Vietnam

Into Vietnam Massive bridge crossing Mekong river, on the way to Chau Doc, the entry post to Vietnam. Pho Bo This is the mother of all vietnamese dishes, rice noodle soup ("pho") with fresh herbs and beef ("bo"). It is eaten at all times of the day, but particularly popular for breakfast. Cai Rang Floating Market This is the biggest floating market in Vietnam, close to Can Tho in the Mekong delta. It was not that impressive, though, probably because it was right after Chinese New Year, which is also heavily celebrated in Vietnamn (it is called TET here) and slows down all aspects of everyday life. Cargo Handling at Floating Market Pineapples change their owner and will be shipped to smaller local markets from here... Mekong Backwaters Just around the corner into a side channel, landscape changes into a lush and peaceful scenery. Despite the deserted impressio, the area is full of life and behind wach tree there is a little house with a little business....
Rice Noodle Factory ... for instance such mundane things as a rice noodle factory... Snake Skins ... or more exotic establishments as this snake farm, producing boa skins for soon-to-be handbags (this one being mounted for drying). Tourguide Tourguide Nhan was charming and compentent company on the tour through the delta! Food Experiments I Hmm, looks tasty, but what is it? It's a field mouse - a delicacy in the region... and it was tasty :-) Food Experiments II Looking a bit less tasty, but of course a "must try" once there is the opportunity, this is a half-hetched duck egg ("duck embryo"). It tastes better than it looks, basically just like a boiled egg. Maybe a bit more chewy, though...
Food Experiments III We sticked to the eggs - this one being a plain chicken egg, but preserved in a mixture of clay, ash, salt and other condiments - the so called "hundred year egg" (eventhough probably not older than a few weeks). It looks quite groce, and - honestly - it was not very tasty either. Food Experiments Company My companions on the food tour: Thoai, the local who knows every streed kitchen of Can Tho, and Chris, an american living in Guangzhou. HCMC View of Ho Chi Minh City (former Saigon) from Skydeck on the 48th floor of Bitexco Financial Tower, Saignos highest and most characteristic building. Night Falling over HCMC Ho Chi Minh Ho Chi Minh, father of the united (and communist) Vietnam, is omnipresent in the country, here at the beautiful central post office in HCMC.
War Remnants Museum Saigon is full of testimonies of the recent past. War remnants museum being one of the prominent ones, focusing on the war crimes committed by the americans during the Vietnam war. Eventhough very one-sided, most of the information provided is probably still true - a disturbing reminder of what this now so beautiful country went through (and still goes through my means of "UXO" and victims of "agent orange"). Reunification Palace Former South Vietnams Presidential Palace, this place has been left unchanged since the surrender of Saigon in 1975 and now gives an nostalgic image of the 70s lifestyle of the politicians at that time. Cu Chi Tunnels The classic must do excursion from HCMC is to the Cu Chi tunnels, a section of the famed tunnel system used by the Viet Cong during the war. Propaganda The whole country is full of propaganda posters (at least that's what I think they are), but most of them are actually quite beautiful... Accomodation: Cheap While I decided not to sleep in dorms anymore, I still try to live as cheaply as possible. Most of the time, for 15 - 20 CHF you get a decent single room with private bath, but sometimes I push the limit a bit too hard... like here in HCMC, where I ended up in this cramped stinky room in HCMC, leaving me 50 cm of space around the bed and a 1x1m bathroom (including toilet and shower!). At least it was clean... and it had TV and AirCon! And it only cost me 11 USD per night :)
A Night at the Opera What I save on accomodation I spend on culture - ok, not really, but I actually DID spend a night at Saigon Opera, even if was only for the "A O Show", an artistic - and somewhat touristy - dance and music performance. Dalat Welcome to Dalat, the flower and honeymoon capital of Vietnam. If you buy some flowers back home in winter, chances are that they have been grown here, as there is a massive export to Europe from here... Dalat Greenhouses ... which leaves it's marks in the enviroment, I guess it's Vietnams equivalent to our "El Ejido" in southern Spain. Sunset over Dalat Night out in Dalat Linh, the owner of "Sleep in Dalat Hostel" (just at the right from me) organized something for all her guests every single night. A dinner out, goint to a concert or just cooking for all of us at the hostel. This was a night out in a live music bar.
Hike to Tiger Falls The area around Dalat is full of lush, green pine forests and hiking a day was a beautiful experience (even if not all of the bridges we had to cross where 100% trustworthy) Nha Trang Nha Trang is Vietnams #1 beach resort and also very popular with russians - so not necessarly the place to go. I mainly went there for scuba diving, which was quite disappointing, but the beach was really nice... Nha Trang View of Nha Trang from the ocean - the cable car leads tourists over to the Vinpearl theme park and has become quite a landmark of the city. Beautiful Hoi An Hoi An is famous for its beautiful and well preserved old town, full of old temples, assembly hals and traditional houses. Hoi An
No Chair - No Problem! This is one of the big misteries of Asia to the western tourist: how can one sit in this position for more than just a few seconds? These guys do it for hours and even swear that it is comfortable for them! Assembly Hall in Hoi An Just one of unnumberd temples, assembly halls and family houses in old-town Hoi An. Incence Spirals in Ceiling All temples are full of incense sticks and - more picturesque - incense spirals. These are hung from the celings together with wishes and prayers which, toghether with the somoke, are sent to the land of the gods... Incense Pillow Beach Ok, it's not really called pillow beach - but wouldn't it be an apt name! In fact it's merely a depaired attempt to save the beach from being swept away...
