Hello Everyone!
Today is the 26th of April, and it looks like we're going to need to extend our visa for Vietnam... This country is great, and there are too many things to do for just 30 days...
I left this blog before talking about Ho Chi Minh City last time, so I will start from there.
On the night I wrote the last update, 5 days after arriving there, we went for a meal in a little back street, and, proof that this world is small, even this part of the world, we were called by our name by some people at a table... They were John and Becky, the couple we had met in Battambang, Cambodia, about 3 weeks before!! We met up for drinks that night, and the next day, as we were leaving town to go to Dalat, a little french hill station up North, who should jump in our bus?? those 2 again!
Before leaving for Dalat, i'll tell you a bit about the crazy town of Saigon (HCMC)... Like you'll have realized, all the towns of south east asia are pretty mad, but this one was on a different level. What made it mad is the number of motorbikes there. Picture this: 9 million inhabitants, 5 million bikes... Hum Hum. It can't be explained so well, so i took a few videos from the back (they're the taxis here, no car really) and just to let you catch a drift, every traffic light junction is like the start of a (very messy) race!! Starting blocks, ready, go! It's entertaining just to sit at a bar with a beer and litterally watch their world go by.
We spent 5 days in Saigon, visiting on foot during the day, going to museums and government old houses, learning about their history, and feeling that great respect for the people in how they managed to get the american army of their territory, with very little. We also organised a trip to the Cuchi tunnels, where most of the Viet Cong was based in the south, and where they lived in tunnels underground. Some of those have been upgraded so that the tourists can visit them, or more like, crawl through them. Steve went in there and was as at ease as a rabbit (or a frodo...) but i got completely freaked out on the 1st meters, and had to get everyone behind me to reverse and let me out. It was tiny in there, and very dark, and the air not so fresh... couldn't stand it, but anyway, it was interesting, and that's where we also got to shoot those AK 47 (Kalashnikovs!!)... Great fun!
So that was Saigon, lovely town, messy as you wish, but great.
Next on the plan was Dalat. We got an open bus ticket to go all the way to Hanoi, stopping in the main spots for tourism, so our transport was sorted, we could just explore the area once settled in one place.
The town of Dalat was bigger than we all imagined, but the area was amazing. We rented motorbikes for the day, and explored (we're getting very good with those gears i have to say!) . We saw waterfalls, big hills, rice, coffee plantations, lakes, we even took a cable car (austrian built) over mountain tops, it was great.
The next day, Steve got us all booked up for a killer Mountain bike tour: 40 kms!!! Up and down and up and down again... see pictures!!
Again, the sceneries were great, we went up the highest hill of the area (the fun bit was going down obviously) through pine trees forests, and had a picnic on that hill top, watching and hearing a storm coming our way... When we finished we were exhausted, but very proud of our performance, John and Becky hadn't even been mountain biking ever before!!
To end the day well, we had a beer with our guides (ok, a few were needed) and then got a big bite to eat as a treat.
After Dalat, we went down the mountain again, where the hot air got us back (it had got really fresh up in Dalat) to Nha Trang, a coastal town which is supposed to be the party capital of Vietnam. Easy to imagine the place: Long stretch of beach, big blocks of buildings, loads of Westerners bars, just what was described in our book.
We took advantage of the bars (or they took advantage of us? not sure) and that resulted in loosing a whole day while recuperating... It was so hot!!!
We then decided to make the most of the place and go to the beach... Got some windy weather all day, and decided it was enough of the tenerife style holiday, and booked our bus for Hoi An for the next evening.
Wow... Hoi An... The most charming little town i think i have come to visit. Little houses, 2 storeys max, in an old yellow (ocre) colour, dark wooden balconies, little friendly market, river running through, in the evening lit by a 100 fairy lights... An what made it also are the thousands of tailor shops around the place. Tailors that can recreate anything from the latest at top shop to the most beautiful chanel dress, without forgetting the latest armani suit... To tell the story short, we left Hoi An only after buying 2 dresses for myself, 2 suits for Steve, and they are amazing! and so cheap! They used 7 meters of silk for mine (long long dress...) and 2 days of work and we paid the equivalent of 80 pounds... about that.. Well, we left Hanoi with a wallet that felt strangely a bit light, but hey, it's amazing work, and i'm gonna need an evening dress... someday!
