Photo trip report: Vietnam north to south

[Bernard]

Another great report with wonderful pictures. Thank you.

I stayed in Hoi An last January and ate several times in a small restaurant run by an American and his Vietnamese wife named Ly. The place is called "Miss LY" and is well worth a visit.

[buksida]

Hoi An is also blessed with a decent beach which is a 4km cycle away, the route takes you through rice paddies and over river crossings. The enterprising locals will stop at nothing to make a buck out of the tourists, even going as far as strategically positioning their buffalo in a field to make a decent photo shot then asking for a ‘contribution’ to the family funds once the unwitting camera man has clicked the shutter. On arrival at the beach more money makers blow whistles at tourists telling them they can’t take bikes to the beach and have to park them there, for a fee of course. Naturally I ignored them and pedaled past the tourist section in search of small local alleys leading to empty stretches of beach, they were not hard to find.

Hoi An is a culinary hot pot with flavours from across the globe but we generally found that the food in tourist restaurants was over-priced and bland so stuck to street food as much as possible. Eating out in Vietnam is more expensive than in Thailand with the average dish costing 80-100k (120-150 baht) however the portions are much larger and the beer is so cheap that it balances out. Vietnamese food itself is very similar to Thai, just a little more Chinese influence and a little less chili.

We had 5 days in total in Hoi An but it was probably a little too much, there are only so many times you can cycle around the town and stop at the Bia Hoi place! It is a very photogenic town though!

To follow: more from Hoi An

[buksida]

To follow: Final batch from Hoi An

[PeteC]

Everything looks so clean....streets, walkways, canals etc. Is that because it's a tourist heritage town, or does the entire country have less litter than here? Pete

[buksida]

It is a tourist heritage town, there are government vehicles roving about telling people they'll get shot if they litter! Go to the beach and you'll see just as much plastic trash as you do in Thailand sadly.

[Terry]

Hanoi IS generally far cleaner than Bangkok.

There are armies of street cleaners and central reservation manicurists constantly attending to the flowers and grass.

The city itself is a very pleasant place to walk around at this time of year - only exception being that you are likely to be taken out by a looney motorcyclist at any time..........

Plus - crossing ANY road can be a life limiting challenge.
Pedestrians do not have any rights here.

[buksida]

It was quite daunting crossing the road at first but you soon get used to it, best to go in a group, go slow and don't ever run, the bikes will avoid you! Funnily we didn't see any accidents at all there despite the traffic mayhem (it seems to work) but there were two upturned pickups noted on the drive from Bangkok to Hua Hin.

Final shots of Hoi An which was great at sunset when viewed from a rowing boat down the river ...

Final chill out on the beach before heading inland towards the border with Laos.

To follow: Ho Chi Minh Trail

[buksida]

Ho Chi Minh Trail
I was hankering to get out on two wheels again and explore some of the hinterland so we hired ourselves a local guide and a couple of choppers and headed west towards the Truong Son Mountains, the border with Laos, and the HCM Trail. The legendary route consisted of several tracks crossing in and out of Laos that served as a supply line for the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong from the 17th parallel to the vicinity of Saigon. Today there are winding roads traversing the rugged mountain range which was once the most bombed area in all of recorded warfare.

Departing at 7am we rode out of Hoi An, across the lowlands and rice fields and through rural villages as the mountains loomed ever closer before us. The bikes were very light for their size and easy to ride, even amongst the swarms of scooters in the bigger towns we passed through. Our guide, a member of the Danang Easy Riders group, was well versed with the territory so took us on back roads into the mountains stopping off here and there for photo opportunities. As the road began to climb it twisted and turned offering a new vista around every corner. This was the land of the minority hill tribes who spoke different dialect and have different customs to the Vietnamese.

We rode along with the river and visited a picturesque waterfall without another person in sight, lunch was mountain deer and rice, the specialty in the small local hillside restaurant and one of the best meals I’ve had in Vietnam. Time to ride on and we took back roads through tiny villages where the kids would run down the street after us waving. Much of the hillside forests are new trees since American bombers exfoliated the entire area in a failed attempt to destroy the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

To follow: Ho Chi Minh Trail

[T.I.G.R.]

B - I hope this isn't the last of them, what a fascinating and photogenic country! You have our eternal gratitude for going to all the trouble of sharing your trip and photos with us all. Thank you again!

[Dannie Boy]

B - I hope this isn't the last of them, what a fascinating and photogenic country! You have our eternal gratitude for going to all the trouble of sharing your trip and photos with us all. Thank you again!

Have to agree, it must hold wonderful memories for you - sorry if you mentioned it in one of your posts, but how long did the whole journey take?

[buksida]

Thanks for the comments, there are more pictures to come.

We were only in country for a total of 16 days, but squeezed a lot in as you can see!

[STEVE G]

Yes, great pictures and I like the look of Hoi An, I'm always trying to get my partner to have a holiday in other parts of SE Asia and she is always very reluctant but I think I could persuade her with your pictures of that town.
Incidentally, what are those large round basketwork things in some of the beach shots, is it a type of coracle or just a large fish basket?

[T.I.G.R.]

Those round things are "boats" they use to fish from if memory serves me.

[lindosfan1]

Steve very similar design to the coracles not sure I fancy using one on the sea.

[charlesh]

Thanks for sharing your holiday. Would love to do the motor/cycle thing too including up into the hill tribe regions.
If you are thinking of holidaying outside Vietnam where there are large Viet communities tell the boys to loose the NV T shirts as they are not liked given that most expat Viets are ex ARVN or others who did not fit the new regime!