Vietnam Holiday

On this page you see all my photos from my first trip in 1993.

 

At the top of the page you'll see the names of the towns we visited this time round. Just click on a name to see my photos. 

I hope you enjoy my BLOG.

Bellow is a map of where we will be going Starting in Ho Chi Minh (Saigon).

Vietnam in 1993

HANOI

This is the War Museum in Hanoi, 17 years ago this was excellent.

 View from the top of the tower. Breath taking.

 One of my favorite memories of Hanoi is the ICE CREAM shop that was right below the Guest house we stayed in. Made on the premises there was 100 of Vietnamese on the pavement day and night eating ice cream. I wish I had a photo of that...

it looked like this hanoifood.info

 How about a bicycle traffic jam. It took us 30 min to cross this road on bicycles.

Hoan Kiem Lake Vietnam

Check out the mini chairs found all over Vietnam. Jeff is over 6 feet tall, not too comfortable hey Jeff.

DMZ Vietnam

In 1993 there were very few options for travelers however they did offer a tour of the DMZ. When I read the reviews today on Trip Advisor it makes me laugh to see the things people find unacceptable. This was a very rough tour and we thought it was wonderful. The bits and pieces of information on this post are memories out of my journal from 1993.

 As the events of today unfolded I became more bewitched by this country than I could ever have thought possible. At 5:30 we piled onto to our old and rustic bus and headed out of the city of Hue. The desolate landscape we had traveled through on the train ride from Hanoi to Hue turned out to be the "Terror Road" as called by the South Vietnamese. This area was called the 17th Parrallel also known and the DMZ.

Hien Lnong Bridge - Ben Hai River 

This was the Boarder between North & South Vietnam. You can see our tour bus right up on the bridge with everyone piled out. I of course had to run down the road to get this shot.... Hoping they would wait for me.

This is the original Bridge right next to the new bridge above.

 Vinh Moc Tunnels

As we approached the Vinh Moc Tunnels about 10 villages came out to great us, but of course not without their bottles of Coke to sell us. 

The Local guide then took us to the entrance of the Tunnel ( seen here below)

The tunnels took 18 months to build and the people here lived underground from 1966 till 1972. Only 17 children where born during this time as many of the young men were away fighting. 

The tunnels where as wide as my shoulders and you had to crouch down to get in. After 10m it did get a bit bigger and a bit less claustrophobic. There was a meeting room that held 150 people, this was no bigger than a bus. With only the 10 of us on the tour it felt crowded. As we went deeper into the tunnel system our guide pointed out a drilling bomb that had collapsed to tunnel. After all our ohhs and ahha she told us it had not exploded. Lets just say she didn't have to ask us to move on twice.

We came out at a bottom entrance and the fresh air was a relief. We had only been in there for 20 minutes or so but I was relieved to be out in the fresh air and sun light. Imaging living in the tunnels for 6 years.....

17th Parallel

The mountain in the background here was an R&R base for the American Soldiers during the war, they were helicoptered to the top. All the field in front here used to be dense Jungle. This is the result of the Chemical Warfare even 20 years later

Khe Sanh

As we headed into the hills the evidence of Chemical Warfare was everywhere. Where there was forest now there is desolate landscape. This continues right across the 17th Parallel until we only a few km from the boarder of Loas and right into the heart of the Hill Tribes.

As it started to rain we reached Khe Sanh combat base and with mud thick on my boots I felt for the first time that with every element to be considered the soldiers must have gone through a living hell.

A man from the hill tribe came walking toward us with a pick and shovel resting on his shoulder. He had a plastic sheet in one hand and when he opened it up there were some same item covered in mud. I bought the Zippo lighter from him, but it did not have anything clever inscribed on it. It is just rusty and old with all the hall makes of war. This is a very special piece of Vietnam I still have. We also found some pieces of shrapnel just lying in the mud. I wounder how much things have changed there now?

LOAS HILL TRIBE WOMAN

Oh No.....What do you mean broken?

Heading back to Dong Ha we were greeted by many a small kid running into the street to wave and grin as we drove past. But the most charming of all was a little boy who gave up the grip of his pants to give us a wave but kept a firm grip of the fishing pole over the other shoulder.

