We took a bus to the port just outside of Phnom Penh and boarded a small 20 person boat which took us steadily to the boarder. We were going a little into the unknown, not sure how the crossing was going to go or how uncomfortable the boat was going to be. But to be honest it turned out completely trouble free and was a really beautiful, relaxing way to cross. We stopped off for half hour at a check point to do the immigration formalities, and then continued down the Mekong and into Vietnams Mekong delta. Straight away we could feel a different kind of people, kids waving at us and splashing around, happy people, as though life wasn't so hard. There was definitely a more prosperous atmosphere.
Rano nas odvazel minibus z centra Phnom Penhu do pristavu, kde na nas cekala lod asi se 20 dalsimi pasazery, ktera nas prevazela pres hranice do Vietnamu. Nevedeli jsme jestli to bude jeden z nejlepsich napadu prekrocit hranice po vode, ale jak se ukazalo asi za hodinu jsme byli na imigracnim a vsechno slo jako po masle. Zastavili jsme asi na pul hodiny na Vietnamskych hranicich, kde jsme cekali na razitka a potom vesele pokracovali dale plavbou po Delte Mekongu. Hned jsme si zamilovali zdejsi lidi zijici na rece Mekongu, deti se cakaji ve vode, zeny umyvaji nadobi na brehu reky, muzi se venuji rybolovu a vsichni vypadaji spokojene, usmevave a pratelsky.
Eventually we made it to Chau Doc where we checked into a hotel and grabbed a moto guy to drive us up Sam Mountain for sunset. At the top we saw the most amazing panoramic looking down on some rice paddies and enjoyed our first Saigon Beer as the sun came down.
Pote, co jsme dorazili do mestecka Chau Doc, jsme se ubytovali a asi za pul hodiny odpocinku si pronajali chlapiky na motorkach, kteri nas vyvezli na horu z nazvem Sam, abychom se mohli pokochat zapadem Slunce. Bylo to nase prvni kochani se Vietnamskou prirodou a sledovani ryzovych poli z ptaci perspektivy za doprovodu naseho prvniho vietnamskeho pivecka Saigon.
The following day we went back out into the Delta and visited a fish farm and some local Cham people before catching a bus to My Tho for another free afternoon, we sat down in the park for little while people watching. At one point a local guy jogged up to a tree just in front of us and started doing pull ups whilst some other guys shouted over a him in Vietnamese, and over to the left of this some women were fighting over who was going to take some tourist girls out on the river, it was all quite entertaining to watch.
Dalsi rano nas mala lodka vyvezla opet do proudu Mekongu, abychom mohli navstivit rybi farmu a lidi kmene Cham zijici v okolni vesnici, pred tim nez jsme vyrazili autobusem do mista My Tho, kde jsme meli osobni volno. Odpoledne jsme stravili v parku sledovanim mistnich lidi (stare zenske, ktere se celkem otevrene dohadovali o tom, ze jedna prevzala kseft druhe, aby mohla vzit par turistu na lodicku anebo chlapika, ktery pred nama v parku, asi dokazoval okolnim chlapikum, co ho sledovali a smali se mu v povzdali, jakou ma silu, se vytahoval nahoru a dolu na vetvi stromu) bylo to pro nas celkem zabavne.
Our final day of the Mekong Delta trip we went out to see a couple of floating markets and then over to a rice noodle making farm. Another really interesting farm that showed some traditional ways of doing something we really take for granted in the west. There were also some pigs, i mention them because this was the first sign of things to come from one Australian guy on our tour. He was posing for pictures with them kissing and at one point had his whole fist in one pigs mouth. Obviously immune to swine flu.
Nas posledni den straveny na vylete po rece Mekong jsme stravili navstevou plovoucich trhu a farmy na vyrobu ryzovych nudli. Obvzlaste navsteva farmy byla velice zajimava. Byl nam vysvetlen a ukazan cely postup od ryzoveho zrnka az po krajeni nudli, ktere my na zapade uz vidime jenom v hotovych baliccich v obchode. Meli tam taky par prasatek, ktere zminuji proto, protoze to byl zacatek, kdy jsme si vsimli jednoho Autralana, ktery se zviditelnil jeste par dalsimi ukony behem cesty... ne jen tim, ze za obdobi vzrustu praseci chripky tem cunikum daval pusinky na rypak.
We continued the journey the Ho Chi Minh, crossing a ferry, the oz guy appearing to be drinking quite heavily and chatting up a married woman in front of her burly husband. The other side of the ferry, the call of nature came for this super intelligent guy from down under. He ran to a tree (less than 2 mins away from some toilets), over some rubbish and then we heard the scream. A few of us turned to see him, up to his waist in a sess pit! Not nice, but i suppose when you gotta go you gotta go.
