28 September – 8 October 2023

The last week or so has been amazing. We left Da Nang on a 12 hour train trip bound for Nha Trang. We spent 3 nights in Nha Trang relaxing and still trying to recover from COVID. We walked the streets, swam in the pool, ate at different restaurants and caught up on washing.

A few weeks ago we booked a motorcycle tour of the central highlands. We have never ridden on a bike before so there was both excitement and apprehension in the air. We were picked up by Tree and Nobi of Vietnam Motorcycle Tours who were to be our guides/drivers for the next 3 days. As it turns out, Pete and I were the only ones booked in. With our hiking packs wrapped in plastic bags and tied on the back, we headed out. The first day was a big riding day of 300km. We stopped at a fishing village and learnt about the fishing fleet and their boats. We stopped at rice fields to learn how the farmers grow the rice and how snails (originally introduced as a speciality food) are destroying the crops. As the largest exporter of rice to the world and the main staple food of the country, this is an issue. We went to a rubber plantation to see how latex is farmed. Originally introduced by the French, Vietnam is now he 4th largest exporter of rubber in the world. We finally arrived in Buon Ma Thuot (BMT) City 9 hours after we set out, and our hotel for the night.

Day 2 was a shorter riding day, but with lots of rain made it challenging. We visited a coca farm and tasted fresh chocolate. We then stopped by a family that made rice paper & rice noodles to see the processes. Incense making is a large industry in Vietnam, with beautifully coloured and smelling incense sticks in every home. We saw how the sticks were made and packaged, ready for sale. Khu Bao National park was our next stop to see the magic waterfalls and to have a swim. The swimming hole was a beautiful turquoise blue, in sharp contrast to the brown of the water rushing over the waterfalls. We clambered down to the swimming hole through the rain, mud and jungle. It was an awesome spot, not visited by many tourists. The rain didn’t bother us, but once back to the bikes we tried to dry off a little, put on the wet weather riding gear and headed to Lak lake, our stop for the night. This area is home to the Hmong people, one of 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam who all live harmoniously together. After 10 hours, we were glad to arrive and take off our very soggy boots and clothes.

Day 3 started with a long boat ride on Lak Lake. The Local people fish in the lake each day. They also have elephants that live on their properties. The elephants are looked after in an effort to save their species. It is very common to see an one being walked down the road which we got to see. Our last day of riding had lots of riding on very rough pot holed roads. The roads were winding, hilly and challenging, but at least the weather was a lot better & not raining

We visited a Silk factory to see the process of growing the silk worms and harvesting the silk for clothing. We stopped by a floating village, dragon fruit farm, a flower farm and a huge statue of lady buda and happy buda. Our last stop was at a coffee plantation. The coffee culture is huge in Vietnam and the central highlands region is famous for it’s coffee beans. One very special type of coffee grown here is weasel coffee. The weasels eat the pods, poop it out which is collected, cleaned and turned into coffee. I had a cup of one of the varieties, but it wasn’t my favourite brew. We then finished our tour in the city of  Da Lat. it was another long day (about 10 hours) so we were glad to arrive. The trip overall was an amazing experience and one we would definitely look into doing again.

We spent the night Da Lat before catching the 8hr sleeper bus to Ho Chi Minh City. We spent a couple of days seeing the sites of HCM city on foot. The war remnants museum was something we had to see and would highly recommend anyone in the area to come to. The museum building is split over 3 levels and then an outdoor display completes the story. There is a huge amount of information on the history of the country and on the various wars that have ravaged it for over 200 years. The main focus though is on the Vietnam war. It has an entire room dedicated to the media correspondents who risked their lives to cover the actions and consequences of the war. Another room was dedicated to the impacts of the dioxin known as agent orange to the economy, environment and people who not only lived and fought in Vietnam, but the generations that have been impacted since. For more than 40 years the chemical dropped to kill the vegetation of the jungle to expose the Vietnamese soldiers still impacts new born children. The toxin altered the genetics of the people, which severely impacted thousands of children born since. The outdoor displays showed some of the equipment such as tanks, planes, helicopters and bombs used. The final part of the outdoor display showed the atrocious methods and lengths that were taken in an attempt to get information from prisoners including political prisoners, soldiers and children. The brutality of the war which raged for 20 years was very confronting. We also visited the Ben Thanh day market, full of souvenirs and the Ben Nghe night food market. We went to the observation deck of the Saigon Skydeck to have a look at the city at night. Being only 2 seasons in southern Vietnam means it is currently wet season. This is both good and bad. Good because there are not many tourists anywhere and hotels are cheap, but getting wet is a daily occurrence. It worked out well this day as watching the lightening from the top of the building was pretty good. Our last activity in HCM City was to take a tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels. The tunnels were used by the south Vietnamese soldiers to hide and live. We were able to go inside one of these tunnels and crawl from one end to another. It was hot, humid and very narrow and we can only imagine how difficult it must have been for the soldiers. There were also examples of the hidden booby traps and different uniforms used. It was a very interesting place to visit.

Well we finally made it to the end of 4 weeks in Vietnam. We have travelled from Hanoi in the North to Ho Chi Minh in the South, a distance of more than 2,000km. We have travelled by plane, train, bus, car and motorcycle and loved every minute. We stayed in 10 hotels/ home stays across 9 towns/cities. We met many travellers from all over the world and had countless laughs. COVID finally caught up with us and is still lingering, but isn’t stopping us from enjoying ourselves. We have had the best time over the past month and will no doubt return to see more of this magnificent country. Now we make the 7 hour trip to Phnom Penn, capital of Cambodia, where more adventures await.