Vietnam’s must see

As with Thailand and Korea, I thought I would put together my ‘must see’ list for when you come to Vietnam! For more information click on the title of each one to take you to the blog post! Enjoy!

1- Abseiling on Marble Mountain, Da Nang

This was one of the best things I have done here, we were able to see one of the major landmarks in Da Nang but from a different perspective! It was well worth every penny and was a brilliant day out… even if we did almost jump onto a poisonous snake!

heading down into heaven

2- Cu Chi Tunnels.

If you come to Vietnam this should be on your list, whilst it is quite touristy now it is a very cheap day out and gives you an amazing look into the conditions the Vietnamese fought under during the Vietnam war. You are able to squeeze yourself down one of the entrance ways to the many tunnels and even go down into one of the tunnels to experience just how cramped the conditions were.

The tightest part, had to slide down on your bum!

3- Scuba diving Hoi An

Unfortunately I had to pull out of this one due to illness but Andy went along by himself and had a great time with 2 really long dives into the waters just of Cham Island. If you don’t want to scuba there are snorkeling trips on offer too however the spots were not quite of the same standard as the scuba sites.

Andy under the water

4- Getting something Tailor made

Vietnam has some of the best tailors around. Whilst it can be a mission finding out a good one (as many are jumping on the tourist bandwagon) some research and shopping around can leave you with beautifully hand-made items. I got my beautiful wedding dress made here for a fraction of the price it was being sold at back home and Andy got two beautiful suits made up. Hoi An offers tailors on every street corner however most cities have their own tailors, you just might need help with translating! Make sure you know what you are going in for a bring plenty of pictures with you and make sure you know how to avoid getting ripped off!

My tailor and I

5- Touring down the Mekong Delta

The Mekong Delta tours allows you to sail down this enormous river while visiting some of the islands that sit on the river. Our day was long but we had a great time seeing everything on offer!

My new pal

6- Spending the night on a boat in Ha Long Bay

Ha Long Bay is one of the most famous sites here in Vietnam. You can do a day trip here however one of the best ways to see it is to spend some time here. We sailed through the bay for 3 days, sleeping on the boat for one night and our own private bungalow on an island just off Cat Ba for the other night. We were able to kayak through a sleepy fishing village on the water, tour some beautiful caves, sail through the majestic limestone cliffs and interact with some cheeky wild monkeys!

Passing by the limestone cliffs

7- Ninh Binh province

Located about 2 hours drive from Hanoi, Ninh Binh offers some peace from the hustle and bustle of the cities, you can sail down the river in Tam Coc and visit the old capital while taking In the beautiful views that surround you in the county.

Rowing boats waiting for passengers

8- Try some of the unusual street food

Vietnam, like most of the Asian countries is known for its street food. While I stayed away from the dog and cat meat which is everywhere in the town we lived, we eat street food a lot and even tried some of more unusual dishes such as frogs and birds. You can also have some of the insects, however after trying them in Thailand…. Once was enough for me!

Andy with a bird in his mouth, fried frog and fried bird!

9- Visit Uncle Ho in Hanoi

Ho Chi Minh is loved here in Vietnam and you will see pictures of him everywhere if you have time you can go visit the man himself at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum located right in the heart of Hanoi. Be warned though as the dress code is extremely strict make sure you cover the shoulders, change out of the shorts and don’t wear flip-flops. Photos in the Mausoleum and within the yellow lines are also seriously prohibited and will get you into trouble. Check dates and times before you go and take note that every second October “Uncle Ho” goes on holiday to Russia for a touch up.

Guards at the mausoleum

10- Visiting the war museum, HCMC

The Vietnam war left devastating effects on the country and whilst the museum may be a little bias it gives you a heart wrenching look at the effects of Agent Orange and some of the brutality caused by the war. It may be a bit of a somber experience but is a must to get a look into the countries past.

Effects of Agent Orange

And the one we never made it too…. Sapa.

Sapa is located right at the North of Vietnam in the mountains, famed for its beautiful tea plantations and scenery. We never got round to heading out as it is about 12 hour by train from Hanoi but it is famous for its rolling tea staggered fields  high up in the mountains.

