My Christmas holiday break started at HK airport on Friday, December 19th waiting to check in for my flight to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). As I had a late-ish flight I decided to go home after work to collect my bag then bus to the airport. After standing in line for ages, with counters closing rather than opening, and the line getting longer, I've decided 2 things - fly with an airline you have status with so you can check-in on the business class line and/or check-in in town. After finally checking-in I was off through security and met up with Kat and family for a super quick snack before walking extremely quickly to the gate, which turned out to be a pointless exercise. Boarding was a bit of an experience, its like its United's first flight ever..........and I'm not use to having to wait until my zone (last one) is called to board.
Had a quick 2 hour flight to HCMC and on landing was told it was 25 degrees, ye ha some warm weather. 2 guys jumped up from their seats as soon as we landed, clearly never flown before, they were told to sit down straight away. After finally getting off the plane and clearing customs I waited, with the rest of the plane, for ages and ages (35 minutes) for the bags. Definitely not a quick airport here. There is no need to rush through customs when you have to wait for the bags. Getting a taxi was an easy task thanks to Ange who had told me what to do and how much it should be. I was pounced on by only 2 people before finding what I think was the real taxi line and given the price that Ange had told me. Thankfully my driver speaks some English. I'm pleased to be back in Vietnam and enjoyed the drive to the hotel - lots of toot toots, cars, trucks and motorbikes going in all directions. Think I got ripped off from the taxi driver as it was a lot more than was on the meter. Ange and Aaron were at the hotel to meet me, communicating via BB certainly helped that!
After a short night, not helped by the outside noise and lots of chat we were up and having breakfast before our tour to Cu Chi Tunnels. We had some friendly Australians, not, on the tour who complained about everything. Bearing in mind we had been on the bus for less than 1 hour and hadn't even left HCMC. "The bus was small and a death trap, there was no documentary, it was a con, not paying for it" was some of the comments that we heard. In the end they cracked it and got off. We were pleased not to have to listen to them complain anymore. Getting out of HCMC seemed to take forever, however staring out the window provided lots of entertainment. We saw a couple of whole pigs (minus the head) being roasted on larges spit along with the normal Vietnam sights - motorbikes for Africa. First stop on our visit was at a handicapped store, for happy stop (bathroom) although I'm sure they wanted us to buy. We saw lacquer goods being made then walked through the store, no purchases from us 3 though.
Finally made it to the Cu chi tunnels. For those of you that don't know much about them here's some history. They were built over a period of 25 years, starting during the war against France. The tunnel network become legendary during the 1960's for its role in facilitating the Viet Cong (VC) control of a large rural area. Parts of the tunnels were several stories deep. The VC developed simple techniques to make their tunnels difficult to detect or disable. To cook they had a kitchen which exhausted the smoke through vents metres away from the cooking site. Trapdoors were installed throughout the network.
To start off the tour, our guide had as watch a documentary then walked us around the area. It was very fascinating but also very scary. There were booby traps were laid everywhere. If you stepped or squeezed through the floor would suddenly give away to lethal pits. (Am hoping the photos will give you a small idea of some of the traps.)
There is a section of the tunnel that is used for tourists, Ange and Aaron went into the tunnel that has been widen for foreigners, however I chickened out. I'm far to claustrophobic! Aaron was super brave and then went into an actual tunnel.
There is a section of the tunnel that is used for tourists, Ange and Aaron went into the tunnel that has been widen for foreigners, however I chickened out. I'm far to claustrophobic! Aaron was super brave and then went into an actual tunnel.
Part of the area allowed you to shoot a gun. Aaron choose to shoot from an AK47 and gave me the opportunity to shoot one bullet. It was very powerful and loud!! But a great experience…if you can call it that. I definitely don't see myself using an AK47 ever again!!!!
