Jan 18 - Feb 4 - Vietnam, More than 4 Weddings & a Funeral
We still had a full day before joining the tour, so we coordinated a half-day personalised trip to a couple of villages just outside Hanoi with a young girl who's in her 4th year studying Tourism at the University. We went to a pottery village and also saw a Pagoda built in 1893.
At 5pm that evening, we had the official welcome to the Intrepid tour (www.intrepidtravel.com) A Taste of Vietnam and met both the tour leader - Hoang - and the rest of the group.
21 January
We went in the bus to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (in Hanoi) which was built 4 yrs after his death. We had to line up in pairs and be silent whilst waiting to see his glass enclosed coffin which was protected by 4 uniformed guards. It was also strange to see both the Vietnamese flag and Hammer & Sickle flag (Communist Party) displayed regularly. As part of the same complex, there is also the Presidential Palace and the Bien Lai Thu Pagoda. Ho Chi Minh actually refused to live in the presidential palace and gave it to the government officials of the time.
We then had a very authentic Vietnamese lunch of Pho (noodle soup) with pork, beef or vegetables (depending on your food persuasions). That night we attended the famous Thang Long Water Puppets after a hair raising cyclo ride through the Hanoi evening.
The Water Puppets are pretty amazing with the musicians, puppeteers and singing. Afterwards the puppeteers came out from under the curtain / in the water and many were small females which surprised us as the puppets were quite large and the manoevures we saw would have required a lot of arm and wrist strength.
22 January
After an early rise, we got picked up at the hotel at 8am to go to the main Market and meet one of the first graduates of KOTO (Miss Ha) and an Australian man who had worked and volunteered with Jimmy Pham (the founder) for several years. They each took half of us around the markets, seeing the fresh herbs and vegetables, meats and other handicraft sections. Miss Ha talked through the usages and we got to taste lots of different things. A few of the group (including Mark) even tried Dog meat which is considered a real delicacy. Mark claims it tastes like dried veal.
After the market trip we went on the bus to the KOTO school and learnt to cook 3 courses which included an amazing Tofu Salad, prawn & pork sugercane skewers and sticky rice with coconut milk and mango. We each had a turn at all aspects and got to eat everything in a beautiful slap up lunch. Naturally I didn't eat the skewers but Mark said they were very tasty.
It was really fantastic when we left as they had prepared a beautiful album with photos and recipes of the courses we created for a keepsake. We also bought a KOTO apron.
Later that afternoon we had some free time and Father Leo, Leo, Mark and I went for a 90-mins walk through the back streets of Hanoi to the Long Bien bridge and just made it back in time to catch the bus to the airport and get on the plane (Vietnam Airlines) to Hue.
23 January
We had a local breakfast near the hotel which was quite nice, and then took the bus to the Citadel which covers 120,000 acres about 30-mins outside Hue. The Nguyen dynasty had 13 kings between 1803 - 1945 and the custom when they died was that they would be buried with their concubines, eunuchs and servants were buried alive!
For lunch we went to a Buddhist nunnery and had a 5 course meal for 50,000 VND (about $5 AUD). After a few hours rest time that afternoon, we went on the first ever Inteprid homestay meal with another local guide for Intrepid. It's considered rude not to clear the table at each of the 7 courses but after the huge lunch we really struggled and Mark 'took one for the team' with a very sore stomach afterwards to show respect.
We then taught some of the group how to play a card game called Shithead which was fun. I think it's the new trip game!
24 January
After another early rise the bus got underway on the drive through ther mountains via Cloudy Pass (which lived up to its name - not worth getting out for a photo spot), and onto Hoi an (not to be confused with Hanoi). On the way we stopped near Danang (a famous American military city) at the Cham people's cultural museum. The Cham were an ancient people who had lived in Vietnam since the 4thC originally from China. The stone carvings and edifices were truly awe inspiring.
We arrived in Hoi an around lunchtime and immnediate felt a real affinity for the town. We lucked out being a Wednesday as there was a law stating no motorbikes in the old centre on Wednesday's and Sunday's. Hoang used a local guide to tell us about the special aspects and history of Hoi an including some 200 year-old Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese styled houses and bought a few handicrafts.
For lunch we went to the Mermaid Cafe which, it turned out, was run by Miss Vy, our teacher for the next cooking class. I had a beautiful grilled beef and green papaya salad and Mark had squid stuffed with mince pork and shrimps presented in a halved out coconut shell.
