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Published: April 27th 2008
Gateway into the Citadel in Hue
One of the four or so gateways into the old citadel in Hue. Once home to emperor Gia Long, it is a very important city in Vietnamese history. Hue
Graham & I leave the damp and drizzle of Ninh Binh on the overnight sleeper bus. If you're lucky enough NOT be the last four people boarding the bus you are allocated a funny little pod which you slot into and a fleecy blanket is provided. We and the other unlucky couple (German), who ARE the last four to board are allocated the upstairs space at the back of the bus which is wide enough but not nearly long enough for our European frames. The roads in Viet Nam are crap and the fact that our "beds" are right behind the wheel arch makes for some back-jarring moments which continually disrupt your sleep. A very uncomfortable night is had. However, we arrive at breakfast time to be greeted by hot, sunny Hue. At the bus stop a guy called Anh says he works for "a new, very clean hotel" and I go off to inspect a room on his motorbike. It turns out to be a great little place for six pounds a night including breakfast! We can't believe our luck. We also make friends with Anh's friend Quy who has very good English and is hoping to train
Yummy Yummy.
Wee G enjoying a well earned ice-cream. as a qualified tourist guide. We read their little testimonials from other travellers and arrange a full-day trip of the 17th Parallel and the DMZ(De-Militarized Zone) with them as our motorcycle chauffeurs.
Before this trip, however, we decide to see the sights of Hue. First stop is The Citadel with its huge gates. Its 10 km enclosure is surrounded by a moat (still quite deep). Inside there is Thai Hoa Palace with its huge hall. As we are approaching the Citadel, we get a bit of a shock. A BIG brown snake slithers across right infront of us, pops over the wall and swims like the clappers across the moat to the inner wall! We watch in fascination as it tries unsuccessfully to get some purchase on the inner wall.
We leave the snake and wander along the last few metres to the entrance just as the Australian bloke and his Vietnamese girlfriend we met at Halong Bay turn up in a "cyclo" (cycle rickshaw). Theres a lot of this "gobal village" stuff in Vietnam. It's a long, thin country so you end up with lots of crossover destinations. In the next few weeks in later locations we
Incense
Incense sticks drying in the hot Hue sun. will see several people we met in Hanoi and Hue. Top Tip: NEVER commit any indiscretions in Viet Nam because you are bound to meet that person again!
Inside the Citadel there is a big dressing room where you can don old Chinese? Vietnamese costumes and have your photo taken dressed as a mandarin in a palanquin! I spy one male Vietnamese tourist putting on his costume plus huge, yellow fabric boots with pointed toes. I am reminded of Billy Connolly and his banana boots. The heat and hunger lead us to the streets to rear of the Citadel. where we eat at a locals' place, which amazingly, has normal sized chairs as opposed to the diddy stools so often to be found. We wander along and Graham sees a man having his ears cleaned out in a barbers's. We have heard about this Vietnamese approach to extra-personal grooming. It involves one of the barbers wearing a head torch and removing the hair and wax from your ears with long tools, including tweezers and very fine bristle brushes. (Any ear. nose and throat specialist in the West would be horrified.) Graham's ears haven't been right since swimming in the
Spring Cleaning
Even though I had this done, I would not recommend it. It's not relaxing, they wipe the wax on the back of your hand & it's quite painful. Indian Ocean. He's had an ayurvedic treatment in India AND a traditional course of drops from a pharmacist in Bangkok but still no sign of his ears popping. They say that desperate times call for desperate measures... so Graham sits in the barber's chair and the chap puts on his head torch and rises to the challenge. The stuff he removes is nobody's business. The other barber giving some local a short back and sides gasps and makes a joke, which unfortunately I can't understand. I mime that Graham does a lot of swimming and both barbers nod sagely. My heart is in my mouth the whole time and when the barber asks if I'd like the "treatment" I'm out of my seat and out of the door pdq. A wander through the streets brings us to a samphan village. These are floating villages & further on we nip into the market for a browse. Graham decides he wants a T-shirt with the Vietnamese flag on it and the woman takes a shine to us, gives us it cheap and makes us promise not to tell the French couple who are browsing. It's one of the few countries in the
Samphan Village
On one of the tributaries of the Perfume River in Hue. These are people's homes & workplaces as a fair amount of fishing from them goes on. world where you can state "I'm English"and be safe in the knowledge that no negative baggage is attached.
