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Vietnam - April 2016

Arrival in Ho Chi Minh

From Cambodia we booked a bus to take us over the land border into Vietnam. This was a simple border crossing with minimal fuss. We were granted a free 15 day visa on arrival. Our first stop was in Ho Chi Minh city which was so much cleaner than anywhere we had visited in Cambodia. At night the city came to life and we discovered lots of interesting places to eat and sample some of the local dishes. The traffic was crazy and there were so many motorbikes everywhere! While we were here we visited the Chu Chi Tunnels and spent a day with a guide walking through the area and finishing up with a walk through one of the tunnels. We hadn’t made any solid plans and while we were in the city we decided to make a move to the coastal town on Mui Ne by bus.

Mui Ne

Most of the buses in Vietnam are sleeper buses whether you a re travelling during the day or not. After a long ride laying down in one of the reclining seats we were dropped off in the middle of nowhere in the coastal town of Mui Ne. After finding a family run guest house at the end of a long track we hired a scooter and took a ride down into town to check out the boats. We managed to get a puncture and stopped off at a local garage to get it fixed. We visited the fairy stream where we walked through the red and the white sand, past the limestone formations and grazing cattle. We checked out the red and white dunes outside of town and had a look around the markets. Mui Ne was an unusual place but worth a short visit even if it was only for a couple of days.

Dalat

From Mui Ne we took a bus to Dalat and got dropped off in the middle of nowhere, down a back street where one of the passengers insisted we stay at his guest house! We didn’t and took a walk down into town where we found a little guest house. There was a beautiful lake in the centre of town and lots of gardens filled with bonsai trees and flowering shrubs. We had our first taste of Vietnamese coffee! We hired a scooter and rode out to The Elephant Falls, through the coffee plantations and villages. It was a scenic ride and a fantastic walk down to the falls. We visited temples and took a cable car ride to get some decent views over Dalat. Sweet potatoes cooked over hot coals were being sold everywhere and this soon became our favourite snack!

Nha Trang

To break up the long bus ride to Hoi An we decided to stop off in Nha Trang for a few hours to have a look around. It was a bit more touristy than the other places we had visited and the beaches were packed with sun burnt tourists. We took refuge in a shopping centre for a couple of hours to escape from the heat and found a local vegetarian place to eat where it was a ‘point and order’ system because nobody spoke English. We took a long walk along the beach front taking in the sights and trying to dodge people offering sun beds for a fee. Nick accidentally left his glasses on the bus but by the time we got back to the depot they were gone! We stopped off for something to eat again before waiting at the depot for our night bus. It was the start of a long and uncomfortable night to Hoi An.

Hoi An

We arrived in Hoi An at 6:30am and soon found a little local cafe and got some herbal tea while we waited for a reasonable time to start walking to our guest house which was located on the banks of the river. After walking through the old town and across the bridge we followed the back roads to our guest house. It was too early to check into our room so we were given a couple of free push bikes to use while we waited. It was a wonderful  atmosphere in the ancient town with all the old buildings and the busy market. At night time the place came to life and was filled with beautiful coloured lanterns and lots of stalls selling delicious food. Nick booked a half day tour on a motorbike so we could see a bit more of the countryside. We even got to ride over an old bamboo bridge!  

Hue

It was another long journey from Hoi An to Hanoi so we broke the trip up and stopped off in Hue for an afternoon so we could have a look around the old city. We left our big rucksacks with the bus depot and took a walk across the big bridge to the old town. It wasn’t long before we were approached by an old toothless guy on a cyclo who offered us a tour. It was much easier with someone who could point out some of the old buildings tucked away. We were both glad we were not walking all that way and ended up giving the guy a big tip at the end because he’d worked hard pushing us around. There were times when I thought he wasn’t going to make it up the hills! Poor guy! There was a vegetarian place selling buffet style dishes and noodle soup so we stopped there before climbing aboard the night bus.

Hanoi

It was a rough night on the night bus and we arrived in the city of Hanoi at 6:30am in the pouring rain. We had been told the bus was dropping us off somewhere else so we’d booked our guest house in the middle of town thinking that it would be a short walk. In the end we had to take a taxi and wake the owners of the hotel up to let us in. Our room was very dark and dirty but it would do for the short time we were planning on being there. There was a beautiful lake to walk around and lots of markets to visit. There was also plenty of vegetarian friendly places to eat and we found a few really good places tucked away. Here we discovered a nice place called Jalus offering a vegan menu and the best chai tea we’ve had in a long time!

Halong Bay

While we were in Hanoi we decided to book a day tour to Halong Bay instead of spending a night on one of the boats. It was a long drive there and after a long time waiting to board the tiny boat we were ushered on board. As the boat started to motor away from the shore we all sat down for lunch in a small room with a couple of long plastic tables. Lunch was a selection of stir fried dishes, tofu, scrambled egg in a tomato sauce, rice, steamed fish and cabbage. Our boat ran out of fuel and after a fuel barge filled up the tank we stopped off and took a boat ride through some tunnels. Our second stop was at some caves that had recently been discovered. In the end our trip was cut short for some reason and after a long drive back to the city we were taken to the lake and everyone had to find their own way back to their guest houses and hotels!