Finally we had time to explore what most people really do in Hoi an which is spend money on tailor-made clothing. The main place is Yaly (www.yalycouture.com) and Mark organised a hand-made suit and 10 shirts for his personal measurements in less than 36-hours with 2 fittings! I got a nice sleeveless Thai silk top and a n informal winter coat made up.
We went to dinner that night and was joined by Maliq a friend of Jennifer's who was travelling by himself in Vietnam. He became a constant feature of the rest of the trip and seemed to turn up everywhere we looked.
Like everyone bar three people (me, Leo and Ranga), Mark got Vietnam Belly (also known as Bali belly or Indian Belly) and was in bad shape for the next day and a half.
25 January
Mark missed out on an amazing bike ride through the villages immediately outside Hoi an. We went through the rural areas in about a 5-kms radius and then the long way around to a beach which is part of the South China Sea. The kids were so excited and would say 'Hello' or 'Xin chao' whenever we passed with a huge smile on their face.
We all got accosted on the beach by ladies wanting to give massages and pedicures/ manicures. Most of the tour group did partake of something but I held out as I knew Mark and I wanted to have a proper massage the next day - assuming Mark was feeling more normal.
Later than afternoon (around 4.30pm) we went on a boat ride (which hoped to be a sunset cruise but because of smog, didn't actually happen) to visit some more villages off the coast. This time a wood carving village. The artistry and skill of all of the crafts people we'd met along the way was amazing and the prices were so reasonable by Australian / American standards. However, it often wasn't practical or quarantine allowed products.
26 January - Australia Day
During a free half -day some of us decided to go to My Son (Musical Mountain) which is another spectacular Cham people site about 1 hr from Hoi an. It's a UNESCO World Heritage site and truly magical. Interestingly there has been a long association with international research / archeological groups supporting the area financially and with experts since the late 1800's. They included Italian, Polish, German and French amongst many other nations. Unfortunately the Americans bombed a significant part of it during the Vietnam War in the 60's and 70's.
The Cham people followed a Hindu/Buddhist type religion and it was surprising how much it looked like Indian imaginery. In fact, Ranga was able to explain what some of the Indian gods and symbolism was about and our local guide confirmed that the Cham people held the same meanings for many of them.
That afternoon we found a beautiful bronze sculpture that was quite different from any of the art we'd seen elsewhere, completely by accident. We found out from the Vietnamese shop girl that it was actually designed and produced by a Swiss guy who now calls Hoi an / Vietnam, home. We also had a full body massage at a proper beauty salon across from the hotel for only US $10!
27 January
After another early start (Vietnamese are very hard working people, most get to work around 7am, work till 6pm and often work 7 days!), we took the bus to Marble Mountain, 30mins out of Hoi an, not far from Danang. We saw amazing marble sculptures - some 2m tall. We walked up a very steep mountain to a special pagoda inside a natural cave on top of Marble Mountain. It was truly awe inspiring. There were also several towers to act as mausoleums for dead buddhists.
Because of a major Govt meeting taking place in the area, our intended flight from Hoi an to Nha Trang (1 hr) turned into a 10-hr train journey. We had a few days warning but were not pleased! In the end it wasn't all that bad, certainly an 'experience' we'll never forget. We started playing Texas Hold 'em Poker with fruit as money (lychees $1, mandarins $5 and custard apples $10 value). I actually won the whole lot twice - so that was fun.
Arriving around 10.20pm into Nha Trang, we got our hotel rooms (and guess who was there- Maliq!) and then went onto the Sailing Club which looked like any Ibiza type seaside restaurant/ disco place. We had a a late night snack and a few drinks before going off to bed around 12.30am.
28 January
Today we had a big sleep in - only a 9am start - and got to the Port so we could take a boat to several island villages off the coast, including a fishing village which makes it's own basket handwoven boats and a resort island. The weather was probably 27 degrees, so quite pleasant but not really hot. Several of the groups went for a swim but most just lounged around having pedicures, massages or reading books / relaxing for a few hours.
That night after dinner, a few of us went to the local bars for cocktails.
