I'm back!

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I'm back... and I don't mean in Australia. Following some solid advise from my dear mother and an urge to move on, we embarked on Hai Phong three days ago via Vietnam Airways.

After US$97 and 45 minutes in the air, we reached Vietnam's third largest city on the north-eastern coast of the country. We stepped out of the aircraft onto the tarmac, and were greeted by 23 degrees celcius in our tropical-weather clothes - just beautiful.

We found a rather rude and abrupt taxi driver, who took us the short distance into the city of Hai Phong to one of the hotels we were hoping would accomodate us. The place beamed of yesteryear, something like what I imagine Russia would have been like after the fall of Communism - wide streets lined with colonial buildings, some new, some old, some bombed to shreds and deserted. The vibe we got from the city was intense, and it felt like we were the only Westerners there. We checked into one of the hotels, housed in a huge colonial building with elaborate but decaying hallways, beautiful bay windows though which the cold wind howled. We felt inspired.

Our room was very interesting - massive with three double beds as well as a lounge area completely decked out with a tea set, jug of water and tea bags. It looked like we had checked into the wrong room, this one being set up for a pack of Soviet leaders to house secret discussions on the future of Russian industry.

We tested the water outside and ventured into the first large supermarket we had come across in Vietnam, spanning over two floors. By no means elaborate, the sales assistants sold everything from jewellery to clothes to iPod headphones to milk and groceries. Once again, this was no flash place - something like Eastern Germany before the Wall came down, though I imagine it was far better stocked! Upstairs on the balcony was housed a new-age, pop-inspired neon bar, where waiters in colourful uniforms served cocktails to young Vietnamese party-goers. The 'DJ' played 'Happy Birthday' along with a whole heap of 90's boy-band songs, all skillfully remastered so that no silence prevailed between one soppy love melody and the next. We could not get the grins off our faces. We attempted to order some of the alcoholic cocktails from the menu, but the waiter said 'no'. I ended up with a chocolate icecream and grape juice cocktail, which was extremely delicious.

We left the scene to test out Maxim's Cafe, another 1990's-inspired venue, which staged a large number of musicians, all singing two of their favourite melodies (all to Western music such as Olivia Newton-John) at the top of their lungs and, we were sure, at the maximum volume of the amps supporting their talents. Once they finished their rendevous', they collected their payment, hopped on their motos in the drizzle outside, and headed off into the night.

Only a little peckish, we decided to get some spring rolls, cabbage salad and a cabbage stew. The meals arrived, and the only word you can use to describe their size is massive. We gasped in amazement, and howed in. After serious attempts to ignore the fact that we were so full we couldn't move, the waiter cleared the remains of the meal - half a dozen spring rolls and cabbage stew. The bill arrived - 250,000 dong! THe waitress obviously thought we were each having the three dishes, as we had been charged for 3 spring rolls, 3 cabbage salads, etc. Eva, our chief negotiator, instantly calle dover the waitress and questioned the amount. After much debate, our bill was halved and we paid. What a night...

The next morning, we got up bright and early to catch the hydrofoils, which the Hai Phong people had been graced with from the Russians, assumably from the American War. The hype over these boats in the Lonely Planet and from the locals was so greatm that I was expecting flash, Western speed boats. Little did I know...

We paid our US$7 per ticket and boarded the hydrofoil by first boarding another ship and then jumping over onto our craft. I'm sure in its heyday, this boat would have been impressive, but when we stepped on, all we saw was years of wear and tear, probably chicken and goats, motos, etc. The seats were creaky and smelly, but most importantly, the speed at which these boats travelled at enabled us to reach the large island of Cat Ba in record time - 45 minutes. All the Westerners were crammed up the front of the boat, whilst the Vietnamese sat at the back in the main section (we were all sure they had been sold the 80,000 dong tickets vs the 100,000 dong tickets, which we had to buy).

Regardless, we had managed the long trek from Saigon to Halong Bay in record time, and we pretty happy with our progress. Once off the boat, we walked the distance of about 2kms along the bay down the main street, where we checked into one of the Lonely Planets' suggestions for US$6 per night - great price and really clean. Eva convinced the guy that we would take the room, given that they would lug our backpacks up the stairs to the fifth floor - apparently, the higher floors are considered the best in Vietnam, as the noise from the surrounding streets is the least intrusive, something we would probably be very willing to put up with on most nights, if it means NO STAIRS. This time, though, the young guy who sold us the room quickly summoned his hoard of female staff to carry our bags up the stairs. Slightly embarrassed, we thanked these women, who were literally half our size, though probably twice as strong.

After a quick breakfast, we packed our daypacks and hopped on the two motos we had organised for US$3 for the rest of the day. Eva doubled Helyna on the back, and I took th other moto. Full of confidence (Eva, that is - I was a little anxious about the different gears and traffic rules), we took off around the small island of Cat Ba, which forms the Eastern boundary to the heritage-listed Halong Bay.

The trip was great. We drove through little villages spread along the road, littered with Huski-like dogs and small huts, most of them with colourfully painted windows. People waved to us as we scooted past, and some groups of kids posed for photos on deserted trucks and bombed-out buildings. Some of the towns were eerie, and the further away from Cat Ba town we got, the more it felt like we were travelling through the country 40 years ago, when the war was raging, and the powerful Viet Cong ruled over the island and its inhabitants. Occassionally, little men in uniform would wizz past us at full speed, and I had moments of feeling like I had dipped into the underworld. In another village, a small group of men held a meeting with loud recorded annoucements crackling over an old loudspeaker.

We passed goats and their herders on the tops of the hills, inspected the 'Hospital Cave' of the Viet Cong with a Distinguished War Veteran (as his business card read) who lined us all up, collected US$2, and sang us songs of the by-gone Ho CHi Minh with a smirk on his face, met a group of Melbournians on bikes, and froze our ears off as we cruised around the foggy island and its hilly terrain.

At 5pm, we arrived back at the hotel, frozen through but happy to be out of the rat race of Saigon, and back amongst the old ways of the country and its people. We warmed up our fingers with hot tea, and then raced for the hot shower were had been hanging out for, only to find that the staff had forgotten to turn the hot water system on. Luckily, the hoter water flowed within half an hour.

For dinner, we met up with the three guys we had met during the day, and took their motos to one of the floating restaurants in a nearby bay. We feasted the night away on fresh fish ( we literally watched them catch it), hot noodle soup, fried squid and prawns. The fresh mango juice, which we drank with a bottle of local vodka, took a while to get to the table, as the cook had to send one of the young boys to buy more mangos everytime we ordered more. The food was delicious, and it was refreshing to talk to some new faces about real estate, travelling and the stories of our lives.

We all slept well that night, though not for very long, as we had an early start at 6.30am.

More to follow tomorrow...

X Maz

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Comments

[Gabi K.]

Dear Girls, I am soooo glad to hear from you! Looks like you did the right thing... I looked at my world map and found Hai Phong and an island-huge- called Hainan, is this where you are since you mentioned Cat Ba and my map is too genaral, can't find it. Had no idea you were so close to Hanoi already.Well, looks like food, people and scenery agree with you,enjoy the last few days and make the most of it. I watched an old MickJjagger VCR last night and then literally dreamt all night of him and me going out with him. In the morning, I didn't want to get out of bed and tried to ignore reality which didn't quite work.As you know, I am in love with him since I was a tennager and noone comes anywhere even near him, well, these dreams were probably nearly as good as your trip,ha,ha. Enough of Mick, I am going to load the trailer at the flats with stuff which has piled up along the new fenceline, and he is not helping me there... Be safe, enjoy every minute, thinking of you all the time, kisses, mum