Vietnam Part 1

This country is coming to you in two parts.  Mainly because we are back in travel/tourist mode and there is more being seen and experienced, so more to share.

Arriving in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) early evening was great - definitely a big city and definitely busy (especially the traffic), and a shining light!  The place is lit up with bright lights everywhere you look and the city appears to be very much a mixture of old and new.

We were taken to our hotel in District 1 (fantastic location) and spotted a street food foodcourt filled with both travellers and locals alike.  This turned out to be a frequent haunt and great place to try lots of different food with beers starting at NZ $1.40!

We had a bit of a plan of things to do so the first full day kicked off with Ben Thanh market, a gem for tourists if you are into shopping or local fresh produce, and right at the end of our street.

Up next was the Reunification (Independence) Palace.  The palace is full of grand rooms and unique gifts from other countries, as well as a bunker and underground communications area used right up to the end of the war. It's as if it's stood still in time, however is still used today for some official functions.  It's famous for the Communist tank crashing through the wrought iron gates (photos that went global), effectively symbolizing the fall of the city in 1975. 

We headed into the Norodom Palace Gatehouse also, as exhibitions are often displayed here.  At both of these venues the history lessons on Vietnam began.

From here we headed towards Notre Dame Cathedral (1883), and as is always the case somewhere in the world, it was under renovation and covered in scaffolding.  However from the beautiful gardens in front we viewed the Central Post Office, a city landmark and French era period classic finished in 1891.  A beautiful building and still very much operating as a post office and central hub.

Dodged a bit of rain and happened across another local street market on the way home.  Big day getting back into the swing of the 'travelling tourist' and a 20,000+ step day.

Day 2 started with a bit more greenery and a wander through Tao Dan park.  A beautiful oasis in the city and full of school children on outings and others on photo shoots.  They were even filming something that appeared local.

Next stop and of significant importance was the War Remnants Museum.  We spent 2.5 hours here and viewed many war vehicles, armaments and artefacts.  We read much of the available information and viewed photos, gaining further context of the war and about what the country has been through.  Told with a Vietnamese lense but nonetheless gut-wrenching, unnecessary and emotional. 

The saddest thing about reading this story was that it's happening again in Ukraine right now.  From what we've seen of genocide in our travels to date, we are starting to think the world will never actually learn.

We were off then for what we thought was a walk through the botanical gardens.  As it turned out we ended up dodging the thunderstorms, using that time to get Gary a haircut, before finding ourselves at the river and working out you have to pay to see the gardens as it's part of the zoo.

Deciding to skip that, our walk home consisted of the mayhem that is school pick up (scooters for Africa), another thunderstorm and major downpour.  So, as you do when it rains, we went into the local shop brought a few beers and waited it out on the side of the road under an awning. Our walk continued along the Saigon river, before passing HCMC city hall (built 1901-08), also called the Peoples Committee building.  It's beautiful and another example of the French influence.

Day 3 Cu Chi Tunnels trip. On the way we stopped in at a factory where victims descendents of the Agent Orange war era work, making the most beautiful art and ornamental items.

The network of underground tunnels is insane.  In its day (1960's) more than 250km of tunnels were in the district of Cu Chi alone.

There is evidence of bombs and mines (ground craters) as well as insights into traps (both warning and death), and you get to have a go at getting inside too (although the hidden entrances and the tunnels have been made larger for tourists they are still very small).  You can't help but be in awe of the fact they fought out of these tunnels and used them to their advantage.  There is very little air so the time they could spend in them was very limited, not to mention the crawling and sliding on their fronts that had to be done to move through them.  There is a firing range at the end of the walk through, where you can have a go at shooting the weapons used at the time (definitely not up our alley and very noisy!).

We ventured out (our last night in Saigon) to a rooftop bar to get great views of the city and tried out a restaurant that caught our eye because of the lights.  Great way to finish up here before venturing onwards.

The drive to Mui Ne took just under 3.5 hours and once out of the city was pretty quick.  The roading infrastructure is on steroids and what is being built is sensational, so much so there were no traffic issues on the way at all.  The scenery turned more green and the agriculture started to pop up, in particular dragon fruit 'orchards' absolutely everywhere.  As we always do, we checked in and went for a wander to familiarise ourselves with the main street and have a nosey at the beach.  The first sense that really kicks in here is the smell - somewhat unpleasant is the smell of fish drying; after all it is a fishing village.