Teacher’s day in Vietnam

November 20th marked teachers day here in Vietnam. A day to celebrate all the teachers here in Vietnam. Public schools were off and all the schools had special events to mark the occasion. As we work in a language school things were done slightly differently and instead of having a party at school, the center they put on a massive party at a lovely restaurant in the city with all the Vietnamese teachers, foreign teachers and partners with the school. All the female teachers, including the foreigners wore the Vietnamese traditional dress called an Ao Dai. (Pronounced Ow Zai)  The whole evening was good fun and a chance for us all to interact and mix with each other outwith school.

Here are a few snaps from the evening.

 

Teachers day in Vietnam

Teachers day in Vietnam

Teachers day in Vietnam

Teachers day in Vietnam

Teachers day in Vietnam

Teachers day in Vietnam

Teachers day in Vietnam

Teachers day in Vietnam

Teachers day in Vietnam

Interview with Expatfinder

I was asked to take part in an interview for Expatfinder.com about my experiences in Vietnam. Check it out here. Expatfinder.com

Yen Tu Mountain, Hai Phong

A few weeks ago Andy and I took a trip up to Yen Tu Mountain which is only an hour away from the city of Hai Phong. The mountains were beautiful with amazing scenery and LOADS of stairs. Was a nice day just to get away from the noise of the city and enjoy some fresh air.

Not much else to say just enjoy some of the snaps!

Road to Yen Tu

a Monk waiting for us at the top of the stairs

Up the top of the mountain

Abseiling into the pits of hell. Marble Mountain, Hoi An

Not being the kind of people to spend our whole holiday lying on a beach, Andy and I set off on a mission to find some sort of adventure we could do whilst in Hoi An. We came across “Go Vietnam” a tour company who offered tours with a bit of adventure and excitement. We both really wanted to see Marble Mountain and found a tour which not only allowed us to see Marble Mountain but actually abseil and rappel down into the mountains many caves!

Marble Mountain

We booked the night before and the next morning we were picked up from our hotel bright and early. The tour was only 1,050,000₫ ($50/£30) At first I was unsure about the tour as we were picked up in a car with Andy and I being the only participants. However this actually ended up being a great thing as we were able to get more abseiling in as we did not have to wait around for other people to complete the abseils!

Pagoda on Marble Mountain

Marble mountain is one of the famous sites to see from Da Nang or Hoi An, the mountain is beautiful and is home to many caves and Buddha statues which tourists can walk through and hike their way through. It also, as the name suggests, is full of marble! It is quite scenic and the view from the top is beautiful with Da Nang in one direction and Hoi An in the other direction.

We started at the bottom (Obviously!) and started the many (STEEP!) stairs up the mountain, didn’t seem too bad until you took into account the almost 40 degree heat and the 95%+ humidity! Andy and I were soaked through by the time we reached the top and shattered already! To start we were given a quick introduction as to how to abseil. It was actually really funny as we did an abseil which was about 2 meters off the ground from a tree just so we could grasp the basics, and the Vietnamese tourists around us though it was fabulous stopping to watch Andy and I “abseil” 2 meters even stopping to take pictures of us both!

The practice area which seemed to impress plenty of people!

We started to climb higher into the mountain and were given a wee break while the

Heading over the safety rails

tour guides set up for the first abseil. We would be starting with the “heaven” cave and working our down to “hell”. The first abseil was only around 27 meters however you had to start through a hole surrounded by cactus and abseil into a black hole where you could not even see the bottom of the cave!! Andy and I were both quite nervous at first as we stepped over the safety barrier. Going down was quite easy and although we were nervous we picked it up quick quickly and gave a bit of a shock to some of the tourists who were passing through the cave as we came down from “Heaven”. As there were only two of us our guide told us to come back up and we could try again meaning we got a few shots each of each section. This was great except it meant climbing back up to the top of the mountain about 5 times… not so much fun in the heat and humidity, as you can see from the pictures I was drenched in sweat-lovely!!!

Kitted up and ready to go!

Andy and I at the top of Marble Mountain

heading down into heaven

All smiles going down into heaven cave

Second abseil

The second abseil was slightly smaller at only 25 meters however instead of going down into a cave you went right down the side of a cliff with a vertical drop making it seem much higher than it actually was. Although this one was slightly smaller it was actually more nerve-wracking that the previous. Not to mention that we ended up with quite an audience as the cliff faced one of the main walk ways of the mountain. Our guide explained that many of the Vietnamese tourists have never seen people abseiling before as it is a relatively new sport here in Vietnam so they were all asking to take our pictures and all found it fascinating with many oooooh’s and Ahhhhh’s! A few of the Western tourists we passed were asking us all about the trip and saying that they wished they had booked on it as well as it was a bit of a different tour than your normal ones.

