Vietnam draft

Land of Adventure - People with Humour

If we had wanted to come for a leisurely sightseeing holiday, to see a place, and to behave as a tourist might, then we would have picked the wrong destination. That however, is not at all our style! We are adventurers and we actively seek out the more exciting places where we spend each day engaging with local people, their culture, their food and in the case of the Vietnamese people, their excellent sense of humour! 

Vietnamese people are some of the most engaging, friendly people I have met. They are also fiercely entrepreneurial and service-minded. They know that for the most part, people come to do things, so they have put much effort into creating activities that showcase the Vietnamese culture and way of doing things. 

Hanoi - Capital City Intro.

Our local guide on this occasion is Nancy and we immediately take a liking to her. Nancy is the embodiment of a new generation of Vietnamese women who are out, learning about the world, working with international visitors and earning an income to support their future plans. She is from Saigon, otherwise known as Ho Chi Minh City, so it will be 14 days before she returns, with us, to her home town.

We meet as a group in Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam with its narrow streets, densely packed residential blocks with impossibly narrow buildings that were forced to be so by a long-ago feudal tax system that taxed a building on its width. It stuck as a building style and it is an iconic characteristic of the Vietnamese and especially Hanoi streetscape.

Our adventures start with a wander around the Old Quarter in what could best be described as an eating tour with a little walking to try and avoid falling into a food-induced coma. Cha Ca is a famous Hanoi dish made with catfish which never tasted so good! Banh Com is a cake made with sticky rice and no Vietnam food experience would be complete without the local version of the world renknown Banh Mi. 

Slower Pace in the Mountains - Pu Luong

No sooner have become accustomed to the ordered chaos of Hanoi and have learned how to cross the street with two thousand motor scooters zooming past, then it's time to move on. We head by bus about 2.5 hours to Pu Luong, a village surrounded by a Nature Reserve by the same name. Our homestay is a lovely little spot with a swimming pool overlooking the terraced rice fields. Remember what we said about the entrepreneurial nature of Vietnamese people? Why shouldn't a homestay have a swimming pool? 

Our adventures here over the next few days are on foot and on bicycle. We see how silk weaving is done and how it has been done for hundreds of years. We see the stingless bee hives and we meet local people going about their daily, mostly farming related chores. This is such a traditional way of life out here and we start to feel calmer and more relaxed after all of the flying and driving that has brought us this far. Our sleeping quarters consist of a large room with bamboo platforms where our bedding is, with mosquito nets over the bed. The sounds of the frogs, crickets and gentle rain on the thatched roof, lull us off to sleep, so actually we sleep surprisinghly well. 

Sea Legs - Ha Long Bay

The next part of our adventure is on Ha Long Bay. This has become such an iconic location and I think we were bracing ourselves to be surrounded by other tourists. The reality though, is that it is not so crowded at all. Our gorgeous little ship has plenty of water to itself and the other ships that we see are tastefully designed and seem to compliment the exotic aesthetic of this UNESCO, World Heritage-listed bay with its dramatic, limestone karst scenery and turquoise water. 

It's here, on out on the deck in the late afternoon with a book in one hand and a drink in the other, that one of our participants stretched out on a day bed next to me, makes a comment that resonates with the group. She says that adventures aren't always about hiking up mountains or kayaking along rivers. They can just be about journeying through a foreign land and doing so at the right pace. A pace where you can let your mind wander as unfamiliar scenery and scenes pass by the window, the porthole or past you as you ride a bike. This strikes me as being so true. I think most of the women in this group would agree that by the end of this trip, they will have a newfound appreciation for what Vietnam is all about and the profound impact that its culture has had on other countries. Cambodia, where I come from, 18 million people living next to this dynamic powerhouse of 90 million, extremely driven people who just happen to love good food! Australia, well I think we can all admit to enjoying a frequent Ban Mi or Pho on occasion and I challenge anyone to deny having an influential/inspirational friend of Vietnamese origin. 

The Re-unification Express & Hue

The next few days are some of the most fun on the trip. We wake to a lifting fog over the bay and head out on kayaks, exploring the little coves and caves as we go. A bit of exercise is a terrific way to get started and especially given the size of the buffet breakfast on board. 