We are only here for 1 day and 2 nights, so opted to do a tour taking in the key sights - being the white and red sand dunes, fishing village (less of a 'village' than an area where catches are bought in and sorted), and the 'fairy stream'.  The white sand dunes were enormous and had to be seen via a 4WD bike which was a bit of fun and the red ones a bit more of a photo opportunity only (much smaller and right next to the main road).

The fishing 'village' was an eye opener (and nose closer), as you can see from the pictures.  The stand out here was the hundreds of boats in the water, (the round ones are unique to this area), where we're confident whatever is to be caught has no chance at all.

On to the fairy stream and a ~25 minute walk up it to the source (a small waterfall), quite nice and relaxing (with zero smell) after the fish experience.

It is fair to say that in general Vietnam has a serious issue with rubbish and feels 20-30 years behind where Thailand now is (although they too still have issues).  Single use plastic anything is not Vietnam's friend.

The next day we headed for Dalat - up in the mountains at 1,500m and much cooler (~21-24 degrees).  The drive again took about 3.5 hours (the last 40km took 55 mins) and was great as we got into greener and greener country with high mountain forests.  Once inland we initially climbed to 1,000m passing several hydro dams and then passed through one of Vietnam's 'food bowls' with agriculture growing in every direction.  It appears almost anything will grow here and we saw onions, corn, kumara, cucumbers, carrots, watermelon, strawberries and coffee amongst many other vegetables.  It feels more relaxing being surrounded by green and more humble as life becomes obviously more simple.

Arriving was a surprise as the town was super busy - this is the time of year where the Vietnamese people are travelling their own country.  Dalat is centred around a man-made lake and it's definitely the focal point for first impressions.  

After settling in, we ventured out in what was cooler air (forgetting we'd dropped 10 degrees in temperature) and found the area really quite pretty.  The town is dotted with French colonial style villas and after walking the lake front for a bit we headed towards the main centre roundabout and started to see the wares of the agriculture, as well as the set up of the Dalat night market.  From 5pm there are food stalls aplenty, clothing stalls and amazing fruit and vegetables (as expected) as well as flowers (another thing Dalat is famous for).  It was an amazing experience and great evening.

Countryside tour day and with a list of places to see we hired a private driver for US $70/day (after being stopped on the street by a gentleman (Hoan) with good English, who convinced us we'd enjoy it more than the standard bus tour.  First stop, after driving through the countryside, dams, lots of pine trees and a fancy golf course, was Truc Lam Pagoda which had the most beautiful gardens and bonsai trees, as well as a gentle walk down to a man made dam/lake (they are plentiful here to provide water for all the agriculture).  Truc Lam is still an operating monastery.

Then one of Lesley's favs - the Orchid factory.  We were the only people here and it was really nice to be able to walk around admiring the blooms.  These flowers and colours were just so beautiful and this is one of many flower factories/markets around Dalat.  If you can think of a flower it's most likely being grown here.

Quick coffee stop, then off to Pongour waterfall, which was quite stunning and surprisingly clear (and worth the 248 stairs).  It cascades over seven tiers and although a bit out of the city is a popular spot to visit.  A bonus was the water buffalo crossing the road on the way out (used to be used mainly for pulling ploughs although now more of a food source).

After lunch at a local restaurant, the next stop was the Elephant Falls and Linh An Pagoda.  The falls were extremely powerful with spray reaching a long way out and the Pagoda stands tall (53m) overlooking them.  The Pagoda is quite a new attraction having only been completed six years ago, a giant laughing Buddha also resides here.

Our final two stops were of interest rather than a site to see, which was the silk farm and cricket farm.  The silk farm (bit smelly) is where they make silk cotton, very manually, through from collecting the cocoons of the silk worm before sending it away to be made into a variety of things including clothing.  They use everything!

Yes the cricket farm is actually a thing and the crickets are farmed for eating only - somewhat of a delicacy here and expensive now.

We had been trying to work out what a piece of fruit or vegetable was and on the tour confirmed that they are avocados - certainly nothing like any avocado we've ever seen at home but tasted pretty good.

All up a 7.5 hour day and we feel pretty comfortable we've seen some of Da Lat's highlights.

Next day was pretty cruisy, although started early with a run around the lake; a pleasant change in 19 degrees.  The remainder was organising the rest of our Vietnam itinerary before heading to the airport and our flight to Danang, where we will transfer to Hoi An.

Hoi An is beautiful.  We arrived at 11pm so day one was spent wandering around the ancient town and taking in its highlights, including the central market.  Some of the homes still standing are well over 200 years old and able to be visited even though families still reside in them.  The oldest we saw was 243 years old (1780) and the 9th generation now lives in it.  The two homes at the top of our list was this one (Phung Hung) and Duc An.  

