Vietnam like you never knew it

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Did you have any idea that some of the most beautiful beaches were in Vietnam? Well for those of us who have done little or no traveling, it is a beautiful surprise. Landing in Hanoi the day before New Years was not the beach start that one would hope for, but as we move South we get closer and closer to our idea of perfection.

Deciding that we wanted to be in Hanoi for New Years Eve 5 days before the big day was not the best of planning, but as I have said before, we are always up for an adventure, even if we bring it on ourselves. Getting out of Laos asap meant way too much time on very uncomfortable buses with chickens in the aisles, smokers blowing their second hands into the way of new bornes, and lots of vomit bags handed out on the near roller coaster rides we were experiencing based on the random blasting that created these so called Loation high ways; but as everything always does, it all worked out. We did manage to rush ourselves out of Laos so quickly that we forgot to exchange our Kip into Dong causing a near catastrophe when we wanted out of the very small town of Ving, (only place in Vietnam that we could get a direct bus over the border to), and not only did they look at our stacks of Baht like it was Monopoly money, but none of the ATM's were working and (surprise surprise) banks aren't open at 9 pm at night for unprepared foreigners. Lucky for us the weird guy from the Netherlands that we had been avoiding like the plague on the bus, still took a liking to us. He bought our dinner and we managed to get some people at a hotel to exchange some baht for us, (at an extortionists rate) for enough Dong to get us on an overnight train to Hanoi.

Arriving in Hanoi at 5 in the morning is a beautiful thing to do, their are very few people up, the town is quiet and the lake in the middle of the Old Quarter is still and somber. There are people doing Thai Chi and walking meditatively around the lake, all is calm. This only lasts until about 7 am when the city turns into a mess of traffic with the constant blaring of horns and the only way to cross the street is literally closing your eyes, keeping a steady pace, (so the locals on scooters can dodge you), and hope for the best. Hesitation really does cause accidents in Vietnam, and there is no such thing as a pedestrian walk way. So for the timid, I would say to skip Hanoi all together, (unless of course you fancy being on one block your whole visit, ;-)).

As large and as crazy as this city is, at 10 pm, it shuts down, literally. Guest house gates are locked shut, lounges are preparing to kick everyone out for their 12 pm curfew, and it is amazingly, and creepily, quiet! As you can imagine, New Years Eve wasn't the rocking party that we hustled our buns down to the 'big city' for. We did, as we always do, make the best of it and had a great time and met some amazing people.

After our slight disappointment of a New Years, we decided that we would finally try out an organized tour; we were told the tours to Halong Bay were beautiful and that you really couldn't do it for any cheaper on your own. Well, we managed to have another adventure on our hands. After traveling 3 hours on a bus and an hour by boat, (through some very beautiful and mesmerizing views, we were told that they actually over booked the tour and that they would be rearranging our evenings. First night to be stayed in a hotel in town and the second on the boat; just the reversal of what was originally planned; being the gracious Canadians that we are known for, we had no problem and got ready for a night in town. We had a nice walk through town that evening and were excited to get back on the boat the next day and continue on our journey. Well adventure after adventure we manage to come through; the tour guide tells us after our morning trek that the boat has broken down and that no one will be spending the night on the boat that night, and Asia style service, "sorry, too bad, I can't do anything about it....maybe if you are lucky, you will get a 3-4 dollar refund when you get back to Hanoi". Part of the group that was told the boat sleep wasn't going to happen, were a group of feisty Italians, with limited English skills...mostly consisting of, "No OUR problem, YOU problem" over and over and over again. Needless to say, while they were busy arguing, we managed to get the 2 spots that were available, to be committed to Erik and I. Trying to hide our smiles, we packed up and high tailed it out of there before anyone realized what happened. We weren't going to say no, that's for sure.

The night consisted of Karaoke and a movie, which was a nice way to spend a night on a boat, just relaxing; even though the locals performing was definitely not relaxing, at all. Especially when the men were choosing songs written by Diva's like Celine Dion and Diana Ross, (I think they were hoping some music producers were on the boat and they might be 'discovered'), Erik and I did a sad rendition of The Gambler by Kenny Rogers, and a preppy white guy did Coolio's Gangster's Paradise, and was in full character, it was hilarious!