On arrival back into HCMC we were dropped off near the War Remnants Museum. First mission was finding somewhere for lunch, unfortunately the lonely planet wasn't helpful as the restaurants listed weren't where they should have been. After awhile we found somewhere that was very good. Ange and I both had Pho which was very yummy, and of course we all had the local Saigon beer. When we were delivered the beer we were also given glasses full of ice. Thankfully there was a garden near by we could water :). From here we made our way to the War Remnants Museum which is the most popular museum in HCMC with tourists. I was very shocked by the photos, especially the ones with children, and am oh so glad I wasn't alive when this war was going on. Not pleasant at all.
We walked back towards the centre of town to book a tour to the Mekong river for the next 2 days. So many places to choose from, although wasn't too painful in the end choosing.
By this stage we were all very thirsty and in need of good local beer. We walked through the Ban Thanh market which was closing down for the night. We still got accosted walking down the narrow pathways before finding a place to sit to watch the world go by with a drink in our hands.
Now that we had some fuel we went bag shopping for Aaron at the market, a bit of bargaining before a price was decided and we walked away with a purchase.
For dinner we chose a restaurant out of the lonely planet book, thankfully a great choice. I actually think I ate in the same restaurant in Hanoi. I ate Pho again washed down with some local beer. Ange and Aaron both had noodles and we shared some fresh spring rolls and wontons (not typical wontons). All very good.
To walk off dinner we headed into the city centre, saw City Hall and the Cathedral. Everything looked better at night lit up, than during the day. There was a lot of people out and about, some children dressed in Santa suits or other Christmassy outfits. We saw a couple of motorbikes with 5 people on, certainly a little dangerous for us but given it happens all the time its normal for them. Ange and Aaron said they'd seen 6 people on a bike before I'd arrived. Ange wanted to get a great photo of all the motorbikes so decided to get up on some scaffolding to get the best shot, in turn she became the one being photographed and even had a local jump up next to her to have her photo taken. All rather amusing.
I feel as there is more motorbikes in HCMC than Hanoi, its a constant stream with them going in all directions at all times.
We were surprised by the number of Christmas decorations around, and everyone having their photo taken in front of them. We saw one girl who seemed to be walking around town to have her photo taken in front of them all.
Sunday morning started early as we're off on a 2 day tour up the Mekong River. Thank goodness for earplugs as I actually slept last night, I think the heat/humidity also helped with that. In normal Vietnam time we waited a short time for the bus to leave then were off with a hiss and a roar, nothing like yesterdays trip. Given it was quite early we were fortunate to see many locals out having breakfast, selling their fruit and vege, men sitting around (we saw this all the time), a soccer match going on and of course many people going about their daily lives on their motorbikes. Had the compulsory 'happy stop' after around an hour of driving on a motorway. Something I wasn't sure existed in Vietnam, motorway that is.
Our guide, a wee man, even I was a giant next to him, was very friendly, had very good English and had a huge knowledge about the history of Vietnam and the areas we visited. At times it was a little hard to understand what he was saying as he'd break into another language. We found out he is 70 years old, great still to be doing his job at that age. After every talk he did we hear "thank you for your kind attention".
When we finally got to My Tho City we were straight onto a boat for the day. First stop was to take honey tea and dried fruits. The men on the table were also given banana wine to taste.....one small taste of Aaron's drink was enough for me to realise it wasn't for me. Walked a few meters, with tourist shops on either side, where we were treated to a selection of tropical fruit (pineapple, dragon fruit, pomelo, papaya were some of what we tasted). Ange and I spied a traditional Vietnamese carrier (2 baskets held by a large stick which you carry over your shoulder) so of course had to have a photo with us each carrying it with the Vietnamese hat on. (Be on the look out for the photos!)
