oh what fun!

it is to ride on a trishaw in Vietnam!
yay!

Nihn Bihn and Halong Bay, Vietnam

Another overnight bus landed us on the side of the road with no map at 6:00 AM in the rain in Nihn Bihn. Fun. We followed some other tourists to a hotel who gave us a room despite the early hour and then crashed until noon. We awoke to hunger like no other, hit the streets to find a restaurant, and were dumbfounded with the lack of food. SE Asia is all about food you see. You can't walk a block without seeing a dozen hole in the wall places offering up delicious meals. But not in Nihn Bihn. We eventually found a hotel restaurant with a sleeping waiter, overpriced food, and tiny coffees. After the grub, we had the option of renting a manual motorbike, so we quickly hired the first drivers we could find to take us to Tam Coc. Tam Coc is Halong Bay but set in brilliant green rice paddies with a river running through. We hired a boat and had 2 Vietnamese ladies row us around for 2 hours for a whopping $4. They tried too hard to sell us embroidered crap and annoyingly wouldn't take no for an answer. They got the hint eventually but persistently tapped M on the leg asking for a tip. Weird. (A note on Vietnam: The people are lovely, the sights are beautiful, the food is good, but everyone, and I do mean everyone, is out to make a buck and will lie and plea through their teeth in order to do it.) We ignored the ladies and thoroughly enjoyed being rowed under crazy limestone caves. The limestone juts straight out of the rice paddies sticking up like a sore thumb. They are a sight to see! Back in town, the rain started and we rushed back to the hotel for some quality English TV time. We caught gross dinner in our hotel restaurant and then called it a night.

LP tells us you can head to Haiphong or Halong City to arrange trips to Halong Bay. Since Haiphong was closer, we caught the local bus there. This was our first Vietnamese local bus and it was quite the trip. We either drove 1,000km or 20 km an hour the entire way and once we had crammed so many people into the bus that people were literally sitting on my feet, we stopped to pick up more. Again, dumped at some unknown location and instantly swarmed by tuk tuk drivers. Unfortunately, people don't speak English in Haiphong, and clearly we speak no Vietnamese. Arranging a boat trip of the bay was next to impossible. Many moto rides and frustrating hours later, we retreated to the bus station for a bus to Halong City, confusingly also referred to as Halong Bay(it's a city, not the bay). Again, dumpage on the side of the road, hop onto the backs of some motos and arrive at a strip of hotels. And by a strip I mean hundreds of hotels with very few tourists. Perhaps it is the low season, but there were no tourists in Halong City. Certainly not enough to fuel the rampant tourism industry and concrete buildings that make up the town. I believe this is what causes lying hotel touts offering us ridiculously overpriced bay tours. We knew enough to head straight to the harbor to catch the boats and not hire a boat for a private tour. Even so, we got followed to the harbor and lied to repeatedly about prices of trips. One scammer went as far as opening the tourist information booth, sitting us down with a piece of paper and writing out prices for us pretending as though he worked there. Of course he fell silent when asked for his identification. Beware of this if you visit Halong Bay. We did of course arrange a boat through the tourist info booth the next morning ($4, NOT $45) and had a lovely 3 hour tour of the limestone and one of the amazing caves.
Even though the caves were lit up like Disney World (weird!), and a non-English speaking local insisting on being our photographer and making us pose for a million awful photos as we cruised through the bay (see inserted photo), it was still quite a sight to see. M and I must admit though that after so much effort in getting to Halong Bay, we were not impressed. Perhaps we are jaded by the (more) gorgeous Tam Coc, or by all of the other amazing sights we have seen on this trip, but we suggest you head to Tam Coc instead for a more authentic experience.

Hoi An, Vietnam

is where one goes for custom made jewelry, clothing, shoes, etc. We went for the shoes, yes, exactly what we need to be carrying around until August, extra pairs of shoes!

