Feb 5-6: Can Tho, Vietnam

We wanted so see the renowned floating market of Can Tho in the Mekong Delta and so booked an overnight tour. The travel agent commented that we could take a boat from another town- Cau Doc – to Phnom Penh so we settled on that crazy way of getting to another country. Not as simple as we thought but with help from our tour guide (David ) it got all sorted out (hopefully).

Yesterday’s tour…

There were six of us and David, our guide. We first visited Vinh Trang pagoda and spiritual center
The next few stops were from a tourist boat used regularly on the Mekong river. We visited island towns with shops and something of interest – raising bees, making coconut candy, making rice noodles – some of which we’ve seen before on this trip but every version if different. We had a good lunch during the day and later had a long drive to Can Tho and to our lovely hotel that could use some face-lifting.

Visiting island towns

We had dinner on our own.. and enjoyed the surprising activities of this town. (See side bar below).

SIDE BAR: Never assume! The city of Can Tho is about 4 hours south of Saigon in the Mekong Delta River. We are here with a tour and staying overnight,and once again I’m astonished by the size and popularity of the city. We are staying a block away from two huge street sales and there are lights everywhere! The street is next to the Mekong River and that’s a busy park here too. Amazing! I now understand that there are many large cities in the Delta. I knew it was a agricultural area so was surprised!

Day 2 of the tour was to visit the old floating market which required getting on our boat by 4am! The good part of this tour was being on the water and seeing the sunrise. But there is no more floating market!! When we got “there” we saw only a few small boats as shown in the brochures and older photos. Instead there are various boats seemingly hired to provide some food or drink to the 20-30 tourist boats willing to enjoy it anyway – like us. Kinda silly. And we visited another local shop where rice noodles were being made.

Feb 3 – Ho Chi Minh City

We decided to buy a four hour pass for an “on off bus” so we could see more of of Ho Chi Minh City (District 1) before leaving tomorrow. It’s quite warm- it went up to 96 today. Our first “off” was just kilometer from the Bitexco Tower aka Sky Deck tower – we wanted to see more of this city of 10 million people (and 8.5 motorcycles!). See below.

This i a photo of the building we are in

We waited a bit for the next bus and went to the other side of District 1 to visit the War Remnants Museum. The museum has three floors and is focused mainly on the America war with a little bit of history about how they ousted the French in the 1950s. There a room with a descriptions and photos regarding the worst of the bombing in the 70s, another on American war crimes ( massacres), another highlighting the effect of agent orange and, among the reports, how the Vietnamese met the challenges in various ways. That’s just some of it. Of course the reports are one sided but there is much sad truth that it hurts to see it. The information is in Vietnamese and English and the museum was quite full with both locals and tourists. Outside were various war planes, tanks and helicopters. It was hard to take. 😟

Returning to the hotel we were surprised to see live entertainment for tea time! The guitar & violin duo were a lovely treat. We relaxed, enjoyed roof top deck and though about our next plans to head south to see some of the Mekong Delta and then to head to Cambodia.

Feb 2 – 3 Mo Chi Minh City

We left lovely Mui Ne at 8am the 2nd, looking forward to a regular sitting up bus promised by the tour agent across the street. Oh no – another sleeping bus! Foiled again, and not happy but away we went. Turns out the lower seats are not bad, but since we hadn’t reserved that one I had to move to up bunk again. For a while I sat next to a Vietnamese women who spoke English and sang with her two year old – that was good. The bus stopped for breaks twice and once in Ho Chi Minh City we were transferred to a van to take us downtown, and then a taxi…! We arrived at the Silverland Yen Hotel – very nice – around 3:30!

We walked a bit, found food and later retreated to the rooftop area to relax and enjoy the view. Later we headed to dinner at nice restaurant called Soul down the street that we heard about from other travelers from Minnesota.

Yesterday we started a little late and it was pretty warm by the time we went to the Reunification Palace. Before we went in talked with a large family touring together -staying in Hanoi and now HCMC for a month at a time. As usual we all talked about our travels and then we went in. I was expecting some more like a museum but it really a large, formal government building that formally housed the president of So. Vietnam, and has many formal rooms. The interesting part for Dirk was the bunker with the old radios.

After tea at the hotel (!) we checked out the well-known, very large Ben Thanh market very full of clothes, inexpensive souvenirs and some expensive jewelry (I wanted silver earrings but they said they were gold and want $100!- nope!) I did buy one inexpensive scarf thinking about the cold on the way home in March.

We joined some women we met in the roof top for dinner – nice!

