The Streets of Saigon

The streets of Saigon are wider and much better organised than the ones in Hanoi, which means they are not as much fun!

Here are some quick examples.






Carts are still popular and mix in with the traffic.







Although the streets are wide they are obviously not wide enough for some people. These guys (like many, many others) are riding on the footpath, I thought that only happened in Italy!







Another mobile shop. Drink, anyone?







Another common sight is people sleeping / napping / resting on their bikes.








Pack everybody into the family car for a nice relaxing drive into town.

Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

In vietnam it is easy to be a millionaire. The two notes pictured are for half a million dong each. At approx 20,0oo VND to $1 AUD, the 1m VND is worth about $50 AUD!

Days 8 & 9 - Hoi An

We spent yesterday and today in Hoi An (pronounced Hoy Yen).

We came to Hoi An by road, it is a relatively short distance from Hue.

Along the way though we went through some beautiful mountains (3 passes) and a 6.4km tunnel built by the Japanese. We also did a quick stopover at China Beach and Danang on the way. China Beach is a beautiful, very long beach, somewhat reminiscent of what you would find on the Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast.


Hoi An is a cute little town that has a Chinese and Japanese heritage. Most of the locals here are descended from the Chinese or Japanese though they have been here many generations.

The town itself is very big on crafts.

There are shops everywhere and they are very good by Vietnamese sytandards.
There are people working and making the products right in front of you in many of the shops.

You can also order just about anything and it will be made to your order, often overnight. Marianne & I have had sandals made, we ordered them yesterday and picked them up this afternoon. It was tempting to get a suit, or at least a jacket, made here. You just show them a picture of what you want and they figure out how to make it. There are heaps of tailors here, as well as shoemakers, jewellers, mat weavers, and other crafts. It doesn't always work out though, it is better if you have 3 - 4 days here. Two girls on the trip (late teens & early 20s) have had dresses made and they are very happy with them. Their Dad had a jacket and overcoat made, the jacket was okay but the overcoat was a disaster.

It's a really nice little town, easy to walk around and very pleasant with the river running through it.





Today was another excellent day.

We started off the day with a cycle ride around the town and the surrounding countryside which is really very beautiful and interesting.





We took the bicycles onto a boat and went up the river, getting a good look at the fishermen along the way.

We found a nice quiet spot and had a most delicious and wonderful barbeque.

Everything was really fresh and it was really, really good and we had a good quiet spot on the river. At one stage a number of boats came up the river beating drums.

Apparently this is quite common and these pboats move in little packs. They beat the drums to agitate the fish, which then obligingly swim into the nets they are dragging behind them. Sounds so simple!

We visited the beach but the sea wasn't very inviting when we got there.

We did see a fisherman out in a "basket boat", very reminiscent of the coracles used by the ancient Britons. These things are very difficult to steer and I would love to have had a good look at how they do it, but I wasn't able to.

After some more cycling around (and shopping in) town we went to a Vietnamese cooking class. The food we cooked (with a little bit of help from the instructor) was sensational. It would be fantastic to be able to reproduce this when we get back home!

Tomorrow we head out for Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon.

Day 7 - Hue

We spent the whole day in Hue (pronounced Hway) today. It was a good day, except that the weather closed in and it rained, and rained, and rained - all day!

Despite this we had a good day and did lots of things.



We had booked motor bikes in advance of knowing the weather, and we buzzed around the place on the bikes getting wetter (and colder) as we went along.

First up we took a boat up the Perfume River to visit a Buddhist temple (they seem to be called pagodas over here).





There was a "class" in session while we were there so that added a level of interest.

The temple is also famous for the head monk who drove himself to Saigon in 1963 and set himself on fire.

This was done to protest against a government policy to make the Catholic religion mandatory at the expense of all other religions. There is a very famous photo of this incident, taken by Malcolm W Browne, which won the 1963 World Press Photo of the Year. The car used by the monk is preserved (in not very good condition) in the temple.

Back on the bikes and off to a place where they make incense. It looks deceptively easy to make but is difficult at first. One person literally churns out thousands of sticks a day so clearly once you get good at it, it's not that difficult.

From the incense place we visited a burial tomb (with attached temple) to one of the kings.


A lot of the place has been destroyed but is being rebuilt under a UNESCO program. We didn't stay too long at this place because it was very wet at this point.


From the burial place we moved on to a convent run by Buddhist nuns. They served us a lavish, all vegetarian, lunch. A couple of the people on the trip professed it was one of the best meals they have ever had. I guess this means I do not have the DNA of a vegetarian.


We visited a bunker, initially built by the French and subsequently added to by the Americans.


The bunker is one of a series near the Perfume River. Apparently Hamburger Hill is located about 40km from the place we were.



We also visited a lady who makes the classic conical hat that is synonymous with Vietnam. Her mother died when she was little, she only has one arm, and her father was one of the first people killed in the Tet offensive. So her life has been difficult. She started making hats when she was 10 and now has a reputation for being one of the best in the business.




After that we had a ride in the countryside on the bikes. It was cold and wet but still fun.

The hot shower back in the hotel was most welcome though.



One thing that is very evident wherever we go is how much has been destroyed. And what is left is riddled with bullet holes. There are bullet holes everywhere, in everything.

Day 6 - Hue - Christmas Day

We left Hanoi on the overnight train at about 11pm. We were travelling effectively first class but the sleeping cabin resembled something out of the 30s or maybe 50s. Still we did get some sleep and we did arrive at Hue in the morning.

We visited the ancient citadel, home of the kings of Vietnam when Hue was the capital of the country. You get an idea how vast and beautiful this place was but most of it has been destroyed or fallen into ruin. There is a restoration project under way with the aim of having the site fully operational by 2020.








For our Xmas meal we went to a "royal banquet". Marianne & I were nominated king and queen and the rest of the tour group were our subjects. Everyone got dressed up and we had our own table with thrones to sit on while we ate. There was also a traditional Vietnamese music band who played really good traditional music as well interesting renditions of Christmas carols, "click go the shears" and the theme from "the godfather". What the....? It was a fun evening, a very different way to spend Christmas.





Busy day lined up for tomorrow.