Dune (+ bad comedy!)

We started Boxing Day with a refreshing swim in the pool. No synchronised swimming today, but we can show Nick ignoring the No Diving rule:

For much of the rest of the day, the four of us went on an old-school jeep tour of all the local 'sights', starting off with the Fairy Springs.

Walking through a muddy red trickle without our shoes wasn't the best of starts:

But since we were in a river, we decided to go with the flow!

[Baboomb ching! Thank you, we're here all week!]

 

 

This was then followed by a lot of thigh-busting climbing...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Catching our breath for a second at the top...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Followed by leaping and skidding down the other side! :-)

 

 

 

The remainder of the springs consisted of rather strange rock and sand formations... Mweh... The 'fountain' once we got there, turned out to be a  small dribble of water. Despite that, we had a cool time, and no-one can ever say that Nick is a stick-in-the-mud. ;-)

[Mwah, mwah, mwaaaaaaaaaah!]

We went back through Mui Ne town again for long enough to take some more snaps:

 

 

Down by the waterfront where they bring in the shrimpy-fishy goodness (!?) they make the fish sauce out of was especially 'pleasing' to smell.

 

 

 

So, back into the jeep for a ride onto the 'main event' - the sand dunes that Mui Ne is known for. Here's some bad hair in the jeep:

 

 

 

And here's some bad hair on the sand dunes.

We probably should call it Hazel's 'Windswept Look'.

 

 

 

 

The dunes themselves were... a long way away. And we didn't have the time to do the Sand Sledging either - though it wasn't anyway near as exhilarating as the tour companies make out!

We finished the tour and got back to the main beach, where we took in the beautiful scene of dozens of the colourful kits cutting through the air. We both like this shot - the couple kissing in the middle give it that extra bit of romance. It's one of the better photos we've taken on this trip:

 

 

 

We finished off the day with some cocktails and nibbles at the (five star) Sailing Club to see how the 'other half' live - ie those who are not on backpacker's budgets!

[It may not *actually* be five star, but it was for us anyway!]

 

Namaste!

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Mui Ne Christmas Day - Can You 'Ear Me Now?

We started the morning (slightly hungover) with a remarkable Synchronised Swimming display from Hazel and Marsha. Critics may point out that the timing is slightly off: Hazel looks ready to swallow the pool, whereas Marsha appears to be nearly drowning:

After the giving and receiving of gifts (Marsha's Vietnamese Coffee Strainer, Nick's Beach Shuttlecock Game, and Hazel & Pete each got a tangerine, a mini snickers, a face mask and some travel toiletries - all thoughtfully presented in one of Nick's socks), we all set off on a Christmas Day bike ride.

We only made it a couple of kilometres down the road when we came across a motorbike accident. The poor guy seemed conscious, although pretty badly cut up by the loose gravel. No ambulances here - he was taken away on another motorbike, supported by two men. A sobering sight for Christmas Day.

Tired, we stopped soon after at one of the many windsurfing spots for a drink and to watch some of the action. Here's us on the sea wall:

We then split up - the boys continued on to Mui Ne Town; the girls went to the shops (via the delightfully aromatic Fish Sauce Shop!).

Early evening time, we patched together Nick's Skype account and microphone, my laptop and headphones, and the Resort's wireless connection so we could all make some Christmas phone calls home. The high point of this was when Marsha called her Dad - somehow the microphone volume got turned way down, so all we could hear of the conversation was Marsha (unwittingly) doing an imitation of some kind of Jamaican Reggae radio show host: 'Can you 'ear me now?'

Much to our dismay, we completely failed to find somewhere that was putting on a 'proper' Christmas dinner. However, we still had a great time with lovely food at a nice price at the best Vietnamese place in town. A large group of young Russian lads sat next to us were getting more into the spirit of things than everyone else - banging their whisky glasses on the table and making a toast every five minutes. Though great fun at first, it did grate a little after a while. I think this photo captures us after toast number 327!

Happy Christmas!!

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Mui Ne Christmas Eve

We all got the bus to Mui Ne on the morning of Christmas Eve. Despite the weather turning cloudy en route it was still nice and warm, and it didn't dampen our spirits. We arrived out our resort (The Hoang Kim Golden) to find we had lovely bungalows, and a pool with views out over the sea - just a shame there wasn't much beach to speak of at this end of the bay.

We got a taxi up the road (since Mui Ne stretches for about 10 kilometres!) in the evening for some food. Here's us all enjoying our Red Snapper special:

A couple of Christmas fairies:

And a pair of Santa's Elves:

Bringing joy to the World! :-)

To finish off the night we headed off to Pogo Bar, who had music and bonfires into the early hours. Hic!

Namaste!

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Christmas Rendezvous: Marsha and Nick Come to Town!