We arrived in Hoi An after another long, rocky overnight bus ride and decided this was the town we'd actually get some rest and relaxation time in. The overnight buses were causing serious sleep issues, not to mention ugly bags under the eyes. We stumbled upon the perfect hotel (air con, breakfast buffet included, free internet, a pool!) and spent a few hours playing catch up on the sleep situation. Once we felt energized, we rented bicycles and headed out to explore the charming town of Hoi An. It didn't take long before we were stopped at a shoe shop where P got some non-leather boots made as well as a pair of sneakers and M got 2 pairs made herself. It's just crazy! You walk in, show a photo of what you'd like (i.e.- a pair of $300 Campers) and they make them for you in 24 hours for under $20! We really couldn't pass this up. So we got the shopping urge overwith and moved on with ourselves.
Hoi An was preparing for the evening's festivities to observe Earth Hour 2009. Floating lanterns were situated on the river running through town, locals were setting up streetside stands to sell floating candles and everything imaginable that glows in the dark. Meanwhile, huge speakers began the countdown to Earth Hour early in the day, hours before lights were to be turned off...let's just say people were overly excited. And finally, the lights went out, the locals were loving it and the few tourists around seemed confused- why was everyone so excited to turn lights off? The river scene was enjoyable- floating lanters gliding past tiny traditional boats full of happy Vietnamese playing guitars, harmonicas, flutes and singing their songs.
All the moving about since landing in SE Asia really caught up to us in Hoi An- we slept in, spent countless hours lounging, shmoozing, slowly riding bikes, sipping coffee, people watching and playing cards. We really weren't used to this fast paced schedule, thankfully Hoi An was the perfect place to relax and recharge.
Our next stop was the old city of Hue. We were told it was much like Hoi An, but bigger, so we sqeezed it in and alotted a day to check it out. There were quite a few sights to explore in and around Hue, but lack of time and torrential downpours restricted us to one- The Ancient Citadel, where we explored some interesting buildings & temples, but overall weren't all that impressed. Perhaps hiring a guide would have made a difference here. From there we jumped on a trishaw to get a quick peek in at the local market before boarding yet another overnight bus. A tip for those thinking of visiting Hue- give yourself more than a day, there are many sights to see ranging from Perfume river cruises, to ancient tombs, pagodas and even natural springs.
and off we went, on another overnight...next stop Nihn Bihn!

Ho Chi Min City & Nha Trang, Vietnam

or HCMC or Saigon (pick your fave) was a blast. We got dropped off on the side of the road at night (what else is new?) and were quickly rushed off by a polite bus tout to a guesthouse a few blocks and alleys away. We felt entirely lost walking through tiny alleys until all of a sudden we appeared in front of a guesthouse, nice and clean with breakfast for $16. We decided to celebrate our first night in Vietnam with some yummy Tiger beer. We easily made some crazy (read : weird Americans) friends and spent the night and too much of the morning partying. Got a late start the next day, jumped into a cab and wound up at the American War Museum. Please note that we hopped in a cab and not on the back of a moto this time because M feared for her life. There's about, oh I don't know, a trillion motos in Saigon, all weaving and honking their way through traffic. It is utter chaos, but somehow it all seems to work. Though the tourists walking around with bandages scared us a bit. Anyway, the war museum was nothing special much to our surprise. LP says you can't miss it, but we beg to differ (though we must note that it's under construction).
We hopped in another cab, headed to the market, shmoozed around for awhile, then ate some delicious street food. Vietnamese food is a bit different than we would've expected, the vegetarian options are few and all with an American-style Chinese food twist. But this food (read: noodles and spring rolls) outdid most dishes and was washed down with a dragon fruit shake for M and an avaocado shake for P. Delicious. We hurried back to grab our bags and board our first of many Vietnamese overnight buses. And what a trip this bus turned out to be. Think Japanese capsule hotel on wheels and you've hit the nail on the head. We wound up with some of the worst seats on the bus and were squished like sardines with 3 other strangers. Combined with the worst bus driver in history, we had a sleepless night and were exhausted upon our arrival in Nha Trang. Thankfully, snoozing on the beach restored us to our former selves. We failed miserably trying to transfer buses to bring us to Hoi An and spent the day relaxing on the beach. Not such a terrible way to spend the day. Apparently, there are no local buses in Vietnam and everyone rides these "open tour" buses which only leave twice a day. We could have spent 10 hours crammed into a minibus with cigarette smoking local men, but cheerfully opted for the beach. While M relaxed on her beach chair due to a heightened hatred of sand and salt, P jumped waves like she couldn't believe. A few showers later and it was time for overnight bus #2. A word of advice: If you are trying to cover great distances in Vietnam, 2 overnight buses does the trick. You won't sleep a wink on the first and will be so damn exhausted, you won't stay awake for a second on the next. But make sure you get the bottom bunks, it makes all the difference.