From here we got on small row boats, 6 per boat (4 passengers, 2 rowers) and went through a mangrove forest. We were given a Vietnamese hat to wear, from my shoulders up I felt slightly Vietnamese :). The ride was around 20 minutes and was very peaceful. On arrival at our boat, a rather large lady (on our tour) misjudged the small jetty and in slow motion fell into the water. Thankfully she had her wits about her and kept her camera up so it didn't get wet. We all felt for her though, in between our inside laughs. There is no way I'd like to end up in that water.
Next stop on the tour was seeing coconut lollies made and visiting a snake. Not my idea of fun, the snake that is. Aaron was very brave and had it around his neck, and at one stage the tail of the snake when in-between his legs….a little worrying for him. Ange touched the snake and we heard "its just like a handbag". I stood away and just took photos. We noticed the lady that had fallen into the water had changed clothes, perhaps she falls into water often which is why she carried a spare change of clothing with her?? We were back onto the boat where we cruised rather slowly down the river to another spot for lunch.
Lunch was set in what I'd classify as someone's back yard. There were lots of roosters and the odd dog walking around, plus pigs in the background, all we heard was the noise. After lunch we were back onto the boat and headed down the Mekong River to where we were dropped off where we had boarded the boat in the morning, drove about 10 minutes then stopped for "happy stop". Here we changed buses and unfortunately the bus we were getting into had no a/c, it had broken down. So the 2 hour drive to Can Tho was a long one as it was very hot. The bus driver was on horn basically the whole way. To get to Can Tho we had to take a ferry (no more than 15 minutes) across the river. It was crazy busy traffic so we got off and walked onto the ferry. You had to have your wits about you as you needed to dodge all the motorbikes who were lining up to take the ferry as well, certainly very noisy. The bus was at other side to meet us which we found a little strange as it hadn't been on our ferry. They obviously have a ferry for large vehicles.
On arrival into Can Tho we headed straight to the hotel (or shall I say place where we were to spend the night) and were advised we'd get a wakeup call at 6am, breakfast at 6.30am then leave at 7am. Certainly no sleep in on this tour, although looking at the hotel I'm not sure if we would have wanted to spend any longer in our rooms. The hotel was very basic, no top sheet just a grotty blanket which there was no way I was going to use. Dad it was worse than alcatraz! I had a single room and had a double bed, Ange and Aaron had ordered a double room had 2 single beds. A little odd. Thankfully each room had their own bathroom.
For dinner we walked a few streets from the hotel where we found a few places to choose from. Ended up deciding on a restaurant that only had locals in it, a good sign. The food was very good, although there were a few things on the menu that we thought long and hard about eating….field mice, snake, goat and frogs. Thankfully no dog or cat, that we knew of anyway. We declined these options! I loved sitting there watching the world go by. One amusing thing I saw was 2 people on a push bike, the person sitting on the seat was pedaling with his right leg, the person sitting on the back seat was pedaling with her left leg. I'd hope they would change every few kilometers otherwise they would have a strong leg and a weak leg.
The hotel/place where we spent the night is in the city centre so rather loud over night, lots of motorbikes and car horns. Now I know one of the reasons why people nap/sleep during the day, they are either out at night or don't get much sleep due to the noise.
After a rather uncomfortable and sleepless (Sunday) night (I used my pashmina as my blanket thank you very much) I finally got up before 6am and had a cold shower.....nice. We were told we're have a wake-up call at 6am, ours finally came at 6.25am. The man asked if everything was ok and I told him there was no hot water. He stormed into my room, played around with a few things and then informed me I had hot water now, thanks but a bit late for that.
We had breakfast at the hotel with the rest of the bus before leaving at 7.10am to visit a couple of floating markets. It was great to see what a busy morning in Can Tho is like - people everywhere, food markets on the side of the roads. We were all surprised by the well kept manicured gardens we saw in all the towns/cities, certainly surprising in a crazy place like this.
