Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC AKA Saigon) was much more modern than I expected - I thought there would be more of an old world feel about it. Not a great deal different from any other big city in Asia - maybe a little cleaner - but with 3.5 million motorcycles and no pedestrian crossings it was certainly an adventure crossing the road - several times locals grabbed me (and I have to say other tourists) by the arm guided me accross!!! Best thing about it was the markets so another box of goodies on the way home (all for me of course!!).
HCMC Post Office - not a bad place to buy a stamp..
The cyclo's in Vietnam (and some in Cambodia) have the seat at the front - it is quite a strange feeling sitting in one of these!
I kept seeing these colourful trucks in different towns and thought they were for some sort of festival - then when I finally got close enough to one I realise it was actually a hearse!
There seems to be weddings everywhere you go especially at the local tourist attractions - they don't all wear the nice traditional dress this couple are - some quite big meringues!!
Water Puppet shows is a traditional form of entertainment in Vietnam - first I had ever seen this and it was certainly amusing.
Coadia Great Temple in Tay Ninh where everyday they hold this hour long service at lunchtime for followers of Caodaism which combines elements of Christianity, Islam, Hindu, Buddhism and I'm sure a few others - was certainly different from any other service I have seen.
Cu Chi Tunnels where the Vietcong hid out from the American's during the war - I wouldn't have wanted to spend much time in here - I struggled to crawl 100m through - and the one's we were using have been enlarged for the tourists!! There was also examples of traps - like the Tiger Trap - in the photo's that the Vietcong had set up all around the hill!! Have to say it was the first time I think I have ever watched a propaganda film which was the introduction to the site!!
Cu Chi Tunnels where the Vietcong hid out from the American's during the war - I wouldn't have wanted to spend much time in here - I struggled to crawl 100m through - and the one's we were using have been enlarged for the tourists!! There was also examples of traps - like the Tiger Trap - in the photo's that the Vietcong had set up all around the hill!! Have to say it was the first time I think I have ever watched a propaganda film which was the introduction to the site!!
Sunrise at the Red sand Dunes at Mui Ne - I don't often drag myself out of bed that early but on this occasion it was worth the effort.
Sand boarding was much harder than it looked- Ryan the Tiger seemed to get the hang of it much quicker than me!!
The Fishing Village at Mui Ne - reminded me of my summer working in the Fish Factory in The Broch (Fraserburgh for you uneducated!!)
A kid digging in the sand at Mui Ne Beach.
Mui Ne Beach has to be one of my favourite beaches so far on my trip - though there were guest houses and restaurants on the road the beach itself was uncommercialised and you could watch the local fisherman in action - only problem was that there was no where to sit in the shade!!
Bo Dia Summer Palace in Dalat.
Ryan the Tiger decided he would be King for the day - think he was having an identity crisis!!
On way home down a dark street I suddenly came across this Chinese Dragon dancing away to the beat of drums!!
Drying out the corn - who needs factories!!
The Elephant Waterfalls near Dalat - Dalat is a hill town and the surrounding countryside is pretty with lots of flowerfarms/coffee plantations etc.
The only way to see Dalat area is to hire a motorcycle and driver so I arranged on via my hotel only to get 3/4 of the way out and when we got stopped at police check point he had forgotten his driving licence so the police confiscated his bike!! In the end he arranged for a local guy to take me the rest of the way and then I ended up spending most of the afternoon with him and his family who even made me lunch - was all very amusing as they spoke not a word of English and were quite amused that I was taller than all of them and had fatter calf muscles!!
A family at Lat Village near Dalat.
The Village Leader at Lat Village explains the local music and traditions of the village - there are 5 villages in the area with 5,000 population in total - 3,000 catholic & 2,ooo protestant (lots more churches in Vietnam than last few places I have been to). The family of girls here buy her a husband - the going rate being one 1 or 2 Water buffalo's depending on how good a catch he is - better not tell my mum or she'll be trying to find out if you can buy Water buffalo's at Asda!!
I thought Vietnam cowboy's were probably a myth but they are real enough - mainly at tourist attractions but you do see lots of guys with cowboy hats!! And the only tourists I have seen getting their photo's with them are Vietnemese
View from Lang Bain mountain near Dalat.
Local ladies were quite amused by my presence at their temple!
Dalat town - tall thin buildings seem to be the favoured architect in Vietnam
An 'Easy Rider' - these guys are well known in Dalat and other areas of Vietnam and take tourists on day trips - some even end up taking people on full road trips of the country - think it would be a fun way to see Vietnam if I came back again (on slightly higher budget) I would certainly consider hiring one of these guys to get to some less touristy areas
Always easy to tell when the rain is coming - the wind picks up suddenly and the dark clouds appear!!
Butterflies and flowers.......
For the first time in months I felt cold (well chilly) in Dalat so see why this little girl needed her woolies :-) (Not quite Scotland though!!)
