Vietnam 2007

Vietnam August 4-12

(If you cannot see the images below, the full document is available at: http://www.mattgranger.com/files/Vietnam2007.pdf )

A few quick things about Saigon: the traffic – it’s insane. There are SO many motorcycles. The footpaths are not busy like Hong Kong or Tokyo, but the roads are madness. And the taxi drivers – they may save fuel, but there must be a booming gearbox repair trade – they start in second gear, and are in fourth by about 30kms per hour. This is in there 15 year old Korean 4 cylinder cars too. The prices – I don’t care what the media says, Vietnam is still a total bargain, and the people are really friendly.

Day 1 – Saturday August 4

After a good flight with Jetstar we arrived in Saigon around 20.30 and took a taxi to the city. The flock of cabbies trying to direct us into their cars was a bit off putting, but we found one and got the half hour ride for about $6. We checked into the Phan Lam guest house – it was nice for just $13 per night. Tom, a friend of a friend came to meet us at the hostel. He is an Aussie working in Saigon. After taking us to a travel agent to organise a few tours, we went to the GoGo bar on the main tourist street of district one. It was playing songs like Khe Sahn, and is apparently owned by the state.

Tom had his motorbike, and we hired a second driver and took a tour around the city. Sarah rode with Tom and I went with the other chap. It was really great riding around seeing the city for half an hour, a nice way to get introduced to Vietnam.

Day 2 – Sunday August 5

Up at 7am and out by 8. We took a cab to a tailor that was recommended to me - it was very nice and the quality looked great, but it was a bit too fancy (expensive) for what I was after. We went for a walk and grabbed our first bowl of Pho (Vietnamese noodle soup). We both got Pho Ba, with sliced beef. It was at a fairly dodgy roadside joint, very cheap and delicious.

We walked around and checked out the Notre Dame Cathedral that the French built there – a much smaller and simpler version to the real one in Paris. There was surprisingly a lot of neon used as backdrops for the iconography and statues. Across the road was a beautiful old post office also.

Next we headed to the Reunification Palace and caught the 11am tour. The palace was nice, but the tour was fairly dull. There was an interesting variety of styles of decoration and furnishings – including 50s kitsch, standard issue communist greys and flamboyant excess. There were also a lot of animal parts on display. The info about its role in the war and the reunification was interesting, but a little light on in the tour.

We headed to Ngon for our lunch, which is a really nice and cheap place that was recommended to us by friends. There was a long queue but we were lucky to get a table in only 5 minutes. The air conditioning system there was very interesting, and actually quite common in Saigon – they had tiny jets of mist that sprayed out in front of the powerful fans, which added moisture to the air – not something you really need at 95-100% humidity, but it did cool the place down. I had a 500g river crab – cost around AUD$11!

It started raining over lunch so we caught a cab to Saigon Square, a place famous for buying clothing and DVDs. It is a cross between an upscale market and a very cheap department store – two stories of maybe 150 stalls, undercover and with an escalator, selling a range of imitation designer goods and cheap movies. The single DVDs were under $1 each, and the box sets were around $2.50 per disc.

We walked home via a couple of markets – they were fun but too crowded and hot.

We went looking for tailors again around our hostel, after looking at several we chose a family owned one where the staff were very friendly and we got to chat with the tailor himself. I ordered 1 suit and three shirts that he was going to make copies from my favourite from home.

We went back to the travel agent to book travel to and from Nha Trang. We went to Pho 24 for dinner, was nice but really mainstream.

Day 3 – Monday August 6

Up early again to the travel agent by 8 to Chu Chi tunnels. It was a LONG bus ride; we stopped on the way at the Cao Dai Temple. I couldn’t really understand the tour guides narration, but it seems that the Cao Dai religion incorporates a number of different religions. It was nice, but after 3 or 4 hours on the bus we only had 30 minutes to look around before getting back on the bus to a traditional arts centre that is run by victims of Agent Orange.

We stopped at a roadside diner for lunch. I had self rolled rice rolls – strangely they use cold water to make then, and they keep the papers a bit crunchy compared to what I was used to – took some adjustment, but I grew to love it.

Next to the Chu Chi tunnels - it was really interesting to see it. The different traps and weaponry was really amazing, as was the complicated network of tiny tunnels the army used in the south. We went into the tunnel, but it was not the original. They remade a section for tourist that was 20cms wider and higher than the original, but I was still rubbing against the walls and had to crawl through sections. You can see how tiny some it was – in the picture below the guide is kneeling beside one of the original entrances to the tunnel – so small a child could barely get through.

After more bus travel home we went to a casual dinner near the hostel. It was nice but all the street sellers were coming in to hassle us to buy books and chewing gum. Sarah got a massage from one of the guys riding around on push bikes that shake a string of bottle tops to indicate they are masseuses.

We went back to the travel agent to check on our trains to Nha Trang and found one was in the 6 bed room which we heard was insufferable, so we changed to flying home on the Friday with Air Vietnam. Next to the tailor and my suit was ready and perfect – no alterations needed. Two of the shirts were done too. Sarah placed an order for her boyfriend off measurements, and then we headed home to sleep.

Day 4 – Tuesday August 7

Up early and checked out at 7am. We got the bus heading towards the Mekong Delta – another long and sweaty day on the bus. We caught a 20 person boat to Unicorn Island to try different local produce – and I held a python.

Was fun; then to another island to a coconut candy factory – really delicious. Then to lunch – not delicious at all. We wandered around the island then caught the speed boat back to Saigon. We broke down a couple of times – was fairly worrying as we had a train to catch. The parts of the river were so dirty the water was totally black.

