16th June 2005

Hi.. I know its been a while but Internet in Vietnam is sporadic and a little slow in a lot of places! and now I have left one CD of photos in the room.. so the pictures will not be in any particular order! oops

Left Hanoi eventually and took overnight train to Hue (about half the way down Vietnam for those of you without a map!) where I spent a couple of nights, wandered around the Citadel, a ride on the perfume river and the worst day trip so far to the DMZ (DeMilitarised Zone). I suppose if you pay $3 for a trip you should know better .. but 12 hour trip, out of which we were off the bus for 3 hours and that included time for breakfast and lunch! It wouldn't have been so bad if the air con had worked.. although to be honest visiting a site should mean more than 5 minutes off the bus to take a photo.. got a photo of the rock pile, a photo of an ethnic village from the roadside, a bridge or two, one supposedly was part of the Ho Chi Minh Trail.. just that this particular bridge was built after the war?????????? Having said that the Vinh Moc tunnels were interesting as was the American Khe Sanh Combat Base.

I then headed off to Hoi an.. had some sandals made for $5, took a cooking class and spent a couple of hours on the beach (surrounded by beach sellers .. ended up with tiger balm, a pedicure but resisted the postcards and bracelets). I avoided the tailors as I don't want a suit or anything that resembles one quite yet and equally didn't feel the need for any silk dresses either so left on the overnight bus for Dalat.

18 hours later, with maybe 3 hours sleep as the bus insisted on stopping every 2 hours (on the last stop not even the Vietnamese would get out!) I arrived in Dalat to an "English" summers afternoon and a trip to the crazy house (see pics) with 2 Australian girls before we headed off on the back of "easy rider" motorbikes for a waterfall , lake and temple. I would even describe it as "chilly" as we drank a few beers at the lakeside restaurant that evening which was a nice change from roughly 35 to 39 degrees. As for the "Easy Riders" what started out as 30 odd freelance motorbike guides on vintage Russian and German motorbikes seems to have turned into an industry of Honda drivers and everyone on a motorbike or scooter claims to be an easy rider!.. I am not sure if the original members are still around.. maybe they were out and about, but the quality of the experience is really down to the individual you get.. I declined the opportunity to go to Saigon on the back of a motorbike, back pack and all and retreated to the "comfort" of the open tour bus!

A couple of days wandering around and about Dalat.. nice scenery, silk worm factory and farms, basket makers and I felt the need for some serious beach time.. 6 more hours on the open tour bus to retrace my journey, followed by 2 hours on a very nice minibus, with a snotty french couple (perhaps they made a judgement about me from the type of bus I had just got off who knows but they ignored me for the whole journey .. how rude!) Anyway I arrived at Whale Island for 3 days of pure bliss .. although a bit "ouch" on the budget! worth every penny

Vietnam is perhaps one of the noisiest places I have been (china is also in the running for that title) and to arrive on a island with no motorbikes and the constant sound of horns being beeped (indicators seem redundant and the horn is the recognised way of announcing that you are overtaking), just the "put put" noise from the fishing boats was wonderful. On arrival there was a big yacht in the bay, with some very rich Texans holidaying (apparently owns the largest house in Texas?) .. Its really sad to know that the rich spend a lot of money to fly to the other side of the world and spend their time watching DVDs in the air con cabins .. but maybe I am jealous as the beach hut only had a fan??????????????????? Unfortunately I had missed their visit to the island by 2 hours, but it was entertaining watching the crew in full white shirts. shorts, socks etc coming back and forth to island to fetch supplies .. how the other half live!

Managed to while away the hours on Whale Island sunbathing, eating (French run with all inclusive meals 3 times a day .. and not the type of food you get on a package holiday! Yummy!!!!!!!!!!!!) and after a spot of refresher training embarked on a couple of days of diving. Great Diving .. on the refresher dive from the shore saw a big sea horse the length of my hand and a striped black and white sea snake .. as well as a couple of orange clown fish (nemos!) No photos off these dives unfortunately. Hard it was to leave Whale Island .. it was very quiet and a bit coupley! headed off island with American and his son who only lasted one day on the island as it was so quiet and off to Vietnam's version of Ibiza (give it a couple of years!) Nha Trang.. which seems to be where all the buses and trains stop until the next morning! Anyway went out for dinner with Americans and then we went off to the Sailing Club bar .. Amongst various nationalities the Barman was from Birmingham, Chef from Cardiff, and some guy from Stourport .. just like home! Worst hangover of the trip!