29 January
After another early start, we took the bus to Dalat (a honeymoon/ mountain resort town), stopping along the way at several more Cham people historical sites. After arriving at Dalat, we had a tour of the Bao Dai Palace (Summer Palace for the last King before Ho Chi Minh). This was unlike a European palace with ornate decoration at every turn. This was designed in the late 1930's, is quite austere and looks just like a normal home of that era in scale and decoration.
After that we went to the 'Crazy House' in Dalat. This is a work in progress (since 1990) by a 67-yr old architect which looks like a spiders web and has extremely weird and not necessarily engaging room decor.
30 January
Today we went to an Organic Vegie farm not far from the edge of Dalat. We were hosted by the Executive Chef of the Sofitel Dalat who would also be giving a cooking demonstration for lunch today. He's extremely well regarded, having spent 23yrs with the Accor group in Vietnam, Malaysia and Japan. We also went through the Dalat market and he showed us the fresh/ raw ingredients - herbs, vegies, dried fruits and meats that we would cook with.
We had a demonstration of about 6 dishes and got to do a little bit of cooking ourselves, although not as much as in Hanoi.
After lunch a few of us, Father Leo, Suzanne, Duncan, Mark and I, took a taxi to see the Mad Monk. He's been written up in the Rough Guide and Lonely Planet books. He lives and works alone in a pagoda he designed himself. He created the gardens, is a poet, sculpts in stone and produces calligraphy and individual art pieces each day. His studio is amazing! Afterwards we walked around the Dalat Lake (absolutely massive) and conked out at a cafe for a drink.
That night we were invited back to Cafe de La Poste (a Sofitel property) to have a full dinner of the courses we'd experienced in the cooking class. It was lovely and Hoang, Father Leo, Mark and I played pool for a few hours afterwards.
31 January
This morning we had a real sleep in and then wandered around the Dalat market and town before meeting at 11am to continue our journey.
We took the bus to a Chicken Village about 1 hr from Dalat which is just a tiny pitstop but apparently legend has it that a young man wanted to marry a local girl. The father said if you find me a chicken with 9 talons on its lower legs, you can marry my daughter. There is now a massive chicken to commemorate this. I'm not sure how true this is but we certainly parted with our money to buy souvenirs - Father Leo especially. They were particularly known for their fabric/ textiles which looked a bit like Aztec designs.
After that we drove to Dalat airport and took a short flight to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC).
HCMC didn't seem quite as frantic as our first day. I'm sure it was, but our awareness was greater I think. After dinner at Bunta in central HCMC, we went off to bed.
1 February
This morning Suzanne and Duncan who had been very sick the day before, didn't join us for the homestay (unfortunately). After about 3 hours driving, we reached the fishing village on the edge of the Mekong Delta, met our local guide (Miss Ha) and then boarded a boat. Travelling through the Upper Mekong, we stopped at several factories including one which hand-made coconut candy, coconut toffee and popped rice (yummy). For lunch we stopped further into the Mekong area and had lunch at a Bonsai Garden. It was lovely and we relaxed on hammocks for 2 hours. Later we got on the boat and visited further factories for brick / terracotta tile making and then finally took the last 45 min boat trip to the homestay location.
Mr & Mrs Muoi were lovely hosts and it looked like a school camp type venue although we were apparently the first Intrepid group to come there. We hung out on hammocks, explored their fruit garden and played more Shithead cards and Charades after dinner. The dinner was lovely and they even allowed for all of our various food foibles!
2 February
Last night was probably the worst night sleep for the trip. Father Leo has a terrible and very loud snore which even made the dogs barking and roosters crowing at the full moon seem calm! We woke at 5.45am so we could have a quick breakfast and get back to the main floating market by 7.30am. It was really amazing as many of the floating market 'vendors' live on their boats full time and they hang their wardrobe on the outside to dry and simply to store. Their wardrobes were often less than our mini backpacks! Shows you how you can live without a lot of consumerism if you wanted to. We had the sweetest watermelon bought off one of the boats in the market.
Then we went on the bus again and went to a village factory that made rice paper for export to China and a fish sauce factory (which smelt so good, I stayed outside where the scent was already very pungent).
Finally we made it back to HCMC and then after a late lunch took a cyclo ride around HCMC and stopped at the War Remnants Museum for an hour which was both amazing and horrifying. Unfortunately a lot of the information about what was done to the Vietnamese reminded me of the Nazi regime.
