Good Morning Vietnam!

Oh where to start, the backpacking adventures have begun - it makes me dizzy just attempting to recall what's happened over the last 10 days in Vietnam. We're currently in Nha Trang, a beach on the north-east coast of Vietnam. It's beautiful, full of backpackers, bars and food - all we need really. Our hostel's called 'green apple', a slight step up from our previous room down a quiet alley near the night market. We didn't realize why it was so cheap until the construction work started in full swing at about 5am, an hour after we'd passed out - it didn't put smiles on many of our faces. This hostel's right above one of the busiest bars in town so we have it all at our doorstep. Before this trip started alcohol wasn't even considered in our budget of $150 a week, so the cash has been thinning faster than expected and my bank card's found its way into an ATM machine a few too many times - but something we've realized is at these touristy joints, if you don't go out for a drink or a dance socializing proves to be a bit of an issue. 

The imperial citadel at night in Hue

Vietnam began in Ho Chi Minh, the previous capital 'Saigon' in the south of Vietnam. We stepped off the plane awaiting the rush of south east asia that we've become accustomed to but before we could get anywhere we had to wait for our backpacks to come riding down the conveyer belt. Our backpacks that consist of everything we need for the next 6 months, so basically our lives. We stood waiting and watching the same few bags go around again and again with no sign of ours, my heartrate quickened and then out of the corner of my eye I spotted them on the floor at the back of the room, they'd been sitting there free-for-all since we'd arrived - I'm still surprised we tracked them down. So we stepped out of the airport and restrained ourselves from jumping in a taxi to our hostel - instead we took the local bus, not knowing where we were supposed to get off and feeling vulnerable knowing we were being ripped off; the adrenaline was pumping at the thought of having finally arrived in Nam, the constant beeping of the motorbikes, buses and cars only adding to the rush. That's another thing, the motorbikes here are ridiculous. I was warned but after KL I didn't think it could be much worse. Traffic lights, zebra crossing's and people walking across the road means nothing so crossing the road is like being in a video game, the main goal just being to try and not get hit by one of the million ruthless vehicles surrounding you. I started as well as i could and left my money bag with my credit card on the bus but had a sweet vietnamese man return it to me - great start. We couldn't face walking to our hostel with rumbling tummy's so we sat down at a little plastic chair place and had some rice, pork and bamboo shoots washed down with a king coconut. We made quite an entrance as we sat down with our huge bags and J's strap caught onto the little metal table flipping it over and knocking down our unimpressed neighbours dishes, at least they were nearly finished? We lugged our bags through the city feeling the communist vibe as we looked at the groups of people all wearing the same uniform and performing odd exercise routines in the park. Saigon Youth Hostel showed it's face after a few mishaps and we followed the fumes to the balcony at the top to bond with other backpackers over a spliff or two. That evening we were joined by N. and went for drinks with our new group of mates on the happening strip in town, entertained constantly by the fire dancers and the hilarious guys dancing to Gangnam style. To our delight we managed to attract a frenchy 'John Baptiste' that put up with us for a great night that ended with 2 minute noodles and a ridiculous climb up to our dorm that was 'conveniently' on the top floor, at least we were near the balcony. 

Ah he was a mad one

We all awoke groaning from the morning parade that was blasting into our room from downstairs, the song has been replaying in our heads ever since, but it forced us out of bed and into an afternoon in Ho Chi. We were determined to fit in a bit of culture while it was all so readily available so went to find a travel agent to book a trip to the Cu Chi tunnels. Mid-booking we hear a fire-cracker like sound and i turn around to see shoes flying across the road. People started crowding like ants so we went to check out what was going on and see a dead man lying face up on the street with his arms twisted and blood pooling around him. He'd somehow fallen or jumped from the top floor of the building we were in but the story was never clear. Seeing a dead person was traumatizing in itself but watching the reaction of the man crying next to him just hurt, the despair in his face was harrowing and the rest of the day had a solemm feel. Walking 10m down the street where noone was aware of what had happened just made it all the more weird, a harsh way of saying 'life goes on'.