Long journeys are never boring when you have scenery like this to enjoy - journey between Dalat and Nha Trang.
Interflora makes a delivery in Nha Trang.
Nha Trang.
Traditional entertainment at the Cham Towers.
You don't see so many monks in Vietnam and they wear different robes and are not so chatty except at a few very touristy temples. These one's were at Long Son Pagoda in Nha Trang.
Conical hats are worn everyhere in Vietnam even when going for a swim.
Family lunch - one of the many groups of people who invited me to join them for lunch/drinks as I walked along the beach at Nha Trang.
First time I've seen a cable car between the mainland and an Island.
I went to the beach in Nha Trang to catch up on my diary before my overnight bus but had a constant stream of people come over to say hello and chat - was quite nice though.
One thing about Vietnam is that everyone wears cycle helmets the only thing is they don't seem to realise you should take them off when you get off the bike and wear them to the beach, fishing have dinner and who knows where else!!
A local kid enjoys a day out at the beach.
So as you can see I have a new camera and there has been plenty of things to photograph in Vietnam to let me practice!
I said goodbye to Cambodia at a dusty remote border crossing having had my taxi driver take me to the wrong place and try and con me to pay someone else lots more money to take me where he was supposed to - not a chance so he got less money than we agreed and I crossed over into Vietnam to a modern computerised Border Control with helpful friendly staff and managed to get a bus to Chau Doc where I was heading and it worked out much cheaper and quicker than what I had initially expected.
The first Vietnamese people I came into contact with were 3 older ladies at the bus station one of whom just reached over and grabbed my nose and then hair - with use of signs she told me she would like to swap as she liked my long nose - first time for everything as no one ever complimented my nose before!! They were very sweet and she ended up telling me I should marry her son :-) Have had a few similar experiences as I travel about with the locals suddenly grab your nose/arm/leg/hair with open mouths - very amusing!!
Chau Doc which was more developed and bigger than I expected but very friendly and I ended up spending a couple of nights here - I met the lovely Mr Long who runs the local book shop and took sometime to teach me some useful Vietnamese words and I hired a cycle and went exploring which was interesting given there is no such thing as a map of this area!!
I had my second official encounter with the police of my travels after a motorcylce taxi driverin HCMC became quite aggressive after I refused to pay him 10 times the price we had agreed for a short journey after he had gone around in circles for an hour - the policeman initially said it was my mistake and I should pay him but he wasn't so sure what to do when I still refused and asked what he was going to do about the lying, cheating taxi driver who had all but assaulted me by grabbing me to stop me leaving - in the end he spoke to the driver who left with no extra money!! Ok so I haven't lost any of my stubborness on this trip - when I'm right I am right!! But at least I didn't punch him when he grabbed me!!! That has to be an improvement.......in the end it was another experience to add to my ever growing list and a story to share with you guys :-)
That said the majority of people I have met in Vietnam are honest (young waiter ran after me to give me back a few Dong I dropped -which was probably more than his pay for the day!!), friendly and generous (lots of offers of food and drinks from locals who are eating their dinner as you pass). In fact just after the incident with the taxi a couple of young students came up to me and wanted to chat to practice their English and I ended up spending a couple of hours with them learning lots about Vietnam.
The photo's probably tell you most of what else I have been up to and as you can see I am enjoying Vietnam which is beautiful - but moving on every couple of days and taking night buses us tiring and limits the time I have to keep up on blog/e-mails etc but will try and update a bit sooner next time!!!
Take care
Jack xx
Sand boarding was much harder than it looked- Ryan the Tiger seemed to get the hang of it much quicker than me!!
The Fishing Village at Mui Ne - reminded me of my summer working in the Fish Factory in The Broch (Fraserburgh for you uneducated!!)
A kid digging in the sand at Mui Ne Beach.
Mui Ne Beach has to be one of my favourite beaches so far on my trip - though there were guest houses and restaurants on the road the beach itself was uncommercialised and you could watch the local fisherman in action - only problem was that there was no where to sit in the shade!!
Bo Dia Summer Palace in Dalat.
Ryan the Tiger decided he would be King for the day - think he was having an identity crisis!!
On way home down a dark street I suddenly came across this Chinese Dragon dancing away to the beat of drums!!
Drying out the corn - who needs factories!!
The Elephant Waterfalls near Dalat - Dalat is a hill town and the surrounding countryside is pretty with lots of flowerfarms/coffee plantations etc.
The only way to see Dalat area is to hire a motorcycle and driver so I arranged on via my hotel only to get 3/4 of the way out and when we got stopped at police check point he had forgotten his driving licence so the police confiscated his bike!! In the end he arranged for a local guy to take me the rest of the way and then I ended up spending most of the afternoon with him and his family who even made me lunch - was all very amusing as they spoke not a word of English and were quite amused that I was taller than all of them and had fatter calf muscles!!
