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Published: July 23rd 2008
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But of course
The crumbling graves of three eunuch mandarins at a pagoda in Hue. Equipo,
It is currently pouring buckets of rain just outside the internet cafe in Da Lat in the southern highlands of Vietnam. Every minute or so about five gallons of water come pouring off the veranda of the shop across the street when the water weighs it down too much. Three minutes ago there was nothing falling from the sky. Nam. Da Lat is a puzzling town to us, the tourists it attracts are more often honeymooning Vietnamese than western backpackers. All the same, we have enjoyed its cool climate and pine covered hills, as well as its swan shaped paddle boats and enormous flower exposition. Tomorrow we get on a bus, possibly our last bus in Vietnam, to head to Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City.
When we last posted we were getting set to head south along the coast. The first stop was Hue, an old imperial city with impressive crumbling ruins. On a day motorbike tour we were shown various decaying stone burial complexes, as well as the pagoda where the monk who famously burned himself alive in protest once lived. We are told that Hue was the site of extensive fighting during the Vietnam war, but thankfully
Ruins...
...at an emperor's funereal complex in Hue. very little evidence of that remains. Our guide book does, however, reccomend hiring guides when leaving the city, as only locals know which areas are safe to visit, and which areas might still have unexploded ordinance. As usual, we were received warmly by the Vietnamese we met, especially those sitting at a nearby table at a beer and food stall on the main street. They shared beers with us, and encouraged us to order a plate of frog in garlic sauce which was absolutely incredible.
South of Hue we spent time in Hoi An. Hoi An has a well deserved reputation as a city chock full of tailors. Every block of old town Hoi An has five or more tailors all next to each other, all offering hand-tailored suits at next to nothing prices. The research we did online led us to Thu Thuy, a Hoi An tailor on the pricier side. Seeing as we grew up with fixed prices for nearly everything we have ever purchased, our haggling skills are certainly sub par. Thus, we paid more than we should have for the suits. However, the suits kick ass, and seem much more likely to last us through
Tucker's suit
Looking sharp... the years than would, say, a $50 suit. Many of our days in Hoi An were filled with suit fittings, adjustments and shipping, though we did find time to get sunburnt and drink coconuts on Hoi An's beautiful beach. One night a month in Hoi An they have a lunar festival. We never ascertained exactly what was being celebrated, but it didn't matter much. The old town shuts off most of its electric lights so that silk and paper lanterns can illuminate the streets. Children ran around holding wax paper luminarias which they floated down the river once they tired of trying to sell them to you. Our cameras were in no way equal to the task of capturing what the lunar festival looked like, though we did include a photo to give you all an idea at least. A highlight of the festival were the carnival-like games we saw. Chief among them was a Pin the tail on the donkey/pinata type game involving blindfolded contestants with a stick, hanging terra cotta jugs and a DJ/hawker banging cymbals in the ears of the players.
South of Hue we visited Nha Trang, which reminded us of a Vietnamese Vegas for
Katie's Suit
Looking even sharper. all its glitz and its growing skyline. Almost the entire coastline of Nha Trang is one uninterrupted beach, there is seafood everywhere, and their boat tour guides are gifted singers and boozers. Our first day in Nha Trang we visited a large temple. The stairs up to the large Buddha statue above the temple were populated by beggars with all sorts of deformities likely caused by Agent Orange. Throughout Vietnam you see evidence of this type which is a very painful reminder of where Vietnam is coming from in their uninterrupted march towards, who knows exactly what? You do get the feeling that they will let absolutely nothing stand in their way. After feeling awful at the temple we headed to some mudbaths just outside of town. If you ever get the chance to sit in a communal mudbath with twelve Vietnamese university students on holiday, do like we did and take it. They clapped their hands and everyone formed a large circle, indluding the two of us, then began massaging and pouring mud on the back of the person in front of them. Two claps later we were mudding the back of the person who had been behind us.
Beach at Hoi An
What you do in Hoi An when you're not at the tailor's. This lasted for five minutes. Other shouts meant it was time for the people who had been enjoying the warmest mud to switch with those in the shallow area. All extremely coordinated, despite the fact that we two bumbling westerners were included in it. After the mud you sit in the sun, then shower in hot mineral water, then get blasted by hot mineral water jets, then sit in some uncomfortably hot mineral water before jumping in a pool of mineral water fed by a waterfall of the same mineral water. All this leaves your skin feeling smoother than ever before. In Nha Trang we dined on lobster once Katie pointed out to me that at eight dollars per plate, we'd be fools not to. Our second, and sadly last day in Nha Trang is one that would be hard to forget; we took a cruise on a tour boat to four islands just of the coast of Nha Trang. It started off crazy. We visited a pirate-ship shaped aquarium with 150-250 lb snappers below deck before buying ice cream that turned out to be flavored with Durian. At the beginning of the trip the guide asked who wanted to
Lunar festival in Hoi An
A not quite as beautiful as it actually was photo of the mid-lunar festival in Old Town, Hoi An. pay a few dollars extra for some traditional sea urchin soup, which we were told would, "make you strong." We swam, we jumped off the top of the boat, we ate the sea urchin soup on board, and then the tour guide and the crew pulled out a microphone, electric guitar and drum set. After-lunch karaoke and dancing were followed by the guide jumping into the water with a cooler full of extremely cheap wine, encouraging all of us to follow him into the water to enjoy some "Fucking minging wine!" We do not know exactly what minging means, but judging from the wine its definition lies somewhere between "tastes like barbecue sauce" to "just terrible." Despite this we had wine floating in the South China Sea with this crazed guide who took a liking to us, and made/encoiuraged us take swigs of the stuff straight from the bottle. The rest of the boat ride was beautiful, tinged with a bit of concern on Katie's part that I'd soon be hurling over the side of the boat. Instead of throwing up we had a local fruit party. Without incident we made it back to Nha Trang, and left the following
Just in case
If we ever run out of money, we can rely on Katie's newfound skills as a traditional Vietnamese potter. morning on a cramped bus for Da Lat.
Next up, Saigon. Until then,
Tucker and Katie
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