Myth Saigon

After a longer but much more scenic journey on the train we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City in the mid-afternoon.. In fairness everybody still refers to here as Saigon, so then shall I. A taxi to our hotel once again gave a glimpse of what to expect on the roads, and this time it was above and beyond expectation - the terms 'packed' and 'herrings' pale in comparison to the actuality. That said, it's surprising in its fluidity. Our hotel was tucked into a small court and not too far from the centre of District 1 (of 24) but far enough away from the traffic to not be disturbed.
We took a tumble into town and weaving round found it not so difficult to cross the streets with a bit of careful navigation. Happened to find ourselves outside Notre Dame church, an almost impeccable replica of Paris's behemoth - with a few exceptions, the rivers either side being replaced by floods of tarmac and the intricacy in stone masonry somewhat left to the imagination. Looking ahead it was food time and after sharing the worst prawn rice in Asia we headed to another place, advised by a few hotels.. This was where i tried pig ear for the first time.. And probably the last to, only hunger and the wish to not have wasted money drove me to eat more than that first mouthful inspired.. You got used to it but there was still a hesitancy so for a change I left a fair bit. After finishing we were charged for using the hand-wipes provided.. Not returning either then.
Next day we took a trip up Nguyen Hue where the main celebrations for Tet were to take place the next evening. Already activities were under way, the first bit of excitement was 8 lads parading down the strip with a dragon 'costume' - the type on poles with a cloth body and flapping jaw - then heading further down there was a state youth big band reciting a few numbers to a small crowd; then heading back to the top of the road the apparent opening was getting ready to take place. Two rows of red and gold kettle drums to the front and rear of a swiftly constructed platform stage.. Then as it started a troop of flag bearers marched on and the drumming began. A fair sized crowd had gathered and we left just before a gaggle of young girls holding lotus like flowers made of cloth spread over a wire frame joined the proceeding.. It was quite fun but wasn't worth the heat or having the crowds' barging to contend with. Heading off we went and booked our tickets to leave in two days time and then to dinner where we tucked in to a small feast at Barbecue Garden, a large outdoor eatery where you ordered your raw food to fry on the griddle in the table to your liking. Much preferred to the gastro-disaster the night before.
For our last day we took a walk around a small park there and took in the Ben Pha market and riverside before getting ready to leave, back onto the buses and into Cambodia.
Since we only trekked round the one district it was hard to get an idea of the place other than it's overwhelmingly large size; the night market surrounding Ben Pha was tiny compared to the endless stalls in Hanoi and the market itself - open during the day - was a tightly packed menagerie as much for locals as tourists. The night before we left was without doubt the busiest on the roads anywhere so far. One of the main roads had a good queue developed - three lanes with mopeds wheel to wheel, to the side, rear and anywhere else offering an advantage in the move towards the festivities. This was a fun road to cross - once again the inexplicable fluidity of it all somehow allowed us time and space to hover through, although most vehicles weren't moving anywhere fast. There was a notable contemporary feel compared to Hanoi, large skyscrapers peeking around and over the average 4-8 floor buildings, and it had a much more colourful feel to it - though that may be explained by the re-arrival of sun in my life. Plenty more of that soon.

