The Mekong Delta

The southern most tip of Vietnam is the Mekong delta, miles of flood plains where they grow whole lot of rice and where canals are as numerous as the the roads and probably more important.

The main thing we wanted to see in the delta was the floating markets, so we landed in Can Tho or the bus and immediately booked a boat tour for the next morning...5:30 the next morning to be exact. $40 for about 7 hours on a private boat, complete with a captain, tour guide, including breakfast, we thought it was a pretty good value. But boy oh boy, did we really have to have the 5:30 pickup??? It isn't even light yet! Yes, the market people are early risers and as we found out hard workers. It took us about 30 minutes in our boat to get to Cia Rang the first and biggest of the three floating markets we would visit on our tour, it was already busy. Many boats of all sizes were filled to the max. with every type to fruit and vegetable you could imagine. Our first stop was at the breakfast boat for a typical Vietnamese breakfast of noodle soup then it was off to investigate the inner-workings of the floating market. Many vendors come to the market, live on their boats and don't leave until every last piece is sold. We sampled some pineapple, banana, pomelo, and watermelon. We visited three markets on our tour, each one a little smaller than the last. I liked the smaller markets the most, we could get closer into the action with our boats and interact with some of the vendors. I have to tell you, there were some real colourful characters. After a busy morning at the market we headed into one of the smaller canals where small villages with children running out to yell "hello", rice fields, and gardens were cut into the lush growth lined the banks. We were taken to a restaurant for a tea/coffee and a closer look at how they grow a few of the items we had seen for sale in that morning. It was a very nice day, we returned around 12:30 with most of the day left to explore the city.

After booking our bus tickets to Rach Gia, we sent the evening catching up with a few of our friends, namely Marg and Gerry from Brandon, who we met on the bus the day before and Fabian and Johana from Germany who would make the trip into Cambodia with us the next day. Oh and we bumped into yet another two girls, from Sweden, who we knew from Quy Nhon, up north...funny.

The following day, we and the young Germans were off to Kep, Cambodia. A mini bus picked us up at our hotel at 7:30 and took us to the main bus stop where we got on a big bus (thank God) which we would take to Rach Gia where we changed buses to another big bus (but WAY SLOWER) that would take us to Ha Tien, 7 km from the Cambodian border. Here we picked up motorbike taxis or 'ex om' that took us across the border and thru the 300 mt of no man land to Prek Chak, Cambodia. Once thru the border, visas costing us $25 US,at last we caught a taxi to Kep, 35 km away. Thanks to the border guard who told us to pay $20 for the taxi ride not the $40 that the taxi-driver wanted. Long story short, the total of 200 km took us 9 hours and how many changes on how many different modes of transportation...nothing is easy. And, Ken had to chase down the taxi, after he dropped us off, because his backpack was left inside. Ken commandeered a local on a scooter to chase down the taxi, tucked in tight to the handlebars, they sped wide-open for 8 km to catch the taxi just as it pulled over after realizing the pack was inside, another close call!

The view from Marg and  Gerry's hotel in Can Tho, the river is the stage for all the floating markets.

5:30 a.m. its still dark out, for crying out load!

This guys can really handle a boat ...what great balance!

Soup for breakfast, came to us on board our boat.

So many watermelons...these and many, many more.

Oh, more watermelons, and of course any other fruit or vegetable you would want.

Not only veggie or fruit but also dry goods like rice, wood and bottled drinks.

If you can't find it it isn't in season.  I love these hats, shade in the sun and cover in the rain.

Not all boats had long neck motors, in fact in the smaller markets a little muscle goes a long way.

Some real characters.

Some real characters, these two were guides from another boat.

Ain't they cute!

Motoring us a small channel, farmland and plantations on either side. 

How does your pineapple grow?

We are moving on, it's all good.  Ken has his feet up (at the front of the bus at last) and the driver has his offering to Buddha on the dash to keep us safe.

Ho Chi Minh City and Hanio?

Ho Chi Minh City...Saigon or HCMC, the capital of Vietnam and one big and loud city, full of scooters honking horns at every corner, sidewalk and passing vehicle. We have never seen so many scooters in one spot! The noise just doesn't quit. But...it is a very cool city with loads of museums to document the years of war this country has been through (the Chinese, French and then the Americans), to say these people are resilient would be an understatement.

Of course we took in a couple of markets, but we also took the time to visit the post office (sounds weird but it is architecturally beautiful), and the Reunification Palace. It was a busy stop for us but the food and the hotel, the Bi Saigon, in District 1, were really good. We ate most meals in the hotel restaurant and Ken was thrilled when he found old fashioned oatmeal for breakfast on the menu, a real treat for him. And for the first time since we left Chiang Mai we found a great (and cheap, less than a dollar) place for mango smoothies, actually mango-passionfruit is our new favorite.

