It's been some time since my last blog post, and take that as a sign of how hectic the tail end of Vietnam was! We left Hoi An to chase the sun, as it seemed that South East Asia had not entirely escaped the weather chaos that has been going on in Japan and the Pacific. Vietnam has been unnaturally rainy for this time of year; Hanoi and the north is meant to be cold, but down the South coast, we had high hopes of the sun finally kissing us.
Our next stop on our open bus tickets was Nha Trang; a rapidly expanding beach town, with a thriving tourist industry. But along with its thriving tourism of island tours, crazy nightlife and good food, comes the dangers. We instantly heard stories from other backpackers, about muggings and pickpocketing at night-time, especially on the beach. Given my previous bad experience in Hanoi, we had our guards up and fanny packs out! The main thing to remember is not to take anything that you don't need out, and NEVER walk home alone at night, boy or girl.
So with our alerts on, we headed to the beach for our first day of proper sunbathing since we left home! Nha Trang beach was bustling, with tourists and street sellers. It was so annoying: "Lady you want bracelet? Buy some fruit? Another beer for you?" ... NOOOOO!!! GET OUT OF OUR SUN!!!! When it got too much, we wanted to cool off in the sea, but the waves were epic. Grown men (but mainly boys) were knocked off their feet by the waves hitting the shore. The Canadian boys loved it! They turned into adrenaline junkies...or even pain junkies: they couldn't get enough. Us girls stayed well away!
As for our tans? Pfft, if only burnt skin was in fashion. We're not sure whether our malaria tablets made it worse, but our burn was tragic. I'd even been putting factor 50 on every 20 minutes. My pale skin took a beating and the sweats began...
We were lucky to meet with our lovely Irish friends for dinner and hitting the town. Food was considerably more expensive here, but the drinks deals were flowing along the main street towards the beach club. Dolled up Vietnamese girls would drag Westerners into their bars for the free beer or cocktail during Happy Hour and the music poured out onto the streets. Oasis Bar, Why Not? Bar, and the Sailing Club were the main stops of each night out, and our first night fell on the Full Moon.
After hours of sweaty, non-stop dancing at Sailing Club's Full Moon Beach Party, I stumbled home with Rachel and Sinead, craving a sandwich, but spotting faults with EVERY street stall: suspect meat or crawling ants! We made it home safe and happy.
Sadly, the same couldn't be said for Sean. He'd walked home by himself, only being a few blocks away and had been approached by a prostitute offering her services. He declined, but she backed him into a corner, and before he knew it, her two male friends had jumped him, knocking him to the floor and holding a gun to his stomach. He threw them his remaining cash, which they scrambled on the floor for, and then ran. Obviously he was shaken up, making it home in one piece, but it scared us all. My view of Nha Trang had been tainted. One bad experience can ruin a whole opinion, and it really is a shame.
We still ended up going out 3 of the nights, but always being careful and walking home in groups. Vinpearl Island: Nha Trang's huge water theme park resort, was top of our list for day trips. It was awesome! We took a cable car from the mainland for 30mins out over the sea towards the huge, white, Hollywood-style 'VINPEARL' sign erected on the lush green island. Once there, we were confronted by rollercoasters, arcades, and a great selection of waterslides which kept us busy for about 8 hours! We ran around like little children, playing on the arcade games, watching 4D films, and spinning on the teacups. It was brilliant! We didn't get to go on all the slides, as they had some strange traffic light system going, where only half the rides were open at one time, but we were all slid out by the end.
It was the end of Nha Trang for us, and we headed off to Mui Ne (the quieter beach option) for a bit of sun lounging and treating ourselves. It was a lot quieter, and almost too quiet compared to Nha Trang! A tiny beach town, spread along 10 km of white sands, famous for watersports and the nearby picture perfect sand-dunes.
We embraced the laid back atmosphere and chilled by the beach with some new buddies we met on the bus. After an early night of a couple of Tiger beers on the beach, we set off for our sand dune adventure! Typically, the weather was a disappointment again. it wasn't raining, but it was windy and i mean gale force windy, especially on the dunes!
Before the dunes we stopped off at a smelly but picturesque fishing village, and the fairy streams. Annabel paid to ride an Ostrich, but my conscience kicked in when I saw the small pen and the lack of feathers on the bird's wings. I know I rode an elephant in Chiang Mai, so maybe its double standards, but I just wouldn't enjoy it! Give me one in the wild, running through the dunes...and I'll be game!
The dunes were awesome! It was still cloudy, and we didn't get our Kodak Sunset as promised, but it was still an experience. It was too painful for my liking though, as the wind caused the sand to whip us in the face and body, constantly. There was sand in my ears, my eyes, my mouth and nose. It was like taking a physical beating from the sand! We even went sand boarding down the dunes, me head first, and got sand all the way down my front. But...it was worth it! After many cliched 'jump' photos in front of our cloudy sunset...we headed home and crashed, ready and rested for Saigon.
Saigon, where do I start? Well, I won't bore you with too much history, as there is so much to tell. The important thing to know, is that after the communists beat Southern Vietnam during the war, Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City, after you know who! Bar the few remaining French named roads (after famous Frenchmen like Louis Pasteur) all the roads were renamed also. HCMC underwent huge renovations under the communist rule, and is often described as a city of great contrasts due to its spectrum of communist ideology and thriving capitalist culture.