Fertility Buddha, Andy and I gave him a belly rub for luck!

Andy on the second decent

As with the first abseil, we were able to have 2 turns once again and it really was such a rush. It wasn’t that hard however if you pushed off too hard with one foot you would start to twist, frantically trying to get yourself back into the correct position before your body slammed into the cliff face! At one point Andy looked as though he was doing some sort of weird jig mid-air as he tried his best to swing back into position.

We stopped for lunch just below the second abseil where we had time to eat and go off and explore Marble Mountain like what we would have done if we had come on the normal site seeing tour. We saw the big Buddha and the sheer cliff faces which made up for a very beautiful scene.

Marble Mountain

Marble Mountain

All smiles before the decent to hell

Finally, we reached the climax of the trip and the biggest recline that we would be abseiling. This one would be the scariest as it was 67 meters long and into one of the darkest caves meaning you were unable to see the bottom of where you would land. The cave is nicknamed “hell” cave and it is only once you are inside that you truly understand why, the cave is filled of devil statues and gruesome scenes made out of stones. We were also told that we were to be careful as there may be snakes lurking in the dark corners… which Andy and I both laughed at thinking “Yeah right!” and thought the tour guide was just trying to add to the suspense of the recline.

Famous last words!

The shrine with our abseil hole behind

Andy went down first and seemed to be going down for AGES before he reached the bottom! When he reached the bottom his voice echoed up just showing how far down the cave below was. Once Andy was safely down it was my turn, I climbed over the rocks with the safety harness on and got hooked up to the recline ropes. Not being able to see the bottom made this cave all the more nerve-wracking! I started to go down, the deeper I went the darker my surroundings became. A light started to shine from the bottom of the cave and I realized that I was abseiling right down behind a massive Buddha shrine!

The same sense of rush I had got from the previous two were there however this one was more intense. Just as I was starting to feel comfortable and knew the bottom was not far off I noticed a bright green object.

The snake in “hell” that almost had us for dinner!

As I jumped off the wall and slid down my feet were due to jump right on top of the green object. At the last-minute it moved and my heart went into over drive…. It was a snake!!!!

I quickly spread my legs so they landed either side of it and gave the snake a bit of a fright!! Just as I pushed off the wall the snake raised up it’s head clearly thinking that it was in danger!! I managed to jump out its way my heart still pounding. Luckily I was a few jumps from the bottom and jumped out-of-the-way, telling my guide of what I saw. Andy getting excited, jumped up on the rock to see if he could get a glimpse of the snake, not realizing that when the guide at the top threw the ropes down the hole it had hit the snake and pulled it from its perch. At the same time the guide in the cave and I noticed the snake RIGHT under Andy’s feet looking angry and ready to strike! Luckily Andy heard us shouting and jumped out the way just in time as the snake lunged forward!! You could say it was a bit of an adrenaline rush…. That was before the guide saw the snake and identified it as being poisonous!!! Eeeek!!

The shine at the bottom we came in right behind

I was beginning to understand why they called it hell cave!! The cave itself at first looked like the other caves with small shrines and lights however this one was much grander with the noise of bats above. The guide gestured us down a dark corner of the cave and as we started to make our way down the narrow steps figures emerged from the dark. There were statues all around the area of people being tortured by devil like figures, men women and children…. No one was spared the torture of the creatures from hell. Sculpted into the walls and roofs of this area of the cave there were devil faces all around and the whole area was quite creepy!!

We spent about 20 minutes in the pits of hell and unlike the other caves we were the only people here despite it being the biggest of all the ones we had been in!! There was also a castle like building inside the cave and a plaque in the cave to commemorate soldiers from the war who used this cave as shelter and a hide out during the war.

