Dreamy Hoi An

Nothing enticed me more than the thought of biking around Hoi An. Famous for its tailor shops and colourful bridges, Hoi An has a rich history and grand architecture which make it an essential stop for travelers in Vietnam. It is indeed a very important tourist destination and one of the nation’s most wealthy towns, right at the centre of the country.

Don't be scared to venture out of the main walking area and explore Hoi An out of the beaten track

Old Town

Walking Streets

   Our first stop was finding a tailor shop. We had read many recommendations from Trip Advisor and Chris was eager to have trousers and shirts custom made to wear at the office. Hanoi Old Town must have over one thousand tailor shops to choose from so it’s really a strike of luck whether you pick a good one or a bad one. Chris went to Mr Xe and he was happy with the product and service.

Chris in front of his tailor shop

Our main mode of transportation was a bicycle which we rented for 1$ (20,000 Vietnamese dong) a day... Quite a bargain! Most of the old town is comprised of “walking streets” so it is easy to navigate. Our longest trip was to the local beach which was beautiful, but mostly we would wander around the small streets and admire the architecture.

Cycling around the old town

Hoi An Old Town

 Fresh beer (bia hoi) was introduced to us in Hoi An, but it is popular all throughout the country. People brew their own beer in barrels and sell it in bars and restaurants at a ridiculously low price of approximately 3,000 dong per glass, the equivalent of 15 cents! It is a very light lager of only 3% alcohol and does not contain preservatives. Perfect after biking around town. Cheers!

Barrel of fresh beer

Food in Hoi An is very distinct because it is prepared with water from Ba Le village’s famous well. The water has a unique flavour, with a yellow hue. One signature dish which is particularly popular is cao lau, noodles with slices of pork, pork crackling on lettuce, bean sprouts and fresh herbs. What makes it special, of course, is the stock made from the famous well water. 

Street food - Don't fear it... try it!

Nha Trang, Vietnam's beach party capital

The holiday town of Nha Trang is a good party place and sun-soaking destination, probably the best place to go for a 2 week holiday in the country. With many islands nearby, boat trips and diving are popular activities. Parks and sculptures are aligned along the long stretch of beach and the city’s high rise buildings, 5 star hotels and stylish restaurants make for a cosmopolitan scene.

We thoroughly enjoyed soaking up the sun in Nha Trang and exploring the city after sunset. There was a nice night market to sample local treats and friendly bars where expats meet locals. Definitely a nice little holiday resort.

Soaking the sun in Nha Trang

Highly groomed trees adorn the boardwalk by the sea

High rise buildings meet white sand beach and turquoise water

Central highlands - Dalat

Dalat, in the mountains, is described as Vietnam’s alter ego, with its spring cold weather and French-colonial architecture. The temperature was indeed very cool and it took some getting used to! Dalat’s climate is conducive to growing plenty fruits and vegetables, so walking around the colourful market was interesting – but watch your step, many rats roam around!

Park in Dalat

Fresh produce at the market

Dalat wine is famous and served all over Vietnam. The red wine is light and very affordable. Another item to buy in Dalat is coffee. Vietnamese coffee is exported all over the world and ca phe chon is literally translated as weasel coffee. Coffee beans are fed to weasels, then harvested from their droppings! The city’s major markets sell this curious delicacy.

This bodum-like contraption is used to brew coffee right in front on your table - a long process. It is served with hot water to dilute, according to taste.

Hang Nga Crazy House

Architecture lovers will enjoy visiting the Crazy House, designed by Mrs Dang Viet Nga. It echoes the style of Antonio Gaudi and resembles an intricate mix of trees, grottos and other natural habitats. There are strangely decorated 10 rooms scattered through a maze of tunnels, bridges and ladders. It is even possible to book a room and spend a few nights! Most visitors, however, choose a short visit and pay the small entrance fee to wander in this crazy building.

This reminded me of Gaudi "melting" looking buildings

Wonderland castle

Mui Ne

Our Vietnamese trip began in HCMC in southern Vietnam, and we were flying out of Hanoi. Our journey up North started with a bus ride from the capital to Mui Ne, a cosmopolitan beach destination.

