Nha Trang-Ho Chi Minh City-Mekong Delta-Ho Chi Minh City

Hey everybody,

Story time!

From Hoi An Janneke, Sebastien and I took another splendid* sleeper-bus with Camel (bus company), this time to Nha Trang. We had crazy comfortable* beds, so we had a great* night of sleep. In Nha Trang we got of the bus and had to walk a long time with our backpacks, it was a bit of a challenge. The Ruby Hotel was nice and close to the beach, so we first did some more sleeping and then went out to go swimming. On the way we noticed that Nha Trang was really different than the other cities in Vietnam. There were a lot of Russians, which explained the presence of all the Russian bars and restaurants in the neighborhood, and it did not look Vietnamese at all actually. It was just a party city on the cost, so partying we did. Janneke and I drunk maybe a little* too much, so we were glad that Sebastien was there to lead us haha. The clubs were really good and even at night it was nice and warm outside. We also rode to a spa on some very crappy bikes, were we swam in hot swimming pools, took a mud- and mineral bath and got massaged by a waterfall. Well, Janneke and Sebastien got massaged, I felt more like the waterfall was trying to kill me. The next day we decided to go on a tour with Mr. Lucky and his fellow bikerguides to see the surroundings of Nha Trang. We visited a small harbor where we saw the local fishermen working, we went on a great hike to a beautiful waterfall where we did some rockjumping and swimming, we saw local people making noodles and rice crackers, we went to a giant white Buddha and we saw two women making rugs. All in all a very fun and educational day.

So, it was again time to take another relaxing* sleeper-bus. We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City and got to our Hostel, My My Arthouse. We were supposed to sleep in another building, so we were led through a small neighborhood that resembled a giant maze. We were welcomed in our building by an extremely white, little woman, that smiled at us all the time. The white part was explained when we saw her being busy with her skin every time we went in and out. At night we went clubbing and when we came back, some of us (SEBASTIEN) thought they saw a ghost and got very frightened when she opened a door. Very, very funny! In the next days we tried to get our Thai Visa at the embassy (with the emphasis on 'tried', taking into account we did not succeed), went to the War Museum (very impressive but not as informative as we hoped) and booked some tours to go to the Mekong Delta and see the Chi Chi tunnels.

It was really nice to see the Mekong Delta. Our tourguide was called Jackie, a somewhat strange but great guy that told us a lot. We got on a bus down south and got on a boat to go to an island. On the island we tasted some coconutcandy, honey from local bees and fruits while enjoying local people performing (singing and dancing). Janneke and I also held a snake. What was Sebastien doing? Well, he would rather throw himself off a bridge than hold a snake. We got on a tiny boat that took us trough the bamboo jungle to go to our bigger boat, that took us to the bus, that took us to the place where we would spend the night. To go to the homestay, we first had to walk there. It was awesome, small paths that went straight trough the Mekong Delta. Water everywhere, beautiful plants, animal sounds and small houses of the Vietnamese that live there. The fact that it was very dark contributed to the experience. The homestay resembled a hostel. We managed to get a private room with the tree of us, which was nice. Sebastien, Janneke and a French guy went for a walk after dinner, got a bit lost and had to climb fallen trees to cross the water and get back to the homestay. The next day we went to a floating market and a normal one, then took the bus back to Ho Chi Minh City. At night there was a big thunderstorm, so we decided to take it easy and stay in.

After that, it was time to visit the Chi Chi tunnels. These tunnels were made by the Viet Cong. In the Vietnam War, that was part of the Cold War, North Vietnam (communists) was fighting South Vietnam (anti-communists). The North was supported by China and other communist states and the South was supported by America. The Viet Cong however, were communists that lived in the South. So they had to go to extreme measures to stay alive. To do this, they build an elaborate maze of tunnels, that are called the Chi Chi tunnels. They literally moved their village into the tunnels. Very impressive. We got a bite of the life in the tunnels when we had to enter them, we 'walked' 200 meters through them which was very exhausting. It is so narrow that you cannot walk upright or with your arms next to your body. The part of the tunnels that we went into was adjusted to tourists, the normal tunnels are even smaller. The weird thing was that they offered an opportunity for tourists to fire some guns in the surroundings of the tunnels, so that you constantly heard gun shots. Strange experience, when you take into account that it must have been like that during the war. At night, Janneke and Sebastien went out to go clubbing, I decided to stay in because I wasn't feeling that great. They had a nice drink at a rooftop bar and did some good dancing.

The next days we only chilled for a bit, before Janneke and I had to get on a bus to Phnom Penh and Sebastien had to catch his plane to Bangkok. I got a stomach flu, which explained the not feeling great the days before. Janneke and Sebastien were really nice, they brought me fluids, food and medicine while I was moving as little as possible. Then it was time to say goodbye to Sebastien and leave to Cambodia. When you are traveling with the same person for a month and you get along really well, saying goodbye is quite hard. Luckily we were already meeting him again in Bangkok a few weeks later, so that was nice! It was also a bit sad to leave Vietnam, it is a great country to travel through.

Kisses and hugs, Fleur


*Read this word with having the tone of sarcasm in mind.