Ho Chi Minh City and around

We've had two days now in HCMC, so we've done the tourist bit, gone to the Cu Chi tunnels, the Mekong Delta and a flit around the city. Ho Chi Minh City was called Saigon and the central part still is.  It was renamed in 1976. 10 million people and 4 million mopeds says it all.

The Cu Chi tunnels are just outside the city and are a series of tunnels dug by the Vietnamese as a defense against American bombing in the 60s and 70s.  These tunnels run to over 200km, all dug by hand in the clay.  This whole area was apparently never taken by the US despite it being so close to the capital. The region is full of man traps of ingenious and terrifying design, built of bamboo, scrap metal and unexploded bomb material which the Vietnamese used to fight against the bombs and agent orange that rained down on them.  Agent Orange the defoliant, is still causing birth defects today and they think it will take another three generations to get clear of it.

The area is testament to the horrors of war.  We got to go down a short stretch of the tunnels, Carole managed to catch her elbow on some bare wires and fused the system - much to the horror of some of the other tourists.  These tunnels had been widened to allow Westerners to get down them, but still a squeeze! The tunnels were built with underground sleeping areas, meeting rooms and hospitals as well as loads of traps to kill any enemy trying to get in.

We also got to fire an AK47 at the range - real tourist stuff but still great.

The Vietnamese are hugely proud of the way their nation came through the American War - their name - Ho Chi Minh is a real national hero and talked about as though he was still alive by everyone.  Despite the horrors from both sides we have only met one person who still held a slight grudge, most people just seem keen to improve themselves and get on with life

Late that afternoon we got to the Saigon Central Post office so that we could post some clothes and stuff back home - great place, the staff wrap up all your bits and pieces and box them up for you for 20000d - about 60pence.

The street food here is a step up from some of the food we've had, although Carole did decide to try the snails - here you suck them out of the shells...

Today was a trip to the Mekong Delta - didn't really know what to expect but the name is so evocative we had to go.  Joined some Malay and Myanmar families in a tourbus, and had a boat trip/craftwork/boat trip/craftwork/food/boat trip sort of day - a laugh though.

What are they wearing?

Vietnames folk music - an acquired taste

Travel to Singapore tomorrow, really quite sad to leave Vietnam, a fantastic country with some lovely people who have a great sense of humour, they love corny jokes - We want to come back before it changes too much.

Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City

We've spent the last couple of days mouching around Hoi An, hiring bikes - $1/day and going to the wet and windswept beach.

The boats you can see are like sea going Welsh coracles-  made with woven bamboo - although not out today.

The rain has fallen pretty much the whole time at Hoi An but strangely it hasn't ruined the time - its warm and you just get your sandles on and paddle through the deeper bits.  The water level rose to flood most of the fish and veg market - that wasn't a good place to paddle!

Once the water had dropped we walked along the other side of the river and looked across to the market, after we'd taken the photo, we realised you can see two of the fisher women having a wee over the side of the quay - maybe we shouldn't have waded through the floods!

You'll have to blow the picture up a bit.

As you can see the weather picked up as we were due to leave to travel down to Ho Chi Minh City - still called Saigon by the locals.

View of the city

Carole checking out the view from the hotel suite.

The city came as a bit of a shock after the rural Vietnam we're now accustomed to but the street food was just as good.

Bob and Jan's tenner having a G&T at a very swish cafe bar - it must have been posh, we charged almost £3 for large gin and tonic.

 This was one of our last views of Hoi An before going to the bussle of the city, 

Hoi An - Clothes and Rain

The rain from yesterday didn't stop, anyone who has sailed in Scotland will know what I mean when I say it was comedy rain - only it didn't stop after an hour or so but kept on overnight and all the next day.

The river rose and flooded the banks, a lady at a cafe on the quayside said that last night the river got to the top of the steps into her place, but last month the river rose 1.5m high into her ground floor cafe.  She just smiled and said she'd been unlucky - and would we make her more lucky and buy lunch, as she thought the cafe would be closed this evening as the river rose again. We bought lunch and sat and took these photos. The family lived in the cafe and back room of the place.

The clothes are good, my shirts fitted perfectly but Caroles needed a little adjustment, pretty damn good though, and Caroles shoes are funky.

Hue to Hoi An

Climbed onto an “Open Tour Bus” today, which is basically a condemned coach with more passengers than seats, eventually some got off and the rest of us settled down to an hour of driving in circles around Hue picking up parcels before actually leaving Hue.  These buses seem to be an unofficial parcel post as well as cheap transport between towns.  The speed limit is 60kmh and the driver stuck rigidly to it, except on the hills when he had to switch off what was supposed to be the air-con to give the engine a bit more power to actually get to the top of the hill. Even the mopedswere overtaking on the up hills.

Fascinating scenery again, huge empty beaches, mountains , big rivers and villages.  The Postman Pat driver deviated off the main road so we got to have a look some of the smaller villages as well whilst he dropped off the parcels.