Jan 31 & Feb 1- Mui Ne

We have been dragging our heels a bit in terms of moving on to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) (previously known as Saigon). It’s peaceful here and we enjoy hanging out on the beach with our young friends Kiki and Andy and one year old Lino when we walk that way in the afternoon. And we know Ho Chi Minh City will be loud and busy, although interesting too.

Yesterday our goal was once again to find a laundry and my goal was to finally swim in the ocean. After leaving our laundry we wandered to the kite surfing shady spot on the beach and relaxed and later Kiki, Andy and Lino arrived. Andy later went out kite surfing and I swam in the ocean and played with Lino a bit.

Today, February 1st, we started out slow due to stomach concerns but still walked a mile or so in new direction and found a lovely beach and some interesting wall art.

After a cooling swim in the pool and lunch we found what we thought was a pharmacy but was actually a doctor’s office and pharmacy. Dirk was diagnosed and given five different medicines to cure his digestive problems… for $35!

We found Andy, Kiki and Lino at the beach – we were sorry we had missed their kite surfing earlier. After a while we headed to their favorite dinner spot where I again had veggie Pho (4 people, $10) and later said our goodbyes since we are traveling in the morning. We were lucky to have been able to enjoy their company!

Jan 29-30 -Mui Ne, Vietnam

The 29th – A quiet day today. After breakfast, we walked down to the end of the beach in both directions. The beach walk stops due to erosion at both ends but it’s a long walk on the sand. We saw our friends from yesterday, and then took a walk up a high sand dune on the other side of the street. Good views and lots of walking. We swam in the pool after lunch and relaxed. A peaceful day.

The 30th –

Today we went on a simple tour not too far from our hotel and saw most of the “sites not to miss” of the the area. We saw-

The Fish Market- many boats and women sorting small catches in fish types
Walked up the Red Sand dune
Had an ATV ride up massive White Sand dunes
Learned how to grow dragon fruit
Walked barefoot for about 75 minutes in the Fairy Stream.

Sand dunes…

I asked Tam (our guide) if we could see where Dragon Fruit are grown since they an important part of agriculture in this area. It was good timing because a field was near us and he explained the growing process – interesting. Next was our Fairy Steam walk – quite nice.

The Fairy steam walk turned out to be quite stunning in places. We almost made it to the end but didn’t quite finish because Dirk found a snake trying to eat a frog in a little pool right where he was about to step. Snakes are not his friends so we turned around…:)

After our 6am to 10:30am tour we took a nap. That was necessary because our hotel annoyed the heck out of us last night by having a very very loud party that prevented us from sleeping first because of the noise and also while we perseverated over what we’d say to the manager in the morning! We talked to the manager and she apologized – what else can we do. The resort is now empty except for us since Tet week is done – that’s a bit weird but peaceful.

Jan 28 – Travel to Mui Ne

Much frustration this morning – the desk clerk indicated we had paid and then, 20 minutes before the taxi was coming, said we hadn’t paid and he needed cash (that we didn’t have in Dong). Dirk walked quite far and was back just as the taxi pulled up! We made it to the bus just in time.

But before that we ran into a couple from Denmark that we had chatted with for a while at the Crazy House – it turns out they were staying at our same noisy hotel!

The bus I booked two Mui Ne happened to be a sleeping bus – which I thought would have a way to fold into regular seats – wrong!. We laid down for 3 1/2 hour on the ride up and mountains with many hairpin curves- fortunately I didn’t get car sick but someone further back did!

We transferred to a van and finally arrived at our hotel in Mui Ne, very different that Dalat, with grounds and a pool but most wonderful, a gorgeous beach and ocean. On the other hand, this area is known for wind surfing, the ocean is rough, so I probably will be just getting my feet wet here. That’s OK!

We walked quite a while on the beach and when we saw a couple we had talked with on today’s travels. We joined them and their one year old on the sand, and later for dinner. Andy and Kiki have been here before and know the best, least expensive eatery – great dinner and quite fun. A great day after all!

Jan 27, Friday – Dalat day 3

We followed a Google walking path through many alleys (amazing navigation) locate a laundry and ate breakfast in a Vietnamese street eatery by pointing at the food of the man next to us. I ate some great rice noodles and gave the meat to Dirk.

The Crazy House was our next adventure. Built by a imaginative renowned architect, Dr. Dang Vietnam Nga who wished to encourage more nature-like buildings, it became her unusual home and project. We were there a few hours and still didn’t see all the rooms or walk on all the stairs. Fun!

We had a delicious lunch across the street and then walked to Bao Dai Summer Palace built in the 1930s for the last king of Vietnam feudal court. By the 1950’s, with the French in power, it was the office and house of the last King. It was a interesting walk-through – the house is quite large but not grand.