When you have an old car you find your always pushing it, but when push comes to shove and I mean the gear box, something has to give. We where now stranded between nowhere and nowhere, with the sun setting and the mossies pouring in. 10 strong minder travelers and a lot of different opinions. Hmmm interesting.... we lost two to a local bus and then out of nowhere, as you remember that's where we where stranded came a mini bus. Need less to say we where all shocked and relieved. This lovely villager took us all back to Hue ( at extra cost of course we where happy to pay, but I have to say other weren't) but we got back in one piece and slept in our own beds. What an awesom adventure.

When things go wrong don't complain just think of the great story you'll have when you get home!

We are going back to Vietnam this year, nearly 20 years later. Should be interesting....

Nha Trang

Nha Trang

Link to map of the island
Hon Mieu

ON this day we caught a local ferry out to Hon Mieu. We arrived in a traditional fishing village, the trip only cost us 12 cents. Taking our time crossing the island I was in a photographers heaven, but of course with minimal film. (In the days where every photo had to count). Jeff made me climb to the top of the hill behind these workers in the photo below. Pushing our way through beastly thorn bushes we finally peeped over the edge of a very high cliff to see, far below us, a beautiful beach with colourful umbrellas, crystal clear water and a little bar at one end.

Unfortunately there was no way down and it was only reachable by boat......

Back down we went defeated. In hind site, I think we really did get the best part of the island. I'm sure the beach is still the same but the fishing village would be altered forever by now.

The older women on the island were collecting water from a large well. This little girl was just copying them, as we would have copied our mums and dads with irons and hammers.

Ha Long Bay - Vietnam

The funny thing in Vietnam is the size of the chairs and tables, but even funnier when you 6 foot +
Everything on the menu was in Vietnamese. Makes for an interesting lunch...

This was lunch by one of the lakes in Hanoi called Hồ Tây, with an American couple called Mark & Jenifer that we bunked down with in a hotel in Hanoi and then went to Ha Long Bay with.

Bicycle traffic jam Hanoi

On the way to Ha Long Bay, that's our car in the background. Everyone on this punt is looking at us, it felt pretty wired!
AND I MEAN EVERYONE....

Lunch is fresh crab bought from another boat and cooked for us while we swam. I believe now you can only go on a special cruise even though they are beautiful Junks, it just wouldn't be the same. I'll always love the little fishing boat that took us through the cave to the center on an island. No big boats could get in there....

Ha Long Bay in all it's glory!

Hmmm... (my hay day I think)

This little guy, he must have been about 8, is selling coral. We didn't buy any...

This cave had been little up for us tourists by candle.

Xin chào Tôi là một du lịch
(Hello I am a tourist)

This is a little film of Hoi An today

Play Me

I love this city. It holds a very special place in my heart. Ever since the night we were going off to sleep on the roof balcony of a small hotel in Hoi An called " Hotel 99", the manageress came rushing up to us and said "you must go .... NOW" as the police were coming and they were to full. Turfed onto the street with wet cloth off our make shift clothes line, we wondered what to do now? we walked the dark streets of Hoi An back to " Hoi An Hotel and slept on the floor of the lobby in the putrid heat.

The best restaurant in Hoi An 1993 Hands Down " Nhu Y"
Loved their chicken and corn soup....

* DIEM VY - PUMPKIN SOUP

1/2 lt Boiling Water
1 kg Pumpkin Cubed (smaller pumpkins are better)
1/4 kg peanuts
1/2 kg corn
salt to taste
pepper to taste
Small amount of sugar
1 clove of garlic ( the more garlic the better)

Boil the pumpkins for 15 minutes add chopped corn and mashed peanuts. Then add salt and pepper. garlic and sugar boil for another 15 minutes and then just at the end add more garlic for the smell.

This recipe was given to me by the beautiful lady who owned " Nhu Y"

These photos were all taken on the Island of "Hòn Miễu" off the cost of Nha Trang,
or on the local ferry we caught to get there, the cost was 12 cents if I remember right.