A family at Lat Village near Dalat.
The Village Leader at Lat Village explains the local music and traditions of the village - there are 5 villages in the area with 5,000 population in total - 3,000 catholic & 2,ooo protestant (lots more churches in Vietnam than last few places I have been to). The family of girls here buy her a husband - the going rate being one 1 or 2 Water buffalo's depending on how good a catch he is - better not tell my mum or she'll be trying to find out if you can buy Water buffalo's at Asda!!
I thought Vietnam cowboy's were probably a myth but they are real enough - mainly at tourist attractions but you do see lots of guys with cowboy hats!! And the only tourists I have seen getting their photo's with them are Vietnemese
View from Lang Bain mountain near Dalat.
Local ladies were quite amused by my presence at their temple!
Dalat town - tall thin buildings seem to be the favoured architect in Vietnam
An 'Easy Rider' - these guys are well known in Dalat and other areas of Vietnam and take tourists on day trips - some even end up taking people on full road trips of the country - think it would be a fun way to see Vietnam if I came back again (on slightly higher budget) I would certainly consider hiring one of these guys to get to some less touristy areas
Always easy to tell when the rain is coming - the wind picks up suddenly and the dark clouds appear!! 
Butterflies and flowers.......
For the first time in months I felt cold (well chilly) in Dalat so see why this little girl needed her woolies :-) (Not quite Scotland though!!)
Long journeys are never boring when you have scenery like this to enjoy - journey between Dalat and Nha Trang.
Interflora makes a delivery in Nha Trang.
Nha Trang.
Traditional entertainment at the Cham Towers.
You don't see so many monks in Vietnam and they wear different robes and are not so chatty except at a few very touristy temples. These one's were at Long Son Pagoda in Nha Trang.
Conical hats are worn everyhere in Vietnam even when going for a swim.
Family lunch - one of the many groups of people who invited me to join them for lunch/drinks as I walked along the beach at Nha Trang.
First time I've seen a cable car between the mainland and an Island.
I went to the beach in Nha Trang to catch up on my diary before my overnight bus but had a constant stream of people come over to say hello and chat - was quite nice though.
One thing about Vietnam is that everyone wears cycle helmets the only thing is they don't seem to realise you should take them off when you get off the bike and wear them to the beach, fishing have dinner and who knows where else!!
A local kid enjoys a day out at the beach.
So as you can see I have a new camera and there has been plenty of things to photograph in Vietnam to let me practice!
I said goodbye to Cambodia at a dusty remote border crossing having had my taxi driver take me to the wrong place and try and con me to pay someone else lots more money to take me where he was supposed to - not a chance so he got less money than we agreed and I crossed over into Vietnam to a modern computerised Border Control with helpful friendly staff and managed to get a bus to Chau Doc where I was heading and it worked out much cheaper and quicker than what I had initially expected.
The first Vietnamese people I came into contact with were 3 older ladies at the bus station one of whom just reached over and grabbed my nose and then hair - with use of signs she told me she would like to swap as she liked my long nose - first time for everything as no one ever complimented my nose before!! They were very sweet and she ended up telling me I should marry her son :-) Have had a few similar experiences as I travel about with the locals suddenly grab your nose/arm/leg/hair with open mouths - very amusing!!
Chau Doc which was more developed and bigger than I expected but very friendly and I ended up spending a couple of nights here - I met the lovely Mr Long who runs the local book shop and took sometime to teach me some useful Vietnamese words and I hired a cycle and went exploring which was interesting given there is no such thing as a map of this area!!
I had my second official encounter with the police of my travels after a motorcylce taxi driverin HCMC became quite aggressive after I refused to pay him 10 times the price we had agreed for a short journey after he had gone around in circles for an hour - the policeman initially said it was my mistake and I should pay him but he wasn't so sure what to do when I still refused and asked what he was going to do about the lying, cheating taxi driver who had all but assaulted me by grabbing me to stop me leaving - in the end he spoke to the driver who left with no extra money!! Ok so I haven't lost any of my stubborness on this trip - when I'm right I am right!! But at least I didn't punch him when he grabbed me!!! That has to be an improvement.......in the end it was another experience to add to my ever growing list and a story to share with you guys :-)
That said the majority of people I have met in Vietnam are honest (young waiter ran after me to give me back a few Dong I dropped -which was probably more than his pay for the day!!), friendly and generous (lots of offers of food and drinks from locals who are eating their dinner as you pass). In fact just after the incident with the taxi a couple of young students came up to me and wanted to chat to practice their English and I ended up spending a couple of hours with them learning lots about Vietnam.
The photo's probably tell you most of what else I have been up to and as you can see I am enjoying Vietnam which is beautiful - but moving on every couple of days and taking night buses us tiring and limits the time I have to keep up on blog/e-mails etc but will try and update a bit sooner next time!!!
Take care
Jack xx
No comments:
Post a Comment