Everyone says you have to see the Mekong Delta, which is the part of Vietnam along the Mekong River where you’ll find floating markets, fishing villages, and rice fields. We also read that taking a boat into Phnom Penh, Cambodia was much more scenic than the bus or flying. So we decided to do a 3 Day, 2 Night Mekong Delta Tour which ended with a boat ride to Phnom Penh. We normally hate tours because we’d rather pick and choose what we want to do and do things at our own pace but we figured this time it was just easier.
I’m going to be honest, while we met some cool people and we did get to Phnom Penh….after 3 LONG days…..we were quickly reminded why we don’t do tours. It was just a lot of the same stuff. I think for us, had we not seen the floating fishing villages in Halong Bay it might have been a better experience. I mean the floating market was cool to see but much of the days were spent going to random workshops/farms – they showed us how the locals make coconut candy, how to make rice paper (kind of cool actually), fruit farms, and a crocodile farm (that smelled like crap). We did also try snake wine (which I didn’t like but Darsh made me try it) and Darsh held a huge snake! But in my opinion, we could have skipped many of the stops we made. The best part was chatting with other travelers - Adrian and Jim from Canada and Barnabe from France. Each night we slept in a different city – the first night, Can Tho and the second night, Chau Doc.
Can Tho was pretty nice surprisingly. We had a great meal there at Sao Hom right on the river. I think I had the best Papaya Salad of the trip! We did also attempt to hang out at one of the bars until the table next to us gave us the stare down. I’m not going into details as I’m trying to keep this PC but know that it was just girls being catty. I so wanted to say something (0r kick some ass) but didn't want to end up in a Vietnamese jail!! So I silently gave them attitude back and we were quickly on our way! :) Chau Doc is a pretty small town on the Vietnam/Cambodia border which we didn’t get a chance to explore much because we got there so late. We did go to Sam Mountain where we could see the Cambodian/Vietnam border which was cool.....and this amazing temple built in caves. We also had some of the best chicken pho of the trip at our hotel….perfect way to end our time in Vietnam.
The last morning, we took the fast boat to Phnom Penh which took about 4 hours. The boat was much smaller than I thought….probably held 20 passengers and “crossing the border” was an interesting process. Basically one of our boat guys did everything for us. He gathered our passports and spoke to the officials. We just gave him money. I suspect there was probably a bit extra for them (since it was higher than first quoted) but it was quick and simple! We got to Phnom Penh by 1pm….after a long three day journey! :)
Saigon got off to a rough start. We landed at the airport late at night and were greeted by our hotel pick-up person….the only problem was that her husband (the actual driver) was passed out drunk in the car. Apparently he drank too much and didn’t want to drive us. She tried to wake him up but he just brushed her off….not to mention at this point I wasn’t about to get into a car with him. (By the way, this totally didn’t help my perception of Vietnamese men as the poor woman tried to bail her husband out!) So we ended up taking a taxi which was fine but when we got to our hotel they tried to shove us into a pretty dingy, windowless room in the middle of the building with a combo shower/toilet room….If you’ve never seen these they suck because you take a shower and then the bathroom is wet all day! At this point I was pretty pissed because she tried to tell me that it was a Superior room which it completely wasn’t, and I booked this room months ago and paid extra for a Superior room (making sure the room had a window and a separate shower room.) Really I’m not that high maintenance but I know they gave our room to someone else and it just makes me mad when people try to lie to me. So then they shoved us to their sister hotel in a room that was bigger but still pretty ghetto. We decided that we’d stay 1 night and then just switch hotels the next day.
In the morning though, the manager, apologized profusely and showed us another room….one that was actually a Superior room and we switched happily. From that moment on, the hotel (Beautiful Saigon Hotel) was pretty amazing and made up for all the crap on the first day. We were right in the Pham Ngu Lao area, which is the main backpacker area, with lots of touristy restaurants and bars. This was the first time we were that close to the main backpacking district. It has its pros and cons. Its fun because there are lots of tourists and things to do at night but you also don’t get much of the local flavor. That said it was a nice, safe, central location and we walked all over the city during the day so got to experience different areas as well. We were right next to Go2 and Crazy Buffalo – two bars that are pretty popular….and our favorite restaurant in our hood was Mumtaz Indian restaurant. I think it was some of the best Indian food I’ve ever had….and they even had dosa!
