Like any award winning righter (pun #1), i left you lot with a load of cliff hangers at the end of my last blog entry. I'm sure you've all been clinging to the edge of your sofa to find out what happened to me. Well, after being woken up at 7am on the sleeper bus in Laos, we found out that we'd arrived at the border crossing and seemed to be making good time. However, getting stamped into Vietnam took a good two hours. Inefficiency doesn't even come close to describing the chaos that was involved! The locals on the bus thought they were being clever by bribing the guards to stamp their passports first, thus getting them sorted in 5 minutes.....but they still had to wait for us lot! Numpties. Luckily though, no strip searches were needed and only 4 people had their bags x-rayed. The rest of us were just waived though.
Luckily, i'd bumped into a fellow traveller Jacob again in Luang Prabang and he decided to catch the same bus as me to Hanoi, with the plan being to try and entertain each other along the way. A large game of Uno ensued between the both of us, books were read, music listened too, TV shows watched on laptops, then back again to Uno when out gadget batteries had died. Jacob is the Uno champion :( This made the long trip that little bit more bearable and after 26 hours on a toilet-less sleeper bus (good thinking Hyundai!), we arrived in Hanoi. 4 of us jumped in a taxi to split the cost and headed off towards the Old Quarter in the heart of the city. Finally, after enduring the 26 hour bus ride from Laos to Hanoi, plus a taxi at either end, i'd eventually made it to my hotel at around 10PM where i got to see the first travel buddy of my trip, Lisa! It was time for beers and it didn't take us long to find them!
Actually, i lie a little. As we'd lost half a day to start with due to my slow bus, it wasn't until gone 10PM that first evening that we ventured out to get some dinner and drinks. We walked and walked and walked for miles. Any place that was still open turned us away as the kitchen had closed. Even when we got desperate and it had gone 11PM, we stumbled upon a KFC, but even that was closed! No street vendors. Zilch! With our bellies empty and starvation starting to take it's terrible toll (for just £17 a day, you can feed a hungry Simon, please donate), we started wondering back towards our hotel, trying to figure out how many Oreos we had between us. Then, from out of nowhere (it was right in the middle of the main drinking street), i spotted an Irish Bar!! Result! A short time later, we were tucking into quality Vietnamese infused Irish cuisine (the chips were crinkled, i've not seen any straight ones my entire time here!), washing the grub down with a well deserved cold beer. I'd barely finished my first drink when in walked a policeman who proceeded to sit at the bar and light up a cigarette. Apart from us, there was only one other group of people in the bar who were all glued to the telly watching Wimbledon. As soon as it hit midnight, the telly went off and we were asked to leave quickly. Very quickly. It turns out, the north Vietnamese don't care much for late night drinking, so at 12 on the dot, all bars/clubs have to close or face the wrath of the police. A friendly bunch to say the least.
There are many ways to get to HaLong Bay, the most popular being on a junk ship. I'd heard many a tale about these ships and from what i was told, junk seemed an appropriate word for some of them! Being a seasoned traveller now though, i'm happy to explore more local options and sure enough, there was a bus and hydrofoil boat ticket available to Cat Ba Island for a cheap price and it was only a 5 hour trip in total, compared with the 8 hours via HaLong city. We arrived at our rather nice hotel right in the heart of Cat Ba town to find the place packed with Vietnamese tourists. Cat Ba Town = Southend. They even have a pier! The pace on the island is much slower compared to the city, so it was a welcomed break from all the scooters that drive/park on the pavements in the city. Pavement is being generous. You normally have to walk along the road in the gutter!
We'd been told that Asia Outdoors were the company to go with and found their shop in minutes as it was only down the road from our hotel. We booked ourselves in for a day of Kyaking and laying the beach.
The great thing about doing this all ourselves rather than booking it in Hanoi, was that there are very few tourists on this part of the island. So, the next day, we were treated to deserted beaches in the south of the bay, had to deal with none of the tourist traps or hawkers and we even got to see and visit one of the floating homes where fishermen live and work with their families!