The layout of Mui Ne is very strange and unattractive : everything is spread out along the 10km stretch of highway. If you are trying to locate a specific hotel or restaurant, you will be told it’s “next to Km 12” or “just before Km 9”. For us spoiled Thai residents, Mui Ne beach wasn’t as stunning as we expected. In fact, we didn’t even swim in the sea, but the activities we did made up for it.

Mui Ne

Fairy Spring

The Fairy Spring flows through a patch of dunes with intricate sand and rock formations. It's a beautiful trek winding through the jungle. Local youth skip school to make a few dongs and walk next to you as unofficial guides. The sight was truly magical but we didn’t spot any fairies.

One very strange activity offered on the banks of the Fairy Stream is ostrich riding!! Cruel isn’t it? I can’t imagine the pleasure of sitting on such a magnificent bird and getting it to walk around. Very peculiar..

The Fairy Spring

Red sand dunes and rock formations at the Fairy Spring

Sand Dunes

There are two different set of sand dunes famous to Mui Ne, “The White Sand Dunes” and “The Red Sand Dunes”.  We woke up at 4am in order to watch the sunrise on the White Sand Dunes. The experience was well worth it. The desert-like scenery was peaceful and unforgettable.

Sunrise on the White Sand Dunes

Unfortunately, the peace and quiet of the place got ruined when rowdy tourists arrived in quad bikes. At the Red Sand Dunes, many local youths hang around to offer sand-sledding with homemade plastic sleds.

Peaceful sand dunes

Fishing Village

Mui Ne is a fishing village at heart and seeing it all in action is a must. The spaceship like boats are quite a sight and the dozen of women squatting while opening scallops help anchor the hardships of their daily work. Huge quantities of shrimps and other fish are dumped in baskets and put on motorbikes before being zoomed away and sold in the city’s markets and restaurants. The scorching sun burns on the workers even at the early morning hours. I can’t imagine how exhausted they must feel at the end of the day!

Transferring shrimps onto the motorbike

Woman opening scallops

Women hard at work

Strange looking circular boats

We were a bit put off by the amount of seafood laying in the hot sun at the Fishing village, so we opted out of the seafood shacks for dinner. Instead, for a popular local experience, we ventured to the “goat restaurants” in Ham Tien. We shared barbecued goat and goat hotpot, with fresh herbs and noodles. The beer is served with warm but accompanied by ice buckets. Overall, another nice evening.

Vietnamese Food

Traditional Vietnamese cooking is known for its fresh ingredients, minimal use of oil, and reliance on fresh herbs, and is considered one of the healthiest cuisines worldwide. While traveling in Vietnam, I could not get enough of “Bun Thit Nuong”, rice vermicelli garnished with basil, mint, peanuts, grilled meat and spring rolls. With a splash of sauce (sweet and sour fish sauce), this dish makes for a filling and fresh meal. I have since found the recipe online and often try to replicate it at home. It’s not that hard to make, but I can’t seem to make it as yummy as the ones I ate in the country’s food stalls.

Bun Thit Nuong, my favourite dish

In our guide books and through general word of mouth, we were told that dog meat is commonly sold in Vietnam. I had made sure to learn the Vietnamese word for “dog” and looked out for it on menus (to avoid it – obviously!). In the little village of Bac Ha in northern Vietnam, I went to a tiny local place and tried to order from the strictly Vietnamese menu. I knew “bun” meant vermicelli noodles so I went for “bun cho” which I thought was noodles with beef.

When I received the dish, the dark, brown meat looked anything but appetizing. I was surrounded by hungry locals, devouring their soup bowls, so I tried not to make a scene. I put a couple of noodles in my mouth and quickly tried to swallow it. The taste was awful. After a few more attempts and after subtly throwing most of the meat to the street dogs wandering around, I quietly made my way to the waitress to pay her. I was trying not to be impolite and to hide the fact that I barely touched the meal. I left the restaurant, relieved, and slowly made my way back to my hotel. I kept repeating to myself “bun cho..., bun cho... I’m sure I’ve ordered this before, so why was it so disgusting?”. Suddenly, the truth glared down on me : it was “bun bo!” which I had eaten before... “bo” means beef but “cho” is for DOG!!! I ran up to my room to get my guide book and confirmed what I had feared – I had just ordered dog meat!!!!

