VietnamStory1

We were excited to get on the plane, we hadn�t been in one for such a long time. Honestly, the excitement stemmed from the free wine that comes along with International flights, a product which is rarely available in this region of the world. After taking advantage of this, our plane safely landed in Saigon, Vietnam. We were roped into staying at a more expensive place but we didn�t mind because the last thing we wanted to do was walk the streets at 10:00 pm with our belongings�perfect target for bag snatchers. We were warned that Saigon bred the most brave thieves in all of South East Asia and to not leave anything dangling from your body.

Wow, Saigon, here we were! Let us paint the picture for you�millions of people and virtually everyone is on motobikes. The streets are crammed with food carts, thousands of motos, cyclos (bicycle taxis), bicyclists and people moving in every direction. It�s difficult to tell what side of the road they are meant to drive on because everyone weaves in and out wherever there�s spare space. Crossing the road is like being in a videogame. The most important rule of the game is to Never Run! The drivers watch the timing in your step and zoom by you with a whoosh. And then of course there are cyclo drivers saying �Where you go? You want cyclo? How about smoke? Where you go? You want Ganja?� over and over again.   And let�s not forget the power of the horn. We�ve come to the conclusion that everyone in South East Asia believes that it�s a magical device. It�s used every few feet and the driver believes that his/her �magical device� will automatically move the cars/motos/people/animals or anything else that happens to get in front of them. Now, imagine a city with over 4 million people and everyone is using their �magical device� at the same time.

Our senses were on overdrive. We spent a couple of days dodging the traffic, visiting museums and taking in the intensity. It�s quite interesting to be in a country with such recent (American) history. A trip to the War Remnants Museum, formerly known as the Museum of American War Crimes, was shocking! The exhibits were obviously one-sided (can't forget who paid for the place) but it drives home the point that warfare is brutal and no one is a winner. The atrocities of this particular war were well documented and the photos are intense. We will spare the details of the grotesque features and stories but as you might imagine, it was a moving experience.

Needing to escape the big city chaos we booked a trip to the mighty Mekong Delta. Known as the "bread basket" of Vietnam, this incredibly fertile region is one massive flood plain covered in lush green vegetation with an endless labyrinth of small canals. Due to massive de-forestation, flooding has become a major problem in recent years. In fact, so much dirt and mud flows into the river upstream that the delta continues to grow at the mouth of the river by as much as 79m per year. Houses are literally in the river, the water flowing through open doors and windows as the people relax during the afternoon hours in hammocks tied to the roof.

The Mekong is one of the greatest rivers in the world and is the lifeline of South East Asia. It begins in the high mountains of Tibet and makes a 4500 km journey through China, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and finally Vietnam. It is used for bathing, fishing and transportation. There are no supermarkets, they just simply load thier boats full of food and supplies, tie up to one another and form floating markets.

After our tour of the region (yes, everything is a tour in Vietnam, precisely how the government wants it set up) we returned to Saigon once again and made proper arrangements to begin our journey north. We boarded a night bus and woke up in the seaside town of Nha Trang. It has a huge 6 km beach with nice tranquil waters (although you must stay well clear of it at night for fear of getting mugged, a serious problem in Vietnam). We enjoyed the R&R, bicycling around the area and had a great day on the water on the famous Mama Hahn�s Booze Cruise. This floating party had it all - music, great food, and an endless supply of cheap Mulberry wine. Definetly a good time but something your body can only handle once.

Next stop was Hoi An, the gem of Vietnam. This charming riverside town turned out to be our favorite destination in this country. It is one of the few towns that was virtually untouched during the war and therefor retains much of it's colonial charm. The small alleys twist this way and that making a day of exploring quite an adventure. Most are too small for cars but are perfect for bicyclists and pedestrians. The buildings are well worn and have seen many of changes through the years. The local cuisine is considered some of the best in SE Asia and caters well to us vegetarians. The Vietnamese love to have afternoon drinks so the Bai Hoi (draft beer) was extremely cheap. You could get a cold beer for about $0.30US which made Shawn very happy. In addition, the shopping was beyond belief with tailors ready to make you anything you wanted for a small price which, as you can guess, made Summer very happy. The three days we planned for this small town quickly turned into 4, then 5, then before we knew it a week went by.

