Vietnam - Best of the rest

Slightly hungover, we made our way to Hanoi Airport, one of us struggled a bit more, so he didn't notice much of the taxi ride or the 1 1/2 hours wait to catch our flight to Da Nang.

Our plan was originally to take a bus, train or whatever from there to Hue (about 100km away), but we changed our plan last minute and shared a taxi with a nice couple from Chile and headed south towards Hoi An (only 30km away). Hoi An would have been on our route anyway, after Hue (further north), so we just swapped the two cities.

Hoi An is considered the most beautiful city in Asia and it certainly lives up to its reputation. Located right by the sea and crossed by several canals, Hoi An has a special charm. In addition, it is an old tailoring city where you can have everything your heart desires tailored. We decided to have a pair of shoes made. Rahel had a pair of stylish blue leather ballet flats made and I had a pair of snazzy brown suede temple runners made. Cheap, cheap and good quality, as you are always told here, but we will find out in the next few months, at least about the quality, because cheap cheap was true.

Hoi An is perfect for chilling on the beach and doing nothing for a few days (unfortunately we didn't have the time for that :-( ), strolling through the alleys and shops, and in the evening simply relaxing on the riverbank with good food and a beer or two (for example at Moe's Tavern ;-))

It is also a good idea to ask the hotel (yes, we treated ourselves to a really fancy hotel :-) ) for bicycles, as it is a much more relaxed way to get around and the city center is a car and motorcycle free zone. So everything is very relaxed. Renting bikes also had another advantage for us. We could get used to the traffic and the hustle and bustle at traffic lights and the honking, etc., because we had rented a scooter for the next day and wanted to ride the beautiful coastal route back to Hue on our own.

The route is famous among tourists, so we could book the scooter comfortably (for a few more dollars, but we preferred that) through the hotel. Our big backpacks were shipped to Hue by the rental company, so we only had light luggage with us.

The next morning our scooter arrived on time, we had already paid through the hotel and after a short briefing on the route (gas stations --> important because the fuel gauge didn't work, a few spots with good views, and a few highlights (mountain tours, beach resort or restaurant tips)) we were finally ready to go. We stopped by our tailor's to pick up the slippers we had ordered the day before, refueled, and then set off. We had about 150km and a trip with breaks of about 6-8 hours ahead of us, and I didn't plan on arriving in the dark. The urban traffic here is already quite special and I prefer daylight in that case (unfortunately we can't upload videos, but if you're interested, just let us know and we'll give you a little insight into the city traffic).

We had great weather at the beginning and drove along the coast to Da Nang. A real holiday town as you imagine it. Miles of beach, hotel after hotel (the big hotel bunkers are still under construction) and at some point we were out again. There is certainly more to see in Da Nang, as it is actually a big city, but since we had chosen the coastal route, that's all that remained in our memory. There are worse things, we think, and continued towards Hue. Ahead of us was a mountain pass and fittingly, the weather got a little worse. We tried to limit our breaks to photo stops, because the clouds were quite thick and we didn't have much trust in our tires and especially brakes. But the weather held and a little over an hour later, we had conquered the mountain stage and made a little pit stop in a fishing village. Unfortunately, we weren't very hungry yet, because the food here looked damn delicious, so we settled for smoothies. You can get them here so easily! It's quick, tastes really awesome, and is available almost everywhere.

The weather got better again and it was time for some sunscreen before we set off for our next stop. Elephant Springs, a mountain spring with natural pools, to take a dip. The way there was a bit bumpy, but it was definitely worth it. There were only a few other people there besides us, so we could splash around, jump off the rocks, or slide along the small water-carved slide in peace. Actually, it would be a nice destination for a day trip, but as so often, we unfortunately didn't have much time....

The rest of the journey (almost 50km) to Hue was accompanied by a strange feeling, as the streets, villages, etc. didn't seem to resemble much of the Vietnam we had seen so far. It felt more like being somewhere in South/Central America. At least more so than in Asia. We can't exactly say why, it just didn't look like it and didn't feel like it either.

When we arrived in Hue around 4pm and joined the city traffic, we quickly realized that we were still in the midst of Asia. Functioning, somehow considerate chaos.