CatBa was also more relaxed in terms of the police, so enjoying a few late night drinks wasn't an issue either. It was on one of our nights drinking that we bumped into Andrew and Tom from the US. A dance off ensured with that evening, but it was Tom that stole the show and won by a country mile.
We had a few more days to relaxing and chill on the beach (a popular theme of my adventures!), including one of the busiest beaches i've ever seen! We even managed to cram in some sightseeing and visited Canon Fort on the highest peak of the island. Yes you've guessed it, there's a fort with some canon!!! Clearly, they're no longer in use as the war is over, but there are some great views to be had. Peace out!
So, back to Hanoi we went and it was time to visit one of the main tourist attractions that the city has to offer, the Water Puppets Show. Save your money....don't go! Spend it having cocktails on the 19th floor of the Sofitel Plaza and look out over the city at sunset. It's much better allocation of funds!
If you want to go the whole hog, then visit El Gaucho for a good steak too!!! Alas, Lisa's quick trip to visit me had come to an end, and so we said our goodbyes and as she headed off to the airport, i headed for the train station. It was sleeper train time again, this time to Sapa.....i just hoped the Vietnamese trains were better than the Indian ones!
I'd heard many a good thing about Sapa and the one thing that sounded most appealing to me was it's climate. Being at altitude, it's nice and cool, so for the first time in months, i got to sleep under a duvet! Amazing!! Treking is the name of the game in Sapa, but as my feet were still in healing mode, i decided to use my time there for chill out and catch up on a few mundane things like sorting flights etc. Sapa is a great little town, but tourism is the big money maker here, so everyone wants to sell you something. The best thing to do is sit on one of the many rooftop bars, order a beer and sit and watch as the rain clouds roll in over you. As you're at cloud level, you can have a clear view one minute, then be sitting in a cloud the next! It's not really raining, but you get a little damp.
Sapa is really close to the Chinese border, so it's a little out of the way, but well worth the trip. I had to head south again though and decided to bite the bullet and do the long distance in one go. So, back on a sleeper bus i got. This time though, it was during the day back to Hanoi. When i arrived in Hanoi, i managed to get the last ticket south on the train in A/C seating class, and made it to Hue around noon the following day. Hue was not my final destination though, so after 2 more buses, i finally arrived in the much hyped Hoi An.
Hoi An must be a good destination to visit (well, to be fair, it is a UNESCO world heritage site!), as it took me a good 40 minutes to find somewhere with a free room. Everywhere was full :/ Not fun when carrying 30KG in 30+ degrees. The great thing about Hoi An is the mix of history and beaches. If you stay in the old town, you're in the heart of the action.
Or, for $1 a day, just hire a bike and ride the 20 minutes down to the beach and chill out on the clean sandy beaches. The best way to see a town/city as i've now discovered, is to do something a little less ordinary like a bike or photography tour. That way, you're taken away from the main tourist areas and get to see the real side of things, or, taken to the touristy areas with someone who really knows their way around. I decided to book myself onto the sunrise tour (best lighting conditions and all) and was picked up at 5am the following morning. We were taken over to a little island near HoiAn that is home to a small fishing community. As we arrived, the fishermen were just landing their catches, so it was a great time to take a peak around and to grab some decent (i hope!) photos.
We even got to go inside and look around a fish sauce factory.....thrilling to say the least! There was a bike leaning against a wall though!!!
Aside from the nice beaches and historic old town, there's also a few bars that do all you can drink for 80,000 dong (£2.50!)......! Needless to say, there's some night life to be had in town too :)
So, with a big hangover to deal with, it was time to grab yet another night bus. This time, the destination was Da Lat. Being a former colonial hill station, Da Lat had a nice mild climate and is famous for it's strawberries and coffee. Apparently, it's also partly designed on the Garden City model. The city is set around a big lake (think Stanborough lakes), and has a mix of French, Swiss and Vietnamese architecture. To be honest, i didn't see that much resemblance to my home town, but, one part does look a little bit like Center Parcs, especially with all it's pine trees, but that's about it really!
Still, exploring i went, this time on a mountain bike. We covered about 20Km which was mostly uphill, before stopping for lunch at the top of one of the peaks. Great views :) Then it was another 14Km back into town, but luckily, this was mostly downhill. The bikes were bog standard mountain bikes unfortunately and not really up to the challenge that the terrain gave us, but still, good fun anyway!!