We were both instantly impressed with the city. It could be likened to Hanoi, but it was cleaner and less packed. The street were quite wide, and whilst the traffic was still typically Vietnamese (ie. mental) it was easier to deal with than up in the capital. What was also quite good for us, was that there was a main backpacker area with all the hostels and cheap restaurants! We stayed on Bui Vien at Thaun Anh Guest House, where we were loved by the Vietnamese women running it. This was partly because they thought we were beautiful, but mainly because they thought we were hilarious due to a cockroach incident...
Annabel and I were getting ready for an early bedtime, and getting undressed (it was so hot in our room that we were sleeping topless), when I look on the floor and see a HUGE cockroach. "BAAAAAAAAAAAH!" I screamed, as there is one thing that really grosses me out, and that is cockroaches. Spiders can be creepy, wasps I just avoid, but cockroaches are the scum of the earth! There was no way I could sleep knowing that a cockroach was there. For one thing, they fly! Nope, I was getting help. So I ran down stairs (clothed obviously), all red in the face and attempted to explain my predicament to the two women. It turns out that the Vietnamese don't understand the word 'cockroach', so in my panic I did the most ridiculous impression of a cockroach that I could think of, putting my hands together and wiggling my fingers franticly through the air. The women just stared at me in amusement. Eventually one of them got it, and followed me upstairs with a can of pesticide. Despite spraying the bugger, and leaving us in peace, the lady did not kill our unwanted roomate. I'd finally calmed down when it only flew out from behind a bed and landed on my pillow! I flipped again, and after Annabel's futile attempts and killing it by throwing a flip flop, went back down to get our lady. This time, it took two of them. One of them used a bag to pick it up in one swoop from my pillow, while the other laughed and looked under beds. "Not your friend?!" they laughed as we both cowered in the corner of our beds. They said we were ok, but after they left, I wasn't so sure...
Of course there was another! Scuttling out from my bag. I screamed again (and yes, by this time, even I thought I was being pathetic) and the women actually heard me from downstairs and came to our aid. They pounced on the creature with their bare hands, and found another before leaving. "We are moving rooms!" I said...and luckily, the next day, we did. Still, we were pretty famous at the hotel, and despite the minor infestation, we still loved the place.
We got our bearings and explored the city, hitting the market first of course. I finally got the hang of bartering and got myself some jewellry and some 'Weasel' coffee (made through a weasel, if you get my drift). It's an easy city to get around, and within a day we'd walked along our own little tour, including the main sights of the Reunification Palace and the famous War Remnants Museum.
This was the main place of intrigue for me. We'd met the Irish girls again the night before, and heard just how emotional the photographs and information in this museum was, that it moved some people to tears. Being a history geek, I was still itching to get there. Outside the building, were American tanks and fighter planes, and an outdoor replica of the horrific tiger cages (prisons of torture). Inside the museum, were the main exhibitions depicting the untold horrors and casualties of the war. 'Requiem' by Vietnam photojournalist Tim Page, showed a collection of war photographs taken by international journalists, wanting to portray the lesser seen footage of the war.
The scenes depicted were heartbreaking. Photographs of women, children and babies, piled up dead on the ground almost brought me to tears. Snapshots of devastated villages torn apart by flaming bombs, and peasant civilians kneeling on the ground, pleading with soldiers, moments before being shot. There was a whole exhibition dedicated to highlighting the dangers of Agent Orange (chemical bombs including Dioxin) showing the long-term effects on the Vietnamese people. Children today are still being born with disabilities due to their grand parents being subjected to the gases. This was what was so unique about the museum: it didn't glorify the weapons, planes, or soldiers but showed the real tragedy of war, pain and death.
It was an exhausting experience, but well worth it. The next day we had the Cu Chi tunnels, where we played out the roles of the Viet Cong and explored the vast underground network of tunnels, built as a stronghold against the American troops. Full of bamboo boobie traps, and hidden passages, these tunnels were home to the local Viet Cong soldiers, who could navigate their way around and trick the opposition. We climbed through the 200m long tunnel underground, sweating in the heat, but ploughing on through the claustrophobia (the tunnels had even been made bigger for tourists so I dread to think how much smaller they were!). As a touristy gimic, we treated ourselves to 5 bullets each in an AK47 at the shooting range! We were AWESOME! It was a very cool day, and we feel a lot more educated now!
Obviously there was still drinking. Saigon's nightlife was a little too expensive though. We had a couple of good ones in the backpacker area, and explored one of the weird Vietnamese nightclubs, but it wasn't a patch on Nha Trang or Hanoi.
Anyway, thats a wrap for Vietnam! It's been eventful and jam packed for sure, but it still wasn't what we expected. For a country that has had so much war and political turmoil, Vietnam is becoming a lot more touristy. Good for Vietnam I guess, but we thought we'd see a lot more local villages and get down and dirty. Still, it's the backpacker trail, and it's been a hell of a lot of fun. So now all that has to be said is...GOOD EVENING VIETNAM!!!!
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