All the Aitches

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May 9th 2010

Published: May 9th 2010

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Chris and Lisa

Little Italy

A piece of the Med in Vietnam

Is it just me or as you travel North through Vietnam does everywhere seem to begin with H now?

Right, we left chilled, relaxed & feeling good, then came the ‘night bus’. We had bought an Open Tour ticket with a travel agent which involves lots of buses between the major destinations with the longer segments being on ‘sleeping’ buses. When we say sleeping, if you are Asian, not taller than 4ft 6 and have the hearing of a 90 year old with earwax you might have the chance of a few minutes shuteye. The bus picks you up about 8, leaves and turns the lights out while everyone is still wide awake then just as people are nodding off around midnight, stops at the driver’s Mum’s house (cafe) put all the lights on and tells everyone to get off. Nice. That, combined with the usual absolutely terrible driving and roads mean we arrived in Hoi An at 5.30am feeling somewhat jaded. Luckily our hotel in Hoi An had a room free so we were able to check in very early and collapse for a couple of hours.

Feeling semi human we set out to explore Hoi An, our

Old Streets

Quaint though

base for the next few days. As we walked down into the ‘old town’ it was greeted with a mixture of awe (both of us), joy (Lisa) and horror (Chris). The awe was inspired by the beautiful old houses in the centre and the other reaction by the realisation that 2 out of every 3 shops were clothes shops and most of the others sold souvenirs. Hoi An is famous as the ‘go to’ place for bespoke tailoring (in Vietnam at least). It was founded by the Champas and was originally called Faifoo and it was one of the most important trading ports on the ‘silk road’. Hoi An attracted ships and traders from all over the world and you can see this in the various influences but eventually with a combination of the silting of the river and docks and a closed trade policy the town stagnated economically. During the Vietnam War (or the American War as they call it here) both sides agreed not to bomb the town as it was still full of beautiful historic buildings so luckily these marvellous houses have survived pretty much intact. Today Hoi An is a tourist town, the good thing though

Japanese Bridge

Complete with mini temple

is that they have tried to do this by preserving rather than destroying. There are now over 400 tailor shops (seemed more like 4000) and how most of them make any money is anyone’s guess. We retired early to plan the next day’s retail experience.

Armed with designs we headed off in search of a recommended tailors, and Lisa was instantly in her element, choosing material, colours, designs, measurements, redesigns, thinking about matching shoes and handbags. Eventually a dress was ordered for what seemed to us to be a bargain price. Agreeing to a first fitting that afternoon we headed off to explore the old town in more detail. The Chinese influence is obvious, a large number of meeting halls and pagodas for each of the Chinese ethnic groups, all different some ornate, some very plain, generally reflecting the success of the group. A number of the old shop houses are open to explore and a couple are fascinating. But to tell you the truth just wandering slowly down the streets is enough to appreciate the beauty. The old house of Tan Ky is fascinating, wonderfully preserved and still owned by the same family, the wood carving, mother of

How high?

flooding to this level as recently as Nov 09

pearl work and period architecture really give a flavour of how a well to do family lived. Probably just as interesting is how the house is still standing considering it floods almost every November and some years it floods to over 3 or 4m from the ground level. We wandered over to the Japanese bridge, 18th century, ornately carved bridge complete with Temple, from there we simply wandered, lost in a world that didn’t seem to be of this age. A delightful way to spend a day. But it wasn’t over yet as we went back to the tailors for the first fitting and glimpse of Lisa’s purchase. Boy they work quickly.

The next day we headed out to My Son (pronounced Me Sun), not another visit from Matt but the Vietnamese version of Angkor Watt (or so they told us). We hopped on the tour bus and Joe, our tour guide provided the entertainment, this consisted of the victors view of the war all presented by a bloke that had obviously learnt his English from Bruce Lee films. My Son is up in the mountains and is a series of temples that used to be the heart of

my son

not Angkor despite what Bruce says

the Champa kingdom. Unfortunately, unlike Hoi An, there was no agreement here and the Evil American Aggressors (Bruce’s words) bombed the hell out of the place. Some of the temples have been restored but the huge bomb craters still remain. The Mỹ Sơn temple complex is regarded one of the foremost Hindu temple complexes in Southeast Asia and is the foremost heritage site of its type in Vietnam. In 1999 it was recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage site and subsequently some rebuilding and more in-depth research has started to attempt to restore it to its former majesty. Important, and undoubtedly beautiful though it is, again it kinda pales when compared to what has gone before. A worthwhile trip though if you are in Hoi An.

