Vietnam- November 2005

For all those who missed out on stories from our last trip, here you go...
Cutting a long story abit shorter, we flew from Sydney to Hanoi 3 days after my last HSC exam.

Hanoi- We stayed 3 nights in the Old Quarter of Hanoi. People and motorbikes everywhere! We spent three days visiting all the tourists sites like Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum, the Temple of Literature (1st university in Vietnam), One Pillar Pagoda, Hanoi Opera House, the 'Hanoi Hilton', the water puppet show and oh so many pagodas! We went on a day tour to the Perfume Pagoda, an emorous cave with shrines inside. We took a boat to the bottom of the mountain and walked hours to get to the cave. We met "Smiley" and "Smiley Jnr" our lovely tour guides who we would see again on our trip to Halong Bay.


Sapa- We came across the Kangaroo Cafe in Hanoi and we were able to plan a 3 day trek in Sapa. We met another Aussie, Katherine and we got on the overnight train to Sapa. Next morning we arrived at Lao Cai station and got a bus up to Sapa. We spent the 1st day checking out the markets and picking up some cool handicrafts. The next day we set out on a 2 day trek with our Hmong guide Zia. IT WAS ALL MUD!!! 2 days of walking in mud but it was so fun! We spent the night in one of the villages. Raining and SO COLD! Next morning we headed back up to the road and got a Jeep back to the hotel, before catching the overnight train back to Hanoi.

Halong Bay- After a day recovering from the Sapa trip we headed out to Halong Bay for 2 nights with the Smiley and Smiley Jnr tour. It was so beautiful! We sailed out to some caves then went for a swim before spending the night on a traditional junk. Next day we walked up to Navy Peak, it was steep and really hot but it was all worth it seeing the amazing view. We headed back down to the boat and went out kayaking for the afternoon, before making our way to Cat Ba Island to spend the night.

Ninh Binh- Once we got back to Hanoi we jumped on a bus to Ninh Binh not knowing it was going to be the bus from hell! Full of backpackers wanting to stop every 10 mins and people getting motion sick. We finally made it to Ninh Binh where we found an awesome hotel! The staff were so funny. 'Kurt' the chief who spent his day sleeping behind the bar and watching Chinese soap operas, the receptionist who was usually catching up on sleep, and of course the boys who would greet mum everytime we walked past "hello mother!". We spent 3 days with our guide and went to Kenh Ga Floating Village and caves, Phat Diem Cathedral, Cuc Phuong National Park, Hoa Lu ancient capital and Tam Coc caves. Our guide was really interesting and he told us stories from when he fought for the North during the Vietnam War.

Hue- We took the overnight train from Ninh Binh to Hue where we spent 3 days. On the first day we went to the Imperial City and Citadel. Next day we went on a day tour up to the DMZ where we went to the Vinh Moc Tunnels where locals lived underground for 6 years during the war! We also went to Khe Sahn Combat Base, the 'Rockpile' and a branch of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Next day we went on a boat tour up the Perfume River and saw 5 temples. The next morning we got up early to catch the bus to Hoi An.

Hoi An- We made it to Hoi An after stopping at Marble Mountain along the way. Hoi An was beautiful! We stayed in a hotel with a swimming pool and free cocktails! Spent 3 days getting clothes made and checking out the sights. We also took a day tour out to My Son ancient temples.

Nha Trang- We went back up to Danang to catch the train down to Nha Trang. The weather was crap so we only spent the night before catching the bus to Ho Chi Minh City.

Mui Ne- The bus stopped at Mui Ne on the way to HCMC. This place was so beautiful. We stayed 2 nights in a cute little resort right on the beach! It was so good just to relax for awhile, apart from the bad sunburn!!!

Ho Chi Minh City- After a couple days on the beach we got back on the bus to HCMC. What a difference, so crowded and noisey! We stayed 1 night and headed out on a Mekong Delta tour the next day.

Mekong- We went with a tour group through the Mekong where we spent 3 days seeing the floating markets and how different foods were being made. We spent the night in Can Tho and Chau Doc. After the second day we had to "bye-bye the bus" and our tour guide to jump on another bus with our "mean tour guide" who was shouting abuse at just about everyone on the bus. We spent the full day on 2 boats to cross the boarder into Cambodia and head up to Phnom Penh.