The next day we are up bright and early for a full-day with Quy and Anh who pack in lots of interesting places plus rest spots for coffee and lunch. I don't know if we mentioned it yet but the coffee here is FANTASTIC. It smells like chocolate and tastes like the best coffee your taste buds could imagine. Graham is always on the look out for his next cup... The day is fascinating as it takes us to lots of places connected with the American War. Yes, readers it's always referred to as The American War over here, to differentiate it from the Chinese and French ones! One thing's for certain, the Vietnamese certainly know a lot about survival. We visit the area around 17th Parallel which was the scene of some of the heaviest bombing during the war. Our first stop is a bombed out Catholic church which is full of bullet holes and Quy gives us an overview of the bombing and chemical warfare which this province was subjected to. He tells that his father died of cancer
Bombed out church in the DMZ.
This was in Quang Tri province. This church still bears the holes from American bullets & artilliary. which doctors thought was probably due to chemicals the Americans had dropped. He also tells us how worried he was when his wife was carrying their son because so many babies are still being born with abnormalities because of Agent Orange etc. He told us how relieved he and his wife were when their son was born perfectly formed and in good health. That really put things into perspective for us.
We stop at a war memorial in Quang Tri which is 8.1 metres high to represent the 81 days of bombing which the people here endured during the American War. The area looks amazing now and it's almost impossible to imagine it's the same place as the black and white panoramic photo in the nearby museum. Later on at the DMZ we see an incredible photo of MASSIVE bomb craters on both sides of the river. Neither of us will ever forget the devastation in that photo. There's also one photo which provokes a bit of black humour. It's a photo taken at the end of the war. It shows the backs of US soldiers running. They're all in camouflage but one is, bizarrely, carrying a checked suitcase!
Memorial in Quang Tri
This memorial pillar is 8.1m tall. This is to remember the seige that lasted 81 days & nights. The caption underneath reads "American soldiers withdraw". "Withdraw" I snort "More like fleeing for their f**kin' lives" and we all laugh.
We then move on to Truong Son National Cemetary. This is the largest military cemetary in Vietnam. The remains of 10,250 North Vietnamese soldiers are interred here. It's divided into provinces & each headstone begins with the phrase "Lien Si", which means martyr. Each stone gives date of birth, date of entry into the army & date of of death. It's impossible to relate to any of it really except for the fact that there are thousands of these laid out over a very large area. It's from here that we move onto the DMZ proper at the Ben Hai river. The bridge here marks the 17th Parallel where North & South Vietnam were divided. People could not cross the bridge to visit relatives until after reunification. Each side of the bridge was painted a different colour. The north side was painted red & the south side painted yellow. Both sides used loud speaker systems to disseminate propaganda. The south side had the biggest speakers of course as they were backed by the Americans. The north responded by
Martyr's Headstone
In Truong Son National Cemetary. using lots of little speakers. They also used flags to assert authority over each other. The bigger the flagpole, ... you get the picture.
