Gooooooood Morning Blog readers!! Although it may not be morning where you are. In which case, just hello..
Vietnam. Good spot. Great bunch of lads. The end.
No there's more to tell.
First stop Hanoi. Well actually it wasn't the first stop but the other place ain't worth mentioning. So first stop was big and busy Hanoi. That was after the bus journey from hell. We took an overnight sleeper bus from Vientiane to Hanoi over the border where we saw a goat tied to the roof of a bus! Never sweated so much when the driver decided to turn off the ac. Most of the beds in the bus were ok but I was in the back seat which became known as the cave as there was three beds in one and the ceiling was two centimeters above your head.
It made it a f**kin long journey. I just thanked my lucky stars I was sleeping with Zoe and Susan and not a random fat Vietnamese man! On the ceiling and walls around the cave there was graffiti from all the people that had slept in the cave before complaining about it. I added my own bit at the end of the journey: "I just slept with two lesbians. And it wasn't fun"
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| Aboard the sleeper |
So anyway in Hanoi we were staying in this really cool Hostel which I really enjoyed as it was probably the most happening place in the whole city, full of backpackers. Needless to say we enjoyed a few good nights out and got to talk to loads of other travelers including a Irish bloke and nice American chic... We spent three nights there drinking at night and seeing the sights in the day time. I liked the busyness of the place and the food was awesome! We saw a museum that used to be a prison during the Vietnam war and went to see some traditional water puppets..
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| Park in Hanoi |
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| The lake, Hanoi |
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| Drinks on the street |
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| Hanoi |
We then took the short journey to Halong Bay to spend a night on a boat there. If you go to Hanoi you have to go to Halong Bay it was absolutely fantastic. We got on the boat at lunch time and spent the day swimming in the water and jumping off the boat. Then we went for a Kayak around the bay to see some caves then had a very civilised dinner and session at night. Sitting out at night was incredibly peaceful and relaxing. It was one of those places that makes you stop and appreciate what you're doing. Referred to as "Having a moment" in the group!
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| Denis and Jim looking over the bay |
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| The girls aboard ship |
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| Sunset |
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| More sunset in Halong Bay |
Unfortunately we had to get moving and we had an extremely civilized bus journey down to Hue. This town wasn't as impressive as Hanoi but was significant as this was where we did a tour of the Demilitarized Zone or DMZ. This is an area in central Vietnam that was a very significant area during the Vietnam war (or the American war as it is known here!). We had a guided tour of many important sights in the area such as the Vinh Moc tunnels where people lived during the war to hide from the Americans. We also saw a graveyard which was pretty chilling. The interesting thing for me was how we got a very different perspective of the war. The things we saw and were told about, you don't see in no American movies!
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| Graveyard of Vietnamese soldiers |
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| Bridge over the Ben Hai river |
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| Our guide for the day. Loved this dude! |
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| In the tunnels |
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| You have to duck! |
Another cool thing we did in Hue was a river cruise on a boat down the Perfume river. We had a nice evening even though it was raining. They gave us dinner and set off night lights!
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| Setting off night lights on the river |
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| Lucy avoiding the rain! |
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| Dinner aboard ship! |
We continued our way south down the coast to Hoi An. This was a nice little town. This place was the home of the Tailor. Every second shop there was someone wanting to make you a tailor made suit or shirt. As I didn't want to carry any more stuff I didn't get anything except a T shirt and some sexy underwear. It was also a great town because the girls disappeared for three days into the shops so I got some peace. Only jokin bitches :)
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| All the lovely girls |
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| Hoi An at night |
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| Sexy new underwear |
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| Hoi An |
Further south we went to my favourite part of Vietnam: Jungle Beach. This was a resort right on the beach where we chilled for three days. We stayed in Bamboo cabins and spent the day on the beach and in the water. When you went swimming at night you could see phosphorescence in the water so when you ran your hands through it it sparkled and it was as warm as bath water. Did we skinny dip? Yes we did!!
We also had a cocktail competition where we all made our own cocktail and everyone voted for their favourite. Mine and Denis' was Rum and Coke and we called it Den Bover..
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| Cocktails on the beach |
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| Mrs Doyle presenting "Craggy Island Nice Tea" |
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| The beach! |
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| The girls outside our bamboo cabins |
Our final stop was Ho Chi Minh city more commonly known as Saigon. I liked this place but it was just another city really. The best part of it, although gruesome was the War Remnants Museum. This had artifacts and original pictures from the war. This place was quite depressing but it was somewhere you just have to go when you're there. The museum highlighted the humanitarian costs of the war and didn't hide any of the details. The most shocking thing for me were the victims of Agent Orange. Agent Orange was a chemical the yanks dropped on Vietnam to try to destroy the undergrowth and prevent a Guerrilla war. But what happened was millions of people were deformed and killed by it. People are still being born deformed today from it even third generation children. You see lots of people around the streets with no arms or legs and they're all victims of this chemical.
(Don't read the next sentence if you're squeamish) The worst part of the museum were pictures of deformed fetuses in jars. It was the kind of place that really makes you stop and think! It's amazing how the country is still recovering today. And it's even more amazing that the people still greet you with a smile on their face..
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| Inside the museum |
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| Museum |
I was sad to leave Vietnam we'd been there 18 nights and I'd grown attached to the place. However, there's one message I'd like to give the country as a whole: I DON'T WANT A FUCKING TUK TUK. Thats better.
Up next, harrowing Cambodia. Get your tissues ready (Not in that way)..
