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Published: December 3rd 2006
For Sale
A regular sight - women (& often kids) selling on the streets with their moblie shops Hoa is a legend. He runs a small guest house near China Beach on the central Vietnamese coast. His wife Giao prepares a nightly feast for guests & is famous for her unique spring rolls. They are undoubtedly two of the friendliest people in Vietnam. Hoa's grasp of the English language is great, he's one of the few people that can say 'man' after every sentence & pull it off. Spend a few hours in his company & you too will be able to do nothing but 'Take it easy, man'
When we arrived in Danang after our overnight train ride from Hanoi, we hadn't entirely decided where we were going. If the weather was nice we'd go to Hoa's, if not we'd head a little further on & go back to Hoi An again. As we approached Danang it was raining, and much of the area was flooded. A typhoon had passed by just days ago and almost every building had some damage. A roof missing, a wall collapsed. Lamposts down, debris was everywhere. It had been the worst typhoon
in fifteen years.
A motorbike driver with excellent English picked us up & took in the direction of China Beach. The sun was now shining so we opted to seek Hoa's company. We drove through random typhoon initiated carnage & then along the beach, the whole area being a complete mess. It was hard to tell what was from the typhoon & what wasn't because the whole area is currently a scruffy building site - resorts are slowly taking over.
China Beach is known to many from the American 70's tv show set in the area, it was home to a US military base, the setting for the show. China Beach is actually over 20km's long & comprises of a number of beaches all labelled (mistakenly) by many as one.
My driver happened to be a tour guide - many in this area take motorbike tours inland. Briefly we were tempted, but sadly he was a liar & a rip off. He told us Hoa had been shut down because of the new road which had been built. We'd seen the road a few weeks earlier & had seen much of the damage it had done, so
Fishing Boat
China Beach stupidly we believed him. Moto drivers get commission from certain hotels & guest houses when they take new guests there, Hoa refuses to give commission to drivers as it's a corrupt & dodgy system, hence drivers often lie & say he's not there.
We checked into a hotel, saddened that Hoa may have gone, but also confused as I'd been to the area before & had a feeling that we'd been taken to the wrong part of the beach anyway (doesn't help that the LP puts Hoa's in the wrong place on the map). We set off on a walk to find Hoa, and fortunately I was right, Hoa was alive & well about 10km's down the road.
As we walked in Hoa was on the phone. I hadn't seen him in 7 years, but I recognised him at once. We took a menu, sat down & waited. Hoa looked up mid phone conversation, looked at me & said 'I remember you' I'll never forget the moment, there's something special about being one of thousands who pass through a place, but being remembered. When I was here before I was with friends from the UK, Ben, Dom &
Spring Rolls
Freshly made by us Jo. Hoa remembered them too, in particular Ben (check his blog
Stayloose) who is known for his capacity to hold a lot of beer. In 1999 we'd written in Hoa's comment book, so he pulled it out for us to read.
We stayed with Hoa & family almost a week; Every day Hoa marvelled over the story of me coming back. He told new guests, he regularly got out the comments book to show them, and he regularly reminded me to say hello to Dom, Ben & Jo. Soon everyone staying there felt like they knew Ben, Dominique & Jo too.
China Beach is a long & normally beautiful. The typhoon left it littered with debris - some rubbish, but mainly bits of trees, plants & weeds. People had been employed to gradually remove it, but this was obviously a mammoth task. We still managed to find plenty of time to enjoy the beach.
Hoa's Place sits in between the beach & Marble Mountains - a handful of small mountains, no doubt made of marble. The street leading between the mountains is full of shops selling just about anything one could imagine, made from marble. Most obvious
are the giant Buddhas, dolphins & statues of Jesus, which apparently are eventually sold all over the world. The craftmanship here is amazing, although the marble no longer comes from the local mountains - if it did there would be no mountain left.
Hoa isn't from the China Beach area (or Non Nuoc the Vietnamese name for the area he's in), he's from another village not far away. Because he's not local, and because his guest house & restaurant are so popular, many locals give him and his family a hard time. You can see the anguish in his eyes when there's been another minor altercation in the area. It's ironic as through him being there he's brought masses of trade to the area for the locals.
Many think he's rich, but he's not. He's doing okay, but he's been through hard times & could do again. The whole beach will, I am sure, some day be full of resorts. There's already a handful & it wouldn't take many dodgy backhanders for the locals to all be kicked out & more resorts to be built.
