Dalat, Vietnam

We thought the mountain area of Dalat would be a welcome relief from the hot temperatures we have been experiencing for such a long time- unfortunately, it was wet and miserably cold! We had to put on our thermal underwear and woollens!

Dalat is a place that Vietnamese honeymooners like to visit. At night, in the city centre, there was a festival atmosphere with young noisy Vietnamese hiring tandem bicycles and causing havoc in the streets.

There is a lake near the centre of Dalat and it has a golf course for the Vietnamese who earn over $5 million Dong per month: $500nz! The poor earn 25cents a day!
Dalat has a cable car for tourists to visit the pine forest areas. It is also famous for its flowers and there is a large flower garden for tourists to visit.

Mui Ne, Vietnam

We caught a bus from HCMC to the coastal resort town of Mui Ne. The Vietnamese Tourist Board has organised a great bus service. They have Open Bus Tours, a bit like The Kiwi Experience buses in NZ. You buy a ticket with so many stops and then get off where you want and call the company the day before you want to rejoin the bus to the next stop. It is about $22 us from HCMC to Hanoi. This bullock cart was taking sand from the beach to a construction site.
We met Zhi Min from Guangzhou, China. She is a maths teacher and was spending her holidays travelling. We hope to meet up with her at a later stage.
The fishermen use these boats made from bamboo and palms and they are covered with what looks like a resin. The have just one oar.
Mui Ne is famous for fish sauce and it is fermented in these jars. I had a blocked nose and blocked ears while in Mui Ne so I was fortunate not to be able to smell it!

Many tourists like to windsurf here too.

We hired a motorbike and visited some of the sights. There are huge sand dunes and the children sell mats that you an use to slide down the hills.

The beach was very dirty as they do not have an efficient system for disposing of the rubbish and just drop it anywhere and everywhere. Vietnam, like the other Asian countries we have visited is drowning under the Styrofoam and plastic waste they love to use.

The fishing boats are very colourful and at night the horizon is a glow with the lights from the fishing boats. Everywhere people are catching fish and drying it. Every pond, creek, stream, or puddle seems to have fish that they eat!

Trays of dried fish.

Family guesthouse, Saigon, Vietnam

We were recommended a family guesthouse in Ho Chi Minh City by Tania and Philippe, Swiss travellers we had met in Thailand. The guesthouse was very new and opened onto a very narrow lane. It was in the backpacker area of HCMC. The grandfather had bought the house in 1945 for a nugget of gold. Now his son and family live there. Dad used to be a taxi driver and mum a tailor. They live in the house with their 3 adult children. Two are married and the eldest daughter will marry in October and live here with her husband.

They invited us to join the family for a Vietnamese meal. Annette from Raumati is teaching in a language school in HCMC and she boards at the guesthouse and joined us too. A Brazilian, Eddie, works at a Brazilian restaurant owned by an uncle and he also boards here and joined us.

Annette from Raumati and Trong


Tam, the oldest daughter who will marry in October.
Preparing the meal
Enjoying the meal.
From Left: John, Eddie, Mr Wee (Annette's motorbike driver), the father, Annette, Lil.

Behind the father is the house across the other side of the lane. The lounge area opens onto the lane and motorbikes drive by as well as vendors carrying baskets of goodies for sale. Compared with us they live very public lives.

Water Puppet Show-Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

We were lucky to be able to go to the water puppet show in Ho Chi Minh City as it is usually only held in Hanoi. The water puppet theatre dates from the 11th century.
The dancing fairies were like synchronised swimmers flapping their wings.
The boat race caused the water to spill onto the floor as they raced back and forth across the pool.
Dressed in traditional clothes and using traditional instruments 6 musicians sat around the stage accompanying the puppets.
The dragon had fireworks come out of its mouth and sprayed water over those of us near the front and all the cameras disappeared quickly!


At the end of the show the puppeteers appeared from behind the screens. They have to serve a very long apprenticeship before they can work in public. They were so skillful. They had frogs leaping out of the water and a fox chased the farmers ducks around the pool and ended up a tree with one in its mouth. Quite amazing! It was a fun night!

Ho Chi Minh City- Vietnam

The central market

Anyone for a cyclo?
How about frogs legs?
Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon reminds us of Bangkok 30 years ago. There are more motorbikes than cars. We are staying in a family guesthouse off a small lane near the heart of "Backpackerland".

We took a tour to the Cu Chi tunnels where the locals lived underground during the war. The Americans blew up some of the tunnels and they have renovated others for tourists. The land above the tunnels was sprayed with defoliant so there was not much food for the soldiers. They gave us tapioca root and a tea made from a local herb so we could experience the food the soldiers ate. We had to 'duck walk' 100 metres in the tunnels as they were so low and narrow. They were built for short skinny Asians!

Visited a Government run factory that employed Agent orange Victims to make lacquer ware.

A motivated young lady, Siem Reap-Cambodia

We met this amazingly motivated young lady at a hotel in Siem Reap. She has been on my mind since we left so I have decided to write about her and share the story she told us.


She was born in a Phnom Penh, the middle of 7 children. Her mother wanted her to work in a garment factory in Phnom Penh like her sisters and other family members. She did not want to as many people develop reactions to the fabric dust and dyes causing swollen limbs and respiratory illnesses.


She was sent to live with her aunt in Siem Reap at aged 16 years. Her aunt had a street stall selling food to passersby near Angkor Wat. At night they slept on the table after the last customers left. One night it was very cold so her aunt lit a fire under the table and unfortunately it was destroyed in the fire! She remained with her aunt for 6 years.


She got a job at the small hotel and everyday you are greeting with a bubbly "Good morning. What are you plans today?" She is so enthusiastic and speaks very good English. She is the 'trouble shooter' at the reception desk.


She goes to classes between 6 and 7am learning Business Management. At 7.10 she begins work at the hotel and trouble shoots until 6 pm. Then she races off to class again to learn Hotel Administration from 6-7pm. She changes and then works at a restaurant greeting customers and trouble shooting until the last customer leaves at 10 or 11 pm.


She sleeps at the hotel on the floor in the kitchen with the other kitchen staff and has been doing this now for 4 years, 7 days a week!


Her dad left her mum so she does not believe she can meet a faithful man so has no plans for marriage or a family.


We wish her all the luck in the world!


These guys work at the hotel too. One drives a tuk tuk at night.

Motorcycle City

We are now in Ho Chi Minh City - formerly known as Saigon. It was renamed by the victorious north Vietnamese army.

Many, especially the south Vietnamese still call it Saigon. Yesterday we went on tour and met Mr Lim, formerly a soldier in the south Vietnamese army. With their allies they were defeated by the communists. He gave us lots of interesting information about HCMC.

The city now has a population of over eight million people. Most of the tenement buildings are under four floors high so the city is very spread out - unlike China were apartment blocks are twenty + floors high and the cities very compact.

There are no motorways in the cities and the streets very narrow.

There are three million+ motorcycles on the roads, one million bicycles and 300,00 cars. Most of these motorcycles are 125cc Hondas or similar.

Most of the inner city streets are clearways and the motorcycles are parked on the footpaths. It took us one and a half hours to travel 30 Km. in the city with Mr Lim!

Every month there are between 100 and 150 road fatalities!

We've decided against hiring motorbikes in HCMC!