With only a week to get through Vietnam, it seemed as though we spent the majority of our time on buses. Luckily, the beautiful scenery we came across was definitely worth it. Hanoi was our first stop. We managed to find the best Hostel around - Drift Backpackers, which was our home and family away from home for the few days we were there.
Our first day was spent at the Maison Centrale Museum - a prison built by the French in 1896 to detain the Vietnamese opponents to colonialism, and then again during the second World War to house the Americans. It was very eye-opening & a great introduction to the Vietnamese culture.
The following day we joined a few of our new friends on a day trip to Halong Bay which was beautiful, yet sad when we realized the amounts of pollution that tourists like ourselves were creating around this spectacular collection of small limestone Islands.
We were still able to enjoy the fantastic seafood lunch that was served on the boat, a visit to a floating village, a short kayak through the arches in the Island cliff sides that lead into serene lagoons, and a stroll through the enormous Dong Thien Cong caves.
One thing we noticed when arriving in Hanoi was the endless amounts of scooters and motorbikes that littered the city roads. We were told that the only way to cross the road was to take a deep breath and just walk, and hope that the riders would avoid you... it was quite a rush once you got the hang of it! We were surprised to find that the popular bars with the with the cheapest beers were on the corners of a junction of 2 busy roads with stools basically in the middle of the street. We learned to hold onto our beers very tightly that night.
I will always remember Hanoi for the very calming lake that was placed in the middle of this crazy, scooter infested city. We spent a lot of time strolling around this safe haven, and even witnessed the appearance of a turtle, which is lucky according to the Hanoians, and that hadn't been seen in the lake for nearly 10 years. Unfortunately Jessie had to leave us in Hanoi, and Sarah who had already seen a bit of Vietnam, was on her way to Cambodia, so Rach and I made our way down the coast to Hoi An.
Hoi An is a charming little city in the middle of the Vietnam coast. Filled with cute cafes, tons of tailors and shoemakers, this quaint city is every girls dream. Rach & I spent our days cycling between appointments, enjoying homemade passion fruit sorbets, Vietnamese pancakes and learning how to make a few light and very tasty Vietnamese dishes. An excursion with our friend Chris along the coast led us to a very bizarre cave that had wall carvings and statues that we decided must be some one's gruesome visions of demons and hell.
We enjoyed an authentic meal of Vietnamese pancakes in the neighboring city, Da Nang, and a good night out on the Cua Dai Beach. We managed to stumbled across the street side hotspot for local workers who were either starting their day or finishing it and were catching up on an early morning meal of mystery meat & noodle soup on their miniature tables and chairs in near silence. We decided to join them... Being a vegetarian... and 2 mixed girls from Bermuda, this encounter made for a very interesting experience.
The closest we got to sightseeing in Saigon after 24 hours on a bus and a 2 hour stop in Nha Trang, was our trip to the Saigon Central Post Office - a beautiful Gothic building that was constructed when Vietnam was part of the French Indochina. The highlight of our stay in Saigon was the cheap and delicious food that we devoured in abundance at the Ben Thanh market.
I definitely think that another, much longer, visit to Vietnam is needed in the future... even if it is just to satisfy my intense love for the many tasty treats we came across in Vietnam - Vietnamese iced coffee, tea, mango salads, fish hot pots, pancakes, homemade passion fruit sorbets, grilled corn & chili sauce were just a few of my favs.... mmmmmmmh yum!
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