As well as being popular with honeymooners Da Lat is/was also home to Vietnam first and only nuclear test facility i discovered after spotting a very old and well hidden sign on our bike ride. It was built by the Americans back in the 60s....but was swiftly shut down again as soon as the conflict started. It's back up and running now though, this time as a research facility, as they're looking to build 2 new nuclear plants in near future. These are needed to help with the electricity demands of the rising population (90 Million!) which is mostly young and power hungry.....they've all got a lot of western gadgets.
Well, my month in Vietnam was drawing to a close, so it was time to take the final leg of my journey (by bus.....again) south to Ho Chi Minh City.....or Saigon depending on your age/level of speech laziness. I stayed at a great place (Long Hostel) and was right in the middle of town. Everyone had warned me that the city was busy and dangerous. It's not. It's just like any other Asian city. If you want busy, go to India!
I was quite keen to find out more about the Vietnam war and booked myself onto a trip to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels. I'd bumped into a group of 4 Irish teachers on their summer holiday who were also staying at the same hostel, so we all did the trip together.
A trip to the Chu Chi tunnels gave us the chance to see how the Viet Cong lived during the war, as well as learning a bit more about their history as well as some of their war tricks too. For example, they invented the Ho Chi Minh sandal. They're basically back to front flip flops, so that if the Americans found their tracks in the mud, they'd follow them in the wrong direction! Genius :) I also popped along to the shooting range for a go on the Garand M1 Rifle. At 30 calibre it's by far the most powerful gun i've shot to date. I certainly wouldn't like to be on the receiving end of one of those rounds :/
After the tunnels, we were dropped back at the remnants museum in the centre of Saigon to have a look around. They've got some captured US kit as well as loads of 'remnants' from the war on display. It's a real wonder how they came up with the name for the museum. I guess it's just one of those things that'll remain a mystery.
Luckily, i'd bumped into a fellow traveller Jacob again in Luang Prabang and he decided to catch the same bus as me to Hanoi, with the plan being to try and entertain each other along the way. A large game of Uno ensued between the both of us, books were read, music listened too, TV shows watched on laptops, then back again to Uno when out gadget batteries had died. Jacob is the Uno champion :( This made the long trip that little bit more bearable and after 26 hours on a toilet-less sleeper bus (good thinking Hyundai!), we arrived in Hanoi. 4 of us jumped in a taxi to split the cost and headed off towards the Old Quarter in the heart of the city. Finally, after enduring the 26 hour bus ride from Laos to Hanoi, plus a taxi at either end, i'd eventually made it to my hotel at around 10PM where i got to see the first travel buddy of my trip, Lisa! It was time for beers and it didn't take us long to find them!
Actually, i lie a little. As we'd lost half a day to start with due to my slow bus, it wasn't until gone 10PM that first evening that we ventured out to get some dinner and drinks. We walked and walked and walked for miles. Any place that was still open turned us away as the kitchen had closed. Even when we got desperate and it had gone 11PM, we stumbled upon a KFC, but even that was closed! No street vendors. Zilch! With our bellies empty and starvation starting to take it's terrible toll (for just £17 a day, you can feed a hungry Simon, please donate), we started wondering back towards our hotel, trying to figure out how many Oreos we had between us. Then, from out of nowhere (it was right in the middle of the main drinking street), i spotted an Irish Bar!! Result! A short time later, we were tucking into quality Vietnamese infused Irish cuisine (the chips were crinkled, i've not seen any straight ones my entire time here!), washing the grub down with a well deserved cold beer. I'd barely finished my first drink when in walked a policeman who proceeded to sit at the bar and light up a cigarette. Apart from us, there was only one other group of people in the bar who were all glued to the telly watching Wimbledon. As soon as it hit midnight, the telly went off and we were asked to leave quickly. Very quickly. It turns out, the north Vietnamese don't care much for late night drinking, so at 12 on the dot, all bars/clubs have to close or face the wrath of the police. A friendly bunch to say the least.
