Vietnam - Blogabond

Before we had arrived in Vietnam we had all agreed that we were going to treat ourselves to a really nice hotel - having spent a considerable amount of time over the past couple of weeks either in the jungle, on buses/planes (LOTS of time spent travelling), in shabby guest houses, & all in the rain (it is the rainy season in Asia during the UK summer). The place we found was very nice & good value at US$10 each a night.

It was good to be in some luxurious surroundings...something that will become the theme of this blog entry! ;-)

Having given the hotel, literally, ALL of our (dirty, smelly, muddy & damp) washing (mainly as a result of our time in the jungle...I do feel sorry for them) we headed out to explore the sights of Hanoi. Allan, inparticular, was especially glad to get an opportunity to perfect his shutter skills with his latest toy (for which he acquired the nickname of "pap" from me & Smalls).

For those of you who have never been to Hanoi, I am going to find it very hard to give an adequate representation of the place. It is mental. There are thousands of scooters everywhere!

When it comes to crossing the street you just have to ensure that you are not walking out infront of a car, keep your pace & direction constant, & hope that the wave of scooter drivers adjust their course to avoid you. There is no waiting for a clear road here - you literally have to go &hope for the best. We have seen many an inventive use of the scooter as a means of transportation...a whole family of five travelling together, a man carrying about 15cases of beer, two guys & a large glass cabinet, but my favourite had to be this guy...

As you would expect with a major city in Asia, the streets are very tight, crowded & quite dirty. There are many, many shops that are selling all kinds of goods. We were staying in the "Old Quarter" of the city, which is where most of the tourists go. The streets/areas have been devised to house stalls for specific products. For example, there is a shoe street - where you can find lots of shoe stalls, or a food district - where many streets over are filled with food stalls (selling many weird & wonderful food stuffs)...

On our first full day in Hanoi we visited the temple on the lake, the market streets, & then walked South to the Hanoi Prison, affectionately referred to as the "Hanoi Hilton" by many of its former inmates.

One wing of the prison remains, after it was closed in the mid 80's. It has housed many different nationalities of guests, as rule has changed over the years in Vietnam. Its most famous guest would be John Cain - who was an American POW here in the Vietnam war, after being shot down just outside of Hanoi. Before the prison was used to house American pilots, who seemed to have a rather comfy stay there (by prison standards), the jail was used for local criminals - the most offensive of those being executed here in spectacular Asian style...

That evening we decided to indulge in some local culture, in the form of the extremely popular water puppet show. We have to entirely honest &say that we didn't really follow the "story line" (as the singing was all in Vietnamese), but the music & the puppetry was pretty impressive. Far more extravagant than your UK beaches performances of Punch & Judy! At only two pounds a ticket I would strongly recommend the hour performance as something to see...we can all say that we enjoyed it a LOT more than Transformers II (which we had painfully endured the night before)

About 150km East of Hanoi is the bay city of Ha Long. We had booked a three day boat cruise, leaving from here. After a three hour coach journey we arrived & were taken on a short speed boat ride to our ship. Immediately, having left the busy bay area, we understood why this is a "must do" excursion when visiting Vietnam. Stunning...

Allan was able to click away to his heart's content - although with subjects as amazing as our surroundings it would have been difficult for anyone to take a bad photo!

Smalls was really getting into the relaxation vibe & taking in all of the beauty around him. I like to call this his "catalogue pose"...

The boat itself was very decadent, with plenty of room for the nine of us guests.

Having sailed out inbetween many, many islands (all visually striking) we arrived at a small floating village. We all disembarked onto small boats that were rowed by some locals, who then took us on a relaxing hour tour of the place. After which there was time for swimming & sunbathing back on board our ship - which was also our accomodation for the night.

The restaurant on board was excellent, & we all thoroughly enjoyed the seven course seafood feast that they served us on the first night. We were all enjoying the meal so much that all of us forget to take any pictures of the feast...although none of us will forget it in a hurry!

On our second day of the cruise we were up early & tranferred onto a smaller boat, which then took us for a short trip towards the islands' national park (Cat Ba). We then swapped our boat for kayaks & paddles and then began to explore inbetween the smaller islands & their lagoons.

It was easy to forget that we were actually at sea whilst we were on our cruise, as the waters were so calm (due to the protection the islands give from the tidal currents & winds), although we were given the occasional reminder...

We stopped for a short break, prior to lunch, on a lovely sandy beach. Whilst everyone else went for a swim & relaxed for a while I regressed to a child like mind & went scouring the shore for shells. I found some beauties! There were many that I had never seen before, so despite the amusement of others, I felt it was time well spent (I am going to make fridge magnets out of all of them - or, at least, those that make it back to the UK in one piece!)

Back on board boat two it was time for lunch...more amazing seafood (lots of it) & a pretty decent view out of the ship's window...

Following lunch everyone had a short rest before embarking on a two hour open water paddle to the floating "city". The distances between the islands were greater here & the wind had picked up with the tide, but it still was far from a challenging paddle.

