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Published: April 7th 2009
I never thought I’d get the opportunity to start a blog with such a story…
The least time-consuming way for Tyler and I to get to our next stop (Hoi An) from Nha Trang was to take an overnight bus. It was our first experience with the sleeper bus and overall it was not bad…except for one little incident. Let me paint you a picture: it’s hours after midnight - the ‘wee hours of the morning’ - and Ty and I have been snuggled in our teeny-tiny sleeper bunks for quite some time. We have long since put away our books and turned off our reading lights and are fast asleep, dreaming of exciting adventures to come. It’s close to four in the morning when our sweet dreams are suddenly interrupted by a loud “bang” from overhead - the man in the bunk above me and to my right has jumped across the bunk above me (and above the person sleeping inside) and onto the bunk above Tyler…into the lap of the girl sleeping soundly in this bunk. It turns out that this man, a fellow backpacker, had been arguing with the bus driver all night, and after finally going too
far, was being pursued by the knife-wielding assistant-to-the-driver! In his attempts to escape the knife attack, managed to wake up everyone around him, myself and Tyler included…in fact, between his screaming accusations, the angry insults coming from the driver and his sidekick, and the shouts of protest of the girls whose beds he landed on, I’m pretty sure the whole bus was wide awake. The incident was pretty confusing - everyone was asleep when the bus driver’s assistant supposedly came at this man with a knife, so no one actually saw an attack or a weapon. No one was actually injured, although I’m sure the poor girls in the upper bunks were annoyed, if not scared by the strange man jumping into their bunks in the middle of the night. And although the bus never stopped, I don’t even think the situation actually got worked out during the trip because when we finally arrived in Hoi An at seven the next morning, the police were waiting for us. Well, not “us”. We got off the bus and checked into the nearby hotel without any hassle from the police and spent the following half hour watching the backpacker, drivers, and police
officers argue over who should be arrested and why. It was quite the event…the bus was supposed to carry on northward after dropping us off in Hoi An, but the backpacker stood in front of the bus and refused to move until the driver had been arrested…but the police showed absolutely no intention of arresting either of the drivers. The people still on the bus who were supposed to be carrying on started to get hostile because their bus ride was being delayed, so eventually the police hauled off both the backpacker and the drivers, and that was the last we heard of the whole thing! The whole ordeal was overwhelming; however we did appreciate the cheap early-morning entertainment!
Hoi An is such a lovely little town! I can see how a person could easily spend weeks here…We planned to stay only two nights, but ended up staying for four! It’s a very quiet town, so we had no trouble taking a quick early-morning nap before setting out to explore the town. We had to tour around on motorbike because my stitched-up ankle was still too sore to walk on, but it was probably a good thing because we covered
a lot of ground on the first day. After zipping out to the beach (Cua Dai Beach, named “China Beach” by US soldiers during the war), we did a few laps around the Old Town which is an exceptionally beautiful part of the city. Much of the architecture in the Old Town is original, dating back to the 17th century when it was developed by the French as a trading port. Along with its exquisite architecture, Hoi An is also very well-known for its cloth shops. There are probably more than two hundred cloth shops in a city that is home to just 80,000 people, and it was at these cloth shops where we spent a considerable length of time. After discovering that the Vietnamese seamstresses and tailors will make anything a person’s heart desires, a kind of snowball effect took us over, and before we knew it, our days were jam-packed with consultations and fittings! In a way, it was kind of like going to Wal-Mart - you go in with the intention of buying laundry detergent (and only laundry detergent!)…and before you know it, you’re pushing a shopping cart full of stuff you had no idea you needed!
The “buyer’s remorse” we suffered at the end of each day was pretty heavy, however the one consolation of the clothes being unbelievably cheap kept us going back for more each day! After three days of “doing our part for the economy”, we realized we had to get out of town before we found ourselves working in the cloth shops to pay off our bills…
On March 16th, we hopped the bus to Hue (pronounced Hoo-ay, for you, Cindi!) where we would be laid over for a few hours before catching another overnight bus which would take us to Hanoi, the country’s capital. Over layover in Hue was pretty uneventful - by now I was able to walk again so we wandered around town for awhile and grabbed some lunch before heading back to the bus stop to catch our next ride. The second overnight bus ride was much less eventful - just a peaceful night of reading and resting. In fact, this bus ride was an hour shorter than anticipated and we were pleasantly surprised to arrive in Hanoi ahead of schedule (a very rare occurrence in South East Asia). Upon arrival we were, as usual, herded to a
guesthouse chosen by the bus company, and had it not been located on the same street as every butcher shop in town, we might have stayed there. The butcher shops in Hanoi are unlike ones you would find in North America - the ‘shops’ are just tables on the side of the road. They just chop up the animals right there on the sidewalk, throw all the good bits on a big platter, and discard all the unwanted bits (where else?!) into the street. I saw a pig’s nose with no pig attached. I think this road must be similar to what Hell must be like for vegetarians… Needless to say we relocated! We ended up in the Old Quarter, the usual backpacking district, and ended up checking into the Blue Star Hotel. The owner of the hotel is also employed by a travel company and helped us book our tour of Halong Bay for the very next day. As is typical of booking anything in South East Asia in advance (we are usually adamant about seeing everything in person to avoid ‘fun’ surprises), we were a little skeptical about how this tour would turn out. This time, we were
