Good Morning Viet Nam
Trip Start
Nov 13, 2005
1
12
18
Trip End
May 02, 2006
Hue, Vietnam
Sunday, February 12, 2006
As our bus arrived at the border it was immediately apparent that things were different in Viet Nam. The border post in Cambodia is a small wooden shack, very basic and pretty much in keeping with the rest of the country. The Viet Nam border post by comparison is a huge air conditioned building with stacks of people waiting to help. We walked through the Cambodian checkpoint in seconds, but as we walked into the Viet Nam checkpoint building we joined a queue which would take us the best part of 2 hours to reach the front of. Amazing considering that everyone crossing the border is required to have their visa in their passport before entering the country. When we eventually did reach the front of the said queue we realised that the reason for the delay was due to Viet Nam charging everyone entering the country $2 as a quarantine/health check
1. A tunnel entrance.
. There was no health check so how do they know we're healthy? Maybe this explains why bird flu started here!!Two hours later we reached Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), checked into our hotel and made use of the hot water shower, a real novelty after only having cold water throughout Cambodia. The next day we took a stroll to the War Remnants Museum in the city. A pretty depressing if informative place, it basically tells the story of Viet Nam's recent history beginning in the 1950's when they were at war with the French, and ending in 1975, the end of the American War, which is what it was known as here. No punches are pulled at this place. There are captured tanks and helicopters, as well as countless mortars and rocket launchers and other artillery pieces. Once inside the main building the real horrors of war were shown in all their glory!?!? The walls are literally covered in pictures of the atrocities committed by the American troops against the Vietnamese people. Not to mention the after effects of the chemicals used by the Americans, known as Agent Orange, which killed everything in it's path, animal, mineral or vegetable and even now is causing children to be born with hideous deformities.
The next day we took a trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels, a network of 250 kilometres of tunnels that were used by approximately 16,000 Viet Cong, North Vietnamese Army sympathisers, to attack the American troops from
2. Follow me folks.
. During the war (as Uncle Albert would say) the tunnels were used for many things including treating the sick in underground hospitals, cooking food, sleeping and making weapons. The openings to these tunnels were tiny, only 9" x 6" which meant that only the smallest of people could enter them. These entrances would be hidden in the jungle under a pile of leaves and, to the untrained eye, are impossible to spot. Once inside the tunnel you actually realise what things must have been like for these people. At 2' 6" high it is impossible for anyone to stand up in them, and each tunnel would eventually link to various rooms used for many of the above things I've mentioned. The entrances have been adapted so that Westerners can enter them and the first thing you realise once inside is how dark and hot they are. We crawled along 90 metres of tunnel and when we exited it really was a huge relief. To have to had spent months at a time inside these things really does beggar belief. We also got shown how the people lived inside these tunnels day to day and how they managed to avoid detection for so long from the Americans. It really is no wonder that Viet Nam won the war. These people are so resourceful. Afterwards we were shown some of the weapons and booby traps used in the war, and in a specially built area you can select and shoot pretty much any weapon of your choosing......at a price. Lisa chose to shoot the M16 assault rifle, used exclusively by the Americans in the war. Shooting a target which was over 100 yards away she was scarily accurate
3. Armed and dangerous.
! In fact she enjoyed it so much she reckons that she's going to join a shooting club when we get home. The whole day was absolutely mind blowing and strangely enjoyable.When we first arrived in HCMC we purchased an open bus ticket which allows us to board any bus anywhere between HCMC in the south and Hanoi in the North of the country. Viet Nam is over 2,500 kilometres in length and the total cost of this bus ticket is $25. A real bargain!
The next day we were travelling again, this time to Mui Ne, 250 kilometres north of HCMC. Famous for it's huge sand dunes and picturesque coastline, it was a welcome relief from the hot and sticky city. We spent a morning sand surfing and at the fishing village, and an afternoon lazing around the pool in our hotel. We only hung around for 2 days and then it was on the road again, this time to Nha Trang, another beach resort 280 kilometres further up the coast. The weather wasn't great whilst we were there so we were moving on again fairly quickly.
Now at this point we started to realise that things aren't always quite as they seem in Viet Nam. Even though we've really enjoyed ourselves here, we've noticed that foreigners are viewed as an easy touch by the Vietnamese
4. Sand surfing.
. This is probably the fact everywhere around the world, but the Vietnamese seem to have this down to a fine art. At every opportunity they attempt to overcharge you or short change you. Added to that is the fact that they seem quite brash. We were told that you will never hear a local say please or sorry and so far we've seen no evidence to the contrary. It hasn't made us dislike Viet Nam, far from it, but in comparison to the rest of Asia, where we've never had problems like this, it just comes as a bit of a disappointment. But in the interests of putting across a balanced point of view I should add that we are really enjoying ourselves here, and managing to save some money too as generally things are pretty cheap. And besides, it's no wonder the locals try and rip off foreigners after what they've been through over the last 60 years!Our next stop was Hoi An on the central Vietnamese coast. Any doubts we were having about Viet Nam literally evaporated when we arrived in Hoi An. This place is without a doubt our favourite in Viet Nam. The town is much smaller than the others that we've visited, and a real museum piece to boot. There are loads of old buildings and most of these are now used as shops or art galleries. It's such a peaceful easy going town and there are stacks of good photo opportunities. Also, everywhere you look there seem to be the stereotypical little Vietnamese lady in a conical hat
5. Hours of fun.
. In the street, in the market, even on the back of a motorbike. They wear them everywhere. We could stay here for ages!But the road beckoned and after a couple of days we were on it again, this time headed for Hue. Hue is the point in Viet Nam at which people either decide to head across the border to Laos or continue across the old Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) and into northern Viet Nam. It's also quite an important trading town because of it's close proximity to both Laos and Thailand. Unfortunately it was heavily bombed in the war and, as a result, there doesn't seem to be a great deal to see apart from the ancient citadel. I have to be honest and say that we're all out of enthusiasm for ancient buildings or war relics and so we've decided to leave Viet Nam and head for Laos.
We really have enjoyed our time here, admittedly it hasn't quite matched up to expectations, but then they were quite high. So tomorrow at 6am we board a rickety old bus for a 13 hour trip across the Ho Chi Minh trail and the border and into country number 6.
Can't wait.......honest!