We managed to fit in a few cultural momentos, though we missed the war and fine arts museums because they all close so early. We wandered around the palace, admired the glorious 'Notre Dam' and visited the Cu Chi tunnels. The Viet Cong created a whole world underground with all the fixtures and fittings, they had different 'floors' with kitchens, a place to bathe, areas to shoot from and all accessable via the tiny dark tunnels that spread out in a complex maize that only they could decipher. We had a chance to crawl through a few and oh my lordy, if that was one of the work-outs in P.E I wouldn't have lasted 5 minutes. The way you have to squat and manouver whilst carrying a huge weapon and trying not to sweat to death is besides me. We saw the terrifying traps that they used to catch intruders, the most humerous being the 'souvenir trap' - you step onto the grassy square to reveal metal spikes that penetrate your foot in a way that doesn't allow it to release hence you have a 'souvenir' of a huge metal spike to take home - eek. J got to feel manly by shooting a few guns and amidst all the rubbish the tour guide told us, I did take home knowledge about the 4 most important animals/ symbols in Vietnam. 1) Dragon - luck 2) Unicorn - Power, 3) Turtle - Immortality and 4) Phoenex - Beauty. I don't really see the connection between the tunnels and the animals but hey, it was interesting. That night after a few too many tequila shots and saigons, we partied with our new Aussie couple at a nearby club, crazy buffalo - the early morning bus to Mui Ne that we just caught was therefore greeted by 3 totally intoxicated teenagers that reeked of alci- thank god we chose the sleeping bus. 

I love the kids here

If you're not Russian, a kite surfer or rich, don't go to Mui Ne. We managed to budget by all sharing a double bed in a guesthouse, and struck gold when we met an Irish guy that ran an upmarket bar/ restaurant on the beach. We tapped into our stingy selves and bought a small bottle of water and a saigon bẻer, in return for spending the whole day by their amazing pool with free sunbeds and old school RnB. By night it turned into a suave bar with western waitors in black and sexy lighting, so after our one drink had finished and we couldn't bear to spend all our money on another, we went looking for more and ended up dancing our hearts out in an empty club with an audience of Vietnamese hookers and a few large white guys.

The beach in Hue

We escaped Mui Ne when we could and have been sucked into all that is Nha Trang. We've been spending our days on the beach, with other groups of backpackers, munching on fresh pineapple and mango, singing along to guitars, talking to fire dancers about their lives on the road and meditating in the sun. I love that you don't have to go anywhere to get anything when you're here, Vietnamese ladies walk passed you every 5 minutes with jewelry, cigarettes, food, drinks, hats, clothes you name it. Given, it does get frustrating how much they try to bleed you dry of your money but it's understandable given the poverty that they live in compared to us. Our mid-afternoon snack's been a quick bowl of Pho, grilled chicken and rice or lots of delicious morning glory or we get lazy and splash out for munch at 'A-Mart' on ice creams, chocolate or oreos, all the best heart attack material. Our nights have been blurry to say the least, buckets of booze at red apple, ring of fire, free shots all along the strip at 'Oasis' and 'Why not Bar' and lots of crazy drunken dancing. Rolling around in our hostel tickling security guards, getting ridden home on motorbikes or rikshaws, climbing up Vietnamese flag poles and waking up in the morning with a few new room-mates who didn't know how they got there. All of which is remembered in the morning when we sit around in dark glasses over a greasy breakfast looking through the photo's and cringing. We braved a booze cruise yesterday that started at 8.30am and consisted of a big group of backpackers on a little boat with lots of booze. Along the way we island hopped, went snorkelling, had a big group lunch and floated in rubber rings around a floating bar. We've all been left sore with sunburn but our stocks of Aloe are high so hopefully the red fades to golden at some point.

Another night

I began this trip with one mate and now we're 4 going on 10 - I have tưo of my best friends, a crazy munchkin we picked up along the way and everyone else who's doing the same route as us. I find when you befriend someone it's always based on the commonalities you share, whether it's your taste in music, where you're from, what you look like or what language you speak. Here the one thing everyone has in common is backpacking. We're all sharing such a similar experience that conversation flows faster than the Mekong at high tide and the next morning we've all got a few new friend requests, as much as we try to limit our time on social media. Age is irrelevant aswell, I'd say we're the youngest the majority of the time but it doesn't matter. So we continue, tomorrow we're renting bikes to explore a few waterfalls about 45 minutes away - our attempt to do something a bit more than consuming caloric beverages. It's that time of the evening again, the music's blaring and we're washing off our sandy bod's for another 'quiet' night in Nha Trang.

Recipe of the day: Pho

http://steamykitchen.com/271-vietnamese-beef-noodle-soup-pho.html