When we came into Vietnam we entered the country half way down and we were content to see the southern half of the country but as time went on and we talked to more people (and the weather warmed up a little) we decided we really needed to see Hanoi and Ha Long bay in the north. So...one night we made the decision, went to the tourist office, bought plane tickets and flew to Hanoi the next day, it's good to be flexible. We took only our small packs and left the rest of our luggage with the hotel, they were so accommodating. We were warned to watch for crocked taxi drivers at the airport so we got a ride on the Vietnam Airlines minibus which dropped us at their office in Hanoi, for only $2 p/p what a great tip. Once settled into our hotel we booked an overnight tour on a junk (a real nice boat, with 12 staterooms, dinning room and sun deck) and set sail, Ken's first cruise (he said he wanted to start small). The trip was absolutely beautiful and worth every penny. Ha Long Bay is one of the new Natural Wonders of the World...Oh Ya!

After a relaxing time on board the boat we hit the pavement in Hanoi and visited the War Museum and the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. We spent many hours wandering the streets and walking around Hoam Kien Lake one of the beautiful lakes around the city center. Our hotel, The Prince 2 Hotel, was close to everything and I would highly recommend it (thanks to Jean-Guy for recommending it to us).

After 5 days in the north it was time to jump on the plane again and resume our trip down south, in way warmer weather. In Hanoi and Ha Long bay we were once again wearing every piece of warm clothing and even used the heater in our hotel room. Remember our cheap ride into Hanoi with Vietnam Airlines minibus? Well as we were heading to our departure gate in the Hanoi airport we ran into a couple guys who had just bought taxi fare for $30 into the city, crap sorry guys! And to make it worse the lady at the tourist booth who sold them the fare all but laughed at them when she head us telling them about the minibus. At the airport in HCMC, yet another bus/taxi story...being in the know, we got off the plane and headed for the street in front of the airport to catch the local bus which was suppost to cost us 5000 vd p/p (it is a posted price, printed right on the ticket) but of coarse, because we are "tourists" the cost is 7500 vd p/p (I know it is only a few cents but it is really starting to wear on us!) Oh well! In HCMC, we returned to the Bi Saigon to retrieve our bags only to find the hotel was full and we had to find another...at least our bags were there and safe. No big deal, there are lots of hotels and the stay in HCMC was only one night anyway then as usual it was time to catch another bus...to the Mekong Delta.

Ken stands in front of the Reunification Palace where in 1975  the tanks crashed thru the gates reunifying North and  South Vietnam.

Get a load of these lines!

Only in Saigon, a special turn light for the scooters.  

The Stube in the middle of Hoam Kien Lake, Hanoi.

So many designer helmets and none would pass CSA approval. 

What a heavy load, even Ken has to take a second look.

Scooter, scooters and more scooters. in HCMC the rumor is there is upwards of 6 million of them on the road there.

A magnificent view of  the some of the 2000 islands in the Ha Long Bay archipelago.

When you are born into a family that lives in a floating village, you learn to handle a boat early in life.

On the top deck of our cruiser, Aclass cruise lines in Ha Long Bay.

Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum, we joined a que that slowly paraded pass the open casket of  Ho Chi Minh himself.

Whats left of a B52 bomber and several other U.S. planes shot down during the war, they had a great display at the War Museum, in Hanoi.

A puppet at the Water Puppet Theatre, a must see in Vietnam. 

Noodles, what can I say.

Market Day

Markets are abundant, and a everyday way of life in South East Asia.

Da Lat

We decided to head for the hills and the city of Da Lat, cool and a pleasant change from the heat and humidity on the coast.  And keeping with our theme of horrendous bus trips, the bus up into the mountians had barely enough power to get up to Da Lat, arriving approximately 2 hours later than it should have, and to top it off IT WAS ANOTHER STUPID SLEEPER BUS, Ken was fit to be tied!  One of the first things he did once we were settled in Da Lat was to book our trip to Ho Chi Minh City on a regular sitting bus...guaranteed!

The countryside is beautiful around Da Lat and we had plans to visit a nearby National Park and rent a bike to visit the surrounding towns but the weather was very cold and rainy so we managed to rent a bike only for half and day and visited a Presidential house and a waterfall that smelled like a cespool, we are so spoiled in Canada.  We also took a narrow gauged railway train to the small town Trai Mat, once a working train but now only a tourist attraction. 

Our hotel, the Golden Night was a little noicy but had a great location, almost in the middle of the market.  A pleasant surprise were the restuarants in town.  We found two, the M Bistro and the Peace Cafe, that had very good food.  And...a bakery...with the best treats we have had since Germany, La Petite Patissarie.

The stay in La Dat was short, due to the weather, oh well. The big city is next, HCMC, a three hour bus ride on a great, and I do mean great, bus!  Ken is happy!

The countryside around Da Lat is filled with greenhouses and farmland...oh and pinetrees.  In many of the greenhouses they are growing flowers.

The Linh Phuoc Pagoda.  They call it's style ornate , I would call it excentric.

