Loving Vietnam, Pho Sure!

I've put off writing this post for quite a long time, and now I'm dreading even getting started! We're currently in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, sheltering from torrential rain in stead of swimming at the beach. To be honest the beach was full of rubbish anyway.

So that I don't bore you all to death, or use your entire lunch break reading this, I'm splitting this update into two parts. This post will cover central Vietnam, and next time I'll write about Ho Chi Minh City (where we were met by Shaun's brother Tony), the Mekong, and our trip through Cambodia so far.

At the end of my last post we were in Phong Nha Ke Bang national park, about to set off on a 12km jungle trek. In 2009 a British expedition discovered the worlds largest cave in Phong Nha, and our guide for the day was a porter on that expedition (this time I'm sure he was grateful not to be carrying a 45kg pack for a week!). We weren't visiting the largest cave, as that costs $3000US pp to visit, and more than a day to get to!

Our hike was in the 'Abandoned Valley' where we visited two caves, Dark Cave and E Cave. The jungle was pretty dense, at least in terms of my limited jungle experience. What we didn't expect were the swarms of butterflies everywhere. I've never seen anything like it! It's the kind of swarm of flies that I'm not adverse to walking amongst!

The butterflies liked Shaun's shoes...

The dark cave was, as you might expect, dark. We walked/scrambled 700m inside the cave, and then turned our head lights off. You couldn't see your own hand in front of your face. 

We walked on for another hour, dodging poison ivy, until we got to E cave, where our porters had gone ahead and prepared an amazing bbq lunch. We had a selection of grilled tofu and pork, plus rice and freshly picked leaves from the jungle to wrap into rice paper rolls. We also had sand flies, lots and lots of sand flies. They weren't on the menu, but we undoubtedly ate a few. 

Lord of the flies...

After our jungle feast, we strapped on life jackets and climbed into the crystal clear cold water of E cave (and I mean 17 degrees celcius compared to an outside air temperature of at least 35), for a guided swim. It was definitely a creepy experience swimming in a pitch black cave, especially when we turned our lights off and floated in pitch blackness for a while. Our guide entertained himself by getting us to try to guess which way was back out! Lucky we weren't all relying on my navigation! 

A hot coffee soon helped thaw my numbed toes, and then we were on our way, away from the flies, and walking for another couple of hours back towards a cold beer and our ride back to our Homestay. All in all, a great day.

Outside Phong Nha

From Phong Nha we took a train down to the imperial city of Hue. We spent a day exploring the old citadel, which was home to the emperors of Vietnam from 1802 until 1945 when the last emperor, who was very unpopular for being too closely associated with the French, abdicated.

The site is very impressive, but unfortunately sustained significant damage during the Vietnam war.

The architecture style here, to me, is reminiscent of Chinese style, where as soon as we got to Cambodia I noticed that the style seems a lot more similar to what I expect to see in Thailand.

Hue Imperial Palace 

Pretty stoked with my ice cream! And also the air conditioning... Sweet sweet air conditioning.

After Hue we headed to the popular city of Hoi An. We decided to make something interesting of the travel day, and booked a bus that stopped at a couple of points of interest along the way. We visited a Japanese covered bridge, a beautiful beach, Hi Vung Pass - a strategic vantage point near the old border between north and south Vietnam where a lot of fighting took place, and marble mountain - a big limestone outcrop with temples built on it. 

Everyone we have spoken to about Vietnam has always spoken enthusiastically about Hoi An, and we can see why! The city is far smaller and more relaxed than the hectic cities of Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh, and the streets of the old town are closed to motorbikes, which means you can cross the street without a having a death wish! On one side of the old town you have the river, and a few km's away in the other direction you have a couple of nice beaches. The old town has several ancient houses that you can see inside, as well as one of only two Japanese covered bridges in Vietnam (the other we saw on the way to Hoi An).

Did I mention that it was hot in Hoi An? So, so hot. Being constantly sweaty is another theme of this trip!

Shaun enjoying a baguette along the river front.

Top: Burning offerings on the side of the road for their ancestors; Bottom: strolling through the city at night.

Japanese covered bridge

200 year old Vietnamese house

The streets of the old town are also lined with beautiful coloured lanterns, hanging from shop fronts and trees. We happened to be in town for the full moon, when the locals hold a festival. All the lights of the old town are switched off, and everything is lit by lanterns. The riverfront was bustling, with locals and tourists alike buying candles to float down the river for good luck. I doubted whether anyone would fish them all back out again, and with enough rubbish in the water already I declined to join in.

Hoi An is also famous for their clothes tailors, with hundreds of them in the town. Shaun & I took the opportunity to get a few items made. It was quite a simple and fun process, but I guess the proof will be how long the clothes hold together once we start wearing them!

I also want to add that we have had absolutely fantastic food throughout Vietnam, with each place having a few of its own unique dishes. I could probably write a post dedicated just to all the food we ate, but I wouldn't put you through that! Perhaps we should have got some stretchy pants made! 

Clockwise from Top Left: coconut ice cream with pineapple, white rose dumplings, ice creams, Bahn Xeo (to be wrapped in rice paper with salad) and crispy wontons with vege topping (at the back).

Looking towards the Japanese bridge

Lanterns at the night market

In Hoi An old town

After four days in Hoi An, we climbed aboard our first ever sleeper bus to head to the beach town Nha Trang. It was a 11 hour journey, and despite the short reclined 'beds', we both got more sleep than we anticipated. The only flaw in our plan was arriving at 5.30am and not being able to check in to our hotel until 2pm. Let's just say that I was less than impressed. We spent the next two days chilling on the beach, incredulous at the number of Russian tourists. Particularly the fat hairy old men with hot wives.

Before and after shot... 6am beach struggles v. 6pm cocktails.

From Nha Trang, we headed south to Ho Chi Minh City, but I will leave that for another time, as I'm sure you don't want to be here all day!

Sending love to our family back home. xx