Vietnam
Can't believe how slack I've been with my journal. Haven't even written much on my paper journal since I got to Vietnam. Mostly because I get too tired by the end of the day and I just can't be arsed.
Vietnam is pretty cool. Have been having a ball here. The group is very different people, but we've been getting along fine. Actually we just lost 4 people and had 4 new people today going on the Cambodia leg of our journey.
My first impression of Hanoi was chaotic. Traffic was worse than Thailand. A lot more bikes and it's a lot more noisy. My cab driver did not stop beeping the horn the whole way from the airport to the hotel. Even at nothing. I was like, shut up I'm trying to get some sleep here!
But yeah, crossing the road in Vietnam is always exciting. Near death experience almost every single time, especially in Ho Chi Minh City. And crossing the big roundabout near our hotel.. oh my god. I was surprised I came out alive.
Well, let me try to put the trip in chronological order.
On second day we went to Halong Bay, which was absolutely gorgeous. Spent the whole afternoon on the boat, having seafood lunch and swimming in the sea. Awesome. We were lucky with the weather too.. it's been raining a lot in Vietnam, but we had one beautiful sunny day.
Spent the night in the town nearby and headed back to Hanoi on the third day. We caught an overnight train to Hue that night. It was pretty good actually, better than I'd expected. Certainly better than the Romanian train! I took a motion sickness pill and was knocked out by 8.30. Had almost 12 hours sleep that night. Bliss!
Hue was interesting. An old pretty town and less bustling than Hanoi. Our hotel was within the citadel. Spent the first day walking to the market, which was pretty dodgy.. had an awesome lunch of pancake and noodle soup at a famous restaurant on the way back to the hotel (apparently listed on Lonely Planet). Had a swim at the hotel pool in the arvo, went for a guided tour of the citadel afterwards. Our guide, Mr. Tam, was a very funny guy although I got a bit annoyed when he thought I was a schoolgirl. It was raining that arvo and everyone bought a raincoat from the lady in front of the hotel. Quite an amusing sight. Went for dinner next door to the hotel that night, which was really good too.
Our second day in Hue was one of the best days I've had on this trip so far. We did the motorbike tour around the city - thank God it did not rain at all that day. We've been lucky with the weather really. Anyway it was awesome. I was scared to get on the bike at first, but soon I was fine. We rode through the countryside and made a lot of stop. Went to the monastery and had a vegetarian lunch (it wasn't all vegetables - phew!) and did a little meditation course from a monk there. The whole trip lasted for about 6 hours, and it was so much fun. We saw little kids everywhere who were very friendly and wanted to give us high fives. It really was the best day. I honestly hadn't expected to enjoy it (being on a bike and all) but I'm so glad I did it.
Next stop was Hoi An. Ohh, Hoi An. I love the ancient little town. It has a really nice feel to it.. very quiet lanes, with old houses.. it was a little like Asian Cesky Krumlov. And the shopping! There were tailors everywhere and we spent the whole time there getting clothes made (and shoes, and bags..). I had not expected to buy so much but now my pack is full and last time I weighed it was over 16 kilos. Damn. I don't know how I'm gonna take all that stuff back to Indonesia as I've already left a pretty big duffel bag in Bangkok.
But how could I resist? Custom made tops for around $8. Pants for just over $10... shoes, jackets... Some of them are not of the best quality, but they're so cheap you can't really complain.
Anyways, moving on. We caught a flight to Saigon aka Ho Chi Minh City the next day. It was a pretty short flight - only took about an hour. We had a late lunch at a famous Pho place nearby the hotel (the one Bill Clinton went to when he was here in 2000), then it was free time for the rest of the arvo. I went to the market to buy sunnies (I lost them somewhere in Hoi An!) then headed back for a dip in the hotel pool.
We went for dinner that night at the "backpackers land" - quite a long walk. The restaurant had moved recently, and Huy (our leader) didn't know that. We walked for a good half an hour there, or just about. I wasn't too happy because I had a big laundry bag with me which I had meant to drop off before dinner. Huy told us there was a place closer to our hotel but when we finished dinner it was 10PM and they were closed when we got there (after stepping through the dirty water on the street - gross). Oh, and I had to wait for an hour for my burger that night. Wasn't my best night.
The next morning Nicole and I walked to the laundry place before we went on the tour to Cu Chi, but it was still closed. Duh. Was getting really annoyed. But anyways... the trip to Cu Chi was interesting. I must admit I didn't know much about the history of Vietnam, but I learned quite a bit that day. The underground tunnels were certainly not for the claustrophobic, but it was an interesting experience.
We went back to HCMC in the arvo, and after lunch we went on cyclo tour around the city. Some things to remember were the neon sign in the cathedral (including the halo above Virgin Mary's head). Funky. But the real eye opener was the visit to the War Remnant Museum. Very sad. I began to understand why they hate Americans. Rightly so. The stories about what the US troops did to the people in Vietnam, including women and children, were inhuman. I don't know if I'd want to come here if I was American. The worse thing is that the very same thing is probably going on in Iraq right now and 10 years from now there will be the same museum there. And it's always the bloody Americans isn't it. I mean, no offense to most Americans I know - they're great people. I just can't stand the government.
Anyways. Had our farewell dinner that night. It was a fun night. We went to this restaurant which serves weird stuff (goat's penis, anyone? Or what about scorpions?). We had BBQ and prawns. I mean, live prawns, grilled in front of us. Wasn't the best sight. But in the end, I ate it anyway.
Went to a rooftop bar afterwards for a cocktail (or for me, mocktail) and on to another bar at the backpackers place afterwards. The Austrian girls left early because they had to leave very early the next day. Amanda and I left at around 1.30. Was too tired. The rest of them kept going until 5.30ish, apparently. And most of them stayed in bed until past midday, with bad hangover. I went for lunch with Nicole, Luke and Amanda at an Italian restaurant. The food was beautiful.
Went for our group meeting at 6, and had dinner with Kerryn and Nicole (their last night with us) at backpackers place (again). Had western food again, which was awesome. Early night last night.
Today we had an 8 hour bus ride (well, almost 10 really since we wasted 1.5 hours going back to the hotel because someone had left his passport), including a short ferry ride. It wasn't too bad.
Had dinner at a restaurant nearby, and some of the guys went on cyclo ride around town. I'm here with a couple other girls.
Time for bed. Early start tomorrow. Cambodia, here we come!
Vietnam is pretty cool. Have been having a ball here. The group is very different people, but we've been getting along fine. Actually we just lost 4 people and had 4 new people today going on the Cambodia leg of our journey.
My first impression of Hanoi was chaotic. Traffic was worse than Thailand. A lot more bikes and it's a lot more noisy. My cab driver did not stop beeping the horn the whole way from the airport to the hotel. Even at nothing. I was like, shut up I'm trying to get some sleep here!
But yeah, crossing the road in Vietnam is always exciting. Near death experience almost every single time, especially in Ho Chi Minh City. And crossing the big roundabout near our hotel.. oh my god. I was surprised I came out alive.
Well, let me try to put the trip in chronological order.
On second day we went to Halong Bay, which was absolutely gorgeous. Spent the whole afternoon on the boat, having seafood lunch and swimming in the sea. Awesome. We were lucky with the weather too.. it's been raining a lot in Vietnam, but we had one beautiful sunny day.
Spent the night in the town nearby and headed back to Hanoi on the third day. We caught an overnight train to Hue that night. It was pretty good actually, better than I'd expected. Certainly better than the Romanian train! I took a motion sickness pill and was knocked out by 8.30. Had almost 12 hours sleep that night. Bliss!
Hue was interesting. An old pretty town and less bustling than Hanoi. Our hotel was within the citadel. Spent the first day walking to the market, which was pretty dodgy.. had an awesome lunch of pancake and noodle soup at a famous restaurant on the way back to the hotel (apparently listed on Lonely Planet). Had a swim at the hotel pool in the arvo, went for a guided tour of the citadel afterwards. Our guide, Mr. Tam, was a very funny guy although I got a bit annoyed when he thought I was a schoolgirl. It was raining that arvo and everyone bought a raincoat from the lady in front of the hotel. Quite an amusing sight. Went for dinner next door to the hotel that night, which was really good too.
