Vietnam: Nha Trang, Mui Ne & Ho Chi Minh City

Nha Trang, Mui Ne & Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) 06.06-12.06

We arrived in Nha Trang at 6am absolutely drained from hardly sleeping a wink on the overnight bus again. Chris, Dave, Juliette, Nina and I occupied the back 5 of the bus and the seats were so narrow that you could only lie on your back with your arms by your sides. Even more annoying was the fact my seat didn’t click back and was only held in the reclining position with my body weight. Whenever the bus hit a bump, which happened about every ten minutes, my seat would spring up and I would fly forward! Thankfully our tiredness didn’t really hinder us from our main aim of lying on the beach all day. Although the beach in Nha Trang was really nice, we were not that impressed by the town itself. It lacked a bit of character, and although it is famed for its nightlife we were too tired to experience any of it in the one night we had there. However, we did have a great day on the beach and enjoyed a lovely seafood meal for dinner. It became clear as the day progressed that Nina, Ruth and especially Juliette had gotten really sunburnt while lounging about in the water. A LOT of after sun was used in the following days. After the sun had gone down, we also had a game of beach volleyball. A Vietnamese couple were sitting close-by watching with their toddler who was fixated on the ball. As soon as someone over hit it, he sprang up and tottered over to the ball and wouldn’t let go! Dave had to go over and make a plastic water bottle look like the most fun in the world while we slyly did a swap while he was distracted.

A very skilled beach salesman

Purchasing Nina some new sunglasses

The baby thief!

As we were short on time, we decided that we would only have a night in Nha Trang but two in Mui Ne. Mui Ne is the sort of up and coming beach destination in Vietnam for backpackers. It normally takes 5 hours from Nha Trang but about 4 hours into our journey disaster struck and the bus broke down on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. In typical south-east Asian fashion, nobody who worked on the bus could tell us what was happening or when we would be moving again. We waited on the side of the road and in the increasingly stuffy bus for about 2 hours! Eventually a bus from the same company showed up going in the opposite direction and we were told to get on that and wait for further instructions. So we ended up having to go back towards Nha Trang for about an hour before we were told to get off again and get on a local bus which finally ended up in Mui Ne an hour later! We immediately went to a restaurant and ordered about 3 mains each.

Despite the arduous journey, Mui Ne lived up to its reputation as the beach was stunning. We stayed in the Mui Ne Backpackers which had its own private pool and was also situated right on the beach. At high tide you could literally walk down some steps into the sea! One minor drawback of the hostel was a really rude American woman who worked there behind the desk who seemed to hate her job and take it out on all the guests. We all wondered why she was there if she so clearly didn’t like it. 

The nice little pool

Neen chilling out beachside

The Mui Ne beach at high tide

The second day in Mui Ne we spent more time playing cards and chilling out. In the afternoon we went to visit the sand dunes and the Fairy Stream which were only a couple kilometres out of town. The area around Mui Ne is known as the Sahara Desert of Vietnam due to the amount of huge sand dunes. The Fairy Stream was a shallow river that you could walk in that ran alongside huge rock formations next to the sand dunes. We didn’t really know what to expect before visiting but it was absolutely great. Chris and Dave decided to have a race from the top of one of the dunes to the stream and underestimated how quickly they would go. They both lost control of their arms because of the speed so we just saw them disappear down the dune with their arms flailing! The minerals in the rocks made some amazing colours like dark reds and oranges and we wondered along the stream for a couple of hours.

Nina and I shared a whole sea bass for dinner and the girls shared a bottle of Vietnamese white wine which in the words of Chris was the “worst wine I’ve ever tasted”. I don't think it was even made with grapes! We then went to a couple of bars further down the beach to fulfil our dancing needs. When we were leaving Nina and I offered to walk home as a taxi could only fit 4 people in it. As if on cue, as soon as the taxi left a huge thunderstorm started with absolutely torrential rains! We ran to take cover in a shelter which must have been a shop front in the day time. It was possibly the heaviest rain I’ve ever seen! It became clear that it would not stop any time soon and that we were just going to have to brave it and walk the 20 minutes home. It was so heavy that it caused a sort of flash flood and the roads were completely submerged. We took off our flip flops and waded through it with the water coming up to our knees. Just as we were nearing the hostel Nina asked if I had her bag with me, which I didn’t, and we realised that we had left it in the shelter when we were taking cover! By the time we had walked all the way back to get it and then all the way back to the hostel again we were well and truly soaked. Astonishingly, by morning the roads were completely back to normal as if nothing had happened.

The view from the top of a dune

The race

The sea bass dinner!

We had one day in Ho Chi Minh City before we would say goodbye to the others and they would fly to Thailand while we would continue into Cambodia by bus. Chris and Ruth made a trip to the Cu Chi tunnels in the morning. Dave, Juliette, Nina and I were a bit more worried about possible claustrophobia and decided to go to the market instead and everyone planned to meet at the war remnants museum in the afternoon. In the market I bought a new pair of headphones while Dave set out to find a new pair of shoes. He bought a pair of Adidas trainers and put his old shoes in a plastic bag to carry. Since the beginning of the holiday, one of his stated aims was to sell something to a Vietnamese person and on the last day, in the middle of the Ho Chi Minh market, he managed to do it. While we were at one of the stalls he asked the owner if he wanted to buy his old shoes for 10000VND (about 30p). About 5 or 6 Vietnamese men then came over to inspect the goods and assess the situation. After a couple of minutes deliberation they were taken off his hands for the asking price! We were all pretty impressed.

Ho Chi Minh City Centre

The market

Making the deal....

