Vietnam Encompassed
Four members of the Bendigo Camera Club were recently joined by eight other photographers, family or friends for a fun filled adventure exploring the delights of Vietnam..
Our journey began very early [12.15am] on Saturday September 16th when we departed Tullamarine airport and flew to Ho Chi Minh City [aka Saigon] with a short stopover in Kuala Lumpur. We were met at the airport
by the first of our local guides Quoc, and spent the day sightseeing. The heat and humidity were the first obstacles to overcome and added to the lack of sleep on the overnight flight we had all had enough by about 4pm and very happily checked into our hotel for a shower and some quality time under the air conditioner. We ventured out later that evening and quickly learnt to deal with the four million motorbikes that scoot around the city day and night. The locals transport anything and everything on their motorbikes – from their elderly grandparents, up to three small children [often peacefully sleeping and with 
no restraint whatsoever], a refrigerator, a wardrobe, a widescreen television, several large sacks of rice or even a live goat! Their theory seems to be “If it is portable, you can carry it on a motorbike”!
Tourists attempting to cross the busy roads were almost on a suicide mission for the first 24 hours after which time one learnt that the motorbikes would do their best to dodge you provided you walked directly across and did not hesitate or change your mind.
Next day we visited the remarkable Cu Chi Tunnels used by the Viet Cong during the war. Some of us crawled through a section of them and marveled at the lack of space, light and fresh air. Many of their booby traps were still in situ and the adjacent rifle range really
added to the atmosphere with continual gunshots. A visit to the huge Cao Dai temple was next and we were fortunate enough to be present during a very solemn ceremony. Photography was permitted but after one over enthusiastic traveler almost blinded the worshippers with his big flash gun we were restricted to available light only.
A boat trip on the Mekong Delta followed the next day. It was a lovely hot day when we set out past the floating market of Cai Rang but a storm blew up for the last part of our journey across the wide river and we had to don the infamous “single use raincoats” favored by the locals. They are so fragile some of us did not even get into them before they disintegrated and others wer
e inflated by the wind making the occupants look like Michelin man balloons.
We left Saigon behind catching an early flight to Danang and met out next guide, Dru. He took us by mini van to the beautiful old colonial city of Hoi An and then escorted us on a walking tour of the many sights of this unique place. Hoi An is reknown for its tailor made clothes so most of the ladies in the group headed off after lunch to check them out. After being measured from every angle and then some, you choose your fabric from the huge range on offer, then select the garment style from a pattern book and return after approximately 5 or 6 hours for a fitting. The garments are practically complete at this stage – any minor alterations are noted and your completed garments are ready for collection next morning. We bought pant suits in 100% cashmere wool and silk fabrics for $65US and shirts for $12US - all fitted perfectly. Some of the group virtually shopped til
l they dropped and were on first name terms with practically every shop owner in Hoi An by the time we moved on to Hue two days later.
Hue was the original capital and had many historic mausoleums and temples to view; being photographers we were more interested in photographing them and caused Dru a bit of grief because he thought we were “a
very undisciplined group not really interested in his presentations”. Two days later we boarded the train for our first overnight trip arriving in Hanoi 12 hours later. The soft sleeper trains were surprisingly comfortable and were frequented by tourists and locals alike. One of our cabins was visited by a very friendly local girl who despite not speaking a word of English made very good friends with our very own “Happy Buddha” Boyd. She entertained us for some time and even sang to him!
We arrived at 5am and had fun finding our guide Djin and the bus in the throng at Ha
noi station but were soon on our way to Halong Bay and the “Jewel of the Bay” boat which was to be home for 24 short hours. What a time we had on the beautuful bay; we swam, we fished for squid, we feasted on seafood, we drank cold beer, we laughed a lot, we walked through remarkable caves, we climbed the limestone peaks, we sea kayaked, we drank and swam some more at all hours of the day and night …and all too soon we were back on the bus 
returning to Hanoi and another overnight train trip to the northern hill town of Sapa. After a sumptuous breakfast of pancakes, honey and bananas at a local hotel we set off on our trek to visit the villages of the minority races of H’mong and Dzao tribes. All along the way we were accompanied by the ladies and girls of these tribes endeavouring to sell us their handcrafts. These ladies are a hundred times more persistent than any telemarketer and very soon knew your name, age, marital status and extracted a promise to purchase from them and them alone. Some of our group took the short route of 9kms and some walked the longer 14kms track all arriving at our destination village homestay about the same time. Our host family pro
vided us with a great five course meal and we slept on mattresses on the second level of their traditional Vietnamese home. Soon after breakfast next morning the ladies in the marketing department returned with more wares to sell although I felt their enthusiasm was beginning to wane a little – perhaps they could sense we were not in shopping mode. After another overnight train back to Hanoi the shoppers in the group cut loose for a last minute frenzy in the quaint shops of the old quarter. Vietnam’s economy could well be feeling the pinch this week after our departure, so good were the bargains…….
Check out our trip blogspot at www.vietnamencompassed.blogspot.com
Vietnam was a great experience and lots of fun so next year’s OS excursion is already in the planning stage.
Four members of the Bendigo Camera Club were recently joined by eight other photographers, family or friends for a fun filled adventure exploring the delights of Vietnam..
