Vietnam, from Saigon to Hanoi in 8 days

Crossing into Vietnam from Cambodia was easier then we thought. The charter bus was air conditioned, had free water, a toilet, and an abundance of Asian men on their cellphones (great for sleeping). We thought we were in great shape when we scratched the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City on hour 6. That was foolish thinking because we spent another hour and a half in traffic dodging motorbikes. The amount of two seaters in this city is astonishing. Two, sometimes three or four people to a bike, no more than a few inches from the next, owned the streets of the city. After the long trek and a steamy bowl of Pho, we made our way to the Marriott Riverside Renaissance Hotel (Adam kindly cashed in some Marriott points for the rooms). 5 star hotel, free internet, free drinks, free food, and a roof top view of the city, thank you Adam. We settled in, then charged head first into the HCMC nightlife. The dancing started early on at the acclaimed Apocalypse Now bar, then ended much later at a Karaoke Bar, which turned out to be a really crappy casino. I would say it was a darn good start to our Vietnam segment.

At the Riverside Renaissance on the Club Level.

1 Dollar = 17, 780 Dong. We felt cooler than we were.

A group toast at Apocalypse Now.

Alex and I riding this lounge/elevator to the "Karaoke Bar."

After a slow start to the day, we finally decided to venture out of town to the Cu Chi Tunnels. About 60Km out of town, the tunnel system began. The tunnels were a very important part to Vietnam's strategy during the war. Miles and Miles of these tunnels criss-crossed this area much like an ant farm. Bunkers, halfway houses, hospitals, and dining halls were all connected by these 2.5 foot tall passage ways. The tunnels we went into were expanded for the sake of the tours so that big westerns could fit in. Beth still got claustrophobic and exited as quickly as possible. The Vietnamese sneaky war tactics leveraged the use of many different types of booby traps, which made me slightly nauseous to imagine. However, this part of Vietnam is must.

In an entrance to the Chu Chi Tunnels. I barely fit even after they widened the opening.

Picture of the group in a US Tank. A Vietnamese landmine could take one of these out in a single explosion. Can you find me?

Adam and I inside one of the larger tunnels

100 percent humidity + crawling around underground for a half hour = the need for a rinse.

Shooting an M-30 at the shooting range. Right in the middle of the tour, they ask you if you want to shoot automatic guns. Um... yes please.

Beth, alert and ready.

That evening we caught a short flight on Jet Star to Danang, Vietnam's "most popular city." Well, we thought this city looked a lot better in the rear view mirror of our taxi. We headed south for a small town called Hoi An. Hoi An seemed like a bad idea once we quickly discovered there was no vacancy at any of our chosen accommodations and every street corner looked like El Paso. We chatted with a few backpackers who assured us it was a day and night type city, literally. The next morning we awoke to a completely different place. Tailoring shops as far as the eye could see, quaint cafes and bakeries, and some of the best art boutiques in South East Asia. What did we do? Went to a cafe for lunch, got fitted for suits, and bought paintings. Hoi An was a favorite of all of ours.

Just a little treat on the riverbank of Hoi An.

Thi and I fitting my suit for the 3rd time. There was a staff of around 20 women helping us at all times. We spent around 6- 8 hours getting our new threads tailored.

After a couple days of suit fittings and haggling over a few thousand Dong for art work, we took a minibus a short way up the Ho Chi Minh Highway to Hue, a city that was almost entirely demolished during the Vietnam War, when conquered by the Vietcong. Although Hue was not our favorite place, we still managed to have a darn good time. Lonely Planet's "Eating" section certainly gets kudos in this town. We ate two steak meals at an excellent French bistro in the heart of town. Also we rented motor bikes and explored the city from inside the citadel (much like Jason Borne in Marrakesh) to the outer parts, where we visited tombs of Vietnamese Emperors. We hopped on an over night train bound for Hanoi, a city I had been looking forward to for months.

A snapshot at of the the Tombs outside of Hue.

