Tạm biệt Vietnam…until next time

Well that was a whirl wind tour of Vietnam if I’ve ever seen one.  2000 kilometres from top to bottom, from Saigon to Hanoi done and dusted in 12 days.

I looked back at my first post in Vietnam…I was hesitant about my first tour but I’m glad I did it.  How else can you experience a fast paced country then with ten other like minded travellers jumping from hotel to bus to train to restaurant to bar!

What I particularly liked about G Adventures is that its not a tour group, its more so everyone travelling together, everyone enjoying a night out together and everyone choosing what they want to do each day.  There was no flag touting tour guide herding us from one boring tourist trap to another.  It was “here is a list of cool places to see” go for it!  I enjoyed quite a few days by myself doing my own thing but it was always nice to come back to the hotel and see familiar faces.

Hanoi took me by surprise…its a beautiful city surrounding a pretty lake.  Walking the lake front with its large trees reminded me of Central Park in New York.  The locals enjoy keeping fit by running by the lake or using the free gym equipment.  The weather was a relief; only 28`C so no sweating in sight.

The streets of Hanoi don’t line up and the houses are awkwardly stacked on each other.  Crossing the road is like a game of cat and mouse, I felt the whisp of a motorbike once or twice and I think at the time if my feet had of been a centimetre longer I would have had 10 broken toes!

Today I met up with Lisa and we went to the Water Puppet Theatre.  The puppets are made from wood and lacquer and are moved around the water by a supporting rod.  The puppeteers are actually in the water too – about waist deep – but a hidden by a screen.  Its extremely clever.  It dates back to the 11th century.

The performance lasted about 50 minutes and basically went through and showed traditional Vietnamese culture in a series of short performances – there was one performance about fishing and another on growing rice.  Its all spoken in Vietnamese so hard to understand but with the live band and singers playing traditional music it was well worth the $3US.

Hanoi was also the farewell dinner and as excepted we did party hard – dinner at a restaurant first then hopping to three bars.  However I was very well behaved as I had a 7am flight to catch.  I’m not sure how many of my travel buddies remember me saying goodbye!  It was lovely though in the morning that Ratha, Jorgen and Evan woke from their hangovers to see me off.

So until next time Vietnam – good bye!

Z x

Photos

Halong Bay

Tuesday afternoon – our group’s last train trip from Hue to Halong was a doozy…nice send off Vietnam…thank you very much!!

Firstly the train was nearly an hour late, so we had to sit in the stuffy train station and smell the lovely odours coming from toilets.

Apparently the first class train that was meant to take us to Hanoi was diverted in a different direction so we ended up with a second class piece of crap!  The carriages were used, the floors were carpeted and stained, the fabric mattresses were stained (yuck! – the others had a leather exterior, so much cleaner), no clean pillows or blankets (only sheets) and there were mice running around.  Overall the train was just old and very worn.  My sleeping sheet and neck pillow became my saviours.

Don’t even get me started on the toilets!  There was one Western toilet and one squat toilet in each carriage.  Believe me when I say that I will hold for an hour, even longer if necessary, until a Western toilet becomes available.  Mum – do you remember when we bought those two packets of toilet wipes for $2…well they are priceless.  There is never any toilet paper and using a hose just doesn’t quite cut it to clean up.  Another thing I have learned when using the bathroom – if I’m wearing long pants, roll them up…things can get messy otherwise.

The train journey to Hanoi took 14 hours.  We boarded at 3pm and arrived on Wednesday at around 5am.  We purchased some dinner before hand and ate it cold on the train at about 6pm.  To pass the time we played cards, which by about 9pm turned into cards with the loser having to take a shot of $4 vodka.  I only did two shots…Jay Jay was the biggest loser with 9 shots.  At about 10pm I finally feel asleep.

After arriving at the train station in Hanoi we jumped in a bus and drove three and a half hours to Halong Bay.  The township of Halong Bay isn’t much to write home about, it really is just a stop over point for the Bay.  However the Bay is incredible.  It rained most of the bus ride from Hanoi and it was over cast and cloudy in Halong, however the islands still looked beautiful against the grey sky.