One of our favorite areas was the Dong Khai area which was a bit more upscale with nice shopping and higher end restaurants. We spent a lot of time there during the days because the cafes had air conditioning that worked! Some of our favorite restaurants in Dong Khai were Hoa Tuc (contemporary Vietnamese….most amazing Lemongrass Chicken) and Quan An Ngon (Vietnamese street food....similar to the one in Hanoi).
There is such a difference between North and South Vietnam. Personally, I like Saigon better. I just found there to be more diversity of people and neighborhoods and the locals were friendly and not so “in your face” in terms of selling stuff. It’s also just more cosmopolitan in general.
We saw the Reunification Palace which was South Vietnam’s Presidential Palace until the North attacked and Saigon surrendered….we found it interesting that it is now called the “Reunification” Palace. The literature at the Palace was very one-sided and you just couldn’t help wonder what the South really feel about the North….and how they feel about Americans. We also explored the War Remnants Museum which honestly was pretty Anti-American. Reading about the Vietnam War from one opinion makes you think about what really happened. The media controls so much of how we (and the rest of the world) perceives things you never know what is real. That said, the graphics of the war victims were heartbreaking. And while war is totally complicated and not at all something I want to get into here, it really is totally MESSED UP…..why can’t we all just get along! :)
We were in Saigon for a few days so we actually had time to do errands. I know it sounds funny that we were doing errands but we’re on such a long trip we have to. Surprisingly everything was relatively easy! We researched Europe hotels (from an outdoor café), did laundry, mailed extra clothes home, and Darsh even got a haircut! On one of our first days there we stumbled across a Health Club and Spa. We decided to check it out but it was pretty sketchy – there were a lot of security guys leading us in different directions and it seemed like they were nervous if we went the wrong way. Once we saw the pretty lame gym with 2 machines and a guy in his boxers supposedly getting his hair washed we figured it was some kind of “massage” place. Oh yeah and when we left in the middle of sketchville there was an Aston Martin parked right in front....hands down the fanciest car we've seen on our trip. It figures! Just my luck for trying to find a gym. :) When we weren’t running errands or checking out sketchy massage places we also had time to just walk around the neighborhoods and soak it all in. I’d have to say Saigon was definitely a treat! :)
Seriously it is getting hot! I can't remember ever being in this kind of heat....and the humidity is insane! Thankfully we got to spend three days in Nha Trang which is a beach town on the coast of Vietnam. The beach is beautiful and the water is crystal clear blue. I didn't expect it to be so nice....it was a great surprise! And we somehow got a mack-daddy corner ocean view room at the Novotel which is right across the beach. Not sure how we pulled that off but it sure was nice! I don't think either one of us wanted to leave.
We spent most of our time on the beach, on a boat, and in a pool. And I was able to run outside - yay! Since we wanted to maximize our time on the beach we ate at the two ocean-front restaurants for most of our meals, the Sailing Club (great food - tuna for me, ostrich for Darsh) and LousianeBrewhouse (great sushi).
One day we took a boat tour which visited 4 neighboring islands. We were lucky to have met two really cool girls, Jackie and Maya from New York. I was really glad they got on the boat because up until that point it was just us and a bunch of people who didn't speak English. While that would have been fine, it was more fun to hang with some peeps you can chat with and have a few beers on a boat. The best part of the boat ride actually was hanging with them and drinking beers in inner tubes. The water was ridiculously warm so great to swim in but unfortunately the boat ride itself was pretty rocky. Thankfully we didn't get seasick! We did also get to see a pretty cool aquarium with tons of fish and sharks.
Nha Trang also has a pretty decent night scene. We did go out a couple nights but didn't stay out too late....although Why Not Bar did play some great 80's music! Somehow we were just tired from the sun....Darsh says this is what happens when you turn 35! :) He's right though, I'm pretty sure we would have had a completely different experience if we had done this trip 10 years ago. That said, I'm quite happy to be doing this trip now.
We took a private car to Hoi An which is about 4 hours south of Hue. It was a great relaxing drive. Our driver, Trai was so nice and knowledgeable about the area and Vietnam in general. We took the Hai Van pass which is a really pretty way of driving through the mountains. At the top you have great views of Lang Co Beach and Danang. After passing Danang, we had lunch on China Beach (known as My Khe beach to the locals). It was a really long stretch of beautiful white sand. You can see construction going on for miles. New hotels are coming up everywhere. While it's good for the economy we couldn't help but think how different this place will be a couple years from now....totally built up.
