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Published: April 9th 2009
Scents and colours
Incense sellers stallIt was raining when we left Vang Viang that lunchtime, the weather gave a physical attribute to the dampened spirits we experienced leaving George behind.
The Gods contrived to spoil our best laid plans meaning we were rushed into (or onto in my case) a tuk tuk to meet our bus before the alloted time, as soon as we arrived at the travel agents office, and before I had a chance to pick up some US dollars to smooth our passage from Laos to Vietnam. I was left hanging onto the back of the tuk tuk complete with rucksack for the 10 minute ride to the bus stop; it was warm but the rain was still wet.
The bus duly arrived and we settled down for the first leg of the trip. I met a young English guy, one of those situations where you just click, and we ended up chatting for ages about what books we had read until he admitted that one of his bags was just full of books because he couldn't bear to part with them!
After 4 hours we arrived in Vientiene, Laos capital, left our bus transferred to a mini bus which took us
Monestry garden
Hidden beauty in Hue to the bus station for yet another bus, this time bound for Hue in Vietnam our destination. We set off in the dark for our journey to the border and stopped around midnight at a roadside cafe where the bus crew had places set ready for them. There was hot food at the counter and Sue and I soon got served by looking hungrily at the food and licking our lips. It was a chicken stew served with rice and a clear soup with coriander and pickled chillies on the side, delicious. After eating we went outside and started chatting with some of the western bus passengers none of whom had dared to try the food wary of an upset stomach during the 16 hour bus ride, it hadn't crossed our minds. In our experience this kind of food is prepared ready for the bus arriving and is usually fresh, cheap and tasty (sounds like a girl band!)
We set off again but the change of drivers soon became evident as we reached breakneck speeds and were thrown about as the bus swerved left and right and kept awake by the constantly blaring horn. To the extent that eventually
we were stopped by the police and the driver and crew had to produce documents and endure a thorough check of the bus and their paperwork.
We reached the Laos border too early for the Vietnam border opening and had to deal with money changers while half asleep, well that's my excuse for being ripped off in the encounter ending uo with just enough currency to pay our exit/entry fee. The eventual entry to Vietnam whilst less fraught still took an eternity and the sun had crept up in the sky enough to chase us into the shadows while we waited for the bus to take us the rest of the way to Hue.
Watching the distance kilometres lessen as we neared our destination proved optimistic as the bus stopped in the middle of the day in the middle of nowhere and we were ushered off in a group of about 12 westerners and left on the roadside.
Our guardian angels got to work and a Korean lady we had been chatting to turned out to know some Vietnamese and we found ourselves sharing a cab with her and a couple of Norwegian girls into town, we left the
Hue Hotel
Slumming it for $8.00 a night cab and were soon accosted and persuaded by a couple of motorbike riders to go to their hotel. The hotel was everything they promised for $8 a night including a pool!
The bike ride had been fun so we booked our bikers to take us on an afternoon tour of the town's sights.
Hue straddles the banks of the Perfumed River and is situated on the edge of the 49th parallel the former demilitarised zone or DMZ that separated north Vietnam from the south.
The oldest part of Hue is contained within the walls of the ciitidel but there are also ancient Pagodas and palaces further out of town. the rest of Hue is a mixture of French colonial and modern buildings that maintain a small town feel.
Sue had a huge grin on her face every time I looked around at her as we sped in tandem on 2 bikes around Hue's tourist sights. We arrived back at the hotel in time for a swim to complete an action filled day. We ate later at a local restaurant recommended by Thuan our bike riding tour guide and once again he proved to be spot on; the food
Midnight feast
Typical roadside cafe was superb (beef hot pot served on a charcoal burner, minced pork grilled on lemon grass stalks that you made into spring rolls using pastry sheets and vegetables and cuttlefish pan fried with noodles) and the bill was less than a fiver for 2 of us including drinks.
We made a mistake coming to Vietnam, the mistake was not leaving more time; we have never felt so welcomed or so looked after as we have here, the countryside is verdant and beautiful and we want to stay much longer.
As it is our itinerary is full and time is short so we are having to undergo the kind of whirlwind tour we promised we would never do.
