Our last stop of this amazing adventure! And it was truly the cherry on the top. But let's start right at the beginning, guess I always had a thing for Vietnam maybe all the war movies, maybe the amazing cuisine or the fact that we almost stayed in Hanoi for a few years! We couldn't wait to see Vietnam especially after the Thai experience. As a fellow traveler said: the two best things of traveling is to arrive in a city and then leaving that city! Our arrival was delayed by 30 min due to a massive thunderstorm in Saigon (new name is Ho Chi Mihn City). We had to circle around and around and we could see the Mekong delta down below us.

Arriving in Saigon is not for the faint hearted! This is a busy lovely city, with 4,5 million scooters and moterbikes and the same as in Bali they have no regard for any traffic rules! But why do you see so few accidents? Well my theory is they drive defensively and every body has a right of way. Not once did we see a vietnamese loose his temper! (If you do this they see you as being weak and not in control). Crossing the road is another story, as all the books and advice states you just walk at a steady constant pace, then the scooters can calculate and ride around you, but if you stop then every body stops, causing chaos! It was quite a challenge to get used to this. We stayed just outside district 1 in a nice home stay. But still walking distance from everything. Here we could not hire a scooter, it is illegal for a foreigner to drive anything in Vietnam!

One of our ticks was "street food in Vietnam"!
This may sound crazy but in Vietnam street food rates as the best in the world, each street vendor usually only makes one dish, often a old family recipe. And if you take into consideration the French influence as this was a French colony, so French cuisine mixed with spice asian flavors! They strive for a perfect balance between sweet sour spicy and salty. We had the most amazing dishes right next to the street siting on small blue plastic chairs! And best of all we never got sick! Looks like our strategy worked, eating where it is busy and full of local people! We did however needed some help in what to order. Once again we moved to trip advisor and booked a foody tour. A very profesional tour, run by XO Tours, where you jump on the back of the scooter and they take you to the best street food eats in Saigon. Here we had amazing bo pho (noodle lemongras beefy soup), goat breats and prawns and calamari (gebraai op die kole), the best crab, scallops and yes, frog! Under the peer pressure we caved and also ate a ballot. (Go google it)! We also met 2 Americans Constantin and Max, they also travel Vietnam for 3 weeks. After the eating we went out for drinks. They have very interesting views of life and even politics. Really awesome chaps!

After eating in Saigon, you shop! This was almost like in China: cheap good quality bargain everywhere! You like all cities just have to avoid the tourist sections! Alecha really enjoyed this endless streets of bargains!

We went to the Chu Chi tunnels one day as well. This was in the area were the Americans got a lot of resistance due to the fact that the Vietnamese rebels had a network of tunnels under the ground for around 200km in total. They were really small even for the asians! Also if Americans wanted to enter there was amany booby traps. We looked around even walked (kruip) about 100m in them, not for the closterfobics though. Every were there was bomb craters made by the big big B52 bombs. As the Americans decided to bomb and napal this area till they come out of there tunnels. This tour was a bit on sided and we already know The American story and it was nice to hear the Vietnamese side of it. O yes and I got to shoot a Ak 47!!!

After Saigon we headed down towards the Mekong delta to see the floating markets. We decided not to book a boring tour and just got our bus tickets and traveled down to Can Tho by ourselves. Vietnam can be really cheap to travel we stayed in a nice clean aircon hotel here for R150 a room and then for R50 myself and Alich would eat a lovely 3 course meal. At 5 o clock in the morning we went on our river tour to see the floating markets. An Australian couple joined us on this journey on the amazing waterways. The floating markets have been around for hundreds of years. The Mekong delta stretches for hundreds of km and there really is thousand of km of rivers. The Mekong is intensely farmed. All this produce is then put on boats and sold at the floating market to the vendors who will sell this again in the cities. This is a practical way as there is not as many roads in the Mekong people really live on the water here.

Hanoi!!! Liewe ouers dit is warm! 40grade is warm maar as die humiditeit by kom raak die aanvoelbare tempratuur 50 grade! Gelukkig het hulle Bia Hoi, dit is vars bier en soos n ligte draught wat omtrent R 5 vir 500ml is! Dit koel mens darem bietjie af. Ons het opgevlieg vanaf Saigon na Hanoi in die noorde. Hier het n vriendelike vietnamees ons gehelp met ons daaglikse kopseer van die lughawe na ons bly plek. Ek het nog niks gese oor die Vietnamese mense nie , want hulle kort eintlik 'n hoofstuk op sy eie! Hierdie is die vriendelikste en opregste nasie wat ons nog tee gekom het! Die diens is uitnemend en oorals is glimlagte. Maar die beste van als is dit is opreg en nie die fake smiles van sekere ander lande nie, hierdie mense is bly jy is hier in hul land.

