Photo trip report: Vietnam north to south

[buksida]

Yep, that's what it is, I didn't realise they grew it there either.

[buksida]

Cu Chi Tunnels
Another trip out of Saigon took us an hour or so north to the Cu Chi area and the infamous tunnels that ended up as the demise of the US forces during the war. At its peak the tunnel system stretched all the way from the Cambodian border to the outskirts of Saigon, there was over 250 kilometers of tunnels in the network, some three storeys deep. American B52s carpet bombed, napalmed and defoliated the area and villages around Cu Chi to destroy the tunnels but to no avail, the VC developed effective techniques to stay hidden.

This is one of the most popular tours in Vietnam so, needless to say, it was very crowded. After a propaganda video our group was lead around a number of exhibits displaying the way of life, weapons, traps, tunnel entrances, and ordinance dropped. There was even an old tank that tourists could clamber over and a firing range so I had to pop off a few very expensive rounds with the AK-47.

Then it was time for the tunnels themselves, we were warned that this was not for the claustrophobic and they were not wrong. Around 100 meters in length, sparsely lit and involving a number of drops to lower levels, a section of tunnel had been widened slightly for tourists. I was the only one to complete the entire length of it as the rest of our group departed at the first exit around 20 meters in. You can either go on all fours or squat, the latter is not good for those with dodgy knees, the going is slow, and it is very enclosed, you can’t even turn around.

To follow: final observations and comparisons to Thailand

[aragon]

Cu Chi Tunnels
Then it was time for the tunnels themselves, we were warned that this was not for the claustrophobic and they were not wrong.

Too bloody true, I only made it about 2 steps (well shuffles actually) in before giving up and backing out.................what a woozy I am

[buksida]

Final observations and comparisons
Research for this trip came from Lonely Planet and Trip Advisor; all hotels were booked via Agoda.

The people
The locals seemed less ‘approachable’ than Thais, a little ‘harder’ and a lot more business minded, no lazy ones here, they all want to work and earn. Due to the fact that there is no western fast food in Vietnam and no junk filled 7-Elevens there were virtually no overweight people, they’re all skinny and pretty healthy looking. The women were stunning. I saw very few cross cultural couples, only one that had mixed kids; hence our two got a lot of attention. Much of the mixed race population was forced to leave in the 70s and 80s. Western men with local women is not a common site.

Motoring
Cars are very expensive so the mode of transport is the motorbike, and there are millions of them. Consequently there are a fewer cars and virtually no pickups on the roads. Since the roads are not in the best shape there is no real danger of speeding, unlike Thailand where everyone wants to drive at 160kph – it’s the speed that causes the accidents and road deaths. In Vietnam the traffic, though far more chaotic, generally works, I saw more accidents driving from Hua Hin to Bangkok than in almost 3 weeks on the road over there. Police were also a rare sight; there were no roadblocks, no shakedowns, no packs of them trying to pull over motorcyclists.

Prices
Accommodation is roughly the same as here, you’d pay 1200-1600 baht for a decent 3 star hotel and over 3000 for a 4 or 5 star. Food in tourist restaurants is more expensive than Thailand, though street food is similarly priced. Alcohol and cigarettes are less than half the cost of Thailand since they are not heavily taxed. Transport is also cheaper, fuel is about 65% of the cost here though the Vietnamese still complain about it! Groceries are cheaper there; the supermarkets have some imported stuff at very reasonable prices, unlike Thailand which again taxes the hell out of anything imported. Clothing, shoes, bags etc at local markets and shops costs around the same. We were still paying tourist rates a lot of the time but once you can master a bit of the language (especially the numbers) and know the prices for things I’d say overall Vietnam would be a cheaper place to live and travel in than Thailand.

Environment
The towns are pretty clean and litter is collected daily; some of the beaches unfortunately did have a fair bit of trash, as they do here. There were no dogs which was an absolute joy, especially if you’re cycling around a lot. We were told that the Catholics (around 10% of the population) eat them but found no evidence aside from the odd truck loaded up with them. Either way the absence of mangy packs of feral mutts on every corner was refreshing!

Tourism
Vietnam definitely has its service hat on, the staff at all the hotels we stayed in were very helpful and friendly, far less indifference to their customers than you get in Thailand. English was not as widely spoken as I’d expected, only really in the tourist places which is about the same as it is here. For me it seemed a lot more touristy than Thailand though I don’t go to the touristy places here so can’t compare the numbers, obviously Thailand gets more. The top western nationality there was Australians, followed by Americans and French, far fewer Scandinavians than Thailand gets. There were virtually no girlie bars or raucous nightlife (except the backpacker district in Saigon), sleaze is kept behind curtains.

The visa on arrival is one month, but you have to pay $20 for it so Thailand is better in that respect. Long term visas are available for work and marriage etc but I didn’t investigate the requirements.

Eating and drinking
The food was generally pretty good, more Chinese influence and deep fried stuff and less spice, a lot of similarities though. Thailand seems to have a lot more variety with its cuisine but Vietnam has the French influence so good bread was abundant and dirt cheap. For drinking Vietnam blows Thailand out of the water, fantastic coffee, very good local wines, and different beers brewed in different parts of the country. I think I mentioned that a beer costs around 10 baht -in Thailand you’re stuck with two monopolizing brewers producing mediocre lager or expensive imports.