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Before traveling to Vietnam, I had a general understanding of the history of the country, especially with regards to the Vietnam war, but I didn’t realise the country was still socialist today.

The First Indochina War, fought between December 1946 and August 1954, was a struggle between the Viet Minh and the French for control of the country. It eventually led to the expulsion of the French in 1954, leaving Vietnam divided politically into two states, North and South Vietnam. I thought Vietnam would have kept a French flavour but I didn’t feel that influence. I didn’t get the sense that Vietnamese wanted to have anything to do with their French heritage, which is understandable I suppose.

Photographed in HCMC

North Vietnam was supported by the Chinese, while South Vietnam was supported by Americans. Conflict between the two sides intensified, and heavy foreign intervention made for a dramatic conflict. North Vietnam was victorious in 1975 and the war finally ended. The country was then unified under a communist government, but was politically isolated and impoverished. In 1986, the government initiated a series of reforms, which helped Vietnam integrate the world economy. The government encouraged private ownership of farms and factories, and foreign investment. 

Photographed in HCMC

Despite pursuing economic reform and embracing capitalism, the ruling Communist Party shows little willingness to give up its monopoly on political power. Indeed, Vietnam is one of the four remaining communist country in the world today.

When visiting the country, you can feel the government control over the culture and media. Facebook, for instance, was blocked in most cities. There are easy ways to bypass this by downloading simple programs that block your IP address, but the idea is still that social media websites are not encouraged. Though the government of Vietnam claims to safeguard the country against obscene or sexually explicit content through its blocking efforts, many politically and religiously sensitive websites are also banned.

Furthermore, propaganda posters are scattered around town and Uncle Ho’s face dominates the cities, from South to North! Even in the little remote villages there were Ho Chi Minh posters around and red was omnipresent.

Propaganda posters in HCMC

   

Posters of Ho Chi Minh in the small, mountain town of Bac Ha, in northern Vietnam

* I do apologize to anyone reading this who might feel my writing is an inaccurate description of the events. I am no historian and I have not studied this in detail. It is my own simple account and attempt of a summary on a much more complicated history. *

Vietnam

We landed in Ho Chi Minh City (formally known as Saigon), eager to soak up the history and culture of this mystical nation. Our first impression was disappointing as our taxi driver from the airport tried to rip us off. First, we made sure to find a driver which would put his metre on. When we sat in, we checked and saw he turned it on. Unfortunately, after driving 10 minutes out of the airport, the driver turned his metre off, and told us we had to pay a flat rate. An argument ensued, and we finally got him to turn the metre back on. He ended up losing the fee for the few kilometres he had already driven because of his poor conduct. It was quite a shame, but made us act more cautiously afterwards.

We settled in our hotel and set to explore the city after a good night’s sleep....

HCMC is an incredible mix of ancient pagodas and sleek skyscrapers, where posh hotels meet cheap backpackers, classy restaurants cohabit with steamy street stalls and fancy businessmen walk next to scruffy vendors in conical hats. We walked everywhere around the town’s many districts and tried the local delicacies like jelly deserts and noodles with fresh herbs, visited temples and made our way to the War Remnants Museum.

The War Remnants Museum documents the atrocities from the war with disturbing photographs, posters, US armoured vehicles, and weapons, as well as the famous “tiger cages” used to house Viet Cong prisoners. According to the Lonely Planet, “there are few museums in the world that drive home so well the point that war is horribly brutal and that many of its victims are civilians”. However true this may be, and independently of the amount of tears I shed in that museum, I did find it to be very one-sided. Indeed, Vietnam is still today a Republic and propaganda posters can be found plastered all over the city. The collection of photos depicting children and civilians injured by US bombing and napalming is extensive. All in all, the museum is worth a visit and helps anchor the reality of how recently these events took place and shaped life in Vietnam today.