The view from a bike on the way back from the beach.
It turned out we spent more time in Vietnam than we originally anticipated (as I discovered writing this post and requiring to split it in two). But after the delights of Ha Long Bay and the crazy communism of Hanoi, we headed south down the coast—Vietnam being the elongated country it is there really isn’t much choice in the matter.
After a quick stop back in Hanoi (primarily to have another Ban Me—a baguette filled with all kinds of meats, street food at its finest), we took a sleeper bus to Hoi An (and yes, I ended up confusing the two names the entire time). Here we actually did a little planning and determined before buying the ticket which places we wanted to stop at down the coast. This way you can get a better deal and there’s plenty of buses that provide what is essentially a hop-on-hop-off service. You’re not restricted to when you stay or go, all you have to do is inform the operator (normally) the day before you want to travel to your next stop.
The best thing about sleeper buses in Vietnam, though, is they’re actually sleeper buses. You get beds, not seats. Be warned though, there’s pros and cons to every seat. Here’s a good site I found that discusses these pros and cons in alarming detail.
Hoi An
The river in Hoi An in the evening.
Hoi An turned out to be one of my favourite places in Vietnam. It left a lot of the in-your-face communism behind and it was actually, for me, a very chilled out place. Yes, it was geared up for tourism, but it was geared up for it in a nice way. It’s a small place and you’ll want to spend most of your time near the river where the shops and restaurants are best (remember to cross the river for a couple of hidden gems including our recommendation: “Wrap & Roll”). There are a few bars which open until the early hours for the younger backpackers (they have a definite 18-30 vibe about them), and they do tend to get a bit messy (which may be your thing but not ours).
There are also two fabulous beaches which you can get to by bicycle. Push-bikes can be rented for dirt cheap (and probably from your hostel), much cheaper than a taxi, and it gives you a chance for yet another experience, seeing a place a different way. Bikes can be a little, um, shoddy, but that’s all part of the fun. Be warned though, if you’re not too confident on bikes in traffic, avoid the rush hours at all costs.
Nha Trang
Next we went down to Nha Trang and upon entering my better half and I looked puzzlingly out of the window. We were stumped. Every shop and hotel had its name written first in Russian. English and even Vietnamese seemed to be an after-thought and we wondered if our bus had slipped through a wormhole while we were sleeping.
It turns out that there are cheap flights from Moscow to Nha Trang, and over the period of only a few years the southern coastline of Vietnam (and even Pattaya in Thailand) has been turned, essentially, into “Russia with beaches”. It’s important to note here that I have nothing against Russians and I look forward to the day I finally visit their beautiful land, but that’s just the point—I hadn’t visited Russia yet and so I was confused as to why I felt like I was already there.
The place appeared to be taken over by Vodka-drinkers, but of course it’s not them that are doing the taking. In order to make the most of the influx of Russian holidaymakers, anyone in Nha Trang with a tourism-based business has targeted and honed their venture to accommodate them. Locals don’t speak pigeon-English, but pigeon-Russian.
What we found to have happened is that there was anger brewing within the community. All the shops have to compete so it only takes one to cater for the Russians for the rest to follow suit so that they don’t miss out. Thus they feel forced into it.
As for the Russians, from what we saw this adaptation of culture wasn’t doing them any favours either, because they felt they were in their own country and as such acted that way. What I mean here is that they had no regard for Vietnamese culture or tradition and expected things to be done like they would be back home. Whether it’s simply their culture or not, according to some locals we spoke to they’re not the most polite of people.
All in all it was not a great experience. Nha Trang was my least favourite in Vietnam by a mile. We couldn’t wait to get out of there. However, just before we did, we went to the one thing that might make you grin and bear the town: the Vin Pearl resort. This is first and foremost a water park with a hotel resort and small amusement park all rolled into one on a small island linked to the mainland by a cable car. The good news is that though it’s expensive (even by Western standards), you can take a day trip there which is far more agreeable to the wallet. Don’t go for the amusement park, though, do it for the water park. It’s the best I’ve ever been to and I’m told it’s up there on the world chart.
Saigon
You may know it as Ho Chi Minh City, and indeed it is officially called that, but it’s only called that in respect of Ho Chi Minh who was the late president and founder in no small part of Vietnam’s modern principles. The south never cared much for his ways, and so I see the renaming of the city in his honour as a two fingers up to the southerners. I don’t like that sort of behaviour and as such I prefer to call it by its traditional name, Saigon.
Saigon has many things to do and places to see, but if you can stomach it the War Museum should be at the top of your list. The reason being is because of another one of my little travel tips, and that’s to respect the country you visit. That includes learning about it and its culture. The harrowing events of the Vietnam War are hard to hear about let alone visually experience, but that’s what you get in the War Museum and it’s important to know what these people have been through, and are still going through.
The Mekong Delta
Cruising up the Mekong Delta
It would be very easy to simply get a bus across the border into Cambodia, but that’s just not the travelling way when there’s a an alternative that can expose you to more culture. For this reason we decided to do a two day one night trip over the Mekong Delta, a vast network of rivers that helps form the border between the two countries.
This was, yet again, booked through our hostel literally the day before we left, but if you want to do this shop around and make sure you get a deal where you do what you want to do and do it comfortably. Most of our trip was spent travelling, with short stops here and there to see things like a floating market or locals making traditional Vietnamese snacks. I loved it and yet again got to see more of the culture, but be prepared to be sitting down for a long time. Oh, and if you get the one where you stay a night on a floating hotel, a heads-up: it’s not floating, it’s built into the water.
Onward Travel
Crossing the border into Cambodia was part of our Mekong Delta trip, and it’s certainly cool to be able to say you crossed a border by boat. Again, be prepared. There are no ATM’s at the border (at least not when you cross it this way) and so make sure you have dollars on you. You can’t have too much because the US $ is legal tender in Cambodia, and if you find at the border you’ve overstayed your welcome even by one day, you’ll be glad you have those extra bills on you.
Once we got our passports stamped we boarded a fast boat (I recommend this for a $10 upgrade fee from the slow boat) and sped up the river to Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh.