Most new comers to Vietnam comment on how crazy the traffic looks on first arrival. Bikes and cars are everywhere especially at rush hour, and that can mean on the pavements too in some areas so be aware. However, when you take time to sit back and observe you will soon begin to realize that there is some organization amongst the chaos and it isn’t so bad.
There is a method to the madness here!
An important point to let you know is that it is a complete waste of time stopping at pelican or zebra crossings. They are everywhere, but you will be there a long time, as traffic never stops when you wait at the kerb. This is very strange to us from overseas, where the concept is understood. So it is better to find a set of traffic lights to cross at if you can.
If you need to cross the road away from traffic lights at the crossings then you should not dither or be unsure as you cross, as that is when accidents may happen. So you should remember to choose a time when you feel it is best to cross, take a breath, and cross assertively and walk forward confidently. Traffic will know to go around you. Sometimes holding your hand up in the air can help too.
Locals are very helpful and when I first came to Vietnam some lovely people helped me too. If you are unsure in District 1 in Saigon you can ask the tourist police to help you across. Their job is to look after you, so watch for the people in green uniforms.
Look for these green uniforms if you need help getting through the traffic
Coffee is integral to Vietnamese daily life for both business and pleasure and as Vietnam is also one of the largest producers and exporters of coffee in the World, this means coffee shops are abundant. For me they are a part of this country that I miss when I am overseas. Coffee is grown in the Central Highlands, such as Buon Ma Thuot and Dalat. You will need to note that Vietnamese coffee is also very strong. Look for local coffee names such as Trung Nguyen or Highland Coffee. At coffee shops you can often buy the coffee beans whole, or have them ground for you to take home. My parcels to my family for birthdays and Christmas always include a bag or two. Locally coffee is generally drunk hot/cold black, or hot/cold with condensed milk. I discovered a new coffee shop to me this week when I found my usual coffee shop in the grounds of the Reunification Hall undergoing refurbishment. It is just outside and is on the 3rd floor, called the Press Corner. It has a light and relaxed feel, a balcony area, free wifi, and as a bonus you can look out over the Reunification Hall grounds. If you like sports you can watch the local teams playing football outside at the fitness centre next door. Here the coffee is from Trung Nguyen. So why not drop by the Press Corner and ask for a cafe sua da (iced coffee with condensed milk), or a cafe da (iced black coffee) and just take some time out…
Press Corner seating areaThe balcony at Press Corner
Clearly, we are a bit behind in posting reviews from our fantastic guide training trip in July (Can someone please tell me where August and September have gone??) . While we’re still working on writing and adding full reviews, I thought I would quickly post my favorite pictures from each location to give you glimpse of our great trip. Enjoy!
In the Cu Chi Tunnels in SaigonAt the Reunification Palace in SaigonAt the beach in Hoi AnAt the Friendship Bridge in Hoi AnTaking a Moto to an Organic Farm in Hoi AnTemple of Literature in HanoiYep, Andrea really is checking her Blackberry while on a Cyclo tour in Hanoi.On the Mekong River in Luang PrabangAt the Kuang Si Waterfalls in Luang PrabangMorning Alms to Monks in Luang PrabangOn tour in VientianeBeing silly at the World Eco-Tourism Conference in VientianeAt the Grand Palace in BangkokJeab acting like a tourist in BangkokLast night of my trip, enjoying dinner with our fantastic Bangkok guides
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11 Jul 09 Saigon – Cu Chi Tunnels / Dinner with Mr Nam
Breakfast meeting with the guides for guide training.
Take an afternoon excursion to the Cu Chi Tunnels. Arrive and descend into the Cu Chi tunnels where the guerilla fighters constructed an amazing underground base and meet a veteran of the Vietnamese/American war who will give you a private tour of the tunnels and recount his experiences as a tunnel rat. Finally, to end our trip, we will be taken to the private home of Mr. Nam where we will have dinner with him and his family.
Rookie Review:
I’m going to be perfectly honest, when I first saw Mr. Nam I was a bit intimidated. Here’s a man who I know was a veteran of the Vietnam/ American war, in addition he has a very noticeable and distinct war wound, a missing arm, which adds to the whole intimidation factor. In our first encounter we sat down for tea and I quietly sipped and sat without motion, wondering how the rest of the day would go. We made our introductions and quickly the intimidation faded away. He smiled and laughed, and cracked jokes and even though there was a language barrier, I could tell he was a man full of joy and he was enthusiastic to share his story with us.
After tea we walked over to a presentation area where Mr. Nam gave an overview on the Cu Chi tunnels and his daily life as a tunnel rat. He went into detail about how and where the tunnels were made, the rooms that they had, the different levels, the ventilation system, and so much more – it was extremely interesting information.
From there we went down into the tunnels. I was surprised at how big the rooms were and tried to imagine living there for 12 days, let alone 12 years as Mr. Nam did. Andrea and I crawled the whole way through and were, quite frankly, exhausted by the end of the hunched trek. Although we were exhausted, the experience of going through the tunnels was very memorable and I’m happy I did it.
Then it was off to Mr. Nam’s house for dinner. While I was really excited to visit the tunnels, having dinner with Mr. Nam’s family was what I was really excited about – and it actually managed to exceed my high expectations. It is hard to put into words exactly what made the night so special. The evening was filled with great company, incredible food as well as unique and interesting conversation.
