Good Morning Vietnam!

Midway through another long and uncomfortable sleeper bus ride, we arrived at the border of the 15^th country on our travels so far; Vietnam.

The Vietnam border is in truth probably the easiest border crossing we have had since leaving Europe. I was very surprised that we did not even need to have our luggage x-rayed, which has been a routine piece of business at most other borders, and in India and China an x-ray of your baggage was carried out every time we got to a train station! A couple of quick stamps in the passport and a zap to the forehead with a temperature gun (or maybe a mind control device?!) to make sure you were not running a temperature and we were in.

Back onto the bus we got for another few hours “sleep” (more like restless wriggling in my tiny bed) as the bus made it’s way down to Hue where we would be spending our first 2 nights in the country. Like Laos, Vietnam does have some wonderful scenery to view which makes being awake on the bus a lot more bearable.

Hue was a bit more built up than we thought it would be, but it still seemed a very enjoyable place to be. We stayed at the Hue Backpackers’ Hostel which is a very well run establishment that is part owned by a friendly Aussie guy who came to Vietnam for a “5 week holiday” 4 years ago and never went back!

For our only day in Hue (another day would have been really useful as there was lot’s we didn’t get to see, but that’s all part and parcel of group travel) we decided to get a boat tour down the Perfume River to see some of the riverside highlights, with all of our food (and importantly alcohol) included!

A dragon boat similar to ours in front of the floating Lotus restaurant

Along the way we stopped at a couple of temples and pagodas which were pretty impressive, where our tour guide decided to practice his palm reading skills on the unfortunate Libby who was none too pleased with the way he estimated her future!

The first stop on the boat trip

While on the boat a drinking game was in full swing. Anybody caught drinking their drink with their right hand would be forced to finish it in one go, while the words “Ten” and “Mine” were banned and anybody caught using them would be punished with 10 press ups. I finished the day out with a score of 40 push ups completed, while Vicky escaped with only 10! A few classic traps were layed down:

“Excuse me is that my hat down by your foot there?”

“No it’s mine” swiftly followed by an expletive as you realise what you’ve been made to say.

or wait until the time is just right and say to somebody:

“Do you know what time it is?”

“It’s about ten to ten” as they rack up 20 push ups for using it twice in one go!

Complimentary party hats are a must on party boats!

Our final stop on the boat tour was at the Royal Tombs where several of the former Vietnamese Kings have been laid to rest. Using several strange examples our guide explained to us some of the benefits of being a Vietnamese King, including the fact that you would often get to see 5 lovers during the course of a night (you know you’re starting to get older when the thought of that sounds bloody exhausting!). The grounds of the tombs were very enjoyable, and the weather really brought out the best in them as it had been glorious all day long. Time though to hop back on the boat and head back to the hostel where yet another free beer would be waiting for us (what a hardship!).

Inside the grounds of the Royal Tombs

As per normal we found a bit of time to pick up some souvenirs in the evening, just to make sure that we weren’t letting our bags get too light!

The next day we made the comparatively short (but incredibly hot) bus journey down to Hoi An, which clocked in at only 4 hours. Hoi An is famous for the hundreds of tailors that line the city’s streets, all of which are capable of making just about anything you want from scratch for a low cost and in an incredibly short amount of time (often within the same day). Seeing as I wasn’t having any clothes made I decided to let Vicky loose with some Dollars and she ended up with a silk fitted top, a new dress and a pair of shoes that were made from a photo of some old shoes that she used to love. Considering how long it takes to just get an alteration done in the UK I was incredibly impressed with their efficiency.

During our second day in the city, a group of six of us decided to pop into a little riverside bar to have “a quick cocktail” in the sun as the river ran by. 5 hours later the “quick cocktail” has turned into a cocktail, six bottles of wine and a bottle of champagne…reminds me of a few BBQ afternoons back at home!

Wine by the river...don't mind if I do!

The area down by the river in the city is incredibly pretty at night with so many colourful lanterns all lit up hanging from trees and shop fronts, while candles in coloured paper containers float slowly down the river. It was a beautiful atmosphere to wander round in and explore some of the streets that we had not been down until that point, after having dinner in a floating noodle bar moored up on the riverside.

Coloured paper lanterns drift down the river

The Greenfield Hotel where we stayed for the duration of our time in Hoi An was fortunate enough to have a swimming pool, which was very welcome after the hot and sticky days that we have been having, and also had the luxury of offering all of it’s guests 3 free cocktails every night!

Next up after Hoi An was yet another sleeper bus, this time heading down to our current location in Nha Trang. After a bit of a scuffle with the bus staff over where we should be dropped off, we made our way round to the Sea View Hotel which would be our home for 3 nights. The hotel is just 30 seconds away from the beach, although most people visit it either early (6.30am ish) or quite late (5pm onwards) because of how intense the sun is here.

Sunrise at the beach in Nha Trang at 5.25am

We decided that on the first day we wanted to try and find a mud pool spa that we had seen in some of the guide books, and so we decided that we would hire mopeds (the main form of transport for 90% of the population here) and head off in search of the spa. They weren’t too fussed that only one of the group had a bike licence, as in fact they didn’t ask at all. Those kinds of things are not important over here at all as long as you can afford the bike! Vicky was impressed because prior to the trip I said the one thing I would never do is hire a moped in Vietnam….ooops!

Jay, Becca, Vicky, Steph, Chris and myself take the bikes for a spin along the seaside

We made our way to the spa, but after finding that inflation had taken it’s toll since the guide books were printed we decided just to use the mineral water swimming areas. The water was incredibly warm (we are talking bath water warm) and was lovely and soft against your skin. We stayed for a few hours before heading back to the hotel on the bikes and heading out in search of dinner.

Time for a bamboo pipe shower :)

The next day we had booked ourselves on a boat trip around some of the islands just off of the coast of the country. It was another scorching hot day and we were glad of the shade of the boat and the breeze for keeping us cool. Our tour guide was very strange as he kept singing different songs to everybody on the boat depending on their nationality. He was also very keen to show off his dancing moves to some of the girls as well! We stopped for an hour and a half at the first island to get off of the boat and do some snorkelling, but with the number of other boats there as well we were convinced that any form of life would have been long scared off. We were however wrong. Although the reefs were not the best examples of coral that you will ever see, there was quite an abundance of different life in the water and we had great fun swimming around finding all the different fish. There was even a little puffer fish out for a swim!

Me checking out some marine life

After swimming for a while we moored up just next to a small fishing village to have some lunch, and to our surprise the tour guides from several boats, including ours, came together to make a band for our entertainment for about an hour. The whole thing seemed really quite surreal!

Band on the boat. The one in the makeshift bikini was our tour guide

After the entertainment was over a floating bar was set up in the water for free drinks, and some rubber rings we thrown down for people to float around the bar with. The only drink on offer though was a bright pink cocktail thing which after a few minutes was half filled with sea water anyway!

Our final stop of the day was at a resort island, where we were able to enjoy some more of the beach, a couple of swimming pools and knock a few balls down the driving range at the golf centre (basically all the things we didn’t have to pay any extra for!)

So today is our last day in Nha Trang and we are just using it to catch up with everything before we hit the road again tomorrow. Come back soon for Vietnam part 2 J