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Published: April 21st 2008
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Welcome back to the next episode of Where Are They Now...
We arrived in the hustle and bustle of Ho Chi Minh City on a beautiful sunny afternoon, after a smooth bus ride and easy border crossing. Within 15 minutes we had ourselves situated in a really nice guest house located in a cool older neighborhood of the city. After Cambodia we found Saigon to be an amazing, hip, energized city, with a young population striving for a better life. While in Saigon, we went to see an amazing water puppetry show. It is a fantastic art form developed in rural Vietnam and China using the water of the rice paddies as the stage. A truly stunning art form. As well as exploring the city on foot we took a day trip down into the Mekong Delta to see a floating market and a village where they manufacture rice paper wrappers that are used in fresh rolls, coconut candy, and rice whiskey. Definitely an interesting day.
We soon found ourselves riding a train overnight towards Na Trang, a coastal beach town about a third of the way north towards Hanoi. Arriving at the crack of ugly we
found a hotel on the beach and settled in. While at the beach we took an island hopping tour that was a bit more like a booze cruise in the rain. We had fun none the less and enjoyed the day greatly.
Three days later we again boarded a train for a 26hour ride to Hanoi. North Vietnam here we come! Our roommates on the train were a woman and her daughter who spoke good English and were very warm and open. The Mother was a retired Veterinarian who was educated in Budapest, her daughter was training to be an accountant in Na Trang. We enjoyed their company a great deal.
Late the next evening we arrived in Hanoi and found our way to a guest house in the old quarter of town. Come morning, as we were drinking our coffee and waiting for our breakfast to arrive, the peace was shattered. A young woman named Cam was checking out and having words with a Moto-driver (motorbike taxi) that was associated with the Guest house, due to a negative experience having to do with being sworn at and left at Ho Chi Minh's tomb after a
demand for payment for service not yet rendered. After walking out the door she quickly returned pleading for help, she had just been struck in the head by the driver, knocking her hat and prescription glasses off her face. Accepting her cry for help we got involved with the owner, who was shouting at her by this point. This put us now firmly in the sights of his out-of-control anger. Due to our involvement, he now shouted at us that if we believed her that it has past check out time and he shouted "pay and get out!"... so we did. Needless to say it took some time for the nausea from the adrenalin to wear off, but we had made a new friend. Off we three went through the streets in search of a new place to stay. Quickly we found a place with a friendly woman behind the desk who spoke good english, we checked in and settled into our room. We hung out with Cam for a couple of days while in town, Eating Pho (our favorite Vietnamese soup) and wandering the alleys of Old Town, as well as a night of drinking at a cool local
floating market
Three generations one boat. bar in the hood. We soon bid her farewell and headed off for a three day two night tour of the famous Halong Bay.
Halong Bay is off the North coast of Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin. A beautiful group of 1,969 islands primarily composed of enormous limestone karsts (Vertical limestone cliffs rising vertically out of the water) all but a few are uninhabited. Our boat was luxurious, the group was fantastic, the sights were stellar... an all around truly memorable time. We took a ton of photos of which we'll post a few. The time there went entirely too fast, there was a bit of a melancholy felling as we said farewell to our group when the bus dropped us off in town.
Returning to our guest house, we arrived at what seemed to be an entirely different atmosphere than the one we left. The nice woman who had checked us in was nowhere to be found, children seemed to be running the place, water service was non existent. We watched as two guys who voiced their objections a little too loudly were forcibly (with a foot to the back of the head and
Delta tour
Don't rock the boat...:) a back-hand to the face out in the alley) ejected from the guest house. This time we stayed the heck out of the mess...😊 Shortly after that there was a big to-do out in the alley involving two police officers and a rather large group of by-standards, which we watched safely from our balcony, enjoying the show. As this was ensuing the couple from the adjoining room that shared the balcony came out to watch the commotion. For the next hour and a half we enjoyed an amazing conversation with the couple, who came from Ireland and had been traveling the world for the last nine months with their three children. Wonderful people!
We boarded the Northbound bus in the wee hours of the next morning. Heading toward the long anticipated visit with our dear Seattle friends, Jamie and Scott, who have been teaching English in QinZhou, China for the last seven months. The scenery sped by as the border loomed closer. At Friendship Pass, we disembarked and began our exit and entry process that had become strangely normal to us now. After all the stories about the entry into China, the exit of Vietnam turned out to
Ducky in Na Trang
Enjoying the Sea view from our window be the most difficult part of the process. The entry's only complication was a thorough scrutinizing of our passports, followed with a friendly "Welcome to China". Onward we walked across a beautifully clean courtyard and through an elegant stone arch, which was the border. We were suddenly aware...WOW we're in China! The bus that met us was immaculate, including seat belts, which they actually made us wear. Off we sped on possibly the best highway we had seen in Asia, on route to Nanning.
So stay tuned friends and family, for the next installment coming soon.... China. Hopefully we will also have a guest writer.
We love you all, we miss you dearly. However we're having the adventure of a lifetime and we have more miles to cover before we even think of comming home.
Cheers,
J & J
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Lisa Williams
non-member comment
Sounds Fab!
Hiya John and Justice! Hope you don't mind me snooping in on your blogs but me and the hubby have taken a year out and in July we're pretty much doing the same trip from Thailand up to China.......photo's look fab and the commentry is rather funny too!! You've posted some really good pointers and seeing your blog is just making us so much more excited about going.....although the toilet photos are making me rather nervous! Hope you both continue to have a fab time Lisa and Mike