daughter off overseas - vietnam

[bob10]

Well, the daughter and her friend have taken off for Vietnam, 19 days and what a trip. Starting at ho chi minh city[ Saigon] with a Mekong delta homestay, night train to Nha Trang, then night train to Da Nang, flight to Hanoi ,home stay at Sapa,then Cat Ba island. A couple of hotel stays, the rest backpacking. A far better trip than when a generation of Aussies were there last, and a good thing to. Bob

[p38arover]

Sounds similar to the one my wife and daughter did when Jetstar first started flying to Vietnam. Tickets on Jetstar - $37, yes thirty-seven dollars, each way (plus taxes).

[It'sNotWorthComplaining!]

A mate went over with his family and had a great time, warm and friendly people, he recently went with some army buddies and went and toured some of the infamous spots.
I reckon I could handle Vietnam, but you wouldn't get me to Bali at any cost

[incisor]

daughter did that trip last year

loved the majority of the people

thought most of the place was a grubby run down squat.

and that coming from a girl that is happy to sleep on concrete bunks in the middle of a thai jungle nursing sick monkeys...

[p38arover]

Odd. My wife and daughter found Vietnam to be very clean. In none of their photos can rubbish be seen.

[Sentinel]

Odd. My wife and daughter found Vietnam to be very clean. In none of their photos can rubbish be seen.

Same here, a friend did a tour there recently and it was very clean and nice. The travel agent organised local guides for her and they took her places she would not normally go to with the normal tours. She loved it. Didn't mind the food either.

[wagoo]

Hanoi has been undergoing modernisation and rebuilding over the past decade or so and is basically a huge, busy and dusty construction site, and some parts are still a bit dirty and smelly with open sewers in some districts and provinces.
We have a house with a river frontage about 9km from Hanoi Central, and up until about 9 years ago there was no garbage collection service in the district, so the local residents would dump all their rubbish on the river banks, which naturally attracted rats by the thousands. Since the garbage collection service began the situation has improved appreciably, but old habits die hard for some. Sapa and Catba Island although very scenic are also quite dirty once you look beyond the tourist beaten track. Still, I love Vietnam and the people, and would move there in a heartbeat if my Vietnamese wife was still with us.
Bill.

[Disco Muppet]

Ill be heading back for my third trip over to VN this christmas, we have very good family friends who live over there.
sure it can be dirty, loud and noisy, but I never felt out of place or unwelcome, the food was great and the people are wonderful.
When we were in Sapa, we met a girl who taught herself english by reading War and Peace....magnificent place and i'd love to live there, except i doubt the disco would get out alot :(

[bob10]

Ill be heading back for my third trip over to VN this christmas, we have very good family friends who live over there.
sure it can be dirty, loud and noisy, but I never felt out of place or unwelcome, the food was great and the people are wonderful.
When we were in Sapa, we met a girl who taught herself english by reading War and Peace....magnificent place and i'd love to live there, except i doubt the disco would get out alot :(
Thanks for that, the daughter has reported in via e-mail, she says the people are really nice [ apart from the pushy ones working for tour companies. ] her first time overseas without the parents, I 'm glad she picked Vietnam. For a variety of reasons. Not the least being an underlaying irrational feeling of guilt. Not sure I could go there and look the people in the eye. Bob

[bob10]

Heard from the daughter again, just a few snippets " adventerous day in the city explored by ourselves. Were drawn to a park by the sound of local live music, stayed for a while, very good. Went for a ride on a motorbike [Dad will probably kill me when I get home ] " She's sending me grey. " Went to the War Museum, very chilling, came out feeling angry at the world" her & a few hundred thousand others. " Went to Mass at Notre Dame Cathedral, had to stand outside, there were so many people, it was packed. " Now that is a surprise, I thought the north Viet. Gov. was anti all that.

