Our time in Vietnam

While Cambodia is the bomb, Vietnam is the business (or bussiness, as they frequently write in China). The place is filled with people ready, willing and eager to sell you anything you might possibly want or need. A day trip, custom made shoes, drugs, transport, bread, whatever - no problem! This is can be very handy when you need something, but a little overwhelming when you don't.

We arrived in central Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon as everyone still calls it) after dark and within an hour we had acquired a convenient hotel room, a cheap book on Beijing, a day trip to the Mekong Delta, a tasty meal and a couple of beers, and we didn't have to stray more than 100 meters from where our bus stopped. Saigon is a crazy hectic place with insane traffic and hoards of people everywhere. Quite fun, but a little much. The next morning we were in a boat, steaming down the Mekong river, dodging junks, freighters, towboats, rowboats, ferries and barges carrying all manner of people and merchandise. In the Delta we checked out coconut candy making, bee farming (I held the bees, yeeeshk!) and the traditional way of life down there before chowing down on some awesomely tasty elephant-ear fish in fresh spring rolls.

The next day we were off again, on a flight to Nha Trang which isn't a remarkable place, but does have quite a nice beach and a very cooling sea-breeze. We didn't stay there long, only a day and a half. We just had time to buy new bikinis and do some light tanning (until it started to rain). Then came a miserable night spent on a "sleeper" bus to Hoi An. The only people doing any sleeping in that contraption were Vietnamese ladies. Everyone else was much to tall to get even remotely comfortable in the short bunks. It was intensely unpleasant. Ironically, the make of the bus was called King Long! We do not recommend night bus travel in order to save daylight. You just end up arriving somewhere completely knackered and needing to nap for half the day. Which is exactly what we did for our first few hours in Hoi An.

Then we went out do explore the place. And what a place it is! The old town, by the river, with hardly any traffic and loads of charming restaurants and bars, and shops selling silk lanterns all lit up in beautiful colours. So pretty, so peaceful, so friendly, so tasty, so nice! Heaven! The next four days were mainly spent wandering around town, eating AMAZING food, drinking fresh beer and exclaiming; "oh, this is so nice, I love it here!". The food! Have I mentioned the food? Grilled fish in banana leaf, juicy and flavoursome. Fresh spring rolls in transparent rice paper, stuffed with fresh vegetables and juicy meat, served with a sweet, spicy dipping sauce. Hotpot, fish and veg, boiled in a tasty broth, served over coals. Moneybags, chicken mince, peanuts, ginger and all sorts of yumminess deep fried in little rice paper parcels. Cao Lau, only available in Hoi An, fat rice noodles with juicy pork and rice paper fritters in a hearty pork broth. All unbelievably tasty and yummy and good.

In between all the eating and drinking and loving the place, we also managed to find time to explore the ruins at My Son, lounge by the pool and have silk clothes and leather shoes made to measure. Hoi An is perfection and we are determined to go back. We were reluctant to leave but in the end we had to be on our way and take the train to Hue, which we found disappointing. To be fair to Hue, anywhere would be disappointing after Hoi An and the miserable drizzly weather wasn't doing the place any favours. We were soon on the road (well, in the air, strictly speaking) again, bound for Hanoi.

Hanoi we liked. Even though it is crowded and manic and loud and the streets are filled with scary motorbikes, it has charm. We didn't do much of note there, mainly we wondered around and took the place in. The most cultivated thing we did was go to the Museum of Ethnology which was very good. The most exciting thing was the trip back from the museum in a tuk-tuk in Hanoi rush-hour traffic, which was exciting. We also booked a trip to Halong Bay. We stayed on a beautiful big junk and cruised around the karsts and islands for 24 hours, with stops for kayaking, cave-viewing and sleep. It was amazingly beautiful, although sadly there was always a bit of a mist and the sun never came out so we did not get a chance to see the bay in all its awe-inspiring splendour. Oh well, we'll just go again on our way back to Hoi An. Anyone fancy chartering a boat with us in Halong and then sampling all the restaurants in Hoi An?

Well, that's all for now, folks. I need to get packing - off to Europe in the morning!