Vietnam Recollections
Trip Start
Nov 01, 2006
1
81
179
Trip End
Oct 31, 2007
Vinh,
Vietnam
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
So what if I'm writing this 5 months after we left Vietnam, if I say I'm going to do summaries for every country then I'm blessed-well going to.
Worst meals
The one that sticks out the most is lunch on the beach after the tour of the Vin Moc tunnels. Just the way in which we felt we'd been seriously overcharged for the food (although it had been good). Awful having to feel you need to specifically ask how much each item you´re going to have is because you don't trust the establishment not to fleece you.
Other lowlights: the limp fish in white sauce in Dalat (a classic case of a place trying to be more than the cook's capable of); the cocktails we had in Saigon (yes, of course cocktails are food) which were really expensive and yet somehow misery-inducingly unpleasant; and of course the half-meal we had in Hoi An. (I guess it's enough to say we walked out halfway through).
Best meals
All the other meals in Hoi An; the final bowl of Pho in Ninh Bin; the pepper pork in Saigon; the lunch halfway through our mammoth bike ride down from Dalat - crispy fish for huge appetites (also the tastiest pineapple of the trip on that ride); and the ultra naff fish and chips and hamburger we ordered sheepishly at a place call "The Pub" in Hanoi (truly a case of Brits abroad not quite being able to let go...)
Worst toilet
None springs to mind. Generally better than those in India, it pains me to say. Surprisingly few squat toilets, if memory serves. Must be the influence of all those demanding GIs in the war...
Best toilet
The one in our sumptuous room on the junk in Ha Long Bay. Would have spent the entire cruise there but for all the nice rocks to look at.
Buses
Quite decent buses by SE Asian standards. Didn´t get one of those 'open jaw' tickets you hear so much about - tried to take trains for the most part. Very tiresome journey in three vehicles over into Laos (see next entry). Always seem to have problems when you´re trying to get to somewhere small from somwhere small. Jokers at the makeshift bus terminals trying to take you for a ride, e.g. the nasty piece of work at Hue bus station who openly told us we had to pay more because we were foreigners. Like the honesty, hate the attitude.
Trains
Trains all the way up from Nha Trang to Ha Noi. Pretty reliable and not uncomfortable, apart from one shivery leg from Dong Ha to Ha Noi (but that was my fault for being lazy and not getting more clothes out of my pack). Slightly perturbed to find two stowaways in our bunks for our first journey from Nha Trang to Hoi An - and in our clean sheets, too!
Best experience
Instinctively I want to say entering the country from Cambodia just north of Can Tho. It was a perfect day and, after bargaining for ages we finally got a crazy ride through Vietnamese countryside and communist flag-bearing towns on the back of a couple of mopeds ridden by two kids half our age - what a cool beginning. Getting my passport back was a real relief and then the panoramic "escape" from Dalat on two wheels... Wandering the streets of Hoi An and the amazing croissants and pain au chocolat we found in a bakery there. Chinese New Year in Saigon was up there, too.
Worst experiences
Obviously the passport fiasco - I was miserable for days and found it really hard to forgive the country for it (irrational as it sounds). The awful grey weather in Ha Noi was a bit of a low point too.
Hottest
Down south in the Mekhong Delta - the first couple of days we quite hard. Consistently reached 33 degrees and the humidity just sapped all your energy.
Coldest
The journey to Ha Noi and traipsing around in the early hours after our night train, through dark, damp streets - still in our open sandals - trying to find an affordable hotel with a vacancy.
Luxury budget items
"Cocktails" and dinner in Siagon - about 25 pounds
Bike ride (Dalat to Nha Trang) - about 60 pounds
Dinner at smart hotel in Hue - 20 pounds
Cruise on Ha Long Bay - wedding present from lovely brother and sister.
Budget
Excluding luxury items above, we spent 560 pounds altogether over 27 days, an average of 20.74 pounds per day. This was less than we'd budgeted (we'd allowed just over 25 quid a day). Accommodation was pretty cheap though - we rarely paid more than 10$US for a room and there were plenty of cheap meals available, notably the hearty bowls of Pho that I was more than happy to slurp down for brekkie. The trains pushed things up a bit - most journeys of more than 200km or so were 10$ or more per person - other than in the lowest class which we didn't try. We found we sometimes had to pay a bit more to do things independently (we'd started avoiding 'organised' tours after the My Son fiasco), but it was usually worth it. (T&R)
