Mary deals well with the flight inspite of a good amount of turbulence over Bali. Mary is a reluctant traveller due to fear of flying and the irony is that I’m supposed to calm her through the flight ordeal inspite of the fact that I can’t stand flying myself! Anyway the second flight onto to Saigon was a breeze so I think it all went some way to her conquering the fear of flight.

We have about 8 hours to kill in KL and I have to say there ain’t much to say about KL on a Sunday, particularly when you know about the chaos of Saigon on same day. Despite the shortness of time we decide to head into the city centre for a look around. The Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) built specifically for Air Asia budget travel empire is located some distance from town. We took the Skybus from LCCT to Sentral which took about 75 mins. From there we take the KL Metro a couple of stops up the line to see the Petronas Towers – tallest buildings in Asia at some time. We arrive at the towers at 10.30am to find the allocation of tickets for the skybridge has been exhausted for the day – talk about premature ejaculation. Dissapointed we mooch about for a while and head back back to LCCT for a small meal of noodles.

KL doesn’t leave a big impression – lots of concrete being torn down and replaced with more concrete seems to be the main activity. On the way back to LCCT we see whole suburbs constructed awaiting occupancy. The Sepang racetrack is also a big feature and we hear the chatter of locals sayimg how proud they are of it….

We decide to take the airport bus to Pham Ngu Lao. It is Saigon bus 152 and the pick up point is just outside the door on the right – thank you Ben for the tip http://www.vietnam720.com/travel-tips/saigon-airport-bus The bus arrives at PNL and we walk a couple of hundred metres down some narrow alleyways to our guesthouse – the Vy Khanh – and check in. The guesthouse is typical of many in the area – a large house with about 4 floors, 8 rooms, owned and managed by an extended family. We are greeted by Vy and her parents and made very welcome.

We miss our friend Loc at our predetermined meeting point at a roadside cafe but manage to catch him later on at the foodstalls at Ben Thanh market for some spring rolls and a few beers. Loc complains that we are always eating spring rolls and says they are only for special occasions! I say that its a special occasion to meet an old friend. The market stalls are busy, the weather is mild, its good to be back in Saigon…

The guesthouse is located in the Pham Ngu Lao (PNL) backpacker area is named after one of the main roads running southwest out of the centre of District 1 bordering the southern edge of 23 September Park.

It is like many parks in the city attracting Saigonese in the cool evenings to unwind. Parents bring their kids to the cordoned off area adjacent to the Ben Thanh roundabout, dancers throng to one of the 3 pavillions to salsa and tango and young couples seek privacy in the dark fringe of the park.

On our first real day in the country we decided to look around the city centre. We first took the number 1 bus up to Cho Lon and have alook around Bay Tinh market. The set up here is more wholesale without any hassling to buy goods. I suspect that most of goods are bought by retailers who then flog them around Ben Thanh and the rest of District 1.

We take the bus back to Ben Thanh markets and decide to do a walking tour around District 1 – but before that we have ice cream at Bach Dang! We walk past the Reunification Palace (closed), back to the Notre Dame cathedral and the GPO (post a few cards) and down Dong Khoi to the pier. We head up to Ben Thanh for a quick look around before heading back to PNL to sort out tickets for the derigour Mekong Delta tour.

With that sorted we head out to a vegetarian restaurant (Sen) on the edge of PNL for a meal with Loc. After dinner we head back to markets for a couple of clothing items (Loc gives Mary a lift to the markets on the the Angel) Loc is appalled at what I pay but has much fun taking photos of me stripping in front of the stallholders to try the pants for size.

Over snacks of green guava dusted with chilli salt washed down with Saigon beers, we share a pleasant evening. Later Loc’s fiance, Truc joins us. We are particularly happy to hear that the two will be married at the end of next year. Have to start angling to ensure we get an invite to this wedding!!

After returning to the guesthouse, Mary retires but I decide to have a look around the alleyways. Its about 10pm and the locals are winding down for the day. A few kids are still outside fresh from bathing, their parents cleaning their stalls ready to be locked up for the evening. All very intimate, the alleyways are a good way to get close to day to day living in Saigon.

