Xin chào from Vietnam!

Hi everyone!

The blog has finally caught up to the same country that we're in - so hello (or xin chào, as they say here) from Hue, Vietnam. This is our third stop in our third country, so it's time we updated you all on what we've been up to and our first impressions of Vietnam.

Despite sharing a border, Vietnam and Cambodia have seemed vastly different to us. Our first stop was Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon (and apparently still Saigon if you're Vietnamese and fled the country when the Communist regime took control of the whole country), after an 8-hour coach trip over the border. We had our first run-in with immigration, thanks to what we'll politely call a bit of miscommunication between the bus conductor and ourselves. But all was sorted out without too much fuss, and soon we were walking down a street in Ho Chi Minh City, in the gathering dusk, looking for our hostel.

Ho Chi Minh City: new country, new culture
Comparing Ho Chi Minh City with Phnom Penh, it seemed a far more modern, affluent place with much more Western influence.

It's understandable when history is taken into account; when Vietnam was split into North and South, the communist north attempted to invade the south to bring the whole country under their control. Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh city) was where the capitalist Southern Vietnamese government, and the US, were based until they lost the Vietnam war (or, how it's known here, the second Indochinese War). Phnom Penh, in contrast, was the seat of the Khmer Rouge's power in the 70s, which is about as far from a Westernised power as you could get. Walking around Ho Chi Minh City felt like a welcome breath of modernity after Cambodia; it almost made up for the crushing reality that there are no tuktuks in Vietnam at all!

There are plenty of mopeds to make up for it though!

While in Ho Chi Minh City, we visited the War Remnants museum and the Cu Chi Tunnels. Both, unsurprisingly, centre on the conflict with the US, and were fascinating not just for their exhibits, but also for the way they presented those exhibits.

The Cu Chi Tunnels, for those who don't know, are a network of tunnels used by the Viet Cong to survive the US bombardment of South Vietnam and to launch surprise attacks on US soldiers. The exhibits included examples of all the mantraps the Viet Cong used, with richly painted pictures of US soldiers caught in said traps. These were shown to us by our tour guide in a rather grisly 'aren't these cool' way which felt slightly uncomfortable. Bizarrely, the site also has a firing range where you can have a go at shooting an M14 (American gun) or AK47 (Vietnamese).

Georgia testing out the hidden entrance to the tunnels. When they saw how small she was, they nearly signed her up for the Viet Cong then and there

Historically, this was used as a tiger trap. Those stakes in the bottom are bamboo; the platform above rotates as you walk on it.

Quite often, we were told, soldiers had to be airlifted to field hospitals complete with the traps. Guerrilla warfare, it turns out, is horrific

The War Remnants used to be called The Museum of American War Crimes and lived up to its names, with exhibits focusing on various aspects of the war but with a particular focus on the US atrocities committed and on the lingering effects of Agent Orange on the population of Vietnam. We'd been warned to expect this sort of bias, though in truth the information presented was pretty accurate - it was just one-sided. It was fascinating to see the war told from this perspective, which obvious emotion behind it, and quite different to Cambodia's factual, emotionless telling of the Khmer Rouge atrocities.

These guys greet you on your way in - we can't think of any museums that quite so openly flaunt captured military hardware

The text is difficult to make out in the photo, but this is a standard piece of equipment for US pilots, requesting aid in a variety of languages in case they were shot down

This photo was from the section of the museum dedicated to the protests against the war that took place around the world. Quite a powerful image

Hoi An: a change in plans
While in Ho Chi Minh City we made the decision to change our itinerary slightly. The Stray bus was due to stop off in Bai Xep, Da Lat and Nah Trang; all three were long driving days and the activities didn't much appeal to us. So instead, we flew up to Hoi An early. Hoi An is, to be frank, wonderful. It's a small town on a river, with an 'ancient' section filled with picturesque shop windows and lanterns. To Georgia it felt like being in the floating lanterns scene in Tangled.

On the river, there was a plethora of boats and lanterns floating. We're still not quite sure why!

Lanterns festooned on every street in the ancient town

Hoi An is also one of the premier locations for tailoring. We'd heard about this in advance, and were both eager to get something made while we were there - it was another reason to get there early, so we had time to make sure our clothes were perfect. We diligently scoured the tailors in town (we'll write a separate post for anyone who wants an in-depth guide to finding a good tailor in Hoi An) and settled on Kimmy tailors for a suit and dress. The end results can't be shown here - we have weddings to attend this summer and don't want to spoil our entrances!

The changing room Georgia used to try on her dress. For now it'll have to do!

Apart from tailoring, Hoi An is a delightful place to visit. We stayed in a very luxurious but wonderfully cheap family-run hotel on one of the islands in the river that Hoi An sits on; they had free bicycles we could use to get into town, a lovely little pool, and couldn't do enough to make our stay comfortable. If anyone is visiting Hoi An, we can thoroughly recommend the Rural Scene Hotel!

