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Published: November 23rd 2006
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Hue is a fairly interesting city with many pagodas (Buddist temples) some of note for their striking architecture as well as royal tombs built as recently as the start of the last century. The one tomb we visted was sprawled over a wide area with different living areas for the king, his many wives as well as a hareem of concubines. There were carp filled lakes with wooden buildings for the king to meditate and write poetry. All very civilised. Of course there was the tomb too, rather understated we thought for such a large complex. Then there was the huge citadel on the opposite side of the river. This consists of a large walled area surrounding a smaller collection of builidings. Unfortunately much of it was destroyed by American bombing, the North Vietnamese army wrongly assuming the Americans wouldn't bomb such an ancient monument.
We jumped on our first overnight train up to Hanoi which wasn't at all bad as we had fairly decent beds. The only bad thing was the food provided, think of your worst ever airline food, times it by a thousand and then make it cold. Oddly the snack trolleys follow immediately behind the food
trolley. You could sit on this train all the way from Saigon to Hanoi if you wante too, 36 hours of that food! Arriving early morning in Hanoi we went straight out down to the lake near the hotel to watch the exercises of the locals, public displays of aerobics using all manner of instruments like swords, flags and bat and ball as well as some disturbing stretching. Later in the day we visited the 'Hanoi Hilton', the nickname given to the prison used firstly by the French and then by the North Vietnamese to hold American POW pilots, from whom the nickname came. Again there was more propoganda, telling of the repression of the revolutionary heroes of Vietnam by the French and telling at great length how well the American POWs were treated by themselves.
Sophie and I booked a trip out to Halong Bay, a must if you're up in the north. The bay has around 3000 islands, all of which are incredible limstone karst formations that rise out of the sea. The site is UNESCO World Heritage listed although there are several populated islands as well as many floating fishing villages with fish farms attached. Rather
Hue's tombs
Inferiority complex? These had to be slightly shorter than the king. They were only about 5 foot tall. than being purely subsistance farming, these villages are fairly weathly, many having satallite TV and even pool tables. We spent the first day floating around the bay, visiting a spectacular cave and doing a bit of kayaking before returning to the boat for drinking and late night swimming. That night we stayed on the boat in a bay surrounded by dozens of other boats, their lights sparkling on the water. Incredibly even here in the middle of a huge bay, several hours from the mainland you couldn't avoid the touts selling food and drink from little rowing boats, even as you were trying not to capsize the little kayaks. The following day we started with a bit of trekking over over one of the smaller islands stopping for a rest at a local couple's who live on their own on the island, the only people allowed. After that followed more swimming before we headed to Cat Ba island, which has already started to resemble a Spanish beach resort but was fun all the same. The last day the weather was rubbish so we just headed back to port as it drizzled rather English rain.
As soon as I got
back I was told that I would have to go on my trip to Sapa that night instead of a day later which I was rather disappointed at as I was pretty tired but I had a few hours to get my things together before getting the night train up there on which I was able to sleep anyway. Sapa is known for its local tribes, scattered amongst mountainous hillside in the far north of Vietnam. It is a popular place for trekking. Enroute from the train station in the valley to Sapa the locals as usual began to throw up in the bus. A little girl in from of me was sick and as she was passed back to her father behind me I was treated to drips of puke landing on my leg. Nice first thing in the morning. It would have been worse had I not just seen her projectile vomit onto the guy's shirt in front of her, an impressive distance, and he sat there blissfully unaware. Unfortunately the first day it pored with rain incessently, making the trail akin to a 'slippy slide' and we were all quickly sliding all over the place in a
vain effort to avoid falling or even sliding off down the hill or into a rice paddy. In brief periods of sunshine the scenery was amazing, lush green hillsides cut with steps of rice paddies, with slick brown muddy tracks down which we had to try and walk. With some relief we reached the village where we were to spend the night, on the way having passed through several villages enroute where local women dressed in traditional clothing would crowd you and try and sell you their wares. The homestay where we stayed (me, a spanish girl, the two guides and various local villagers, none of whom seemed to live there as so many kept coming and going from the house) was fairly rustic to say the least, mud floors and cooking over an open fire with no chimney so the inside of the house was quickly filled with smoke, stinging your eyes. However, it had obviously been tarted up for the more discerning tastes of westerners as it also had a fridge, a couple of lightbulbs and even a toilet flushed with water running from a nearby stream. Our guide cooked a huge feast over the fire which as
usual we struggled to even make a dent on, something I've never been able to understand why they cook so much. Following the meal a 5 gallon container with clear liquid was produced and shots handed round. This is what the locals call Vietnamese whiskey, distilled rice wine. This is the traditional way for groups of (mostly) men to greet each other and bond. I knew I was in trouble when my guide told me that it was 'unmanly' to refuse to drink or leave the table. About ten minutes later and a similar number of shots it was getting serious. Needless to say the evening flew by fairly fast over that. The following day was bright (apart from my head) but the previous day and night of heavy rain had made the trail treachorous to say the least. Fortunately two little local women were on hand to help me. They literally run over the hills like mountain goats, simply shod in plastic sandles and wellingtons whilst us ungainly westerners, some with the latest walking boots struggle to simply stand still upright. With one holding my hand at the front and one behind they got me down the hill, how
I didn't take them down with me I'll never know as I was easily a clear head taller than both of them and considerbly heavier. I was or course obliged to buy something from both of them afterwards but this was of little price to pay. We crashed at another house for lunch, another huge pile of food. I was summoned to the back of the house on my own which I found rather strange but realised why soon enough when I found my guide and the men of the house sitting round table with shots of distubingly recognisable clear liquid. I just managed to stumble back up to the road to get the jeep back to Sapa.
I returned to Hanoi, again overnight on the train to meet back up with Sophie who had stayed behind. We've just spent a couple of days in Hanoi, visiting a couple of museums including the mausaleum of Ho Chi Minh, a founding father of modern Vietnam. His embalmed body is held there, rather wierd, just like he's sleeping. He'd just returned from his annual trip to Russia for 'maintenance'.
Tomorrow we're off to Loas, it's going to be awesome to
chill out for a couple of weeks.
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