That afternoon the dreaded moment arrived and the pickup of the purchase. In super quick time the dress makers had created exactly what she had ordered, phew. That will teach me to breathe a sigh of relief too soon as unfortunately, fickle as women are, she decided that it was not now exactly what she wanted and am not too sure whether it will actually see the light of day. Finally, just

Old Fisherwoman?

Readying her coracles!!

a hats off here to the Vietnam Postal Service. A) Sending things home from here is very cheap, a kilo will cost a little over a fiver by air and b) they send someone down to the shop, help you fill out the paperwork, box your purchases for you, the cost .... free. Maybe the Royal Mail could learn a thing or two.

Our last day in Hoi An ticked another transport box as we hired a scooter for the day to get out a bit. After a bit of tooing and froing we managed to get a newish one ($5 per day) so Lisa clung on for dear life and Chris tried to remember how to ride. Off we went into the mayhem, well actually it turned out to be quite quiet as we headed out of town to one of Hoi An’s wonderful beaches. The scooter was minded by the local beach restaurant (as long as we ate lunch there) and we settled in for the morning. In the afternoon we decided to explore a bit more and saw a massive amount of development and high class resorts springing up along the coast and then onto one

marble marvel

one of the cave shrines in the mountain

of the local islands where the traditional way of life has been preserved (for tourists as much as anything) albeit with a paint job on the huts. All too soon our time lovely stay in Hoi An was over and we continued our journey north to Hue.

On to the sleeping bus again, only this time for a short journey thankfully, we stopped at the Marble Mountains, just north of Hoi An, a series of large limestone peaks with numerous caves that used to be the source of a lot of Vietnam’s marble. A lot of marble craftsmen still live and work nearby though their product is shipped in from the North. After another obligatory stop at someone’s mum’s cafe we arrived in Hue.

Since the 16th century Hue, because of its strategic location in the middle of the country, has been a very prosperous area. In 1802 it became the capital of the country and King Gia Long was credited for building and fortifying Hue with a huge citadel. The kings of the Nguyen Dynasty then made it home. As you walk around there is a great feel to the place. It’s very ‘arty’, almost highbrow, lots

Whats a dynastic urn?

about 4 bob a week !!! (the oldens are the goodens)

of gardens and sculptures and open spaces, still hell on two wheels & nightmare driving but even that doesn’t detract. We found a great restaurant called the Mandarin Cafe, whose owner is also an amateur photographer so you can sit and admire his work while waiting for the very delicious, very cheap meals that they offer. We also picked up a leaflet here for a walking tour, this was a bit of a first for Asia because it didn’t cost anything, didn’t involve meeting someone else’s timescales it was simply a great route for a walk if you wanted to follow it. So we did.

We were staying (like most people) in the newer part of Hue on the south side of the Perfume River. Our trek took us over the Truong Tien Bridge and then over the moat that surrounds the Citadel. The Citadel is a walled city (2Km by 2Km) to the north of the river and was built to protect the citizens and (probably more importantly) the Kings who resided in the Imperial City compound. The walls are about 3m thick so will stop most weaponry around 200 years ago. As you wander over to the

no bombs here

the parts of the palace that survived are pretty special

Imperial Palace you pass yet another display of captured American weaponry (yep we know you won) we didn’t bother to dally here. Then you come across the Flag Tower, it’s a massive structure that can be seen from many parts of the city (and possibly space). Opposite it is the magnificent Ngo Mon Gate, entranceway to the Imperial City and the home of the Kings. The gate is a grand entrance to the main palace and when you sit up on the 2nd floor of the gatehouse and look down on the courtyard you can easily imagine it filled with Mandarins (not the fruit kind!), courtiers, elephants and lots of silky finery. The whole city was based on the Imperial City in Beijing. Unfortunately the US response to the communists taking over the city in 1968 was to bomb the hell out of it, flattening most buildings. Luckily, both the Thai Hoa Temple and the Can Thanh Temple survived pretty much intact. Since 1975 a lot of restoration work has been undertaken and the whole palace complex is returning to its former glory. We continued on and explored the rest of the citadel and then exited out into the main