When we got back to Hanoi we bought an open bus ticket to get us all the way down the coast. This is a great idea where a traveler pre-pays for the city sops they want to make and the bus picks you up and drops you off in town. You let them know the day before you want to leave and they reserve you a seat on the bus. It is really cheap too, being that it is supplemented by the hotels they drop you off at, the establishments of course hope'ing that you will stay with them, but you are in no way obligated to.

Our towns of choice were: Ning Bing, Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang, Mui Ne and of course Saigon.

Ning Bing was a sleepy town we spent one night in; we chose to stop here though as there is a beautiful area close to this town called Tam Coc. It is a river going through miles of rice paddies surrounded by sheer faces of emerald green mountains. The touristy thing to do is to pay to have a local row you down the water and underneath the shallow grotto's. It is so amazingly beautiful there it almost feels like a spiritual experience.

Hue was a historical stop to check out the Citadel, (5kms of enclosed Vietnamese architectural history). We rented bikes and peddled around the city. This was pretty humorous if you know the bikes I have back home. These bikes were straight out of Mary Poppins and I was trying to jump the curbs and do a little 'off roading'. I guess I miss my bikes more than I thought. Needless to say, I received more than a few funny looks from the locals when they saw the moves I was trying to pull. Oh yeah, the Citadel was interesting, but will be better in a couple of years when they finish all the reno's; most of it was under repairs and our views were impaired by tarps and scaffolding.

Hoi An was a cute town with a beautiful beach that went on for miles and miles,. Hoi An is know as THE PLACE to get clothes made; there are over 200 tailer shops and a tailer University right in the town. We were lucky to catch some hot sunny weather and get some great clothes made while we were sucking up the rays. Erik's friend Gabe from back home also joined us in this town.

Nha Trang was a spot we were really looking forward to. Having been in sleepy towns for more than our fair share, Nha Trang had been described to us as a beach lovers paradise; miles of beach, great wind and body surfing, busy night life etc. Unfortunately while we were there, all we experienced were hurricane like winds that kept us up all night. we made the best of it though, Erik and Gabe threw themselves into the ocean for a beating like a head on collision, and I put on my happy face and went out for a run. After a couple of days trying to wait out the storm, we decided to book our spots on the bus and head to Mui Ne.

Mui Ne, a town famous for its Kite Surfing and sand dunes, we rolled into town and left the stormy weather behind us. It was back to SPF and sweaty backs. It took us a while to find a place in town; they were either all booked up or 2 to 3 times our budgeted price. This is always a bit worrisome when getting to a town since guest house prices are typically a good indicator of prices for other necessities, (food....beer ;-)). we finally did find a place, about 2.5 km out of the main area. So we had to take a lot of moto rides, and there weren't too many other travelers out where we were staying. This was definitely a town of active people, it was a nice change. I was more than a bit jealous of the people there just to part take in the activities. I will absolutely try kite surfing soon, when I can afford the lessons and rentals. (At $50 an hour just for the lesson, it is more than a bit out of range for a backpackers budget). The sand dunes were in our budget though....free! We rented a couple of scooters and made our way out. It was supposed to be a great spot to 'surf the sand'; kids rent you their 'boards'- a piece of linoleum and rope- and show you how to get a really great run at the sand. Unfortunately, growing up in a place like BC, you know the feeling of sailing down on a hill on a board....really fast.....he dunes were like nothing I have seen before, the wind sweeping the the sand over the foot prints, changing the landscape every couple of minutes, too bad the linoleum doesn't quite whip you down the hill like the snow does for a skier, and the kids were little brats that their parents had taught them how to be extortionists, trying to charge 10 to 20 times the agreed upon price after their 'services had been rendered'.!

After visiting the small coastal towns , we were ready for a real city.....Saigon here we come. It's weird how much you can miss things like 7-Eleven and air conditioning. Rolling into town on our massive sleeper bus, we quickly got a place and set up shop. Shampoo and real coffees , whoop whoop! Today we are heading to the War Museum and then off to Cambodia tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it, but have been prepped by other travelers that the Museum, and the historical spots in Cambodia are a somber experience.

......on my way to be sombered xxxxxxx Trekking Girl

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Photos

HCM Mausoleum
Where Uncle Ho's body rests.

Killer Move
One of the many soldiers marching around the mausoleum.

Grotto
Ninh Binh

Biking
Hue biking around The Citadel