Vietnam 2013

Vietnam Part 1...

After months of joint planning, good friends Julie and Pete recklessly decided to travel with us through 3 countries within South East Asia... Vietnam, Cambodia & Laos before returning to Vietnam to finish our 42 days of travels.

The overall route map below shows where we travelled within all 3 countries.

This post is focussed however on the split parts of our travels in Vietnam and other individual posts detail the discoveries in the Cambodia and Laos.

We planned and booked most of the accommodation over the net including crucial transport like flights and trains, but decided to book transport between various cities once we were in country.

Most but not all locations visited in Vietnam

Our arrival into Saigon, now called Ho Chi Minh City renamed after the war, was a shock as soon as the taxi left the airport.  Traffic!

There were more bikes than cars on the streets... LOTS of bikes

Next morning we began quickly learning the basics of how to 'survive' when visiting Vietnam, which may sound a little dramatic, but this related more to how we crossed roads through a constant stream of traffic, plus handling the heat and humidity in at least the southern parts of this very long country, you know... basic things.

Crossing any street is a test of personal will, because you learn very quickly after watching the locals closely, that if you're not willing to step off the curb and into the thronging traffic, you don't go anywhere.  

You just walk very steadily and DO NOT stop or run, unless a car or truck is likely to hit you and let all the motorcycles zip around you.  Certainly got the heart pumping early on.

The tens of thousands of little motorcycles are used for transporting everthing, transporting goods to customers, as beds and for moving family and friends around whether in this city or anywhere else in Vietnam.

They can carry a lot on those little motorcycles

They also make good beds if you're so inclined

Want the family to go somewhere... no problems for all 6 of them

Saigon had a real energy about it and very quickly we understood the people are not only very friendly but industrious.  Make no mistake, this is not a rich country but they are working hard and with great innovation to improve both their wealth and lifestyles.

There is a lot of beauty in Saigon despite years of war in the country.

Beautiful old building from the French colonial period

Temple outside Saigon

We stayed near Saigon in what was almost an AirB&B like hut accomodation run by Mr Hung, a lively, caring and entrepreneurial individual.  The small but comfortable huts backed onto a small river, which allowed us to watch locals going about their lives either on, in or next to the river.

The river was important for transport, fishing, washing and living for the locals.

Now this is one way we crossed a river

The Vietnamese love their markets and we managed to enjoy a different market, starting with an early morning visit with Mr Hung on a thin long boat to the water markets on the famous Mekong River.

The river was packed!

Each boat tends to trade in specific items like pineapples  melons or a huge array of other fresh vegatables.

All the boats try to trade and barter for goods off each other

Julie & Rob trying to copy the locals on the Mekong River

Then there are the land based markets which are filled also with a huge array of foods and produce including fantastic stalls where locals and tourists alike enjoyed fresh meals.

We really enjoyed exploring the markets and the food on offer

You can't visit Vietnam and not take an interest in what they call the American War, Vietnam War to us, which we did by visiting a museum recounting their view of the history of this war and by journeying to the 120+ km long complex called the Cu Chi tunnels, made famous by the Vietcong.  

The tunnels had traps in them, man holes where their fighters would appear from to fight and where thousands of Vietcong hid from their enemy and bombings.

Man hole cover into the tunnels

Rob firing an AK47

A spiked trap to catch or kill allied troops

From Saigon we travelled by bus to Chau Doc, a city next to theMekong River.  The bus was comfortable and a double decker which meant we could see for the first time how crazy the driving is in this country.  Head on near misses are common because of the narrow roads, masses of traffic and impatience.

Returning from shopping in village near Chau Doc

From Chau Doc our 3 hour boat journey, including a border crossing before reaching Phnom Phenh in Cambodia.

Passing another boat on Mekong River as we head to Cambodia

Read more about Cambodia and Laos in later posts.

Vietnam Part 2...

Our flight from Luang Prabang in Laos to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam on Vietnam Airlines was excellent, very clean, punctual and with friendly service and Hanoi had a very different feel to the bustle of Saigon.

Beautiful French colonial building in Hanoi

We couldn't visit Hanoi without standing in a long queue of other tourists, but mainly Vietnamese nationals waiting patiently to visit the mausoleum of Vietnam's national hero... Ho Chi Minh.  He was the person who lead North Vietnam to victory against the South and allied armies.