We got to Hoi An early afternoon and were so pleasantly surprised by our hotel, Ha An. It was so cute and our room overlooked the garden with a balcony. I think this was my favorite hotel in Vietnam. The staff were wonderful, our room had fresh flowers, rose petals scattered everywhere, and the breakfast was AMAZING! Seriously 10 kinds of fruit, 10 kinds of pastries, pho, eggs any way you like, cheeses and meats, olives, vegetables, bacon, sausage, desserts - tiramisu, cheesecake, etc. It went on forever! Really it was like Sunday brunch at a fancy 5 star resort....oh and did I mention the hotel was $55/night! :)
Hoi An is a quaint little town set on the Thu Bon River. It used to be an international trading port and you can still see the Chinese, European, and Japanese style in the architecture. It's a pretty small town and you can walk through the main areas pretty quickly. There are tons of restaurants and bars and cool buildings/architecture on the river. It's fun to just walk around. Our favorite restaurant by far was Morning Glory. It was upscale-ish, Vietnamese street food. I loved that the waiter explained how to eat everything so were getting all the right spices and tastes together. I really wish we would have taken a cooking class - really I could eat green papaya salad every day!
Hoi An is also known for great tailor-made clothing. If we had more time and had the ability to carry stuff I would have gone crazy. I did get two dresses and a shirt but it was so ridiculously hot I didn't feel like getting more made. Darsh scored though and got a fly suit for $195!! I have no idea how but they finished the suit in 8 1/2 hours and he only had 2 fittings. And the suit fits perfectly! :)
Hoi An was one of our favorite cities in Vietnam. The people are lovely - vendors weren't as pushy and the streets were easier to walk though (because it's less crowded). We felt like it was a small, quaint, resort-like town with really laid-back people. We just walked through the town, window-shopped, hung out at art galleries, and ate. In my opinion, Hoi An is a must-do for any trip to Vietnam. :)
Everyone has told us that train travel in Vietnam is quite an experience so we had to try it. I’ve heard though that theft can be a problem in some of the lower class cabins so we booked the best seats you can buy (that I know of) – AC, soft sleeper on the Livitran carriage. The bathrooms are also nicer and you're only supposed to have 4 people in a cabin.
All was good until a family of 4 walked in – but at first it seemed like the dad was just dropping off his wife and kids. I was thinking that it sucked to have a screaming baby overnight in your room but what can you do. It wasn’t until another person arrived in our cabin, that we realized the woman and her two kids only booked one ticket. So we now had 6 people in our 4-person cabin....this is when I got upset. I felt really bad for the woman but we had paid extra for the first class seats so I tried to raise my concerns (but still tried to be nice) with the train conductor. Really this was useless as he tried to explain that in Vietnam a mother can bring her kids (all her kids) and only book one bed. We went back and forth for a few minutes and then he finally said he would have her switched if we paid him an extra 1,000,000 dong (about $60). We tried to explain that we'd be paying double but he just wasn't getting it. Honestly it wasn’t the money it was just the principle so we decided to drop it….plus I felt horrible since the poor mother was in the room as we were discussing the issue. Talk about awkward….ugh.
Anyway we were pissed but decided to move on when about 30 minutes later we hear a guy negotiating a bed switch as he’s checking out our cabin. It turns out he and his wife were in a similar situation - only they were stuck with a family of 5…..so 8 people total in their cabin. Crazy! He ended up paying the train conductor and the family in our cabin switched with them. Soooo in the end there were 4 of us in our cabin which is what it was supposed to be in the first place. The couple were really cute and friendly, Casper and Maia from Denmark - we totally lucked out! This was their 3rd train and it seems like this kind of thing happens a lot. What a bummer – I really hate to think that the train conductors would try to take advantage of tourists. But we learned that you can bribe anyone for anything. And it's probably a safe bet that 50% of tourists would pay to get out of sleeping with a family (even if they’ve already paid for the first class cabin.)
Other than that drama the train experience was fine. It was clean, bathrooms were fine, and we could actually sleep. However we have decided to fly to our next destinations in Vietnam….there really wasn’t too much of a price difference and it was worth the convenience!
We got to Hue at about 9am. Luckily our room was ready and it was pretty nice. Hue is pretty small and easily walkable. We stayed at the Orchid Hotel which was really close to the river, restaurants, and nightlife. The only downside was that there were rolling blackouts and the power was out for a few hours each day. Really there was nothing you can do about that but it really did get HOT!