There are many ways to get to HaLong Bay, the most popular being on a junk ship. I'd heard many a tale about these ships and from what i was told, junk seemed an appropriate word for some of them! Being a seasoned traveller now though, i'm happy to explore more local options and sure enough, there was a bus and hydrofoil boat ticket available to Cat Ba Island for a cheap price and it was only a 5 hour trip in total, compared with the 8 hours via HaLong city. We arrived at our rather nice hotel right in the heart of Cat Ba town to find the place packed with Vietnamese tourists. Cat Ba Town = Southend. They even have a pier! The pace on the island is much slower compared to the city, so it was a welcomed break from all the scooters that drive/park on the pavements in the city. Pavement is being generous. You normally have to walk along the road in the gutter!
We'd been told that Asia Outdoors were the company to go with and found their shop in minutes as it was only down the road from our hotel. We booked ourselves in for a day of Kyaking and laying the beach.
Getting to grips with the whole 'selfie' thingy
The great thing about doing this all ourselves rather than booking it in Hanoi, was that there are very few tourists on this part of the island. So, the next day, we were treated to deserted beaches in the south of the bay, had to deal with none of the tourist traps or hawkers and we even got to see and visit one of the floating homes where fishermen live and work with their families!
CatBa was also more relaxed in terms of the police, so enjoying a few late night drinks wasn't an issue either. It was on one of our nights drinking that we bumped into Andrew and Tom from the US. A dance off ensured with that evening, but it was Tom that stole the show and won by a country mile.
We had a few more days to relaxing and chill on the beach (a popular theme of my adventures!), including one of the busiest beaches i've ever seen! We even managed to cram in some sightseeing and visited Canon Fort on the highest peak of the island. Yes you've guessed it, there's a fort with some canon!!! Clearly, they're no longer in use as the war is over, but there are some great views to be had. Peace out!
If you want to go the whole hog, then visit El Gaucho for a good steak too!!! Alas, Lisa's quick trip to visit me had come to an end, and so we said our goodbyes and as she headed off to the airport, i headed for the train station. It was sleeper train time again, this time to Sapa.....i just hoped the Vietnamese trains were better than the Indian ones!
I'd heard many a good thing about Sapa and the one thing that sounded most appealing to me was it's climate. Being at altitude, it's nice and cool, so for the first time in months, i got to sleep under a duvet! Amazing!! Treking is the name of the game in Sapa, but as my feet were still in healing mode, i decided to use my time there for chill out and catch up on a few mundane things like sorting flights etc. Sapa is a great little town, but tourism is the big money maker here, so everyone wants to sell you something. The best thing to do is sit on one of the many rooftop bars, order a beer and sit and watch as the rain clouds roll in over you. As you're at cloud level, you can have a clear view one minute, then be sitting in a cloud the next! It's not really raining, but you get a little damp.
Sapa is really close to the Chinese border, so it's a little out of the way, but well worth the trip. I had to head south again though and decided to bite the bullet and do the long distance in one go. So, back on a sleeper bus i got. This time though, it was during the day back to Hanoi. When i arrived in Hanoi, i managed to get the last ticket south on the train in A/C seating class, and made it to Hue around noon the following day. Hue was not my final destination though, so after 2 more buses, i finally arrived in the much hyped Hoi An.
Hoi An must be a good destination to visit (well, to be fair, it is a UNESCO world heritage site!), as it took me a good 40 minutes to find somewhere with a free room. Everywhere was full :/ Not fun when carrying 30KG in 30+ degrees. The great thing about Hoi An is the mix of history and beaches. If you stay in the old town, you're in the heart of the action.
Or, for $1 a day, just hire a bike and ride the 20 minutes down to the beach and chill out on the clean sandy beaches. The best way to see a town/city as i've now discovered, is to do something a little less ordinary like a bike or photography tour. That way, you're taken away from the main tourist areas and get to see the real side of things, or, taken to the touristy areas with someone who really knows their way around. I decided to book myself onto the sunrise tour (best lighting conditions and all) and was picked up at 5am the following morning. We were taken over to a little island near HoiAn that is home to a small fishing community. As we arrived, the fishermen were just landing their catches, so it was a great time to take a peak around and to grab some decent (i hope!) photos.