Lots of walking today but most of the time away from the heaviest traffic. We cheated and took a taxi back to our hotel and started preparing for tomorrow’s trip to Maui Ne.

Jan 25-26 – Dalat Vietnam

On Thursday we had a 7 AM flight to the city of Dalat and went to check out in the lobby at around 5:30. We were surprised to find the lobby quite dark. I said a few words and a man jumped up from his cot over by the piano, moved quickly to the desk and turned on the lights. That’s a first!

After arriving at the airport nearest to Dalat we quickly found a bus to take us the next 20 miles to Dalat – an hour trip! Why? -Up and down some curvy mountain roads (beautiful views) and traffic when close to Dalat. My impression of Dalat as a peaceful mountain town was changed pretty quickly. The town in densely packed with over 3,000 small hotels and numerous other lodgings with very little green space.

There is a small lake at the center of all of this which is quite lovely but the traffic!! Even more insane than we have experienced so far. The idea was to get a hotel close to the pretty lake but it turns out to be very noisy here what with contact beeping of traffic and Tet partying people chatting in the hallway at midnight!

OK – that’s the grumpy me, but salvation came from a great countryside tour yesterday run by Happy Day Travel.

Today we joined an van tour that I might have skipped in another area but we really wanted to get out of town and into the hills. After picking up everyone we headed south, happily out of the traffic of Dalat and did the following interesting, beautiful and relaxing things. It sounds like a lot but the trip lasted seven hours, we had a great guide and it was just what we needed.

Visit coffee farm where weasel coffee is made ( and enjoy some)
Visited a bee farm – enjoyed relearning about bee behaviors and tasting fresh honey
Relaxed at the beautiful Pongour Waterfall
Ate a family style Vietnamese lunch with everyone
Enjoyed the beauty around the Goddess of Merci statue – The Linh An Pagoda
Viewed the nearby Elephant Waterfull.
Took in a cricket farm on our way back to Dalat.
Finally we had 45 minutes at Me Linh Coffee Gardens which is actually like an low-key adventure farm and photo opportunity besides offering coffee. There’s so much there we never had coffee.

Bees and then the waterfall

Lunch near the Goddess of Merci and Linh An Pagota grounds

More at pagoda then Elephant waterfall

Crickets, then Me Linh Coffee Gardens

This 11 year old practiced her English with us for a while

Jan 24 – Danang

It’s a slow rainy day in Danang but luckily the Museum of Cham Sculpture is not too far from us so that’s where we headed after breakfast. The museum contains the world’s largest collection of Cham artifacts. This includes two floors of sculptures, carvings and stonework unearthed from the 1700’s and as recently as this century. Photos of remaining ruins show impressive architectures.

Some history… Champa presence in this area evolved from seafaring Austronesian cultures off the coast of what is now Vietnam starting around 200 AD. The Cham people established and maintained a vast system of lucrative trade networks and cities/towns across Southeast Asia. They had a common language and heritage (DNA stuff) different from that of the Vietnamese. Pushed to the western areas of Vietnam by Vietnamese kingdoms starting in the 15th century, there are still some Cham speaking villages in western Vietnam.

Some of the sculptures…

I took a few photos of the hotel – the lobby contains antiques, including an a Whippet, likely made around 1929. Ver unusual!

Jan 23, Monday – Danang

To prepare for air travel in a few days we have now moved a little north to the large city of Danang where we will spend two nights. The plan was to relax today and explore an attraction tomorrow – but rain is predicted for tomorrow so we did it all today.

Marble Mountain is an area of five karst mountains outside of Danang with the largest providing the most exploration opportunities. There hundreds of stone steps up to amazing views, caves, pagodas and temples. I like this phase in one write up “it is part historical treasure, part natural wonder and part spiritual (with both Hindu and Buddhist sites).”

We were smart and started our “climb” by taking the elevator! I guarantee that the elevator ride did not detract from the day’s exercise since there were many heights to reach via uneven stone steps during our time there. We followed the map as we climbed up to pagodas and views and both up and down into small and huge caves. When we met two men that are yoga teachers they challenged us to climb up to the highest peak – we may have skipped that one because we were already tired – but we did it! Great views too. Below are some of our photos.

After dark Dirk suggested we walk along the river to take picture of the lit up Dragon Bridge and huge Ferris wheel. We continued toward a brightly light square with crowds of people and found ourselves in the middle of a decorated river walk with flowers, lit up displays, flowering trees, tall painted posters, etc, where parents and young adults were busy taking pictures of each other in front of these decorations. The half mile area was packed with people moving in all directions – a happy, busy crowd. Note: In Vietnam it is the year of the Cat (in China it’s the year of the Rabbit).