So as most of you are aware, I booked a trip to Vietnam with a girlfriend (J) quite last minute. I was supposed to be going to NZ with my partner at the time, but with the relationship break up that didnt happen. I didn’t want to ‘waste’ the annual leave from work – it is entirely too hard to get- and this trip fit with the dates that I had. We locked it in … and here we are! Just before we left tho I was saying to my mum that this has been the most ambivalent I have ever been about any kind of travel. It was a really weird feeling… and hopefully not one that stays with me from now on!

We started the trip with a four hour delay in Brisbane, which was not so fabulous… but also not the worst! We managed to get a couple of drinks in, and a whole lot of people watching – which is always fun! We finally boarded at 3.30am! The flight itself was quite uneventful – medication made a difference as far as getting some sleep, and 8.5 hours later we hit the ground!

We had organised a hotel transfer, and paid for an extra night, which meant that we got to the hotel pretty quickly and could dump our stuff and start exploring. The traffic in Ho Cho Min city – and actually most of Vietnam is next level… it seems like every person has a scooter or motorbike and they are all out at the same time. Whole families (including very small babies), dogs and all kinds of belongings packed onto bikes. There are lanes for the traffic, but it seems they are suggestive rather than enforced… it’s a terrifying spectacle to watch – and nerve wracking to cross, but somehow they make it work!

After a mosey around to find somewhere for lunch, which was delicious!- we decided that a nap was absolutely called for… and it was one of the best naps ever! 6pm saw us heading to the hotel lobby to meet the rest of our group. There are only 14 of us, and it’s a nice mix of people. Half the group chose to head out for a get to know each other dinner following the initial meeting and the food was spectacular! Our guide was in charge of ordering, and she did it very well! A bit more wandering around seeing the sights and then off to bed!

Our Tour Guide is lovely… and full of all kinds of information. She is determined that by the end of the trip we should have at least a handful of useful Vietnamese words and phrases in our repertoire! -She has her work cut out for her – it is a challenging language with six different intonations … so one word eg Ma can have 6 different meanings depending on where one puts the inflection! It can mean anything from Mother to horse to ghost… and if you place an order for the national dish Pho, you could get either soup or a happy ending!! It’s tricky!

Day two had us up early ish for Brekky and then in a bus for a two hour drive south to the Mekong Delta. The day was spent hopping on and off a boat, looking at different islands in the upper part of the Delta. The whole area is made up of different regions, and the part that we went to, has 4 different islands named after the ‘spirit’ animals of Vietnam – the Dragon, the Phoenix, the Unicorn and the Turtle.

Or first stop was at a bee farm. The people are incredibly proud of their gardens and how happy the bees are! We were given jasmine tea with honey, bee pollen and cumquat juice – it was delicious! The obligatory photo opportunity was to hold a frame of honey and bees from one of the hives. Next stop was a garden island where loads of different fruits are grown. It was interesting to see graves in-between gardens as we were walking around. Because land is so scarce and the population so big, if you do own land here, people will bury their dead so that the property remains in the family and is not able to be sold. At this stop we were treated to a variety of fresh fruits.

Our third stop for the day was Coconut kingdom. Coconuts are a huge part of Vietnamese cuisine and the candy is delicious (first tourist purchase!) We were invited to watch the whole process of making the candy and then sample the goodies! We were also offered another local delicacy to try – snake wine! Pure alcohol with a snake in the bottle… this one was absolutely challenging, and I can’t quite believe that we did it! Sooooo Nasty!!!!

Our last stop was for lunch. Another walk through beautiful gardens and water ways took us to a pagoda area with hammocks all around. We were given Elephant ear fish and rice paper rolls, huge prawns and deep fried banana flowers. The hammocks were pretty tempting after a belly full of food, but instead we got into sampans (rowing boats) and were paddled around the island. It was a very peaceful and relaxing way to spend the afternoon … it helped that we did not have to do the rowing ourselves!

Back at the hotel, we dropped our stuff and went back out to find some dinner. We ended up coming across a lovely little hole in the wall restaurant that happened to be hosting a ‘learn to play Mahjong’ evening. So many people to watch and it was a great energy… the food was also pretty spectacular!

Day three of the tour had us up very early so we could leave the hotel by 6.30am. Our destination, the airport for a quick 1 hour flight to Da Nang, followed by a bus to Hoi An. This city is amazing! It has such a different vibe to Ho Chi Min. It is much more relaxed, but also so much more colourful! There are lanterns and bunting strung up all over the place, markets and shops in every nook and cranny, and so many more people!

Our walking tour of the area started with lunch at the Noodle House, and it was pretty spectacular! We then went on to see a temple and made wishes by burning incense sticks – the idea being that the smoke rises to bring the wish directly to the gods. There is a lot of Chinese and Japanese influence in this area, it is now a UNESCO heritage listed site because of its age and history and it was great hearing all kinds of information about it all from the guide.