Inside the Linh Phouc Pagoda the theme continues.

I am looking very relaxed sitting on the train during our trip to Trai Mat village to see the Pagoda.  Little do you know, I have just about fell out of the train while trying to get a picture, catching our new camera by my finger tips as is went flying out of my hand.  Ugh!

The city of Da Lat located beside a small lake, it was great to walk around...even in the rain.  The city is in the mountians so the temperature is quite a bit cooler than along the coast, refreshing as Ken would say.

The farmland and greenhouses supply the markets with a lot of great looking produce.

Quy Nhon to Nha Trang

Quy Nhon and Nha Trang, two seaside cities on opposite ends of the spectrum. Quy Nhon is a Vietnamese city that sees only a handful of tourists at a time and Nha Trang is tourist central...Russian tourist to be exact. Our trip to Quy Nhon from Hoi An was stupid, scary and a far as the bus driver was concerned, suicidal. We spent four hours in a mini bus traveling too fast, dodging vehicles and potholes, and sitting once again amongst barfing Vietnamese. Never again! The trip into Nha Trang, however, was luxurious (in comparison), with only 14 of us on a big bus, we stretched out and had a great view as we drove along the coastline.

We spent New Years in Quy Nhon, had a great fish dinner (thanks to a wonderful waiter who helped us through the menu and then showed us how we were to eat our steamed fish, wrapping it in rice paper along with green mango, cucumber and some other greens and dipped in a sweet chili sauce, yum yum). It was a quiet night for us, I was asleep by 11:00 p.m. and Ken read until 2:00 (a good book in the Dragon Tattoo trilogy)...we are getting old. We loved Quy Nhon even if it was a little more challenging because a lot less English was spoken. Our room at the Sunflowers hotel had a great view of the long beach that was lined with a sidewalk on one side and a bay full of local fishing boats on the other.

Nha Trang was described to us as being the most beautiful bay in Vietnam. I guess we were expecting too much because we were a little disappointed, in the city, the beach and the atmosphere. Prices were quite a bit higher and it was a little weird to see tourist signs in Russian not Vietnamese.  Maybe it had something to do with the fact that the weather is a little cool, which is great for walking but not good beach weather.  We visited a few tourist sights and couldn't wait to book our bus tickets to Da Lat, in the mountains.

By the way...yeh, a replacement camera!

Fishing boats and nets in the Quy Nhon bay.

More fishing boats.  I loved the little round boats they use to get back and forth to their big boats.

The view from our hotel, The Sunflowers, in Quy Nhon.

We took a mototaxi from the bus stop in Nha Trang to our hotel, it is a little weird for Ken to be on the back of a bike!

The beach at Nha Trang.  Where is Waldo (Ken) you can see him if you try.

Our hotel in Nha Trang, the Thang Bom Hotel.  Look up...way up!  The restaurant, on the top floor, had a great view of the city below but I would hate to be there in a earthquake.

The Laying Buddha at the Long Son Pagoda.  We also visited Hon Chong Promontory, a few granite rocks jutting out of the ocean, and Po Naga Cham Towers, the oldest temple in Nha Trang built between the 7th and 12th centuries.

This little group was at the beach playing in the sand, toques and all.

I put my feet in the Pacific Ocean, the weather was a little cold for me to go swimming.

A whole experience in streetfood.

These two fishermen were having way too much fun paddling in from their fishing boat, even if it doesn't look like they caught anything. 

 Po Naga Cham Towers



A sneak look at a young girl and her mother inside one of the temples at Po Naga Cham Towers.



On the streets of Hoi An

We spent three nights a nice hotel in Hoi An, The Phuoc An Hotel, we stayed in a room on the top floor with a gabled ceiling, tiled walls, a soaker tub and a buffet breakfast. Pedals bikes were free from the hotel so we went for a couple hour ride, one day in the rain, but beside that we spent our time walking the streets on the ancient city. In the evening music is pumped through speakers in the street and wifi is available basically all over the city for free. The city was extremely touristic (it reminded me of Disneyland)but we enjoyed in anyway.



Kens happy!!!  3000vnd for a beer and 20,000vnd to a dollar...it's just crazy!



Mo-peds are used for everything.

The Vietnamese love to play games of all kinds.  Boardgames, cards, and here some sort of ticket, we didn't know any of them.  Most are gambling games.  Check out the lady in the back puffing on a cigar!

In Hoi An there must be a thousand tailors who will measure you up and have a suit, dress or you name it ready for you the next day.  I opted for a pair of leather sandals which gave me a mean blister the very first day I wore them.  I guess I won't be wearing them dancing anytime soon!

We love the street food!  Chicken (I think) grilled on a stick.

Check this out!  You have heard of ape hangers on a bike...well these are chicken hangers!

After dark, on the full moons, candles in little boxes are put in the water and taken out to sea with the current.  This little guy and his mom where doing a good business.  (Sorry for picture quality, my camera is on its last legs)