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Published: January 8th 2010
I spent the first day in Vietnam hidden away, taking time to switch off from Cambodia and to work out my plan for my next few weeks. In truth I was worried that I was not going to be able to love Vietnam having left a huge piece of my heart in its neighbouring country. I prayed that as I went out to seek out dinner that people would smile like they had in Cambodia - with their hearts. What I found was that they just laugh! Little did I know that that would largely be what I would be doing for the next few weeks!
My first port of call was Phu Quoc island - the most southerly part of Vietnam - an island that's actually closer to Cambodia (and they want it back). I travelled over by 'Superdong' (!) boat and quickly found myself a room. Having learned that when travelling it's best to book any excursions for your first few days at a place, rather than the end, to better meet new people I quickly got myself sorted with a snorkelling trip and then hit the beach.
The snorkelling itself turned out to be quite average
- the coral was pretty sick in many places but it was just great to get out and do some - it'll be a while until I'm next on the beach. On that trip I met a guy called Andy - who in the end I saw the whole of Vietnam with - clearly a top guy!
A few days of relaxation later it was time to head for the noise and chaos of Ho Chi Minh city - or Saigon as it's otherwise known. Andy and I made the 7 hour bus journey together and as the press of mopeds and the buildings grew we knew there wasn't far to go. HCMC has to be seen to be believed - the chaos of traffic, the neon buildings all decced out for xmas more elaborately than even back home, the sheer number of people - my head was spinning! We found a cheap room and hit the streets for dinner and sat almost silently just captivated by the people all around. Street sellers with fruit, t-shirts, sunglasses or huge stacks of books several feet high - east and west crashing together in the tourist ghetto of commercialism. By the
end of the night tickets had been bought to see the Cu Chi tunnels the following day - the 250km long, 3 level deep network of tunnels built by the Vietnamese over a period of 20 years to avoid the bombings of war.
As we were waiting for the bus to arrive for the tour the following morning we got talking with an South Africa called Michelle. Maybe it was the late night I'd had but I was sure she'd been on the asian Red Bull to be that full of beans at 7am! Shortly after a French girl - Prisca - joined us with the words 'F*&% man!' a phrase I was to learn was her absolute favourite although somehow it just doesn't sound so harsh in a French accent! This was to be the entire group assembled - our Christmas family was formed!
Somewhere in the soup of the new group we giggled our way around the Cu Chi tunnels which prevented any claustraphobia I may have been inclined towards. The tunnels themselves have been expanded slightly for tourists to navigate them but even still we a tight fit at about 60x80cm. We saw 'American Ventilation'
where a mining bomb had been dropped and scored a direct hit on the tunnels but failed to explode. The Vietnamesse somehow carved it out into a ventilation pipe - genius! The rest of the place was extremely commercial and even had a firing range - real guns - real bullets - real prizes! Prisca and Michelle opted to fire an AK47 while Andy and I went for an M16. Five minutes later we were all deafened and strangely sobered. There is something so quick and permanent about shooting that, while I've seen it on the tv a thousand times, became incredibly real by actually pulling the trigger myself. We all walked away feeling how horrible war is on a whole new level.
This feeling wasn't to change the next day either when I went to the War Remnants Museum (the names been changed from the less tourist friendly one of 'Museum of American War Crimes'). Anger just poured out of every display and every picture. Many of the pictures had what some would call 'propaganda' slogans with them - the types of pictures where anything could be happening and the captions voracity can't be ascertained but others needed
no caption, no explanation - no excuse. It will never be a pleasant experience visiting that museum but it is essential on any visit to the city.
That evening flights we booked our next destination - and where we would spend Christmas - Hoi An - another UNESCO listed town (I sometimes feel like I'm doing the UNESCO tour of the world!) We arrived on song, even singing Christmas carols to the taxi driver - clearly ready for the festive season.
We bought traditional Vietnamesse hats and decorated them with tinsel and were alocated our secret santas. We would attempt to honour each of the traditions of our group for xmas - so, in French style we started the celebrations on Christmas eve at Mr Hungs food stall - even with a little sniff of Champagne from the group next to us! Andy wanted a tree and we carried it around most that evening - Mr Hung even let us plug it in!
Now this next bit will never translate but is essential to the rest of the Vietnamesse story. After Mr Hungs we discovered the 'Happy Why Not? bar' - Michelle and I would later give
up but Andy and Prisca carried on ... infact they carried on exploring (actually just being lost and drunk!) around every little corner of Hoi An until about 7am returning with a hilarious photo diary of their night. Along their adventure they had found a penguin statue - hang on ... I'll return to this later!
Christmas morning we opened our tacky presents (we'd set a 50VND limit on the presents - less than 2 quid!) before heading out for cake for breakfast! (Michelles present was slightly less of a surprise as I'd given it her to hold when I was drunk the night before while I was looking for something else!) The day was excellent and provided non stop laughter - just the distraction required for us all from missing our loved ones. During the day we each contacted our families - and of course after that hugged each others tears away. In the evening Prisca was leaving us and I'm sure her liver was grateful although all of us were gutted to see her go - it just seemed too soon.
Fortunately it wouldn't be for long! A couple of hours later Prisca phoned from the
airport to say her flight was cancelled. Actually, Prisca dude - as she was now called actually said 'what the f&*$ man, the flights cancelled!' (a variation on her favourite phrase!) before the credit on my phone ran out ... clearly the group weren't meant to be separated so soon.
So delighted to have his 'getting lost' buddy back Prisca and Andy headed out for another whole night of wandering - I just headed for some grateful sleep.
