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Published: March 4th 2006
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Farewell Laos
The view over the Mekong River on the final night in Vietienne After a day of relaxing to recover from a bit of traveller's sickness in Vietienne, Justin felt his normal 80% again, so we headed over to Vietnam. Continuing the tradition, the trip between the two countries can be most charitably described as unpleasant. We boarded the bus at 5 p.m., along with other backpackers, many locals, and a good amount of merchandise. The buses are used for transport of goods as well as people, so the aisles were jammed with mats and boxes bound for Hanoi. Adding to the fun, we stopped from 2-6 a.m. at a cafe parking lot to wait for the border to open. Why didn't we just leave four hours later? Such are the wonderful mysteries of Asian travel. A mere 20 hours later, we arrived in Vinh, Vietnam.
Thoughtfully, the bus picked an unmarked street to stop, throw our bags out and vaguely point in some direction. After a beautiful trek through the streets of Vinh without a map, we figured out our best course of action was to leave on the 4 A.M. train to Hue. Since it was mid-afternoon at this point, we took a hotel room nearby and crashed. Vinh has all
War Remains
Chris walks into a part of Hue's Citadel destroyed by battles during the Vietnam War the charm of a Springfield, MA, with more danger (it was probably the closest place we've come to getting robbed). With a couple of Irish girls, Kate and Louise, sharing our predicament, we enjoyed a meal and watched horrible movies on HBO.
We rolled out of our hotel beds into our train beds, and woke up refreshed in Hue about 11 A.M. Hue is a pretty river town near the former DMZ. It served as the
Imperial Enclosure , and still exhibits the remains of the Citadel - at least the portion that survived the bombings of the Vietnam War. We meandered through the remenants, and then headed into town for a great meal at a local cafeteria. Not only is Vietnam the prettiest country in SE Asia, but it also has the best food (sorry, Thailand).
However, this is offset by it being the most irritating and difficult country we've traveled in so far. The hawkers will just not take no for an answer, and it's the first time we've had people swear behind us after we've said no. Although nothing has happened, it has more of a feel of danger of theft than anywhere else. And the driving
Something Fishy
Women in the market in Hoi An examine the afternoon's catch - let's just say the idea of lanes and signals are fluid, let alone the three-second rule. Cars weave constantly, blaring on the horn every few seconds to make their presence known. Picture the scenes in the movies, when they're trying to illustrate a NYC traffic jam with constant honking. That's every second near a Vietnam street. Oddly, after 10 P.M. the streets are completely empty, with bars closing early.
Travelling through the country (as well as Laos), it seems ridiculous that we would ever feel it necessary to go to war with these people. It's a completely different world, and a pitched ideological battle with them to determine the future of the world is laughable. But at least we learned from our mistakes, not getting into any more wars based on false information in a region we don't understand (oh, wait). We were interested in how we'd be received in this country with such a bad history with Westerners. Mostly, we've found welcoming people, who seem to accept that our countries are now on good terms. Nobody we've spoken with has been anything but friendly. However, for the first time, we've found many stares greeting us while walking
Tailored
Chris gets measured in a Hoi An dress shop down the streets - not threatening, but not merely curious either. Let's just say that being a suspicious minority is different for us.
Something Oliver Stone never taught us about Vietnam is that it gets quite cold. Hue particularly required us to pile on the layers to keep warm. After a night, we took a bus down to Hoi An, stopping for a bite by Lu Doc Beach. Hoi An is a picturesque town, filled with ancient remains and tailor shops (over 200 at last count). Colorful French architecture prevails, as does tourism. For the first time since Singapore, we left a hostel because of dissatisfaction (and a giant spider and its hundreds of babies). That aside, we found the city lived up to its high backpacker reputation. The food was excellent, the vibe very chill for Vietnam, and the people very nice. We wandered around looking at the shops and temples, and had some clothes made for a fraction of the U.S. store price. One morning, Chris took a cooking class, learning to make the local wontons and
Cao Lau , a dish that can only be made in Hoi An, because the water needed to make the noodles comes
Danang
Justin poses outside the former U.S. military base in Danang, where his father was stationed from one particular well.
After two nights, it was time to head to the big city. We took a leisurely cab to DaNang, stopping at Marble Mountains, a series of 7, well, mountains of marble that house various ancient shrines in their caves. After the climb, we walked along China Beach, a popular R&R site for American troops, as well as the most attractive Vietnam TV series ever. During the ride to the train station, we passed by the remains of the U.S. military base in Danang, where Justin's father was stationed some 30 years ago. At 2 P.M. we headed into a sleeping berth, shared with three Vietnamese from Dong Ha, who didn't speak a word of English, but kindly shared their corn and spices for the rice provided by the train line. A mere 16 hours later, we were in Ho Chi Minh City - although even the Vietnamese still call it Saigon. The next two days will include tours of various war sites, including the tunnels and museum, and our final taste of Vietnamese cuisine. On Monday morning, we head to Hong Kong.
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