Our second day in Hue was one of the best days I've had on this trip so far. We did the motorbike tour around the city - thank God it did not rain at all that day. We've been lucky with the weather really. Anyway it was awesome. I was scared to get on the bike at first, but soon I was fine. We rode through the countryside and made a lot of stop. Went to the monastery and had a vegetarian lunch (it wasn't all vegetables - phew!) and did a little meditation course from a monk there. The whole trip lasted for about 6 hours, and it was so much fun. We saw little kids everywhere who were very friendly and wanted to give us high fives. It really was the best day. I honestly hadn't expected to enjoy it (being on a bike and all) but I'm so glad I did it.
Next stop was Hoi An. Ohh, Hoi An. I love the ancient little town. It has a really nice feel to it.. very quiet lanes, with old houses.. it was a little like Asian Cesky Krumlov. And the shopping! There were tailors everywhere and we spent the whole time there getting clothes made (and shoes, and bags..). I had not expected to buy so much but now my pack is full and last time I weighed it was over 16 kilos. Damn. I don't know how I'm gonna take all that stuff back to Indonesia as I've already left a pretty big duffel bag in Bangkok.
But how could I resist? Custom made tops for around $8. Pants for just over $10... shoes, jackets... Some of them are not of the best quality, but they're so cheap you can't really complain.
Anyways, moving on. We caught a flight to Saigon aka Ho Chi Minh City the next day. It was a pretty short flight - only took about an hour. We had a late lunch at a famous Pho place nearby the hotel (the one Bill Clinton went to when he was here in 2000), then it was free time for the rest of the arvo. I went to the market to buy sunnies (I lost them somewhere in Hoi An!) then headed back for a dip in the hotel pool.
We went for dinner that night at the "backpackers land" - quite a long walk. The restaurant had moved recently, and Huy (our leader) didn't know that. We walked for a good half an hour there, or just about. I wasn't too happy because I had a big laundry bag with me which I had meant to drop off before dinner. Huy told us there was a place closer to our hotel but when we finished dinner it was 10PM and they were closed when we got there (after stepping through the dirty water on the street - gross). Oh, and I had to wait for an hour for my burger that night. Wasn't my best night.
The next morning Nicole and I walked to the laundry place before we went on the tour to Cu Chi, but it was still closed. Duh. Was getting really annoyed. But anyways... the trip to Cu Chi was interesting. I must admit I didn't know much about the history of Vietnam, but I learned quite a bit that day. The underground tunnels were certainly not for the claustrophobic, but it was an interesting experience.
We went back to HCMC in the arvo, and after lunch we went on cyclo tour around the city. Some things to remember were the neon sign in the cathedral (including the halo above Virgin Mary's head). Funky. But the real eye opener was the visit to the War Remnant Museum. Very sad. I began to understand why they hate Americans. Rightly so. The stories about what the US troops did to the people in Vietnam, including women and children, were inhuman. I don't know if I'd want to come here if I was American. The worse thing is that the very same thing is probably going on in Iraq right now and 10 years from now there will be the same museum there. And it's always the bloody Americans isn't it. I mean, no offense to most Americans I know - they're great people. I just can't stand the government.
Anyways. Had our farewell dinner that night. It was a fun night. We went to this restaurant which serves weird stuff (goat's penis, anyone? Or what about scorpions?). We had BBQ and prawns. I mean, live prawns, grilled in front of us. Wasn't the best sight. But in the end, I ate it anyway.
Went to a rooftop bar afterwards for a cocktail (or for me, mocktail) and on to another bar at the backpackers place afterwards. The Austrian girls left early because they had to leave very early the next day. Amanda and I left at around 1.30. Was too tired. The rest of them kept going until 5.30ish, apparently. And most of them stayed in bed until past midday, with bad hangover. I went for lunch with Nicole, Luke and Amanda at an Italian restaurant. The food was beautiful.
Went for our group meeting at 6, and had dinner with Kerryn and Nicole (their last night with us) at backpackers place (again). Had western food again, which was awesome. Early night last night.
Today we had an 8 hour bus ride (well, almost 10 really since we wasted 1.5 hours going back to the hotel because someone had left his passport), including a short ferry ride. It wasn't too bad.
Had dinner at a restaurant nearby, and some of the guys went on cyclo ride around town. I'm here with a couple other girls.
Time for bed. Early start tomorrow. Cambodia, here we come!
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