Later on we all have a lovely squid lunch at an open air restaurant at Cua Tung Beach. It's been ages since we've seen the sea and it makes us think of home. They use a lot of coracles for fishing in Viet Nam and the beach is covered with upturned ones. After lunch we go the Vinh Moc Tunnels which are the highlight of the day. Quy leads us through the tunnels, which are on three levels and include family rooms, a meeting room, a hospital, a school room and a maternity/birthing room. It's all incredibly impressive as a feat of engineering but also a bit spooky because they've put mannequins in some of the rooms to give a more realistic feeling! The nurse mannequin in the hospital has definitely seen better days as her arms have come off! Quy tries to frighten me as we enter one of the tunnels. He says mysteriously "Who's in here then?" I peer into the first hole and jump as a horrible old mannequin is inside dressed
Truong Son National Cemetary
The remains of over 10,000 North Vietnamese soldiers lie here. The biggest military cemetary in Vietnam. as a guard. It's all a bit spooky and Quy laughs playfully as he knows I'm not good with mannequins, the dark or closed in spaces! One of the exits from the tunnels is right next to the beach and another is near the fields. Someone would sound the alarm bell when the American B52 bombers were coming and the villagers would leave the their fishing or rice paddies, move into the tunnels and remain there until it was safe. These tunnels provided safety and accommodation for more than sixty villagers for several years! We are mega-impressed by the whole set up. It's a long ride back to Hue and we have to stop for breaks. Anh frequently asks me "How is your bum?" Bless. I reply "It hurts". We stop and there's usually something interesting to see. Our first stop is close to an old tank. It was just abandoned on the slope next to the road decades ago and has been there ever since! Graham and Quy join us for another 'bum break' next to some paddy fields. Quy explains about the daily routine of a rice farmer. He has two of his own rice fields and clearly
Ben Hai Bridge
This Bridge marked the border between North & South Vietnam. knows his stuff. It's a hairy ride back, especially when it gets dark, as the Vietnamese are enthusiastic cyclists but refuse to put lights on their bikes. Anh is incredibly good-natured as these idiots pull out in front of us with no regard for themselves or anybody else. There's no road rage here and that's something the Vietnamese should be proud of. I think they would view it as a complete waste of energy. By the way, the whole journey was a round trip of 300km.
Hoi An
The next day we catch the train to Danang on our way to Hoi An. We nearly miss it. Two of the young women who work at the hotel take us to the station on their motorbikes. As we pull up together at a set of traffic lights I ask Graham whether he picked up the passports. He replies in the negative. We are dropped off and one women goes speeding back to the hotel to get them. We are anxious as there are very few trains to Danang and we don't want to miss it. We make it and enjoy a beautiful jouney down the coast. Paul Theroux once wrote
Propaganda
One of the huge loudspeakers used by the South Vietnamese authorities to blast propaganda to the North Vietnamese. that this train journey was one of the most beautiful in the world. We agree. We pass rural stations and sandy coves filled with clear blue water on one side and jungle covered misty hills on the other side. We meet a couple travelling with their toddler. We all take taxi-bikes to the bus stop for Hoi An. We are crammed into the front seats of the bus by a non-too-friendly conductor who tries to rip us off for the bus fare! He hasn't bargained for the fact that we ALL know the correct fare because we've asked our hotel owners. We stand our ground and eventually he has to give in. This kind of nonsense is such a bore. On the way we pick up a German couple. The man is a large heavy metal type-all mullet and muscle. What follows is quite amusing. He plonks himself down next to Graham and rests his elbow on Graham's knee mistakenly thinking it is an armrest! Graham, (slightly sarcastically) asks him if he's comfortable and he replies that he is! We are at least twenty minutes into the journey before the bloke realises his 'arm rest' is in fact a living,
breathing knee! Needless to say he is very embarrassed and we all laugh about it.
Anh and Quy from Hue gave us the address of a lovely hotel where we were met by women wearing ao dai (the white suit which is the national costume) They greet us with cold flannels and green tea. We had a fab room (with bathrobes!) for six pounds a night. Hoi An is a UNESCO World Heritage town due to the number of of traditional buildings. It is also where everybody comes to have silk clothes made. It is a shoppers' paradise. Our stay there is short but we do manage to see some folk dancing and visit a few of the old temples and houses. The riverside restaurants are strewn with red Chinese lanterns and their reflections in the water add a magical quality to the town once it gets dark. The town is mostly pedestrianised and easy to wander around in. We try a couple of the local dishes. One, called "Cao Lau", is composed of flat noodles with lots of unusual salad leaves and croutons (Ann Parker would love it). Another is called "White Rose". This is basically an open
Old Ordinance
Outside the Vinh Moc tunnels steamed wanton with shrimp. It does look like a flower though and it's okay. Although Hoi An is a charming town, we decide that two nights is enough and arrange tickets to Nha Trang & then onto Da Lat. In total we have around 18-19 hours of bus travel ahead of us. Da Lat lies in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam, where we will experience hills and some cool temperatures.
