Con Dao Islands

From what we've seen of this country, Con Dao is like nowhere else in Vietnam. It has a gruesome history as a prison settlement, established by the French and after that used by the South Vietnamese Army. There are relics of prisons dotted all over the island. While traveling around we came across plaques commemorating certain events of this history, such as, "This is the place where 200 people tried to escape by boat, 120 of them were re-captured and the others died at sea", or "20 people were buried alive here after the army went on a rampage to control a prison breakout." Then when we saw what was left of one the more intact prisons and got a sense of the conditions, the phrase, 'treated like animals' falls way short of describing the horror of it. It was chilling.



On the other hand, what a stunning place for a prison. It's actually part of an archipelago of 15 or so islands, mostly covered with rolling green hills of virgin rainforest, and surrounded by the calm, blue South China Sea. The sea was crystal clear and sunburn withstanding, we had an amazing snorkelling trip to one of the islands. The only town is a neat little grid and the streets are lined with big old fig trees. There's still lots of colonial buildings,some a bit run down, and some well-established,shady gardens. All good for cruising around on push bikes and soaking up the atmosphere.



What we really appreciated, and so different from the rest of this country, is that it's very, very quiet. Only 6,000 people live there. You could stand by the road for minutes and not see or hear a motorbike in any direction, well maybe only one whole minute, but still compared to Saigon...



There's only 4 hotels and not much organised tourism. The locals are so chilled out and don't seem to be particularly aware or interested in the money to be made from rich westerners. One man just shrugged his shoulders and walked away when I tried to bargain with him on the price of renting his boat. I don't think that has ever happened to me before. No one wanted to sell you anything, or get you to ride on their xe om (motorbike taxi). They're just hanging out and enjoying this idyllic place, eating seafood, playing football on the beach and watching the sunset.



This will change over the next few years though. There's a luxury resort under construction and due to be finished at the end of the year, and more plans for development and tourism. I just hope it doesn't become the circus that some tourist places in Vietnam have become.

Sapa

Ethnic Minority Women

Saigon Evening

Quan An Ngon

Notre Dame

Sugar cane stall

Sugar Cane Stall

Chopsticks and Tea Cups

Tet - Welcoming the year of the Rat

Despite what locals tell you as they urge you to travel to other places during Tet, HCMC is not a boring, quiet or sad place to be for Vietnamese New Year. We've had a great week here soaking up the pre and post Tet atmosphere and would say that this is one of the best times of the year to be in Ho Chi Minh City.

Now on the third day of the new lunar year, most businesses and shops are still closed, many people are visiting their hometowns in the country and the traffic is still (relatively) light. However our neighbourhood is as busy as ever, with gatherings of families and friends spilling out onto the alley and some serious card games going on, often enjoyed by dozens of spectators. The decrease in traffic though has been a good chance for us to show off our shiny new push bikes and cruise around the city. It's been good to get around and feel more relaxed on the road. I'd say we've only been averaging one near death experience per trip, what a breeze!

New Year's Eve showed yet again how Vietnam is a curious mixture of the old and new. We spent the early part of the evening in the city. The two main streets were decked out with an abundance of flowers, lights and rats, which look more like mice or sometimes kangaroos. Though there were 2 hours to go, the street by the river was crammed with people waiting for the midnight fireworks. This being Vietnam, everyone was waiting with their beloved 2 wheel vehicle. I've never seen such a sea of motorbikes jammed into one place.

We then came back to our house before midnight. When 12 o'clock came around, church bells rang, a ship horn blew and we watched from our 4th floor roof as people knelt by their special Tet altars, set up on balconies and in doorways, and prayed to welcome the New Year. We looked out over the patchwork of narrow multi storied houses that is our neighbourhood, there was a palpable stillness and reverence. However it did seem to be mainly older women performing this ritual. I watched directly below as our neighbour waved incense while her sons texted frenetically on their mobiles. And then from behind us the explosion of fireworks began!

Chuc Mung Nam Moi!

Sunburst Saigon

Sunburst in central Saigon

Ao Dai Blur