Vietnam

Saigon: i was pleasantly surprised when showing up here, i didn't expect such a modern, "hip," fast paced city, it was a nice surprise. This is not to say though that it did not hold tight to what SE Asia does best, and that is markets, food, and culture. there was plenty of it, the markets in china town were pretty entertaining, definitely for locals, i stuck out like a sore thumb sitting down at a noodle bar. The market close to District #1 was outstanding, with really interesting food inside, filled with your nick-nacks, gadgets, and cheap clothing as well. At night the stands set up out side the market and create mobile restaurants where everything is FRESH, from the seafood that sits in tanks to the frogs (still alive) dangling from strings. I enjoyed district #1 and would have stayed a day or two longer but a short visa pushed me onward.

Mui Ne: famous for it's sand dunes is a pretty touristy town, but much quieter and NOT highly visited by the average backpacker who is only looking to party. Accommodation is a bit more expensive here, getting around will cost you, but the dunes and ocean are great and the beaches are EMPTY. this may be because the wind is pretty fierce, but an hour on the beach by my self was good for me. I rented a scooter for 2 days and cruised around the town my self, apparently it is not legal to rent them in that town so i picked mine up off a scooter taxi who was happy to sit on his ass and do nothing while i cruised my self around town.

Dalat to Hoi An: Heading inward away from the backpack "party train," bi-passing Nah Trang i headed into the hills and did a good hike up the side of a mountain, the hills got green, the forest was lush and the climate was much cooler. Actually i put pants and a jacket on at night, it got quite cool. This was a real relaxing town the population was about 800,000 but it didn't feel like that, the food was good, people were friendly and again i would have stayed here for another day if i had more time. Learning to drive Vietnam style in a city was a LOT of fun, i rented a scooter here (which was legal) and had a ball, i road it until the very minute it had to be returned at 10pm.
the road north to smaller cities in Vietnam was a lot of fun, public transport was very very interesting, not the vehicles them selves, but more the company, a woman throwing up from motion sickness in my buddies lap.... well between his legs into a barf bag, but still! the scenery was amazing, green hills, tons of coffee plantations, and GOD was the coffee outstanding, in fact i mailed 1/2 a pound home of different kinds. Vince if you haven't gotten it yet, it's on it's way and it's fair game, i hope you enjoy, just keep some in the freezer for me! ---Sorry about that people--- ANYWAYS, the sights were great, the towns were quiet and rural and i was away form the backpackers and back in more "true" Vietnamese areas, hell i was on the Ho Chi Min Trial.

Hoi An: was a touristy town filled with suit shops (get your self a custom make suit) or shoe shop (get those custom made as well), along with great restaurants. I had the privilege of meeting up with a great chef, eating, traveling and talking food with him throughout the town. We did some binge eating at a couple of places, we also indulged in a Cobra Blood and Vodka shot.... It had to be done. Anyway i liked Hoi An, stayed here for 4 days enjoying the sun, and just north is a hidden jem, Danang (sp?) which is an upcoming tourist town with beautiful EMPTY beaches.

Ha Long Bay: OK, so here is the deal with this place. It is unbelievably beautiful but following suit with all the other "photo destinations" i have visited, i always get a poor day for taking photos. Rainy, overcast, cloudy, it was rough, but NOT AS BAD AS THE COMPANY. My advice is book your boat trip from a backpackers in Hanoi (to be more specific Hanoi Backpackers Hostel) and go with them, the will find a boat that fits your lifestyle. My tour agency put me on a boat with the, i'm 60+ years old, i can be in a wheel chair, and am French lifestyle, so needless to say i didn't fit in so well. the Frenchies warmed up to me after a while and the 6 beers i drank by my self while listening to my ipod on the upper deck of the boat, and watching beautiful scenery pass me by didn't make the trip all that bad either. Sharing a room with one of them was interesting, but i've had worse.

Hanoi: Ok, this city is pretty cool, lots of cool little shops in the old city, tons of things to eat, and the most famous part is the beer corners where people sit on plastic stools and get moderately cold beer poor in 10 oz glasses for a whopping 4,000 dong or 25 cents a glass. it is entertaining for a night but your body pays the price for drinking such crappy beer, it's a must while in Hanoi. Eating at their Deli's was another pleasure i had, tons of cured meats, pates, fresh french bread, it was a good place for me. while there i stayed at a families home in my first "couch surfing" experience (check out the web sight if you don't know is http://www.couchsurfing.com/) and it was really nice to talk to locals and learn about their life in Vietnam. in this case they were x-pats but still, my own room and bathroom and an authentic Vietnamese meal one night and a great Vietnamese restaurant the next, it was a pleasure and a great way to end my trip.

Hanoi Airport: don't over stay your visa or they will KILL YOU with a fine, OR just be better at bribing the officers than I, mine didn't work all that well and i was slapped with a $70 fine. OUCH. pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com.au/vaccaro.marc24/Vietnam?feat=directlink