Hoi An the Atlantis of tomorrow

The train to Da Nang was a different experience to before, we shared our sleeping cabin with a small family and toward the end of the carriage a group of Vietnamese men were all drinking, celebrating their journey home for Tet no doubt.. Arriving mid-afternoon we got a fairly priced taxi into Hoi An - including a brief stop outside the tailoring shop of the drivers wife - and got settled into our room. We headed into the old town Minh An soon after and taking a stroll through the market got an idea of the wares available and the selling tactics employed. A not too bad lunch was washed down with the first of many very cheap beers, and followed by a walk round the main street of town, crossing the Japanese bridge and checking out more shops just over the river on the An Hoi islet. That evening we visited White Lotus for dinner, a training restaurant intended on providing staff with skills and languages - I tried out the local dish White Rose which was pretty damn good.. Prawn in a tortellini style rice pasta with tomato and maybe dry onion..
Next day we set off into town, eventual aim being to meet up with Jody and Dave who had been travelling round about a month ahead of us though entering Vietnam at opposite ends we set to cross paths here. A bit more shopping and cheap beer, no sign.. Organising to meet near our hotel we waited at different bridges, then just as we were giving up to go and have dinner I spotted them in a cafe so we ate there and just so happened they'd met the owner hailing from Whitstable, his partner and her brother from Faversham, then just as it seemed funny to have so many Brits a group of 6 more from the same areas turned up, having known the others from school. So that was certainly a fun lil night, ending late in a bar playing pool.
We met again next day and took a boat trip on the river just round one of the small islands, even paddling ourselves a bit, we then spent a few hours lolling around town, eating, drinking - and the same the next day, with the addition of a Slovakian we'd met in Hue. The next day was travelling time again, down to Saigon / Ho Chi Minh city by train so we booked that all up and left the guys to get our bags sorted.
Hoi An was a really pretty little place to visit, the Old Town only allows bikes and mopeds entry, even then that can be limited during full moons - nothing to do with werewolves and the like - overall making it a much calmer atmosphere. The mustard yellow buildings all have a certain worn, untendered but pretty look, the wooden beams carved to allow wooden plank shop-shutters to be slotted in at closing time. Since the area floods every year there is a bit of a damp problem in places but unless you realised you may not notice - though the markings on some restaurant walls would more than likely give it away. The water comes up into the streets and well into the first floor, atleast a good 2 or so metres above river bank level.. Glad we weren't subject to it. Since Tet, the lunar new year was on its way there were plenty of premises sporting extra decoration, the town is normally lit with bamboo lanterns of all shapes and sizes making a really pretty setting on the river front and in the backstreets. People had incense and stacks of red-gold paper 'votives' burning for luck and good spirits, plus rice and some coloured pellets thrown into the street while kumquat trees and yellow flowered plants and bushes were sold in numbers along main streets and corners. At this time you throw out all your old clothes and buy anew, which would appeal to some people I know i'm sure of it..!
So time to leave, we had some more food and set off for the train - our longest journey yet.

Halong Bay to go

A murky early day we set off for Halong Bay, a four hour minibus taking the accrued cabin guests to the harbour ready to board the junk boat. The dock was alive with activity, weaving our way through to a small boat that took us out to our floating home for the next twenty four hours. After a brief explanation of the trip we were assigned our cabins and set off toward the rocks hidden amongst the mist in the distance.
After a hearty lunch we arrived in a cove of sorts, where that night i counted around 18 other junks - gives you an idea of how busy this place is.. One lady rowing between each offering snacks and beer tirelessly. We set out on a smaller boat and went to visit Sung Sot or Surprising Cave as it's known to tourists. A vast complex with three main chambers, quite beautiful in places but due to the number of tourists there, the set walkways and somewhat bizarre lighting it was better for views of the islets. Also i swear it looked like the ceiling had been plastered.. Very strange.
We got to have a paddle round in kayaks afterward, two man open tops.. We headed toward a small floating village then round a few more rocks and then tried to get some pictures of sea-eagles swooping in for lunch. That night was another massive meal followed by squid fishing and karaoke, neither a great success but entertaining at least.
Next morning we'd set off back toward the harbour, passing another floating fishing village on the way.
We had a cooking lesson, well, learnt to make a spring roll.. Then before long we were off back to Hanoi. It was pretty misty apart from a few glimpses of sunlight though this didn't really spoil it at all, if anything added to the air of the place..
Once back we had a day to waste before getting on another train this time back down toward Da Nang, to stay in Hoi An 30km away..

Capital let us..

