"Land of Smiles" a Vietnam Travel Page by mad4travel

I've been twice to Vietnam now, My first trip took me from Ho Chi Minh City to the Mekong Delta to Chau Doc on the Cambodian Border, thru Cambodia (see separate pages) and on to Thailand. I liked it so much I vowed to make a second trip to see the rest of the country which is exactly what I did a year later.

Even though my first trip was only 5 days I saw a varied number of sights from the scooter madness of Ho Chi Minh City, the recent history of the American (as they call it) war and the laid back lifestyle of the Mekong Delta.

The second trip covered Hanoi. Halong Bay, Hue, Da Nang, NaTrangh and Ho Chi Minh city once more.

Ho Chi Minh City was scooter madness. The 21st Century has meant a swap from bicycles to scooters, so everyone sounds like a demented bee. Crossing the road is an interesting pastime too. You just have to walk into the road and go for it and hope the traffic weaves around you until you get to the other side.

For a communist country, Ho Chi Minh City was more westernised than I expected. There are many new shiny office blocks and the street we stayed in had Western stores including a Clarins shop - so much for the socialist dream! Mind you, compared to Bangkok, it is still relatively untouched by capitalism.

I've put my Hanoi and Hue Trips on separate pages. Follow the links:

Hanoi Pages
Hue Pages

Part of our trip was a river trip on the Mekong to the Cai Be Market.
The Mekong is big, wide and the color of coffee. Houses line the river on stilts and garbage is just thorwn out the back into the river.

Depite the filth it was amazing that there were no horrible smells to speak or no flies. This surprised me thoughout Vietnam and Cambodia, and it was actually Banglok that was the smelliest and had most flies.(not that I'm obsessed or anything!)

Life on the Mekong is very relaxed. There is the hussle and bustle of traders on the river and you get the impression that everyone has their own job to do.

Life starts early, before sunrise. As it gets so hot most people take a break at lunchtime for a few hours so can be seen swaying in hammocks underneath their houses.
You go to bed early in these parts as there is nothing much to do and you need to get up early anyway!

Links to other parts of Vietnam:

Hue Pages
Hanoi Pages