Hoi An is very famous for all of the textile markets, and tailoring that happens here, so our next stop was to visit a taylor and to see how they do what they do. A couple of the group members, J included, chose to have some items of clothing made, and only had to wait 24 hours for those things to be delivered to the hotel. It’s pretty impressive!

Our ride back to the hotel was in a buggy… an electric golf cart that seats about 10 people… it’s a great way to see the area as it is all open and not super fast! It also spared our feet a bit, which were definitely feeling the day at this stage! My friend and I chose to indulge a little bit when we got back to the hotel, and took full advantage of the Spa to have a 90 minute massage which only cost about $25 – a fraction of what we pay at home!

We finished the day with a street food dinner . Bahn Mi and chicken rice, both of which were very tasty. Street food vendors tend to specialise in one thing and that is all they will cook. It is not unusual for people to go to several different places to have all of the things that they like. Walking through the city at night gave another perspective… slightly less crowded, but just as colourful and fun! We all decided to go in Sampans which were lit up with lanterns, and to release a wish into the water. It was a completely tourist thing to do, but super pretty and a whole lot of fun!

Day four saw most of the team changing the set plans completely. We had a choice of several different ‘free time’ activities including a 4 hour bike ride through the city, or a cooking class … both sounded great, until someone suggested hiring a bus and going to the Golden Hand Bridge. It turned out that our guide is a super good sport and managed to arrange the excursion. It was phenomenal!

The bridge sits at the top of one of Vietnam’s highest mountains at 1414m above sea level, and is part of a theme park. To reach it requires a long cable car ride, (it holds the record for the longest continuous cable car ride in the world) most of the way to the top. The views were spectacular and the bridge absolutely lived up to expectation… actually it probably exceeded them for me! … funnily enough it was also my second time going to a theme park on the top of a mountain in an Asian country – my first was in Malaysia (I wrote about it in an earlier blog)

We walked around for hours enjoying all of the colour, chaos and activity! We even managed to find a beer festival, much to the delight of some of our group! Back to the bus and our hotel, and for those that had clothing made, a final fitting to make sure everything was perfect. For me, I chose to finish the day with another walk around the markets. My plan was to do some souvenir shopping, but I was completely overwhelmed with all the choices and ended up not buying anything! I also opted out of the evenings activity (a cultural show) and chose to get to bed early… tour life is exhausting!

Day five was another new location Hue City. It is the half way point when travelling from one end to the other in Vietnam. We were on the bus for about 4.5 hours and travelled through the mountains to get there. We did make a couple of stops… the first for the Dragon Bridge in Da Nang, and the second was back at the airport to collect a wayward passport that had been left behind! We also stopped at a fishing village called Lang Co to stretch our legs.

The village sits on a lagoon and is well known for oyster farming. It was a super picturesque place with the mountains in the background … and a Mecca for tour buses! Apparently old tires are used for the oyster shells to grow on! – and obviously where there are oysters, there are also pearls! I bought myself a necklace – both as an early birthday prezzie and an anniversary (30 years this year) gift from Claytie. I deliberately chose imperfect pearls, because it is an imperfect anniversary without Claytie.

Our next stop was for lunch. This district is famous for food wrapped in banana leaves and salted coffee! … I’m not a coffee drinker, but the food was delicious! My meal – a noodle bowl and a beer came to a grand total of $4!After lunch, we checked into our hotel, had a little bit of a nap and then went off for a walking tour of the Citadel – home of the Emperor!

The Imperial Citadel is a huge complex with a heap of different buildings. It was the home and headquarters of the Nguyen Dynasty- the last Vietnamese royalty, who reigned from 1802-1883, 13 generations from that family. The area was largely destroyed during the war, and is slowly being rebuilt. There are several different sections that people were allowed to enter (or not) depending on their station. It was a lovely walk with interesting stories and buildings to look at.

Day five finished with Family dinner. We were taken to a local family home and shown how the Vietnamese people live. We learned about the main religion in Vietnam, which is ancestor worship – it is really important that the ancestors are not forgotten. The ancestral home is not lived in, but rather is the place that a shrine is set up to remember family members that have died. There are photos on the wall of the shrine area, and once a year there is a big party for all of the family to remember those that have died.

The family we visited live inside the citadel wall, and were incredibly welcoming. We were offered Beetle nut and leaves to chew. It makes the mouth numb and colours teeth and tongue red…. It used to be a beauty standard for women to die their teeth black and have very red lips to go with it…and chewing this beetle mixture would not only help to keep them that way, but also give a bit of a high. Only two of our group chose to partake, and both said it was not a pleasant experience. We were given a tour of the kitchen and then invited to eat. The food was plentiful and very very tasty! It was a lovely way to finish another full, fun day!