|
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
 |
Saigon to Hanoi...  by
Leslie Heron Vietnam had been on my list for 10 years! I could easily have been disappointed after all that time, but I wasn't. Vietnam was amazing! It is geographically stunning, the people are genuinely friendly, the food is amazing and the colonial architecture elegant. It has a complex history with memories and visions of war everywhere. Now a country at peace, it has been an emerging travel destination over the past years yet you still feel it is refreshingly unspoiled. And as I discovered, Vietnam is so much more then rice fields and conical hats! My trip began in Saigon and finished 12 days later in Hanoi. The streets of Saigon were incredible, motorbikes everywhere! There are 3 million motorbikes on the street at any given time, imagine the round-abouts! I took my own cyclo tour visiting the War Museum, City Hall, the Rex Hotel and various other sights including the famous ones from the book/movie 'The Quiet American'. Also strolled down Dong Khoi street which was famous for it brothels and massage parlours and now is a rather chic area of Saigon with fancy restaurants and shops. The buildings are all very elegant. More sophisticated shopping can be done here. Eating is easy in Saigon as there are outdoor night markets everywhere, food was wonderful and very inexpensive! Average dinner costs about $3.00USD. And that includes a large beer! We spent a day boating on the Mekong. This is well worth a visit, stopping in at various islands and wandering through villages. If you can get in a small boat and pole down the tributaries it is quite beautiful, very lush and very peaceful. From Saigon we made our way to Hoi An. Once a bustling port town and now a lovely haven of cobbled stone streets, coloured lanterns hanging from gorgeous colonial buildings, fishing, tailors, cafes etc. You can get anything made to measure here. There are over 300 tailors! But try not to spend your whole time shopping! Instead just wander the streets, rent a bike and cycle into the country, it is very flat, rent a boat and paddle to some of the nearby islands and wander through villages, visit the early am fish market, watch the school girls bike to school wearing their immaculate white ao dais. Hoi An is a treasure, so enjoy! From Hoi An we drove north to the Marble Mountains and China Beach. Marble Mountains are definitely worth climbing the 200 steps to the top to get a beautiful view and poke your head into some temples in caves, quite amazing. From there a quick stop to see China Beach. That is all it is, a beach, untouched at the moment. We continued on and went over the Hai Van Pass, if it wasn't foggy, which it usually is, the view would have been spectacular. We arrived in Hue later that day. Hue was the old imperial city and the ruins of the city are still there. The city is built on the banks of the Perfume River, so it is worth taking a boat downstream and watch life go by as well as visit the Thien Mu Pagoda. If you can, stay in the old part of town right behind the walls of the imperial city. Rent a bike and cycle exploring pagodas, markets etc. One of the highlights of my trip was renting a motorbike and driver and touring through the countryside for the day. Through villages, rice paddies, war remnants etc, having the most incredible lunch at a monastery, visiting another monastery while the monks were chanting, see joss sticks getting made along the side of the road, driving by canals with canoes made from pieces of American war planes etc. It was just a fantastic day and I think, the highlight for everyone. From Hue we took the Reunification Express overnight, north to Hanoi. It was a great 12 hour trip. The train was spotless and the service was terrific. You may wish to pack your own cheese and French bread though! After arriving in Hanoi we took a bus directly to Ha Long Bay, this takes about 3 hours and we then spent the afternoon cruising the bay and marveling at the limestone peaks that rise from the waters. There are hundreds of them. It was a very misty afternoon, not really warm enough for swimming, although some brave souls took the plunge! We explored some great caves and then had a sumptuous seafood feast onboard! Back to Hanoi the next day along 'dog alley', so named for the many restaurants along the route serving dog! Hanoi is lovely. You can easily while away several days here wandering through the old quarter, strolling tree lined boulevards, beautiful lakes and faded colonial architecture. You can also visit Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, war museums etc. There are some fantastic restaurants here as well. A definite must see were the water puppets. The troupe does several shows a day and it is incredible the variety of puppets and the stories or vignettes they tell. This rounded up the trip aptly named 'The Spirit of Vietnam'. I toured with a company called Intrepid that specializes in small group travel in Southeast Asia. The trip went off without a hitch. The group was made up of 12 people from 4 countries and varying ages and travel experiences. But all left with the same feeling I did. That Vietnam is just a very special travel experience! |
» Other Journal Entries |