We continued North along the coast, covering the 220km to Quy Nhon – our over-night stop on the way to Hoi An a further approx. 300km North.
There were some nice beaches and views on the way – and also in Quy Nhon, though attraction-wise Quy Nhon has not too much to offer.
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We left Dalat and made it back to the coast – to Nha Trang. The weather forecast was not in our favor, predicting heavy and fairly constant rain. Indeed the closer we got to Nha Trang the darker and wetter … Continue reading
This gallery contains 11 photos.
Dalat has been one of the drivers for me to actually go to Vietnam. During my trip to India a year back, one of my fellow travelers was constantly comparing Ooty with Dalat (“it is so Dalat”) – so I … Continue reading
Today was a driving day; we left Saigon in the morning to make our way to Da Lat – a journey of around 300km or a good six hours of driving. Add in breaks and a stop in Lang Dinh An – also known at Chicken Village – to get a glimpse of rural life in this village, home to the Koho minority.
We made it back from Mekong Delta in the early afternoon. I decided for a walk up to the Jade Emperor Pagoda (around 3.5km one way), which turned out to be a nice and quiet temple, far enough away from the tourist part of town to preserve its tranquility.
I made it back to the hotel just in time to meet up for a cyclo ride to and around the Chinese quarter. A cyclo ride here translates to being lazy and being pedaled around. We were first on the cyclos for some time (simply to make it to the Chinese quarter), before we had a first stop at the flower market. From here – after a good look around – we continued further, our next stop being at the Buddhist Quan Am Pagoda, giving us the opportunity to explore this colorful temple and the little pond on the other side of the street. We did continue to Binh Tay Market, a vast market – mainly wholesale – catering for almost everything (a bit like ebay … if they don’t have it, it does not exist). After half an hour of checking out the market, we made it back to the bikes for our ride back to the hotel.
Today we left Saigon behind and made our way South towards the massive delta of the Mekong river. On arrival at the pier (and after a quick visit to the happy room) we jumped on a boat for a trip through big and small waterways.
During a number of stops we could get a glimpse of local life – from a fruit garden (next to the restaurant, where we had lunch – obviously full of exotic fruit … rambutans, longans and the like) to a rice paper / puff rice producer and a brick maker.
Shortly before sunset we made it to our homestay in the delta; here we got a first introduction to the preparation of Vietnamese cuisine – making spring rolls and stir fries. Oh – of course dinner was the food we just helped to prepare.
Wednesday morning saw us boarding the boat again and making our way back to the pier – though not without a short stop around the local floating market and a glimpse (or should I say nose-full) of the smelly production of soy and fish sauce.
From the War Remnants Museum we continued to the Cu Chi Tunnels – about two hours outside of Saigon. These tunnels – built and used by the Vietcong – played an important role in the Vietnam war and were one of the bases for the Vietcong’s Tet Offense in 1968.
After an introduction, we had a walk around the premises, seeing some of the techniques employed around the tunnels – from booby traps, windows in the floor to chimney systems . There was even a chance to crawl through one of the tunnels or to (at a cost obviously) try an AK47 (and other weapons used during the war).
This year did see me heading for Vietnam over Christmas and New Year. My trip did start in mid December in Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon and to then end in Hanoi in very early January.
I arrived in Saigon midday, left my stuff in the hotel and started to explore my surroundings. I ended up following the walking tour lined out in my guidebook. This led me past the main sites in central Saigon. The biggest attraction (at least for me) surely being the Reunification Palace. I got myself a ticket and did head inside. The interior of the palace clearly reflects the 1960s / 70s – and probably not much has changed since those days – when back in April 1975 a tank did crash through its get, marking the end of the Vietnam war.
My actual tour did start in the evening. As it turned out, there were only five of us – so a fairly small group. On Monday morning the included program started with a city tour (most of which, I had already covered on Sunday) and a visit to the War Remnants Museum, exhibiting items related to the Vietnam war (or American war as they say here).
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We had made it back to Delhi by night train, the tour now did – step by step – come to an end, with people leaving one after the other. As many of us still had time and not seen … Continue reading
At the end of the camel ride we got dropped close to the city center, so got an introductory walk of town and had dinner in a restaurant before making it back to the hotel.