in luck! A minivan picked us up at our hotel and drove us to the port in Halong City where we boarded our boat. What made us especially uneasy is that the kind of boat we were supposed to tour on was called a ‘junk’…we didn’t know at the time that a junk is actually a sailing vessel of Chinese origin. We were happy to find that our boat didn’t live up to its name and was, in fact, no ‘junk’ at all. Our own little cabin had comfy beds and a bathroom with hot water! Our group was small - only 8 people, Tyler and myself included, for most of the trip, however our one complaint was that no one else in our group spoke much English. There were three other couples: one from France, one from Bali, and one from the Netherlands, and the language barriers that existed between the eight of us made for a rather quiet journey. The tour began with lunch on board as we cruised through Halong Bay among hundreds and hundreds of islands. Later that afternoon, we arrived on an island where our guide took us on a tour of Hospital Cave, a
humungous cave in the side of a karst mountain which was used as a hospital during ‘the War’ - what we in North America call ‘the Vietnam War’ is called ‘the American War’ by the Vietnamese, so because we’re not really sure what to call it, we’ve dubbed it simply ‘the War’. It was the biggest natural cave either of us had ever seen - it took us almost an hour to walk through! After exploring the caves, we had the option of kayaking around the bay where our boat was anchored. We, of course, took full advantage of this opportunity by paddling to every beach and cave in the surrounding area before our 45 minutes of kayak time was up. By this point in the day the sun was about to set so we sat down to eat a delicious Vietnamese dinner and play a few hands of cards. Before retiring to our little sleeper cabin for the night, we were given the opportunity to take part in something neither of us had ever done before: nighttime squid fishing! Our boat's crew provided us with some pretty basic equipment (a piece of barbed wire attached to bamboo rods with
fishing line), flipped on a very high-wattage flood light aimed at the water, and let us have at 'er! There isn't much skill or technique involved when it comes to squid fishing - just wait until a squid (attracted by the light) swims over your hook and then pull up! Tyler, being the seasoned fisherman that he is, actually caught one! I, however, was unsuccessful. But it was probably all for best - the vegetarian in me isn't ready for such a big kill!
Breakfast was served early the next morning - a chance to fuel up before a day of mountain-biking! Everyone who knows Tyler will know that he was thrilled to spend a day on a bike, and to be honest, so was I. It was nice to finally get some exercise after having taken it easy for so long and it was a really great ride. Our second night was spent at a hotel on Cat Ba Island (one of the very few Halong Bay islands that are inhabited), a hotel that we considered to be ‘an upscale accommodation’ despite its striking resemblance to a North American Holiday Inn! It was a really nice break from the
usual string of guesthouses we’ve been staying at and after a good night’s sleep we woke feeling refreshed, re-energized, and ready to tackle a couple more days in hectic Hanoi.
Upon returning to Hanoi, we checked back into the guesthouse where we had stayed prior to our Halong Bay tour, got cleaned up, and hurried downtown to catch the evening’s last performance at the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre. Water puppetry is a traditional Vietnamese art form dating back to the 11th century. It was unlike anything I’ve seen before: with the puppeteers hidden behind bamboo screens, short scenes depicting Vietnamese folklore and lifestyle are acted out with little wooden puppets in waist deep water. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to take any pictures of the performance, which is too bad because I’m sure they would have done the show more justice than my explanation. My suggestion is that you come to Hanoi and see the show for yourself!
Our last day’s activities included a visit to the Hoa Lo Prison (better known to North Americans as the ‘Hanoi Hilton’), the prison used by French colonialists to incarcerate Vietnamese political prisoners and later by the North Vietnamese for prisoners
Halong Bay at dawn
The words "arrrggh", "landlubber", "ahoy", and "matey" were uttered during this trip quite often!of war during “the War”. Only part of the prison exists today as a museum, as most of it was demolished during mid-1990s. Some rooms held exhibits showing what prison life were like for the Vietnamese (atrocious!), while others showed what life was like for American POWs and it was really interesting to see the contrast between the two parts of the prison. Although I have not seen the film “The Hanoi Hilton”, it is my understanding that the movie suggests that American pilots incarcerated in Hoa Lo were severely mistreated, abused, and tortured. I would’ve never guessed that this was the case if I were to draw conclusions from this museum’s exhibits! The American pilots in the pictures on display were all smiling, being given medical treatment, playing board games, participating in sports, and so on. Had all the men in the pictures not been wearing the same prison garb, I wouldn’t have even guessed they were being held captive! Our visit to the museum left us feeling extremely confused about what actually went on in the prison during the 60s and 70s…so many sides to one story! That afternoon, (at my request) we checked out the Temple of
Literature which, although beautiful, was a little disappointing - no books! Our last night in Vietnam was a memorable one - we attended a symphony performance at the 98 year-old Hanoi Opera House. I can’t decide which I liked better: the performance or the opera house itself. The building was so big and old and beautiful that staying focused on the stage was a bit of a challenge, and Tyler and I spent much of the performance examining the architecture and turn-of-the-century décor. The music and the surroundings blended together to create the perfect setting for a lovely last night in ‘Nam.
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momcin
non-member comment
will you be able to re-adjust back in Canada?
So beautiful, stunning and exciting! And what a story on the sleeper bus! The picture of Hanoi Harbour is truly beautiful and your descriptive narrative Kate touches all the senses. I feel a part of your travels! :) I want to know what the seamstresses and tailors made for you in Hoi An? After all, your carts were brimming and you left us hanging! haha I guess we'll see when you get home.......a full modelling session is expected of you both! Thank you for the proper pronunciation of Hue - was that due to my improper attempt at Laos (Tyler, you didn't need to tell Kate) "Junk" Harbour looks like the Shuswap in the summer and I am happy to say, I remember learning about 'junks' in school many moons ago when the word only had one meaning. Were there any critters in the National Park? Good location for a downhill Ty? Well, I have certainly enjoyed the blogs and can hardly wait to hear many more stories upon your return. Continue to take care you two and we will see you in a couple of weeks! Love and hugs!