Ho Chi Minh's final resting place

Once we finally entered and snaked our way silently through the building, we finally but briefly saw Ho Chi Minh still lying in state, a small and fragile looking old man.

Whilst there was still plenty of traffic in Hanoi, it also had a greater sense of calmness and the visible presence of police and army was significantly higher than in Saigon.

Watching the nighlife in Hanoi with good friends

Ever industrious Vietnamese

There are 2 much visited tourist destinations near Hanoi, and the first involved catching an overnight train to the northwest of Hanoi into the mountains and then taking a small bus to reach the township of Sapa... home of the Hmong people.

The Hmong look very different to the Vietnamese

The Hmong are believed to have originated from China in the late 17th century after conflict with other ethnic groups in China.  In and around Sapa there are five ethnic minorities including the Hmong (internationally known as Miao), Red Dao (Yao), Tay or Choang (Zhuang), Giay, and Phu La (Yi).  All of these minorities are not recognised by Vietnam.

The various ethnic groups use different colours to distinguish themselves, red
for example are the Red Dao and Black are Hmong

In Sapa there is a large public park which is used for markets to generate revenue for themselves.  They were very interesting to interact with in self taught English, in that once they knew you weren't interested in what they had on offer, they would ask us lots of questions about where we live, lifestyles, children etc and shared much of their own personal stories.

The market area in Sapa

Julie then Rob interacting with the Hmong at the market

We took a day tour out of Sapa into the mountains and visited a village to see how they live and work, along with meeting more of the locals

There are lots of mountains around Sapa

Much of the farming activity is very manual

Rice grown in terraces is the dominant crop grown

Like in Sapa, the locals in the mountains were very warm and friendly and willing to interact very freely with us.

They are very happy people

From Sapa we boarded the night train again to return to Hanoi and after travelling for just over 1 hour, slowly came to screeching halt in the middle of nowhere.  We waited and waited, nothing happened and then after another hour or so, a message reached us advising there was a train derailment blocking the track.

So we spent the night sleeping on the stopped train, finally moving further towards Hanoi before stopping again, the message this time asking us all to leave the train by climbing down onto the tracks to walk along the tracks (with our luggage) passing passengers doing the same wanting to get to Sapa.

We passed the now covered derailed train, climbed aboard another train into used compartments and eventually the next train made its way down through the mountains to Hanoi... many many hours late

Our next prime tourist destination, after a 2 hour 'lively' drive east of Hanoi, FOUND US arriving for the start of a 2 night cruise within the stunningly beautiful waterways known as Ha Long Bay.  Ha Long Bay consists of literally thousands of limestone islands where tourist laden junk boats take passengers to and amongst the islands.

Junk boats cruise amongst the limestone islands, some of which are very small

During our 2 days on the water we saw many people using small boats for fishing and some of of them actually living on their boats with family.  We even went out kayaking around one of the islands.

Life and work on the water in Ha Long Bay

Kayaking in and through some of the islands

For 2 nights we anchored and it was then that the many junk boats came closer together for overnight mooring... like a small city on the water.

Before leaving Hanoi we had two tours, the first to Tam Coc, a few hours drive from Hanoi and renowned for being like a land locked Ha Long Bay.  The main activity here are boat rides on traditional sampans rowed by people using just their feet.

All the boats meander through limestone dumpling-shaped karst hills in a flooded landscape where the river and rice paddies merge visibly almost into one and at the end of the ride are three long, dark tunnel-caves.

Very peaceful and captivating river cruise

For something totally different, our next tour took us to the Perfume Pagoda located about 60kms south west of Hanoi.  This is one of Vietnam’s most important pilgrimage sites as was evident from the very large crowds.  The Perfume Pagoda is a vast complex of Buddhist temples, grottos, and shrines.

These crowds shopping on the way to the temples 

Lunch anyone

Inside one of the main Buddhist grottos

We departed Hanoi on yet another train as we started our journey down Vietnam's long coast, stopping first at Hue in central Vietnam and the capital of the Dang Trong Kingdom from 1738 to 1775 and then the Nguyen Dynasty from 1802 to 1945.

