Highs and Lows.. Vietnam part 2!

Hi Guys,

We set off from Hue, on a  short train to Da Nang before a taxi down to the chic town of Hoi An. Da nang actually looked pretty decent, a bit of an up and comer from what we saw from our cab.

We arrived at our guesthouse, about a kilometre outside of the old town and rushed out to a local restaurant for a quick bite as it was late and then decided to get an earlyish night and have a good old explore in the morning.

The next morning we ambled through the town stopped of for a bit of Pho for brekkie. It did seem a bit odd eating beef noodle soup at 10am but when in Rome. We were told before we left from numerous people that Hoi An was amazing so we were hoping for a great couple of days. The old town is a beautiful place to walk around loads of knick knack shops, bars, coffee shops and restaurants. Very little traffic in the day and motorbikes and cars are not allowed on the streets in the evening so was lovely and peaceful, it was a really cool place and something we hadn't really experienced yet on the trip. Now for the down side we didn't really feel like there was anything to see or do after a few hours wandering, we were also *nearly* ripped off by a ludicrous entrance fee to the old town where you had to pay to walk over certain bridges and to go into temples just felt like a bit of a con and left a sour taste. We didn't buy the tickets and still managed to get around the town and see what we wanted to.

Once the sun goes down Hoi An becomes a different place where the streets are filled with beautiful colourful lanterns. We researched a restaurant to go called Morning Glory and while a little pricey and a wee bit rushed we had a really good meal meal. The Vietnamese curry was full of cassava and juicy prawns and the Hoianese soy poached chicken and rice known as Com Ga were both lovely. However, White Rose dumplings (a dish local to Hoi An) left an awful lot to be desired.

The following day we started to head towards the coast, to Na Trang. We had heard good things so again were excited, unfortunately this time once we were there we were a bit disappointed. We had managed to book the wrong dates on our hotel so had to check into a rather crowded hostel last minute. The beach was nice, but unfortunately it was built up with huge hotels ready for package holidays, the water was full of plastic and the food was all geared up for tourists with burgers and chips on every menu. We did eat in one nice restaurant called ' The Sailing Club' a recommendation from a friend that was really nice but a little pricey.

We headed out of town to a waterfall the next day, wanting to steer clear of the beach. It was a gruelling walk over boulders, a fun able around. Once we reached the top, we sat underneath a smallish waterfall and swam around in the clear pools, would really recommend this even though the climb was quite tough.

The next night we caught an overnight sleeper bus to Ho Chi Minh City, perfect for those under 5 foot 7, Luke at 6,2 had the most uncomfortable night where he was screwed up like a crunched up crisp packet.

Ho Chi Minh was a lively bustling city full of culture and history. We hot footed it over to the War Remnants Museum, a horrifically graphic history of Vietnam's past. So many photos of those who were affected by the chemicals used by the Americans in the war, such a heartbreaking insight to the history of the country decimated by the war for so long.

That evening we wondered around downtown through some different markets. We happened upon the Ben Than Street Food Market, a market that wouldn't look out of place in Shoreditch. So many different food options, we eventually decided on a beef bone broth noodle soup and some barbecue ribs. The food was so good, we went back again the next night!

We had very limited time in Ho Chi Minh, so sadly missed out on a lot of the city sites. With our last day, we knew we wanted to go to see the Cu Chi tunnels. An amazing insight into guerilla warfare and the ingenious tactics used by the Vietnames forces to hold the Americans back. There is a network of some 250km of tunnels around the south of Vietnam all on different levels and used for different jobs it was so interesting. Our guide also gave us a demo on all the traps the Viet Cong used to catch the opposition, they looked like they had come straight out from the movies Saw, clever but would of been a bugger if you were caught in one designed to rip flesh. They generally mangle people right up. 

We loved Ho Chi Minh City it was a top place full of history and some of the best food in Vietnam. If we looked back on Vietnam as a whole there were parts that were great and some places a wee bit disappointing,  the food while again some of it was delicious there was a lot of average stuff almost tasted like they were going easy on us tourists. Another country ticked off in this whirlwind tour and now we move on to Cambodia to somewhat of an unknown. We are really intrigued to delve into its past and try new dishes that we haven't stumbled upon yet.

Next stop, Phnom Penh.

Luke and Lily