There was an amazing exhibition by a Japanese artist who had spent her whole career painting watercolours of children (22 yr career). She had spontaneously developed a small series of paintings with her impressions of the affects of the Vietnam War on the Vietnamese children (orphaned and injured). They were extremely poignant and very sad. She was invited to do a full exhibition and then convert it into a picture book. She spent years painting and a further 11 months assembling the book. In a terrible twist of fate, she died from cancer which she'd suffered for the last years of her life, only 8 months after the book was finished.
We got back on the cyclos and then toured the Notre Dame Cathedral (not as fancy as the original) and the ornate Central Post Office, The we got back on the cyclos a final time to get back to the hotel to rest before the Farewell Dinner.
We had all decided to get dressed up for the first time on the trip. Mostly we looked like slightly upmarket backpackers. However, I put on a dress and heels, as did Suzanne. The other girls wore nice blouses and pants and the guys put on nice shirts and pants. The dinner at one of the fancier places in town, was quite tasty but I think we'd been spolied with such wonderful food throughout the trip that we weren't as impressed as Hoang hoped with Vietnam House.
Afterwards we walked to the Blue Gecko, an Australian pub with the appropriate amount of Aussie and Brit yobbos getting drunk and squealing at the top of their voice. Mark and Hoang went on the pool table and managed to get rid of a Scot-Brit team. Then Leo and I tried to beat them without success.
Everyone was scattering at different times tmorrow so we didn't stay out ridiculously late. Nora was heading out first (8am to the airport), then we were out next (6.30pm to the airport). Suzanne & Duncan were joining a new Intrepid Tou group for Cambodia and having a Welcome meeting, that afternoon at 5pm and various others were flying out between Sun and Tues to their various countries.
3 February
For those still left we had a final hurrah breakfast in the Backpacker district (about 10-mins walk from our hotel) Saturday morning and managed to buy Friday's 'The Australian' newspaper for 30,000 VND (about $2.80 AUD) for the plane. We said a sad goodbye and then were left to our own devices for the rest of the day before catching the plane home.
The flight was relatively uneventful. Mark had caught my drizzly nose which had hung around for the last week (nearly) and this developed into a full blown cold (not nice for the flight). We arrived back Sunday afternoon and between Mark crashing and me in a sleep deprived frenzy, we got through 3 loads of washing, unpackaging most of the suitcases and then got ready for work the next day (oh well, real life returns)!
At 5pm that evening, we had the official welcome to the Intrepid tour (www.intrepidtravel.com) A Taste of Vietnam and met both the tour leader - Hoang - and the rest of the group.
21 January
We went in the bus to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (in Hanoi) which was built 4 yrs after his death. We had to line up in pairs and be silent whilst waiting to see his glass enclosed coffin which was protected by 4 uniformed guards. It was also strange to see both the Vietnamese flag and Hammer & Sickle flag (Communist Party) displayed regularly. As part of the same complex, there is also the Presidential Palace and the Bien Lai Thu Pagoda. Ho Chi Minh actually refused to live in the presidential palace and gave it to the government officials of the time.
We then had a very authentic Vietnamese lunch of Pho (noodle soup) with pork, beef or vegetables (depending on your food persuasions). That night we attended the famous Thang Long Water Puppets after a hair raising cyclo ride through the Hanoi evening.
The Water Puppets are pretty amazing with the musicians, puppeteers and singing. Afterwards the puppeteers came out from under the curtain / in the water and many were small females which surprised us as the puppets were quite large and the manoevures we saw would have required a lot of arm and wrist strength.
22 January
After an early rise, we got picked up at the hotel at 8am to go to the main Market and meet one of the first graduates of KOTO (Miss Ha) and an Australian man who had worked and volunteered with Jimmy Pham (the founder) for several years. They each took half of us around the markets, seeing the fresh herbs and vegetables, meats and other handicraft sections. Miss Ha talked through the usages and we got to taste lots of different things. A few of the group (including Mark) even tried Dog meat which is considered a real delicacy. Mark claims it tastes like dried veal.
After the market trip we went on the bus to the KOTO school and learnt to cook 3 courses which included an amazing Tofu Salad, prawn & pork sugercane skewers and sticky rice with coconut milk and mango. We each had a turn at all aspects and got to eat everything in a beautiful slap up lunch. Naturally I didn't eat the skewers but Mark said they were very tasty.