Da Lat
The latter part of the journey here was the best part of the 18 or so hours hours. It became seriously scenic as the road leaves the flats of the coastal region & snakes its way 1410m or so up to Da Lat. It reminds us of Nuwara Elia in Sri Lanka because of the scenery, the drop in temperature and all the veg & flowers that are grown here. It's like one huge allotment. We settle for an $8.00-a-night hotel & then meet up with a couple of Da Lat's Easy Riders. Yes, they are named after the film. These are guides who take people on tours of the Central Highlands or to just about anywhere in Viet Nam. The secret of their success
Vinh Moc Tunnels
These tunnels were on three levels, very well camoulaged & thirty-odd kids were born in them. Fascinating! is their motorbikes. They don't use scooters, thankfully. They use old Taiwanese bikes or Russian bikes, which are comfy & reliable. The two guys we speak with have Taiwanese Bonus bikes. We speak with them for an hour or so going through possible options & reading testimonials from previous clients and we decide to go from Dal Lat through the Highlands & on down to Mui Ne Beach. This is to take four days covering around 640km. They will pick us up the day after tomorrow (Sunday) at 08.30 sharp.
Da Lat is a hilly town and rather spread out. It has a pretty lake, a golf course, a model of the Eiffel Tower and it is very famous for the production of flowers. I think we are in the equivalent of Kent but with knobs on i.e. the Garden of Viet Nam. The next day is spent wandering around in the rain as it absolutely belted it down for a while. One of the lovely things here is that people will offer you shelter, whether that is in their shop or house. We find the cinema and "Saigon Love Story" is showing. Wee G has a suspicion that
Making Bamboo Lanterns in Hoi An
This old chap was splitting bamboo for lanterns. He earlier warned us away from a bogus fortune teller. Good man! it will be subtitled in English, so up she steps to the ticket office & lo & behold it is. Well it's off to the pictures tonight. We go for something to eat. The owner is incredibly enthusiastic. Whatever we order is "AMAZING!". I order chicken cooked with mango. The description is AMAZING but what I get is chicken with fruit. That should ring a bell with any of you who watched Life on Mars, where John Simm's character cooked something similar for the young female. The restaurant owner actually sits with us as we eat & tells us about the group of foreigners who were in last night and the antics they got up to with a rugby ball. I have to get Gaynor to tell me this as for some reason the bit of my brain that deals with Vietnamese-broken-English-at-speed has completely shut down for the moment. A wander round the lake for a bit of exercise. A funny thing we have noticed here in Viet Nam is that people take exercise of some kind either very early in the morning or late in the afternoon or both. Wherever there is lake, people will be walking or jogging
round it. We believe that this is part of the national consciousness as countries with similar political systems or with an eye on world domination needed to have a fit & strong population because this contributed to the strength of the country. History does tell us this with Nazi Germany & the good old USSR. It's Saturday night & we are off to the pictures. The cinema has red upholstery and is quite cosy. It reminds us of the Regent in Redcar but it'ssignificantly more downmarket. It has bare concrete floors & a tinny sound system. It's fine. In fact it's more than fine, it's rather good. Whole families are in, some of whom don't stop talking the whole way through. Some people go for very lengthy toilet breaks & others take calls on their phones. The film itself was excellent, a tale of unrequited love. It's called "Saigon Love Story"and has won quite a number of awards at independent film festivals. I won't tell you anymore about it just in case you go to see it sometime. We return to the hotel, pack & sleep; for tomorrow we ride to a new soundtrack.
