up to its reputation as the new 7th natural world wonder. Calm glass like waters filled with never ending jagged limestone mountain cliff islands each covered with a layer of bright green. Legend claims that a dragon from the mountains charged the coast and its flailing tail gouged the crevasses and valleys. It is just like the pictures on the internet, only way bigger than I could have ever imagined. We only saw some small sections of over 2000 islands. The boat was all inclusive with multiple course meals and happy hours, sea view rooms with ensuites, karaoke, squid fishing, cooking classes, kayaking, cave exploring, Tai chi classes and just relaxing with the never ending surrounding views. To our luck a wedding photographer was traveling to get shots of couples in exotic places. Graham was more than pleased when I volunteered our services as models to him. The many islands are peppered with caves of all sizes, some with land entries and others with water entries. Graham and I naturally kayaked the furthest and longest and found our own hidden caves a good distance from our boat. It all seemed very exciting, until Graham started to charge into a very black cave from the back seat of our two-seater kayak. I was horrified of the darkness that was approaching, screaming and rowing furiously against him. For all I knew, we would never have come back out, or, fallen down a hidden waterfall. It wasn’t as if there was a single other person in sight. He thought it was hilarious, and knew I couldn’t out paddle him, so finally into the cave we went. I guess once my eyes adjusted it wasn’t so bad, a few bats and mud cones from the roof, but most of all a gorgeous view from inside out.

We were not alone in Halong Bay. There must have been 100 other cruises doing both day trips and overnight tours. As well as many native flora and fauna there were also floating fishing villages hiding amongst the islands, where families live and fish, never touching land. Kayaking past was amazing, the platform was rigged together entirely by barrels as the floating mechanism. The water was their shower, toilet and food source, while their complex housed cats, chickens, families and living spaces. There only mode of transport were small dinghies, some with trinkets to sell tourists from their boats to ours.

After a 4-hour bus ride back to Hanoi from the Halong Bay port we decided to entertain Graham’s idea of visiting the snake village. We mentioned it to our hotel manager to get directions and he instantly volunteered his time and said he would take us to the best one there is where the wealthier locals eat or members of political parties. Without him we honestly would never have found it, nor could we have communicated what we actually wanted. On arrival, we saw multiple cages as we walked through the entrance filled with snakes all knotted and twisted together. The smell was upper lip curling, and rather off putting. Our manager said something in Vietnamese and a pre-pubescent kid started poking at some of snakes in the cages. Graham had done his research and wanted only a King Cobra, naturally also the most expensive and dangerous one. I watched without blinking as the snake was bagged, spun around on the floor to make it dizzy and then weighed before it came to its senses again. It weighed about one kilogram. Before I knew it, the same kid emptied the bag on the floor and grabbed the snake by the head and de toothed it with a big rusty looking blade. Our manager explained that this was done so it could not bite the handler. Apparently in Vietnam, if a snake bites a finger they used to just chop it off. Many of the older snake handlers often had missing fingers. I figure the kid was pretty good because he still had all his fingers intact. The snake was now ‘ safe’ and ready to inspect and eat. At this point I was just starring without taking a blink. I screamed when he let the snake sliver towards us, holding onto just the tail. What was even more hilarious was that this whole time I was wondering who had ordered this snake. I was sure that we would discuss eating here first? Well, apparently not, and shortly after the snakes’ head was slammed into the brick wall and slit to drain the blood, at which then I came to the realization that this was our dinner. It was entirely our dinner! The blood was mixed with rice wine, the bile was mixed with rice wine, the heart, still thumping was served to Graham in a shot glass, the skin was fried, the guts were sautéed (much more tender than the skin) the bones were ground and fried into crunchy croutons, we got snake broth, snake soup, snake spring rolls, snake meat balls and snake meat wrapped in sweet leaves. We were served a total of nine dishes not including appetizers. This one kilogram snake could have fed a family of five. Luckily our manager had decided to take us up on our invitation to join us. The bill came to about 50 dollars for all three of us, including drinks, which was much less expensive than we expected. However, after talking with our manager Martin, we found out he earns 300 dollars a month, so I am pretty sure he does not get to eat snake too many times. We were glad he joined us even if he did eat with his mouth open.

Sapa

Sapa was our last stop in Vietnam. After our feast of snake, we headed for the night train and slept in transit in our bunk beds for the nine-hour journey further north. The town Sapa overlooks spectacular views of cascading rice fields with mountains towered above all around. The weather was not the best, however windows in the clouds revealed the biggest and most impressive rice fields I have seen yet, bigger than Nepal and Indonesia. We came to Sapa specifically for trekking and staying in a homestay. The local hill tribe people still dress in their original tribal clothes, each tribes’ clothes unique from the valley across the way. Trekking for the two days was so serene and peaceful. It really put our lives into perspective. The family we stayed with were just so happy. At that time, it felt as if the more you have, the more problems you have. If you have nothing and most importantly know of nothing else but a wooden shack, chickens, rice from your own fields and an open fire for cooking and warmth, everyone just seamed gist. Graham and l enjoyed their friendship, relaxed, sat by the fire, helped cook fried chicken breaded in corn flour which was ground by hand and then cooked in the cast iron, skilled over open flames. We then slept on the moderately hard wooden bed under the protection of a mosquito net, right next to the family.

We trekked through mud in the morning, played with the kids in the afternoon, and huddled by the fire to keep warm at night. The family cat literally sat in the fire for warmth, it was the strangest thing. We trekked from village to village, past vegetable gardens, hemp gardens, indigo fields to dye fabrics and abundant rice fields. Graham even got his torn backpack repaired with a hemp patch. For me getting to know the people outside the city unlocks what a country is truly like on a much deeper level, something you don’t get to experience unless you do a homestay.