Rockpile

Imagine sitting up here for months at a time, with no football !!

city by the East gate. While I am not comparing the two, like Manhattan, it’s easy to forget to look up but when you do you are rewarded by little slices of yesterday and some great structures, whether they hold together for many more years is debateable. Our journey took us down into the large Dong Ba market where typically Asian, the sights and more importantly smells assaulted the senses. A bit of hard bargaining with a 90 year old saw us securing some fruit snacks; that 5 minute barter session saved the equivalent of 10 pence but it’s got to be done!! Exhausted we collapsed back at the hotel, a great tour, thanks Mandarin Cafe.

Our final day in Hue was taken up with a tour to see the DMZ, the demilitarised zone and the surrounding bases from the Vietnam (American) war. I’m not going to attempt to give a history of the conflict because I don’t want to get it wrong and the truth seems to depend on the story teller. What we did find out though is why it was so difficult to defend the South from the North Vietnamese forces. We travelled out through Dong

Follow the Ho Chi Minh trail

but watch out for thos blinking scooters

Ha town, near the coast and then turned inland along Highway 9. It was along this Highway one of the famous lookout posts of the war is located. The huge ‘Rockpile’ was only accessible by helicopter so troops lived on this large hill for months at a time watching out for insurgents. What struck me when I was a kid watching the news was why couldn’t the US, with all its weaponry, stop the troops from the North. What I never saw was the huge mountain ranges, the hills the forests, the valleys. Even today, 50 years on it would be tough, then it was an impossible task. We headed out to the Khe Sanh base, near the border with Laos, which, along with Lang Vey, saw some of the fiercest fighting of the war. A tragic and moving place, it’s now a museum, a memorial and a coffee plantation. We headed off back to the town, stopping on the Dakrong Bridge, an important staging point on the Ho Chi Min Trail. The HCMT was a series of tracks and trails from the North of Vietnam through rivers, mountain passes and jungles (and Laos) that ended just shy of Saigon.

tight fit

this would get tiresome after 10 mins

It enabled the North to get vital supplies to their troops assaulting the US & South Viet forces in the south of the country. No trucks here, this was painstaking, backbreaking hauling using many men, women, children and animals. Without it, the result of the conflict may have been very different. Today, the Ho Chi Minh Highway follows roughly the same route, but it’s a bit easier these days. We then headed over Ben Hai River, the boundary between the North and South and the land either side of the river is a bit more like the memories. We headed a few km north to the Vinh Moc tunnels, a massive series of tunnels that housed an entire village from the almost constant bombardment from the South and the Sea. The American forces believed the villagers of Vinh Moc were supplying food and armaments to the North Vietnamese garrison on the island of Con Co which was in turn hindering the American bombers on their way to bomb Hanoi. The idea was to force the villagers of Vinh Moc to leave the area but as is typical in Vietnam there was nowhere else to go. The villagers initially dug the

Hidey Hole

One of the entrances to Vinh Moc

tunnels to move their village 10 metres underground but the American forces designed bombs that burrowed down 10 metres. Eventually against these odds, the villagers moved the village to a depth of 30 metres. It was constructed in several stages beginning in 1966 and used until early 1972. The complex grew to include wells, kitchens, rooms for each family and spaces for healthcare. Around 60 families lived in the tunnels; as many as 17 children were born inside the tunnels. As you stoop and walk through the hot, dark areas you get a small sense of what life may have been like for the villagers over the 4 years they stayed there. The tunnels were a success and no villagers lost their lives. The only direct hit was from a bomb that failed to explode; the resulting hole was utilized as a ventilation shaft, good thinking.

There were a few more stops on the way back but a lot of the area has now, rightly, returned to normal life, indeed the magnificent beach on the Northern side of the border is just starting to attract the developers’ attention. The journey back was notable only for a tyre blow out

Another great beach

Hoi An this time

on the coach which was fixed up at a local shack that certainly put paid to Kwik Fit’s claim on being the speediest in the world.

The following day we headed off to yet another form of transport, the Asian train, for our journey on to Hanoi.

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