The floating city was first inhabited back in the mid 80's, since then it has grown to the 1000 strong population that live there today. There are actually more dogs than people in the village, as they are kept as security guards for the residents. The boom here is as a result of the excellent fishing opportunities. The dogs are seen as a necessary measure to protect one's interest, although it does appear very cruel to keep dogs on small floating platforms with very little space to run (there's no RSPCA here though - that's Asia for you!)

Fish farms

Even out here, amongst the beauty of the thousand islands, there are remnants of the Vietnamese-American conflict. This area off of the North East coast of Vietnam is where the US first began their attack on the country & their relentless bombing campaigns.

After another short boat transit we arrived in Cat Ba, which is one of the biggest & most populated islands. A short coach trip from the bay & we arrived at our resort...pictures speak a thousands words...welcome to 5star luxury at 2star UK prices...

Not a bad balcony view...

That evening we chilled out & had another fantastic meal in the resort's restaurant. It wasn't as much seafood, but it was still delicious! How far from our jungle experience could we get? Polar opposite extremes!

On our last day Allan & I, plus three other guests (not included Mr Small), decided to explore the island on scooters - rather than lie in sun loungers by the pool (each to their own!). A ten minute drive from the small, yet relatively hectic, town centre & we were already being treated to more stunning scenery & views.

Located on Cat Ba island is a cave hospital, which was constructed in the early 60's in order to treat wounded Vietnamese & Chinese soldiers. The cave housed a capacity of 200 soldiers, & was complete with a swimming pool, cinema, operations room & kitchens. As it is no longer in use, it now all looks the same.

The hopsital was used at the start of the Vietnam war, from 1963-1965, as the thousand islands was the US' first port of attack. This structure cut into the rock is very impressive. There are many escape routes should the cave itself come under attack, Allan is sat at the rear exit to the facility. As you can see, the doors & tunnels were designed for the smaller Asian structure!

The roads through the island were of good quality & obviously surrounded by fantastic views (I can't say that enough, can I???)

We stopped off at the Cat Ba national park & embarked on the short, yet steep, climb through the jungle to one of the tallest peaks in the islands. It was no more that 230m, but the heat, incline & humidity made it a decent 40min workout. I was just thrilled to be in some real Vietnamese jungle - having seen so much of it in war movies.

When we arrived at the peak we were greeted by the sight of an incredibly rusty watch tower. After the crowds had died down we climbed up the frail structure. There was a sign advising that only five people could go up at a time - possibly reflecting the local's faith in the strength of the structure!

You can see that the effort was worth it when you see the views from top of tower

We returned to Hanoi that evening thoroughly satisfied with our excursion. It was incredible. We felt that this self-indulgent, luxurious, &SUNNY :-) experience was our reward for having survived the mud & rain of the Laos jungle (an experience we thoroughly enjoyed & would highly recommend too).

We went out for an meal that evening to say goodbye to Allan, who was heading back to Bangkok the following morning (in order to fly home to London). It was excellent to have him along for three weeks of our adventures. Due to both mine & Allan's hectic work & social lives (when I am in the UK!) we don't get the opportunity to see each other much, so I was especially glad when he decided to use his holiday to join the tour! It is a holiday I know he enjoyed & he won't forget in a hurry - although perhaps next time he will choose to visit Asia during the drier months!!! Allan may have got a better tan sitting in a park in London ;-)

Smalls &I had a couple of days to kill before our overnight train, down the East coast, to Danang. Therefore we walked around more of the city, relaxed, & visited one of Vietnam's most popular tourist attractions (predominantly amongst the Vietnamese). That is the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.

Ho Chi Minh's body is preserved & on display in the building pictured above. Ho Chi Minh was Vietnam's Democratic Party Founder & his teachings are still incredibly influential in the lives of the Vietnamese people. You have to dress respectfully (no skirts or trousers) & be very quiet when entering the chamber in which Ho Chi Minh rests. It was a very strange sight - the preserved body in a raised glass coffin, surrounded by very strict looking (armed) guards. Both Smalls & I agreed that he actually looked like a Madam Tussauds special, although neither of us have seen many preserved bodies to compare him too! There is a rumour that when the body was being returned from China, a yearly month excursion for preservation purposes, that the head was stolen & replaced by a fake one. I can believe that, but we will never know either way for sure (& I shaln't be losing any sleep over it!)

Above is the shrine to Ho Chi Minh in the adjacent museum dedicated to his life & works. Most of the exhibits are in Vietnamese, but there was enough English interpretation to make the trip an interesting & worthwhile one.

We are about to embark on a whistle stop tour of Vietnam, down the East coast, in which we hope to meet up with Mr Andrew Dicks once more. His decision to opt out of the jungle trek has put him about four days ahead of us, so only time will tell if we can catch him.

written by

johnnoble on July 10, 2009 from Hanoi, Vietnam

from the travel blog: John's year off...

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