Floating market during our Mekong Delta 3 day tour from Vietnam into Cambodia

HCMC Saigon - Vietnam

We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City at dusk and within a couple of hours we had worked out what we were doing for the next 3 days, how we were going to get across the border into Cambodia, and had handed our passports in to get a new visa. If we didn't have a few days to arrange our visa here, we could have gotten in at the border without any fuss. (tip) We went to the War Remnants Museum. It had a lot of horrible black and white, in your face photos, of the fighting, the torture, and the aftermath. Not very nice at all! We went and saw the Reunification Palace, which you could quite easily take it or leave it. We took motorbike taxi's to Dam Sen Park which was really crap, so leave this one. We went on a roller coaster ride (there was only 4 of us), soon to realise that it went upside down (my first time), and our bodies were in need to some reailgment afterwards. We took a morning tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels, which are 70kms north west of the city. These are a must see! You can crawl through some of it, but it is really small, hot and difficult. There are actually 200kms of tunnels that were used by the Viet Cong to fight against the Americans, and South Vietnamese. We went to the tunnels in the North of Vietnam which were actually my height. There is a great book entitled the Cu Chi Tunnels written by two English journalists who interviewed American, Vietnamese soldiers, and Guerilla's. It gives an amazing insight into what it was like for all involved. The Americans and all their weapons didn't make much of a dint against an enemy they could not see, and for such a long time, did not know where they were. Even when they discovered some tunnels, they didn't know how to fight them, and many that tried were killed by traps. The tunnels had hospitals, women gave birth to babies, they had air holes to the surface, and numerous layers of tunnels with hidden trap doors. They even had U bends in the tunnels filled with water that prevented poisinous gases getting past. Everything was primitive but highly effective. The Vietnamese even made their own hand granades from American bombs that hadn't exploded, and tin cans left as rubbish. I suggest you read the book! We took a 3 day Mekong Delta tour that also helped us cross the border into Cambodia. Tip - a one day tour would have been a little disappointing. This river has its source starting in Tibet, and runs through China, Laos and Cambodia and finishes in Vietnam. We took buses, boats, saw floating markets, rice paper making, pigs, a crocodile farm and ate snake (which was quite meaty). We spent the first night in Can Tho, and the second night in Chau Doc, near the border. We spent some time with a NZ lad called Mike (whom we had actually met in Mei Ne - a couple of towns back) and continued to into Cambodia. Ian went with him and another guy out to a disco one night and have some interesting stories about very young girl's being pimped, which Ian couldn't believe, as he has a 13 year old sister. We chose to take the slow boat across the border, which was less crowed than the fast one, and obvsioulsy less expensive. Although it took all day it was relaxing and we didn't have any problems at the border.

Chu Chi tunnels in south Vietnam, used in the war

The tunnels were so small compared to the ones in the north of the country

Chu Chi tunnels

Mei Ne - Vietnam

We were taking the last leg of our bus ticket from Nha Trang to Saigon when our bus stopped to drop people off at Mui Ne, and we had to get off to have lunch. This was enough time to decide that it would be fab to stay here, even though our ticket didn't encorporate it, that we could fit it into the itinery, and that it would only cost another US$5 each for a ticket to get us to Saigon. Its lovely here!! Quieter and smaller then Nha Trang. In hindsight we would have preferred to have spent less time in the previous town, and stayed here longer. It's surprising that it doesn't get a better write up in 'the book'. We stayed in a bungalow on the beach for two nights. There was 11 km stretch of beach outside a fishing village. There were heaps of huge resorts, which you had to question whether there was a market for them or not. We bumped into the German nurse and her family (from the bus accident in the previous town). They had decided not to spend any time in Nha Trang because of the accident and had been here for a week. We also bumped into the German guy that was also on the bus and witnessed the whole thing. Nice guys. We walked miles and mile and miles to find a locals seafood restaurant that was in 'the book', and supposed to be great. It was a slight disappointment really. We hired a motorbike (the first time that Ian had dinked me) to find some sand dunes that the area is well known for. Although we didn't actually find 'the dunes', we did find some dunes, which I assume were not as big and magnificant. We also walked up Fairy Springs which is really a stream that goes on for ages, has a very small (small) waterfall at the end, but has some facinating sand formations on one side of the stream. This is when I realised that snakes are attracted to me as we saw two in the water. Surprisingly I was OK with these encounters, and Ian was amazed by my carmness. Ian wanted to learn how to kite board on the water, but hadn't realised that you actually have to do loads of lessons, and unfortunately our two days here was not enough.