Before getting on a boat to visit the floating market we walked through a market selling everything from fruit, veges, herbs, to fish of all kinds and sizes. So many little stalls, would be hard to know which one to go if you lived there. We then got onto boats to visit a floating market. They seemed to sell fruit and vege only. The big boats are the wholesalers with the smaller boats boating up to them to collect their produce. You can tell what the boats are selling by looking at the tall pole they have, they hang their produce on here. Great way to know, saves having to boat up to realise they don't have the watermelon or whatever you want. We saw lots of watermelon, pineapple, pumpkins, garlic. We had a couple of small boats coming along side our boat to sell drinks. One in particular had a very cute little girl on it, I'd say very good marketing as everyone wanted to take photos of her and in turn brought drinks. Cruising up the Mekong is like another world, so fascinating and so much to look at all at the same time.
We stopped off to see rice paper being made which was very interesting - looks easy but am sure it is an art that takes years of practise. They spoon a mixture onto a large tray, spread it out then put a lid on and leave it to cook while putting mixture onto the second tray. The lid is then removed and the rice paper taken off and put onto the wooded rack to dry and the process is done over and over again. The rice paper is dried on large wooden racks then made into noodles. They also had what I'd call a pig farm, 1 big pig and quite a few small ones. Very cute but of course they won't stay cute or alive for long! We actually saw one being cut up, thankfully it was well and truly dead. I've seen a pig killed once and definitely don't want to see it again.
After a short ride we had a happy stop before heading off to a second floating market. There was so much going on along the river. We saw houses that looked like they would wash down the river any minutes; people in the river as well as by the river doing their washing (we decided that definitely wasn't for us, we didn't want our clothes turning a foul brown colour); children running to the river edge to wave at us; boats with sand whizzing by us; fishermen putting out their nets as well as bringing them in.
The second floating market was smaller than the one we had seen earlier, but still impressive for us. Lots more fruit it seemed at this market.
We ended the river tour where we had got on, the market by the river was still going although the produce had been reduced with one part (all ladies sitting outside in the sun with their produce) being completing finished.
After an early lunch at the restaurant next to the place we had spent last night we said goodbye to our guide and got on the bus (with a new guide) and were told it was going to be a 5 to 5.5 hour ride back to HCMC. Not what we wanted, clearly the wheels on this bus were going to go round and round and round and round until we reach the final destination. It was 35 degrees outside and the a/c wasn't working that well and to make matters even worse we were at the back of the bus sitting on top of the engine so it was super hot. I was so hot I could have easily gone swimming in the river. Yes I know I commented earlier about not waiting to go in the water however I have definitely changed my mind! Let's hope we get to the first happy stop before too long otherwise the 3 of us will be cooked.
The happy stop was very nice and clean (probably the nicest place I've stopped before on a bus), was wonderful to get off the bus where we found it was cooler outside. We were just about to depart when the guide informed us there was an issue with the bus starting and people needed to push it to start. Great. Thankfully before too long we were off again, and arrived into HCMC just after 5pm.
Walking back to the hotel we noticed again how motorbikes like to drive up on the footpath to get ahead of other bikes. Not nice when you are trying to walk.
On arrival at the hotel we collected our bags and headed straight for the shower, for me I was praying there was hot water. There wasn't any triple rooms available so Ange and Aaron had a double room and me a single, although it was the same size room.
I had found a restaurant in the lonely planet that sounded great, cook your own BBQ at your table. Unfortunately our bad luck with LP Vietnam continued, it was no longer there. Instead we walked down a street that had many options, with lots of them being Japanese. In the end we decided on a Japanese restaurant that specialises in Hiroshina-ma-yaki food (Japanese pancake with noodles.) Aaron and I let/asked Ange to order given she knows what she's talking about with Japanese food and is fluent in Japanese. It was funny to be speaking Japanese to a Vietnamese woman in Vietnam. Aaron also liked to get into the action and did all the ordering of the beer in Japanese. I was glued to the 2 people cooking the food and could have spent hours there watching..