"Went to a traditional lunch, $2.50, to a traditional western restaurant for dinner, $ 8.15 for dinner, drinks, dessert . After the war Museum, talked to a couple of young locals for over an hour so they could practice their English " typical school teacher in training. " Tomorrow we go to the Cu Chi tunnels " my cousin visited the tunnels during the war, for a totally different reason. " it will be good to get out of the city, it's ok, but not the nicest place to be. " can't say much about that. cheers, Bob

[wagoo]

Ill be heading back for my third trip over to VN this christmas, we have very good family friends who live over there.
sure it can be dirty, loud and noisy, but I never felt out of place or unwelcome, the food was great and the people are wonderful.
When we were in Sapa, we met a girl who taught herself english by reading War and Peace....magnificent place and i'd love to live there, except i doubt the disco would get out alot :(

We hired a Russian Jeep(UAZ 469) with driver whilst in Sapa to take us to some of the surrounding villages away from the tourist beat. Most paths and rural roads/tracks are made to be navigable by pushbike and low powered motorbikes, so the Disco wouldn't get much of a workout. In fact an Ex Pat German friend of mine who owns one of only a couple of Disco 1s in Hanoi,drove all over Vietnam whilst employed with the Siemans Engineering group on hydro electric schemes. Even on their roughest trails he never had to engage the centre difflock. Portal axles would come in very handy in the major towns though, when the inevitable happens and you run over some poor soul on a bike or walking amidst unbelievably heavy traffic.Hopefully the extra grounclearance will give them a chance:angel:
If intending to drive over there, take out insurance to cover personal injury or worse to anyone involved in a traffic accident, even if you and your vehicle are 100metres from the scene and not directly involved! You are a foreigner that can afford a car, therefore you are rich and will be expected to pay compensation:confused:. Things of course may have changed in the 3 or so years since I last visited.
Whilst some of us may feel a sense of guilt about being involved in an unjust war, most of the North Vietnames War Veterans I met, which also include my 3 brothers in law, bare no grudges or malice towards Australian or even US ex service personnel. If you are a good person, they recognise that right away and are extremely warm, friendly and welcoming. Most folk under 50 years of age seem not to know nor care much about the war and just want to get on with living. Maybe it's just me, but even in the less populated outer suburbs of Melbourne,Sydney,Brisbane etc, I feel claustrophobic and a need to be on my guard at all times, yet even in the centre of Hanoi with millions of people everywhere, I sense a warm, friendly semi rural atmosphere that I feel we have lost here over the past couple of decades.
The North Vietnamese government tend not to interfere very much in peoples lives or religeon. If you wanted to worship the devil I doubt they would care. They are all on the take though. I had to keep peeling off US$100 notes to government officials and clerks to obtain authorised documentation in order to marry my dear lady.
Bill.

[Disco Muppet]

Ahh yes, vivd memories of parting with a fistful of notes for the lady on the train, or the police man, or the other police man, or the othe- you get the idea :D
The friends we have over there are in the steel business, probably some of the wealthiest people in Vietnam. We got driven around in ford escorts mainly.
And you're absolutely right. I never met a single person who had any sort of grudge against aussies.
Similarly in Turkey, I found alot of respect for Australians but not so much the brits :D
Except for one shopkeeper who proclaimed "Australian?! Ha! My grandfather kill many Australian!" :eek:
ahh well.
I enjoyed every minute of my time in VN, except for one night when I ate Durian....big mistake....
Can't wait to head back.

[bob10]

Well, after a few days of no news, another e-mail from the daughter. I have to say, I now know how my parents felt when I went overseas with the grey funnel line, and was really slack with my letter writing. It's true what they say about Karma. She was freaked out with the Cu Chi tunnels, but still went thru them. ["character building", dear] Stayed in a home in a village in the Mekong Delta for a night, had the best meal yet on the trip, said it was a good experience, but not one she thinks she will do again. [ her idea of roughing it is a 2 star hotel, I think this trip will be good for her] Caught the night train, Saigon [ her word, perhaps Saigon & Ho chi - minh city is a bit like lang Park & Suncorp Stadium to Qlders.] to Nha Trang, shared a 4 berth with strangers, all was ok [ grasshopper is growing] but then it was hot springs & mud baths , backpackers for a night, then a comfy hotel [ thats the girl I know :rolleyes:] Have to admit, when it came on the news about the poor woman who was killed in Thailand today, it sent a shiver up my spine. As I said, Karma. Must go have a talk to Mum tomorrow, Bob