Haven’t really posted pictures or wrote a blog post as I didn’t feel like it but now is the time…it’s past due. Our time in Vietnam is drawing to an end already.
Our first step (my oldest brother Peter is with me on this trip) was Ho-Chi-Minh city, which by most residents is still referred to as Saigon. It’s a bustling city with millions of scooters trying to make their way from A to B. Crossing the streets was a challenge in the beginning. In the end, you start walking with determination and a steady pace. You have to trust that the scooters will see and maneuver around you. Cars and trucks are a whole different story. Avoid them at all costs! 😀
The biggest impression left the memorials of the Vietnam war, namely the war museum and the Cu Chi tunnels. You hear a different side of the story that we are used to in the west. I understand that history is written by the winner and not necessarily the truth. The atrocities done by the US are seldom mentioned. War is wrong, in nearly all cases. We should be careful blaming others (also in current conflicts) given our past. Anyway, I am off topic, go crawl in one of the tunnels yourself and see how incredible the Viet Cong fought and endured.
Other than that we just strolled through the city and it’s French colonial history.
Part of this trip is pressure. As a German you can visit Vietnam for 15 days without a visa. 15 days is not much for a country. But it’s all we got because we want to do 4 countries in 8 weeks. A bit stupid if you ask me 😉
After 2 nights we moved on to the Mekong delta. More specifically, an island called An Binh. We had only one night there. We did a half-day boat tour, although it felt very touristic. We saw many things, from pottery to candy factory and beekeeping to fruit farm. It was a worthwhile morning.
Jumped on the next bus to get to HCMC again, which takes about 4 – 5 hours. Already at this point of the trip we decided to skip some destinations due to time constraints. So, we took a flight to Da Nang, the gateway to Hoi An.
Hoi An has a beautiful old town and is famous for its lantern spiked streets. Especially, obviously, at night this gives it a one-in-a-kind atmosphere. For a day we separated and each one explored the city on his own. And there is lots to see. For example, I was impressed by the Precious Heritage Art Gallery Museum, which showcases pictures of a French photographer, who set out to document all ethic groups of Vietnam and supporting them. Leaving that museum I asked myself what I have done or am doing with my life? Nothing, was my answer…
You would expect old houses in an old town and you are not disappointed. But, on the other hand it looks like a big shopping mall. I mean, there are shops everywhere. Whatever a tourist might or might not need is on sale. Even I got in a shopping frenzy 😀
On the second day we rented scooters for 5 EUR apiece and drove out to My Son, an archeological temple site of the Cham people.
Remember the discription about crossing the street as a pedestrian? It is somewhat similar with the scooter. As long as you drive expectable and anticipate another’s movement you are fine. And the law of the road here is: The bigger, the rather right of movement. Sounds like a jungle out there, but it isn’t. The drivers are quite relaxed. Sure, they hunk the horn quite easily and repetitively but I have yet to see an angry driver. With driving like that in Germany the heart attack rate would increase dramatically 😉
The sanctuary was really beautiful and I could imagine Angkor Wat isn’t much different. Just bigger, much bigger.
Same day we visited the marble mountains close to Da Nang, where a Pagoda resides. Some altars are built into the caves. Actually, every cave I saw had an altar.
With different scooters, for double the price (outrageous!), we were going to Hue next day, through the winding road up the Hai Van (cloud) pass. That was a really good day, being independent, stopping wherever we wanted and enjoying the sun (well, light sunburn included). It’s only about 140k but we needed the whole day for it. On one side, you hardly exceed 50 kph and on the other side there are many things to see. For example, I love rice fields. The lush green caresses my eyes. And I was on the lookout for a picture of someone in a traditional hat working in the fields.
Hue was the capital during the Nguyen dynasty when Vietnam was a kingdom. The reign lasted from 1802 till 1945, when under Ho Chi Minh Vietnam declared independence from (colonial) France. The main attraction is the imperial palace, which is huge. But it’s still in restoration as nearly everything was destroyed by US bombs.
I am not sure if the palace is more beautiful during daylight or nighttime. See for yourself.
After a long morning seeing all there is to see in the palace we were resting in a juice bar and figuring out how to get to our next destination. We asked the owner for directions to the bus stop but she spoke no English. However, she had a useful friend. He not only gave us that information but also sold us a tour with his sisters in the afternoon. On the back of their scooters we went and saw the tomb of one king (forgot the name already) and another pagoda (we will see many more)
They dropped us off at the train station and different to Germany the train came on-time. Plus, food was served on trolleys and it wasn’t bad either.
Our destination was Dong Hoi, which has nothing to offer that interests us. But, only an hour with the scooter away lays Phong Nha National Park with some of the biggest caves in the world. We visited first the paradise cave.
Lunch was a highlight. Again, no English spoken, the menu only in Vietnamese and no internet available (or so we thought). My brother thought he recognized the word for soup so he ordered that and I impersonated, to the laughter of the guys, a chicken. It was delicious.
Although we are much further in our travels already I will stop here and keep the rest for the next post.
Usually, I have a local SIM card while traveling. But since we are only staying 2 weeks in each country I don’t think it’s worth it. Plus, wifi is nearly everywhere available and usually in good quality. Surely enough to make the reservation for the next hotel.
Traveling in company is different. It didn’t help that I brought the anger of the last weeks with me on the first couple of days (well, not really gone yet) of this trip. No matter how beautiful things are it casts a shadow on things and brings out a side in my I don’t really like that much.
Not being able to sleep for a week didn’t help either. So, stepping into complaining mode is soooo much better 😉
BTW, since the last trip I am also using a new app called Polarstep to document my travels. You can follow this trip here. Feel free to share it with whomever you want.
Love,
Matthias