In the pits of “hell”

In the pits of “hell”

In the pits of “hell”

In the pits of “hell”

In the pits of “hell”

In the pits of “hell”

In the pits of “hell”

In the pits of “hell”

In the pits of “hell”

War memorial in the cave

The entrance to the caves had hands coming out of the pond, like the hands from hell at the White Temple, Chiang Rai and had all the zodiac sculptures which almost acted like guards to the entrance to the cave.

In the pits of “hell”

The whole day was brilliant and once of the most enjoyable experiences I have had here while in Vietnam! It allowed us to see the famous Marble Mountain in all its glory but from a different perspective than most people who visited.

The tour is available from “Go Vietnam” you can find the counter inside the sports bar on 61 Phan Chau Trinh St.

Interview with Expatsblog.com

A while back I was asked to be a featured blogger on expatsblog.com and give an interview about my time living and working in Hai Phong, Vietnam as well as my experiences as an expat.

The site is a great way for new expats or expats travelling to a new country to get ‘in the know’ of the country and culture they are going into.

Check out the interview here at Jennie McKie, Scottish Expat living in Vietnam

High up on the pagoda

A day exploring the Mekong Delta

With one more day left in Ho Chi Minh we decided to do one last tour heading down into the Mekong River which runs from Thailand,  through Laos and exits into the sea in Vietnam.

During my trip to Chiang Rai and the golden triangle almost 3 years ago I took a tour down from the top of the golden triangle from Mai Sae to Don Sao in Laos and loved it so decided it would be a good way to see the bottom of the massive River.

The full day trip with lunch included was only 180,000₫($8.5/£5) And would take us to three islands… dragon, unicorn and lastly phoenix Island.  The tour guide was very animated and had a song for everything from getting on the bus to getting of it… fun at first however a tad annoying after a couple of hours!

Our first stop was to see Vinh Trang pagoda, three massive Buddha temples surrounded by beautiful flowers, the statues were huge but what was actually impressive was all the beautiful flowers dotted around! Was rather picturesque! We took another rest stop on the way there and again the place was filled with gardens of exotic flowers.

Lying down Buddah

Andy in front of the standing Buddah

Big Buddha

By the time we reached the river the heat and humidity was unbelievable with the humidity at 89%. Anyone who has not been in a humid country before all you need to know is it feels way hotter than it is As you sweat as soon as you step foot outside!

Flowers round the Mekong

Flowers round the Mekong

Flowers round the Mekong

Flowers round the Mekong

Flowers round the Mekong

We boarded a water boat and set sail for Dragon island here we are able to see how they make coconut candy the area is famous for. We got to taste some which was very very sweet but nice,  you could also buy the sweets, coconut ice cream,  coconut juice,  coconut toys and coconut plates and cutlery….  Basically anything you can think of making they have made it out of the coconut.

Coconut crafts

Making the coconut candy

We continued though the island and arrived at the horse station which we got to ride on so we could see how the locals get around.  Our woman was clearly just about finished for the day and while the other horse and carts gently jogged our horse was on a sprint for the finish taking a corner way to fast and almost toppling the cart over like a cartoon on one side! I’ll be honest I’m not a horse fan, and although we got a ride on the cart it was a bit of a gimmick as we went a few hundred meters up the road, turned a corner then turned round. With our speed machine the whole thing was over in about 3 minutes!

Horse and cart ride

Horse and cart ride

We bought some coconut juice mixed with water fruit and I also bought one of the famous

Phoenix Island

Vietnamese straw hats for the sole reason of trying to keep cool!  We got back on the boat and headed for the next stop, Phoenix Island. This island is famous for its crocodile Farm, there used to be loads of crocodiles in the Mekong River however after years of eating them and hunting them for their skin there are no wild ones left!

We stopped for lunch which was included in the deal which was not bad however we got sat next to the minister of industry for Vietnam who bought us all beer and a massive elephant fish to share. was a lovely gesture especially as up until now we had only shared a few words!

Monkey bridge

 

Andy and I went exploring after lunch and walked across the ‘monkey Bridge’ consisting of stalks of bamboo tied together. At one point it was just one stalk of bamboo… If it broke or we fell it was right down into pond below! Luckily it held but there were a few loud cracks and it was very bouncy!

Across the pond there was a fairly large crocodile Farm, unlike the one in Cambodia there were barriers to stop anyone from falling in and if you wanted to you could buy a bit of meat on a string and lower it down to get snapped up by the Crocs!

