Your Stories: Vietnam

Chris Birch and his wife Adrienne recently traveled from Pu Long in the north down to southern Vietnam’s Mekong Delta

Our guided walk in Pu Long was all downhill, and with the humidity we weren’t looking forward to the trek back up. It was great when we discovered the driver was waiting at the bottom. As we walked, villagers called out xin chào (hello) in greeting as we passed. Sometimes the children would shout ‘hello’ and giggle. On the way back, we paused to see bamboo waterwheels – our guide explained that they irrigate the rice fields that are at a higher level than the river. We also walked around the rice fields while in Mai Chau, where we saw lots of small communities, a farmer sitting on his heels and watching his water buffalo and another leading his cow to fresh grass.

TASTING HANOI On our drive to Hanoi, there were lots of roadside stalls selling different things. After stopping for oranges, sugar cane and grilled fish, we guessed our driver must have a shopping list from his wife.

In the afternoon, we had a food-tasting experience with a blogger who took us to lots of little places to try the local food, such as pho bo (a beef noodle soup), omelettes, a baguette made from rice flour, quail, and a green mango salad. This was a great introduction and gave us ideas for later in the trip. It seems that the Vietnamese don’t linger over their food; you just about finish one thing before heading off to seek out the next snack.

Our hotel, the Hanoi Pearl, was in a great location close to

Visiting Vietnam (opposite) Chris and Adrienne traveling through northern Vietnam; (clockwise from this) farmer weeding the rice fields in Mai Chau; motorcyclists in Hanoi; a pig float

the lake. We were in Hanoi over the weekend, when the streets around the lake were closed to traffic. Teenagers were skipping and playing jianzi, a bit like foot badminton – they kick a special shuttlecock with a heavy rubber base to one another. We bought one for our own children to try.

HOI AN’S GREATEST HITS I’m convinced that our hotel, The Merchant House, in the old quarter of Hoi An, cooks the best omelettes in Vietnam. It also runs a range of activities, including a two-hour boat trip, a foot massage and a food tasting, with rice wine to wash it down. The music here was certainly interesting. We visited a bar with a U.S. Army theme, where a band played a Carpenters song with a reggae beat! The guitarist moved effortlessly from classical music to western pop songs from the 1950s to 70s. The night market is a great place to try some street food, too. I entertained everyone with my inability to get up off the tiny stools.

SWIMMING IN SAIGON We took a flower-market tour in Saigon. In the past, the flowers came from Cambodia, but now the majority come from Dalat, an agricultural city that was the capital of the Federation of Indochina during World War II. We watched stallholders make beautiful bouquets of lilies, orchids and roses – each taking several hours and selling for little. We stayed at the Liberty Central Hotel, where we swam in the infinity pool on the 24th floor – what a fabulous view. When we returned to the hotel after exploring the area, we visited the roof terrace bar, sipping mojitos as we watched the sun go down.

MEKONG DELTA DELIGHTS We arrived at Coco Riverside Lodge, on the banks of the Mekong, by boat. Our cabin faced out to the river and hammocks were provided for us to relax in (and hopefully not fall out of). While we relaxed, we watched the boats chug past. Several of them hadn’t seen any paint for years, apart from the eyes painted on to protect them from evil spirits.

On our cycle ride that afternoon, we saw some people making crispy rice – everyone jumped when they popped the rice. On the small roads, not only did we have to dodge the chickens (they were definitely free range) but we also skirted around the rice that had been spread out to dry. We also visited a rice mill and met the friendly owner, who was very proud of his Manchester United t-shirt.