South Vietnam
Trip Start
Jan 27, 2008
1
12
15
Trip End
Jun 09, 2008
Vietnam,
Vietnam
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon (whatever they call it) in Vietnam was our next destination after Cambodia. HCMC is easily the most craziest when it comes to traffic, especially scooters! We haven't seen that many scooters in our entire lives. Crossing the road was like playing 'Froggo'.. No wonder our travel insurance is high. A lot of people dislike HCMC but we really enjoyed it. The main backpacker area has plenty of nice bars and restaurants and heaps to see when wandering around town. We spent a day out at the Cu Chi Tunnels which was amazing to see and learn about the history of the Vietnam War and the battle against the Viet Cong. We also took a day trip out to the Mekong Delta and roamed around the very traditional villages on the islands. The War Remnant Museum was very interesting yet very sad after realising what happened during the Vietnam War.
We jumped on an overnight sleeper bus and headed for Nha Trang, located on the coast north of HCMC. It's a fairly quiet town with not a lot to see but seems to have loads of good restaurants so it became difficult choosing where to eat every night. It's suppose to be a great place for scuba diving so there is many shops offering cheap dives and courses. We spent a few hours at a natural mud spa therapy centre which was the highlight of this stop.
Hoi An was next on the hit list and was also our favourite town in the south of Vietnam. It's heritage listed and has been very well kept, and has that old European style feel to it. Fresh glasses of beer for 4000 Dong (25c) kept me occupied for a couple of days without damaging the wallet! Verms, you would have loved it!! Lisa shouted a fancy hotel for Jarrads birthday and topped it off with an amazing Indian feed and some super cheap beers. Hoi An is a really cool town and feels like you're on a movie set. Every second shop is a tailor so you can get pretty much anything made. Lisa had some thongs made and also a winter jacket to get ready for Canada's sunshine. I had some old school high-top Nikes made for about $17.
Hue was our last stop on the open bus ticket and only planned a short visit here, before making our way into Laos. It's a busy town located about the half way mark in Vietnam. We hired bikes for $1 each and cruised around town and to the beach for a couple of days before boarding the nightmare bus ride across the border into Laos...
Until next episode.... Ciao