We spent about 4 hours travelling by boat around Halong Bay, as you are travelling out it looks like the islands are all joined together, like one giant mountain range, but as you journey closer you can see each individual island sprouting from the water.

There is a floating village in the Bay, where people live in floating houses with their cats and dogs and their children attend a floating school.  The locals offer boat rides and kayaks for the tourists.  Kirsty, Evan and myself opted for a leisurely row boat ride, definitely a great way to get up close and personal with the islands.  Our lovely lady rower took us through a cave like entrance into a opening on the other side.  One word – AMAZING!  I felt like I had entered a different world, maybe I was in the TV show Getaway, it was unbelievable.  For the first time in weeks and weeks it was peaceful and silent.  The lady stopped rowing, we all sat in silence and stared in awe as we bobbed around in the middle of an island. There was no tooting horns, no zooming motorbikes, no yelling, just birds in the distance and nothing else.

Back on the boat we sailed to a cave discovered in 1993 by a fisherman.  After trudging up a few stairs with every other tourist in sight, we disappeared from the sunlight into a massive opening.  The cave has been “blinged” up with fluro lights but still the size is impressive.

Today, Thursday 1 May (where did April go?) we drove back to Hanoi.  I’m enjoying a very quiet afternoon in my room catching up on my blog, photos and emails.  Interestingly enough the Vietnam government has banned Facebook and it cannot be found via the internet.  Each time I put the address in the page came up “Page could not be displayed”.  However I did some research and if you change the IP address it re-directs your laptop to another location and you can access.  How crazy is that!  I’m just hoping I don’t have the Vietnamese Government knock on my hotel door…

Tomorrow I’ll check out some of the sights Hanoi has to offer.  Friday night will be our last group dinner as the tour ends on Saturday.  I have really grow friendly with this great group of people and we have shared a lot of good times together.

On Saturday I can’t believe that I will be flying to beautiful Laos for my next adventure.  Until then take care and stay tuned 🙂

Picture are here.

Zx

 

Motorbiking in Hue

Monday saw the tour and I depart Hoi An via bus to Hue (pronouced Why).  Sadly most of us were nursing a slight hang over from the antics of the previous night.  Apparently we were watching the Chelsea versus Liverpool match (bloody English and their “soccer”) but really I was enjoying the cocktails.  $3.50 for two, yes you read correctly, two!

The bus ride took about four hours, following the beautiful coastline and climbing through the mountains.  We stopped at a small village called Hai Van Pass where the US Army had built bunkers during the Vietnam War.  You could even still see the bullet holes in some of the walls.

The temperature in Hue when we arrived was heaven…about 28`C and zero humidity – it was a wonderful change.  After a quick lunch we all joined in on motorbike tour of Hue.

To date one of the best experiences I have had – it was so exhilarating sitting on the back of the bike and cruising the back roads, rice paddies and villages of Hue.  The drivers that took us on the back of their bikes were cool, old, Vietnamese dudes and they knew how to ride!  Our first stop was to the rice museum to watch a Vietnamese lady give an Oscar-worthy performance on how rice was harvested and how fish were caught.

We jumped back on our bikes and cruised to the Tu Duc Tomb where Emperor Tu Duc has a tomb but is not buried.  He was buried in a secret location somewhere in Hue to ensure his remains would be untouched.  Sadly, the 200 men who buried the Emperor were all beheaded to ensure the secret was very safe.  Before Emperor Tu Duc’s departure he used the grounds for a place to relax and read poetry.  He also had over 100 wives but never produced a heir.

Next we rode to a beautiful, secluded spot to enjoy a stunning view of the Perfume River.  Some locals kids were also enjoying the view and celebrating a birthday with a picnic lunch.  Also in this spot were more US bunkers…

A short bike later we arrived at an incense making factory.  The lovely ladies at the factory also make the Vietnamese hats, which I had been eyeing off.  These hats actually have a “shadow” inside them and when held up to the light you can see a beautiful pattern.  I ended buying some incense and a hat – which I think I may turn into a lamp shade?

We then rode to the Elephant and Tiger Fighting Arena – a very depressing history.  It was used for elephants and tigers to fight each other to the death.  There were claw marks scratched deeply into the brick work; from a helpless tiger trying to escape his enclosure.  Very sad and heartbreaking.

