Vietnam vibes

So I’m a little bit behind with posting about Vietnam, thanks to an unforeseen event which sparked unplanned travelling, combined with the removal of computer terminals at my go-to internet cafe in Vientiane, Laos that ruined my plans to catch up my blog. I was forced to get my internet fix via mobile phone at another place that just happens to serve delicious cake and coffee along with WiFi (yes, hello Joma…). But I’m sure you don’t want to hear about my adventures with mulberry pie and mango crumble – here instead are some snaps from my travels in Vietnam so far.

The glamorous Central Post Office in Ho Chi Minh even has phone booths under clocks showing times from different cities. It would be the perfect setting for a Poirot mystery! Pity Agatha Christie never visited Vietnam…(at least, I don’t think she did). Maybe there’s a draft of “Strangled in Saigon” lying around somewhere (I should have checked inside one of the booths!)?

 

A happy lady who sold me some vegies at the Ben Thanh market in Ho Chi Minh. There are of course many, many other items for sale in the market but taking photos of them would have meant long conversations with the stallholders trying to explain that no, I can’t buy every single item I look at, hence I showed some restraint when snapping.

I took a tour through Ben Tre, My Tho and Can Tho, which, although super-touristy and far from being a life changing event, was pleasant enough to pass the time.

Unfortunately some of the tour was about as interesting as watching rice paper dry… but at least we got to snack on some dried rice treats after seeing rice vermicelli being made.

A floating petrol station for boats that chug along the Mekong was kind of entertaining, thanks to the canine attendants.

 

The end of this little tour found me in Phu Quoc, an island that, interestingly, can be reached by direct flight from Siberia in about 7 hours, according to a Russian couple I met (there are so many Russian tourists currently, or maybe anticipated, that there even signs advertising PECTOPAH – that’s RESTAURANT in Russian). I didn’t have much time in Phu Quoc and what I did see didn’t impress me greatly – there is a lot of construction going on and a lot of rubbish everywhere, plus the sea near my hotel was very choppy and grey and uninviting, although the domestic tourists didn’t seem to mind. Damn you, beautiful Australian beaches, for making me so spoilt when it comes to matters seaside related!

Oh well, even if I snubbed the sea, at least the squid boats were cute with their great big light bulbs on long poles sticking out everywhere.

Being a fishing island, the night market in Phu Quoc is full of seafood…

…some of which seems determined to escape…I finished off my island visit with a day snorkelling and swimming.

 

The snorkelling wasn’t fantastic as visibility was poor but the beach was quite pretty – and I’m sure if I’d had more time to explore properly, the island would have revealed more delights, such as waterfalls and interesting treks inland, or better snorkelling further away from shore. 

I’m heading off to Hanoi tomorrow so who knows when I’ll have time to post next, but you can see what I’m up to via my Instagram account (scroll down to the bottom of this blog to see the latest pic if you like!).