As scheduled, after arriving in Halong, visitors will visit Halong Bay, a UNESCO World Natural Heritage, with many beautiful sites including the Hon Cho Da (Stone Dog Rock), Cong Troi (Heaven Gate Rock), Hon Dinh Huong (Incense Burner Rock), Hon Ga Choi (Fighting Cocks Rocks), Dong Thien Cung (Celestial Palace Grotto), Bai Chay Beach. They also enjoy the water puppet performance and visit Thanh Nien (Youth) Market.

Earlier, Saigontourist and the Quy Nhon travel agency received more than 300 German passengers on Astor cruise ship at Quy Nhon Seaport.

During their one day trip in the central province of Binh Dinh, the tourists visited Banh It Tower, Canh Tien Tower, Twin Tower, Duong Long Tower, Quang Trung Mausoleum, Binh Dinh Mausoleum, Thap Thap Pagoda, Long Khanh Pagoda, Nhon Hau wood carving village, Dam Market, Quy Nhon Seaport and Dong Da Seaport.

On February 20, Saigontourist will organise a trans-Vietnam travel tour for 1,500 visitors.

Since the beginning of 2011, the tour operator has served more than 9,600 international cruise ship passengers from Europe, Australia, Japan and China.

It received more than 4,000 tourists who stopped at the Saigon Seaport to celebrate the Lunar New Year Festival in Ho Chi Minh City, and other cities and provinces in the southern region.

(Source: VOV)

It was a great alternative and far more enjoyable than taking any bus journey. Before we reached the border we were able to stop off at a little island village, meet some of the locals and try some local food. After an hour at border control we set sail again on the Vietnamese side of the river until we reached the first destination in Vietnam called Chau Doc.

Vietnam is frantic it never slows down and even in the small port of Chau Doc we where taken aback by the pace of it. After one night and a look around the town market we decided to make our way to Saigon (also known as Ho Chi Mihn City).

After a short 8 hour bus journey we arrived in Saigon at tea time, got ourselves a room and decided to hit the town and investigate the place. It didn’t take long for us to realise that we would enjoy this city. We relaxed outside a restaurant, got some grub, a beer and people watched for ages!

We decided on a trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels. This is where the Vietcong rebels made a large network of underground tunnels to hide during combat and used to live in while fighting with the US army.

The tunnels and also their specially made shoes made of rubber tyres which you could turn from back to front, outsmarted the yanks as they could never tell which direction the footprint had gone. With the tunnels being built by the small Vietnamese, it was a bigger advantage as the American would have found it hard to fit, though Carl managed to get through lol.

After the Cu Chi tunnels we visited the War Museum were we got to see the tanks, the weapons used and also learnt about the dreadful effects of Agent Orange which is sadly still continuing today.

After the hussle and bussle of the big city we headed again to the beach port of Mui Ne on the south east coast of Vietnam.

Saigon

The city is also on the move economically with new high rise blocks of offices and apartments appearing out of the ground and sitting alongside those already dominating the skyline. It will not be too long before the city rivals the likes of Singapore and Hong Kong with the country’s economic growth being one of the largest in the region.

Officially this is a communist country but following recent economic reforms by the government free enterprise is coming to the fore and this is reflected in the country’s economic growth. However the past sufferings of this previously war torn country are not to be forgotten. The War Remnants Museum illustrates the atrocities of the Vietnam War including a heartbreaking array of photographs of the victims of the war and the disabling effects on the people of the poisonous gases used by the Americans.

Outside of the city are Modernistic building completed in 1966 to serve as South Vietnam’s Presidential Palace. The communists crashed through the gates on 30 April 1975 and the Vietnam War was overthe Cu Chi Tunnels which the Vietcong and the local inhabitants used as their living accommodation during the war. The tunnel network at one time extended to more than 200km. Parts of the tunnel networks have been reconstructed and I experienced a crawl along one. It made me appreciate the difficult times and dreadful conditions experienced by those who were forced to live underground during the war.