We even got to go inside and look around a fish sauce factory.....thrilling to say the least! There was a bike leaning against a wall though!!!
Aside from the nice beaches and historic old town, there's also a few bars that do all you can drink for 80,000 dong (£2.50!)......! Needless to say, there's some night life to be had in town too :)
So, with a big hangover to deal with, it was time to grab yet another night bus. This time, the destination was Da Lat. Being a former colonial hill station, Da Lat had a nice mild climate and is famous for it's strawberries and coffee. Apparently, it's also partly designed on the Garden City model. The city is set around a big lake (think Stanborough lakes), and has a mix of French, Swiss and Vietnamese architecture. To be honest, i didn't see that much resemblance to my home town, but, one part does look a little bit like Center Parcs, especially with all it's pine trees, but that's about it really!
Still, exploring i went, this time on a mountain bike. We covered about 20Km which was mostly uphill, before stopping for lunch at the top of one of the peaks. Great views :) Then it was another 14Km back into town, but luckily, this was mostly downhill. The bikes were bog standard mountain bikes unfortunately and not really up to the challenge that the terrain gave us, but still, good fun anyway!!
Well, my month in Vietnam was drawing to a close, so it was time to take the final leg of my journey (by bus.....again) south to Ho Chi Minh City.....or Saigon depending on your age/level of speech laziness. I stayed at a great place (Long Hostel) and was right in the middle of town. Everyone had warned me that the city was busy and dangerous. It's not. It's just like any other Asian city. If you want busy, go to India!
I was quite keen to find out more about the Vietnam war and booked myself onto a trip to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels. I'd bumped into a group of 4 Irish teachers on their summer holiday who were also staying at the same hostel, so we all did the trip together.
This is the size of the hole the Viet Cong use to jump and hide in!!
Get orff my tank!
Garand M1 Rifle
After the tunnels, we were dropped back at the remnants museum in the centre of Saigon to have a look around. They've got some captured US kit as well as loads of 'remnants' from the war on display. It's a real wonder how they came up with the name for the museum. I guess it's just one of those things that'll remain a mystery.
Oh, and to all you museums out there reading this, if you have a plane on display that's strapped to concrete blocks with no runway around for miles, take away the ladder that allows access to the cockpit. Don't leave it in place and stick a sign on it that says don't climb the ladder. Of course i'm going to climb the ladder!!
The BITEXCO Financial Tower in the city is the tallest building in Saigon. It's also home to an observation deck on the 49th floor, though a little pricey to visit by Vietnamese standards. Make your life that little bit simpler and visit the restaurant/cafe on the 50th floor instead. Order a drink (still pricey, but half the price of the floor below) and enjoy the views 50 floors up. Magic.
Lucky girls!
I even got to gate crash my 1st honeymoon of the trip after arranging to meet up with Kat and Alex on their equally epic moon of honeys :)
Good Curry night :)
I much preferred Saigon to Hanoi. Hanoi still seems to be stuck in the old days. They still have speakers on the street corners pumping out propaganda and music at random times of the day. Saigon on the other hand is that little bit more relaxed and developed, though oddly, Hanoi is the capital city. Old habits die hard i suppose, but they do have a Joma Cafe to be fair!
Alas, my time in IndoChina was drawing to a close, until that is, i received an email from Howard at Oxalis. Back in Sapa, i was chatting to a girl who was telling me about the caves in Phong Nha and that they'd recently discovered the worlds largest cave in 2009 and it was only now just opening up to tourists. After a bit of Googling, i'd found the company in charge, Oxalis. I shot off a quick email hoping to do a 1 or 2 day tour on my way south, but got a quick reply telling me that the government had not granted them permission yet. The email this time was to confirm that the government had only just now approved a trail for tourists and the 1st ever trial tour was in a weeks time and they had 1 space left! Did i want to go was the question??? My mind was racing? Could i afford to do it (it was a 7 day expedition only), could i change my flights and get my VISA extended. So much to plan in such a short space of time.....would i make it?! Tune in next time for a special edition of my blog for Hang Son Doong! The worlds largest cave!!!!
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