BACK HOME

We’ve been in Vietnam just over 4 weeks now and shall be returning home at midnight tomorrow.

We’d originally planned to travel by train from the middle of The country (Danang) to Nha Trang and then onto Saigon.Someone advised us to give Nha Trang a miss as it was basically a “little China/Russia”.

As a result we eventually spent a very relaxing  full 2 weeks in Hoi An,....and were kinda forced to extend our original intention of spending 2 nights in Saigon,to 4 nights ( 2 nights too many😬)

When one reads up on Vietnam there seems to be this constant “debate” on which of the two to visit,......or which of the two is best.

No argument,......that’d be Hanoi!!!

Saigon is almost a waste of time.

Traversing Saigon its close to impossible to stroll around this huge town with the incessant traffic,......even on the  pavements ( when occasionally not already occupied by parked bikes) .

There’s also precious little of interest to see here,......and the food is distinctly inferior to everywhere else we’ve travelled in Vietnam.

It’s the 1st place we’ve eventually reverted to more western food ( at bakery’s etc.) or even Thai, or Mexican, at shopping centres.

So,......for what it’s worth,.....if it’s a toss up between Hanoi or Saigon,.....go with Hanoi,a charming city,easy to traverse, with many places of interest and great food and classical French architecture .

And stay close to the lake 👍

PICS AROUND SAIGON

SAIGON

We arrived on a very early flight from Danang,in Saigon,at 8am.

I’d chosen a hotel quite a bit out of town for a chance of a bit of peace and quiet,in an unbelievably hectic city of 13m people.

The drivers here are “befok”,.....they just go,....a bit like India.Youre not even safe on the pavements as the mopeds simply mount he kerb and come at you!

There are millions of the buggers!!

But the traffic flows and,to be fair, I haven’t yet witnessed a single accident,or even a little bumper bash.

One just walks and makes eye contact with potential “missiles” coming at you and they seem to move, like a swarm of bees 🐝,to avoid any human obstacles.

We made it to the other side of the city,to the WAR REMNANTS museum.It was better than I’d expected !

I’d been told that it was a little propagandised but not really.

At the end of the day that aspect was pretty tame,......an accurate rendition of what I had expected from my fairly detailed reading into this incredibly bitter (and totally unnecessary) war.

It’s quite amazing how many brave reporters lost their lives covering this long conflict .

Vietnam had been occupied and colonized by the French soon after WORLD WAR 2 and passed the baton straight onto the Americans around 1964.

The yanks eventually had more than 500000 troops in Vietnam and lost 50000 men killed and 10x that amount maimed and injured.

By the late 60’s virtually the entire planet were protesting against the war but Nixon continued the carpet bombing, devastating much of northern Vietnam.

The total tonnage of explosives dropped on the Vietnamese during this war was far more than the USA had used during the entire pacific conflict of WORLD WAR 2.

They also totally devastated foliage in more than a third of the entire country with “AGENT ORANGE”, one of the most poisonous substances known to man,resulting in deformed births and ultimately multiple cancers to residents exposed to this substance,as well as to the USA troops involved in administering it.

Some amazingly poignant photography,often featured in TIME magazine and other significant publications at the time.

NATIONALITY???

There are plenty of Aussies travelling over here and we’ve met a number of them and landed up chatting.

Two couples in particular spring to mind,......both clearly Aussies through and through.

Both couples were just 2nd generation Australians whose parents had immigrated from Russia during or after WORLD WAR 2.

The one old guy (78) had clearly Mongolian features but spoke with a distinct Aussie accent and was proud to be a Wallaby and there was no questioning where his national allegiance lay.

Made me think,.....here I am ,....probably 6th generation South African,....born and bred ,as were my mother and 5 generations before her, in SA.

Yet nowadays I have to constantly feel an “immigrant” in my own country.A “European” born and bred in Africa yet basically denied the privilege of embracing my roots and calling myself African,....for 1 reason and 1 reason only,....my skin colour.

If not an African then what am I ???????

WHILE WE WERE GONE

So,...when we left almost a month ago I remarked to Cheryl,.....” I wonder whether anything will get better during another full month of the ”NEW DAWN”.

Although nowhere near to comprehensive here’s a synopsis of what’s gone down in SA during the month:

 

-Whilst Rome (SA) is burning and ,in the midst of really serious and longstanding violations such as ESTINA (amongst others)Magashule’s many serious apparent violations on many fronts,...our so called “public protector” ( gangster protector maybe?) has spent the entire month “ investigating” the only two public officials who are attempting to do he right things,...namely Pravin and Ramosphosa and his sources of funding for the elections.Nothing about NDZ nor Malema ,.....both apparently funded by a gangster who has stolen millions over the past decade and more.