Da Lat to Mui Ne
Beach
Our guides turn up as arranged. Tu (pronounced "too") is Wee G's guide and Trung Pagoda is mine. They strap our sacks on to the bikes, which means you don't need to hold on as you can rest against your bag. Some breakfast is taken & we are off. The following four days are incredibly full. On the way out of Da Lat our first stop is the Crazy House. This is actually a guesthouse cum project of artist Mrs Dang Viet Nga, who was the daughter of one of Vietnam's presidents, Ho Chi Minh's successor. It is thought of as a gallery but one in which you can rent a room. It is as the LP describes, it could be out of Alice in Wonderland. It is a topsy-turvy, curving, series of interlinked themed rooms, such as the Bear room or the Kangaroo room. One is called the Termite room, which is just plain sick! It's an ongoing project and I am impressed with what you can do with concrete & cement. well it's back onto the bikes & with the wind pulling your helmet towards the back of your head, we head off further into the
Dragon Balustrade
Just outside a temple adjacent to our hotel in Hoi An. Central Highlands. What follows is a day-to day summary of the highlights:
Day 1 Rose plantations. We stop off at one of these as this is one thing that Da Lat is famous for. Coffee: We stop at one plantation and on the left we have Robusta coffee (tall plants) and on the right we have Mocha (small plants). Have we told you just how good the coffee is yet? Due to there being only one crop of coffee a year, growers need other sources of income & one of these is breeding silk worms. Logically, the next stop should be a silk factory and it is. Baskets of silkworms in their coccoons. Give them a shake & they rattle. they pop the coccoons into very hot water, which kills the silkworm & then the women feed the threads from the coccoons onto spinners with remarkable ease and so silk thread is spun. It's excellent to watch. Lunch consists of the usual Vietnamese food, which will be our staple for the next few days. There is only so much rice one can eat on a daily basis. On we go. Hazy views but fantastice deep valleys coated in indigenous
Japanese Covered Bridge
That is what it is called. A bit literal but they like that here. forest, pine & coffee. You do feel a great sense of freedom travelling like this & it's really comfy. Vietnam is made up of 54 ethnic groups. We stop at one village of the M'nong Ga. The hill-tribes in the Central Highlands see far fewer tourists than those in the northwest of the country. Many of them have come from other parts of Viet Nam or Laos or Cambodia. They rarely wear traditional clothing and are desperately poor but you do get an insight into their lives & their culture. The M'nong Ga are the poorest of two M'nong groups. They have been fully assimilated into Vietnamese culture, as have all hill tribes/ethnic minority groups. They are predominantly Christian but I think they still participate in ancestor worship. They keep their own dialects & writing systems but need to learn Vietnamese. You do see differences between generations in their language skills. Having guides like these is excellent. You don't have to compete for their attention & they want you to ask lots of questions. It does feel a little voyeuristic. To buys some biscuits for the kids, which he gives to Gaynor to give to the kids. It's just like
Lanterns
A charming display of colour methinks. watching someone feeding geese. Geese have few manners as do these kids. They push and scramble to get a biscuit. Their houses are very interesting and probably the only truly tradional thing they have left. These are basic but practical.
Day 2 We travel on and meet the M'Nong Lam people who are more affluent and whose children all go to school. We have tea with one of the women called Nu. (Bizarrely this word means 'woman' in Vietnamese! Tu interprets for us. It seems that the M'Nong Lam only wear their traditional clothes for music festivals these days. Tu informs me that in the past they were the tribespeople most noted for their elephant catching and training skills. It seem the M'nong Lam have sold their last remaining elephants (25 or so) to tourist agencies for howdah rides! The fools! The M'Nong Lam live in long wooden houses which are on stilts. We have to climb up a ladder made from a single thick log with small steps cut into it to reach the living area. Later we see a brick factory and its huge kiln where women and even some children are working. We see sand being
dredged from a river bank and loaded on to barges and later visit a man who shapes huge cement bowls (made with the sand seen earlier) for bonsai plants. We visit Dray Sap Waterfall which is quite impressive and enjoy walking in the parkland surrounding it. The noise of the cicadas will prepare us for one of the strangest evenings yet. We pull up at accommodation which is one of many bungalows in the forest. As the sun sets it starts to rain cicadas! The thousnds that are alive in the trees increase in volume in their death throes. They are large insects and when they fall on you, you can really feel them. Tu reminds us to close all windows and doors before coming to dinner- to keep any insects out. After dinner we return and are kept entertained by the French couple next door who did NOT close their windows. She is nearly hysterical at one point and there is the sound of crazed bashing and crashing as they blunder around their bungalow trying to kill their unwanted visitors. We are thankful to be safe indoors as we lie listening to the rain of cicadas on our porch
Sweet Pig o' Mine
This was at farm where rice wine is made. After all the fermentation has taken place they give the spent grains to the piggies. and windows. It was a truly unforgettable experience.
Day 3
Our first stop is at a carpenters' workshop. Here we see a family business of father & three sons carving huge garden and hallway ornments including trees, mermaids and wild animals. They also have a large pet monkey on a chain which is sitting quietly on a perch. Graham doesn't see it until it is nearly on his shoulder. We were assured it was friendly but as you know dear readers, our experiences to date have taught us otherwise...