It was really fantastic when we left as they had prepared a beautiful album with photos and recipes of the courses we created for a keepsake. We also bought a KOTO apron.
Later that afternoon we had some free time and Father Leo, Leo, Mark and I went for a 90-mins walk through the back streets of Hanoi to the Long Bien bridge and just made it back in time to catch the bus to the airport and get on the plane (Vietnam Airlines) to Hue.
23 January
We had a local breakfast near the hotel which was quite nice, and then took the bus to the Citadel which covers 120,000 acres about 30-mins outside Hue. The Nguyen dynasty had 13 kings between 1803 - 1945 and the custom when they died was that they would be buried with their concubines, eunuchs and servants were buried alive!
For lunch we went to a Buddhist nunnery and had a 5 course meal for 50,000 VND (about $5 AUD). After a few hours rest time that afternoon, we went on the first ever Inteprid homestay meal with another local guide for Intrepid. It's considered rude not to clear the table at each of the 7 courses but after the huge lunch we really struggled and Mark 'took one for the team' with a very sore stomach afterwards to show respect.
We then taught some of the group how to play a card game called Shithead which was fun. I think it's the new trip game!
24 January
After another early rise the bus got underway on the drive through ther mountains via Cloudy Pass (which lived up to its name - not worth getting out for a photo spot), and onto Hoi an (not to be confused with Hanoi). On the way we stopped near Danang (a famous American military city) at the Cham people's cultural museum. The Cham were an ancient people who had lived in Vietnam since the 4thC originally from China. The stone carvings and edifices were truly awe inspiring.
We arrived in Hoi an around lunchtime and immnediate felt a real affinity for the town. We lucked out being a Wednesday as there was a law stating no motorbikes in the old centre on Wednesday's and Sunday's. Hoang used a local guide to tell us about the special aspects and history of Hoi an including some 200 year-old Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese styled houses and bought a few handicrafts.
For lunch we went to the Mermaid Cafe which, it turned out, was run by Miss Vy, our teacher for the next cooking class. I had a beautiful grilled beef and green papaya salad and Mark had squid stuffed with mince pork and shrimps presented in a halved out coconut shell.
Finally we had time to explore what most people really do in Hoi an which is spend money on tailor-made clothing. The main place is Yaly (www.yalycouture.com) and Mark organised a hand-made suit and 10 shirts for his personal measurements in less than 36-hours with 2 fittings! I got a nice sleeveless Thai silk top and a n informal winter coat made up.
We went to dinner that night and was joined by Maliq a friend of Jennifer's who was travelling by himself in Vietnam. He became a constant feature of the rest of the trip and seemed to turn up everywhere we looked.
Like everyone bar three people (me, Leo and Ranga), Mark got Vietnam Belly (also known as Bali belly or Indian Belly) and was in bad shape for the next day and a half.
25 January
Mark missed out on an amazing bike ride through the villages immediately outside Hoi an. We went through the rural areas in about a 5-kms radius and then the long way around to a beach which is part of the South China Sea. The kids were so excited and would say 'Hello' or 'Xin chao' whenever we passed with a huge smile on their face.
We all got accosted on the beach by ladies wanting to give massages and pedicures/ manicures. Most of the tour group did partake of something but I held out as I knew Mark and I wanted to have a proper massage the next day - assuming Mark was feeling more normal.
Later than afternoon (around 4.30pm) we went on a boat ride (which hoped to be a sunset cruise but because of smog, didn't actually happen) to visit some more villages off the coast. This time a wood carving village. The artistry and skill of all of the crafts people we'd met along the way was amazing and the prices were so reasonable by Australian / American standards. However, it often wasn't practical or quarantine allowed products.
26 January - Australia Day
During a free half -day some of us decided to go to My Son (Musical Mountain) which is another spectacular Cham people site about 1 hr from Hoi an. It's a UNESCO World Heritage site and truly magical. Interestingly there has been a long association with international research / archeological groups supporting the area financially and with experts since the late 1800's. They included Italian, Polish, German and French amongst many other nations. Unfortunately the Americans bombed a significant part of it during the Vietnam War in the 60's and 70's.
The Cham people followed a Hindu/Buddhist type religion and it was surprising how much it looked like Indian imaginery. In fact, Ranga was able to explain what some of the Indian gods and symbolism was about and our local guide confirmed that the Cham people held the same meanings for many of them.
