Hanoi, 07-10 Dec

Thanh Long (City of the Soaring Dragon), as Vietnam’s capital was formerly called, is the country’s major city for history, culture, politics as well as education and no tour guide or bus operator fails to mention it. The most crowed and busiest city I have seen on this trip is a bustling germ full of motor bikes and hawker stalls but without all the tourists you have in other capitals like Kuala Lumpur. In the Old Quarter (backpacker ghetto) you see rarely any English signs and it becomes clear that Hanoi does not need the tourists as badly as Vientiane for example. The traffic might not be as bad as Saigon but it is a close call. At the beginning of the dry season I felt cold for the first time in Asia, what a nice and almost unfamiliar feeling ;-) and you don’t have to pay extra for a/c.

Wedding in Hanoi

Halong Bay 05-06 Dec

Literally translated it means “decending dragons” and is definitely my personal fav of Vietnam. The Gulf of Tokin features more than two thousand vegetation-covered limestone islands and even after having seen a lot during my trip, the beauty of the area is truly amazing. 

Halong Bay

Some travellers opt to skip Halong Bay but I cant understand how you could miss this World Heritage Site (geologically and for natural beauty). The scenery reminds me of the 007-classic“The man with the golden gun“, shot in the Chinese Sea.

I paid $68 for a 2-day-trip which seemed a bit steep considering my 3-day-trip in the Mekong Delta was just $33. But the scenery made it well worthwhile. Just sitting on the bow (king of the world-style) with a cold one in your hand on a sunny day watching the islands pass by is worth all the trouble.

Allegedly we had the best vessel of the company’s fleet which reflected in the way the cabins were decorated and equipped.

Nha Trang +Hoi An 27 Nov – 03 Dec

Vietnam’s beach capital and most famous dive site is at the south-central coast, about 9 hours by bus from Saigon. My guest house was called “The Nice Hotel” and I must say it was on of the best value accommodation I stayed in on this trip. Clean, spacious room with free wifi, private bathroom including hot water, air-conditioning and heavy blankets for $10, which makes it €7.30 at the time. A moto driver at the bus stop suggested this hotel and I am usually a bit sceptical as it often turns out to be an overpriced accommodation that pays heavy commission to the driver.

The town itself is nothing special but it offers some nice beaches and a few islands off shore that are supposedly good for diving. At the beginning of the dry season visibility in the water drops down to just a few meters but you don’t always got a choice. So I booked a trip with two dives and lunch for $70. Usually you get seated in a cramped inflated rubber boat, but in low season there were only four divers and everybody had their own guide. Moreover, the vessel seemed like a retired and modified fishing boat with ample space and hence really comfy.

dive trip

Mekong Delta, 23-25 Nov

Mighty Mekong and its many channels was up next during a three-day trip of the delta. The scenic region is a wonderful green and fertile land with lots of people. While the second largest city in Cambodia is home to 140k people, it looks like every town in the delta has at least 200k citizens. First stop was the pagoda at My Tho with its smiling, happy Buddha. Might be nice for tourists who are on a two week holiday in Vietnam but unfortunately I am spoilt already and so it was nothing special.

Happy Buddha. Look at the people for comparison.

 

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam 19-22 Nov

The 7-hour bus journey to HCMC, including a Mekong crossing, was a bit too long but manageable with a scenic countryside just outside your window. Departure and immigration procedure at the two borders was a bit annoying, but what you gonna do?

Without a valid visa for Vietnam (there is no visa on arrival) you were not even allowed to board the bus. I guess they had some bad experiences in the past. Anyway, all the passports were collected beforehand and all of us had to alight at the Cambodian border to receive your passport in person before handing it back to the tour guide. At the Vietnamese border you had to take your luggage thru the usual x-ray scanner in a building. I bet they wouldn’t have found anything even if someone had any illegal substances with them. Once again you retrieved your passport only to show it to another official five minutes later. After these intricate procedures, that took us the better part of an hour, we continued on to our destination.

You might remember me being fascinated with the traffic in PP but Saigon definitely tops that easily. While there were about 10 motos to 1 car it is now 50 bikes to 1 four-wheeler. Reason for that is the fact that the government adds 20% of import tax on each car but none to Chinese motos which are quite affordable ($300-$500). I probably haven’t seen the town’s main intersections but what is going on at the smaller streets is also worth mentioning. All motos and vehicles honk unceasingly in order to announce their coming. Frustrated bus drivers basically steer with their hand on the horn but at least they don’t have such a screaming noise but rather a wah-wah sound. Also, you always have some pedestrians interfering as well as your usual hawker stalls and street vendors. Just like marvelling at the waves on a beach or staring into a fire, I could watch the traffic here for hours. When it comes to crossing the street yourself it is quite scary at first. I usually looked for a local and just followed him. The trick is to move slowly but consistently and the motos will simply move to avoid you. When you hear a beep you might consider stopping to let someone in a hurry pass. On the other hand, it seems everybody is in a rush.

Apart from the Independence Palace and the War Remnants Museum, HCMC doesn’t offer many more sights if you have seen some temples and pagodas already, and so I dedicated some time to update this blog. Having been lazy in the last 6 weeks it was about time for a decent make over. Most of the time it rained quite heaviliy and so I looked up some markets or other places of interest.

candy at the Ben Tanh Market