We also stop at a very imortant site - one of the markers for the Ho Chi Minh Trail. This was a 16,000km network of trails used by the VC to get weapons & supplies from the north to the south. They used cattle, cart, bicycle and hand to transport supplies and covered the trail with trellis to camoflage it. As we ride on we spot lots of heavily signposted mine fields. This is one area where you wouldn't want to nip into the bushes for quick pee during a long car journey! After lunch we rest at one of the many roadside spots which offer hammocks silk spinner
silk about to be spun services. As long as a driver buys a drink, she or he is welcome to rest in one of the hammocks until they feel ready to get behind the wheel again. They're a great way of dealing with "driver fatigue" and they knock spots off motorway service stations. Later Tu and TP drop us off and we do a bit of walking through the jungle singing "Follow the Ho Chi Minh Trail" to the tune of "Follow The Yellow Brick Road". We catch them up and it's off to a Ma village on the other side of the jungle. The road goes through the centre of their village and their houses are well-spaced out on the grassy verges on either side of the road. For some strange reason the layout reminds of Hutton-Le-Hole! Tu comes in and interprets once more. Thy are desperately poor but very friendly and welcoming. They have cattle and goats and also grow a lot of maize. They talk about having to walk long distances to sell the maize and I can see how leathery their skin is from leading an outdoor life. They seem very gentle and there is a lovely tortoiseshell cat lying by
Cosy!
Cat & kitten sleeping in silk pyjamas the fire which they pet. Tu has brought biscuits and crackers for them and they seem grateful. As we leave, dark clouds bring heavy rain and the Easy Riders wip out over-trousers and plastic raincoats for us. I'm impressed. We descend to the town of De Linh and arrive tired but thankfully, not soaked. That night we share rice wine as it's our last dinner with them. I really like it but it's pretty lethal stuff and a couple of shot glasses is more than enough.
Day 4
Our first stop today is at a tea plantation. Iced green tea is HUGE in this country and we love it. TP explains that most of the plantations are organic, which explains the mounds of smelly manure we've encountered throughout the Central Highlands. Next we visit a small non-touristy waterfall located in the rolling hills of a huge coffee plantation. The smell of the white coffee flowers is like jasmine and we can smell it as we climb down to the waterfall. There is nobody about and the water is crystal clear and litter free- a bonus in Asia. A few miles on we stop at a quarry in M'nong Ga Mum
She asked me for a fag so I obliged. Ten minutes later she was smoking with one hand & holding her breast-feeding baby with the other. Isn't life just fascinating? the jungle and meet a team of quarrymen who are very friendly and invite us to share their lunch! Big G gives them fags and I ask about wildcats. They have mini leopard/ocelot cats in the jungle around here. They say they've seen a lot, which cheers me as there is rather an unhealthy market in cat meat and taxidermy in this country. TP is being a bit jobsworth and says we can't stay any longer with them so we leave John, Paul,George & Ringo to cut more limestone.
We ride to a very high point in the jungle which despite being misty gives an idea of the fantastic scenery in this part of the country. This area is also home to the Choro people. They grow coffee and keep pigs but are still classed as "hunters" because they hunt forest rats, which are supposed to be very tasty! We do some more walking as the road down is spectcular. It's also very popular with cyclists. Our final few hours with the Easy Riders are spent visiting a couple of plantations. The first is a dragon fruit plantation, which is a real eye opener. I can remember reading the ingredients
Happy little Muncher
M'nong Ga kid with his biccy. now where did I leave my tea? of a smoothie a few years ago and asking Julie Woolley what she thought a dragon fruit would look like. Well , now I know. They grow on huge cactus/succulent bushes and are bright pink. The black and white speckled bit inside is the edible part. Needless to say we've noshing on them ever since. The final vist is to a cashew nut farm. The nuts grow attached to pinkish red fuit which is disgarded when the nuts are picked. Tu encourages us to smell the disgarded fruit. It smells like a cross between an apple and a coconut and to my mind would make a great perfume base but it doesn't seem to be used for anything. Our tour has been a fascinating insight into people, places, crafts and agriculture, which we would never have seen had we not used the Easy Riders. I would recommend them to anyone who really wants to see the real Viet Nam.