That afternoon we found a beautiful bronze sculpture that was quite different from any of the art we'd seen elsewhere, completely by accident. We found out from the Vietnamese shop girl that it was actually designed and produced by a Swiss guy who now calls Hoi an / Vietnam, home. We also had a full body massage at a proper beauty salon across from the hotel for only US $10!
27 January
After another early start (Vietnamese are very hard working people, most get to work around 7am, work till 6pm and often work 7 days!), we took the bus to Marble Mountain, 30mins out of Hoi an, not far from Danang. We saw amazing marble sculptures - some 2m tall. We walked up a very steep mountain to a special pagoda inside a natural cave on top of Marble Mountain. It was truly awe inspiring. There were also several towers to act as mausoleums for dead buddhists.
Because of a major Govt meeting taking place in the area, our intended flight from Hoi an to Nha Trang (1 hr) turned into a 10-hr train journey. We had a few days warning but were not pleased! In the end it wasn't all that bad, certainly an 'experience' we'll never forget. We started playing Texas Hold 'em Poker with fruit as money (lychees $1, mandarins $5 and custard apples $10 value). I actually won the whole lot twice - so that was fun.
Arriving around 10.20pm into Nha Trang, we got our hotel rooms (and guess who was there- Maliq!) and then went onto the Sailing Club which looked like any Ibiza type seaside restaurant/ disco place. We had a a late night snack and a few drinks before going off to bed around 12.30am.
28 January
Today we had a big sleep in - only a 9am start - and got to the Port so we could take a boat to several island villages off the coast, including a fishing village which makes it's own basket handwoven boats and a resort island. The weather was probably 27 degrees, so quite pleasant but not really hot. Several of the groups went for a swim but most just lounged around having pedicures, massages or reading books / relaxing for a few hours.
That night after dinner, a few of us went to the local bars for cocktails.
29 January
After another early start, we took the bus to Dalat (a honeymoon/ mountain resort town), stopping along the way at several more Cham people historical sites. After arriving at Dalat, we had a tour of the Bao Dai Palace (Summer Palace for the last King before Ho Chi Minh). This was unlike a European palace with ornate decoration at every turn. This was designed in the late 1930's, is quite austere and looks just like a normal home of that era in scale and decoration.
After that we went to the 'Crazy House' in Dalat. This is a work in progress (since 1990) by a 67-yr old architect which looks like a spiders web and has extremely weird and not necessarily engaging room decor.
30 January
Today we went to an Organic Vegie farm not far from the edge of Dalat. We were hosted by the Executive Chef of the Sofitel Dalat who would also be giving a cooking demonstration for lunch today. He's extremely well regarded, having spent 23yrs with the Accor group in Vietnam, Malaysia and Japan. We also went through the Dalat market and he showed us the fresh/ raw ingredients - herbs, vegies, dried fruits and meats that we would cook with.
We had a demonstration of about 6 dishes and got to do a little bit of cooking ourselves, although not as much as in Hanoi.
After lunch a few of us, Father Leo, Suzanne, Duncan, Mark and I, took a taxi to see the Mad Monk. He's been written up in the Rough Guide and Lonely Planet books. He lives and works alone in a pagoda he designed himself. He created the gardens, is a poet, sculpts in stone and produces calligraphy and individual art pieces each day. His studio is amazing! Afterwards we walked around the Dalat Lake (absolutely massive) and conked out at a cafe for a drink.
That night we were invited back to Cafe de La Poste (a Sofitel property) to have a full dinner of the courses we'd experienced in the cooking class. It was lovely and Hoang, Father Leo, Mark and I played pool for a few hours afterwards.
31 January
This morning we had a real sleep in and then wandered around the Dalat market and town before meeting at 11am to continue our journey.
We took the bus to a Chicken Village about 1 hr from Dalat which is just a tiny pitstop but apparently legend has it that a young man wanted to marry a local girl. The father said if you find me a chicken with 9 talons on its lower legs, you can marry my daughter. There is now a massive chicken to commemorate this. I'm not sure how true this is but we certainly parted with our money to buy souvenirs - Father Leo especially. They were particularly known for their fabric/ textiles which looked a bit like Aztec designs.
After that we drove to Dalat airport and took a short flight to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC).
HCMC didn't seem quite as frantic as our first day. I'm sure it was, but our awareness was greater I think. After dinner at Bunta in central HCMC, we went off to bed.