Saigon is city of contrasts and there is plenty to do and see. Hopefully my photographs will give you a visual taste of the rich mix and diversity of this bustling city

So on our last day in Hanoi we went to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum where the body of Ho Chi Minh or Uncle Ho is kept. We rocked up and the line to get in was massive just hundreds and hundreds of people all coming to pay their respects to Uncle Ho.

The line moved quickly much to our relief and in no time we were inside and walking around the glass sarcophagus containing his body, there are many sceptics that believe its not him and that Madamme Tussaud has the contrct but either way we could not tell , what is a man that died in 1969 meant to look like anyway???

The next day we started our 3 day tour to Halong Bay. Halong Bay is 165km from Hanoi and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Halong Bay means descending dragon bay and the Vietnamese believe that this is the site where the dragon that came to help them defeat the Chinese went back into the ocean.

The bay is made up of 2000 limestone islands that jut out of the sea. Words and pictures do not do this place justice, it is one of the most amazing places I have seen and Jono and I were both awed at its beauty. We cruised about 17km in the bay on the junk then we went to check out a cave on one of the islands. After the cave we went kayaking, there were 3 boys from Israel and one of them ended up falling in which was a bit of a laugh.

We were quite impressed with the junk and our room was great, we were in our room getting changed when all of a sudden a lady in a boat selling food and beverages rows up to the window to try sell us suff so even out on the sea they are still trying to sell things , you really have to give them an A for effort !

The next morning we said goodbye to the people on the single night tour and then boarded another smaller boat to cruise deeper into the bay. Aftter cruising for awhile we docked on one of the islands. We then took a bicycle tour into the island to a remote village called Viet Hai. This was awesome and probably our highlight of the trip (other then seeing the bay). After the bicycle trip we boarded the boat again and cruised to Monkey Island. We were told not to feed the monkeys or go near them then as soon as we got off the boat our guide starts throwing watermelon on the ground so they all come running up to us. One of them tried to take our camera out of the backpack and when I grabbed it it was bearing its teeth at me, I just dont think that monkeys and me agree.

After Monkey island we cruised on the boat again to Cat Ba Island, it is the largest island in Halong Bay. We were pretty knackered after the long day so we had a nap then went for a walk around the town. It was a shame that we only had 1 night there as there were a lot of activities and things to check out if you had more time. We were picked up at 7.45am to head back to the boat to start our journey back to Hanoi, we pretty much spent the whole day travelling back to Hanoi.

The next day we had a flight booked with Jetstar to Danang. I had an impulse to check my email and lucky I did as our 4pm flight had been cancelled and we had been rebooked to the 10.30am flight instead. We woke early to pack and head to the airport, after finally finding the correct place to check in we were welcomed with a nasty suprise, our 10.30am flight was delayed until 8.40pm!!!! After sussing out our options we were able to refund the Jetstar flight and rebook onto a 12pm flight with Vietnam Airlines. This seemed really dodgy as it was so easy to do and it only cost an extra $20 each and everyone that was on our original flight was changing, it was hard not to think that maybe this was a jack up!

Besides, about 4,000 Vietnamese people have travelled to other countries through HCMC during the Lunar New Year Festival (Tet), an increase of 10% over last year. The city’s tourism destinations have also attracted more than 75,000 domestic visitors.

In 2011, HCMC aims to receive 3.5 million travellers and earn VND49,000 billion. To reach the target, the city will continue to improve the quality of tourism products also through promotion and international cooperation.

La Quoc Khanh, Deputy Director of HCM Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said the sector would focus on four main areas, including diversifying and developing products; promoting the quality of cultural events; controlling the illegal activities; and training staff.

(Source: VOV)

After being in Singapore for a few hours and feeling as though Asia was not what I thought it would be, I was delightfully surprised at what I saw when I walked out of the airport… I was in SHOCKKKK (in a positive way), just as I expected I was going to be. Singapore threw me off a little bit, but after getting to Vietnam, I felt like I was back in place…. explanation: Singapore is clean & quiet, has an overly solid public transport system, primary language is english, rules are being followed, etc…. Vietnam, to keep it simple, is the COMPLETE opposite.