Hoa's well known for his card playing skills, although he can only
really play one game. We've been playing the same card games for six months, we even made up our own game to liven things up. I used to know loads of games but seem to have forgotten them all - if anyone wants to share any new card games then please feel free to email us. By the way Amy, we've added wild cards & you can go round the houses in 500 now!
Many come to China Beach for to surf - Hoa even hires out boards. Although good for surfing, the rough sea & strong current can be treacherous. On our final afternoon on the beach we saw a few Vietnamese teenagers playing around on the beach. One guy took his top off, throw it to one of the others & run off into the sea. He didn't take off his jeans; I'm not sure if he even took of his shoes. Later that afternoon he drowned.
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Being so close to Hoi An, we couldn't resist but go back for more food. Better still, we took a half day cooking course
Non Nuoc Beach
After the debris has started to clear. Non Nuoc is the Vietnamese name for this stretch so when we get home we can eat Cau Lau & White Rose as often as we like. It's amazing that such divine food can be so simple to make. When you eat out at home so much of the food you eat in restaurants is pre-prepared before you've even arrived, yet here almost everything is made entirely from scratch at the moment it is ordered. Many of the places to eat in Hoi An sit within minutes walk or ride from the main market. Invariably after you order something you'll see someone go down to the market to pick up an ingredient - it really doesn't get much more fresh than this.
You may remember that Hoi An isn't just home to lush food, it's also home to new clothes. Even though we'd already spent a week there previously, Kylie decided she now needed yet more clothes made.
Food, shopping, beach; you may think that travelling is all so easy. Well there's tough times too. I'm sure that mosquitoes in Vietnam give the most painful bites on earth. They itch like no others for days & days & days. Highest count to date is 25 at one
time, still a long way from a previous record of almost 60. Life is an endless ritual of suncream, insect repellant & itching. Worse still though is exhaust pipe burn - sadly almost ineviatable when you're getting on & off so many motorbikes. I've had a small one before, but Kylie easily out did me with a real beauty of a burn (rather unpleasant picture progress supplied below).
We had planned for a lot more beach time in Vietnam, but sometimes events that happen around you make you see things from a different perspective. We decided it was time to move on & think about getting to Cambodia. From Hoa's we travelled (via Danang) by train south to Quy Nhon. There was a beach there, which from what we saw wasn't great (although I suspect there's nicer ones nearby). Highlight of Quy Nhon was Barbara's - a Kiwi with a guest house, some fine homestyle cooking & good travel tips.
From there we travelled inland to the Central Highlands, and a town called Kon Tum. The most common place visited in this area is Dalat which seems to get very mixed reviews, we knew Kon Tum would be
In Her Element
Kylie & the Kids a lot quieter & probably a nicer place to be. Around Kon Tum are a handful of interesting small villages, but our main purpose here had been to visit one of the orphanages. I've no idea what correct orphanage protocol is, & as no one there spoke English we inadvertantly caused utter mayhem. We came armed with gifts of coloured pens & pencils, excersize books & story books. As we arrived we were greeted by a small group of young children which quickly grew around us. With no staff around to look to for assistance we just started handing out a coloured pen & piece of paper to each.
For the next few hours we were the centre of attention as they drew pictures, looked at books & tried to communicate with us. Needless to say, most were unbelievably cute. Sadly we have no idea about where they are from, why they are orphaned, or where they will end up. Some of their drawings were quite amazing.
Plans are always changing, but briefly it had been to bus from Kon Tum to Nga Trang. As our motorbikes pulled up to the bus depot we witnessed our bus pull
Finished Work
Kon Tum Orphanage out. My determined driver turned around & put on an impressive chase, but even though we caught the bus, they said they had no room. Must be the first time a bus has ever been too full in Vietnam as there's normally
always room for more.
I've been to Nga Trang before & wasn't desperate to get there again. I have three memories of my time there. They include being very very sick indeed from some dubious oysters (first & last time I've eaten them), skinny dipping just before sunrise (& seeing thousands of Vietnamese arrive as we emerged from the sea), and spotting a dead rat floating on the shoreline. Kylie's convinced that rats swim breaststroke, & my story of rats on the beach in Nga Trang had always put her off the idea of going there. Personally I think rats swim doggy paddle.