We'd been waiting for this more than Christmas itself! Finally, we get some contact with the outside World, and who better than Marsha and Nick. :-)

After checking into their hotel across the road, we all headed out to find a street cafe to initiate Marsha and Nick into the world of Pho Bo (that's beef noodle soup to everyone else!) It so happened they created the tastiest Pho Bo we'd had since arriving in Vietnam - it's just a shame their photographic skills we're quite so good!

Namaste!

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Saigon - So hot I saw one of those guys in the orange robes burst into flames!

OK, the title's perhaps an exaggeration, but someone had definitely turned up the thermostat here, and with a hundred motorbikes blasting by each minute, things were close in all senses of the word.

We shared a brief bus journey in the morning with an Australian/Vietnamese chap called William, who almost felt as out-of-place as we did. After finding some very reasonably-priced digs in the backpacker district, we ventured out to play chicken amongst the traffic - that being the the only way to cross the road. We quickly discovered that holding out for a break in the traffic flow would lead to death - from old age due to waiting!

Not much to report from the rest of the day, except that we stopped for Ice Cream to cool down:

You can see how happy it made us:

Over the next couple of days before Marsha and Nick arrived on the 23rd, we managed to squeeze in a trip to the hairdressers next door. A rendezvous with a hedge strimmer would have had a similar result! [Hazel's words!]

Also popped by the post office (lovely building) to send some stuff home (you can see the picture of Ho Chi Minh on the far wall):

Plus a trip to the Reunification Palace, whose gates were famously crushed by a North Vietnamese tank (see below) - a significant moment at the end of the Vietnam War.

For us, however, it was a bit too much like a 70's dining furniture showroom:

 

On Tuesday (23rd, the day Marsha and Nick were arriving) we went on a tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels, only 20-odd kilometres from Saigon itself, and allegedly stretching all the way back (underground) to the Cambodian border. On the way we stopped off at a Handicrafts Centre run by disabled people, many of whom were affected by the Agent Orange (and other chemical defoliants) used by the Americans during the war.

The tunnels themselves had been built at various times prior to (and during) the American/Vietnamese war, with much of the work done by the Viet Minh (later known as the Viet Cong) who were fighting against the French earlier in the 20th Century.

Pete had a go getting into one of the hiding hole concealed entrances:

Not much room to manouvre - even on a svelte figure such as his! ;-) We were told the story of a lady who, a couple of years previously, had got herself stuck in the hole - so much so that they had to spend the next 6 hours digging a separate tunnel so that she could be freed! A lady in our group did not take heed of the warning and got herself stuck, thankfully for her her ordeal lasted only a few minutes (and a bruised hip and ego!)

We got to climb down into the tunnels themselves. There are 3 categories of tunnel: small, tiny, and miniscule. Here's Hazel in one of the larger tunnels:

You can imagine how the Vietnamese fared better down here than the American soldiers, having both a smaller frame and also knowledge of the many miles of routes and traps along the way.

Here's a shot of one of the traps that were laid on the forest floor (ouch!):

Hazel also got to hang out with some of the Women Viet Cong (OK, so they were only dummies):

Fight the Power, Sisters!

When we got back to Saigon after lunch we stopped by the War Remnants Museum, illustrating all the bad (horrendous) things the Americans got up to during the American/Vietnam War, and all those across the World who protested against their involvement.

Namaste!

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Ben Tre

The final place we stayed on our Mekong Delta excursion was Ben Tre, which is an island province as well as a village. We got there by minibus and ferry, and were amazed that the Guesthouse owner was true to his word and was there to meet us as we got off the ferry.

One of the nice aspects of the guesthouse is they offer free bicycle hire, which we made use of straight away. It was great to cycle along all the windy lanes, across bridges, passing locals on bikes coming the other way.

 

At the end of our ride we managed to get caught up in the school run, as all the kids piled out of class to their waiting parents.

We found a lady selling a delicious snack: barbequed bananas coated in sticky rice. One was never enough!

 

Our guesthouse was set in a garden, and we got a real feel for family life here - although we had to politely decline the offer of going to see the cockfight round the corner!

All in all, this was a really friendly place and we enjoyed spending time here.

Namaste!

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Vinh Long, Mekong River Town

With still 5 days to go till we meet Marsha and Nick in Saigon for Christmas, we are taking our time going through the Mekong Delta. Our guidebook recommended Vinh Long - or rather, it suggested going on a 'Homestay' on the nearby river islands. However, this turned out to be much more expensive than we expected - even getting a boat over to the island and back was quoted at $25 each! So we found a decent enough hotel instead and stayed to explore the town.

Here are some of the things we saw:

A man giving his dog a haircut, while the chicken looks on.

The 'aromatic' fish market.

The colourful veg market.

Cops straight out of 'CHiPS' doling out speeding tickets.

And finally, the worst meal of the trip so far. Pete's fish hotpot was utterly without flavour, but at least it beats Hazel's plate of chicken bones.

We left one restaurant in the evening after getting freaked out by the staff and other customers - all of whom seemed to think they were in a staring competition!

And so, moving on...

Namaste!

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