We grabbed a couple of bikes and cycled down through the back streets until it was time to Get back on the boat and head to the last Island.

Crocodile farm

Riding through the villages

Relaxing after lunch

Honey tea and dried fruit

Unicorn Island is famous for its bees and there are many bee farms on the island.  Awaiting us was some local produce, to start we were given a honey, lime and pollen tea with dried fruit which was delicious! It was just a spoon of honey, lime juice and pollen with boiling water… Simple but effective!! Then they pulled out the big guns… the tiniest pot of ‘Royal Jelly’. It is made from the worker bees and usually fed to the larvae or the Queen Bee. We were told of the multiple benefits of it such as skin care, libido boost and the healing of Hepatitis A,B,C and D but at $25 a pop it wasn’t cheap! We gave it a miss… not really a believer in that kind of thing!!

We then had free time to look around where we found a local playing with a giant snake! He put it round our necks and we got pictures expecting him to ask for money but he seemed quite content watching the funny sweaty white people squirm with his snake round his neck!

My new pal

Andy’s new friend

Moving on we walked though a market full of the usual tourist tat until we came to our next tasting- local tropical fruit with Vietnamese tea. We had pineapple, Melon, Jack fruit, water melon, dragon fruit and another that I have no idea what it was! Whilst eating We were given a local performance of traditional Vietnamese songs and instruments. Was nice to listen to and the fruit was delicious!! We even had a giggle trying on the traditional carrier that sellers use to carry their produce!

Selection of fruits

Andy in his new job

Trying my hand at fruit selling

Finally we headed down to the river and climbed aboard small bamboo row boats and were rowed back up to the boat. The scenery was beautiful even if there were loads and loads of boats. It was beautiful but so so hot and SO humid!!

Rowing down the Mekong

We climbed aboard our motor boat and crossed the river one last time back to our bus which would take us back to the city.  It was a jammed packed day and the best $8 ever spent!

Rowing down the Mekong

We got home to pack and get on a flight the next morning heading up to the North and the capital… Hanoi!

Rowing down the Mekong

War Remnants Museum, HCMC

Our second day in HCMC, we decided to take the city tour to see all that HCMC has to offer. Again we went to one of the many travel agents and booked in for a day tour of the city for only 170,000₫ ($8/£5) taking us all around HCMC on an air-conditioned bus. (very important!!)The tour started at 8.30am and our first port of call was the War Remnants Museum we paid the 20,000₫ ($0.95/£0.55) entrance fee and went inside. The museum covered mostly the American phase of the Vietnam war, however most of the exhibits you have to take with a pinch of salt. Whilst no one denies the horror of the war and the sheer brutality of it, the museum is very one-sided and very anti-American. It does give you an insight as to just how horrific the war was and many of the exhibits and pictures are actually taken from the American side. We went outside first to the courtyard which holds all different types of helicopters, fighter jets, planes, guns and a whole heap of unexploded bombs (obviously with their charges removed!)

You can then visit the reconstruction of the South Vietnamese and French prisons that were located on the Con Son Islands and Phu Quoc displaying very graphic pictures of some of the tortures that took place and their effects, models of how the prisoners were kept and the notorious ‘tiger cages’. There were two types of tiger cages, small and large. They consisted of a cages interlaced with barbed wire, the small cage looked like it would only be able to fit one person in but in fact it held between 3-5 prisoners, the larger of the cages would fit 5-7 prisoners.  This part of the prison also holds the guillotine, showing the influence of the French which was later taken over by the South Vietnamese.

Around the walls and covering the first floor of the museum is all the propaganda posters some of which are quite light-hearted… quite a contrast to the floor above! The first floor also consists of the international effort made out with Vietnam to stop the war such as the protests in America, England and other countries along with letters to the US telling them to withdraw.

Heading up the stairs to the second floor is where the real horrors began. The second floor contained pictures documenting the brutality of the war. Many of the pictures were taken by an American photographers including Tim Page who died during the conflict. The pictures were VERY graphic and despite being a one-sided museum you could not deny the brutality of it all. Some pictures showed the American soldiers taking prisoners in a helicopter with a later picture showing bodies being tossed out mid-air. In another picture an American solider stands with a corpse holding what remains of the head, torso and arm while the rest of the body is on the floor. It is extremely graphic and whilst downstairs might be a fun day out to take your kids to, upstairs would give them nightmares for years to come. Again you had to think that some of the pictures have been taken out of context such as the “American soldier smiling after shooting a victim”.

