Mot Hai Ba Yo - Cheers Vietnam

Mot Hai Ba Yo...or 1, 2, 3 cheers (i think) is the phrase the Vietnamese use when drinking. And we certainly recited this many times during our stay in Vietnam. Saigon, 333 and tiger were the standard drinks...rice wine, snake marinated rice wine and snake marinated rice wine with fresh snake blood were the slightly more exotic choice.

Vietnam is a beautiful country with so much culture and tradition. As part of our Contiki tour we visited the old smaller towns and the new cities of Vietnam. Highlights were the mekong delta region and Hoi An, but really everything in this country was worth the visit. Here are a few photos to give you a sense of what we experienced. It's by no means a comprehensive photo journal of the trip, that would take days to read haha.

First up, a san pan boat ride on the mekong delta river. You can't quite see it in the photo, but a person is actually standing up behind us paddling us along the river. What a beautiful way to experience this part of the country. Following this we had a crazy night on the drink with Nam our local tour guide. A night to remember...or forget depending how drunk you were.

San Pan Boat ride on the mekong delta river

Hoi An...What a beautiful town. Captured in a time gone by, with rustic and cross-cultural influences from the Japanese, French and probably many other cultures as it was a trade port. This is an example of the style of buildings that line the streets. In some parts of the town it would seem that every second shop was a tailor shop.

The architecture of Hoi An

This next photo is a cool lil back alley shot that i took. Not much of a story behind it...i just think it looks wicked.

Back Alley, Hoi An

In Hoi An, cars are not allowed in the inner parts of the town. So the way to get around is bicycle or scooter (as seen in the pic above). This is what i believe to be a petrol station. Notice also the cigarette boxes just to the right. No safety regulations here haha. 

Petrol Station, Hoi An

Hue, the imperial capital of the Nguyen dynasty. This photo was from the imperial palace grounds. Really cool place, just wish it wasn't raining so much as this kind of limited my opportunities to get the camera out.

Imperial Palace, Hue

One of the last stops on our tour was Halong Bay. The weather was unfortunately quite bad...rainy, windy and cold. Besides this, it was a stunning place. the photo below was taken in a sea cave which we were able to walk through. There were some really interesting rock formations, including one which was the shape of a blokes shwing shwong.

Sea Cave, Halong Bay

So there's my little photo teaser for Vietnam. I must say, its a place you have to visit and experience. And when you do, remember to Mot Hai Ba Yo!

Cheers
Roy

PS Photos were edited using iPhoto.