'You Buy From Me', 'You Buy More'.

Greetings all! We are writing from the beautiful Hoi An in Central Vietnam. It's a great little place with many old buildings, temples and pagodas as it was spared from intense bombing during the Vietnam wars with France and America.

It is also damned hot! We are really loving it but at the moment we are still acclimatising. Air-con is always greatly appreciated! The trip to Central Vietnam from Ninh Binh in the north has been interesting. Our favorite hotel proprieter Mr. Luong promised us a fancy, comfortable air-conditioned bus with beds to take us on an overnight trip to the city of Hue about 600km away. Air conditioned this bus was, fancy it was not! Our beds were just wider than shoulder width and about 1.65m long so it was a very cramped sleep. However, we managed and actually got a decent sleep. Bring on the bed of nails next time, we can probably sleep on anything now.

Once we were in Hue we got off the bus and walked into a wave of Vietnamese people, all trying to get us to stay at their hotels. We felt like Rock Stars as they all swarm around you and ask lead in questions like; Where you from? and Whats your name? On principle we decided not to go with the touts and find our own hotel. Eventually we did and thats where we began our Hue adventure.

Hue is the ancient capital city of Vietnam, so it has a voluminous history. It is a very picturesque town with a big river running through it. It reminded me of the wonderful township of Balclutha with its big arched bridge and swift, wide river. In the middle of Hue is a massive Citadel. This was where emperors and their eunuchs, harems and minions all resided in the old days of Vietnam. The Citadel was bombed to oblivion during the war and left to rot during Vietnam's darkest communist years as it was a symbol of Imperialism. Nowadays, it is slowly being rebuilt and was fascinating to walk through even though the weather was poo.

Here are some photos of the Hue and its Citadel. The Bridge lights up at night and changes colour every few seconds. It was awesome!!















After the impressive Citadel (where we slipped over about ten times each on the mossy ground) we booked a tour to the De-Militarised Zone (DMZ) North of Hue. This is where Vietnam was divided in two parts during the American War. It was probably the most heavily militarised place in the world during the '60s and '70s.

A drive around this place wasn't as fascinating as you'd think. All the old combat bases have long been dismantled and replaced with memorials. However, there were some great things to see such as the Vinh Moc Tunnels. A village in the DMZ burrowed underground as deep as 23 metres and lived in these tunnels for years. Something like 17 babies were born in these cramped quarters. The Viet Cong helped protect the villagers and the tunnels as they were in a good position for strategic reconnaissance of American bases.

We also went to Khe Sanh (Think Jimmy Barnes/Cold Chisel). This area harboured a huge american base and was the scene of one of the biggest battles of the Vietnam - American War. At the end of the war the Khe Sanh Combat base was fully dismantled by the Americans so that the Vietnamese Govt would not be able to use it in propaganda films. A museum and some captured airplanes remain here. In the museum, the visitors book was filled with poignant and often bitter entries and reflections by American soldiers who had been stationed there. Also, captions of photos in the museum were totally biased to the Vietnamese side with quotes such as 'Scared Americans flee Khe Sanh in a blind panic' under a photo of Marines boarding a helicopter.

Our day in the DMZ was very interesting but exhausting, we left Hue at 6am and arrived back at 6.30pm. But we had KFC for tea to perk us up and IT WAS BETTER THAN NZ'S!!! The chicken was delicious, not all covered in grease and the burgers were yummo.

Photos of the DMZ, Hue and the lovely dress Anna got for $24








A bomb crater from an American bomb

After Hue, it was back on the bus to Hoi An. We caught the early morning ride down and arrived at lunchtime. It was swelteringly hot and we seen our first fully blue sky since we come to Vietnam, its very good. Hoi An is famous for its tailors, there are about 200 tailor shops all beside each other and all selling the same items of tailor-made clothes like winter coats, dresses, suits and pants. It's crazy but thats how things are sold in Vietnam. In every city we have been in so far there have been whole streets dedicated to the same product. E.g. a street full of sunglasses shops side by side and then around the corner an entire street selling shoes.

Anna and I decided to treat ourselves and get a nice winter coat for back home. We got measured up this morning and go for a re-measure tonight. Anna is also getting a dress and I'm getting a pair of pants. All up it cost us about 2.23 million dong (NZ$ 180). Pretty good considering the jackets are lined with silk and made of wool.

The food here is delicious and so cheap. We have gotten meals with a beer or fruit juice for about $2 each. The central Vietnamese cuisine is different from the north and much nicer we reckon.

Hoi An Photos







Well thats about it for now. Oh, apart from the grossest thing you'll hear this week (I guarantee). I was quietly drinking a beer with my lunch on the DMZ tour when I felt something solid go in with my next mouthful. I spat it into my hand and it was a bloody great big fly!!! Disgusting! Luckily I hadn't eaten lunch otherwise I would have lost it.

Tam biet (goodbye)


Anna and Jamie

P.S. Click on the photos to blow them up bigger