Upon our friend Philipe�s recommendation we rented a motobike and woke up before dawn to catch the sunrise at Cua Dai Beach (4km from town). It�s a long stretch of palm-lined white sand beach with beautiful turquoise water. It is actually quite busy at this hour with all of the older men starting their day with some stretches and exercise. After the peaceful sunrise we were ready to start our day. We set out for China Beach and the Marble Mountains. Not too many years ago, China Beach was overcrowded with American soldiers during the �American War� for some R&R in-between fighting.   On this day, other than the soviet made mig jets flying up and down the beach, we were the only people for miles and miles.

As time passed so did the need for us to keep moving. The journey to Hanoi is a tough one. It starts with a 7 hour bus ride, a 10 hour lay-over in Hue and then a massive 18 hour train ride. The trip was educational to say the least. We decided to save a few bucks and ride in 3rd class. As you might expect, our traveling friends in this section were mostly Vietnamese working class and they were very interested in what we were doing, where we were going, and how come we were not in the 1st class sleeper section with the rest of the Westerners. A group of hard faced men sat directly across from us and kept their eyes focused on us, recording every move we made. They carried with them their own 3 foot bamboo bong that they used to smoke tobacco every 15 minutes (can you believe it, some people actually do use it as a "Tobacco Accessory"). It must have given them a major rush though because they continued puffing away all night long even though it made their face turn green when they tried to smoke too much too fast.

We locked our packs to us, put on our sunglasses (they left the light on all night) and caught a very light snooze. The next morning we woke up with the eyes still upon us, we obviously were able to hold their curiosity. Then came the questions, delivered to us from the only person who could speak broken English. "What do you think of the American (Vietnam) war? Was your dad in the war? Do you like war?"   Yikes, tough questions with only 2 hours of sleep and 15 sets of eyes on you.

There was a different feel in the North from the South. Things seemed a little more serious in Hanoi, the capital of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, than they did in Saigon. For decades it was a hard-line police state characterised by strict police power, detention with out trial for monks, priests, landowners and anyone considered a threat to the Vietnamese government. Things have changed in the last 10 years but that still isn't much time to erase it's past.

After just a day or two of exploring we joined a group heading to Halong Bay. This was a very special part of our trip because this was one of the places Summer had always dreamed of visiting after watching the French movie "Indochine". Halong Bay is a network of over 3000 limestone islands that rise directly out of the perfectly calm sea water. Truly an amazing site, nothing like either of us had ever seen before with our own eys. "Ha long translates literally as 'where the dragon descends into the sea'. Legend has it that the islands of Halong Bay were created by a great dragon who lived in the mountains. As it ran toward the coast, it's flailing tail gouged out valleys and crevasses; as it plunged into the sea, the areas dug up by the tail became filled with water, leaving only the high land visible." (LP) Dragon or no dragon, this is definately a magical place.

We cruised around the limestone cliffs on a beautiful overnight boat, went swimming, and enjoyed delicious meals. We visited some caves as well as a small community where the inhaibitants spend their entire life on the water. They built a village of small houses and even a school on stilts with never a need to visit land. In early evening the boat dropped anchor and we were mesmerized by a stunning sunset, the sun a red fireball burning through the thin fog. We had the chance to swim at night with phosporesence. These are microscopic particles that live in tropical waters and produce a brilliant glow when disturbed. It was a really amazing experience as you moved through the water with thousands of sparks around you. It was so dark and they were present in such numbers that just moving your hand through the water looked like the lights that follow a magic wand or a sparkler firecracker underwater...WOW!!!

We returned to Hanoi and had to end our time in Vietnam. Although we were really glad to visit this country we were ready to move on. Our next destination, Laos, had been praised and worshiped by so many other travelers and we were excited to get there.

Next Adventure: Beautiful People, Beautiful Land In Laos