We also went for a cooking class, during which we also got a tour of Hoi An market, had a go at throwing a fishing net, fished for crabs, and enjoyed a fish foot spa! Georgia proved herself extraordinarily adept at crab fishing, while Jon discovered he wasn't too bad at carving a tomato to look like a swan.

Behold! All you need is one tomato, a chilli, some lemongrass, and a cocktail stick. See Jon for lessons

Two professionals at work

The finished feast. Our hostess is on the right; don't be deceived by her scowl, she took a shine to Jon!

The fish also took a shine to Jon's hands

Hoi An was a calming and beautiful place to visit, and also represents for us a successful deviation from the pre-booked and pre-arranged path of our tour. It's unlikely we'll do it again on this trip, but if we come back to Asia again, it's looking more and more likely that we could get around on our own - which would be substantially cheaper than the way we've done it this time!

Hue: it's a place to stop
If that subheading sounds a bit lame, then it's an accurate reflection of how we found Hue. It might be that after Hoi An, with its beautiful architecture and picturesque setting, anything would be a let down. But we arrived into town, and felt a little like we'd come to the Vietnamese equivalent of Reading, or Coventry: nothing wrong with it, but not a great deal to rave about either.

We arrived in the company of the Stray tour group, who had caught us up in Hoi An. There's just five of us currently, so there's plenty of room on the bus - essential given that the legroom on the bus is slightly too small for us! On the way to Hue we stopped at the Hai Van pass, a spectacular mountain road featured (for those who watch it) in Top Gear's Vietnam special. We got great view of the surrounding scenery - and of a young couple having a wedding shoot in the ruined buildings at the top of the pass!

But how do they get down from there??

There are worse places to stop for a rest break

We rolled into Hue at around lunchtime, and settled into our unremarkable hotel room (OK - we were definitely spoiled by Hoi An!). After a short nap for Jon, we decided to go and grab some lunch before heading over to the old Imperial city. Unfortunately for us, the café we'd found online turned out to be more elusive in reality, leading to an hour spent wandering in a circle through Hue's less than pretty architecture.

This was arguably the prettiest bit

The Imperial city: a city inside a city (inside a city)
After lunch, we weren't even sure if we would bother with the Imperial city. But a sense of touristic duty overcame our disenchantment with Hue (after all, the Imperial city was THE thing to do here, we couldn't just not go!) and we trooped over. Thank goodness we did - it was great! The city was the seat of the Nguyen dynasty, the last emperors to rule Vietnam. It took heavy damage during the war with the US and various natural disasters, but restoration work continues and what's there now is still mighty impressive.

The entrance gate - one of the best-looking parts currently

That's the emperor's reading room. We love the rockeries that sit in the centre of every pond in Vietnam

Rejuvenated after a successful afternoon's sightseeing, we went for dinner with the rest of the Stray group. As usual, the Stray guide took us to a place that offered both Vietnamese and Western cuisine, and had a nice lively vibe even if it wasn't the most 'local' of places. We took advantage of the Jenga sets the restaurant provided and had, if we do say so ourselves, some of the best games we've ever had!

Just look at it!

So what do we make of Vietnam?

There are things about Vietnam we are really loving. There is some amazing scenery, we've met some very friendly people and the way they've told their history is fascinating. However, there seems to be a lot of inequality between genders here. All women cover themselves from head to toe whenever they go out in the sun. It must be horribly uncomfortable in their hoodies, socks, and face masks but if they don't have pale skin they worry they won't be seen as beautiful. Women have also told us its not acceptable for them to have tattoos or drink - and when they get married they have to move in with their husband's family, however far away from their own parents that is. Whereas men walk around with their tops up, exposing their big bellies, to cool down. They sit around on the streets and in bars all day and night drinking and gambling. And disgustingly everywhere we go there are men loudly hawking up and spiting!

Where next?
Today we leave Hue and head north to Phong Nha, a national park with caves, tunnels, animals - the works. It will be interesting to get away from the city life in Vietnam, which is all we've experienced so far. It's given us a varied impression of Vietnam; it seems a place where tourism isn't as central to the economy as Cambodia. In Hue and Ho Chi Minh city, it's very plain that tourists are just another part of what makes the city tick - and though that doesn't necessarily make for the most beautiful of places to visit, it is a refreshing change from the backpacker scene of Cambodia. What more will we find out about this country as we head towards the capital in Hanoi? Who knows...

J&g xx

And our poor rickshaw driver who had to work quite hard to get us both home!

LINKS TO REVIEWS

Ho Chi Minh City:

1. Royal Saigon Restaurant
2. Rooftop View Bar
3. ABC Bakery
4. Cu Chi Tunnels
5. War Remnants Museum

Hoi An:

1. Than Phuong Restaurant
2. White Marble Restaurant and Wine Bar
3. Sao Mai Morning Star Restaurant
4. BeBe Tailors
5. Coconut Fragrance Cooking Class
6. Rural Scene Villa

Hue

1. Le's Garden Bar
2. Little Italy
3. Imperial City
4. DMZ Hotel