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North to South - the first two stops on the road down through Vietnam.
In Hue, (pronounced Who - ay), Helen and I ate disgusting pasta that had so much garlic in it, we felt nauseous. Actually, everytime I crave western food I go for Pasta (in India it was usually the only western choice) and its always rotten so now I have finally learned and banned myself from ordering pasta.
To work off the pasta in our bellies and to avoid looks of scorn and hatred from locals due to our pong we hired bicycles and cyled for hours around the city. It was great! We both couldn't remember the last time we were on bikes and these were ancient models with curving handlebars and hard high seats so that you were sitting high and upright and we felt giddy sailing along at what felt like metres above the ground. Lovely not to be walking and to enjoy the breeze our own legs brought us! We cycled all around the citadel and past remenants of the american war, crossed bridges and followed canals or rivers until we were the only westerners about and just enjoyed riding along, into
the mad six lane full steam ahead traffic on the main roads and dodging carts and motos on the narrow windy roads of relaxed house after relaxed household. It was so much fun negociating the traffic, which is the only way the traffic actually moves here. You just keep going into it, seep your way through all the other vehicles, midly keep to the direction you want to go, stay out of everybodys way, don't crash, maybe stick out your arm to let someone know they are in your way and just keep going. No lanes but no mess and a good challenge. It was like being on a really nice slow and happy rollercoaster.
Back into sightseeing mode we spent day 2 aboard a traditional vietnamese river boat with a load of French & Canadians (imagine how pleased I was!) We saw tombs and places of retreat for ancient emperors along the river and in general were as hot as we have ever been, the sun was absolutely boiling from 7.30am. That evening we had traditional Vietnamese Noodle soup with Suongh and her new friend, our lovely chambermaid, and we all spent the evening cruising on the Perfume
river listening to traditional Hue music and singing. Suongh was great for translating! Like most folk music, the songs tell stories that everyone in the culture is familiar with. My favourite was the story of a man in pursuit of a Hue girl and the hypothetical questions she asks him to determine his intelligence. If he answers with wit and wisdom he is sure to be the one for her. Smart ones those Vietnamese women! We finished off the night chatting to the Uruguayan boys we had met in Hanoi, Federico and Federico, henceforth known as 'the Feds' and having a drink in DMZ Bar.
Onto beautiful Hoi An. Delighful olde worlde, beach paradise Hoi An. Enduring extremely hot midday temperatures we walked the length of town looking for budget accomodation and finally rested in a cool, cheap, ensuite room near Retreat bar where we ate and met with Suongh and a few friends on the north-south trail to catch up. From there, punters are loaded onto mopeds and taken a few Kilometres out of town to Full Moon bar to continue having a good night out as everything in Hoi An must close at midnight. Apparently the cops
turn a blind eye to anything happening a few kilometres out of town.
We learned that Hoi An was not only host to us that weekend but Mick Jagger was in town too. We didn't see him but were plagued by reports that "he was just here!" As well as rolling stones, Hoi An boasts over 200 tailor shops. Thats one tailor shop after another in a town that is only 2km squared. Helen and I were pining for new clothes and thought of the joy of getting things made to measure at a ridiculously low cost but eventually persuaded ourselves to sit tight and make do with the rags we have and only got ourselves one garment made each. Instead we spent our money on delicious Hoi An food delicaces; White Rose, Cau Lao & Wonton, and on not so traditional food i.e. divine rich coffee and patisseries we gorbed on in the expensive Congo Club restuarant by the river. Leaving there we ran into Oliver and his son Xavier whom we had previously met in Hue on the boat tour and they invited us for a beer (yes, to everyone at home, I'm a beer drinker now!)
In return we invited Xavier out with us to Retreat Bar for the night where we had fun with the Feds, Tom, Cat, Andy, Dan and anyone else who joined in on our multi-lingual drinking games by the river until we were scared off to bed by the flashing police lights that were approching.
Hoi An got even better when we discovered the beach. Actually, never mind the beach, the cycle ride to the beach was stunning enough in itself. We saw a river peaking through trees as we rode along, supporting floating lily pads in bloom, and widening out and curving round to expose itself and a vast bank of lush green flora, banana and coconut trees on the opposite side. To our left side we saw rice fields with little huts stationed on stilts every now and then and passed nice homes and local businesses until eventually everything gave way to beautiful resorts. Our first proper day on the beach and we got a bit of a roasting despite our high sunscreen factor. I think the malaria tablets we are on can make you more susceptible to the sun. Of course there were hardly any locals about,
they are all trying to get white and avoid the midday sun like the plague. The only ones that came along were beach vendors and they were wearing gloves, hats and scarves to shade themselves from any bit of colour! The water was salty and warm but we swam about a bit and lazed with Tom and the Feds until we all got too hot and went back into town for dinner.
Then we were onto our second overnight bus to Na Trang. Despite other traveller's nightmare tales, our bus ride was fine and adequately air conditioned and we even got two seats each to spread ourselves over and sleep. The bus driver did the obligatory 'everyone-has-just-dropped-off-to-sleep-so-now-is-the-time-to-stop' stop and as it was well after midnight Helen and I decided we were hungry so we got ourselves vegetable (cheese and salad to you) baguettes. Back on the bus we were both digging in when I felt an ant crawl up my arm. 'Where has that come from?' I wondered. And then I looked at my baguette and I knew. Ahh! I threw it down at the exact same time Helen yelled over to me. Ewww! We both threw the baguettes
in the bag, tied it up, tied it up again and sat in silence, every now and again shivering, constantly itching and being completely, absolutely wide awake...
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Mum
non-member comment
have had a lovely read of your exploits with pictures to add the real flavour. keep on enjoying!! Mum