Have I got travel for you: Week 13

I've blogged a lot recently, so this is just a quick entry for completeness sake about the southern half of Vietnam. That's not to diminish how fantastic this place is though.

Hoi An

Hoi An is an appealing location for a visit. Everything is just so nice and clean. Interesting stalls line the road and street food is as cheap as it is delicious. At night hundreds of colourful lights illuminate the riverside; it really is quite magical to look at. Not that I was particularly interested, but you can also get practically any item of clothing tailor made for you here.

The streets of Hoi An

What I really loved about Hoi An though, was the beaches. You'd think perhaps I'd grown weary of beaches by now, but the thunderous waves kept the experience fresh. It's incredible just how much time you can waste jumping into giant waves (not that you can see big waves in this particular photo below).

The slightly comically named An Bang beach

I had originally envisaged recreating the Top Gear Vietnam special. That is to get a motorcycle and ride through the country. Unfortunately that didn't quite work out, however I did satisfy my urge by renting a bike just for the day and taking the 50km round trip to Danang.

Danang was well worth the visit just for Marble Mountain. It's basically just a mountain made out of marble (it's in the name really) and there are some cool caves and views there.

The view from Marble Mountain

Yet more caves, but at least this one was decorated

Nha Trang

I honestly didn't think I'd like anywhere else as much as Hoi An and then I found Nha Trang (as did about a thousand Russians). It's a metropolitan town right on the coast line. To be honest, I don't think I actually saw much of the town; too much time spent in spas, amusement parks and on the beach.

This is muddy good fun

Mineral pools at the spa because all that lazing on the beach had got me a bit stressed out

Another picture just to drive home how awesome the spa was

Oh my gosh! And then we have Vinpearl Land, perhaps the greatest day of my life so far (a slight exaggeration perhaps, but you get the idea). So many childhood memories relived in one place. Basically you get a cable car across to an island and then spend the day having fun. There are rides, a water park, an aquarium, a games arcade, a circus and a stunning beach. All in one place!

The cable car over to Vinpearl

It's ironic I turned 24 on this day, as it made me feel about 13 again

Finding Nemo... I think he might already be fish sauce

I think one of the reasons I have enjoyed Southern Vietnam so much is because of the vibrant backpacker community. There are so many people doing the exact same route and I've made some really good friends in an astonishingly short time. What started out as three of us travelling together soon swelled into a group of 14 moving as a pack. This did make for an incredibly fun, big night out for my birthday. I even got a birthday cake with candles and all, which was really lovely.

Ho Chi Minh City
I think this is about the most generic city imaginable. However there are a few items of specific interest. One, the astonishing number of motorbikes on the road and two, it's fascinating history. There are three main attractions to visit which teach you about the history of Vietnam: The palace, the War Museum and the Cu Chi tunnels. The palace was so unimaginably dull that I contemplated introducing a new award in honour of it's under-achievement.

Fortunately, the War Museum was a highly moving and interesting place (kind of like Hanoi prison, but more thorough). The Cu Chi tunnels were also intriguing in their own right. Cu Chi show cased a series of tunnels that the Vietnamese people used to hide from B52 bombers. It also explained how they fought and survived the war.