We caught the train around 10pm, sharing a 4 person sleeper room with a mother and daughter.

Day 5 – Wednesday August 8

We slept reasonably well, and arrived around 5.30am. We were overrun with people trying to get us into their hotels and cabs… it was really overwhelming. The city (Nha Trang) was really beautiful though. We ended up choosing a hotel just because we were trying to dodge one very pushy guy.

We hired two motorbike drivers to take us around for the day. We visited an extraordinarily weird oceanographic museum, which featured rotting carcasses of actual sea life, and a huge room of preserved specimens. Bizarre.

Next to a huge Buddha statue, a Hindu temple and I got a cut throat razer shave and we both got ear cleans – with dirty rusty instruments… luckily no ear infections.

That night we realised we were very sunburnt. So we sought solace in a delicious seafood dinner. We picked the items from tanks – four enormous prawns and a lobster to share. The 1kg lobster cost around $40 and the prawns around $9.

Day 6 – Thursday August 9

We arranged to take an island hopping boat tour off the coast of Nha Trang – it was US$6pp including lunch and transfers. The picked us up at 9am, and then transferred to a very crowded boat (the “Mama Linh”) for snorkelling and site seeing. First up we went snorkelling – it was ok, but not a patch on Phi Phi Island in Thailand or the Gold Coast. It was nice to have a swim but the sea life was not that impressive. Next we had lunch on the boat, then some drinks in the ocean at a ‘water bar’ – it was fairly dodgy red wine and pineapple served from a dingy, but hey – when in Rome…

Next up was an even dodgy-er aquarium – so crappy we didn’t bother going through the main hall. We did get a lovely shot in the fake clamshell though.

That evening we took Cyclo (bush bike with a carriage seat at the front) rides along the water front, and out to a recommended restaurant. We went there as the hotel recommended it as a place to try Snake meat. Unfortunately they did not have it that day, so we had a big steamed fish to share. After I was still hungry, so I got a plate of steamed baby abalone from the markets for about AUD$3.5!!

Day 7 – Friday August 10

We had a relaxing day planned – I mean snorkelling and shopping really takes it out of you! J

We went to the large local market and we both bought some presents. Afterwards we both went for a manicure and pedicure. It was my first time – and it was fairly nice, but I made quite a spectacle as evidently they do not get many men in that place. Also, I guess, because I asked them to paint some pretty flowers on my toe nails – not bad seeing we had major language barriers. I mean Sarah got her nails all painted and buffed in the price – it seemed fair to get to of mine prettied up! J

We had a really rushed lunch at a fancy local place, I had another lobster and Sarah had beef noodles (and entrée of rice rolls to share).

That ended up being a scary day. Sarah had a red rash on her neck since Thursday night, and started to feel unwell on the plane back to Saigon – eventually she was sick. When we landed she felt faint, and had to sit on the bus to the airport from the landing strip. The cab ride home was pretty sketchy too.

She picked herself up to meet some friends at the famous Rex Hotel in the city (for the record – not THAT nice a hotel, it is just the history of the place – and it is about 5 – 7 times more expensive than other nice restaurants), but she didn’t last long. Poor thing was sick again and actually blacked out. I was so worried that she had something serious. We went straight home and got her settled. By sleep time she had stopped vomiting and was holding down water – and no temperature. It was a restless night though, wondering how she would pull up the next day. I had visions of finding her in a cold sweat, needing hospitalisation.

Day 8 – Saturday August 11

Luckily that was not the case, and by morning Sarah was feeling marginally better. She still couldn’t really eat, but she could drink again. After a wander in the morning whilst she rested, we set off to Saigon square again for more DVDs and shopping. We went to a recommended restaurant for exotic meats. Here is the part of the email vegetarians or those with weak stomachs may wish to stop reading.

I was so happy to find a HUGE array of meats on the menu, and all at bargain prices. They had everything from deep fried scorpions (80c a piece), 5 spiced medicinal cow and goat penis, kangaroo, crocodile, ostrich, deer, etc. I opted for a simpler set – and managed to squeeze in three types of meat I had never tried before. (See below)

On the left below is grilled dove – turtle dove to be precise. It was fine – like a quail or spitchcock, but a gamier taste. It came with a chilli salt for dipping. It was nice. On the right… actually – I will save that for last.

Below is Snake Hotpot. I was disappointed with snake – this one was very rubbery, and only a skerrick of meat on it – all cartilage and skin. The soup was nice, and it was interesting – and the meat was tasty for what there was, but the texture made it unsatisfying for me. Now back to the item above right – which was an absolute stand out. It is grilled field rat; and it was fantastic. The meat tasted like pork, it was soft, juicy and really flavoursome – aided by the excellent spices they grilled it with. Honestly, it was fantastic. And best of all, for all of that, plus several drinks each and rice, it was about AUD$15 for the lot.

We wrapped up the day with hair washes in Saigon – a 50 minute process including face massage and neck and shoulders, for about $2.50. Then we both got haircuts – for about $3.50. Mine was good (they actually got a stylist to come in from another salon – he arrived on his scooter 10 minutes later). Finally I picked up a ‘copy’ of the Lonely Planet guide to China (to start planning next trip) – haggling it down from 200,000 dong to 80,000 (or about $6) – but I probably still over paid.

That’s the trip! I will wrap it up in lucky 13 pages. Sorry the photos are low quality, I really compressed them to keep the document small – you can always contact me for a high resolution version, copies are available for purchase from the office. J Cheers and happy travels!