Videos - Vietnam 2008 and 2010

Everyone who's visited Vietnam has their own 'crossing the road' story, photos or videos...we're no different. This one is called NOT crossing the road in Saigon. We're trying to reach our pink hotel on the other side, but stopped to take a video of what we were up against.

To train or not to train? Part III

To train or not to train? Part I

To train or not to train? Part II

Hanoi 2010. We’ve caught up with old friends and made new ones. Now it's time to make our way to Hue. Adopting the ‘winging it’ method of travelling more and more in recent trips, we had not booked any flight. The price, by Vietnamese prices, was expensive and there weren’t any departing soon enough for our pencilled in itinerary. I had read about Livitrans before arriving and opted to give it a go. The VIP cabins, for two, were only available on runs to Sapa, so it was Tourist Class for us.

One of the hotel staff accompanied us to the station where we entered (a controlled and sanitised room) and waited in a separate area to the local travellers. We boarded. Our roomies were a couple from Holland. Pleasant and friendly. Our cabins were similarly pleasant and friendly, with complimentary water, snack and tooth brushes. Not a bad trip and would probably do it again, although next time, perhaps medicated.

It’s just that lack of sleep thing that gets me every time and the train driver had a habit of slamming on the breaks every hour or so. Arrive Hue.

A couple of days later we biked it from Hue to Hoi An, which is not far from Danang (about 6 hours with scenic stops) and is the end of the line for the Livitran service. Not sure if it’s a north/south remnant left over from the war. From Danang we were headed for Nha Trang, but the trains weren’t overnighters.

I spoke to the girls at the Mango Split cafe (photo) in Hoi An, who suggested stopping in one of two towns to break up the trip. Quy Nhon (will be going there again) here we come!

*Word of advice – check out the price directly from/at the train station, before buying your ticket. Ripped off severely by VN standards....

Day 15 Nha Trang to Dalat

After quite an interesting night with a young lady from Holland, Estra, we headed to Dalat by bus. I wasn't sure if we would actually be on time to board...as Stray found a bottle of Bundaberg Rum on the shelf in a bar, a couple of doors down from our hotel. Say no more!

Say no more i got blind i didnt even see it coming ,the rums were like double or triples

i think i had about 7 of them and half way thru this evening i have no memory of

i did appologize to Snap and Estra the next morn appartently i couldnt walk and they both helped me back to our room I couldnt have been to baddly behaved because Snap is still talking to me :)

The bus (which was comfortable and clean) took the new road, which in parts, was not sealed and a bit 'hairy', especially when passing an on coming truck. We passed through some beautiful, mountainous scenery, which overlooked streams lined by boulders, waterfalls and exposed granite rock faces.

Overtaking on the mountain roads doesn't seem to be a problem, the driver just beeps the horn louder when going around blind corners. The trick is...don't look!

The rural area approaching Dalat is scattered with small (roughly made) farm houses made from timber, some milled, some logs. Pine I suspect, as the area has many pine plantations. They looked like they would be bloody cold in winter. I smiled to myself when I caught a glimpse of a computer set up through one of the windows and a satellite dish attached to the side of the house.

We arrived at 12.15 pm and the bus company provides a free taxi to your hotel, which we had not booked. No problem, he recommended one not far from the lake, which has been drained to enable the construction of a new bridge. US$12 per night, huge, basic, clean rooms, not much English at reception but heaps of smiles and a willingness to assist.

After getting settled we went in search of a memory card for the camera. Not having any luck on our own, we stopped and asked some school girls who kindly drew us a map. Along the way we asked a few locals if we were on course and they happily kept us going in the right direction. AU$28 later I had a new card inserted in my camera. Electronic equipment is one of the few things that is not cheap here.

We stopped to buy some cigarettes on the way back and noticed a man playing a guitar in the back of the small store. His wife, who served me, opened a book of English songs, some they had written and some, not. She happily sang us a few lines from a few songs. Lovely people!

Dung and her boyfriend, Minh, joined us for dinner and showed us the night market afterward. I bought a cardigan, as it was quite cool and Dung gifted Stray a jumper and me, a beautiful purple scarf.

Day 14 Nha Trang

Not much going on today, we both had a hair cut and took a rickshaw ride to the big market. I had in mind the large, modern Maximart Shopping Centre, but the driver took us to the local market instead...all good! I bought myself a Vietnamese hat so I would blend in...NOT.

I have noticed a couple of hotels, cleverly named Nice Hotel and Good Hotel. If I were to open one here I would call it Clean Cheap Hotel, because when travellers arrive and ask the taxi driver to take them to a hotel, that's usually what they ask for.

No photos today, I am having problems with the cameras. The existing photos are there, but I can't take photos, some sort of 'write protected' thing. Have just Googled the error and may have a solution.

We are off to Dalat in the mountains tomorrow morning by bus. It cost about AU$8 and is 3.5 hours long going on the new road. The first travel agent tried to put us off that idea, because she wanted to push an expensive tour, and told us it took 5 hours with no toilet onboard or stops along the way.

Stray (who is having a massage right now) has had trouble sleeping, so bought a natural remedy yesterday and slept pretty good last night...snored his head off. I'm looking forward to catching up with our friends in Dalat and Vung Tau and to FINALLY do some shopping in the last few days of our trip.

We only took carry on luggage and still packed too much, but it has made moving around the country much easier. You really only need 3 or 4 days worth of clothes because the laundry services are so cheap here.

Well, that's it from me for now.

Day 13 Nha Trang

I had a solid nights sleep for a change, as our room is back from the street, for the first time this trip and has no street noise. It was drizzling rain this morning, but cleared up enough for us to go over to Vinpearl Island by cable car.

The cable car is over 3.3 km long and takes 12 minutes to reach the island. It costs about $18, which is expensive for here, but once you are over there, the rides and entries are free. Also on offer are ocean sport activities (parasailing, jet skis etc.) which are not for free.
The aquarium is quite well done and if we had kids, it would be a great place to spend the day. The grounds and gardens are extremely well kept and full of sculptures, fountains and a very large water park.

I'm obviously on a computer...in the hotel...updating this blog and Stray's off having a massage. No plans for tomorrow so far, but we will probably head for Dalat on Wednesday.