Ever since the day of our rigorous trek in the mud and rain in northern Laos, we have been met with rain whenever we leave a city. Every bus we have taken in Vietnam has been met with rain once it heads out. It sure makes it easier to leave these beautiful cities and move on to the next.
Since leaving Hoi An with much heavier bags and lighter wallets, we have spent most of our time at the beach. The first stop was a city called Nha Trang. It's a busy beach town that resembles the likes of a bustling South Beach or Miami. There is a great mix of locals and tourists. Around 4 or 5 o'clock, throngs of Vietnamese cross the boardwalk and go for a swim in their clothes, or set up for a picnic style dinner on the beach. The beach stretches for miles from a distant peninsula past a gondola that takes people to VinPearl Island. From what we heard, the island is home to a small amusement park and a few boats. We never made it across, but I admired the lights from the island in the evening and the Vin Pearl sign that resembles the Hollywood sign in LA.
We spent two days in the city enjoying the beach and the refreshing South China Sea. We went parasailing along the beach, being pulled around be a boat and flying high up in he air under a parachute. We also took advantage of the DVD player in our room to have a relaxing night in. It felt great to do something so normal after spending so nights wandering around cities by foot. I've also found myself eating mostly western food for the past couple weeks. Vietnamese food is delicious, but I just can't seem to bring myself to order another noodle bowl or plate of fried rice. We did have Pho the over night, a large bowl of rice noodles with your choice of meat that's eaten with chopsticks in one hand for the noodles and a spoon in the other for the broth.
After two days in Nha Trang, we hopped on a bus to Mui Ne, another beach town, though much smaller and resort like. The town is one long road that follows the sea for about 10 kms. Our hostel had a concrete deck facing the water hat the massive waves crashed up against and occasionally splashed me while I sat and read my book. There were sections of actual sandy beach further down the way, but we had some sand when the tide was out in the evenings. All afternoon, I could see dozens of kitesurfers and windsurfers out on the water.
We spent a day and a half enjoying our last views of the water. On our last day, a dark and ominous cloud thundered its way across the shore but didn't let a drop of rain fall. Yesterday morning, we boarded our last bus to Saigon while it was drizzling. It was still wet in Saigon when we arrived in the early afternoon. We checked into our hotel then fell asleep for a good couple of hours. For dinner, we headed out for another round of traditional Vietnamese Pho noodle soup then walked over to the Bien Thanh Market and wandered around the streets, picking up a couple things along the way.
Saigon is much more commercial than Hanoi. With a wider acceptance of commerce and trade, it has shaped the city into a relatively modern centre with a mix of commercial offices and stores and traditional, small corner shops. The roads and sidewalks are overrun by motorbikes. The streets look like the starting line of a race when hundreds of bikes are waiting at a red light. It's a bit hectic, but the broad sidewalks and boulevards make roaming the streets a little bit easier. This evening, when Simone and I were leaving a dessert cafe in a higher-end tourist area, we were escorted across the crosswalk by a security guard since motorists don't follow road rules like the ones back in Canada. A crosswalk here is more of a guideline for pedestrians of where is best to cross the street. By no means does it suggest people will actually stop for you. We cross the road with a look on our faces that says, "Hit me, I dare you," and keep walking as the traffic flows around us like a river around a rock.
Our one full day in the former capital of South Vietnam (now officially known as Ho Chi Minh City, though everyone here still calls it Saigon) was spent entirely on foot. We made our way to the former President's Palace, now called the Reunification Palace. It was left exactly as it was on the day Saigon surrendered and tanks stormed the front gates. The basement was the most interesting part, as it housed the war rooms and communication stations of the President. Maps of Vietnam and SE Asia with cities circled and routes laid out covered many walls.
The next stop was the War Remnants Museum, a shocking and overwhelming display of pictures, propaganda, and weapons from the Vietnam war. Having learnt about the Vietnam war from a North American perspective, it was eye-opening to see war stories from the other side. There was a very obvious propagandist tone throughout the museum, though one particular display of journalists' photos gave a very real telling of what happened from all sides. Outside the museum was an impressive collection of Army planes, helicopters, and tanks that loomed high over our heads. It felt a bit eerie to be standing next to such powerful machines that have played part in so much destruction.
After lunch, we kept walking, this time to a pagoda hidden down a small alley which turned out to be slightly unimpressive. Then we headed back to the hotel, stopping at the Notre-Dame Cathedral and elegant post office building along the way.
We're all tuckered out now from the miles we walked today. Tomorrow, Simone and I fly back to Bangkok where we've booked ourselves in at a rather luxurious hotel from a discount website. It will be a nice end to her month and my 4 + months of travel. I'll be home in 3 days. See ya soon.
