Vietnam - Part 2

Arrived in HoiAn, first check-in at our accommodation 'Purple Garden'. The name lived up to its promise, the owner definitely has a purple fetish. Otherwise, our accommodation for the next 4 days was on an island on the Thu Bon River, reachable from the city center via a small bridge. HoiAn was so different from the Vietnam we had known so far.

With almost Mediterranean-style narrow alleys adorned with Chinese influences and lanterns in all sunset colors, this quite touristy town still had a cozy feel.

Surrounded by rice fields and temples, what else... and the Thu Bon River flowing into the sea, the city itself had plenty of things to do. For female travelers, a bit more than for Sven - because: masses of tailors, fashion labels, jewelry, clothes, and even more stores with homemade accessories and decorative materials. After putting away the accordingly large package (18 kg) at the post office, it was time to say goodbye to purple. Hello Nha Trang, supposedly a diver's paradise, party city, and beach town.

But first, another night, or rather 12 hours, on the dreaded night bus. As it turned out, this would be the worst ride of our lives. The "good beds" are reserved for Vietnamese people, the bus stops every 5 minutes for line traffic and package express service, taking 12 hours for less than 500 km is nothing new, no problem anymore.

Since the other people in the bus, who were only there to make noise and not to drive the bus, apparently made our driver take so much white powder that he lost all remaining common sense. So when it was time to sleep, the bus driver's party was in full swing: shouting, laughter, cigarette smoke from the front, crying children, stench, diapers from below and behind. The entire bus interior lighting was repeatedly turned on in a torture-like manner, probably for the further entertainment of the bus driver, who had now changed his driving style from a psychopath to a completely insane kamikaze pilot. After all bodily fluids had already been expelled from the front bus window, now something bigger had to come out.

Half an hour before the long-awaited destination, the bus driver leaves the bus and apparently prefers to take a shit right next to the bus in the middle of nowhere.

We survived, Nha Trang is beautiful, Nha Trang was good, but the party scene is limited to the

overpriced promenade and the diving spots were not that great during this season with quite rough waves. (In the sense of shit)

So onwards to where it's really beautiful - MuiNe - closer to the equator than Bangkok, with beach, sun, wind, and known as the best kite surfing spot in Southeast Asia. Decided to extend our stay here for a good week because even without wind, MuiNe has a lot to offer (Photo: 'Walking in Water' which turned out to be much better than the name might suggest ;)

The sand dunes and the fishing harbor (photos) were also beautiful spots around MuiNe.

To keep the journey a journey, we moved on to Ho Chi Minh City after 7 nights and a bit of nostalgia.

Preferably on the night bus that departs at noon :P

The largest city in Vietnam, 8 million inhabitants, currently adding one million per year... Result: We liked it so much after the beach paradise that we decided to stay for a while. Specifically, to the Cu Chi Tunnels, which are a network of underground pathways. They stretch over 200 kilometers alone in this area.

The tunnels were started by the Viet Cong in 1948 to provide shelter from French air strikes during the First Indochina War. The network provided important access and strategic control over a large rural area around Ho Chi Minh City. The next day, quickly got out of the city, into the Mekong Delta, and at the same time had our first encounter with the river that will accompany us for the next few weeks, the river through which we will enter Cambodia and the river on which we will live in Laos for over a week.

The flooded mangrove forests are impressive, you can't have more vegetation. The water plants are so dense that in some places you can't see water anymore and feel like leaving your boat on foot. Not a good idea, as most of the animals living here have wings, gills, or something similar.

Can Tho and Chau Doc were the last stops in the delta before crossing the Mekong to Cambodia by boat.

Goodbye Pho soup, goodbye lovely little people, and thank god goodbye night bus and goodbye 12 million scooters alone in HaNoi and HoChiMinh City.