It was a chilly day to arrive and you couldn't expect it to improve. A taxi from the station to our hotel gave a slight impression of what to expect on the roads, and to be fair peoples warnings seemed somewhat excessive. A warm welcome at our hotel with free coffee on tap was appreciated, so dosed up on caffeine we headed out. The fumes are thick enough on some streets to almost chew on, thankfully a face mask does help somewhat. We went for a walk around Hoan Kiem lake - where the golden tortoise descended having claimed back the divine sword used by the then king to ward off the Chinese - before popping to the ticket office of Thang Long Water Puppet theatre and reserving our seats ready for the next evening. We set off into the backstreets of the Old Quarter to find some food and if it weren't for the street names being on almost all the shops it could have been quite a maze to navigate. Trying to find our way back to the lake we came across the 'village gate' a small site paying homage to the importance of a gate to locals as a sense of community and security.. They had tickets for some traditional folk music known as Ca Tre to, so we considered it and thought why not. That evening we headed back down finding the streets much easier to navigate and were treated to an hour of performance by different combinations of artists. The style is definitely something different, somewhat alienating but enjoyable none the less.. I got to have a go on two of the instruments as well which was good fun, then drumming along with the pro for a while - overall not a bad way to spend an evening.
Next day we headed down to the Womens' Museum, quite a fascinating place, delving into cultural and historical activity, participation or leadership in wars and obviously fashion. Set over three floors it was a good exhibit, covering the different ethnicities approaches to marital life, child bearing, food production or sale, and religious celebration across the country. Heading to West Lake across town we took out a swan pedalo and had a half hour paddle round but the squeaking boat and overcast sky left a little to be desired.
Our next plan was to find the best way of going to Halong Bay as there is a real multitude of options and tales ranging from the disastrous to exceedingly grand.. We were happy with something just nice and thought we'd found it through Kangaroo Cafe though sadly after waiting the extra day to set off with them on tuesday we were informed their boat was being checked by police as per standard for operators so they wouldn't run but could advise us another company; exactly what we were avoiding doing. We cancelled and eventually booked through our hotel on to Galaxy Cruise at a better than usual rate.. For the day in between we took a long walk round Hanoi of about 10km, going past the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Museum, the One Pillar Pagoda and finally the Temple of Literature. These were all pretty interesting, the Citadel district was very formal with certain roads not publicly used and the grounds surrounding the Presidential Palace that looked beautiful for a walk in, guarded and totally off limits. We'd missed the opening times for heading inside either 'Uncle Ho' buildings so carried on round. Arriving back fairly tired we managed one last trip down to the night market before awaiting the adventure to Halong in the morning.

Good afternoon, Vietnam

The road from Savakhannet to the Lao Bao border crossing for Vietnam was generally ok but maybe in need of a bit of re-surfacing here and there. And there.. It was a pretty quiet bus so we were able to spread out and get in some sleep over the whole journey. When crossing the border it was the usual case of fees for it being said day, exit fee, then entry fee.. During this time you'd be offered by groups of ladies to exchange your Lao kip for Vietnamese dong though we didn't bother. Thinking back they were probably 2/3 of value... After some checks on the bus we carried on and eventually got to Hue in the evening time - as you started into the country the mountains, rivers and countryside are breathtaking, slowly but surely merging into concrete houses then industrial behemoths.. It was raining in Hue as we'd kind of expected, and being tired we got an overpriced taxi - best to make a small mistake early. The hotel was down a dirt track alley and first night wasn't the best - a leaking ceiling from being below the flat roof top with an inch of water collecting there - and ants in the morning. We moved room no problem but decided to move hotel for the rest of the time there. We took a long walk round town the first day, having found a cool local craft shop run by deaf / mute artisans supporting heart operations for children called Healing The Broken Heart - you could visit where the stuff was made but each time we went it was either closed or not much was going on.. Taking a trek to the far side of town we found out about the trains for heading north to Hanoi and on our way back visiting a vast post-gothic church which was rather surreal then finding the big supermarket..
Next day we headed out of town on a tour to see the various sights outside the main town booked through our hotel. Starting by dragon boat down the Huong / Perfume river our guide wasn't exactly an expert seemingly making up information and answers using the english he knew.. It was still interesting to see Garden House - a traditional style house - Hon Chen Temple and Thien Mu Pagoda - Hue's oldest. Also here was the car owned by the Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc, an abbott of the Thuoc Hoa pagoda who drove to Saigon, doused himself in petrol and set himself alight to protest at the treatment of buddhists by Southern Vietnam under Diem. You may recognize this tale as being 'the RATM album cover'
We headed from there towards the tombs of the monarchs, firstly Minh Mang, we changed guide here and this guy knew his field. The feng shui here is apparently very good - I was impressed by the vastness of the symmetry.. Designed in the shape of a body it was a massive site. Next was Khai Dinh tomb, fairly modern and incredibly decorative. high on a mountain so that finally in death he could be above the French who had presided over his reign.. Next was Tu Duc tomb, a more spread out enclosure like area, with lakes and over 100 buildings.. It was a nice site and made for a good end to visiting the tombs. Finally on our way back we visited some road side shops where we got to see production of incense sticks and conical hats, pretty interesting but brief enough to not feel like a sales pitch. We caught up with more information about the first sights we'd visited and heard a few funny tales making it a worthwhile - and fortunately sunny day.
Next day was typically British weather so we kept going outside to short local trips, next day we booked up our train to Hanoi and set about visiting the Imperial Citadel before leaving that evening.
Built around 1804 sadly many buildings were destroyed during the war having been conquered by both sides. It was another vast site and though a guide might have been worthwhile it was mighty impressive none the less.. Just rather sad to think what it might have been like with a bit less war and some more TLC.
We got off to the train station for the evening and settled into our sleeping cabin for the 13hour journey ahead, with the rattle of the train and just darkness outside it felt good to be on the move again..