Ons het in 'n klein hotel in die old quarter gebly. Reg in die hustle en bustle! Hier is elkeen besig om iets te verkoop en besig om 'n lewe te maak als met 'n glimlag! Reg onder ons hotel was 'n daar kuns gallery en die mense sit sommer net daar en verf. Alecha kry toe die blink plan om die mooiste Brittany pointer skildrye te laat verf, toe die eerste een mooier uitkom as die prentjie het ons sommer nog bestel! Haha, ons het nou soveel skilderye ons sal moet 'n groter huis kry!

Hanoi is n pragtige stad "the city of lakes". Hier is iets van alles, besige old quarter, mooier french quarter en ultra modern om west lake. Vietnamese slaap nie laat nie (slaap in die middag) en elke oggend 6 uur stap die hele stad omtrent om die meer, party hardloop, ander sit en strek en ouer tannies doen saam een of ander aerobics. Regtig 'n mooi prentjie om almal so te sien oefen! Ons hoop baie van julle gaan by ons kom kuier nou dat ons terug is, so ek en Alecha het gegaan vir n Vietnamese cooking class! Eers by die markte gaan varsprodukte kry en toe het ons van die geheime geleer en resepte van hierdie smaaklike kosse! Hier het ons weer 'n Suid Afrikaner raak geloop Enrico, wat bly in Dubai waar hy n Vietnamese restaurant wil open. Natuurlik het die cooking class meer in 'n kuier klas ontaard: Suid Afrikaners, bier en kos en jy het 'n party!

Eendag het ons ook gaan kyk waar International SOS se kantoor is, as ek die werk by hulle sou vat sou ons hier in Hanoi gebly het! Hulle het pragtige eerste werelds mediese sentrum by West Lake. Moet se dit lyk indrukwekkend maar ek en Alecha weet ons het die regte besluit geneem om terug te gaan Banks toe en hierdie lewens reis aan te pak. Maar dit is goed om te weet ons sou dit ook hier in Hanoi kon maak werk.

Ons het ons reis afgesluit op 'n hoogte punt in Halong bay! Wat 'n ongelooflike plek! Rotse wat orals uit die see uit steek! Dit is pretjie mooi! Ons het op die Indochina se Dragon Pearl boot gevaar en een nag op die see tussen al die berge geslaap! Dit is nou waar die woorde ontbreek so kyk asb na die fotos! Die kos en diens aanboord was ongelooflik! Daarby is ons geseen met die beste weer gedurende ons tyd in Vietnam! Soos nog met ons hele trip het die Liewe Heer mooi na ons gekyk!

Vietnam was 'n ongelooflike land en ervaring, definitief die cherry op die koek van ons trip! Hierdie mense kruip regtig in jou hart in en die vriendelikheid is aansteeklik! Al is ons vrek opgewonde om terug huis toe te gaan, is dit met 'n hartseer wat ons hier weggaan! Maar ek glo ons sal definitief weer terug wees in Round the world 2!!!!!!!!

Dit is met 'n dankbare hart dat ek net kan se dankie! Aan ons Skepper vir Sy beskerming gedurende hierdie 4 en 'n halwe maande! Niks onheil het ons getref nie, alles het werklik wonderlik uitgewerk! Ons dien 'n groot God!

Aan my vrou: Dankie lief vir die beste 4 maande van my lewe, jy het als gereel en altyd geweet wat aangaan! En daarby is jy die aanpasbaarste mens wat ek ken , ek weet daar is nie baie mense in die wereld wat kan doen wat ons saam gedoen het nie! Ons het werklik mekaar leer ken en werklik soos een gefunksioneer! Lief jou baie!

Aan almal wat ons gehelp en gehuisves het gedurende ons trip, baie dankie! Ons kon letterlik en figuurlik ons batterye laai om aan te gaan!

Laaste maar nie die minste nie dankie vir almal se gebede gedurende hierdie tyd, ons was ongelooflik geseend hierdie 4 maande!!!!