Well, I can confirm that (other than the quite fun American tanks and planes outside) the War Remnants museum in Saigon was beyond harrowing - that place really should come with a PG rating. No, an 18 rating. Very very disturbing and very sad, but I'm glad we went as it's such an important part of Vietnam's history. Afterwards we picked up a coconut to drink and wandered to the Reunification (presidential) Palace, which is where the Communist tank crashed the gate on 30th April 1975, the day Saigon surrendered. We stayed in Saigon for about three days, and visited more sights, like the Jade Emperor Pagoda, a Chinese temple built in 1909 and filled with colourful deities and incense, and the French built Notre Dame Cathedral, but generally we just enjoyed the city for its food, bars and incredible energy which is addictive. We both came away totally in love with it.
Next stop was Nha Trang, a party-beach resort on the coast, about 8 hours train ride North of Saigon. Because our budget is so tight we try to travel overnight (which saves the cost of paying for a hostel bed) which meant pulling into Nha Trang at about 4.30am, so we hauled our huge bags down to the beach and sat watching the sunrise over the South China sea and Vin Pearl island under the swaying palm trees before making our way into town and finding a bed (an absolute steal at 4 pounds a night).
After a few days of relaxing and drinking beer on the beach in Nha Trang (in contrast to the frenetic hedonism of Saigon) we were ready to move on so headed for Hoi An. Going for the cheapest train option meant a 'hard sleeper' bed, which roughly translates as a shelf (above three others shelves) covered in an old piece of carpet and half a ripped sheet. Still, we arrived in Danang (the nearest train station) at ridiculous o'clock and shared a taxi to Hoi An with an American couple to cut the cost in half, and found a bed at a lovely hostel with a pool in the old town called Thien Trung.
Hoi An was an international trading port as far back as the 17th century, and the architecture is absolutely beautiful. It's like a Disney version of how you would imagine Vietnam to look 150 years ago, all lit up lantern shops and narrow cobbled lanes and old boats on the Thu Bon river. We spent three days in the town, looking in local art galleries, visiting the Japanese Covered Bridge (which was built in 1593) and taking a boat tour for a dollar past the market on the river from a local disabled man wearing one of those very-Vietnamese cone shaped hats. Much better to give the money to him than a big tour company. We also spent lots of time enjoying local specialities at the night market like wonton, white rose (steamed shrimp dumplings) and cao lau (noodles mixed with bean sprouts, greens and pork made with water from the Ba Le well) and fresh beer, which costs 3000 dong for a glass. That's about 10p to you and me.
Next, we took a 12 hour sleeping bus to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. Sleeping buses actually have flat beds on them so it was probably one of the most comfortable journeys we've taken (well, for me anyway, Danny was snuggled against a snoring Vietnamese chap). The weather had gradually been getting cooler as we headed north, and Hanoi, which is only four hours from China, was positively cold. Walking around the city through the steamy street kitchens gave us our first Christmassey feeling - a month after Christmas! We stayed at the City Gate hotel in the Old Quarter for a night and then headed out early the next morning for the 3 and a half hour trip to Ha Long bay (a Unesco world heritage site like Hoi An). There we caught a junk out into the Gulf of Tonkin, with its beautiful emerald waters dotted with over 3000 islands hiding grottoes and caves. We visited a cave interior and it was stunning, the dripping water creates the most bizarre rock formations, it kind of looks a bit like enormous white coral and apparently they call it the cave of heaven for that reason. Next the boat took us to Cat Ba island, the only inhabited island in the bay, and we slept on the junk moored just off Cat Ba, before enjoying a night of Tiger beer and karaoke... sung by a bunch of Vietnamese, Chileans and a lovely gay couple from Croydon who work at Ikea. So quite a mixed bag! The next day we visited the cave where they filmed James Bond - Tomorrow Never Dies - before an idyllic trip back to Ha Long City where we did caught a return bus to Hanoi.
The next morning we hit the road again, flying all the way back to Saigon, and then picking up a 6 hour bus to Phnom Penh in Cambodia, stopping at the border for all the immigration formalities and to get our visas. We also met four very friendly Russians from St Petersburg on the way, and I can confirm that Russian's really do drink vodka ALL day. Maybe it's the way to go, they seemed to be having an excellent time.
When we got to Phnom Penh we caught a tuk tuk to Boeng Kak area of the city, where the wooden hotels are built on stilts and stretch out over the lake, and enjoyed a Khmer curry and an Angkor beer after being on the road from 7.30am to 9pm without any time for food. I can't tell you how good that felt! The hostel we're staying in screens Roland Joffe's The Killing Fields from 1984 at 7pm every night, so we'll watch that tonight and head out to Choung Ek tomorrow to see them. We're also going to visit Tuol Sleng (or S21) the school where the Khmer Rouge carried out so many atrocities, which I'm sure will be incredibly sad, but like the Vietnam war museum, necessary to understand Cambodia. That's it for now...
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