After a day of rest and recuperation it was back on open tour bus (in total have clocked up 36 hours of travel for $25.. OK as long as you avoid the night buses) to Mui Ne (quiet beach resort) .. an afternoon excursion to see and sledge down the Sand Dunes on the back of the hotel managers motorbike .. good afternoon, met real local people, although tinged with sadness when you meet a widow living in a dilapidated wooden shack with 3 kids (12, 11 and 2) who cant afford to pay for the kids to go to school and is eking out a living by selling some drinks and sweets to the infrequently passing tourists .. I gave her what I had in my purse, the equivalent of $10, but frequently on this trip I am left wondering how people survive and what they must think of me and others, travelling the world, having anything from a 2 week holiday to a year off, when their daily struggle is to have enough money to have food and water.

Since Dalat I had been trying to arrange a Russian Helicopter Flight to Con Dao islands.. just because I've never flown in a helicopter.. but despite being persistent I failed! I have since found out that the priority goes to Vietnamese and I don't think being female helped either! However I have now flown in a 24 seat Antonov38 (don't worry not turning into a plane spotter .. this is a one off) .. great way to travel flying relatively low so great views and you get to look straight into the cockpit .. which is a rare treat these days! LOL. When I checked in for the flight at Vung Tau's tiny airport I was asked to unpack my backpack as the steel themas flask I am still carrying around (useful in the cold. but haven't used since Siberia so it may have to go!) obviously looked a bit suspicious on the xray machine!

So another 3 days on a really remote island .. the most southernly point of Vietnam and obviously of strategic importance for the Vietnamese based upon the continued and obvious army presence! Historically the island was used by the french to incarcerate the Vietnamese revolutionary heroes, then the Vietnamese used to hold opponents of the government and finally the Americans kept vc prisoners of war. 20,000 people were killed on the island, and in some ways it reminded me of Austwich. The evidence of torture is quite horrific, with people confined to cells with bars across the roof.. so that the wardens could walk along the top and keep an eye on things like tigers in a zoo hence the name "tiger cages".. the practice of throwing in lime powder and/or waste water at the prisoners is hard to understand, as is the need to pack the tiny cells with 10 to 15 people in the summer, whilst only 3 to 4 in winter. It makes you wonder what is happening today in Guantanamo bay, Afghanistan etc and how one human being can treat another in such a manner.

I did spend most of my time on Con Dao on the dive boat or taking pictures. You may notice that there are just a couple of underwater shots - I was like a kid with a new toy at Christmas and now am intent on purchasing my own underwater casing! I also have video footage, but cant post it on the blogg so will bore those of you who show the slightest interest when I get home! Another highlight was diving a site which no one had dived before which was a first and really exciting. Unfortunately failed to see a turtle.. its breeding time of year and Con Dao is protected (?) as a national park.. apparently the day I arrived they had been out and seen 2 turtles .. one off them 2 metres long and 1 metre wide.. may be next time!

Another first is driving a motorbike for the first time as the roads were so quiet to the other side of the island and saw my first wild monkey whilst managing to ignore the numerous huge spiders that are suspended on giant cobwebs on every phone and power line on the island .. not sure I can face venturing into jungle quite yet! And have just read about a town in Cambodia where they eat 8 legged creatures for breakfast, lunch and dinner so will be missing that off my list of places to visit!

Arrived in Saigon (Hoh Chi Minh City) this morning and have had a frustrating day.. went to the post office to pick up a parcel containing 3 months supply of contact lenses, only to be informed that I would have to pay tax equivalent to 3 times the cost of lens because they only have a tax code for single lenses so that is what they will apply to the the 180 in the parcel! Instead of $20 tax they wanted $450! Needless to say they are now being returned to Worcester after much jobs-worthy behaviour on the part of the Vietnamese post office staff. Felt remarkably emotional for me for a short time.. but after 6 weeks in Vietnam there is no point arguing, and wasting valuable time and energy on trying to talk sense.. it is a communist country and the rule book says X so that is what they do!

So its off to see the Mekong Delta for a day or so and I then a flight to Laos to meet up with Anna, Rona and Matt in Laos for a few days .. and the contact lenses.. if you know anyone who is travelling out here soon (thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia????) let me know!

S x