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Published: April 20th 2009
Life at "Bia Hoi Junction"
This was taken in the Old Quarter, Hanoi, at a well known junction surrounded by bia hoi stalls. The drivers very much live for the moment which in this instance, maybe isn't the best thing... Vietnam highway 1 runs from Saigon to Hanoi. I thought it was crazy that the highway is only 2 lanes in places then I remembered that our very own A1 is also single lane just out of Morpeth - so which one is the developing country again?
Anyway, I digress - after our previous experiences on long distance buses we decided to fore go getting on another one and instead purchased a flight on Vietnam Airlines from Hue to Hanoi for about $25 each. A 12 hour bus journey vs 50 minutes on a plane-no contest really! We were planning on going to Ninh Binh first as its a 12 hour train or bus ride from Hue on the Reunification express. However it got you there at 4am which is hardly ideal. So on to Hanoi.
We like Hanoi a lot,
even more than Saigon. Its got French influences - more like Paris than Saigon which has more American influence. There are a lot of pavement cafe's serving excellent coffee and tasty pastries. Plus there are Beer Hoi stalls - but we'll get to that later. Unfortunately it has northern European weather too - in that it rained the whole time we were there - just 2 days in this first instance. We wasted no time in hopping on an Ocean Tours trip out to Halong Bay. This was pretty good and we'd recommend it. We had one day on a boat, Kayaking, sea food buffet, one night on a private island - then another day back on the boat before the 4 hour bus back to the capital. The scenery is really fine - Halong bay is where the limestone karsts rise dramatically from the sea. I'm not sure of the geology of the place. There are 1969 islands and it has the appearance of an old mountain range that has been reclaimed from the sea and all you can now see are the peaks. It was easily the coldest place we have been so much so that the hotel
Gareth Cycling thru Goat Herd
Ninh Binh, Rural Vietnam
We tried and failed to find dog for sale (to eat) on this ride-goat is the local delicacy in the Ninh Binh province thoughtfully provided an electric blanket. We ate well with lots of fresh seafood on the menu - if you don't like seafood on these trips, you are in trouble. Melissa had some good veggie options too.
On our return to Hanoi we caught a bus that same day to Ninh Binh. This is very much a country town set in the middle of a fertile rice growing area. Its also home to Tam Coc - which has similar Geology to Halong Bay except here the limestone juts dramatically from Rice Paddies along a picturesque River. We decided to cycle to Tam Coc. Gareth was secretly hoping to see some stalls selling cat and dog as I know this to be a popular food out in the sticks in Northern Vietnam. There weren't any but we did get to cycle through some amazing scenery on a 20KM route on sturdy Chinese bikes. We reached Tam Coc and hired a boat - rowed by OAP women who alternate between rowing with their hands and their feet. They are good at it too! We rowed for about 45 mins through the rice paddies and limestone karsts. The pictures speak for themselves. Then
we reached a dead end where all this woman's ( the rower) mates descended on us and tried to sell us drinks, crisps and the like at inflated prices. We of course didn't get a thing. The rest of the journey Madam tried to sell us a variety of tapestries and other tat. We picked up the oars and started rowing furiously as a distraction. Then she asked for a tip - we gave her a dollar. This scenario is well illustrated in the guide book so we knew what to expect - its all a bit of fun.
The next day we hired mopeds and drivers (number one way to travel in Vietnam) and headed out to the Cuc Phuong national park via Kenh Ga. Kenh Ga is quite nice- its supposed to be a floating village. It looks a lot more permanent now though and there seems to be a fair bit of mining and the like operating here. It could easily be avoided. However it was sunny the day we cruised down the river so it was a pleasant break on the journey to Cuc Phuong - the boat we went on was very interesting (see
pics). The scenery on the 45km drive to the National Park was stunning-lot's of rice paddies, water buffaloes, ox and carts and limestone karsts-real Vietnamese countryside at its best.
Once at Cuc Phuong we checked into the stilt house which at $10 a night for the 2 of us was pretty nice. We then had quite a grim lunch in the National Park restaurant before hiring mountain bikes and cycling to the Endangered Primate center just down the road where we were met by our guide who showed us around. The place has gibbons and langurs and is not very big. It seemed to be more focused on rescue and research of primates than getting tourists in. All the primates there had been rescued from poor conditions including being kept as pets.
After visiting the primates we cycled through the national park on our very dodgy mountain bikes a gruelling 10km-(all up hill and on the hottest day we'd had in nearly 2 weeks!) to the Cave of the Prehistoric man where ancient bones and hunting equipment were found a few years ago proving cave men lived in the area-anyway the cave was lovely and cool although a
View from Observational Tower
Cuc Phuong National Park, Ninh Binh little dark and spooky. After the cave we headed to the pretty Mac Lake in the park and enjoyed a cool beer before cycling back (all down hill which was great fun!) for tea. Tea was as bad as lunch-they think all vegetarians should eat is a plate of green stuff (possibly spinach?) and a bit of rice. When I asked for some more variety they produced a plate of onions-yum yum! Anyway-they kicked us out of the restaurant at 7.30pm so we sat outside drinking beers and playing cards then went to bed very early!