There are meeting halls, pagodas and many other types of buildings to visit as well, all unique and beautiful in there own way.  It's literally a picture everywhere you look.

The old town runs across both sides of the river and is famous not only for its peacefulness but also for the thousands of lanterns that adorn every corner, shop, restaurant, boat and riverside.  It's quite simply like nothing we have ever seen and stunningly beautiful at night.

The next day, we did a half day tour to Danang which took in Monkey mountain (albeit not so many monkeys as the tourists far outnumber them) and Marble mountain.  The former has the famous 67 metre lady Buddha and pagodas, as well as a stunning view back to Danang.

Marble mountain is full of beautiful caves and after stopping at a marble factory on the way, we had time with our small group (13) to explore them.  The mountain is very much based on the Buddha faith with seven levels of hell and the steps to heaven.  Beautiful view from the top after some adventurous cave climbing and approximately 400 stairs.

We are also on the coast of 'China Beach' and learned that the name derived from people's ashes being enclosed in china pots and those pots were then buried on the beach (historically). By the time the war commenced and the American's arrived many of these pots had shattered and china was visible, hence the nickname 'China Beach'. During the Vietnam War there was a large American base here and Danang was a well known spot for soldiers R&R. 

Back in Hoi An, the afternoon consisted of a bike ride to An Bang Beach (southern end of China Beach).  An easy 3.2km flat ride to a beachside oasis, and another bow in Hoi An's hat.

After swimming and enjoying a few cold ones it was time to head back, hit the pool and back into the old town for our last opportunity to soak it all up.

Hoi An should definitely be on everyone's list and it would be an easy place to lose a week!

Hue (Hway) was next on the list and another ~4 hour transfer.  Again the roading is so good and being expanded everywhere so the trip was pretty uneventful.

Hue was established as the capital of unified Vietnam in 1802.  It was the political, cultural and religious centre under the Nguyen Dynasty, the last royal dynasty of Vietnamese history (1802 to 1945).

It's quite a modern city as it was largely destroyed during many wars however still has many important and beautiful sites to visit.  We spent the afternoon wandering the riverside of the Song Huong or Perfume River (named historically due to the flowers that grew on the rivers edge and scented the whole area) and passing City Hall.  It was serene with lots of parks and boardwalks and thankfully shade as we've now hit 35 degrees (feels like 44).

The street we stayed on, along with a few others close by, turns into a walking street at night which was pretty cool.  It's so hot here the afternoon turns into a bit of a ghost town but in the evening everyone comes out and the kids have a ball.

Onto the next full day tour.  First up Thien Mu Pagoda.  An icon of Vietnam it was built in 1601.  The gardens are beautiful and the grounds also house the famous car a Buddhist monk used in Saigon before setting himself on fire, in protest of the war.  It is still an active monastery and is right on the Perfume River, which we then enjoyed a dragon boat ride on.

The Imperial City, where past royalty resided was next up.  It's set behind huge walls but it is effectively the forbidden Purple city, inside the Imperial city, inside the Citadel of Hue.  Unfortunately the city was badly bombed during the French and Vietnam wars, but restoration is ongoing to return it to its former glory.  The last emperor was 'convinced' to hand everything over to Ho Chi Minh in 1945, and from then on there has been no royalty here, as the country came under communist rule.  All that said, it is still an impressive site.

A quick tour through Dong Ba market and we were off for lunch and a foot soak.  Pretty sure this is part of the big picture to get us out of the sun for a while and was a welcome reprieve.

The afternoon consisted of a couple of royal tombs.  First up and 20 minutes out of Hue the 12th Emperor, Khai Dinh (the last Emperor buried in Vietnam).  Extremely elaborate, constructed over 11 years on a hill with fabulous views (up 127 steps).  It took 400 people to carry the Emporers tomb from the Imperial City to this location upon his death (~10km).

The second tomb we visited was of the second Emperor, Minh Mang.  It's ~12km out of Hue and is considered one of the most majestic, due to the lakes that surround it, multiple bridges and architecture (built 1840-1843).  It was certainly a beautiful location.

Last stop on the way home was the Incense factory and also where they make the Vietnamese conical hats.  A colourful stop as the intense sticks were beautifully displayed (each colour representing a different scent).  Budget also couldn't help but get in on the action!

We had a lovely last evening and the following day did some administrative catching up.  After a very warm 5km run we spent some time relaxing by the pool, before catching an early evening sleeper bus to Phong Nha our next stop, and the beginning of Vietnam Part 2.