Our journey began very early [12.15am] on Saturday September 16th when we departed Tullamarine airport and flew to Ho Chi Minh City [aka Saigon] with a short stopover in Kuala Lumpur. We were met at the airport
by the first of our local guides Quoc, and spent the day sightseeing. The heat and humidity were the first obstacles to overcome and added to the lack of sleep on the overnight flight we had all had enough by about 4pm and very happily checked into our hotel for a shower and some quality time under the air conditioner. We ventured out later that evening and quickly learnt to deal with the four million motorbikes that scoot around the city day and night. The locals transport anything and everything on their motorbikes – from their elderly grandparents, up to three small children [often peacefully sleeping and with 
no restraint whatsoever], a refrigerator, a wardrobe, a widescreen television, several large sacks of rice or even a live goat! Their theory seems to be “If it is portable, you can carry it on a motorbike”!Tourists attempting to cross the busy roads were almost on a suicide mission for the first 24 hours after which time one learnt that the motorbikes would do their best to dodge you provided you walked directly across and did not hesitate or change your mind.
Next day we visited the remarkable Cu Chi Tunnels used by the Viet Cong during the war. Some of us crawled through a section of them and marveled at the lack of space, light and fresh air. Many of their booby traps were still in situ and the adjacent rifle range really
added to the atmosphere with continual gunshots. A visit to the huge Cao Dai temple was next and we were fortunate enough to be present during a very solemn ceremony. Photography was permitted but after one over enthusiastic traveler almost blinded the worshippers with his big flash gun we were restricted to available light only.A boat trip on the Mekong Delta followed the next day. It was a lovely hot day when we set out past the floating market of Cai Rang but a storm blew up for the last part of our journey across the wide river and we had to don the infamous “single use raincoats” favored by the locals. They are so fragile some of us did not even get into them before they disintegrated and others wer
e inflated by the wind making the occupants look like Michelin man balloons.We left Saigon behind catching an early flight to Danang and met out next guide, Dru. He took us by mini van to the beautiful old colonial city of Hoi An and then escorted us on a walking tour of the many sights of this unique place. Hoi An is reknown for its tailor made clothes so most of the ladies in the group headed off after lunch to check them out. After being measured from every angle and then some, you choose your fabric from the huge range on offer, then select the garment style from a pattern book and return after approximately 5 or 6 hours for a fitting. The garments are practically complete at this stage – any minor alterations are noted and your completed garments are ready for collection next morning. We bought pant suits in 100% cashmere wool and silk fabrics for $65US and shirts for $12US - all fitted perfectly. Some of the group virtually shopped til
l they dropped and were on first name terms with practically every shop owner in Hoi An by the time we moved on to Hue two days later.Hue was the original capital and had many historic mausoleums and temples to view; being photographers we were more interested in photographing them and caused Dru a bit of grief because he thought we were “a
very undisciplined group not really interested in his presentations”. Two days later we boarded the train for our first overnight trip arriving in Hanoi 12 hours later. The soft sleeper trains were surprisingly comfortable and were frequented by tourists and locals alike. One of our cabins was visited by a very friendly local girl who despite not speaking a word of English made very good friends with our very own “Happy Buddha” Boyd. She entertained us for some time and even sang to him!
We arrived at 5am and had fun finding our guide Djin and the bus in the throng at Ha
noi station but were soon on our way to Halong Bay and the “Jewel of the Bay” boat which was to be home for 24 short hours. What a time we had on the beautuful bay; we swam, we fished for squid, we feasted on seafood, we drank cold beer, we laughed a lot, we walked through remarkable caves, we climbed the limestone peaks, we sea kayaked, we drank and swam some more at all hours of the day and night …and all too soon we were back on the bus 
returning to Hanoi and another overnight train trip to the northern hill town of Sapa. After a sumptuous breakfast of pancakes, honey and bananas at a local hotel we set off on our trek to visit the villages of the minority races of H’mong and Dzao tribes. All along the way we were accompanied by the ladies and girls of these tribes endeavouring to sell us their handcrafts. These ladies are a hundred times more persistent than any telemarketer and very soon knew your name, age, marital status and extracted a promise to purchase from them and them alone. Some of our group took the short route of 9kms and some walked the longer 14kms track all arriving at our destination village homestay about the same time. Our host family pro
vided us with a great five course meal and we slept on mattresses on the second level of their traditional Vietnamese home. Soon after breakfast next morning the ladies in the marketing department returned with more wares to sell although I felt their enthusiasm was beginning to wane a little – perhaps they could sense we were not in shopping mode. After another overnight train back to Hanoi the shoppers in the group cut loose for a last minute frenzy in the quaint shops of the old quarter. Vietnam’s economy could well be feeling the pinch this week after our departure, so good were the bargains…….Check out our trip blogspot at www.vietnamencompassed.blogspot.com
Vietnam was a great experience and lots of fun so next year’s OS excursion is already in the planning stage.
Watch this space for more details.
1 comment:
Thank you for reminding us of that little moment in time , which by the way was well and truly erased from my memory.
Congrates on the article Vicki , job well done, the trip was very well orgainsed from start to finish.
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