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Published: January 19th 2008
A Fistful of Dong
Vietnamese Currency featuring Ho Chi Minh. 1,000,000 Dong is worth approx 32 pounds. The first thing we noticed about Hanoi was the strangely melodic sound of beeping horns. The rules of the road don’t seem to apply here. Scooters park on the footpath and pedestrians walk on the road. Scooters and bicycles are by far the most frequently used modes of transport with even taxis operating on them and the roads are literally wedged full of them. Helmets are not common but speed isn’t really an issue as streets are so short and narrow. Crossing roads is a leap of faith; just step out and keep on walking slowly in a straight line and miraculously the scooters drift around you like Moses parting the red sea. The buildings in the old quarter are so skinny and the place has real character. Galleries line many streets and ladies set up mini food stalls surrounded by miniature stools on most corners. Baguettes are sold nearly everywhere with the obligatory Laughing Cow. It’s a place like no other.
We stayed at the Hanoi Spirit hotel on Hang Be street in the old quarter. Our breakfast and an hour internet per day were included in the price of $12 a night with ac. This was one of
the most expensive places we stayed in! We wandered through the art galleries and pondered buying a painting of a big red cow but decided against it in the end, a decision I’m sure we won’t regret. It didn’t take us long to find our favourite bar, Le Pub, which just happened to be a 2 minute walk further up our street. It had free wi fi, delicious quesadillas and friendly bar staff.
On our second day we ventured to the Museum of Ethnology on the back of two moto-taxis. The scariest part was seeing the big sign advising how many people had been killed so far that day/week and month on the roads in Hanoi! The museum was very good but our favourite exhibition was a temporary one detailing the post war rationing period between 1975 and 1989. We had no idea things had only gotten better so recently for the Vietnamese. That night we visited the water puppet show, apparently a big thing in Vietnam. We had a good laugh at the skits as well as at the two female vocalists who were competing against each other and belting out the warbling tunes. There were a lot
of older French people in the audience and they filled a few tour buses after the show so it seems many French people still visit the country. We ate at a fancy restaurant next door to our hotel that night called Le Tangerine. Some of the seating was outside in a gorgeous stone walled courtyard and the food was delicious. We highly recommend it but it is a tad pricey.
From Hanoi we took a three day junk boat tour around Halong Bay. The bus picked us up at our hotel and headed up north to the port about 3 hours away. On route we stopped at a handicapped children’s workshop for refreshments and a look at the paintings and crafts they make. We didn’t actually spot any handicapped children though and the centre was crowded full of tour buses on their obligatory stop over. One thing we found quite strange at these places were how the women would order a cucumber and peel it then eat it whole! On the drive our guide, Tu, introduced himself and wittered away for a long time. We did learn that Ha Long means descending dragon and he told us the Vietnamese
legend about how the karst landscape came to be (it involves a dragon...) but the details have faded a bit now. At the harbour we boarded our boat which was packed tightly in between another couple hundred of identical boats. They are pretty spectacular looking, as was the view across the water at the jagged rocks rising out of the sea and mist. We set sail soon after and had lunch on board before stopping off at a big cave. Our guide didn’t join us but the group in front adopted us and we caught most of the stories on the way around. Later we got 2 man kayaks and set off in the open water. Little shop boats approached us to sell drinks and snacks at super inflated prices but the novelty of buying a can of beer while in a kayak in between hundreds of islands was an opportunity we couldn't pass up. There was a little cave we all went through and on the other side we found ourselves in a lagoon with mountains all around. The cave was the only way in. It was really beautiful. That night we had fish for dinner on the boat
and chatted to some of the other people before retiring to our cabin. Ash woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of dripping and realised the camera was charging underneath the leaking air con unit. Luckily, it still works!
Day 2 of the trip we landed on Cat Ba Island and took a bus to the national park where we hiked to a gap in the mountain and then back down again taking a different route. It was a little more exercise intensive than we’d expected but the group was cool so it wasn’t too bad. More like mountain climbing than hiking in places though. It never ceases to amaze us how some tourists visit a country and wow and awe at he scenery before stubing out their cigarettes and leaving the butts to be admired for all. After our little adventure we took the bus to the floating villages for lunch. There were just 5 of us and one guy sat on his own so really just us and 2 girls from England. There was a family of Vietnamese at the table next to us celebrating something, drinking shots and laughing a lot. We
split up then, the girls went kayaking and we took a little boat to Monkey Island for some swimming and lounging around on the beach. A few monkeys came down to take a look and caused a little unrest amongst the lady loungers but didn’t get too close. The hotel we stayed in was really nice with a rooftop restaurant and a mini bar that charged normal prices for the treats. There was a mini parade, music and fire throwers as the kids were practising for the full moon celebrations in a few days time. We headed in to the town with our guide to find a karaoke bar but we were out of luck. A group of people got a bit too rowdy the night before and in their exuberance broke the microphones. It just wasn’t meant to be. We hit a busy bar and met some people from Denmark and the states and played pool until we realised the time then crashed.