The bus dropped us off near the centre of the town and as we looked for a taxi, a couple of Xe Oms, the moped taxis, offered to take us to the hotel for a couple of dollars.  The bags were stuffed on the footplate between the drivers legs and we jumped on the back for a ride around the town. My driver went head on into another moped at a manic junction, stopping  just as the wheels touched; Carole disappeared into the distance. She got to the hotel well before me, and refused to pay her driver until we arrived.

Nice hotel by the river, £25/night for B&B which is pretty expensive for round here but the place would £100/night at home. 

Carole dashed to the bathroom when we got in and foud this baby watching her from the loo seat, never seen her move so fast!

Hoi An is famous for its tailors and Carole had set her sights on some made to measure clothing.

We wandered into the town in the afternoon to recce the place only to find that once we’d chatted to a lady at a t-shirt stall and asked about a good tailor we were taken from stall to stall to be measured for blouses and trousers and a couple of shirts, as well as a pair of made to measure shoes for Carole.  We knew we were being fleeced but it was almost a pleasure to be fleeced by such professionals.  And it was still really cheap!  I nearly called the ladies “seamstresses” but anyone who reads Terry Pratchett books would make entirely the wrong assumptions as to what services these charming ladies were providing.

We even got dragged to a lady who told Carole she would take ten years off me – much to Carole’s amusement she used some fine thread and “shaped” – is that the right word? – my eyebrows.  An experience not to be repeated.  Do women really go through this voluntarily, and regularly?  Carole insists it’s an improvement, hmm.

We’ll pick the clothes up tomorrow so we’ll see how good these ladies really are then.

Saw the first rain today and boy did it rain – did what any self-respecting Englishman would do and found a bar to wait it out.

Bob and Jan's tenner at the hotel bar admiring my eyebrows - I now have two rather than just the one!

Sa Pa to Hue

The overnight trip on the Reunification Railway was another experience, I don’t think the train went over 40mph and most of the time it was slower.  Still, clean beds even if neither of us got much sleep due to the clanking and jolting.  This time we shared the cabin with two French Canadians they’d travelled to much of the same places we had but had arranged a “home-stay” in one of the minority villages, they thought it was great, the host got out the rice wine and drank so much with the guide that neither to host or their guide were seen in the morning. The guest bed room was in the old rice store above the main living area and came with its own blanket!  The home stays are considered a good thing by the Hmong people as they get $4 a night per couple for evening meal, bed and breakfast. We fancy this next time. Picture below is a Hmong village house, the home stay ones have to be a little smarter before the Government will allow them to be used for home stays but not much!

 We arrived back in Hanoi at 0545, the railway station at Hanoi is like a big goods yard with people swarming around the trains and across the tracks.  Our first plan had been to get the train down Hue and Hoi An, around the middle of the country, but it takes 16 hours by train and after the overnight to and from Sa Pa we’ve come to appreciate the benefits of being slightly grey haired backpackers with a decent credit card!  That said the flights were only few dollars more than the train.

Hue, it’s pronounced hew-ay, was the capital of Vietnam until recently and has loads of temples and tombs and a citadel on the banks of the Perfume River

We asked the hotel for a tour of the main sites as we’re not here long and at 0730 the next day they picked us up and we had a whistle stop tour of the city, a guide, buffet lunch with 50 Vietnamese dishes, a ride in a dragon boat to an ancient  garden house and back all for £10.

The most recent were only built in the late 1800s and early 1900s but look so much older.

Very bizarrly the trip surprised us by going to visit to a Kung Foo school, the students gave a demonstration - not to be missed and probably not to be repeated.

The return leg was by boat. the boatman and his wife lived in the small cabin at the back, she was making her lunch whilst we sailed.

Back at the hotel the manager asked us if we wanted a swim, they have an outdoor pool that is also a 15 metre long Jacuzzi, Carole lied when she said the water was warm though!

Bob and Jan’s tenner having a coffee by the side of the Perfumed River

Sa Pa Treking

We wanted to do some walking in the hills in the area and got a guide togther with a Dutch couple and a Canadin couple who had arranged to stay in one of the minority villages,

We trekked about 14km to the village where the candian couple were to stop. No maps, no signposts so the guide was a necessity really, and he was laugh as well.  The women in the picture above walked down to one of the villages with us, they'd already walked up to the town of Sa Pa to sell their handycrafts. 

I think the photos say it all really, totally stunning scenary, traditional agriculture.  Beautiful for us to see but very tough for those who have to live the life.

Carole swore blind this buffalo posed for her!

Bac Ha Market

We were told that on Sunday at a village called Bac Ha the minority groups came together for a market which is spectacular for the traditional costume they wear.  After a long bus ride we got there to find lots of tourists as well as beautifully dressed locals.

It was fascinating but a long bus ride to get there.  The market was interesting, the butcher’s stall an education in itself.

The handicrafts are just stunning colours and the locals really do wear the same stuff they were selling.

The water buffalo at the market go for about $700 a time so are prized possessions in an area where the minority tribes are really only just above the poverty line.

On the way back we stopped briefly at the Chinese border, just so that I could get a photo!

Mobile phones get everywhere even up here..