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Published: January 7th 2008
Halong Marina
Waiting for departure!Before sharing my North Vietnamese tales I thought it prudent to share a little discovery we made upon leaving our beloved motorbike drivers Vu & Vu. Warning, if you're under the age of 10 perhaps skip this paragraph. At the conclusion of our motorbike tour of central Vietnam Jenna and I called our friend Ryan back in Saigon (see previous entry for a reminder) to inform him of our whirlwind adventures. Upon telling him about "Double Vu" he promptly interrupted our tales and asked for clarification on our pronunciation of Vu. Now, admittedly we are no geniuses when it comes to the difficult pronunciations inherent to the Vietnamese language, but our drivers introduced themselves as "Vu" specifying that pronunciation, so we had little cause to believe we could be saying anything incorrectly. Ummm, not so much. Apparently, the proper pronunciation is something like "Vou." Unfortunately for us, "Vu" as such is the word lovingly used for "Tits." Of course the irony was not lost on us that not only had we been calling each of our drivers "Tits" but we had been referring to the both of them as "Double Tits" and when distinguishing between the two as "Your Vu" and
"My Vu." We finally understood why when asking inn keepers or waitresses if they had seen our "Vu" we often times got confusion followed by wide grins followed by lots of giggles. And all along we thought they just had a crush on our drivers! Word to the wise, when traveling in a country that has a tonal-based language, clarifying pronunciations is always a smart move.
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We had heard many stories comparing the nature of South Vietnam to North Vietnam, but like everything in our trip, determined to see for ourselves if there was a noticeable difference in attitude and friendliness.
Given our abandonment of the old motorbikes we decided a flight from Danang was the surest way to get to the northern capital of Hanoi. Having just over an hour until our flight departed we opted to head across the street for a coffee. There were two cafes, one with and one without outdoor seating. Naturally we were drawn to the one with visible outdoor seating but when we attempted to head in that direction the woman managing the other café insisted we give hers a try. We mentioned our desire to sit outside and she nodded
Hang Dau Go Cave
Illuminated stalactites and stalagmites indicating there was outdoor seating in the back. Vietnamese definition of outdoor seating: Any location from which the sky can be seen and a table and chair can be placed. In short, we got a table and chairs moved to the alley behind the restaurant and that was their official offering of "outdoor seating"...complete with motorbikes swerving around us and alley dogs rummaging through the trash left back there. Gotta love Vietnam.
So, back to the North. We landed in Hanoi and I think we were both a little disappointed to find ourselves in a massive, buzzing city again. We met up once again with Jenna's friend, Ian, whom we had last seen at our little meditation tea ceremony in Dalat and enjoyed having a good laugh over that evening. The three of us boarded a minibus the following morning and set off for Halong Bay where we would spend the next 3 days cruising on an old Junk Boat and taking in the gorgeous scenery afforded by the 2,000+ limestone karsts (islands) that rise from the waters and are each topped with thick jungle vegetation. Boarding the boat in Halong was somewhat of an adventure in and of
itself. By my estimation there were at least 200 Junks simultaneously boarding their passengers. Actually setting off from the docks was something like bumper cars, "you bump my left side, I'll bump his back end, he'll then push off his neighbor and miraculously we'll all get going by mid afternoon." Knowing they repeated this routine every couple of days I couldn't help but wonder how often visitors got treated to a Vietnamese evacuation procedure as a result of the banging their boat took that morning.
Once away from the masses, the draw of Halong Bay became instantly obvious. The rock formations are truly a site to behold and as we were there in the start of their winter we watched them literally rise out of the misty fog that seemed to permanently hover over the water. Think Pirates of the Caribbean (sadly without Johnny Depp or Orlando). When the cool air got to be too much, we headed below deck for lunch and a little meet and greet with our fellow passengers. We quickly realized we had lucked out and were relieved to discover that we had scored a fantastic group. 7/14 lived in NSW, Australia...aka, we were confident
Halong Bay by Night
Junks tether themselves to each other out in the bay as everyone prepares to bunk down for the night. the 3 days would yield good convos and plenty of laughs. I knew I was in particularly good company when one of the couples sheepishly admitted to spending a couple unplanned nights in Singapore because of a failure to obtain their visa for Vietnam. Hallelujah, I am not the only one!