On the Overnight train from Hue to Hanoi. The Air conditioning turned off every time the train stopped at a stain. There were at least ten stops. Not cool.

We rolled into Hanoi on Saturday October 14th around 6 am and headed to a free wifi cafe to regroup and plan our next four days. We decided to hold off on the city and head straight to the Halong Bay. Our tour was 2 days and 1 night on a boat with 14 other people. Our activities included exploring the caves, kayaking, swimming and cruising around the bay. We took a van 3 hours to the bay then embarked on a vessel that looked nothing like the advertisement, duped! The rooms were adequate so we did not complain. This is my favorite part, Kayaking.

After seeing the caves, we all paired off for Kayaking, Beth with me, Adam with Alex. I knew something interesting was going to happen when I saw Alex charging towards our Kayak just as soon as I settled into the stern. Some how Beth and I dodged them and decided to stay far away from those two, especially since our tour guide said "be careful, very easy to sunk." After about twenty minutes or so, I spotted Alex and Adam horsing around in the Kayak in the middle of the bay, where giant boats constantly pass through with little regard for smaller boats. Suddenly I became interested in this fun. Basically, giant boats frequently passed through a channel in the bay, some towing much smaller boats, barely larger than a row boat. Alex and Adam (mainly Alex) were trying to catch up with the smaller boat and "hitch a ride" through the channel (like Marty McFly skate boarding behind pick ups in Back to the Future). After several failed attempts from the boys, I decided that Beth and I would give it a try, go figure. We stalked the next boat coming through the channel, Alex and Adam one side, Beth and I on the other. We all started paddling in the direction of the fast approaching boat. As it split in between our kayaks, I knew that were positioned for success. The boat quickly passed by, then came the smaller one in tow. Beth grabbed hold and we were off. As soon as she reached down to grab here camera, we detached, and were now left in the dust. This is the BEST part! Alex and Adam grabbed hold of the other side of the boat shortly after we let go. I was cheering, everyone in the bay was watching, Beth was attempting to video, then we realized something was wrong. The bow of their kayak was caught in the wake of the tiny boat and they began to nose dive. Within 60 seconds, 75 percent of the kayak was submerged and the boys were forced to jump ship. The Kayak continued to take on water and inevitably sank. Beth and I were crying laughing, Alex was holding for dear life to the rope that was attached to the bow, and Adam was trying to climb on board with us. Soon the entire bay was fully involved and hovering around every dock to get a glimpse of the knuckleheads that capsized. After hours of arguing with the shop owners about damage charges, they settled on a price and we were on our way. This is one of the funniest things I have seen in my lifetime.

Inside the Caverns in Halong Bay

This was about 30 minutes before Alex and Adam sunk their kayak. Priceless.

A view of the Halong Bay. You can see the opening in the rocks on the right. This is the channel of sunken kayaks.

Beth relaxing on the boat

Our last and final stop in Veitnam was Hanoi. Here is the recap from Alex:

"So we made it to Hanoi and can safely say this has been our favorite city experience. As the capital of the French Indochina Empire it is steeped in history and influences from the whole region. Unlike most other big cities here, which separate tourists from local life, one is immersed with the locales at every turn.We have successfully ticked every cultural box Hanoi has to offer. We saw a traditional Vietnamese puppet show. We ate in the streets with the locales, cooking our food on skillets. Then we went to a shady nightclub and quickly ingratiated ourselves with the Hanoi mafia, who had us toasting with Blue Label till closing. Last, but by no means
least, we drank the blood of a snake. We crossed the river, were directed down a dark and dingy ally to find a small shop where we each killed and cut out the heart of a snake before drinking it"

-Alex Goldsmith

Cooking beef on a skillet on a street in the old quarter. The chairs must have been made for toddlers.

A Vietnam vet/snake charmer. This snake was going to be our dinner.

Not sure why I thought I would get to know him first.

Moments before ingesting the snake heart, snake bile, and snake blood.

Here is a video of us driving rickshaw/bikes in Hue. As the video demonstrates, they were not equipped with brakes.