Laos to Vietnam is quite a transition with the roads becoming increasingly manic, piles of rice spread out along the roads to dry out and the landscape dotted with people fishing or harvesting wearing the traditional conical straw hats. Our first stop in Vietnam is Hue. We arrive later than expected but after a few phone calls to our friendly and helpful hotel they arrange a selection of snacks and beverages to munch on before we take our weary bodies to bed.
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| Rice drying on the road |
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| Simon & Jo inspecting the rice |
A tour of the DMZ, the De-militarized Zone is arranged for the next day. Here you can see the Vinh Moc tunnels where people lived during the Vietnam war. Although conditions were cramped they had everything they needed to survive, including a hospital that was fairly rudimentary, but anything is better than nothing. We also learnt how they moved supplies from north to south by boat out to an island during the night and sunk the boats during the day to avoid detection. After the tunnels we then went on to Khe-sahn one of the American fire bases which was heavily fought over and even captured by the Viet Cong.
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| Khe Sanh |
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| American bombs left at Vinh Moch |
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| Bomb shells at Khe Sanh |
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| DMZ tourers |
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| Julie, Simon, Andy & Yvonne at Vinh Moch tunnels |
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| Julie, Pernille, Yvonne, Simon, Andy, Phil, Dav, Becs, Louise & Jo at the DMZ |
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| US chopper in the DMZ |
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| Yvonne, Dav, Becs & Lou |
Thankfully our next drive day to Hoi An is incredibly short! On the way we stop for a quick break at a marble statue shop where some of us considered the shipping costs of sending one of the magnificent sculptures home. Not long after arriving at our hotel Alex, Fiona, Spike, Dav, Andy and Julie dash out to arrange tailor made clothing. Sir Spike had the same tailor in mind that he visited some years ago with his daughter and was most pleased to find they were still up and running and able to fashion an identical pair of his favourite shorts.
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| Teresa rubbing the Buddha's belly for luck |
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| Yvonne considers purchasing something for the garden back home |
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| Incredible bridge enroute to Hoi An |
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| Mahala at the tailors |
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| Andy is pleased with the first shirt that has ever fit him properly! |
Cooking courses, shopping and eating were all on the itinerary as well as hiring bikes and scooters to zip down the beach for sunbathing and swimming. The best thing about our hotel was the free cocktail hour, which brought everyone back together in the evening to play pool and consume the delicious rum and banana smoothie type cocktails that we all learnt to love! Spike Andy and Julie had a great day diving whilst in Hoi An, Andy so much so that he went again the next day.
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| Hoi An harbour |
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| Julie karate chopping a fish |
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| Spike |
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| We found Nemo! |
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| All OK with Andy |
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| Hoi An beach |
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| Dav, Yvonne & Jim |
Jo and myself missed out on an evening’s cocktail drinking when we went on a motorbike food tour. We didn’t mind though because we were shown all the best places to eat in Hoi An and tried many different foods that we probably wouldn’t have thought to before, including a boiled duck egg in its developing embryo stages! Everywhere we went was full of local people so we knew we were experiencing the best of Hoi An food and being lead by two Vietnamese English students trying to improve their language skills was great fun.
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| Hoi An market |
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| Jo is ready to go! |
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| Jo with our tour guides |
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| Local delicacy that is good for the heart - duck eggs at embryonic stage |
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| A closer look at the egg... |
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| Our guides enjoying the eggs |
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| Teresa enjoying |
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| Teresa not enjoying quite so much! |
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| Streetside food stalls |
Even though Hoi An is a fantastic place we were excited to leave because the next destination was Jungle Beach! Run by a French- Canadian man called Sylvio who spends his time wandering around in just a sarong and barking into an iPhone, Jungle Beach is a magical slice of paradise. Sleeping in simple bamboo huts with no air conditioning just a few metres away from a quiet secluded beach scattered with bamboo shelters for shade, it feels like getting back to basics. Snorkels were free to take as well as surf boards and hammocks were strung outside every hut, shack, shelter and tree. This is proper chill time. We didn’t need to worry about food, it got served at the same time every day, and when the sun set and the hour turned to Rum o’clock we head down to the beach for bonfires and night swimming where the phosphorescent algae glows and sparkles like an underwater disco light show.
From the peace and tranquillity of Jungle Beach we head to the hectic, buzzing city of Ho Chi Minh, previously known as Saigon. A tour out to the Cu Chi Tunnels was top of the list of things to see. These tunnels were different from the Vinh Moc tunnels as they were used for hiding and moving around undetected and therefore were a lot smaller. The War Remnants museum was another must-see. Reports from other people that had been there before let most know that it wasn’t going to be “enjoyable” but there is really nothing anyone that can say to prepare you for the horrors that you see within this modern looking museum. The ground floor gives a gentle introduction to the history of the Vietnam War and as you ascend the stairs to the floors above the information and visual aids get increasingly harrowing. I highly recommend that everyone who comes to this city at least visit this one museum if nothing else. On a lighter note Fiona and Al and the girls (Pernille, Becs and Lou) found a small cinema in the street close to our hotel so as a fun, mood lightening activity some of us tagged along to go the see “The Worlds End” starring Simon Pegg. The street came alive at night with plastic chairs spilling out on to the road, bars heaving with people drinking draft beer, scooters and motorbikes buzzing past and shrill shouts of “MASSAGE! SIR!”.
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| Notre Dame, Saigon-style with Jo & Andy |
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| Scooter chaos |
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| Anna on a vespa tour of the city |
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| Vespa touring |
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| The roof of the War Remnants museum |
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| Streetside beers |
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| Phil, Simon, Yvonne & Andy |
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| Jo, Julie, Spike |
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| Is there someone behind me? Spike & Andy trying to distract Teresa |
Next stop - Cambodia!
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