Do Hociminova mesta jsme pokracovali autobusem, ale na chvili jsme podstoupili v plavbu trajektem, kde uz se zdalo, ze uz drive zmineny Australan mel neco vypito a tak vesele flirtoval s zenou nejakeho chlapika. Po prejeti reky na druhou stranu uz Autralana neuprosne volala priroda a tak si v rychlosti chtel ulevit na strane silnice v mistnim krovicku (asi jen 2 minuty od zachodu).Dalsi vec, co vime, ze se Australan po pas brodi v mocuvce. No, kdyz se chce, tak se chce, ze jo?
In ho chi minh city we checked into phoenix hotel, a really nice room and they were very helpful with bookings. We booked with them to go to the Chu chi tunnels. This was great value for a half day trip. We heard how the Vietnamese fought against the US during the war, some of it very propagandist but interesting nonetheless. We were taken to some of the booby traps they made, a disabled tank and into the tunnels themselves. The air got quite thin at times and it was quite tight in there (they kept reminding us they had widened them for westerners). We were in them for about 10-15mins and it was a real relief to get out, to think they would sometimes spend days in there is mind blowing.
Jak jsme dorazili do Hociminova mesta ubytovali jsme se v hotelu s nazvem Phoenix, pokoj byl moc utulny a cisty a personal ochotny pomoct se vsemi rezervacemi, takze na dalsi den jsme se jeli podivat do Chu chi podzemnich chodeb. Byl to hodne zajimavy vylet. Ukazali nam film jak se tam lide schovavali a zili v dobe, kdy se statecne branili proti americanum. Potom jsme asi ve skupine 15 lidi prochazeli lesem, kde nam ukazali vsechny nastrazene pasti, nemocnici, stary tank, zakladnu, zakop, kde vyrabeli naboje.Taky jsme meli sanci "poobedvat" u spolecneho stolu (dostali jsme caj a neco, co chutnalo jako sucha brambora, jidlo co jedli za doby valky, zajimava chut) Nejvetsi, no jestli se tomu da rict zazitek, spis neco, co si clovek vybavi zive, jsou tunely sami o sobe. Prochazeli jsme asi 100m tunelem (a to jsme byli upozorneni, ze jsou zvetsene pro lidi ze zapadu) a byl to celkem zvlastne ztisneny pocit. Vzduch byl tezky, sem tam svetlo. Predstavit si, ze tam lide muesli zustavat po cele dny je celkem sokujici. Kloubouk dolu!
After a couple of days in the madness of Saigon we decided it was time to head to the beach so bought an open bus trip north up to Mui Ne, supposedly one of the nicest beach areas in Vietnam. We arrived just after lunch from a fairly pleasant 5hr journey and then spent quite a while trying to find somewhere to stay. It seemed most places were fully booked, but to us it looked like an empty town but eventually, knackered from an hour and half of walking up and down the streets with our rucksacks, we found a nice place with bungalows close to the beach. That evening we went to check out a Czech place which was suppose to sell Czech food, but it wasn’t quite what we expected. Beautiful restaurant, nice beer, but to call it a Czech menu because the have dishes called Czech pork or Czech chicken didn’t really feel right.
Po par dnech ztravenych v Saigonu (Hociminovo Mesto) jsme se rozhodli, ze bychom se na chvili chteli zase povalovat na plazi a misto z nazvem Mui Ne se zdalo perfektnim mistem, protoze to je udajne nejkrasnejsi plaz ve Vietnamu. Tak jsme si koupili tzv. otevreny autobusovy listek. Jak jsme dorazili na misto asi po 5 hodinach cesty autobusem, museli jsme najit mistecko, kde slozime hlavy. Jak se zdalo vsude meli plno, i kdyz jsme skoro nevideli ani nohu. No, ale asi po hodine a pul vlaceni se s ruksaky na zady, jsme nasli bungalov, ktery byl asi vzaleny od more, co bys kamenem dohodil (taky zalezi na tom, kdo zrovna hazi :-)) Ten vecer jsme se vydali najit restauraci, ktera udajne serviruje Ceske pivo, alkohol a jidlo. Nebylo to presne, co jsme ocekavali, protoze napis v jidelnicku Brambory po cesku, Veprove po cesku a syr po cesku se nam nejak nezdal. No, ale objednali jsme si Pilsnera a Becherovku, ktera byla zarucene ceska. Misto samo o sobe bylo prekrasne, meli tam hodne jezirek s vyhledem na more a vlastni pivovar.
