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Published: January 10th 2009
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Vietnamese war museum, Hue
This was in Hue, coming into the North of Vietnam. There is a great citadel all around the old city which used to be the capital of Vietnam. Inside is the forbidden city of the emperor. As we travelled further North, peoples attitudes towards us changed quite a lot. There is still quite a large North/South divide even so long after the war, and perhaps due to the fact the North were actually fighting the Americans whilst the South were with them, and maybe cos of the way the French treated them in the past, they appeared to be more hostile, and certainly saw us as walking $ signs !!
Even so, North Vietnam is just as interesting and beautiful, if not more, than the South. Halong Bay and Sapa were incredible places to visit, we boarded a Junk for 2 days and a night which sailed around Halong, stopping at some amazing caves and islands. We kayaked around the little islands as well, even going through a small cave which opened out into a cove completely surrounded by rocks ! It was so quiet here, I remember we stopped paddlng for a few minutes and just drifted around, and there wasnt a sound. Not even a dickybird.
Onboard the junk was lovely, the food was great, and we had a little Vietnamese guide who has to be the funniest person ever ! There were 9
of us on the junk altogether, most backpacking couples, and this guide was trying so hard to get us all to mingle and have fun (we were managing this quite well on our own!) so he actually stood up and started to sing a song about Hoh Chi Minh and Vietnam, but then he forgot the words half way through and kept restarting the song! A bit like a cd skipping ! Was really hilarious !
Anyway, Halong bay was great, and from there we headed back to Hanoi and boarded the night train for Sapa which is up in the mountains of the North. The train journey was fun ! Sharing a cabin with 6 bunks, (although Nath had practically a whole family sleeping above him!) we journeyed through the night and arrived in Sapa early the next morning. It was absolutely freezing here ! Real biting mountain air ! Was actually really nice to be around such fresh air after the smog of Hanoi, but jeez it was cold ! We found a room with mountain views and a fireplace for about $8, and spent the first day hiking down into the valley. There was a village
One of the gateways into the old city
This was the place of the first actual battle between American troops and the North Vietnamese. there, but it wasnt like any of the other 'traditional' hill tribe villages we'd seen so far, it was very touristy, and actually we soon realised that a lot of the places up here in the North are much more so than the South. Perhaps thats another reason they're always trying to get as much money as they can from Westerners...
The second day we hired a motorbike from a guy outside the hotel, about $5 for the day. We drove up the street and parked it outside the market with all the other motorbikes, whilst we went to get some fruit and a picnic for the day. 5 mins later we come back and the bikes gone ! Rushed down to get our hire guy, who soon discovered the police had impounded it. because we'd parked it on the road !! And what a surprise, wanted 100,000 dong to get it back (only about $6 but thats not the point !) Mr Policeman now had Naths driving license which doesnt include motorbikes ! Which they never ever check out here anyway ! So, we had to pay the money. I was sooo angry ! Such a stitch, considering
Banana Man !
I honestly think Nath has had something banana related for every meal since we've been away.... Imagine the excitement when this guy came along !!?! all the locals had parked in the same place !! So off we drive eventually into the mountains, which were really incredible. We arrive at a waterfall, park our bike next to some ladies stalls, they wanted us to leave the bike with them and pay them, which we didnt do. So we come back from the walk, and our back tyre is suddenly flat ! But coincidentally, theres a place we can get the tyre fixed opposite, for 50,000 dong !!! The guy there knew we had a flat before we did ! I wonder how. So although we did end up having a great stay in Sapa, and a great day, they really do have you over a barrel out here and will try and rip you off every which way they can. Which is a real shame cos the country's so beautiful ! But it definitely ruined Vietnam a little bit for me.... We found the same with various other people we've met since as well.
By the time we got back to Hanoi to catch our flight to bangkok, I was feeling quite ready to leave Vietnam and the constant hassling and scamming for money.
Typical Vietnamese riverboat
These boats seem to be used for anything from living in, to transporting livestock ! We had one more night to stay in the city so we forked out a little more and stayed somewhere nice, just to avoid the scammers really !
That eve in the little street outside the hotel, there were the usual group of locals sat about on tiny little plastic stools, eating various types of meat n shrimp and drinking rice whiskey all together. One table beckoned us over, instantly we're on guard and told them we had no money !! Which was awful, cos they were genuinely nice and wanted to share what they had with us and practise their English !! We ended up necking about 10 shots of this horrible vodka tasting stuff (you have to have at least 3 apparently otherwise they take it as an offence!) and chatted with them for a bit before stumbling back up to our room !! So that was a nice end to Vietnam, they were real, genuine Vietnamese people ! Although this country is stunning and so interesting with its history and culture, as tourists (and westerners) you are pushed along this 'tourist' trail (we didnt see one local bus for example & so had to take tourist ones)
Lunch
These little carts usually line the streets, selling all sorts of local goodies. At the end of the day they just pack it up, and cycle it home !!
Many a cheap baguette was munched from one of these, the fillings were pretty unidentifiable ! So i always stuck with laughing cow spready cheese...they're mad for it out here ! and it seems much harder to find the 'real' Vietnam than anywhere else we've been so far.
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Caroline
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I'm jealous as hell!!!
Hi both of you. Your Blog is great. Wish i was with you but the next best thing is your blog. Glad you are enjoying your time. Just to say that Brett passed his car test this week so the kids are getting independant of us know so can start planning to go away soon. Somehow don't think can afford a year like you guys. Take care Caroline