1 February
This morning Suzanne and Duncan who had been very sick the day before, didn't join us for the homestay (unfortunately). After about 3 hours driving, we reached the fishing village on the edge of the Mekong Delta, met our local guide (Miss Ha) and then boarded a boat. Travelling through the Upper Mekong, we stopped at several factories including one which hand-made coconut candy, coconut toffee and popped rice (yummy). For lunch we stopped further into the Mekong area and had lunch at a Bonsai Garden. It was lovely and we relaxed on hammocks for 2 hours. Later we got on the boat and visited further factories for brick / terracotta tile making and then finally took the last 45 min boat trip to the homestay location.
Mr & Mrs Muoi were lovely hosts and it looked like a school camp type venue although we were apparently the first Intrepid group to come there. We hung out on hammocks, explored their fruit garden and played more Shithead cards and Charades after dinner. The dinner was lovely and they even allowed for all of our various food foibles!
2 February
Last night was probably the worst night sleep for the trip. Father Leo has a terrible and very loud snore which even made the dogs barking and roosters crowing at the full moon seem calm! We woke at 5.45am so we could have a quick breakfast and get back to the main floating market by 7.30am. It was really amazing as many of the floating market 'vendors' live on their boats full time and they hang their wardrobe on the outside to dry and simply to store. Their wardrobes were often less than our mini backpacks! Shows you how you can live without a lot of consumerism if you wanted to. We had the sweetest watermelon bought off one of the boats in the market.
Then we went on the bus again and went to a village factory that made rice paper for export to China and a fish sauce factory (which smelt so good, I stayed outside where the scent was already very pungent).
Finally we made it back to HCMC and then after a late lunch took a cyclo ride around HCMC and stopped at the War Remnants Museum for an hour which was both amazing and horrifying. Unfortunately a lot of the information about what was done to the Vietnamese reminded me of the Nazi regime.
There was an amazing exhibition by a Japanese artist who had spent her whole career painting watercolours of children (22 yr career). She had spontaneously developed a small series of paintings with her impressions of the affects of the Vietnam War on the Vietnamese children (orphaned and injured). They were extremely poignant and very sad. She was invited to do a full exhibition and then convert it into a picture book. She spent years painting and a further 11 months assembling the book. In a terrible twist of fate, she died from cancer which she'd suffered for the last years of her life, only 8 months after the book was finished.
We got back on the cyclos and then toured the Notre Dame Cathedral (not as fancy as the original) and the ornate Central Post Office, The we got back on the cyclos a final time to get back to the hotel to rest before the Farewell Dinner.
We had all decided to get dressed up for the first time on the trip. Mostly we looked like slightly upmarket backpackers. However, I put on a dress and heels, as did Suzanne. The other girls wore nice blouses and pants and the guys put on nice shirts and pants. The dinner at one of the fancier places in town, was quite tasty but I think we'd been spolied with such wonderful food throughout the trip that we weren't as impressed as Hoang hoped with Vietnam House.
Afterwards we walked to the Blue Gecko, an Australian pub with the appropriate amount of Aussie and Brit yobbos getting drunk and squealing at the top of their voice. Mark and Hoang went on the pool table and managed to get rid of a Scot-Brit team. Then Leo and I tried to beat them without success.
Everyone was scattering at different times tmorrow so we didn't stay out ridiculously late. Nora was heading out first (8am to the airport), then we were out next (6.30pm to the airport). Suzanne & Duncan were joining a new Intrepid Tou group for Cambodia and having a Welcome meeting, that afternoon at 5pm and various others were flying out between Sun and Tues to their various countries.
3 February
For those still left we had a final hurrah breakfast in the Backpacker district (about 10-mins walk from our hotel) Saturday morning and managed to buy Friday's 'The Australian' newspaper for 30,000 VND (about $2.80 AUD) for the plane. We said a sad goodbye and then were left to our own devices for the rest of the day before catching the plane home.
The flight was relatively uneventful. Mark had caught my drizzly nose which had hung around for the last week (nearly) and this developed into a full blown cold (not nice for the flight). We arrived back Sunday afternoon and between Mark crashing and me in a sleep deprived frenzy, we got through 3 loads of washing, unpackaging most of the suitcases and then got ready for work the next day (oh well, real life returns)!
posted by Most Liveable at 9:20 PM
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