After just one night we were off again heading for Hoi An by local bus. We arrived in the early evening and tramped off in search of cheap accommodation once again luck was on our side and we found another nice hotel with pool for just $10.
In contrast to Hue central Hoi An is a collection of streets lined with ancient low houses mostly converted into shops and restaurants, reminding us a little of Lijiang in China.
One street runs alongside
Hue Pagoda
Sue eager to get back on the motorbike! the river and culminates in a market selling fruit vegetables, meat and fish, with just a few tourist stalls. Nearby beneath an array of umbrellas rows of tables with bench seats are arranged, each row serviced by a different outdoor kitchen and collection of staff who all compete for your business as you pass. The food on offer is fresh cooked and reasonably priced...oh and delicious.
On our first night we splashed out and ate in a pretty riverside restaurant, as we were sat near the road we were soon approached by a young girl, like many others selling cheap gifts, except her technique was to creep up behind me and tap my shoulder. After some fun and games finding out she was 14 (but looking about 11), a discussion about school and a bit of a hard sell I felt obliged to buy but didn't want any of the poor quality stuff she was offering.
I decided on Robert's approach and asked if she knew what a thumb war was...of course she did, we played best out of 3 for 25000 dong (£1) 500 more than she was asking for her goods.
You've guessed of course she beat
Breath in!
Crossing the bridge Vietnam style me it wasn't speed or strength it was pure dexterity she had it I didn't!
We decided to take a tour to My Son (Is this where Dan's friend got his name?) where the remains of an ancient city can be explored. 2 thousand years ago people travelled from India and settled here building Hindu temples it is a wonderful place nestled in the forest in a small valley, you can sense why the ancients thought it was a spiritual location. We travelled there by bus and returned by boat and during the trip we got chatting to Ivan and Ivana, a Czech couple from Australia and Ali from Canada. The boat landed us on the quayside close to the open restaurants and we stopped for a beer and a snack and then agreed to meet later I suggested 7.30 Ivan said “let's make it 7.00 it will give us more time to talk.”
Needless to say we spent a long evening chatting, swapping travel stories (they were on a 12 month trip), discovering Ali Ivan and I were all the same age (Sue and Ivana said nothing!), passing on tips on where to go and where to stay
Dragon boats
Tourist boats in Hue in China and getting tips on when and where to go in South America. Ivan had said that when they return to Sydney they don't know what they will do as they have no home there anymore but when we said we would be returning to our camper van, his eyes lit up and he said he loved the idea and they should buy one when they got back. We said our goodbyes that night but bumped into Ivan and Ivana again the next morning before we set off, we both felt we would see each other again and promised to keep in touch.
But today it was moving day again and this time we were taken in a taxi to the railway station for a day trip further south to Nah Trang. The trip was remarkable only because a young girl aged about 8 or 9 took a shine to me. I knew because after little smiles and grins behind her seat she started wandering up and down the carriage growing in confidence until she summoned up the courage to sidle up and punch me in the arm!
Sue and I shared smiles nods and laughter with the
Fishing boat
Hoi An's pretty harbour surrounding adults, none of whom spoke English but it didn't seem to matter, we all just knew what was amusing and all exuded an open friendliness. This feeling followed us off the train where we looked in vain for the hotel transport that was due to collect us. A motorbike rider asked if I wanted a lift I said no I needed to find a phone, he gestured for me to follow him and 50 metres along from the station was a street vendor selling sandwiches. She fished in a bag filled with cash and produced a mobile phone and gave it to me so I could phone our hotel. I gave her the card and she chatted on the phone for minute or 2 before telling me to sit down and wait. Meanwhile Sue had been waiting next to the station and when she came over she said she had been watched over by another motorbike rider who stayed close by protectively until I had called her over. Sue was also ordered to sit down on one of the ubiquitous low plastic chairs that gather around street stalls all over Asia.
The sandwich lady was attentive and kept reassuring
Al Fresco?