We pushed our way through all the shovy taxi drivers trying to rip us off, and found a cab to take us to Luan Vu hostel (which we did not book in advance) in “backpacker central” for $8…. apparently a very fair price. The 30 minute ride was a VERY amusing one. Seeing tons and tons and tons of motorbikes in the street coming only centimeters away from our taxi, my heart was beating fast… every second it looked like we were about to crash into the motorbike beside us. Constant honking by all the drivers/ riders, an unbelievable amount of smog giving me a black mustache, and no traffic rules being obeyed. It was as though there were no traffic lights…. in fact, a lot of the big streets did not even have traffic lights. Motorbikes driving against oncoming traffic in the wrong lanes, people crossing the streets blindly with all of these bikes and cars continuously going. The thing is, if you don’t just start walking into the street and have the motorbikes and cars drive around you, you will never get across the street. This started to become pretty normal to me after the first few hours bc I started doing it myself haha. Avelyn and I started to consider crossing the street as a game…. it was pretty fun!!! I am under the impression that there are no driving rules.

The hostel was a tall, narrow building in an alleyway and the staff immediately helped us start booking buses, trains, taxis, and tours for the rest of our week in Vietnam. After making our plan for the rest of the day, we had the woman at the front call a cab for us to go to a Pagoda that she recommended us to see. On the tourist picture map she gave us, the pagoda was off the map hahaha. In a rush to start our day & being dazzed and confused by the city and its people, we jumped into the cab mindlessly. BIG MISTAKE: Cab driver didn’t speak english. Front desk woman didn’t give him the address. We did not have the address. All we had was a map with an “X” in the corner indicating that the pagoda is located in that direction, but is off the map. Avelyn and I just assumed that by saying “pagoda” and pointing at the “X”, the cab driver would understand…. he definitely did not understand. We drove for about 35 minutes and then he started pointing straight ahead as if we were almost at the pagoda. After doing this motion several times I realized that what this motion really meant was: “Should I keep going up this street that you showed me on the map?”… we jumped out of the cab and paid our dues. It was only around $2.50 per person, but we were TOTALLY lost in a city that we just arrived to and no one understands our language. We were defs not in a tourist area. We tried asking people where the pagoda was… fail. We got someone to allow us to go on his office computer and soon found out that we didn’t even know the name of the right pagoda… there are many many diff pagodas. To make things even worse, as we started wandering mindlessly in the streets, I stepped onto a pile of shit! At that point I didn’t even care, I just didn’t want to waste my day anymore… so we jumped into a cab and headed towards central Ho Chi Minh where all the museums, etc. are. In 3 hours we visited the War Remnants Museum, the Reunification Palace (rather enjoyable), the Ho Chi Minh Post Office (very beautiful, took some fun pics while avelyn got a post card and got suckered into buynig some things by outside vendors), and the Notre Dame Cathedral.

Words on the War Remnant Museum: Amazing, depressing. Took us through some of the Vietnam-American War. US tanks, aircrafts, missiles, weapons. Photos of suffering, torture. The US tortured the Vietnamese horrendously, this was definitely portrayed by all the images and photos at the museum. Although I do not think what the US did was appropriate, since the museum did not point it out, I will: US did it partly because of the spreading of Communism…

Next is DINNER: We went to a very nice and classy restaraunt, sat outside, and I ordered A LOT as we had skipped lunch. Vietnamese rice pancake, salad spring rolls (DELICIOUS), Vermacelli in Soup Chicken and Bamboo Sticks, and a Papaya smoothie. And it all costs only $7!!! Normally a meal would only cost $2 or $3, but I went all out at this restaraunt. What did I learn? Restaraunts in Vietnam do not have napkins, if they do give you some sort of napkin you will be charged for it, and you don’t need to tip. This restaraunt gave us wipes to use before the meal started and when I asked them for napkins, they gave me more of these wipes, and then charged me for all of them at the end (only 10 cents each, no biggie)

