Jamie and Naomi’s Adventure

Xin Tao……WOW……!!! Is all I can say what an experience. travelling here was such a pleasure I cannot even describe. We arrived in Saigon airport and we were immediately struck by the heat it was like walking into a sauna. We jumped in our taxi (arranged by our hotel ….. bargain) and he took us straight there. The receptionist spoke amazing English and was almost over eager to help us enjoy our stay. She told us how to book tours and where to go to eat it was a brilliant and inviting start to Vietnam. After settling in we took out to explore and found loads of bars restaurants and cafes serving some of the most amazing food. We got slightly harassed by sellers but nothing that was not easily dealt with by easy I mean just a smile and a no than you did it everytime!!! We had a good look around the shops and saw some amazing furniture and pictures and only wished for a moment that we had a way of getting it all back. We then arranged what we were going to do for the next two weeks we decided on a 2 day trip to the Mekong Delta, then back to Saigon for one night. Then bus to Mui Ne for 4 nights, then bus to Nha Trang for 3 nights then back to Saigon to fly out.

Mekong Delta Trip
Day One
Was welll worth the “air conditoned” bus journey. we spent most of the day of the boat and looking at a Candy factory of al things. Then we stopped at a little island for lunch and either cycling or relaxing. We chose to relax after lunch in the hammocks. Remembering that hammocks are made for tiny Vietnamese people I was not overly surprised when while swinging away in his Jamies snapped!!!! 🙂 We jumped back on the boat and he took us to where we were staying for the night. We all arranged to meet up for dinner in the evening and off we went. On arriving at the restaurant we all sat ourselves down….4 French, 2 Germans, 2 Koreans, 1 Philippeno, 1 Ozzie 1 Irish and us 2 pommies. We had possibly one of the best nights we could possibly have. We tried Snake and Frogs legs which were both surprisingly OK but not something I wold order regularly. And, with such a mixture of age an race we all had so much to talk and laugh about it was brilliant of course the snake and rice wine helped to liven it up a bit!!!! Then half of us went out to look for a Disco and were directed to one…..got there and realised it was a Disco………/ Strip club highly amusing!!!
Day Two
Early morning but well worth it went to the floating market which was really interesting the bigger boats are the wholesalers, the Medium boat are the middle men and the small boats sell to us mugs. they indicate what they sel by hanging one of each of the things they sell on their masts. It was great especially now that we were surrounded by everyone we had such a good night with the night before. We stopped for lunch and it was yummy and then back to the base for a long bus journey bacn to Saigon.\
A trip well worth the $8 each we paid and that included everything but food and we had a fantastic guide.

Mui Ne
Aaaaaaahhhhhhh! Almost paradise. We arrived in Mui Ne at lunch time and jumped straight onto mopeds in search of cheap accommodation. We headed up towards the quieter end of the beach to the cheapest we could find Hong Di Bungalows. They were $10 a night but they were massive, we had our own bathroom (becoming such a luxury now) and we were 10 paces from the beach. It was extremely windy but it accommdated for the heat. Without it you wouldn’t have been able to sit in the shade. Mui Ne is a Windsurfer and Kite Surfing paradise. There is a constant wind but the waves are small perfect. We hired a moped (sorry mum…….we were careful I promise) for a couple of days and found our own beach with no one else on it and it was sheltered so hardly any wind. It was great. 4 days was definately enough I have to admit it is still not quite yet commercialised as such, but they are working on it with new hotels and restaurants being built, one opening while we were there. If I was you I would get there before it becomes to built up!!!

Nha Trang
After the nine hour bus journey to Nha Trang we were looking forward to some more relaxing on the beach and snorkelling. It was not to be. It rained for the whle time we were there. Despite this we still had a great time. It is Vietnams answer to Blackpool. We met 2 Ozzies who were a right laugh we met up with them most lunch times and in the evenings we all went to one of the side bars and got a bit drunk with the locals. this is definately the best way to go. There are bars everywhere that you can go and drink in but the best nights we had were the ones spent on the street side bars.

Saigon
Back in Saigon after the mammoth 11hour bus journey back we got back to our base. We spent most of the last 2 days trying to sort out our tickets to Thailand which did not work to plan. But, we spent a lot of time there and it is great for food and drink and shopping and is a good base to work from.

All in all Vietnam was brilliant, cheap accommodation, cheap food, cheap beer and some of the most friendly people you will ever meet who make travelling around Vietnam an absolute joy. They have no sense of personal space so be prepared to be hugged and touched while being spoken to as if they are your friends from long ago. If you can do Vietnam do. We would definately go back should the opportunity arise.