-Xenophobia,.....Xenophobia,....Xenophobia,.....an excuse for looting indiscriminately ( it’s going on still in Soweto as I write)

-Major roadways and arteries,closed indefinitely , cordoning off the entire cities of Pretoria/Joburg,....as well as various major transport arteries such as the N1/N2 etc. at a huge cost to an already totally failed economy.

-Murder,.....murder,....murder to add to our ongoing tally of 60/day around the country.

-The “massacre“ of yet another tourist daring to take a stroll in our national heritage table mountain reserve,.....he was apparently stabbed mercilessly 100 times or more for his few possessions,....stealing them was apparently ( again) not an option!

-this morning ,....yet another fatal stabbing of a pupil at one of our schools,......a daily occurrence lately.

-SA defence force now regularly patrolling our township streets in a attempt to control an out of control gangster situation where kids are afraid to walk to school lest they are shot en route.

-ongoing burning of buses,trains,private vehicles,libraries and other vital infrastructure/

schools in so called “ protests” .......no arrests,....no accountability!

-another downgrading by Moody’s to negative , with an expectation of a very serious downgrading in November ,.......promising yet more outflows of existing ( what’s left) foreign investment 

-the resultant devaluation of an already decimated currency from R13:95 when we departed,to R 15:60 today,.....3 weeks later (12 percent depreciation in 3 weeks)

-reports of uniformed policemen openly selling confiscated goods ,taken during recent raids on local shopowners and particularly immigrants with absolutely no consequence ( this is a common occurrence nowadays)

-an ecomomy which is desperately close to having to go to the IMF cap in hand in an attempt to save a totally failed economy 

On quite a few occasions on this trip I have been asked by various people of all nationalities whether I ,as a white South African ,am still safe in my home country.

In all my years of fairly extensive travel I had never been asked this question in the past .

Obviously contrary to public opinion in SA,and with the benefit nowadays of social media, the general consensus of those outside SA is a fairly common view  ,which places us down there with places like Mexico,....Honduras,....Colombia and the like i.t.o. Perceived dangers when visiting.

In the past most tourists I’ve met had expressed some desire to come to SA,.....this trip ,....nada,....nil,...zippo,....not a single one has any intention of coming to our country.

Can we blame them?,......very sad but I can no longer defend SA in such instances,.....people are totally unsafe when compared to almost every other place on the planet.

It’s one of the reasons I love to travel,.....takes one outside of our cocoon to view our country with the more objective eyes of foreigners.

Very sad but,I fear that our hopes for the expansion of perhaps the only industry (tourism) with any chance whatsoever of a recovery is doomed to failure (tourism In SA currently contributes 2 percent to GDP,....this should be 15 percent but will never be😫😞😭)

It would take many years,even with a number of obvious necessary changes ( i.e. visa requirements) to alter perceptions out there.

Or maybe,........once we hit R25/$ (not long now,...just look at what’s just happened in Argentina) we’ll be such a cheap destination that many will almost have no choice but to risk their lives coming 😬

LAST DAY AT THE BEACH 🏝

Tomorrow we’re off to Danang overnight ,as a stopover en route to Saigon ,on a very early morning flight (6am).

So we’ll be arriving in Danang in the afternoon and leaving the hotel at around 4am to catch the flight.

The hotel we’ve booked into in Saigon has a free airport pickup.

So,....we’ve spent the 1st couple of weeks travelling through the entire northern part of Vietnam,......and the past 10 nights or so basically at the brilliant beaches here in Hoi an ,half way down.

It’s been great,...warm water,cold beers,inexpensive, quality food and cold showers ( on the beach)

What more could one want??

After Danang we’ll be spending our last 4 nights in Saigon then home on a very late flight (12pm) with a 5 hour stop in Dubai airport.

Only just started thinking of home😬

BEER 🍻

There’s a well worn theory that one can compare costs in different countries using what’s called ,.....”the BIG MAC index”

Well we don’t do BIG MACS!

The best way to compare the relative price of goods in a foreign country (imho) is to compare the cost of beers 🍻.Generally the costs of everything else are relatively similar in comparison .

In SA the average beer varies from R12/beer, if purchased en mass from a bottle store, to R60 for an imported or a craft beer 🍺.

Well here the price of a beer, whether from a supermarket or sitting at a restaurant or a pub,falls somewhere between 15000 to 20000 VND,less than a dollar (R10-R15).

Now that makes absolute sense.

Inevitably here,when eating ,one tends to wash it down with a couple of ice cold beers instead of that other sugary alternative ( fruit juice/coke/7 up).

Brings the average spend up for the restauranteur and everyone’s happy 😆.

If only ours would grasp this principal.

In SA ,....at restaurants, you’re in for up to R60 for a pint ,.....R180 for 3😬

Gives some idea of costs of other commodities over here,......in spite of the pathetic SA politics nailing our exchange rate daily.