After disembarking, we zip back to Hanoi and have a few hours to do a spot of shopping before we board the Re-unification Express. This train travels the length of the country, connecting Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and every minor city in between. We will take it as far as Hue, the former imperial capital. This means an overnight train journey in a sleeper cabin. That is a bit of fun. We may have overstocked on snacks, but we have plenty of nice liquid to wash the snacks down with and by the time we play a few games of cards, the eyelids are heavy and we bunk down for the night. The rythmic rocking of the train lulls me off to sleep and next thing I know, there is a comotion in the hallways as we approach Hue. 

The word that comes to mind with Hue is sophistication. It might be famous for its restored, Imperial Palace, but to me the vibe of this city is all about the food and arts culture that remains intact. It has its own style of architecture, the people have a certain way of dressing and there is an abundance of silk-crafts and paintings adorning cafes, restuarants and our hotel. Of course, they also have their own style of noodles as and self-respecting Vietnamese province does. 

Two Wheel Adventures & Ancient Hoi An

We explore Hue on motorbikes (ridden by chauffeurs who have been riding motorbikes since they were knee-high-to-a-grasshopper). This is so much fun! I know some of the ladies in our group have never been on the back of a motorbike before. These are more like motor scooters though, so they are very comfortable, quite upright vehicles. They are light and quiet and travel at a very modest pace. We visit the emporer's tombs, we see the Fighting Arena (a bit like a mini Coloseum) and we visit a great local market selling fresh produce, some tasty snacks and some fun little souvenirs. Concluding back at the hotel, I think every group member wanted to go again they'd had so much fun! Well, they might just get to do that when we reach Ho Chi Minh City!

Hoi An is our next stop and this place really is famous, worldwide. The entire old-town is UNESCO Heritage-listed and it is easy to see why. The buildings are hundreds of years old and in most cases, the residents are the descendents of the people who built them. The town was thankfully spared any major damage through the Vietnam-American War and today it is a beautiful place with colourful silk lanters swaying in the breeze of an evening. 

It is here that we get to try the Basket Boat. When you first see these boats, you would wonder how they could possibly work, but work they do and the skill with which the rowers control them is remarkable!

Hoi An is where we slow the pace a bit. We have a few days to relax and take it easy. There are lots of optional activities including a visit the ancient, Cham Towers just outside town in the hinterland. The town is famous for its Tailors and I know there are at least a few members of the group who are having items made. 

From here we take an internal flight to reach Ho Chi Minh City which is the complete opposite of Hoi An. It is constantly humming and buzzing with thousands of motor scooters and it just never seems to stop. So it's something of a relief when we board a bus for one last excurion into the Mekong Delta. Just a couple of hours south of Ho Chi Minh City, this region is known as the food bowl. Well irrigated rice fields are punctuated by orchards and vegetable gardens and Coconut trees line the trails and canals to help soak up the salt from the brackish water.

 

 

The Food Bowl - Mekong Delta

A row boat ride and a walk among the gardens is a peaceful experience and we get to visit a Coconut Candy workshop which turns out delicious treats that I go a bit overboard on for my sweet-tooth family back home. 

Lunch is great of course and a little snooze in a hammock prepares me to re-integrate with the intensity of Ho Chi Minh City. Actually, it turns out to be quite manageable on our return. We head out for a fun evening on the back of motor scooters, but not just any motor scooters, vintage Vespas! Zipping around the city on these colourful little relics of a bygone era, we stop to sample lots of great morsels including some of my favourite seafood! Again, our group members love this experience. One lady in particular is so smitten with the experience and her caring, cheerful driver, that she says she wants to just pack the scooter and the driver in a crate and get them shipped home! Well, not sure that would be such a good idea, but it is a fun activity and after being on a scooter in the traffic, the traffic itself no longer seems so daunting. I think it's a confidence booster and I love that this is our last activity in Vietnam! 

 

 

Vietnam - Essential for Any Adventurous Woman

This tour is one that I highly recommend for anyone. Even if you have been to Asia before, Vietnam is just special and this tour is a great way to re-calibrate. Something about the range of conveyances and the pace of the itinerary and the fact that it is for the most part, a linear journey, make it a really rewarding experience. I do feel like I might need to sleep for three days straight when I get home, but it was all worth it!