Moi Ne, fishing village

How we explored Moi Ne

Nha Trang - Vietnam

We are OK - but have been in a bus accident from Hoi An to Nha Trang in Vietnam. Althougth no one on the bus was hurt at 5am today, the bus ran into a Vietnamese lady on a bike. We had already left 4 hours late and then this. Ian was off the bus before I knew it, and was checking out the accident, to see what he could do. A german lady (who turned out to be a nurse was also with him attending to the woman). I was the runner who was getting the necessities, i.e. first aid kit with the emergency silver blanket, and water, and something for mouth to mouth. Unfortunately, the woman had lost a lot of blood, and I ended up talking the nurse through not trying any further medical attention. We didn't know whether an ambulance had been called, we could have been in the middle of no where, and did not know whether someone could have got to her, or even, gotten her to a hospital. There were many locals standing around (doing nothing) and (they didn't speak english) suggesting through pointing to leave her. No medical attention came for her. She would have had a lot of internal injuries. There was a german guy who had seen the lady on the bike and the bus hit her. My instincts was to give him debriefing, and then felt somewhat useless. We did talk quite a bit and hopefully that helped. It didn't really hit home until the family arrived about 2 hours later and were grieving. Of course, am now thinking of it every now and then. We had to wait for 3 hours until a new bus came to get us, watching locals herd around and check whether they knew her. Then 7kms before our destination, we ran out of petrol. Shit day really. Arrived. Had an English Breakfast and then slept until 5pm. Nha Trang claims to be the premier scuba diving spot in Vietnam. It has a booming fishing industry and is also known for its salt production. We spent all of our time here on the beach and no sight seeing at all. Swimming, massage and manicure. We spent our days with the couples from the previous town - Bren and Gumi, Jen and Jez and Kim and Clay at La Louisiane Cafe and then spent the nights having half price drinks for happy hour at The Sailing Club and then onto dinner with them. We had some great meals. One of our highlights was having a lobster and prawns cooked for us on the beach by a local carrying her BBQ. It hardly cost a thing, and we sat back under our umbrellas and enjoyed it with a couple of cold beers. Heaven! Ian did go scuba diving one morning. The other activities you could do here, would be boat cruises, visiting Whale Island, and there is apparently an amazing exclusive beach called Jungle Beach that we were told was just amazing. It is written up in the Lonely Planet, but you have to book in advance because they only take 15 people at a time.

Hoi An - Vietnam

We took a bus for a nice 4 hours from Hue to Hoi An, which is the tailor capital of the world. It was an international trading port as far back as the 17th century. It had well preserved local architecture and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It has a really nice feel to the town and we stayed for 4 nights in a room on the edge of town overlooking a field. Out time spent here was within the tailors and getting very excited about the clothes that we had made. Ian has had two suits made with extra trousers, a summer suit for Liza's Wedding, a shirt and (get this) tailor made shoes. His Wedding outfit come to US$100. Oh and a big winter coat. He reminded me that he also got some linen trousers made as well. I've had a dress for the Wedding made (Thai silk - 37 pounds), some linen trousers, a skirt, two other dresses, and three tops (seven pieces for an average of 6 pounds each). And some shoes for the Wedding for a tena, (tailor made!). You could just go mad. Cyndi apparently got her summer wardrobe done here. The clothes are just beautiful and I just keep walking past shops and having to look away. We did also rent push bikes and rode to the beach which was about 15 mins away. The waves were pretty fearce and our bodies took abit of a pounding, but it was nice to laze on the sand. We also took a boat ride from town to have a look up river. We did miss some sights such as a nearby Mountain, and My Son (which is compared to Angkor Wat in Cambodia, but on a smaller scale - so we didn't mind missing it, although at the beginning we had all intentions of going and seeing it). Here was were we started to bump into people we had already met, and we continued to all the way to Saigon. We had met Bren and Gumi in Sapa, and it was Gumi that hired motorbikes with Ian and myself, and got mine going when it had been tampered with. They are from NZ. When they were on tour on Halong Bay, out of Hanoi, they had met and continued to travel down south with an English couple called Jen and Jez (honeymooners traveling for 3 months), and an Australian couple called Kim and Clay. It wasn't until the next town that we spent loads of time with them all, and really enjoyed their company.