Our final destination was Thien Mu Pagoda which is also a monastery for monks in training.  We were lucky to see them enjoying the afternoon playing hacky sack.  Our awesome drivers then took us for one last spin on the way back to our hotel through the crazy roundabouts and roads of Hue.  A really enjoyable afternoon.

Link to the photos is here.

Z

Shopping in Hoi An

The group and I arrived in Hoi An on the morning of Saturday, 19th April.  The night before we departed Nha Trang on the overnight train.  Sadly the train wasn’t as nice as the previously one – the carriages had already been used, so there was rubbish and used bedding.  And the worst thing – cockroaches!  I killed three cockroaches on Lisa’s bed and after that I told her to sleep with her thong (shoe) and fend for herself – they just kept coming!  Poor Lisa is from the UK so didn’t sleep a wink most of the night – she was extremely scared.

On a side note, silly me totally forgot that English and Europeans call their thongs “flip flops”.  Therefore when I told this story to the girls in the next carriage they were highly impressed, if not slightly confused that I had killed cockroaches with my “g-string”!!!

Hoi An was extremely hot – I don’t think I have ever been so hot in my life, definitely hotter then Cambodia – it was 40`C and 100% humidity.  I ended up with sunburn on sunburn and drank about 4 litres of water and was still drenched in sweat.  We arrived too early to check into the hotel, so again hot, sweaty and tired I headed out to look around.  That’s the only bad thing about the overnight train.  I enjoy sleeping on the train, its comfortable and you don’t lose a day travelling but the arrival time doesn’t exactly suit me – I always feel tired and I always want a shower once getting off the train.

Hoi An is just a charmer, it has a lovely riverfront but also quaint streets and alleys.  The buildings are incredibly old and rustic and the paint is peeling and the shutters are twisted but it just adds to its beautiful character.  I think I would rate Hoi An as up there as one of my favourite cities.

It is a UNESCO declared city and more then 800 buildings have been preserved so walking into many of buildings means they look like they did several centuries ago.

Hoi An is filled with approximately 300 tailors and tailor shops – its known for producing top quality clothing and suits at cheap prices and within short timeframes.  We were recommend a tailor by Ratha, our CEO, so myself, Kirsty and Sophie headed there to get measured up.  What a great way to shop – flicking through brochures and looking at the models to pick a style, then browsing the massive choice of materials for a colour and then being personally measured to ensure the clothing suits perfectly!  I ended up getting four dresses made for $35 each!  I went back to the store at about 6pm that night for my first fitting and then returned the next afternoon to collect the dresses!  I was really impressed with them, really good quality and they fit.

I spend the rest of the day wandering the streets and tiny alley ways.  There are some incredibly funky stores with excellent quality handicrafts.  I went a bit crazy and purchased some art work from a local artist and a beautiful tea pot and matching cups from a shop that assists disabled locals in gaining work.  Most of the jewellery is hand made and I purchased a bracelet from another store.  Once I get to Hanoi I will post everything home for safe keeping.

On Sunday I went on a tour of My Son with Austrian couple Stefan and Natalie.  My Son (pronounced Mee Sun) is about an hour from Hoi An and it is religious temples from around the 4th century.  My Son was rediscovered by the French in the late 19th century.  Like Hoi An, My Son is a UNESCO world heritage site.

During the Vietnam War the US forces bombed a fair amount of the temples as Viet Congs were living here.  The temples didn’t survive well but many are still in tact and you can see the imprint of the bombs landing in the earth.

After the tour of My Son, we journeyed down the Thu Bon River by boat and docked at a small village to see their handicrafts and daily life.  Apart from another very hot day, it was a great experience.

Photos are here.

Z

 

Like a Pig in Mud

I came all the way to Vietnam to lay in mud!

Yep, that what I did on my second day in Nha Trang along with two of my tour buddies – Lisa from the UK and Jay Jay from the Netherlands.

But its not just any old mud at Thap Ba Hot Spring Centre, this is therapeutic mud that apparently can assist with joint pains, decrease stress levels and cure skin diseases.

It was actually a lot of fun and extremely relaxing.  We were allocated a large spa bath which was pumped full of mud!  It just came out of the pipe like water would!