Shopping
There are a less convenience stores in Vietnam, in Thailand they’re everywhere so shopping for basics such as water and snacks for the kids was a bit of a pain. Additionally nothing is labeled or priced so invariably you’d be overcharged for it (apart from in the larger places). Tourist places are the same the world over – don’t buy anything in them because it’ll be a third of the price down the road. The biggest rip off was when we were trying to get rid of our Dong at the airport and got charged $6 for a small bottle of water. The variance in prices for similar items was huge, hundreds of percent in some cases, unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to research it all (apart from the wine).

All in all definitely somewhere I would go back to and highly recommended for a family holiday. Thanks for reading, I'll put all of this on a website soon for future reference. Good night Vietnam!

[richard]

Buksi,

Thanks a lot. Very informative

I'm meeting my daughter and boyfriend there in January and have given them the link to read and see your trip report. I'll be just doing a flyer but they will be travelling quite a bit.

If I was 10 years younger I would certainly spend some time seeing the places you did.

Were the family impressed?

[buksida]

You don't need to be young, its a very easy country to travel in - there were plenty older than me though most were backpackers and considerably younger!

Family loved it, kids got lots of attention, and so did the mrs when they discovered she wasn't a local! I was just another roundeye with a fat wallet.

[Terry]

You don't need to be young, its a very easy country to travel in - there were plenty older than me though most were backpackers and considerably younger!

Family loved it, kids got lots of attention, and so did the mrs when they discovered she wasn't a local! I was just another roundeye with a fat wallet.

I thought that we were 'long noses'

Great report Buksi

[Roel]

Thanks buksida. Very informative and entertaining read with superb photos.

[easyas]

Hi Buksida!

First of all congratulations on a set of magnificent photos!
What equipment do you use? Do you give lessons?

I visited Vietnam several times (maybe 10?) from Australia, visits ranging from 3 weeks to 3 months.
In fact if Vietnam had a retirement visa I'd be there now.
I just couldn't reconcile 3 year leases (with rents not all that cheap anyway) to 3 month visa runs.
Still all in all Thailand's not all that bad, so I'm far from whinging - leave that to the Poms!
Your observations on Vietnam and its people are spot on.
If I could add one or two points?
First of all the Vietnamese have a terrific sense of humour, which distinguishes them from all Chinese and, sad to say, many Americans.
Second, they are in my view, considering their high numbers of military and civilian casualties in the American War as they call it, amazingly accepting of American tourists and welcome them with open arms. OK, a tourist dollar is always welcome but even still - no resentment at all?
Third, until I came to visit Thailand I hadn't heard of such a thing as a Soi dog - as you point out, no such thing in Vietnam - to get a third dog you need two to start with - Vietnam obviously exports everything to Korea. But you are right - there is a small area North or North West of Hanoi where dog is eaten - eaters' religion unknown to me!
Last, and I'm surprised you didn't comment on this, there is no such thing in Vietnam as the Thai visual and audio pollution of a 5 km an hour kerb side crawling motorised blaring advertisement hoarding. I was in Samui a little while ago and they've even taken to sea in case you thought you could relax on the beach!
Did you get to Hue? If you didn't, it's well worth a short side trip from Danang. It used to be Vietnam's capital up till 1945. The US Navy shelled it from sea and its once obviously proud Citadel is pretty much in ruins - the Vietnamese Government is deliberately not restoring it to preserve it as a monument.
Hope you get there again - try Dalat next time.
Come to think of it, hope I get there again too!

Finally, once again, great photos!

[buksida]

Thanks for the comments, the photos were all taken with an old Nikon D70s, not sure I'm qualified to give lessons!

Yes, Thailand is better at the moment than most of its neighbours for long-term visas however the trends are changing, Thailand seems to be constantly clamping down and closing doors whereas the rest are opening up - its only a matter of time before it is the other way round.

I would have loved to have spent more time in Vietnam and seen places such as Sapa and Dalat but was travelling with family which eats your budget rapidly compared to going solo.

[buksida]

For those interested I've uploaded the entire trip report and all of the photos here: http://www.ontheroadasia.com

Thought it was about time I started to document my travels so there will be more to come.

[passingthrough]

Thanks Buksi for sharing this trip with us. Once I get my decades long ambition to explore at least a bit of Oz (and visit the old family homestead which is now a very good winery) out of my veins this is now definitely the top of my list. As I said, it seems like Thailand as it used to be. On steroids!

[Vital Spark]

Thank you so much, Buksi, for your great report and photos. Mr.VS and I are now planning our trip to Vietnam in April, and your comments and photos were hugely helpful. We're going from South to North (after visiting Angkor Wat), so we'll start off in Saigon and end up in Hanoi. We're doing the bits in between by train, plane, boat and bus. Should be fun...

VS

[buksida]

You'll have a ball, feel free to ask if you have any Nam questions!

[charlesh]

For a good read on blowing up tunnels et al in Vietnam - A Sappers war by J Thompson and S McGregor NOT the u beaut American/Hollywood nonsense we have been fed.
Great pics again B.