To speak of the great company – At Mr. Nam’s home we met his wife whom he met while living in the tunnels, his daughters and his beautiful grandchildren. They were all so kind and welcoming, I felt as if I was joining an old friend for dinner.
Oh and the food? All I can say was that when I left there was certainly not a scrap left on my plate. Although, I guess I could have gone without the second “taste” of the homemade rice whiskey Mr. Nam insisted on pouring.
For the conversation, we discussed more about his experiences during the war and also went more into how he feels now about the war and also Americans. I found it very profound when he explained how he didn’t chose to fight simply to fight – he choose to fight to protect his family and his country. He went on to say that he has no ill will towards Americans and he hopes that anyone faced with the choice between war and peace, would chose peace. Having never personally had to make that choice, I found it special to hear that someone who had once had to make that difficult decision did it not to fight, but to protect what he loves most. It opened my mind to something I had never really thought about in true depth and it is something I will remember forever.
Expert Edition:
Guide training was fantastic! It was great to be able to introduce April to all the guides and they had some great new suggestions for tours and when we discussed family travel they were really interested to hear our suggestions on how to make the whole family happy. I love that I know all of our guides and I know that they will take wonderful care of our guests, which is so reassuring to me. We had breakfast and lunch with the guides and had some good laughs, a great start to our guide training this year!
Our afternoon trip was also a great start to our tour. I met Mr Nam 5 years ago while leading a group of high school students through Vietnam. I was having trouble getting through to the students and it seemed that for them the Vietnam War was ancient history…Mr Nam made them sit up and pay attention. He joined the guerilla forces at the age of most of the students and he fought and lived underground for years. Seeing Mr Nam again was a joy and I love hearing about his first-hand experience in the tunnels and the way but he answered all our questions so matter-of-factly that sometimes it was easy to forget the difficulties he lived through.
I had never been to his family home before and loved seeing the photos of him as a younger fighter and hearing his opinion on the past as well as the future. I asked a lot of questions as I wanted to make sure that he would be comfortable if our guests really wanted to know as much as they could. He took all of my questions in stride and was a pleasure to talk to. It was so fun to be a part of his family for the evening and I thanked him and his wife for all the meals they had cooked for our guests. He told me that he enjoyed the company and meeting Americans and I believe he genuinely is honored to be the host and show off his beautiful family. It made me proud that I can offer this amazing experience to guests and with that pride and the rice whiskey I drove back to the hotel glowing!
Guide training in SaigonApril in the tunnelsYo! (Cheers in Vietnamese)With Mr Nam and his family
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So April and I didn’t do well at posting updates during our trip, but in our defense, we were really busy and got so much done AND, we are going to make up for it now with a day-by-day recap of our whirlwind trip…what we liked, what we didn’t like, new hotels, our favorite parts and photos galore.
Starting with:
10 Jul 09 Saigon – Arrival and City Tour
April arrives at 1005am
Andrea arrives at 10pm
Arrive in Saigon where you will be met and transferred to your hotel. In the afternoon enjoy a City Tour.
Rookie Review:
Did someone just turn the volume up? Cars and motobikes are speeding by, vendors are busy selling handicrafts and bootlegged DVDs, people are sipping iced coffee and celebrating the easily accessible WiFi at café street tables – I am certainly in Saigon. I’m not sure what exactly makes the pace of this city so fast and so vivacious, if it is just the enthusiasm of the people or all the caffeine in those iced coffees, whatever it is it makes Saigon the city that it is.
Today my guide Mr. Khoa took me on a tour of this amped up city. Khoa’s calm and intelligent demeanor was not what I expected, but it balanced the buzz of the city quite well. He crossed the crazy streets without a second thought, and insisted that I couldn’t visit Saigon without riding a motobike (I disagreed with this one!). We visited historical landmarks and museums and I was able to get a deeper understanding of this busy city.
I must admit I didn’t last long on today’s city tour having just stepped off of my overseas flight. I went back to my hotel with a full belly of fresh spring rolls (yum!) and settled into my bed. The honking, talking and buzzing of the city was able to hush away and a full night of very needed sleep was the end of this great day.
Expert Edition:
My day was made up of airplanes and airports, but there’s no complaining here! Vacation! That’s what I call a 24 hour flight without kids. No one spilled anything on me (spilling on myself doesn’t count), no one cried, the person sitting next to me got really drunk (sure I’ve been tempted to booze up the kids, but so far I’ve resisted), and no one sat on my lap! I watched movies, I read two books, I slept, I ate my snacks and didn’t share, it was awesome!
I arrived in Saigon without a hitch…even got a pretty good meal in the Hong Kong Airport…and I walked out of that airport and the noise and heat and Asianess hit me all at once and I felt like I was home! Even at 11pm the Saigon airport is chaotic and I am always struck that for our guests arriving for the first time it must be a bit overwhelming. Of course I was then met by our guide Khoa and I felt taken care of instantly. We caught up on the way back to the hotel, his daughter is a few months younger than Couper so we compared notes and discussed strategy.
Saigon has become so sophisticated since my first visit seven years ago. The streets are cleaner now, there are cafes and trendy shops on every corner and Khoa pointed out the new Gucci store when we hit downtown. I’m happy that Saigon is booming, but at the same time, I know it makes it harder for our guides and drivers to afford life in the city…for all the positive steps, there are always some downsides.
I found April completely out and snuck around getting ready for bed. It felt great to get horizontal and enjoy the blast of the AC, I never sleep as well without that reassuring hum.… Read more »
