Coasting along in Vietnam
Trip Start
Nov 08, 2008
1
10
20
Trip End
Jan 17, 2009
Hoi An,
Vietnam
Monday, December 15, 2008
Leaving Ho Chi Minh City without regret, I took an all-day bus ride to Nha Trang, with a stop in laid-back beach town Mui Ne. Little Mui Ne, the fish-sauce capital of Vietnam, is a place I might return to. Nha Trang is not.
From Nha Trang, I was on an overnight sleeper bus to Hoi An. The sleeper bus was the most comfortable overnight bus I've ever traveled on. Nearly full-length bunks give a level of comfort I didn't know existed. I actually managed to sleep a good bit of the way, despite the jostling of the road
01. Ho Chi Minh City traffic...motocross start
.So, nearly 24 hours after leaving the sprawling, bustling metropolis of Ho Chi Minh City, I stepped off the bus somewhere quite different. I immediately booked a room in a very comfortable hotel for three nights ($20 a night).
Food is a focus here. Unique dishes such as "white rose" (rice dough dumplings stuffed with shrimp paste, veggies and other goodies and covered in deep-fried onion slivers) and a type of savory rice-flour pancake make this a culinary must on any foodie's travel itinerary. Mick Jagger reportedly was drawn here.
Hand-tailored clothing shops abound, tempting the latent shopper in many a traveler. Crafts and arts of all kinds also beckon.
But for me, the charm of the place is simply the atmosphere. Yes, there are loads of tourists, but I don't seem to mind. Most are backpackers, like me. And it's not as if the foreigners have chased the locals from the town. Daily life goes on as it has for centuries. We are but the latest wave.
02. To the beach at Mui Ne
After wandering around, gazing at genteel old houses and gathering places (some of which served as the sets for the movie "The Quiet American," with Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser), today I did a cooking class, so that I can inflict Vietnamese concoctions on family and friends, in addition to my Thai dishes. Be warned.
Tomorrow, I must tear myself away from this tide pool of the past.
To pick up the thread from my last entry, after changing plans several times for getting back to Thailand with the proper visa in hand, I now have airline tickets from Danang to Hanoi, from Hanoi to Bangkok and from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. I'll have two days in Hanoi, which I'm actually quite looking forward to, it being a city that fell off my planning map fairly early on due to time constraints but which is back on as a result of the latest plan to return to Chiang Mai.
As you may recall (and can easily review by reading my previous entry), Thailand abruptly changed its regulations regarding tourist visas, leaving me up in the air (so to speak) as to how to return with enough time on my visa to stay until my flight home on Jan. 17. Originally, I had planned to cross Laos and get a new 30-day visa at the border. With the sudden change in regulations, I planned to make a detour to Vientiane to buy a 60-day visa. I have since learned that it is not certain I could get a 60-day visa, and even if I did, it might not allow me to leave (to go to Laos with Nancy) and return. The latest information I have is that if I fly to Thailand from a country that doesn't border Thailand (Vietnam qualifies), I will get a new 30-day tourist visa on arrival. So, that's my latest plan. I hope it's the final detour.
Comments
Hanoi.
I think you will like Hanoi. I did.
Re: Hanoi.
I'm really looking forward to it. I hear the beer is fresh.
Re: Hanoi.
I'm really looking forward to it. I hear the beer is fresh.
Vietnam
Ron -- Glad to hear that you're 'back on track' with the visa situation, etc. The towns that you've been visiting on the coast sound really special! Enjoy! Love, 'Little Sister'