Since leaving Hoi An with much heavier bags and lighter wallets, we have spent most of our time at the beach. The first stop was a city called Nha Trang. It's a busy beach town that resembles the likes of a bustling South Beach or Miami. There is a great mix of locals and tourists. Around 4 or 5 o'clock, throngs of Vietnamese cross the boardwalk and go for a swim in their clothes, or set up for a picnic style dinner on the beach. The beach stretches for miles from a distant peninsula past a gondola that takes people to VinPearl Island. From what we heard, the island is home to a small amusement park and a few boats. We never made it across, but I admired the lights from the island in the evening and the Vin Pearl sign that resembles the Hollywood sign in LA.
We spent two days in the city enjoying the beach and the refreshing South China Sea. We went parasailing along the beach, being pulled around be a boat and flying high up in he air under a parachute. We also took advantage of the DVD player in our room to have a relaxing night in. It felt great to do something so normal after spending so nights wandering around cities by foot. I've also found myself eating mostly western food for the past couple weeks. Vietnamese food is delicious, but I just can't seem to bring myself to order another noodle bowl or plate of fried rice. We did have Pho the over night, a large bowl of rice noodles with your choice of meat that's eaten with chopsticks in one hand for the noodles and a spoon in the other for the broth.
After two days in Nha Trang, we hopped on a bus to Mui Ne, another beach town, though much smaller and resort like. The town is one long road that follows the sea for about 10 kms. Our hostel had a concrete deck facing the water hat the massive waves crashed up against and occasionally splashed me while I sat and read my book. There were sections of actual sandy beach further down the way, but we had some sand when the tide was out in the evenings. All afternoon, I could see dozens of kitesurfers and windsurfers out on the water.
We spent a day and a half enjoying our last views of the water. On our last day, a dark and ominous cloud thundered its way across the shore but didn't let a drop of rain fall. Yesterday morning, we boarded our last bus to Saigon while it was drizzling. It was still wet in Saigon when we arrived in the early afternoon. We checked into our hotel then fell asleep for a good couple of hours. For dinner, we headed out for another round of traditional Vietnamese Pho noodle soup then walked over to the Bien Thanh Market and wandered around the streets, picking up a couple things along the way.
Saigon is much more commercial than Hanoi. With a wider acceptance of commerce and trade, it has shaped the city into a relatively modern centre with a mix of commercial offices and stores and traditional, small corner shops. The roads and sidewalks are overrun by motorbikes. The streets look like the starting line of a race when hundreds of bikes are waiting at a red light. It's a bit hectic, but the broad sidewalks and boulevards make roaming the streets a little bit easier. This evening, when Simone and I were leaving a dessert cafe in a higher-end tourist area, we were escorted across the crosswalk by a security guard since motorists don't follow road rules like the ones back in Canada. A crosswalk here is more of a guideline for pedestrians of where is best to cross the street. By no means does it suggest people will actually stop for you. We cross the road with a look on our faces that says, "Hit me, I dare you," and keep walking as the traffic flows around us like a river around a rock.
Our one full day in the former capital of South Vietnam (now officially known as Ho Chi Minh City, though everyone here still calls it Saigon) was spent entirely on foot. We made our way to the former President's Palace, now called the Reunification Palace. It was left exactly as it was on the day Saigon surrendered and tanks stormed the front gates. The basement was the most interesting part, as it housed the war rooms and communication stations of the President. Maps of Vietnam and SE Asia with cities circled and routes laid out covered many walls.
The next stop was the War Remnants Museum, a shocking and overwhelming display of pictures, propaganda, and weapons from the Vietnam war. Having learnt about the Vietnam war from a North American perspective, it was eye-opening to see war stories from the other side. There was a very obvious propagandist tone throughout the museum, though one particular display of journalists' photos gave a very real telling of what happened from all sides. Outside the museum was an impressive collection of Army planes, helicopters, and tanks that loomed high over our heads. It felt a bit eerie to be standing next to such powerful machines that have played part in so much destruction.
After lunch, we kept walking, this time to a pagoda hidden down a small alley which turned out to be slightly unimpressive. Then we headed back to the hotel, stopping at the Notre-Dame Cathedral and elegant post office building along the way.
We're all tuckered out now from the miles we walked today. Tomorrow, Simone and I fly back to Bangkok where we've booked ourselves in at a rather luxurious hotel from a discount website. It will be a nice end to her month and my 4 + months of travel. I'll be home in 3 days. See ya soon.
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