Hue was a nice change of pace from Hanoi. We took the first day to re-energize, chill, upload pics, and just relax. The second day we did take a city/sight tour in which we saw the Citadel, Tu Duc Tomb, Minh Mang Tomb, Khai Dinh Tomb, and the Thien Mu Pagoda. I’m going to be honest – it was so hot outside and I was feeling sight-overloaded that I was just going through the motions. That said, the Citadel and Khai Dinh tomb were pretty cool.
We had a nice little stop in Hue. It was good to be able to chill a bit.
We left Hanoi around 8am to head to Halong Bay. It took us 4 hours to get to Ha Long City where we boarded our boat, the Lagoon Explorer. The boat could fit 8 guests but there were only 4 of us – Darsh/I and another couple, Pascal and Miriam from Holland (You can also book the Red Dragon which fits more people but was already sold out). The boat was pretty nice and was staffed with 8 people from the chef, waiter, tour guide, engineer, sailor, etc….all this for only 4 people!
The second we got on the boat we knew we were worlds away from the craziness of Hanoi. It was really stunning. Halong Bay has thousands of large limestone karsts (or rocks….they are insane!). Halong Bay literally means descending dragon bay, which comes from the Vietnamese legend that dragons created the karsts/isles to develop a wall for protection.
We sailed around most of the day but made stops to swim and kayak. The water was really warm and I love kayaking! We also got to see this ridiculously large cave made in one of the limestone rocks.
We had all our meals on the boat, which were fantastic – papaya salad (we had some version of this every meal which made me really happy!), fresh seafood, chicken and beef stir-fry, and lots of fruit. They even brought us a cake for Pascal and Miriam's anniversary! We spent the night on the boat which was surprisingly pretty comfortable and it was fun hearing Pascal and Miriam’s adventures traveling to Mount Everest Base Camp on their trip….which I could never ever do!
We were hoping to see the sunrise from the boat but unfortunately they docked in between large limestone rocks so you couldn’t see the sunrise. We were both kind of annoyed about that but as it turned out there wasn’t much of a sunrise anyway….. After getting up, we sailed over to a floating fishing village. Really it was the coolest thing. Everything was on floating stilts. I’m still not sure how that works but I think I saw lots of styrofoam-type supports (Darsh reminded me though that they stopped using styrofoam and now use floating barrels). I’m sure it was a lot more complicated but it hurt my head trying to figure it out. Anyway, it was totally impressive. This whole village was totally functioning on the water. They even had a school! And the people were so welcoming and friendly.
I would have never believed you can do so much with so little. It really just opens your eyes to how other people live….and at the same time reminds me how lucky I am. :)
The whole Halong Bay trip was an amazing experience – from the bay itself, to the company, to the food, to a night on a boat, to the incredible little fishing village.
So far I've written all Blog entries in chronological order by city we've visited but today I'm just writing because I'm a little behind on all my Vietnam entries and I felt like writing about something current.
We're in NhaTrang now which is beautiful and it feels so good to just hang out at the beach.
It's 8:52 am and I've already worked out, had breakfast, posted a blog entry, and am now researching Bali hotels. I know it's not a rough life but I feel like I've been productive! I went running at 5:40am. Seriously no joke. It is so hot and humid here that is the only time you can do it. Sunrise was at about 5:20am and I woke up to see 100's of people on the beach. It was packed! Mostly locals as the Vietnamese only go to the beach really early or in the evening....they don't like to tan and maybe they are just smarter than tourists because it gets so hot!!
This was the first time I was able to run outside. I've been wanting to but for the most part there weren't too many walkable areas to run in the cities we've been to. I'm sure I could have found parks but it isn't always as easy as you think when you're in a different country and not able to speak the language. Anyway, I was so happy to be able to run today....and being at the beach was another bonus. I definitely was one of few tourists up at 5:30am and at the beach but it was kinda cool hanging with the locals....well kind of. I lasted for 30 minutes. I would say that's pretty good considering I haven't run outside for at least 2 months and I think it was already 80 degrees with 70% humidity. Let's see if I can pull it off tomorrow. :)
We got to Hanoi in the afternoon right when the evening rush hour was about to start. The traffic was nothing like I’d ever seen. We’ve been to India and that is pretty crazy but I’ve never seen so many motorbikes. Luckily, the hotel picked us up from the airport so we didn’t have to navigate through the chaos for the first time on our own.