Since we’ve been here our government has been hard at “ work” , managing in 3 weeks to devalue our currency from R13:95/$ to a grand R15:46/$ today,.....more than a10 percent devaluation in a few weeks,on an already totally fucked currency.

Well done guys ,.....nothings changed!!👍😫🤮

MOTORCYCLE

Today we organized a lekker little bike again ,which I’ll probably keep till we leave Hoi An in a few days time.

A bike really provides a total freedom allowing for greater exploration and an ability to change streams regarding what one can do during the day.

Rode straight out to another great beach , only really accessible on a m/bike,......R60 for a couple of recliners and umbrella ( and shower Yaaaaay!🤪)......4 hours then off to Anthony’s place for a Banh Mi😁

That’s Cheryl’s wrist (had you worried hey?😬)with a coconut bracelet she bought on the beach.

BANH MI

Banh Mi is a kinda spicy roll served throughout Vietnam and a really cheap ( but tasty) gap filler between meals.

They cost literally a dollar or less and are seriously delicious.

This place in Hoi An is famous as “the best on the planet “,.......made famous by Anthony Bourdain , the renowned travel chef (I loved his TV programmes) who had Banh Mi here and they’ve never looked back.

They literally have a permanent queue for their wares running right down the street.

We hadn’t realized that we could go inside and order till one of the waiters beckoned us inside.

Great atmosphere with tourists from all over stopping in for a bite and a chat.

Once again,.......2x Banh mi’s a plate of fries 🍟 ( their fries are always the best😜)and 2x Larue beers,....you guessed it,......R65😬

That’s Anthony Bourdain above,.......he died suddenly recently ,.....heart attack I think ?

What a great guy!

Hi Guys,....My good friend Reinhold asked me about hotels here,..... hotels are great and we’re spending around R350/night b&b for two,...these are mostly what’s called “ homestays” and are owned by locals who do everything ,....cook clean drive hire scooters tour guide stuff ,.....the lot.

Very enterprising people who all turn their hand at something.

We were leaving the town after eating last night when an old “granny” on bicycle offered us caramel covered nuts attached in huge sacks to her bike.Didn't really want any but couldn’t resist her cries of 1$,.....1$ ,.....for a large bag of really nice freshly baked ( they were hot still) nuts.

R15

LOCAL “NEWS”?

Can’t believe it???........Switched on local SA radio and discovered that the “impossible” has occurred overnight.

The Aussies whipped the kiwis for the 1st time in many years.

And the “bokke” achieved the unlikely result of a bonus points win @ SALTA in Argentina.

So we’ve landed up winning the rugby championship,.....arguably the 2nd most coveted rugby title,....for the 1st time since 2009.

Who would’ve put the bokke in this position just a year or so ago when we were coached by a bunch of clowns 🤡?

And guess what,.....soo far not a single $&@&ing word on either 702 nor on CAPETALK?????

Ok it’s only 5:15am in SA presently but hell man,.....if this’d been bafana beating the Seychelles under 13F disabled side,....it would’ve already been trumpeted from all quarters,....and we’d have to hear about the achievement comtinuously for the next 3 weeks or more in our media.

I’d put money on the table that the SUNDAY TIMES today makes almost no mention of this amazing sporting achievement.

GO RASSIE!!!

Amazing what a decent coach can achieve!

Hopefully someone will recognize the fact?

SWITCHING HOTELS

We needed to switch hotels for just a night as our present hotel was full for just the Saturday night.

Booked into LIME VILLA located less than a km away.

4star graded and slightly more expensive R400/night for two,.....has the largest pool

we’ve had so far and we’ve just had the nicest breakfast.

Decided to go for local for a change instead of the standard omelette etc.

Well that’s it,.....for the rest of the stay it’s gonna be local food for breakfast.

As they say,.....”when in Rome........”

FIRST MAJOR RAINSTORM

We were on our way into town in the regular shuttle from our hotel when it began raining.

It’s certainly rained a few times for a half hour or more  during our trip but we’d never really been caught in it.

We weren’t going to get away with it this time.

Got out at the “ drop off” point in torrential rain and ,within seconds, we’re being offered polka dot rain macs at a cost of 40000 VND ( R25) for both.

Just as well as we were on our way to a “ free” sponsored meal, earned for attending a timeshare type presentation during the day yesterday.

A 600000 VND (R400) voucher at a specific place called OLD TOWN ,......located ,.....u guessed it,...in the old town,where everything is 3x the price of anywhere else.

So,....it turned out to be a really nice place where we had our 1st western meal in 3 weeks.

An amazing hamburger and chips with a Caesar salad.

De)$&&$inglicious!!!!

And our el cheapo macs did the trick and we remained more or less dry despite having walked around a km in the huge downpour.😁😓




Does my bum look big in this??????

SAY NO MORE😁