All full and fat, we had some nice Vietnamesmen take us in a bicycle carriage to the Ben Thanh market… STUNNING (in a shocking and amused way, not in a gorgeous and beautiful way). The market was crowded with so many different types of goods packed into such small areas, everyone trying to sell you what they have. Fruits, dried shrimp, nuts, meat, vegetables, toys, clothes, shoes, perfume, makeup, bags. Yes, this is what they sell alllll over the streets, but now you have it all in a small, indoor area, stacked up the ceiling. Being a huge sucker for fresh, cut up fruit, I obviously bought myself some dessert! Maybe I don’t know how to bargain but fruits are not THATTTT cheap :s
Unfortunately we got to the market pretty late, so owners and their kids were wrapping their goods up and we headed out soon after. With no sense of direction as usual avelyn and I had trouble getting back to the hostel so we wandered around a little bit until we got back and then I wandered around backpacker central a little bit to see what other tourists were doing out. The streets were busy as usual with tons of traffic and people selling things…. after a few hours (11 pm) everything was still just as ALIVE. Noise, yelling, playing, stores, people selling things off their backs, children at their parents stores… happening all hours of the day. I walked down an alleyway, doors open @ every living space (I won’t call them “homes”), grandmas sleeping on the tile floor, young kids sitting awake at 10:30 pm, families trying to manuveur around each other in such small areas walking over other sleeping family members. Most families actually conduct their business in their home, their families come there at the end of the day, and then they just sleep there… their workspace is their homespace.

Ho Chi Minh city outdid me forsure. I was in bed at midnight and Ho Chi Minh never went to sleep (no joke)… it just kept going and going and going.

Today we went on a full day tour to Tay Nih to see the Cao Dai Temple and then to see the Cu Chi Tunnels… these Cu Chi Tunnels were amazingggg— underground tunnels, bomb craters, booby traps, tapicoa dipped in crushed peanuts and sugar, shooting an M1 garand!!! We didn’t go very very deep underground, but they had wells, hospitals, kitchens, beds all accessed by their extensive tunnels. Used during the war by the vietnamese it was a major protection from bombs. We also stopped by “Handicapped Handcrafts” in a suburd city, which is a warehouse where they sell lacquered everything in the front and everything is handmade inch-by-inch (by handicap people). We saw them making these things and it really made you appreciate the products so much more… attention to every little detail. They used eggshells, shiny shells, and sand to make the artwork. Luckily for us there were 2 nice australians on our tour who we were able to speak to.

We had them drop us off at the Ben Thanh market at 6 pm (sadly, they were closing up when we got there again), so I could get some more cut up fruit! I tried some new ones… jack fruit, mango seeds, some disgusting local one, sammsomethingsomethingchee (can’t pronounce the name), and obviously some regular sweet mango!! Before taking a MOTORBIKE back to the hostel (not as fast as I thought they were). we stopped by 23rd 9th park… a very calm nice park where kids play a type of hacky sack game.

Bad News: After buying my lovely new camera for this trip, I forgot my charger in Hong Kong. No worries, I will have no problem finding a charger for my samsung camera in Ho Chi Minh, and for cheap too!… its all about cheap electronics. WRONGGG. Did not find my type of charger anywhere. There was every type of charger except for mine

Now I sit in Luan Vu hostel, in desperate need of a shower, awaiting a taxi to take us to the overnight train (6 beds per cabin room)… we arrive in Nha Trang 6 am. Beaches, beaches, beaches!!!

The exhibition, which was opened on January 7, is designed to welcome the upcoming 11th National Party Congress, slated for January 12-19, and the 81st founding anniversary of the CPV (February 3). To Huy Rua, Politburo member, Secretary and Head of the Commission for Information and Education of the CPV Central Committee cut the ribbon to kick off the event.

The show highlights the CPV’s important historical milestones, including a conference to unite communist organisations in Vietnam , presided over by Nguyen Ai Quoc, which marked the CPV’s inception on February 3, 1930, and the past 10 National Party Congresses.

The exhibition also tells the glorious victories the Vietnamese people have achieved over the past 81 years. Worthy of note are the August Revolution and the founding of the Democratic epublic of Vietnam in 1945, the successes of the resistance wars against foreign aggressors, the socialist construction and renewal processes, as well as the country’s achievements in foreign affairs and international integration.

(Source: VNA)