We finished our trip of Vietnam with two organised tours. I know it’s not the done thing for us traveller types to settle for the expensive easy route but it had been recommended and was well worth the money, even if the weather wasn’t included in the price. The first of which took us high up in to the hills to trek amongst the tribal villages of Sapa. And the second took us back down to sea-level to cruise among the beautiful karst limestone islands which towered above us in Halong Bay.
Sapa
We met our wonderful guide, called Si (pronounced the Spanish way, like See… or Sea). She was great, only 19 but very switched-on and kept us entertained with some good old sarcasm. She is the first in her family to leave the village for work. Her father works in his paddy fields which serves to feed the family and it will be expected that her younger brothers continue to toil in the fields.
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After saying a sad farewell to mum (we’ll see you in August!) Doreen, Brian, Helen and I headed up to Da Lat, an old French hill station about 250km north East of Saigon. Brian and Doreen flew, we took the bus.
You can understand when driving through the pine forests towards the end of our bus journey why the French felt at home here. There was certainly a hint of the forest of south west France. There wasn’t however, much of hint of the French climate, it was cold and in the wet season I can’t image it being much more pleasant.
Da Lat has become well known for two things. First, the enormous amount of Continue Reading »
The obvious images that are conjured up in your mind about Vietnam are those of its recent history. We’ve all read about it, watched films about it and made up our own opinions. We spend our lives in the west being taught everything we think we need to know about the world in our schools. As we soon realise, when stepping outside the front door and going to visit a place we sometimes learn a different side to the story. The Vietnam War or the ‘American War’ as it is clearly referred to here in Vietnam is one of those things that benefits from a balanced view.
Whilst our parents will remember the news every night recalling the day’s latest casualty numbers and being subjected to Continue Reading »
Vietnam has had it all during its history; political coups, wars with each of it’s neighbours including a couple of others thousands of miles away in both Europe and America. Its people have gone through all these nightmares and here today you see a country with 8% GDP, a couple of Ferraris cruising the streets of Hanoi (with Porsche breaking in to the market too) and a roller-coaster to get you down to see a beautiful waterfall in Da Lat. The pace at which Vietnam is rebuilding its culture, economy and identity is phenomenal.
Our little trip from South to North started after taking a boat over the border from Cambodia along the Mekong River just before New Year. We stopped over one night at little town Continue Reading »
