BootsnAll Travel Network



Days 190-211: Vietnam

We have to apologize in advance here. We spent way too much time working on a blog entry for Vietnam but lost the whole thing in an internet cafe incident. (Ironically, it was a ‘save’ that lost the entire blog post.) So we’ve opted for mostly pictures.

We had heard about the corruption of Vietnamese border officials before arriving. Fortunately, we were only hit up for a $1 “stamping fee” which we managed to pay with leftover Laos kip. It’s tough to argue with an armed official that has your passport in the middle of nowhere.

Hoi An was celebrating a lunar festival where the kids dressed as unicorns and danced for donations to loud drums. Some of the businesses made things difficult for the kids by making them form a human pyramid to “eat” the donation hung from an upper balcony.
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A frequent sight in Vietnam: a lady with a conical hat carrying dual baskets of goods.
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Colorful lanterns in Hoi An.
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Nha Trang was the only beach town we went to and the only place we went for a snorkel (cool eels and octopus). Lots of colorful boats around.
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The town of Qui Nhon was recommended by Marcus’ friend Steve Heimsath and was the most peaceful town we visited in Vietnam. Qui Nhon has a considerable number of ancient Cham temples around the area. We had these at Banh It all to ourselves.
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The Chams did some remarkably intricate stone carving to adorn their temples.
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Lots of the temples we visited had spiral incense sticks burning. Some of them were so large – and presumably expensive – that they had the donors name hanging from them.
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Qui Nhon put on quite a weather show for us.
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Halong Bay is a gorgeous place filled with limestone karsts. We took a three day boat trip around the bay which was a welcome break from Vietnam’s hectic cities. Here’s a shot of rush hour in Halong Bay.
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There are a bunch of grottos and funkily lit caves in the area.
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One of the cave’s neighbors.
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Halong Bay is full of tiny fish and oyster farms attached to turquoise house boats. All of these were moved the week before we arrived to avoid typhoon Damrey which slammed into northern Vietnam.
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A Mandarin court dress at the citadel in Hue.
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Flowers delivered to your door: a mobile nursery in Hue.
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School kids in Hanoi.
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Nice school uniforms in Hoi An. Everyone is dressed like a million dong!
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Aparently the Vietnamese consider light skin to be the foremost sign of beauty in women. So most of them go to great lengths to cover every piece of exposed skin. It’s not good form to comment on someone’s nice tan.
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Marcus taking a short shower. The hotels in Vietnam were actually fantastic! $10 got you a spotless room with hot water, aircon, satellite TV, and a mini-fridge. Luxury!
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Traffic in Vietnam was simply appalling. You literally risked your life going out for a walk. People tended to drive on the right, but you had to look every direction all the time – even on the sidewalk – to avoid being run over. Traffic signals were mere suggestions and constant horn use is required by law. It really was crazy.
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Sidewalks weren’t meant to be walked on. They doubled as roads, parking lots, restaurants, and shops. This was regretable because they were in the best shape of all the countries we’ve visited in the past few months.
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Living dangerously. What’s in that guy’s left hand? The motor was running too!
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The food in Vietnam was fantastic. We avoided the more exotic items, such as ‘thit cho’ which you may have taken for a walk this morning. They also served fried gecko, cat, sea horse, snake, and rat. They have a long tradition of vegetarian food and fake meat items. We’re pretty sure this sampler included some fake meat dog.
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Fake meat escargot? Perhaps a remnant from the French.
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Vietnamese coffee is the best Marcus has had on this trip (quite to his surprise). It is served stunningly thick with sweetened condensed milk. Us wussy westerners need to cut the coffee with some extra hot water.

The best coffee we had was ‘ca phe chon’ which is weasel shit coffee. Much like the luwak in Indonesia, the chon has been hunted to near extinction and the coffee is now processed chemically to recreate the action of the weasel’s digestive tract. It was really good; nice and chocolately with a fruity finish. Good to the last dropping!

Speaking of shit… Wonder why this place was completely empty.
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8 Responses to “Days 190-211: Vietnam”

  1. Mom Says:

    Could have done without some of those menu choices…. Good to hear from you nonetheless –
    I now undersatnd what you mean about the possibility of a trafic accident being greater than earthquake etc. – good grief!

    Glad your now in China… Enjoy!

    Mom xoxoxo

  2. Posted from United States United States
  3. JTR Says:

    Is anyone else wondering why exactly these guys chose to post the picture of Wally in the shower? The conversation must have gone something like this:

    Marc: “Hey Kel, you think we should post this picture of me naked in the shower on the internet for all the world to see and wonder? I think this profile accentuates my chest chair in true Autin Powers fashion…”

    Kel: “Good plan!”

    Wow! Something tells me you are going to live to regret this decision…that said, it’s great to hear from you guys. Also, WOW…

    JR

  4. Posted from United States United States
  5. JTR Says:

    Make that “chest hair” and “Austin” Powers…

  6. Posted from United States United States
  7. Ol' Swell Dad Says:

    I think that ol’ Wally iz actually just washing the shrimp to go with veggie snails for tonight’s dinner…

  8. Posted from United States United States
  9. Kelly Says:

    Jon, actually my response was “hubba hubba!”

  10. Posted from China China
  11. Marcus Says:

    Jonny – I’m trying to grow an insulating layer to keep me warm in the Himalayas.

    Really I was just checking to make sure you guys were still paying attention after this long of a gap in blog posts. Also, it shows off my finely toned chest muscles. Oh, and I’m a closet exhibitionist.

  12. Posted from China China
  13. Michael Says:

    Marcus-you were naked in front of my sister!!!??

    *pukes*

    Were you the ‘other naked man’ on the Berkley campus that just didn’t get all the press…because…well, as we can see from the photo, we know why.

  14. Posted from United States United States
  15. crazy lori Says:

    i see you two are still avoiding the authorities…what fun…no more spider pics…just began l@@king at your travels..great pics…i’m still computer blonde…(clairol 1010110) r ya goin to sweden uncle marc and aunt kelly?

  16. Posted from United States United States