We had tailor made clothes and shoes made in Hoi An, Vietnam

Hoi An Women's Festival

Hue - Vietnam

Overnight bus from Hanoi to Hue, which is on the coast. It took 14 hrs. The ride was not that bad, and much better than anticipated. I have acu-pressure wrist bands that I wear whenever I think I may get motion sick, but the roads were really good, and I also had lollies to suck if needs be. Although I have worn them on a couple of occasions, I have been really good (expect for the mountain mini bus ride from Sapa for an hour down to the train station back to Hanoi). Even with the wrist bands I felt as sick as a dog! Hue served as Vietnam's political capital from 1802 - 1945 under the 13 Emperors of the Nguyen Dynasty. Only here for 2 nights, we decided to see the sights further affield and arranged a long day tour (10 hrs for US$13) on the back of motorbikes, with guides to take us 110kms back in the direction we have just come, to see the DMZ - Demiliterized Zone (one of the main battle grounds and the line between the fighting of the north and south - the Americans were helping the South). We saw a famous church frame where many civilians were killed (so much for the church being able to protect you in times of need), the bridge at the 17th degree (the border if you like, between the north and the south), the Vinh Moc Tunnels (which we actually got to walk though some of it, where the Viet Cong hid amongst civilian villages from the Americans. These tunnels were surprisingly tall and you didn't have to bend over much to walk through them. It was dark of course and this was the time that my torch decided not to work - handy.) We saw a National cemetery Monument, an old war bunker, and walked through a mined area. As soon as our guide started walking through some vegetation Ian and I both stopped, looked at each other and looked at him, not going one step further. All he said to us, that somehow gave us some little confidence to walk forward was that he has two young children (as if he was stating that he didn't plan on dying). There are volunteers that search out and detonate the unused mines. Apparently sometimes animals will step on them. Unfortunate. It was a good day, and something I wouldn't have done if Ian wasn't interested in it all. Probably the only way I was going to find out anything about the Vietnam war too. On the second day I wasn't feeling all that well so took the opportunity to stay in bed and Ian went out around town to try and see the sights. He managed the Pogoda and the Citadel - a distintegrating treasure heavily bombed by the Americans. We both missed numerous Royal Tombs of the Nguyen Emperors. Some things that I have learnt about the Vietnam War include:

• The US Government mobilized in 1965 6.5 million young people who took turns in fighting.
• 7,850,000 tons of bombs of all kinds were dropped over Vietnam, plus 75,000,000 litres of defoliants were sprayed over crops, farms, forests and villages in Southern parts. This spraying continues to contaminate the soil, cause health problems and birth defects among the human population. This is true even of some of the American soldiers.
• 352 billion dollars were spent in this war.
• In North Vietnam bombs and bullets destroyed or heavily damaged: 2,923 school buildings, 1,850 hospitals, 484 churches and 465 pagodas and temples.
• Nearly 3 million Vietnamese were killed and 4 million injured (these figures are thought to be incomplete).
• Over 58,000 American armymen died.
• On March 16th 1968 a mass massacre took place and 504 people were killed.
• There was the Paris Agreement in 1973.

The northern Vietnam war tunnels

Our motorbike tour took us to many of the war areas

Outdoor barber

War torn church in the demilitarized zone in Vietnam - we went on a 10hr motorbike tour

Vietnam - Hanoi and around

A flight in from Hong Kong was a novelty after all the train trips. The first thing that hit me was the it is worse trying to cross the roads, due to the amount of traffic, than it was in China. I resorted to holding Ian's hand every time (like a child), and being lead. Caught up with Azza for a couple of nights. For some context, Azza is my old London house mate Cyndi's (Ozzie) NZ boyfriend. He has been based in Hanoi for 7 months being a tour leader. He had already started his tour, but we still got to meet up. It was great to get some local knowledge, and quite frankly he was tickled pink to see us - as he hasn't had many visitors. One of the cultural experiences is to go and watch a Water puppet show. It was very interesting for the first half and then I was a bit over it. We were given a paper fan at the performance which I must say has come in handy since. We found ourselves looking in all the galleries. Consequently Ian bought a huge oil painting. The amount of trouble we had arranging via the gallery how it was going to be sent back to England....headaches...paying....them changing the price of freight......us trying to negotiate the gallery to pay for some of the stuff up and getting no joy....them then suggesting at the eleventh hour (and not before) about sending it by sea!!! All worked out in the end. To think what may have happened if we had not gone back to the gallery and his parents ended up with a huge extra cost at the other end. A must see (quite touristy but worth it experience) is a tour to Halong Bay. Bus to the bay, on a boat for 1 night - 14 people. Beautiful scenery - limestone cliffs, jumping off the boat, swimming. Met some lovely people - Julia and Graham from Qsland, and Steve and Laura from England. There were others who we didn't spend much time with but were also traveling for a long time and had similar itineries. We actually saw two of the couples in Thailand, and another numerous times along the east coast of Vietnam, traveling south. The tour can encompass staying on Cat Ba National Park - we actually stayed for 2 nights, (not the tour that they offer, but a tip is that if you just tell them what you want, they do end up accommodating you). Walked up a mountain (my fan was useful), over rocks and tree roots, kayaaking, swimming, and a free day for the beach. Experienced for the first time a disgruntled young postcard seller (of about 8 yrs old - girl) who I didn't buy from, who told me to "f" you, after I gave Ian money to buy something else instead! Couldn't believe it! Absolutely no concept of customer relations and word of mouth (from me) potentially effecting her future business! The other trip to take from Hanoi is to Sapa - North Hill Tribes. It involved an overnight train and then mini van for one and a half hours. Jason and Jacque stayed for only one night and we stayed for 3 nights. This is where we actually parted company after 2 months of traveling together. Jason for sure was fighting back tears - big baby! We trekked through rice fields and saw villages, waterfalls, new schools having been built and a teacher trying to convince a community that it would be good for their children to attend school - but the parents would want them to help in the fields. We hired motorbikes and rode 80 kms over the Tram ton pass. Luckily we had a NZ called Gummi with us, cause when we stopped for a break my bike was tampered with and he figured out it was the fuel switch. We met up with Julia and Graham drank some Sapa wine - mix of sherry and porto, which I must say was rather nice. We went to the English pub and had a good bangers and mash and the full breakfast went down a treat. There were local craft sellers with blue dyed hands from the material they made, and friendly girls who learn english from the tourists. We figured out why everyone we met were taking the bus south. Cause it is cheap as chips! We were going to take the train for the first part. It would have been US$20 each. We now have an open ticket that allows us to get on and off between the mayor towns all across Vietnam for US$21 each. Lets hope that I do not regret it as I'm not a great traveler in buses and cars, and this first leg is an overnighter, and I don't sleep all that well sitting up. My vices to try and combat this will be an inflatable pillow and wrapping my lavender insert (that is supposed to go into a pillow) around my head! Fingers crossed. Off we go down south.