We then met up with Chris and Ruth at the War Remnants Museum. They found the Cu Chi tunnels really interesting as their guide had fought with the Americans and still believed that the North Vietnamese were in the wrong throughout the war. The museum itself was fascinating and provided an amazing insight into the long lasting physical and mental effects of the Vietnam War for both the local population and the soldiers of both sides. In the evening we went out for our final dinner together as a group and then sang some Karaoke to cap of the holiday in style!

Our final dinner together!

Vietnam: Hue & Hoi An

Hue & Hoi An 31.05-05.06

Our next stop down the coast of Vietnam was Hue which is pronounced “Huay!” It only seemed to sound right if you said it like you were cheering! We had taken our first overnight bus in order to reach Hue. This was quite an experience! The sleeper bus was laid out with sun lounger-esque chairs in two levels. Ed, Chris and I had a row of three right at the back which were rather tightly packed in! They were definitely built for Vietnamese body sizes rather than ours! Chris had the worst seat by far as his body was about half a meter from the ceiling with an uncontrollable A/C fan blowing into his chest! It was a rather bumpy ride in the night and countless times Ed nearly bounced off his middle seat! 

Chris ready for action

3 in the bed

We reached Hue late in the morning so our first port of call was to get some brunch. It was a boiling hot day so we waited for the midday heat to pass in a cool floating bar set on the river, whilst of course playing a few games of Mafia! Our main activity for the day was to visit the Royal Citadel which was the ancient capital of Vietnam until 1945. It’s still enclosed in its beautiful high walls and was the forbidden city for the Royal family. There were some lovely buildings to explore although there was a random new tennis court smack in the middle! Afterwards we had a look in the museum which had a very interesting section on the Vietnam War. It was still very hot outside so we cooled down at a nice bar and played some games of pool. In the evening we went for a boogie at a small lively bar.

The team

It was only three hours to reach Hoi An, our next stop. We stayed in a great hotel called ‘Hoa Binh’ which coincidently Ed stayed the previous time he was in Hoi An. There was a small swimming pool on the ground floor which provided much needed respite from the outside heat and we also got a free buffet breakfast! We couldn’t believe our luck at only £5 a night!

By the pool

As it was my first time in Hoi An, it was literally love at first sight! We all decided within the first day that we should extend our time here and stay for 4 days instead of 3. Around the river there are numerous small boutique shops and restaurants within old classic yellow buildings with dark wooden shutters. It was such a nice place to wander around and even though it was touristy it didn’t take anything away from the atmosphere of the city. One of the most memorable things from Hoi An was definitely the food! With everything so cheap, we all ate like kings for four days! Throughout our time there, between us we managed to get through an impressive array of different meats; fish, crab, chicken, pork, prawns, octopus, squid, squid stuffed with pork, and frog! Cao Lao, a Vietnamese noodle dish with mint, pork and other salad trimmings, became our staple lunch order at our hotel.  

Steamed fish in banana leaf

Crab!

Pork Belly

Stuffed Squid with Pork

Hoi An is famous for its tailors. There are streets full of tailor shops advertising their dresses and suits on manikins outside and it’s all so cheap! Juliette and I went dress shopping and the boys went hunting for suits. We came across a very friendly lady who specialised in dress making and Juliette and I picked out our designs, selected our fabric and colours then had our fittings! It was really exciting having something made to fit you perfectly! My dress was a lemon yellow evening dress with black and white sequins and it only cost $45! The boys scouted out for the best deal for quite a while, playing the different shops against each other but finally decided upon a place for their suits. Ed and Dave got the full shebang with blazer, trousers and a shirt. They both looked great!

Juliette in her new dress

During our time in Hoi An we made two trips to the beach which is around 5km from the centre of town. Both times we rented some bikes and took the road through rice paddy fields to reach the sea. The first time we were a little unlucky with the weather because as soon as we arrived a looming black cloud proceeded to swallow up the blue sky! However, we were not going to be deterred from our beach fun and in spite of the clouds we bought a volley ball and played some games of piggy in the middle (which I must say the girls absolutely dominated the boys!). On our second trip to the beach we were a lot luckier with the weather and we could get working on the tan! Ed of course stayed in the shade and had a nap. Whilst he was sleeping some Vietnamese started laying out tables and chairs for their evening beach restaurants. He woke up rather confused underneath a table! When we went to retrieve our bicycles in order to cycle back to our hotel and we were very surprised to find that all of our bikes had been thrown off the pavement and were lying in a bundle on the sand! A very kind Vietnamese man came up to us and said that we’d parked our bikes in the wrong place and the police superintendent was an angry man and had chucked our bikes out of his way! What made it rather tricky was that all of our bikes were locked together so it took quite a while to sort things out! Ed began to ride home only to find that his back tyre was flat and had to cycle all the way back doubly as hard as the rest of us!  

The looming cloud!

The bike-tastrophe!

We had some fun nights out together whilst in Hoi An. It was a nice change for Ed and I to travel in a group of 7! There were some lovely bars and restaurants by the river. Although, one night we decided to go to a bar called ‘Why Not?’ and by the end of the evening we could think of many reasons why not! Firstly, it was very far out of town so once you’d got there you were basically trapped there! The bar consisted of two very small rooms mainly filled with a pool table which meant that during your conversation you would get an occasional poke in the ribs from a snooker cue! Also the décor of the rooms reminded me a little bit of a squat as people had taken marker pens and graffitied everywhere! We still had a fun evening but chose not to return to that bar again! Another evening we went to ‘Good and Cheap Bar’, the name was a promising start! The owners turned out to be very friendly and we were able to have a large table outside in which we could play various games. They even let us stay there after they went to bed!

N

(By the way please excuse my bright ginger hair in a few of the photos. It was the result of a tragic trip to a Vietnamese salon and requesting light brown. It was corrected 2 days later.... )