Tuesday morning started nice and early yet again as we had a 8.15am bus to Mui Ne. After breakfast in the hotel we checked out and made our way to the travel agents. Of course we were on Vietnam time so didn't leave when we were told it would be. Finally on the bus, which has good working a/c, and I have the pleasure of sitting next to a man (no idea of his nationality) who within 10 minutes of leaving he started burping.......great, its going to be a long 4 hours.
We had a bathroom stop about 2 hours after leaving HCMC. When entering the bathroom we had to wear their shoes rather than our own ones, a little odd but that's how they like to do things. Aaron decided he didn't want to change shoes so kept his own shoes on. He wasn't keen on catching something by wearing shoes half of Vietnam had also been wearing.
Around 1pm we finally got to our stop, it had been a very long trip with the driver on his horn all the time. There was a lot of swerving going on. Aaron believes we coasted half the way. Found the first taxi that pulled up and was off to our hotel. On arrival we all felt as if we are now on holiday - no motorbikes, no people selling books/sunglasses/t-shirts/tissues etc, just the sea and fresh air. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing reading, sleeping and dozing. Its going to be a fab 3 days.
The hotel manager has wine and cheese every night at 5pm which of course we had to attend and will be attending for the duration of our stay!
We're are enjoying the quietness the only noise is the sea and wind, the resort is very large and for the majority of the time you feel like you are the only guests there.
We decided to head into the "centre" for dinner. The hotel manager recommended a restaurant that he actually owns, so we decided to check it out. The food looked good but there was no one there so we continued on. As soon as we jumped out of the taxi we saw 2 for 1 drinks so were in. Had a little snack as well before continuing up the road looking in a few stores. They definitely cater for the tourists and in particular Russians, everything seemed to be in English and Russian. Ange was swimming suit shopping and did purchase. We had a late meal in another restaurant, brought some beers from them to take back to the room, and got a ride back to the hotel from them. They have a pick up and drop off service if you eat in there restaurant which is great.
Christmas Eve morning started super early, just before 6.30am, as the hotel was doing their weekly spray for sand flies and mosquitoes. Thankfully we had been warned last night at the wine and cheese event otherwise the noise would have given as all a heck of a fright.
Aaron went for a run then shortly after Ange and I hopped on bikes (think old, no gears) and biked to the local village about 1.5 kms down the road to visit the local market and the local fishing boats. Was fascinating wandering around looking at everything at the market. We saw everything from pigs ears, to a variety of eggs, to all types of animal organs, to fresh herbs, to live chickens, geese and baby poussin's, to lots of different types of fruit and veges, to old ladies eating small cockles (smaller than our smallest finger nail), to a selection of bras in amongst everything else, to pineapple, dragon fruit and pomelo. Lots of photos were taken of course!
Came back and had breakfast with Aaron before going to the pool for a few hours. Was pure bliss just to relax and swim when we wished. At some stage after we all had a little nap we headed to the beach for a swim in the sea. To say it was slightly rough was a little bit of an understatement the under current was very strong, although we had so much fun. After the rain continued for about 30 minutes we decided to head back to the room and before to long were back on bikes into Mui Ne for a late lunch. We decided to be very brave and eat at a local cart on the side of the road. Oh what fun we had! The food (freshly cooked bbq pork in a roll with salad) was great. Aaron believes its the tastiest food he's had since being in Vietnam. Of course it was washed down with the local beer. The rain continued so we camped under an umbrella and had more beers. Took lots of photos and gave up counting how many "hellos" we said. In the end Aaron managed to get our beers cool as there was no way we were going to drink them with ice.
Was fantastic just sitting watching the world go by, saw so many different and exciting things. For the first time I saw 5 people on a bike. After 3 beers, needing the bathroom and the rain stopping we said out thank you's and goodbyes and made for the hotel. Along the way we stopped and spoke to a couple of groups of students. Some were eager to talk to us, others were not and run away. We remember growing up being told not to speak to strangers so didn't blame the children running away from us. We got back to the hotel just in time for the last 15 minutes of the wine and cheese evening, although no cheese was consumed.
