Vietnam

Trip Start Dec 06, 2006

Trip End Sep 2007

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Flag of Vietnam Nha trang, Vietnam
Sunday, May 6, 2007

We took a train from Ho Chi Minh to Nha Trang which took about 7 hours but was really comfortable. It was also the first long distance transport we took where we were actually surrounded by Vietnamese and not in a tourist bus. In Nha Trang we stayed in a really cheap place in the town centre. The town itself was not really interesting, just concrete buildings and loads of half completed hotel blocks by the beach. We hired a moto the first day and explored the coastline north and south of the main town, it was nice to ride through the small fishing villages on the hillside, lots of waving kids and people shouting hello to us. The photo is of the harbour in Nha Trang. We met up with Todd and Kyla again and went the next day on a cable car across to a resort island. It was really odd, there were hardly any other tourists, just a strange mini amusement park. They must have been expecting lots of tourists but it was just a ghost island when we went. The cable car ride there and back was good though

beach

! Spent the afternoons on the beach and in the sea, the first time since the first week of our trip in December. The seafood restaurants were really good and cheap, bbq style so you could choose your own fish and watch them cook it for you.

From Nha Trang we took the train up the coast to Hoi An, which is a quaint historical town, a UNESCO world heritage site and really well maintained. We took a walking tour to see the Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese and European houses, meeting places, bridges etc. Its an interesting town on a river but was really busy and full of souvenir shops and tailors. We took a tour to My Son, a temple complex, but again with a guide who disappeared after walking us to the site, told us very little about what we were looking at and then the boat trip back stopped at a handicraft place (again!) Do they not realise that backpackers are not going to buy wooden tables or heavy duvet covers! We hired bikes one day and cycled to the beach but it was threatening to rain the whole time and the beach was empty (photo), just a couple of hardy sellers looking for tourists. It was a nice cycle ride though, through paddy fields and along the river.

We took a bus north from Hoi An to Hue (nearly missing it when Clare went to buy food for the journey and the bus arrived early!) The bus stopped at Marble Mountain on the way, a tourist stop to look at the mountain and go in the caves, on the way out they try to sell you marble carvings...an odd combination

haven

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Hue has a huge citadel where the old kings used to live (they used to work 4 hours per month and spent the rest of the time drinking and playing a game a bit like skittles, not a bad life). It was nice for a day to walk around but the cycle drivers were a bit overwhelming as again there weren't many tourists to share the attention! On the second day we walked down to the harbour to try to hire a boat to take the four of us along the river to several pagodas and tombs of the royal families. We decided not to go on a tour as we'd all had enough of a bit too aggresive selling techniques. The boat trip was really nice, relaxing and watching fishing boats and boats getting the sand from the river bank, a really hard life. The captain's family lived on the boat and they took it in turns to try to sell us tshirts, ornaments, pictures etc etc, the whole point of us not going with a tour! The tomb complex was interesting to see, I think we'd all had our fair share of pagodas by then though!

From Hue we took the overnight train to Hanoi. We couldn't get soft sleeper anymore as there was a huge group of Danish students and they'd booked them all. The hardsleeper was fine though, there are six beds in a berth and if full, it would be really cramped. But with just the four of us it was much more comfortable than the bus, and much more fun!