Savannakhet Outta Here

After a long 10 hour journey back North through Laos to Savannakhet - due to take only 7 hours, we arrived at about 7 at night - via what was apparently the VIP bus but felt very much like the local bus, due to the amount of local trade taking place en route; the aisle was lined with 50kg bags of rice, at least 3-5 mopeds on top and more stops than ever before.
We arrived not really knowing where to stay or where we had been dropped off, so after a small walk we got a Tuk and arrived at a guesthouse we'd heard of online and settled deciding to hunt further the next day.. Once again, this kind of hunt proved unsuccessful, the only guesthouse we'd fancied the look of was twice the price for a similar room but with WiFi... Although it's a nice thing to have, it's definitely not worth doubling a room rate!

Heading into town we directed ourselves toward the Dinosaur Museum - which sadly was closed at the time, in a Spanish siesta style most things appeared to close between 12 and 2, so we headed further in to town - finding some interesting Wats we came across a few buildings inside one where a team of 6 were manufacturing Buddhas', that was quite a sight! Another Wat was having its entrance gate and wall renovated, again another interesting sight.. Savannakhet was another town heavily influenced by the French architecturally, with several buildings around the town signposted and on maps - though many have fallen to a state of disrepair which is a shame in the most part - some being particularly pretty, others a formality. Heading back toward the Museum we paid our admission and had a broken English tour - though to be fair you don't often get to hold the bones being described. The tooth of a T-Rex is very, very sharp. A few digs have taken place across the country in the last 10 - 100 years, though there must be so much left to find that it is quite saddening considering the vast mineral resources of the country that are blatantly going to be mined in the coming decades without much consideration for these important records.

The day after we trolled the town again, finding the main street instead and hunting for a Cafe with WiFi and a free coffee we had a voucher for... Sadly this was closed, and after returning a few times to check it wasn't the usual 'siesta' it was apparently closed til the New Year; we booked up a tour for the next day and dropped into the Cafe iLounge Bar instead, a funky little place run by a great Canadian guy happy to talk music, films and sort us out a good meal to boot - good for advise to as at this point we were panicking that our intended plan to leave on the Sunday (when Visas expired) was when the bus to Vietnam didn't run - thankfully not the case.

New Years Eve we went trekking. Heading out a few kilometres from town we first visited Natuay Salt Factory. An underwater reservoir is pumped out into either pools to be evaporated by the sun or heated in large metal troughs by wood burning ovens - the latter being most important during the monsoon season.. After leaving we headed into some Dong Natad forest, which led towards a local sacred lake Nong Lom and at the very end of this was the most important Pagoda for Buddhists in Laos the That Ing Hang. In the forest we had a good chance to learn some local uses for the plants around, from edible flowers, roots and plants - for medicinal and food purposes - to a tree that produces oil for burning. This was pretty fascinating, and made for some great sightings of insects - including one tree stump covered with the most spiders I have ever seen. Thousands.

That evening we headed out for dinner before going to the Savan Casino, built to improve tourism in the area.. It was surreal, having spent 30 days in varying degrees of 'luxury' to be suddenly surrounded by Thai style neon and the typical slots, tables and video-gambling it made my head spin. Fortunately we spent very little and actually won enough to cover more or less our whole time there, with enough time to spare before the New Year itself; heading back into town we found a party going on at a square near to our hotel. Music, beer, small fireworks, it was enough to be able to enjoy and have a fun little dance learning a few 'funky' moves in the Lao style. Next morning, 1st January, it was time for the next move, all the way across from the West of Laos to the East and into Vietnam.