Next morning we did the tough climb to the Observation mound in the park where the views were great. After that we had a walk to Mac lake and went on the swan pedalo boats-had to be done the Vietnamese love them! We also explored the Botanical gardens before our drivers turned up to take us back to Ninh Binh. Overall the park was very pretty and we saw lot's of beautiful butterflies but no other wildlife-we were expecting bears and monkeys and stuff. Our drivers took the less scenic route back to Ninh Binh-via Highway 1-(quite hair raising on the back of
We stopped here at this cafe for a beer before leaving Ninh Binh
The Cafe owner turned out to be the local doctor who made more from the cafe than being a doctor. a moped) and we had time to try some Bia Hoi (home brewed beer made fresh each day) before getting our train back to Hanoi. Whilst in the bia hoi cafe a child was rushed in and hooked up to a drip-it turned out the bia hoi lady was also a Dr but did not work in a hospital as the pay was so bad.
After a bit of stress getting a hotel in Hanoi-the one we'd booked claimed they had no booking we ended up in a lovely suite with a computer, t.v, fridge, and bathtub in the room as well as a balcony looking down on the Old Quarter. Next day we were surprised to be woken at 6.45am by singing and talking from a loud speaker. It was the National Anthem and motivational speaking-one of the most communist things we had come across in Vietnam. 5 minutes later drills and hammers kicked in-at a building site next door-great! We got up and headed out after a decent breakfast. Gareth walked around Hoan Kiem lake (a very pretty lake near the Old Quarter where people practice Tai Chi early in the morning) to an opticians where he
Biizaare Sculpture at Army Museum, Hanoi
Its not like the Vietnamese to take glory in their military achievements... This sculpture is made out of aircraft parts from planes shot down in the various indochina wars bought designer sunglasses having destroyed his and picked them up only 2 hours later.
Melissa headed to a place she had read about on the internet called Phuc Tue Caring Centre. This was a school for children with autism and learning disabilities. It being a Saturday most of the children were not there expect for 4 lovely lads (all who were Autistic). I was able to meet the lads who included Toam and Kiem and spend time with them. I also met one of the 17 teachers and Kung-one of the 2 psychologists working there. Madame Huong the owner/ manager came down on her day off and spent time chatting to me and showing me around the school. She was a lovely lady and had set up the school as she had a grandson with Autism and there was a lack of school provision in Hanoi for him. The level of poverty and the small space-only 4 very small classrooms for 70 children-many of whom are autistic really struck me. It was poles apart from Autism and learning disability services in England. Also in Vietnam all parents have to pay to send their children to school and the government
Grilled dog anybody?
I hear the light coloured ones taste the best. We found this on the menu in Hanoi offers no support to parents who have children with a learning disability.
After an enlightening morning we met up for lunch and bumped into our mate David from New York. Following a tasty lunch at the Ladybird cafe Melissa headed off for a Vietnamese massage due to a persistent pain in my shoulder blade which started following the dodgy bus trip from Saigon to Dalat. The massage seemed good but the leg pummeling was a bit sore and sure enough next day I woke up with bruises down my calves and my shoulder still hurt! The Vietnamese don't really go in for relaxing massages-more a case of beating you black and blue! In the evening we headed out for tea and Bia Hoi-our hotel was literally 30 seconds walk from 5 bia hoi stalls and at 3,000 dong a glass (around 12p) you couldn't grumble! We had a cracking night chatting to a local lad called Zoom a German lady called Effie working in Hanoi - and we met David again. He thinks we are following him... and we are!
Next morning we got 1 hours lie in-the loud speaker and drilling did not start until 7.45am! We
Visit to Phuc Tue Caring Centre
Toam and Kiem-2 of the lovely lads I spent time with at the school headed of to Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum complex and it was really interesting seeing uncle Ho's body. Melissa then saw the 1 pillar pagoda, stilt house, palace and other stuff whilst Gareth swanned off to yet another army museum. In the afternoon we went to Hanoi backpackers (where we'd stayed the on our first visit to Hanoi) for free beer (a Sunday afternoon thing) then Melissa attempted to see the Water puppet show but it was sold out. After some shopping in the night market we hit the bia hoi stalls again to celebrate our last night in Vietnam!
So in summary of Vietnam
Good points
- - Cheap Food / Beer - ie Bia Saigon & Bia Hoi
- - Lots of free extras when you stay somewhere like internet or breakfast
- - Friendly locals
- - Amazing scenery
- - Scenic bike rides
- - Honda Om Rides
- - Lively cities
Bad Points
- - Crossing the roads!
- - Dodgy bus journeys!
- - Being questioned about your daily movements by hotel staff
- - Lack of food variety - especially vege
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Gemma
non-member comment
hello
Great photos again especially in the kayak. 6 am motivational wake up - ugh - I wondered what had happened to this country when they played the national anthem on the radio on my way into work (forgotten to send Her Maj a birthday card again)