There was a lot to see in this very charming city, most of which revolved around the Citadel, special pagodas and ancient buildings housing the tombs of previous emperors.

Main street in Hue

Outside the Imperial Citadel

Wandering within the Imperial Citadel

Thien Mu Pagoda

Tomb of one of the Emperors

From Hue we travelled a mere 90 mins further down the coast to Lang Co Beach known as one of Vietnam's resort areas.  Lang Co sits on an isthmus with a lake on one side and long sandy beaches on the other.   We had chosen to stop here simply to chill out for a bit and were so glad we did.

Certainly very picturesque

We enjoyed simply walking along the beach, watching the fisherman going about their tasks very close to shore or finding something different to eat... like frogs.

Fishing is the main industry at Lang Co Beach

Spicy frogs anyone

Another 90 mins down the coast we arrived into Hoi An, an ancient city dating back until at least the 16th century as an ocean trading port where Chinese, Portuguese  Japanese, Dutch and Indians also settled along with the local population.  The city has access to the sea via a large river and has canals running through it.  It is a beautiful city!

Main street of Hoi An

Night lights along the river

For something a little different we hired pushbikes and went for a ride to the closest local beach to watch sunrise and were very surprised to find many hundreds of people including children playing and enjoying the beach.

People enjoying the beach before sunrise

Then came the sun

We were very surprised when as soon as the sun had risen, everyone bar ourselves left the beach altogether and we later discovered why.  Many Vietnamese do not want to be burnt by the sun and for their skin to get even darker, they prefer a lighter complexion.

Whilst in Hoi An, we also visited the UNESCO listed My Son about 1 hr away which is a group of abandoned and partially ruined Hindu temples believed constructed between the 4th and the 14th century by the Kings of Champa.

Ancient My Son Hindu temple ruins

We had booked a train in Australia to take us from Hoi An to Nha Trang and we waited and waited at the station for it to arrive, but each time we checked the delay before arrival kept growing into many hours.  

Pete somehow found someone to take him by motorcycle to see if tickets were available on an overnight bus, buy some if there were, so we could get refunds for the train.

He returned victorious, so after a short wait we boarded a double decker sleeper bus, our very narrow and cramped 'beds' located right at the back of the bus.  Most of the other passengers were backpackers, already enjoying a combination of cheap rum and fanta.  Oh dear we thought, this wouldn't be fun.

Well after 10 hours overnight, it wasn't fun, not because of the backpackers, just because it was so uncomfortable and the rest stops for food and to use squat toilets weren't very pleasant either.

My feet as lying in the 'bed' and other travellers sleeping on the floor

It was because of this bus trip the name of this blog came into being... The Gerpickers... because here were 4 older people in the midst of young backpackers and we were obviously geriatric make believe backpackers.  Thank you for the name Julie.

Nha Trang is another coastal resort city famous for its beaches and offshore islands. Its main beach is a long, curving stretch backed by a promenade, hotels and seafood restaurants. Aerial cable cars cross over to more resorts on Hon Tre Island.  

It was also very full of Russian tourists who can take direct flights from their homeland.

One of the main beaches in Nha Trang

The cable car to Hon Tre Island

We visited one of the fishing villages on an island near Nha Trang

Nha Trang was also one of the cities in Vietnam used by the Americans as a base during their ill fated war in Vietnam.

The final leg of our trip involved hiring a private driver to take us into the mountains to the city of Dalat, developed as a resort location during the French colonial rule over Vietnam. 

Whilst in Dalat we visited one of the strangest buildings we had seen in awhile called the Crazy House which is actually a hotel.

The Crazy House in Dalat

Now all we had to do was fly back to Saigon for a final visit and to enjoy the city lights before we headed back home.

Our final views of the bright lights of Saigon

Vietnam was an amazing place to visit due to its very rich history and very diverse nature of what it has to offer.  It may be a communist country but the people were exceedingly warm, welcoming and highly industrious.

Vietnam is not a wealthy country but it is rich in friendliness and truly worth a visit.

CLICK HERE if interested in more photos of Vietnam

Reminder... the posts which follow cover both Cambodia and Laos.

Go well!

xx