The four of us (Becky and John still with us) were really up for doing a part of our journeys on bikes... so we hunted for a place that would rent us bikes that we could just drop off in the next town. Not easy to come by! Funny enough, they don't like giving their motorbikes away so easily. We compromised, and ended up with a guide coming with us to Hué, the next big stop.
150 kms North of Hoi An.
After about 30 minutes, my gear pedal fell down, as i was happily going along at about 80 kms/hour. Hum Hum.
Well the guide got it fixed, and we were on our way again, the four of us with our backpacks attached to the back, leaving about 30cms for the bum! Not extra comfy, but it worked. To reassure everyone, we are all still alive, no accidents, although the busses sometimes make you think they really want to kill you! We went through a big pass, overlooking an amazing bay of some greenery, so green, that's the only way to describe it. Compared to some other countries we've been to, Vietnam looks so healthy everywhere, there is a postcard picture to be taken at every corner...
We got to Hué on sunday the 22nd of April, knackered after the 6 - 8 hours on the bikes, and had just enough energy to eat a yummy steak (Becky and I) and a 9 course meal for the guys, so amazing, it even had a banana for dessert!!! (sorry, that's for John and Steve when they read this...)
Hué turned out to be a very very very hot town, the kind that when you get out of your room, you start sweating straight away, and breathing loud, and funnily, everything you wanted to do is forgotten! The 1st day steve and I stayed in the air con room til 3 pm, then managed to find the energy to rent some bicycles, having lost J & B as they had had more courage than us and left the hotel earlier. Who should we take over on a little lane, in 2 cyclos (bikes pushing carriages) ?? Those 2 again!! I mean Hué is a big town, and we didn't think we'd see them again the whole day!!? Good surprise though, and we just followed them on their lazy tour and stopped at the end for a sugar cane juice, freshly pressed in front of us with loads of ice... yummy asia delicacy!
John and Becky's plans were to head north to Sapa for a treck, passing through Hanoi on the way, and as they were at the end of their 6 months trip, they didn't have much time to hang around. Our open bus was taking us to Hanoi on the next leg anyway, so we booked it for the next day, so we'd spend one more day with our travel companions of the last 10 days. It was a night bus taking us, and by paying a few dollars more, we got into one of those sleeper busses that have almost proper beds in them. Very good actually, compared to the shitty reclining seat we had been travelling on on the last few legs. Hué could have been visited better, but the heat was just too much, and on our last day we headed for the pool of one of the 5 * hotels, and stayed there for the day.
5.30 got in our bus, and 14 hours later we got to the capital of Vietnam: Hanoi. Spent our last day with J&B recuperating from the bus journey, eating, walking, eating a bit more, drinking fruit shakes of watermelon and passion fruits... yummy, again!
It was good having them around, they were really lovely, and each all heads were so full of everything we had seen and done in the last few months that conversation never died, plus Steve and John were so pleased to have someone to talk to about football... And Becky and I about them.. hehe! We'll probably see them in London when we get back, they were good fun!
So today, the 26th of April, we are in Hanoi, and it's a very nice city too. The whole of Vietnam is great, there is a bit for ever taste. What is left now is Halong Bay, and a tour of the North which, hopefully, we're gonna do by bike! We just love it and we'll definitely get into that more when back in London. It's a great way to do sightseeing, mixing long journeys with pleasure. Don't worry mums, we'll wear helmets!
Today we were cycling around the town, getting a bit lost, but we managed to find our way back to our quarters, even after i lost my right pedal... I don't know what it is with me and pedals, they just can't keep up!
Went to eat on a street side restaurant, few plastic tables on the pavement and kitchen on a tiny camping stove, amazing what the vietnamese can do with so little. And now we need to plan where we're going next and how...
Leave you with a picture of the easy riders and our view in Hanoi when we stopped for a 10p beer on a street corner...
Lots of love to everyone,
Petra, Pierre, can you give me the dates of your flights??
I hope Tom is having a good time in my mountains!! Hello there! Woudn't hurt to get a word from you mister!!! (Tom = Brother...)
Miss you all, take care
Jenny and Steve on Tour!! xxx
And, the choc, the roads of Cambodia, litterally just at the border...