Check out this video for rough idea of Saigon traffic and the 6 million motos.
Podivejte se na tohle video a udelejte si obrazek jak ridit nebo prekrocit cestu ve meste, kde je 6 milionu motorek.
The following day we went to see the local sand dunes, had a great day but decided that there wasn’t enough happening in mui ne so booked on to the bus to go and meet our friends from Bangkok in Hoi an. After a quick swim in the rough sea, we began our 16hr coach journey comfortably in a half full coach. We had a 2hr stop for dinner in the evening and then boarded the coach again, this time completely full. Fortunately we managed to get some decent sleeper seats at the back and we had a spare seat separating us from the Australian couple next to us. Half we through the night we were woken to the bus stopping to fill the remaining seats with locals so we spent the rest of the night shoulder to shoulder with a scary looking Vietnamese man. Didn’t sleep great!
Dalsi den jsme se jeli dzipem podivat na mistni pisecne duny, bylo to super. Krasne hedoucky pisek, ktery byl po vyletu vsude. Ale protoze se zdalo, ze Mui Ne zrovna neni v sezone a je tam ponekud ticho, rozhodli jsme se vyrazit o kousek dal na sever do mesta Hoi An, kde jsme se domluvili se znovu setkat s parem z Anglie, (Simonem a Ali) ktere jsme potkali v Bankoku. Takze jsme se zbalili par svestek a jeste pred tim nez jsme vyrazili na dlouhou 16ti hodinovou cestu autobusem, jsme se vycabrali a poblbli ve vlnach. Autobus byl plne obsazeny. Meli jsme stesti, ze jsme mohli sedo-lezet vedle sebe v zadu na petce. Vedle nas bylo volne misto a pak par z Australie, takze vse bylo v pohode, nez asi kolem 2 hodiny rano pristoupil dalsi (Vietnamsky) nocleznik a tak jsme tam byli naskladani jak sardinky v tomate. No, abych rekla pravdu, moc jsme toho nenaspali!
We arrived in Hoi An at 6am and took the first hotel that offered decent room/price. We spent the morning and middle part of the day catching up with sleep before heading out in the afternoon to meet Ali and Simon. It was great to see some familiar faces and we spent the rest of the evening catching up with our travels and offering tips on where to go as we were travelling almost exactly the opposite routes to each other.
Pote, co jsme rano v 6 dorazili na misto, rozhodli jsme se vzit prvni nabidku ubytovani. Misto bylo pekne a cenove v pohode. Odpoledne jsme se jeste snazili dospat to, co jsme nenaspali pres noc a potom jsme se sesli se Simonem a Ali. Bylo fajn videt zname tvare. Cely vecer jsme si vymenovali zazitky z cest a super bylo, ze zatimco my smerujeme sever Vietnamu a Laos, oni uz to meli za sebou a naopak. Takze jsme si vsichni udelali obrazek a plany na dalsi cesty plne dobrodruzstvi.
We both loved Hoi An, it was a beautiful little town full of character. We spent one day touring the town with an open ticket which allowed us to visit a temple, museum, Japanese bridge and tradition music performance. Another day we took a boat trip to a beach, although the weather was poor we had lovely meal out on the sea front. But I think our highlight of hoi would be the fantastic food and in particular a little bakery we would make our days plans from each morning called Cargo.
Oba jsme si zamilovali Hoi An, je to krasne male kouzelne mestecko.Jeden den jsme stravili prohlidkou chramu, musea, Japonskeho zastreseneho mostu a shlednutim tradicniho koncertu. Dalsi den jsme se jeli malou lodkou podivat na mistni plaz. I kdyz nam ten den pocasi nepralo, nasli jsme milou restauraci hned vedle plaze, kde jsme meli moc chutny obed. Kdyz ale budu premyslet o Hoi An, a co nas nadchlo nejvice, budou to jejich mistni speciality, ktere bych mohla jist od rana do vecera a mistni pekarna s nazvem Cargo, ktera se stala nasim kazdorannim tercem.
Our last day in Hoi An, we were waiting for our bus to the airport only to find we were delayed 6hrs. Still, it wasn't too bad, we had the excitment of a trip to the beautiful Halong Bay fresh in our veins.Nas posledni den, jsme kolem odpolednich hodin meli byt vyzvednuti z hotelu, abychom chytli nas podvecerni let, ale jak se ukazalo, let byl zpozden asi o 6 hodin. Nasi naladu to ale nepokazilo, protoze uz dopredu jsme vedeli, ze nas dalsi den ceka vylet do Halong Zatoky.
To be continued . . .
Pokracovani priste . . .
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