Sapa - Ian riding a Russian minx motorbike

Hill Tribe people in Sapa, northen Vietnam

Sapa locals

Sapa in North Vietnam. Jason with some local school children

Cat Ba National Park - Ian experiencing an Apple Tobacco Shesha

Our vessel for our Halong Bay cruise

Amazing scenery in Halong Bay in Vietnam

Hanoi in Vietnam - the manic traffic

Caught up with Azza in Hanoi (who we knew from London - Kiwi guy)

Hong Kong

Here we are in Hong Kong, a 1000 km square city of 7 million people, consisting of Hong Kong Island ( which is where we stayed, with parts very hilly), Kowloon (which faces Hong Kong Island across the harbour), and around 200 islands of the New Territories. Hong Kong is apparently the most densely populated place in the world. In 1997 the British returned Hong Kong to China and gave them autonomy for 50 years. How nice of them! We took an overnight sleeper from Guilin to Shen zen (which is on the border), which took longer than anticipated. We planned to stay in Hong Kong for 4 nights. We had to walk across the border and were given an automatic 14 days entry without having to pay for a visa. We had already prebooked a small but comfy hotel over the internet. It was the beginning of the Autumn Festival, so there were a lot of activities happening. And just for some food info. -Cantonese food is the most commonly found cruisine here. It was sooooo hot - and sweaty! It was an expensive city, but we had already known this. Some of the interesting things we did were:

• Took the world's longest covered escalator - 800 meters. It is though not a continuous escalator, as you would anticipate.
• Took the Star Ferry across the harbour to Kowloon.
• History Museum - really interesting
• A Light Show to music from 12 buildings - not so interesting
• Saw the tail end of a dragon, as we were running around the streets trying to find it and then to get a decent sighting (which I didn't)
• The Victoria Peak Tram - 552 meters high - good view
• Stanley Bay - took a local bus. Bought an oil painting
• Repulse Bay - spent the afternoon on the beach and swam

We did loads of walking trying to find Ian some specific speakers for his MP4 player. Soooooo may electrical stores. He wanted to be like Jason who already had some, but I must say they are very groovy, and great to listen to music in your room. We didn't find any unfortunately.

Once we had crossed into Hong Kong it cancelled our China single entry visa, so we decided to take a flight from Hong Kong to Hanoi in Vietnam. This also meant that we would miss the terrible sounding border crossing which would have taken numerous modes of transportation and I'm sure much patience. The travel agent told us that we may be stopped at the airport and not allowed on the flight due to not having an onward flight out of Vietnam. They even made Ian sign his name four times after they wrote all over the receipt that they had informed us of this. We told them that we would take our chances, and that the worse case scenario would be that we would have to buy an ongoing ticket at the airport. Vietnam here we come. A new Country! And of course we didn't have any problems getting in!

Experiencing the tram in Hong Kong