We ended up in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) to give it's official name) instead as a bus happened to be leaving for there. We've both seen just about all there is to see in Saigon in previous visits, so there's not lots to say about it this time.
Although not
the capital, HCMC is the country's largest city & certainly feels a lot more developed than Hanoi. We've even seen KFC here, something that's gladly not yet taken over the rest of the country. As it happens, there's no copyright laws here so you often see twenty hotels or shops that have copied each other & all have the same name. I'm surprised no one's thought to make a fake KFC, McDonalds or Burger King yet.
On first visits to HCMC most people end up at the War Remnants Museum at some point. The graphic displays of torture & chemical weapon effects are enough to turn most against modern warfare. It seems that there's many more people in Saigon with obvious wounds, be it a missing leg or the effects of agent orange.
Despite these & other reminders of the past, Saigon is a fast developing city. Neon lights, shopping malls & motorbikes are rapidly taking over. These days you're more likely to see new hotels, high rise office block or building site than an old man waiting for his next cyclo fare. I've no idea how many cyclos are left, but as with many other Asian countries,
the government is slowly trying to force them out of business. Cyclos of many design have long been a cheap & non polluting way to travel around towns & cities. Frankly I have no idea why any government would wish to do away with these in favour of yet more polluting cars & bikes. Most cyclo men in Saigon are like refugees within their own home. Many are not recognised by the authorities because they come from the educated ranks that fought against the now controlling northern regime. For many their cyclo is not just a job, but also a home.
Perhaps the most often discussed pastime in Saigon is that of crossing the road. Throughout Vietnam crossing roads can be a challenge, as traffic comes at you from random directions, all at the same time, but in Saigon it's taken to the extreme. To look at, the roads appear to be utter chaos. No one stops where they are supposed to, no one indicates, no one gives way & no one looks left, right or behind before pulling out. The one simple rule is to look ahead & judge which gap you can most easily squeeze through. When
crossing the road, this is the rule you need to keep in mind. Be it one lane or ten lanes that you need to cross, you simply look straight ahead & walk at a steady speed, in a straight line. The motorbikes will judge where they expect you to be & will (99.9% of the time) get it right & go around you. Should you make the ultimate mistake & look left or right, or worse still slow down, you are most likely going to get hit.
But now it's time to say farewell to Vietnam. Seven & a half weeks on, & it's time to head for Cambodia. We've been trying to work out how get to where we want to be in Cambodia, but of course the guide book says nothing - in fact it says something along the lines of 'don't bother' which is really useful. But then it says 'don't bother' with most places off the beaten track. I've already done the journey from Saigon to Cambodia two different ways so was hoping to find a third way. Hopefully we'll work something out.
Vietnam has once again shown itself to be a beautiful &
Kon Tum Orphanage
Not just an orphanage thing - it's pretty normal to see kids looking after other kids friendly country. People may have suffered in the past, but now they only look to the future. The odd person might want to rip you off, but the vast majority are just trying to get by. So we leave the land of noodles, spring rolls, baguettes & laughing cow cheese & head back to the world of curry.
As always, the blog is way behind where we really are. Since Vietnam we've had a month in Cambodia & a week in Thailand. In a few days we're off to Burma where we'll be until the start of next year. There's no cellphone coverage & little internet - feel free to keep emailing us, but don't expect to get too many replies for awhile. once again, many photos below - a few pages probably Wellington - Sydney - Bangkok - Khao Lak - Chaweng (Koh Samui) - Lamai (Koh Samui) - Bangkok - Macau - Guangzhou - Yangshuo - Guangzhou - Zhengzhou - Guangzhou - Shanghai - Huang Shan - Shao Lin - Beijing - Xi'an - Chengdu - Leshan - Kanding - Tagong - Litang - Xiang Cheng - Zhongdian - Lijiang - Kunming - Hekou/Lao Cai - Hanoi - Cat Ba Island - Ninh Binh - Hanoi - Hue - Hoi An - Hue - Hanoi - Sapa - La Chau - Son La - Mai Chau -Hanoi - China Beach - Hoi An - China Beach - Quy Nhon - Kon Tum - Saigon
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Vanessa
non-member comment
Ouch!
Sounds like you guys are having a great time :-) And the spring rolls look great. Ouch Kylie, that burn looks so painful! Missing you both - Vanessa x