After a 9 hour flight from Sydney we arrived for a night in Bangkok. We stayed in a beautiful hotel near the airport which was convenient for our departure to Vietnam the next day. We also managed to get ripped off by our taxi driver who spoke no English and had no change for our fare – he did leave us with a big smile on his face though! We finally arrived in Vietnam late on Tuesday 15th December.
As we exited the airport we were greeted by Shands, Greg and Clydo as well as Angie and her driver Mr Bang. Once we’d said our excited hello’s we jumped in the car and drove to Angie and Greg’s lovely home which is located just outside of Ho Chi Minh’s city centre in District 2. The roads in Vietnam can only be described as CHAOS! Thousands of motorcycles, buses, cars, trucks and bicycles converge into lanes with no apparent adherence to traffic regulations, road signs or signals. No one drives faster than 60 km’s an hour and it’s hard to tell which side of the road they drive on because they just come from every direction in a frenzy of hooting. Though don’t mistake the horn banging for road rage....it doesn’t exist....everyone just seems to get on with the mayhem in a calm yet not so orderly fashion. It’s great to watch from the relevant comfort of the back seat!
When we arrived at Angie and Greg’s place we did quick introductions and chatted with Gregs mom and dad who were over from South Africa before we sat down to a beautiful meal of a number of traditional Vietnamese dishes prepared for us by their cook, Phi. It was one of the tastiest meals we’ve had on this trip and we vowed to steal Phi and take her with us for the remainder of our travels. After thoroughly catching up with everyone over plenty of wine and beer, Greg whipped out a few bottles of whisky which really got things going. We then finished the night off with some amazing coffee from the best coffee machine you are ever likely to see, before we all hit the sack at around 2.30am.
When we woke on Wednesday morning we got to meet Dylan and Aiden (Angie and Greg’s two sons) who are just gorgeous! We then made a team breakfast before heading out with Mr Bang who drove us into town and pointed out some interesting sights before dropping us at the market. We took a quick stroll through the main isle but decided not to venture any further for the fear that we may spend a fortune on “genuine copies”. We drew some cash along the way, an interesting experience when the exchange rate is 30000 to £1. Once we worked out where we were and appointed Clyde as navigator we took a stroll to the Vietnam War museum. Unfortunately when we arrived the sign told us that the museum was closed for lunch (never seen that before!) so we found a local bar called Nha Toi and willed the time away over a few Saigon beers.
As you can imagine the museum was incredibly moving. It told the story of the war mostly through imagery which was sad and pretty gruesome! Definitely not for the squeamish but a brilliant way to get a better understanding of what actually went on during this war. From there we made our way through a beautiful park in the centre of the city before hitting the backpacker area for some lunch. We tucked into some local delicacies which were excellent and ridiculously cheap, in fact everything in Vietnam is cheap! Angie and Mr Bang then kindly picked us up on their way home. This involved us having to cross a busy intersection to meet them, which really tests your courage as you edge into the traffic which comes at all directions – it was hilarious
We got home to play with the kids and watch some of the cricket on TV as South Africa were playing England. Greg has managed to get a South African DSTV satellite connection in Vietnam so we could watch Supersport from back home – genius! Just shows the lengths us sports mad men will go to ;-). It was then time for us to take out Greg and Angie for dinner to say thanks for having all 5 of us stay with them. That was the plan anyway but after a fantastic dinner of several traditional Vietnamese dishes we all shared, they whipped the bill away from us and paid anyway. Thanks again guys. Then we made our way home in separate taxis through the craziest traffic jam. We caught the final few overs of the cricket and then hit the sack!
MEKONG DELTA
We were up nice and early on Thursday morning to say our farewells to Greg who was off to Singapore for business. We enjoyed a quick breakfast of scones and pancakes with Angie and the kids before our tour driver arrived to pick us up at 8am for our trip to the Mekong Delta, where the Mekong River empties into the sea through a network of distributaries. After a 3 hour trip in the minivan we arrived for our boat trip which took you through the area and showed you how the local people live and work. The tour was fantastic and felt like a real step back in time. The way the local people intelligently use the few resources and materials they have for all their daily needs is amazing.
On the tour we were treated to lots of food and sweets that they produce, along with Vietnamese tea. We also strolled through some small local markets full of arts and crafts before making our way to a local fruit farm where we were treated to the freshest tropical fruit. From here we headed back down the river to a restaurant for lunch, which included Elephant Ear fish. This is brought to the table whole and the waitress then strips the fish off the skeleton before wrapping it with vegetables in a pancake – interesting! After a few nervous glances we finally tucked in and it wasn’t bad at all. From there it was back to our tour driver to head back to Ho Chi Minh.
We arrived back around 5pm and Clyde, V, Angie and I hit the pool to play with Aiden and test his swimming skills which were very impressive for a 2 year old. From there we made our way inside to arrange accommodation for our next few stops in Vietnam before making our way downstairs for more cricket on TV and another amazing dinner. Angie and Phi had surpassed themselves yet again as we tucked into amazing soup and Chicken Satay which went down very quickly. After this Greg, Clyde and I played some pool and snooker while the girls relaxed downstairs. Then it was time for bed as we had a taxi collecting us at 4am for our flight to Nha Trang. We were up early and snuck out the house without waking a soul, good work all.
So a fantastic time on this leg of our Vietnam adventure, here are our highlights and lowlights
- Our awesome hosts Greg and Angie, who took all 5 of us in and fed and entertained us. Thanks a million guys
- Vietnam War museum, a gruesome but brilliant account of this historical event
- Mekong Delta, a huge step back in time and a great experience
- The Ho Chi Minh traffic. Close your eyes and hope for the best ;-)
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