Several of the islands in Halong are hollow and boast of sizable caves. Our first afternoon we visited the largest grotto in the bay, Hang Đầu Gỗ (Wooden stakes Cave). Its three large chambers contain large numerous stalactites and stalagmites and although the primary chamber is a little Disney World-esque with lights illuminating many formations, the size and stature was undoubtedly impressive. The throngs of Japanese tourists however were not. After visiting another cave which was thankfully devoid of all tourists, we returned to our junk. Our first night on the boat was lovely and thankfully we were not privy to any of the unfortunate circumstances we had previously heard about, i.e. Rats scratching around the boat.
Our second day on the bay was to be pretty active, consisting of biking, trekking and kayaking. We were told the bike to hike would be about 2 hours and
had some steep hills but opted in anyway because quite frankly the exercise sounded appealing after weeks of doing little. Thankfully the Vietnamese definition of strenuous exercise proved quite different than ours because we were given what may have once resembled bicycles but had long since given up their duty as such. If you had brakes you certainly didn't have gears and vice versa. Some people's seats would intermittently fall down or swivel in the midst of riding and I was quite certain my front wheel was going to detach at any given moment. The two hour mark was certainly not a function of the distance covered but rather the direct result of having to stop every 10 feet to make sure everyone's bikes were in one piece. Thankfully the kayaks that followed shortly thereafter proved a little better in quality and I think we all truly marveled at the experience of paddling along Halong's perfectly still waters with barely a sound or site around. In addition to the many limestone karsts, Halong Bay is home to local floating fishing communities. Commonly composed of 15 - 30 homes and complete with primary schools and markets, these communities are entirely afloat
Halong Primary School
Do not challenge these water babies to a paddling contest. They would win hands down with their feet! and dependent on fishing and selling local produce to the tourists who visit. Amazingly, virtually all of these homes have a household pet and as I watched the dogs running along, barking at our passing boat I couldn't help but wonder where they "did their business" since yards, let alone land is not abundant there. Clearly they know something we don't!
Sadly, Jenna and I had to part ways after Halong Bay as she had to get back to the states for the holidays. I decided to squeeze one more stop in before heading to Phuket to join the fam and found myself quite thankful I had done so. Ahhh...Sapa!
Two valium, a 10 hour overnight train and 2 hour bus ride later I found myself in the quiet mountain town of Sapa. Close to the Chinese border, Sapa is dominated by the Hoang Lien Son mountain range which is actually the eastern extremity of the Himalayas. The majority of Sapa's population are the ethnic minority groups such as the Hmong, Kinh and Dao peoples and a stroll through the streets will ensure numerous encounters with each. The different tribes can be identified by their native dress which
are all beautifully embroidered with a variety of brilliant colors. My new Aussie friends (courtesy of the Halong Bay trip), Tanya and Sue, joined me in Sapa and despite arriving to a wet, foggy morning we excitedly set off for a couple hour trek to the Cat Cat Village. Like all minority tribes in Sapa, the people in Cat Cat work their land on gorgeous sloping terraces. These stepped terraces, primarily used for corn and rice, are synonymous with Sapa and evoke thoughts of Machu Pichu on a clear day. Lucky for us, the first foggy and wet day was followed by a crystal clear stunner and sitting on our hotel balcony I couldn't help but wonder if Sapa was not one of the most beautiful spots I had ever visited. Watching the fog roll in and out along the lower half of the mountain range was cathartic and admittedly I spent hours doing so. Although at times a little put off by the constant requests to buy local crafts, generally speaking, the minority people only add to the beauty of this place and I was quite pleased myself to befriend a woman my age who trekked with me for
several hours along with her 6 month old baby, Hun. Perhaps most shocking was the fluency of English amongst these tribes which in many cases was far superior to that found amongst the city dwellers in Vietnam's capitals. Sadly however, Sapa was just a quick stop for me and only 36 hours after arriving I had to board the same bus back to yet another overnight train. Unfortunately not even good drugs, earplugs, an eye mask and bed could save me from what turned out to the be the train ride from hell. Despite all expectations of a doomsday I did survive however and arrived back in Hanoi to catch my flight to Thailand.
Come the conclusion of my Vietnamese travels I can say that this is one country I will undoubtedly be visiting again in the near future. I encourage each and everyone of you to add it to your list and do your utmost to get there before it becomes as well trodden as so many other spots have at this point. Next Stop, Phuket!
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julia
non-member comment
tits
i think i'm going to start calling people 'tits' here in the states...i'll let you know how it goes.