We leave the Easy Riders at Mui Ne, which is a coastal tourist town. We are at the cheaper end close to fishing village and, thankfully, not too close to the fish sauce factory which is, oddly, listed on some
I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike.
Kids ridin' by. Gaynor & guides in the background. tourist guide itineraries! If you don't like the smell of fish sauce, my advice is never to come to Vietnam . It is an omnipresent smell and when close to some restaurants its pungency can make one feel like gagging. I love fish but the sauce (made from anchovies) is enough to put you off eating altogether. Our thirty-day visa is due to expire and we decide to renew it in Mui ne. It will take four working days so we resign ourselves to a week by the sea... We have lots of swims in the deliciously warm South China Sea and have several full body massages. I even have my legs "threaded". Some of you may know of this technique. It's a way of pulling out hair by catching each hair between a twisted piece of cotton. All very quick and professional and not too much pain at all. We walk up the wonderfully-named "Fairy Stream". (We met Larry Grayson, Everard and Apricot Lil on the way... It's a hot stream which can be waded through until you get to a waterfall or in our case until you meet an enterprising ten-year old who neglects his chores to take
Typical hill tribe house
This house is in a M'nong Lam village (wealthier than M'nong ga). The woman whose house this is, is called Nu, which means woman. you through the fields to a crocodile farm in the middle of nowhere. There's no-one about so we go closer with the little lad leading the way. It's FULL of crocodiles, big ones and small ones- all destined for the handbag trade. There's an island in the middle and when they see us they all zip into the water. Graham asks "Remember that scene from "Live'n' Let Die...?" We scarper and get the lad to lead us back to the waterfall as we've lost our bearings. He gets his pocket money and we find civilisation once more. It's a fair trade.
On another day we go to the famous white sand dunes where we try "dune sledding". It wasn't very extreme but I did manage to get a slide down a few steep slopes. Big G was too heavy and went off to take photos. As he disappeared over the dunes I kept thinking of Marty Feldman dressed as member of the French Foreign Legion. It was a VERY hot that afternoon so anything seemed possible...
On our last evening there a pot-bellied Russian comes over to our bungalow. He asks for a thermometer as he is worried about
Interior
Supporting central pillar inside a M'nong Lam house in Lac. his teenage daughter. Graham goes over and takes our thermometer. She seems fine, a little hot but nothing to worry about. Alec and Marya (the Russian parents) offer their profuse thanks and we head off for dinner. Upon our return Graham decides to get a last beer. This is his undoing. Alec, the Russian policeman, is drinking by himself and insists that we drink with him. It takes us nearly THREE HOURS to make our escape. He keeps calling "Comrade" to the barman and demanding more beers. We stagger back to our bungalow. Graham is sick and I pass out. The next day we feel very rough and a bit annoyed. It's one thing to feel ill through self-infliction but quite another when you feel others have inflicted something on you. In an interesting twist on teenage excuses for hangovers I delare "WE"VE been poisoned", never dreaming that phrase would be uttered in the first person plural. Later we speak to the hotel owner who tells us that Alec awoke bright and early and ordered a beer at 9am! Oh,those Russians!
We catch the open tour bus that afternoon to Ho Chi Minh City aka Saigon. We get good
Rural Brickworks
Digging clay from old rice paddies & producing bricks. Very physical & very hot. 'pods' at the front and settle down for a nap after thre rigours of the previous evening. We are looking forward to staying with Jannie and her two-year-old son Edwin. Jannie is an art teacher and used to live two doors away from us in Saltburn. She was offered a post at an international school in Viet Nam and moved hre about eight months ago.
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pooman
non-member comment
Hue ven
Title meaning Heaven. Oh. your blog brings back sweet memories of biking through Da Lat, Hue, Nha Trang etc etc. I loved every minute of it. Vietnam is such a charming country. I went to 'Nam 6 years ago when it started it commercialised transformation. The attitude of the people is very forward looking. And considering their background of abject poverty and especially the intrusion of the French and Yanks, they are a very positive and happy people. Stay free. Stay safe. Pooman