Day 3 wasn’t too eventful. We took a minibus to the harbour then the boat back to the mainland then the bus back to Hanoi via the handicapped children’s workshop for more cucumber eating marathons.
This time we saw a girl with a walking disability.
We took in some sightseeing on our last day in Hanoi visiting the cathedral, propaganda galleries and the Ngoc Son Temple in the middle of the Hoam Kiem Lake. We even snapped the embalmed hundred year old turtle displayed inside the temple. That night we took the first leg of our $30, 5 stop bus ticket from Hanoi to Hue. We’d upgraded to sleeper class for this trip to try and get some sleep. When we boarded the bus it was raining and the driver handed out plastic bags to everyone for their shoes to keep the bus dry. There was two aisles with three rows of beds, two against each window and one down the middle. The beds were reminiscent of coffins and just a little too short for the both of us. We still managed to sleep a bit though we were quite stiff in the morning.
It was easy to find a room with all the touts out although it seems to work a little differently in Hue, the guys asking for you to stay with them actually worked at the hotel and just come
down when they are expecting the bus to arrive. The lady at the desk booked us on to a full day dragon boat tour of the ancient Nguyen emperor’s massive tombs and the citadel, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The trip only cost $15 and included lunch which we ate as soon as we boarded. The lady who served us was very old and spoke no English but we managed and the food she made was very tasty; caramelised mackerel, spinach (very popular in Vietnam), bean sprouts mixed with green beans, carrots and cabbage, fried egg and rice. Our chopstick use was put to the test again although when it came down to the rice using our fingers proved the more efficient way to eat! First stop, Thien Mu Pagoda (temple) which was octagonal and sat on the bank of the perfume river. It was really fantastic with lots of statues and a cool bell tower. The next stop was for Tu Duc’s tomb which was about a mile inland and couldn’t be seen from the river. Our hotel lady warned us about a moto-taxi scam so we turned down the offers and walked to it. We passed
a few other huge old monuments on the way. It’s so strange neither of us had heard about this place before we arrived and the tombs are gargantuan and really well preserved. The tomb is set on a small lake in the middle of a pine forest. It was a pity we didn’t have more time to just sit and soak up the atmosphere here. It was one of the most impressive things we’ve seen. The next tomb was that of Ming Mang and it was really spectacular. It looked like this guy was richer as he had a magnificent tomb with the architecture and sculptures grander, although we thought the last one had more character. The last stop on our boat trip was the main citadel. We arrived pretty late in the day and they nearly wouldn’t let us in but we begged them as we were leaving the next day and would rather catch just a bit of it then miss it altogether. The place was massive! We flew around what we could and although we didn’t do it justice we got the general idea. Hue has amazing ancient architecture and seems to have been overshadowed by its
Cambodian neighbour, Angkor Wat. If in the area you should really visit both. Angkor is brilliant but full of tourists: you may be the only person exploring the tombs at Hue, if you find them through the fields and back roads.
The next morning we boarded our 3 hour bus to Hoi An, the tailor capital of Vietnam. When we arrived we were chased down the street by touts. It was like being back in India again. We stopped for breakfast at Cafe Phuong on the main drag for accommodation and two touts waited for us outside keeping an eye on us. When they weren’t looking Ade escaped and found us a room so we didn’t have to deal with the hassle when we left. It was crazy! The room was in a small hotel in the attic and was really quaint. We weren’t overawed by Hoi An to tell the truth. We visited the Japanese bridge which was pretty but not worth visiting a town for. There were a lot of restored warehouses renovated as bars and restaurants which felt like time portals to a few centuries ago. They we huge inside with high ceilings and slow moving
fans that didn’t quite cool you down, fitted out with bamboo and silk trimmings. Tam Tam bar and Cargo House were our favourites. We played backgammon and pool and felt like colonial lords and ladies! On a mission to the local market to get my bag fixed we were launched upon by every trader in sight. One particularly determined shoe seller wouldn’t let us leave and soon realised Ash wasn’t interested but Ade faltered a bit too long so was coerced into buying some leather sandals. Ash was treated to a free shoulder massage while he was fitted out and made promise to return later to look at more shops when collecting the shoes later. Luckily, the lady wasn’t around when we came back later. That was all we got up to in Hoi An. Our next stop was Nha trang for a spot diving.
(Please note that not all photos are on this page - need to click next page below in order to view the remainder)
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