We briefly drove to our hostel, but didn't stop and then explored the surrounding area. Afterwards, we drove to the opposite island where the Imperial City is located, to explore the rest of the island with the scooter, to see if it's worth coming back here the next day. No, it wasn't (except of course for the palace, but we already knew that beforehand and it was our only item on the agenda for the next day).

We drove back to the city center and drove around a bit to see if we could discover anything interesting (without success) and finally gave up and slightly wistfully returned the scooter. It's just a different way of traveling when you can decide where to go, when to stop, and how long to stay in one place, compared to the usual bus tours for us, where the only goal is to cover distances.

We checked into the hostel around 5pm and met up with a friend from Hanoi, who happened to be in Hue at the same time, at a bar at 8pm. After freshening up a bit, we went to a small, more difficult to find local restaurant (Hue is an absolute tourist city!! Full of tourist bars and restaurants, it's really bad) and had a delicious meal and a cool Huda beer (brewed in Hue). Then we met up with Alex and her friend Sarah (Englishwoman and Scotswoman) at the DMZ Skybar for a few drinks before heading to a small bar around the corner for a last nightcap.

A bit tipsy from the previous day, we went to a travel agency the next day in bad weather to book our sleeping bus to Saigon. Yeah, 18 hours of bus journey ahead of us, what more could we want? But it is the easiest and cheapest way to get around here. Trains are not really faster, but more expensive, and you can't always afford to fly.

After that, in still heavy rain, we visited the Imperial City, so the tour was not as extensive as it could have been. But what we could see was very beautiful! It was a bit destroyed in some places, but that has something authentic about it, not like in China, where everything is always beautifully restored and rebuilt... Before we headed home, we bought some snacks for the bus journey and enjoyed the last evening in Hue. And then the next day, after a good breakfast, we set off from the hostel at 1pm to Saigon.

The bus was quite comfortable, but after about 3 hours to Hoi An (120km), I already suspected the worst regarding the aforementioned 18 hours. And as I thought in Hoi An, it turned out to be true. After 14 hours, we reached Nha Trang (about 65% of the way) and we all had to leave the bus to continue with another one 3 hours later. It was 5am local time!! What the hell was that? And what were we supposed to do now? We gathered for a moment, after letting out the first frustration, went to the café next door, which happened to be the only one open (what a coincidence!), had a coffee and charged our phones until we finally got on our next bus 2 hours later. It took another 10 hours to get to Saigon, so instead of the booked 18 hours, we were on the road for almost 30 hours. Which was bad enough, but it also cost us a day in Saigon!

So we tried to make good use of the time and just checked in briefly, took a shower, dropped off our laundry, and then oriented ourselves a bit. First, we walked along the main bar street, but then we said goodbye to the side streets to get some local Vietnamese food from somewhere. Fortunately, we didn't have to search for long until we found a restaurant that only offers Pho soup. 3 options, chicken, pork, or beef. We ordered chicken and beef, and you have to give the Asians (especially the restaurants that only offer one dish) credit, they can really cook. Mega good soup and a very friendly owner. Then we went back to the bar street for 1-2 beers and to soak up the atmosphere before we (especially me, because in the too short sleeping bus things due to lack of space I can't sleep) exhausted from bus travel, went back to the hostel. The next day, the War Remnants Museum was on the agenda, which was very impressive, even though the Vietnamese apparently haven't heard of a chronological layout of a museum. But after visiting all the floors, you had a pretty good overall picture (not groundbreaking new, but from a different perspective). Afterwards, we went back to the hostel via a market hall (including a snack in between). The rain forced us to take a nap, which we gladly accepted, and then we set off strengthened to go shopping again for the next day of travel and mentally and morally prepare ourselves. But we knew that between us and the first time by the sea and a beach holiday there were only just over 500km and a border, so almost 10 hours of bus journey until we would be almost at the destination (temporary destination).

We spent the evening relaxed at a backyard barbecue somewhere in a side street and enjoyed the hustle and bustle of Saigon's bar street one last time before we set off for Cambodia the next morning at 6am...