We had the Christmas gala dinner this evening, due to the rain it was moved from pool side to indoors. We had the pleasure of listening to an international choir from HCMC and a Filipino band. Dinner was a buffet of international food, we got our fix of hot ham and turkey. The dessert buffet was huge, at least 8 different types of cake of which Aaron tried every single one. There was even an attempt of pavola. Not quite up to the kiwi standard but a good try.
We had a sleep in on Christmas Day which was great then breakfast before spending the day by the pool swimming, reading and dozing. Pure bliss! Didn't really feel like Christmas Day. The sun wasn't out and for some stupid reason we didn't put sun block on until about 2 hours of being out, needless to say we all have patches of red on us.
There was a brunch of Japanese business men who starting drinking around 11.30am, Tiger beer and tequila, far too early for us to even think about having a drink. The noise of their laughter and chat increased as the drinks continued.
We had the choir come to sing for us early afternoon, they certainly love the Christmas carols here. Mid afternoon we cracked open a bottle of lindeur (NZ Champagne) I'd brought over from NZ, good to have a bit of kiwiana on Christmas Day.
Early evening we took the hotel shuttle into Mui Ne for dinner and a look around. The restaurant we ate at had a Santa who was standing on the side of the road trying to get customers in. We were fortunate enough to receive a small present (lollies) from him and from the restaurant a bracelet with our names embroidered into it.
Boxing Day I wasn't at all well and believe it was the rice dish I had eaten last night, Ange and Aaron headed off to the market then to visit the sand dunes, while I rested. We had no water in our room for around 3 hours, not good when you have been sick........thankfully it was sorted in the end after lots of digging outside our room. We checked out of the room around 12.30pm and spent the rest of our time at the resort by the pool. I slept a lot of the time and was thankful we could use the spa's showers before the bus journey back to HCMC.
Around 4.30pm we went and stood on the road waiting for the bus back to HCMC. I was amazed at the amount of people who had helmets on their head but not done up. What is the use in having them at all????
After flagging down every bus that went by a large minivan finally turned up, we were excited it was to be a smaller vehicle to HCMC. Hopefully we'll get there in quicker time than we did coming to Mui Ne. After mucking around in Mui Ne to collect people we were on our way, we couldn't have been further from the truth. The driver was driving super slowing, we could have pushed fasted!!!! He loved looking left and right but not too much of straight ahead looking. Aaron could see petrol was low so we wondered if we were driving slow to save petrol......oh dear its going to be a long drive. The majority of the time the driver struggled to go faster than 50kms. Thankfully he wasn't on his horn the whole journey. After awhile we stopped for petrol then were off again. We were amazed there were some push bikes and motorbikes that didn't have lights on, super dangerous given it was pitch black. We had 2 locals on the bus with us, one spoke very small English but fluent Russian he said. Again we were amazed at how much Mui Ne and we're sure Vietnam is catering to the Russians. Finally made it back to HCMC, jumped in a cab and Aaron had to guide him to our hotel. He had no idea where he was going, thankfully Aaron knew otherwise who knows how long it would have taken us to get back to the hotel.
Saturday morning we were up before the sun, 3.30am to catch our 6.10am flight back to HK. The hotel kindly ordered us a taxi for 4am, and within 10 minutes we were at the airport. Far too early but hey we're here now. I was quite amazed how many people were out and about at this crazy hour, shouldn't they be at home sleeping? Checking in was rather slow, we're not use to having to line up with everyone else :). Ange had her last bit of Vietnamese food, pho, while Aaron and I went for something more western but safer on the stomach for me. We had a good flight back to HK, all slept at some stage which was wonderful!
Hope this finds everyone well and enjoying the holiday season. Next trip is tomorrow, Sunday December 28th, to China for 1 week.
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