Flood Marks Hoi An is being flooded almost every year - our tourguide shows us the water levels from the last years, which are marked on this house. Basket Boat Basket boats are a frequent sight in Vietnam. The legend is, that baskets were used as boats in order to avoid taxes that the French colonialists imposed on boats. Fishermen even go out on the ocean with these! Vietnamese Woman Drying Squid Cham Island Before heading norht, wherer the weather is cooler with less beach opportunities, I took the chances for maybe the last day on the beach on this trip. It's on Cham Island, off the coast from Hoi An.
Last Swim? Imperial Dragon Imperial dragon, guarding the ruins of the imperial city in Hue. Monch at Hue's Imperial Enclosure A monk strolling through the citadel - the former imperial city - in Hue. At Burial Site of Minh Mang Hue was the capital of Vietnam during the reign of the Nguyen dynasty from beginning of 19th until mid of 20th century. The graves of the emperors are placed in various large and beautiful garden settings, spread along the Perfume River outside of the city. Butterfly at Minh Mang's Tomb
Perfume Pagode Sunset over Dead Construcction Site in Hue Phong Nha Phong Nha area is in the middle of lush carst mountains and green fields - stunningly beautiful. The place has become famous for several huge and beautiful caves, some of which have only been discovered in the last decade. As a consequence, the place is being heavily developed - this will be a hotspot on the tourist map of Vietnam for sure... Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park Phong Nha-Ke Bang National park is full of wonderful scenery, under which the caves wait to be discovered. Paradise Cave Simply one of the most beautiful caves I've ever seen. It is 35 km long, 2.5 of which are open for public and have been illumintated quite nicely for the tourists.
Paradise Cave Paradise Cave Paradise Cave On the Way to Hang En Cave Phon Nha National Park is home to some of the largest caves in the world, one of them being Lang En, the third largest in terms of volume. Here we just started a 2-day trip to go there! The hike is not a not-too-strenuous 10 km walk through lush greens and implies many, many river crossings (I counted 24) - so wet feed were guaranteed... Entering the Cave We entered Hang En through a side entrance, not specatular per see, but adventurous, and leaving everybody anxious to finally see the BIG cave
Hang En Cave So here it is - the worlds third biggest cave (or at least part of it). On the sand benche, our porters are already building up the campsite and start cooking for dinner... Private Beach in Private Cave View of the main cave entrance from the campsite... breathtaking! Fly the Quad Chrisitian, a guy on the tour, actually carried his quadricopter all the way to Vietnam and right into the cave. He made a spectacular flight and shot a great video (see next). Quadricopter Flight Over Hang En If you have troubles playing the video within the website using Flash Player, you can also download it instead, using the following link: Download Video Cave Dinner Incredibly rich dinner and drinking games with "happy water" (rice wine) in the might hall of Hang En
Caving to the Other Side Caving through a narrower part of Hang En to the "back entrance"... At the Back Entrance ... which turns out to be even more overwhelming than the other side Hang En Cave Re-Entering the Cave On the way back All to soon the time is up and we had to head back towards Phong Nha Village. In the back, the main entrance to Hang En.
Hanoi Street Life 1 The quintessential Vietnamese motorbike girl - and the all are motorbike girls: Hoodie with a girly pattern and mask, more to protect from the sun than from the bad air. Hanoi Street Life 2 Whole of Vietnam passes the idle hours on stools no higher than 30 cm. Why that is, nobody was able to tell, but it's bloody uncomfortable. Beer prices are more comforting: a beer goes for 5000 Dong (0.25 CHF) and the food is cheap and yummie, too. The motorbikes, cars and pedesstrian almost stumbling over the stools and chairs are part of the fun and don't seem to disturb anyone. Hanoi Street Life 3 In Vietnam, stree life is family lilfe, as can be seen here, where presumably three generations cruise the city on two wheels. Hanoi Street Life 4 In Vietnam, everything is transported with a motorbike, and everything is sold from a bicycle, so why not hats? At least they make for a good foto target in front of the Hanoi night lights... On the Way to Halong Bay It's almost like a highway, the sea between Halong City and the main parts of Halong Bay. Dozens and dozens of boats are heading to the same places at the same time.
Halong Bay At Halong Bay Just a proof that I actually was there ;-) Halong Bay Floating Kiosk Halong Bay at Night
Morning Mood at Halong Bay A Pearl is Born At this pearl farm, after 3 years of fostering and coddling, a fresh pearl is extracted from an oyster... Sapa Sapa, in Vietnams northern highlands, is supposed to be beatiful. I can not really confirm it, because I have not seen much more than a wall of clouds and lots of rain. Nevertheless, what showed up when the clouds broke up a little, was certainly quite impressive - lush green and every hill turned into rice terraces. Kid in Sapas Misty Hills Sapa Street Life Possibly a a legacy of the French days, but the Vietnamese certainly love their frogs. As a snack. So if you stumble over one on Sapas country roads, don't let it hop away and make sure to tie it up for a later meal!
Sapa Rice Terraces H'mong Woman H'mong are one of several minority tribes living in the area around Sapa. The women are excellent business people and are to be met in Sapa itself and on the many trails in the hills, never at a loss to sell you something. Demand and Supply As often when travelling, the supply of handicrafts exceeds the demand by far. Its the difficult task of the buyer to decide from whom to buy... Country Girl Sapa Rice Terraces
Goodbye Vietnam It's time to say goodby to Vietnam - I leave the country and move foreward to China. Not on an overloaded motorbike, though, but by plane from Hanoi via Guangzhou to Kunming.