Agent Orange before and after effect

Moving on we came to the room dedicated to “Agent Orange” or Herbicide Orange. It was a herbicide first used by the British in the 1950’s to destroy forests and crops. Given its name due to the Orange barrels it came in, the Americans used this for the same technique as the British had years earlier. Between 1962 and 1971 20,000,000 gallons were sprayed in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos the aim was to kill the forest land and deprive the guerrillas of cover and food. By 1971 over 12% of South Vietnam had been sprayed with Agent Orange however it was sprayed at a concentration 13 times the recommended rate destroying 10 million hectares of farm land. However, it was not only the land that was destroyed with an estimated 3 million Vietnamese people effected. The chemical caused burns, miscarriages and disabilities and continues to be a problem to this day. Children born where the agent orange was used were born with multiple health problems including extra fingers, toes, mental disabilities and cleft palates.

Effects of Agent Orange

The exhibit had numerous pictures showing the effects of the Agent orange… again some which some people might find too graphic. It also explained the foetal abnormalities with some on display of mutated babes which had no hope of survival. It even had pictures of the American children born with birth defects after their parents came home from the war. The whole room was disturbing and extremely sad.

As I have said before the museum is rather one-sided and can be quite a sad and disturbing visit however it is a must see in HCMC to understand the full effects of the War. Again if you take children, maybe stick to the outside area and first floor and don’t venture up the stairs!

 

Ho Chi Minh City day tour

After spending about an hour in the War Remnants museum we continued on our tour, heading to Binh Tay, the biggest wholesale market which is huge!! Although be warned keep your belongings close! We walked around the massive market before heading into China Town and to visit Thien Hau Temple, a temple which worships Thiên Hậu who looks after the people on the sea as many of the Chinese who live here once came on boats. The temple had loads of tiny statues all around the roof and so many incense… although my favorite was the hanging spiral incense from the ceiling.

Image of Thiên Hậu

small figurines on top of the temple

Binh Tay market

Awesome incense on the roof of the temple

We moved on to a disabled factory which specializes in the famous Vietnamese lacquerware, the factory is government-owned and employs victims of the Agent Orange along with other people suffering from disabilities. The artwork is beautiful and has a painstaking process including placing duck shell and mother of pearl onto the piece then cracking it with a fine tool. It’s glued down then washed over and over, depending on the piece it is then painted and polished. The finished art is beautiful and you can buy some on site which goes towards helping people with disabilities, because of this the price is about double that of what you will pay for it at a normal store in Vietnam. When we got back onto the bus and American couple showed off their bowls and tiles they bought then told everyone…. “We bought a bar!!” Yes… I do mean a drinks bar!!! It was getting shipped back to America for them and I dread to think just how much they spent in the store!!

Placing the egg shells on to make the picture

scrubbing the picture

Painting some of the shells

cracking the shells into tiny pieces

Duck egg shells they use

The tour set off again for the Reunification Palace which used to be the President office during the Vietnam war and was the site of the end of the War during the ‘Fall of Saigon’ (Saigon was the old name for Ho Chi Mihn city, renamed to commemorate the political leader Ho Chi Mihn) when tanks belonging to the North Vietnamese army pushed though its gates in 1975. The two replica tanks are in the gardens of the palace.

Reunification Palace

The palace is huge and you can have a look into the president’s game room, dining rooms, entertaining rooms etc as well as the guest quarters and even down into the secret bunker. Although the secret bunker is just empty rooms with the occasional empty desk and telephone! It is a beautiful palace (you can even get married in it!) but one that you can get round in about half an hour, to get in you must pay 30,000 ₫ ($1.40/£0.84)

Helicopter on the roof for presidents use

Andy walking down the bunker

Telecoms room in the secret bunker

View looking out of the Palace

With our tour almost over we stopped off at the Notre Dame (again another building built by the French) and the old post office where we could send off our postcards! We did not explore these much as the Note Dame had most of it cut off to the public for prayer and by the end of the day the jet lag had well and truly caught up with us again and we had to head home for a quick dinner and a sleep!

Replica of the tanks that crashed through the gates