South and Central Vietnam

We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City a couple of weeks ago and are now traveling up the coast of Vietnam.  We really enjoyed HCMC, and stayed for longer than planned. During our days we explored the city and surrounding areas: visiting the Reunification Palace, the War Remnants Museum, and the Cu Chi Tunnels. The tunnels were really interesting to see and crawl around in.  Even though they have been widened for tourists, they are still so cramped and it is hard to believe anyone could have lived in them. Good thing the Vietnamese people are tiny! During our nights we sat at the little street tables around our backpacker area and drank 30 cent beers. Vietnam must serve some of the cheapest beer in the world, and its not half bad either!

View from our hotel in HCMC

Emerging from the Cu Chi Tunnels

After HCMC, we took the bus to Dalat.  To our surprise, the city was completely packed with Vietnamese tourists and left us searching for a hotel room for 2 hours.  It was the first time in our entire trip that we had trouble finding a place to stay and we were quite worried that we would have to take up an offer to sleep on a mattress in a lobby somewhere.  Dalat is popular for Vietnamese honeymoons and has quite a kitschy feel to it, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.  We visited the "crazy house" that looked like something out of a Dr Seuss book, and the Bao Dai palace where we took some excellent photos dressed up as Vietnamese Royalty.  The other tourists in the palace loved the fact that there were some foreigners around and started taking pictures of us dressed up as well.

Dalat is also famous for its vegetables, some that cannot grow anywhere else in Vietnam.  The vegetable market was great to walk around in, and we were also able to sample some artichoke tea.  Sounds a bit strange but it is surprisingly delicious!

Our next stop was Nha Trang for some beach time.  The weather was great and we spent most of our time relaxing on the beach.  We also squeezed in a trip to some nearby hot springs where we were able to indulge in a mud bath.  Not quite as fun as the mud volcano back in Colombia, but still can't complain.

We then made our way to Hoi An.  We were here for 6 nights and pretty much spent all of our time running between tailor appointments.  There are so many tailors here that it is hard to know which ones to pick, but we had some great things made with Kimmy's and To To Boutique.  For more simple items, we went to the cloth market and bargained with our favorite lady at Stall No. 15.  Two suits, three shirts, four dresses, four pairs of trousers, and one winter jacket later, we were finally finished with our clothing orders.

We ate at some great places here too that we'd definitely recommend: Pho Xua, Bale Well, and Cafe 43 (great food and 15 cent beer!!).  If you are in Hoi An, you must try them out. For the best ice cream in town, go to Casa Verde by the river. So good!

Mi Quang lunch at the Central Market

We are now in Hue and spent a couple of days wandering around the city, checking out the citadel, the market, and eating some more delicious Vietnamese food!