Next step was to then get into the mud…such a crazy feeling and extremely slippery but the mud actually had a smooth, silky texture.  It wasn’t cluggy or sticky or smelly, it was pleasant.  Once I was laying in the mud it was really enjoyable and felt really nice over my skin.  I even treated myself to a mud mask and poured it through my hair.

It was a quiet day at the Springs so we were lucky enough to spend at least half and hour playing in the mud and relaxing before taking an open air shower with natural mineral water.  The water is straight from a spring and usually is about 37`C and extremely salty, especially when it gets in your mouth.  It actually took a good scrub and plenty of water to get the mud off and I’m sure I still have a little bit of grit left in my hair!

After taking a shower we moved on to the “pressure cleaners”.  The mineral water is projected from stone walls and it gets rid of the final layer of mud plus also provides a nice body massage.  Then it was time for another bath, this time in the pure mineral water. Hopping into 37`C isn’t exactly relaxing but after sticking with it for a few minutes, it’s amazing.  The water is meant to penetrate the skin and open the pores.

The last stop at the Springs was the waterfall, where the mineral water is dumped over the side of rocks and feels like a hundred hands are rubbing your head, neck and back!

I think overall we spent about 3 hours at the Springs and it cost about $7 plus $4 for the 15 minute taxi ride.  Afterwards my skin and face felt so smooth and clean and I was definitely relaxed.  I’m not sure if my togs have survived – I washed them twice and I’m still finding grit in them!

Link to the photos is here.

Z

Tunnels, Trains & Nha Trang – Southern Vietnam

After a short break I am back on the blog and into the travelling…feels great to be moving again.  I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam earlier this week and have decided to join up with a tour group to explore Vietnam.  I have never been on a tour before mainly due to the fact that I don’t like being told what to do (most importantly when to wake up!) and also because I wanted to prove to myself that I am smart, savvy and independent enough to travel the world by myself.

However, travelling solo is actually quite exhausting – planning activities to do during the day and the best way to see them and how to get there; organising and booking transport to the airport or hotel; keeping track of expenses and budgeting (its a full time job!) and eating by myself can get boring and very lonely too.  Don’t get me wrong I have loved every moment of my trip so far, I’ve met some fantastic fellow travellers and I think I’ve done pretty well to have not got lost or ripped off but I’m very much enjoying being guided and having someone do the hard work for me!

The tour that I am is a little different to your normal run of the mill tours – once the group arrives in a destination its basically “free time” and its up to ourselves to decide what we want to do – the Chief Experience Officer (CEO) or tour guide does help to work out the finer details and if the whole group wants to do the same activity they book the lot.  All accommodation and transport is organised and usually the group goes out for dinner together.  You can see the tour I’m doing here:  G Adventures

So back to what I have been up to…

For me the Cu Chi Tunnels were the highlight of Ho Chi Minh City.  The Tunnels are about a hour and a half drive from the city and were built by the Viet Cong soldiers (Northern Vietnamese Communist) during the Vietnam War.  Personally I find the history of the Vietnam War extremely interesting (especially with Australia’s controversial involvement – Cold Chisel’s Khe Sanh and Bush Tucker Man ‘Les Hiddins’ anyone?) but being in Vietnam makes it even more so.  More about the Cu Chi Tunnels are comments in the photos.  What I have noticed in Vietnam is the amount of people that are physically deformed – its widely known that the US Forces used many toxic chemicals during the war and this is blamed for around 50,000 children who were born deformed by parents who were affected by the chemicals.

My first overnight sleeper train ride occurred last night from Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang – it took about 8-9 hours, was around 700 kilometres and I was super excited!  We boarded the train about 7.15pm and left the station at 8.00pm.  I shared a sleeper with Lisa, from the UK and Natalie and Stefan; an Austrian couple.  It was actually a really enjoyable trip – obviously it was dark so I couldn’t see anything but I slept quite well and was rocked to sleep by the  “clanking” side ways of the cart.  Being woken up at 4.30am was not pleasant and knowing that we could not check in to the hotel straight away also sucked.

Whilst waiting for our rooms to be ready, I enjoyed a super strong Vietnamese coffee, followed by a walk to the beach to watch sun rise and the locals doing their exercises.  This ranged from Tai Chi, swimming in the ocean, walking, jogging and various stretching and twisting movements.

