As life would have it, pretty soon we were facing a prospect of an unplanned week in our calendar – happens to the best of us as well – gap between Layang Layang and Japan. Idea was to go to Indonesia and dive Komodo. But complex itinerary to get there and fact we just did some of the best diving in our lives (and were pretty dived out) was crying for something different. So, there we were, sitting in KL with so many options to reach pretty much any part of Asia with a short flight that doesn’t even allow time for second round of drinks. AirAsia having a spring sale at the time didn’t hurt either. So, after considerate deliberation over a bottle of wine and fine views of The Boys (AKA Petronas towers) from our room – Vietnam it was. That promise of friendly people and good food clinched the deal.
With only a week to experience this once troubled country, we had to make harsh choices where to go. Saigon (yes, it is Ho Chi Minh city now, but Saigon sounds better, so no political correctness here – even the locals call it Saigon, btw!) vs Hanoi, Mekong delta vs Halong bay? With as many opinions on which way to go as there are people in Vietnam, we – for the sole reason of being the party town of the country – opted for Saigon and thus Mekong delta (lovely river cruise being a cherry on the cake).
In the end, to describe our week in Vietnam in one word would be: gluttony. Or maybe opulence? As you are guessing already, we decided to do this one in style. Reality is things are still affordable here and after Layang Layang everything feels cheap, to be honest. So, sky bar hotel for a few nights then cruising the Mekong delta for two nights and then for the end a true piece of history – three nights in the famous Rex hotel.
And such a good decision it was! Vietnam is a fabulous place! The people were just amazing, still not too spoilt with tourism and really friendly and helpful. They constantly helped us to go over the streets – and no, we have not gone gaga – yet, but the traffic lights in Saigon are ignored by pedestrians. You just have to start walking across the busy streets and play who will blink first with onslaught of cars and scooters. Truth is locals did it so much better, had that determination, while drivers could smell the fear from us and just kept whizzing by. And you should see amount of scooters here – apparently over seven million in this city alone! You feel like in a giant bee-hive all the time. World is buzzing away around you: so many colours and smells. Attack, albeit a pleasant one, on all your senses.
And then there was food. OMG! Never on our list really, but beef noodle soup (pho) is just so, so good. We kept having it for breakfast (as it is intended), lunch (still ok) and dinner (few looks from locals, but hey, it is too good to miss!). And coffee… Now, pre this trip we would never buy Vietnamese coffee, didn’t even know they produced it! But what a mistake, these guys have perfected the art of ice-coffee. With our hands shaking and heads twitching from too much caffeine, we just kept going for another shot. Not to mention they picked up best thing from the French: bread and sweets. In retrospect, first few days in Saigon were eating, drinking, some more eating and drinking and then dying. And doing it all over again.
So, we went to Mekong to make a break from all this. But how wrong we were – this cruise had gluttony as the principal recreation. Food and free flowing coffee on the boat really did not help our determination to be good. But what a place! History and beautiful nature from new boat (seriously it looked like the one from Murder on the Nile – Nives was totally in her Agatha Christie mood!). What a treat. For three days we watched the local villages and people on boats pass by. Spent days waiving at kids frolicking in the water and kept getting surprised with what cargo you can put on tiny boat. We did the lot: water market – check, tropical rain – check, mosquito bite – multiple-check (yes, Nives was so generously feeding local fauna again). Sorry to leave, but it was time to go back to Saigon again.
Last few days were history and culture really. Well, and some more eating, obviously! We did the water puppet show – traditional Vietnamese play (soooooo much better than expected!), walked the town, had some more excellent pho. While looking for yet another coffee buzz, we came across one of the quirky features of a 9 stories multiple cafes building – you pay to use the lift or walk the stairs for free. With million degrees outside we shamefully paid up (official excuse was that Nives was wearing high heels; and we are sticking to it).
But mainly we just enjoyed the main square and views from our hotel. In their innocence they were offering upgrade to the room – better view their said. And it really, really was – main square and Ho Chi Min statue were just in front our window! Also, free coffee and sweets (check!) and cocktail in the evening (double check!). Little did we realize that cocktail in the evening meant all you can eat and drink including French wine, cocktails and canapes. Guessing? Yup, had our dinner in the hotel every night... And so soon, it was time to wave at Ho Chi Minh statue from our window and say good-bye to this lovely country and people with about five extra kilos between us (and we are not talking luggage here!). But we are definitely coming back!
An extra picture or two can be found here.
Sounds like a coffee haven place, thanks god no starbucks and other chains!
ReplyDeleteAll western corporations should move there, employees would love this coffee paradise :-))