Now somewhere in amongst all these celebrations we'd all managed to do some shopping - Hoi An is afterall the tailoring capital of the country with hundreds of places willing to do made to measure in under 24 hours. However, (Rant Warning!!) what did completely wear me out was that it seemed
everyone wanted your money all the time. If it wasn't each stall owner, restraunteur or street trader pleading for you to look in their shop or just 'buy something' it was the equally frustrating fact that you could buy a 3 piece suit, 2 shirts, shoes, etc and the shop keeper would still try and sell you the next item!!
Ok ... I got that off my
chest
We all went our separate ways that morning to sort out clothes and agreed to meet later to see Prisca off (again!) When I would next see Prisca and Andy they were giggling like kids. They had decided that their fantastic nights of getting lost had forged an incredible friendship and they wanted to remember it, to that end they had wooden ink stamps made of the penguin - their mission - to stamp the world!
Prisca did manage to get away the second time and we left the following day to Hue with a parting email to her encouraging her to change all her plans and join us for new year!
The guide book said you get really pestered there which was really concerning me but fortunately my experience was nothing at all like Hoi An - it was a lovely, chilled out city. We took cyclos out for the afternoon and explored the ancient city, and even had a go of the cyclos ourselves - which gave our drivers a break!
Hue was also our base for the DMZ tour. The De Militerised Zone (DMZ) is the point where Vietnam used to be
divided in two. In the war with America it was also one of the most heavily bombed. It was a long and heavy tour although not exuding the same anger that the War Remnants Museum had. It was more factual and greatly increased my understanding of the war itself. We were all grateful to have fired a real gun. To stand on the battlefields as they are now, so peaceful and then to imagine that shattered by the deafening sound of someone trying to kill you was really moving. We also visited the tunnel complex there. At 2.5km long it's much shorter than Cu Chi but the tunnels were all standing height and went as deep as 16m under ground with little rooms off them. You can't help but marvel at the determination of this nation to survive.
Back at the hotel that evening - good news - Prisca dude was joining us for new year! So off we headed to Hanoi to join her.
While we'd been apart Prisca had been to Halong Bay. Sadly the time of year meant that the views of this stunning area are just not so good so we changed our plan
from going there for New year instead opting to spend it in the big city.
Michelle had gone overnight to Halong Bay so the three of us decided to go to the Water Puppet Show. Having very low expectations of it we set off and to be honest it was the first time my heart managed to open up to Vietnam. After the craziness of HCMC and the constant pestering of Hoi An I'd felt like nothing but a walking ATM! Finally, that evening we walked along the streets and some people smiled. My experience was that there's a mixed reaction with the older people - some are, quite understandably, still uncertain in their reaction towards Westerners whilst my experience of others and most young people has been really positive. It was great and was definiately the closest I felt to Vietnam. The water puppet show was surprisingly good. It seemed such an apt way to do a play in this part of the world where the land is covered in so much water.
As NYE is my favourite night of the year I was particularly keen to get everything sorted. We got wigs and tinsel, tried to
get fireworks (without any great success) and picked out the places we'd visit. Our mission, to stamp in the New Year! By the time we were ready to head out we all had our wigs on, Priscas trousers were covered in Penguin stamps and all of us had stamps on our arms. Andy was determined to stamp a police man although we'd all warned we'd abandon him in jail if he wan't careful! It was time for a
chuc mung nam moi (or happy new year!)
As soon as we stepped out of the hotel greeting everyone people's reactions were great. Andy and Prisca were keen to get stamping and a surprising number of people were willing. By midnight we were by the lake to do our little count down and the stamping had attracted a crowd and a tv camera!! It was completely insane! The rest of the night was all indoors in the clubs of Hanoi ... oh what a night!
All too soon it was time to say goodbye again. Prisca was leaving us (for the third time - she was really milking it by this point!!) to go to Laos and we were all
heading to Sapa for some rehab trekking. This time it was on the overnight train - and quite nice they are too!
Andy and I are keen trekkers who'd just had a very badly behaved Christmas. Michelle has previously called a canal tow path walk a trek. Bible Planet says the very fit can do Fansipan in two days. There was no doubt of what we were going to do!
Fansipan at 3143m is Vietnams highest peak and it's not a straight ascent - there's plenty of up and downhills along the way and some pretty trecherous terrain. The first day we gained 2km vertical from our starting point before barely sleeping in a cold barn for the night and finishing the peak the following morning. My legs are aching as I sit writing this but it was simply fantastic. This is NOT a simple trek. I'd like to think I'm a pretty experienced trekker and this is a toughie! In many parts it's a scramble, the terrain is often very muddy or very sheer and you will get lost without a guide.
Our trip - booked through Nature bar was excellent. Our guide - San -
spoke great English and had great energy. We couldn't speak to the porter - Sar - at all but man is he strong and a great cook! The guy we booked the trip through also was great and by far the most knowledgable we spoke to. We specifically wanted a tough challenge and he guided us well about moving our starting point etc. The price seemed very fair too ($60 each). My only hint to people keen on it would be that whoever you book the tour through check the sleeping bags before you set off for warmth and quality. We weren't the only group to have ones with broken zips!
We had perfect weather for great views and both Andy and I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge. The biggest credit has to go to Michelle though. As a complete beginner she shattered her comfort zone and battled a host of emotions with awesome determination to complete this challenge. I think she's now keen to join Andy and I when we ever manage to get back to Nepal!
And all too soon it was time to part again. Having seen the views of China from the top of Fansipan
it was finally time for me to move on and see it at ground level. It was awful to say goodbye but I'm ever confident that good bonds stretch and last - we all laughed, cried and learnt something too.
Guys, I hope you had the time of your life .... x
ps ... I've attached tons of photos to this blog that are roughly in chronological order ... so please have a good look through ... some just tell a story!!
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Dad C
non-member comment
What energy!
How envious I am of your youthful vigour. Go girl go! Keep breathing - taking in and giving out!