As my room was still not ready after breakfast I decided I was already awake, sweaty and dirty…I may as well just head out for the day.  I took a beautiful, long walk along the beach which is very stunning – compared to other Asian beaches it is clean and the water is clear.   I was then approached by a old cyclo driver who offered to take me to the main sights for 200,000 Dong ($10) – why not!  I hadn’t been on a cyclo as yet and what better way to see the town by bike and really getting amongst the traffic.

Our first stop was to the Catholic Cathedral built in the early 1900’s that sits on a small hill.  What makes this interesting is the fact that not many Vietnamese are Catholics and the architecture is different to that of surroundings buildings.

Next we cycled (or my friend did the hard work!) to Long Son Pagoda or where the Big Buddha is perched.  The Buddha is about 21 metres in height and can be seen from in town.  I must have dropped the ball slightly here because I never get done over by touts but I had two young ladies who were extremely persistent and I just couldn’t get out of their game!!  They latched on to me and told a story about them living in the monastery as they were orphans (yep, haven’t heard that one before) and they could show me around (NOTHING is free in Asia!).  Somehow I ended up with a frangipani flower behind my ear and incense sticks in my hand (first rule…never accept anything!) and being told about the leaning Buddha statue.  It just happened so quickly!!!!  Then came the money talk…you just need to make a donation to the orphanage…buy these postcards….they are only 300,000 Dong – about $15!!  No way I said, you just followed me, I’m not buying anything!!  Then the nastiness started…but we gave you incense, we are orphans, you are a bad person, we wish you bad luck…and they were extremely spiteful and bitter.  I did feel bad for the incense and seriously I could have and should have walked away whilst being verbally abused but I did the dumb Western tourist thing and pulled 50,00 Dong out of my wallet, it was quickly snatched by one of them who then walked away quicker then I could say ‘Buddha’.  The second lady demanded more money – but no way was I giving in – you share that money I told her – no, no, she already took – too bad – no more money!!!  She cursed at me in Vietnamese and I made a break for it.  I’m blaming the 4.30am start for the slip in concentration.

But in all honesty I don’t believe in giving money to beggars or touts.  I’ve discussed in length with other travellers, tour guides and locals what you should do but I believe it just encourages a never ending cycle.  Every single day in Cambodia I was approached by young children – usually around six years old trying to sell postcards and braclets.  It is extremely confronting when a young, dirty boy in tatted clothes stands in front of your table at a restaurant with sad puppy eyes and palms open while your tucking into a big fat meal.  I have watched other tourists wave the children away only for the children to persist…the tourist gives in a shoves money into their hand or people genuinely believe they are doing a good deed and smile to themselves once the child skips away to the next table.

The touts and beggars are also getting smarter.  The latest scam is a young mother holding a baby, you wave the mother away, but she yells ‘no money, no money, I need milk for my baby’.  Conveniently there is a shop close by selling milk for a baby for usually around $15US…expensive for a reason…once the tourist has left the milk is returned to the shop keeper and the profits split!  In most cases these scams are run by someone behind the scene who forces the young women to go on the street or the parents of a child who would rather the child work then them.  My opinion anyway…

The Buddha was really cool, extremely large and jolly looking.  The views from the Buddha were beautiful and Nha Trang actually reminds me of Nice in southern France.

I then visited Cham Towers, a crumbling building built between the 7th and 12th century.  It is used by the Buddhists to worship and give offerings too.   While I was there, locals were organising a large feast.

My last stop was to the local markets.  I only spent about 30 minutes…you can never look at anything without “Madam, madam, you like, you buy”.  I couldn’t even look at a bunch of bananas without being harassed!

Tomorrow I spend another day in Nha Trang before departing on the overnight train to Hoi An and then Hue.  Lisa and I are planning on spending the morning soaking in mud at the Thap Ba Hot Springs.  Apparently they have healing powers – I’m hoping they might ease the nasty sunburn I endured this morning!  I am black on my arms and my face looks like a lobster!  Nice combo!

Enjoy the long weekend – I’ll be thinking of the Aussies who fought in Vietnam.

Z

You can check out the pictures here 🙂