The end of Vietnam

I was right - we loved Hoi An!! It is so beautiful, especially at night when all the restaurants and shops have lanterns lit up along the river and throughout the town. Also, they close down the streets to pedestrians and bicycles only, so you're not worried you're going to get hit by a car or motorbike. We spent 4 days in Hoi An because we liked it so much. The main thing to do there is get clothes tailored. In this tiny town there are over 400 tailor shops. We walked down one street and counted 16 tailor shops in a row. It's insane! But we got caught up in it and had some things made. Dave had some suits made for work and I had a couple of coats made. We were very happy with the results!

We also went on a tour to the My Son Champa temples, did some other shopping, eating, strolling and took part in a Vietnamese cooking class. The cooking class was probably my favourite part. The food was amazing and the women running the class were so sweet. They even let us take a break from cooking and let us ride a water buffalo with a local farmer. Incredible! On our last night there Dave also got involved in a local game that the kids play in the street. You have a pile of cards that you are trying to hit by throwing your sandal at them. It was really cute watching him play with the kids. All in all, we had an amazing time in Hoi An.

Steph riding a water buffalo  

 

My Son Champa temples

We left Hoi An on an overnight train...remember, no more overnight buses for us! The train was definitely better than the bus, but still mayhem. It was over an hour late to get to Hoi An to start. Then we were in a 4 person sleeper, or at least, what was supposed to be a 4 person sleeper. At one point there were 6 of us in there - one woman had her child on her bed with her and another woman was sleeping on the floor! Some people got off and after a while we even had one of the train workers sleeping in one of our beds. It was hilarious. But, to be expected by now!

The train took us to a town called Nha Trang, or, should I say Little Russia. Honestly, I think there were more Russians than Vietnamese in the town. It is known as a party, beach town so we only stayed for one night. We spent the day at the beach relaxing and then had some dinner before we stumbled upon a microbrewery right on the beach. Obviously we had to go for a drink - Dave has been craving beer with a bit more flavour. The beer wasn't that great, but it was better than what we had been drinking.

The next morning we started a long day of bus travel, making our way down to Ho Chi Minh City. We thought it was supposed to be a 3 hour bus ride, with a 2 hour stop in Mui Ne, then a 5 hour bus from Mui Ne to Ho Chi Minh. We thought wrong. The first bus took over 5 hours to get to Mui Ne. We had enough time to grab a quick bite for lunch before hopping back on the bus for another 6.5 hours to Ho Chi Minh. It was a long and boring day, but it got us down to Ho Chi Minh safe and sound.

We spent 3 nights in Ho Chi Minh. Our hotel had a great location and we were about 5 steps away from all the restaurants, bars and shops. On our first day we took a tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels. Dave was really excited to see them. It was a pretty sweet tour. They take you to the town of Cu Chi and tell you all about the war and the tunnels; how long it took to make them, how they used them, the different tactics to protect them. You see some old war remnants, like uniforms, bomb shells, weapons and even an old USA tank that was bombed in 1970 and is still in the same spot. Then they actually let you go into the tunnels. They have widened them a little since the war for tourists and have added lights inside as well, but it was pretty crazy to actually walk through these tiny tunnels.

Dave entering an orienteering tunnel

The next day we made our way over to the War Remnants Museum, which has a ton of information about the Vietnam War. Why it started, what happened, tons of photos and first account photos from the war, especially on the Agent Orange that was used. They also had a big section on all the anti-war protests that were happening all over the world. It was very informative and I think we both learned a lot. That night we went to the night market and did some gift buying before heading back towards our hotel for a drink. In Hanoi, people sit on little plastic stools for drinks, but in Ho Chi Minh, they basically just sit right on the sidewalk. So, obviously, we had to try. We had a beer and sat on the sidewalk of a very busy intersection and just watched the mayhem. There were very young children trying to get you to buy gum from them, there was another kid blowing fire balls, there were kids coming home from prom, there were a million motorbikes driving by...it was so entertaining!

Some of the remaining American artillery

 

Sadly, that was our last night in Ho Chi Minh and the next morning we started a tour that would take us to Cambodia. The tour was through the Mekong Delta, up the Mekong river and to Cambodia. It was a 2 day, 1 night tour, including staying in a border town called Chau Doc at a floating hotel on the Mekong River. Overall, the tour was disappointing, but it was nice to see a little more of the countryside before leaving Vietnam. We took a boat tour on the Mekong River and saw a small floating village, where people trade fruits and vegetables from their boats. It also took us to this other small village where they make this delicious coconut candy. From there we drove for a while and even ended up at a random crocodile farm. The best part was probably the hotel right on the river. The second day we took a boat to a Champa village, then made our way to the Cambodian border to get our visas. Once in Cambodia we basically took a bus right to Phnom Penh.

Vietnam definitely had its ups and downs for us. We loved experiencing the culture and learning more about the history and the people. Now we are off to new adventures in Cambodia!
 

At the start of our cooking class

Thanks for reading

xo