There has been some very bad internet connections since our last post so no hassling us about taking our time. We have tried every day just about and some places wouldn't even let our email get through.
We have arrived in Ho Chi Minh city now and have been enjoying our selves since Hanoi. The weather up north was the pits. We caught the train overnight from Hanoi to Hue. Hue was an old capital and had this great old ruins called the Citadel. Wandering the Citaldel was very atmospheric in the drizzly weather.
The next day (Tuesday) we had our DMZ tour. That is the border between North and South Vietnam where a lot of the conflict took place in the war. Our first stop was the Vinh Moc tunnels where a lot of the villagers hid during the bombing. They were very cramped and people had to spend a lot of time down there, so there was little rooms for families and even a maternity room where 17 babies were born. It was pretty cramped although there are worse tunnels around Ho Chi Minh City. The next stop was Khe Sanh military air base which was interesting but a little disappointing. Apart from a few plane and tank remnants, and a small museum there wasn't much else there. We think the runway musthave become overgrown and after the war the Vietnamese did a lot of cleaning up, never imagining that it would be a future tourist site. Along the road on the bus trip we also made a few stops, one at the river which makes the border, one a some famous pile of rocks, and the last was at a brige where a Ho Chi Minh trail used to start. (those were paths through the jungle that went from the north to the south, to supply weapons and supplies to north troops in the south) Overall the tour was informative but a little disappointing.
The next day it was on to Hoi An. This has been possibly our best place yet. It had the picturesque shops and houses of Luang Prabang, but a more genuine Vietnamese culture about it. It was a really nice place to relax and stroll aroud the streets. It is also a great place to get clothes made. We decided to invest in a few jackets and a suit for Brett, all tailored and what not. We also enjoyed some our best meals yet, and ran into our American friend Christian who we had met back in Laos on the slow boat. In fact the same people seem to keep popping up in cafes and on street corners.
Sadly we had to leave to spend a night in one of the worst places we've been(Danang) so we could catch our plane in the morning. We were glad to get out of there and arrive here in Ho Chi Minh City. The first day we settled into a nice clean hotel and took our selfves on a walking tour around the city. Today we have seen the War Museum (extreemly graphic and depressing) and the Reunification Palace, a lovely modernist building. We are thoroughly enjoying ourselves, crossing the street is always an adventure and there is plenty to sit and look at.
Tomorrow we are off to Mui Ne, a little fish sauce village on the beach. The weather down south is lovely so we are looking forward to a little sun and surf and maybe even some wind surfing.
Uncle Ho is Ho Chi Minh who was the president of North Vietnam and sadly died in 1969 missing seeing his country reunite. They see him as a father figure but is known as Uncle Ho.
Still struggling with photos.
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4 comments:
Hi Jackie and Brett, You guys send great comments and emails. I'm thoroughly enjoying your holiday, so keep up the good work. Just reading all those named cities and towns is hard enough. But it seems like you have really taken on board the learning of these names. Your time away seems to be going fast. Make the most of the next two weeks and spoil yourselves, so you've got lots of good memories to help you through the next twelve months. All our love, Mum, Dad and Olivia xoxoxo
It's really 11.18pm here. xoxoxo Mum
What? I'm not the first user to comment after the original post, outrageous. I think I'll need to get some of my people to visit these..... Stephen and Naomi crew, they sound dangerous. But regardless this holiday sounds like just the thing you guys needed. I started work on building a scale model of your house here in groovy Brunswick out of Paddle Pop sticks just in case I burn your place down. Don't worry you won't know the difference. Except there might be a few more ants than usual stuck to the walls.
Hope you guys get to read these comments. Just for the record, we are missing you, and it is hard to have fun without you, but we are going to try. Did I mention Dad has gone to N.Z. for 10 days; to Wellington mainly. So as he and you guys will be away for Olivia's birthday (no guilt trips, okay?) we are going to catch up this Saturday night for tea in Geelong at some flash restaurant. Hope you are getting this Luke. And to celebrate Shane's birthday and Olivia's we are going to do something with Linda and Shane the next weekend, probably on the Sunday lunch. I'll keep you posted. But don't worry, we are going to also catch up with you two and Dad on Sunday 18th February too. Now back to the holiday. Where are you now? Wherever you are we are with you in Spirit. We love you both very deeply. Take good care of yourselves and of each other. xoxoxo Mum and Olivia (and Dad)
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