We stayed at the Hanoi Elegance 3. I can’t say enough great things about the service here. Anything we needed, they provided. One of their staff even walked with Darsh to get a Mobile SIM card and when we left they dropped us off at the train station, checked us in AND made sure we got to the correct cabin. Really I would recommend this hotel to anyone. They actually have 4 hotels (Elegance 2, 3, 4, and 5 but 2 and 5 have the best location). The rooms were nice and clean and the breakfast was lovely....tons of fruit, veggies, cereal, bread, eggs, and traditional Vietnamese food....all this was included and the room was only $60/night. But more importantly they helped you with anything and were so, so friendly. They totally “get” what customer service is all about. :)
The main tourist area (Old Quarter) of Hanoi is pretty small and is walkable….in terms of geography anyway....navigating the chaos is another story. There pretty much are no rules on the streets – motorbikes, cars, bikes can go anytime and in any direction. The millions of street vendors selling beer and pho adds to the difficulty as well. I seriously felt like I was playing Human Frogger....I thought about that one Seinfeld episode more than a dozen times.... It’s funny though how the human mind adapts to things. The first night I was petrified and let Darsh lead the way, hoping that crossing the street would not be the end of me. The next day, I could hold my own, weaving through the mess of the streets. You learn that the worst thing to do is to stop, slow down, or hesitate. You just have to use every single sense at all times and keep walking! If you’re really freaked out though, you can also get taxis for cheap or get a motorbike ride…..people will try to sell you rides pretty much every second. I have to admit this does get a bit annoying after a while but you have to give them credit for trying to make a few bucks! :) One day we had lunch at Highlands Coffee on the third floor of a building near one of the main Hoan Kiem Lake intersections. It gives you a great view of the traffic frenzy below.
The two sights that left the biggest impression on both of us were the Hoa Lo Prison Museum (aka Hanoi Hilton) and Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. Walking through the Hoa Lo Prison was a little freaky. You could see the tiny cells the Vietnamese political prisoners (and then later American prisoners) were held in and the various torture tools used by the French (and later the North Vietnamese Army) were on display. It’s so sad and it really makes you think about everything these prisoners (and the rest of Vietnam and those fighting) went through.
The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Complex includes the former Presidential Palaces and homes but most importantly it is the final resting place of Ho Chi Minh. His corpse (somehow preserved but controversial to whether it really is him) is in this large glass container for everyone to pay their respects. The guards are extremely protective and apparently there are rules you must follow which they don’t explain to you. I got in trouble three different times by the guards for having my sweatshirt wrapped around my waist, then my hands in my pocket, then for holding my sweatshirt in my hands. It wasn’t until the guy in front of me got in trouble for scratching his face that I figured out it might be something to do with raising your hands (although still doesn’t explain the sweatshirt wrapped around my waist…..) Anyway, even though I was scared of the guards it was a neat experience to see how much respect the Vietnamese people still have for Ho Chi Minh.
Luckily there weren’t too many sights so we were able to just walk around and soak it all in. There are so many different smells and sounds everywhere you go. The Vietnamese people are always on the go and they work really hard. Women work all day in shops or selling street food. And the men we saw, well I hate to say it, but they seemed to “attempt” to sell motorbike rides but often were found eating and drinking beer on the street corners. I know that we were only in the tourist areas and not in business/working districts so I'm sure there were men working in factories but on the streets it seemed like it was the women who were really hustling…. Go girls! :)
The Vietnamese love to eat and there are always a ton of options for food – anything from street food to European bistros to pizza/pasta. Some of our favorites were Quan An Ngon (totally packed with locals and tourists serving upscale-ish street food in a nice garden, 69 Bar Restaurant (just ok Vietnamese food but in a chill, loungy space in a historic house), and Tamarind Café (great smoothies and spring rolls….good place to catch up on blogging and picture uploads!). The most memorable meal we had was at KOTO which is a not-for-profit Restaurant/Service Industry Training School for former street kids. The food was really good – Asian Fusion and the service was excellent. I had the best smoothie ever – pineapple, passionfruit, and lime. More importantly, the restaurant really seemed to be committed to it’s cause of providing opportunities for kids to have a better future. It’s also right by the Temple of Literature so it’s a perfect stop after sight seeing. We also chilled out on the street corner drinking a beer at Bia Hoi junction (Pho Ta Hien and Pho Luong Ngoc Quyen intersection). It was kind of fun drinking cheap beer with locals. Perfect way to rest your feet after a long day!
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