Rows of mini restaurants us, after all it was 11.00 pm and we were alone in a strange city with not another westerner in sight. Soon a scooter pulled up and the young girl who got off removed her helmet and apologised profusely at the same time I suspect being admonished by the sandwich lady. We were asked to wait a little longer until another girl on a scooter arrived. It was soon clear they expected us to use the scooters to be taken to our hotel. I wanted to give the sandwich lady a tip but wasn't sure what to give but she soon summed up the situation and put 2 bread rolls in a bag and asked for 5000 dong about 20p. We opened the bag later to find 2 stale rolls, a subtle and discrete device for the giving and receiving of a tip. We were tired so any apprehension we had about getting on the back of a scooter whilst wearing a rucksack soon disappeared and 5 or 6 minutes later we arrived at our hotel safe and sound.
Nah trang is all about the beach and the islands in the bay, watersports, snorkeling, swimming and sunbathing, At least Sue
Friends
Enjoying a great evening managed 2 of them I felt that being in the sea or on the beach would only make me feel worse about the fact that we only had 24 hours there. It is a nice town, we took a Cyclo tour around to see a sight or 2 and wandered around a market, we ate early in the evening but when we went for a walk later we found a street seller grilling monster prawns and lobsters on the roadside by the beach they looked and smelled delicious and when he said it was only 75000 dong (about £3) for a lobster or couple of tiger prawn we just moaned, our eyes actually the same size as our bellies for once!
Our next train was the 10.00 pm sleeper to Ho Chi Minh City; we returned to the hotel picked up our bags and were soon settled into our bunks for the trip south to Saigon. The Vietnam trains are clean and comfortable and the express is fast and usually punctual. The day train ride had kept us window gazing as the countryside offered constantly changing vistas. The night train was similarly equipped with clean western toilets and a huge
Japanese bridge
One of Hoi An's delights urn in each compartment offering boiling water for pot noodles or in our case instant cappuccinos. The bunk beds each had an led reading light and we were soon settled in for the night. We woke in the morning refreshed and pulled into Ho Chi Minh station, although there were no signs to indicate this so Sue needed some convincing before we left the station and went to the taxi rank. The taxi was on a meter and we had the name of a road to head for arriving there after 20 minutes for about £1.20.
The recommended streets are full of hotels the cheaper ones Sue had read were in alleyways that we duly meandered along like Mary and Joseph looking for room at the inn, my rucksack feeling more the weight of a donkey the further we walked. We settled for a hotel on the 1st street we had walked along which overlooked the main bus stopping point and had the added advantage of a balcony. This tiny corner of HCMC is more often called Saigon (Sai Gon) as it is in the old French quarter. Looking down on the busy street it seems to be crawling
Thumb wars
On the verge of defeat with tourists many with back packs appearing insect like from above. Everyone on the street wants to sell you something and you don't have to walk far to find everything you need including street food and even street beer; served in 2 litre plastic containers; although the low tables and low plastic chairs attendant remain the same.
The city roads snake and throb with motorbike and scooters and crossing the street is a matter of confidence awareness and the complicity of bike riders agreed in eye contact, and it's fun once you get used to it. Sue often just closes her eyes and hangs on!
It is much to our chagrin that we left so little time for such an important city and we have promised to return, maybe even to explore teaching opportunities. Nevertheless we did manage to clock up a top 10 meal here in Bao a restaurant recommended by our guide book.
It was busy but with few westerners and the mass of tables didn't look at first glance too welcoming but we were directed to a table overlooking the street below and the contents of the menu soon had us salivating.
Sue chose Goat and i
My Son
Ancient Cham temples chose cuttlefish the goat was fried in a sauce with herbs and spices and the cuttlefish was stuffed with a mince mixed with aromaatic herbs, our taste buds were treated to an assault of unfamilar tastes and flavours that had us running out of superlatives We had a dish of stir fried vegetables on the side that was liberally dotted with cloves of roasted garlic and doused in oil and butter lest our tastebuds hungered for something French!
Definitely top 10 if not top 5 of meals on our travels to date and we have been assured that there is more to be found here, given the time.
Just the 1 night here before embarking early the next morning on the bus to Pnomh Pen and mysterious Cambodia.
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