A bit of China and Vietnam

Yangshuo, China

An effective tourist trap only requires a few vital ingredients. Take an area of stunning natural beauty ie. golden beaches, strolling countryside, breathtaking vistas or all of the above and you've got the makings of a tourist trap. Now add generous dollops of cheap hotels, restaurants and gnik nak shops peddling all manner of wears from "traditional" artworks to knock off clothing brands.

Leave to simmer in 30 degrees c heats and voila! Tourist trap. Yangshou is the picture perfect example of this recipe.
This all sounds quite negative but beneath the tinsel and glitter, Yangshuo is still a Chinese country town in one of the most beautiful settings in the world. We took a day trip out to see moon hill, a karst whose formation has a giant opening in it and depending on where you stand the moon can be full or crescent. Having navigated the towns chaotic and overcrowded roads we got onto the country roads. These quickly became dirt trails and the dirt trails became smaller. we cycled through small country hamlets made of several stone built houses with timber and corrugated iron extension. The dirt tracks sloped down to the vast expanses of rice fields whicfh were tended by the inhabitants of the strone buildings. Thick overgrown sub-tropical foliage sat side by side with the unifrom rice feelds and stone building and all framed by towering karsts which dotted themselvers around the planes. It's hard to imagine anything on earth that looks as calming and simultaniously as breathtaking as this. We stopped at a little farmhouse with a bar called The Giggling tree to rest and get directions. This dutch owned guesthouse was a little unexpected given where we were but was well worth it. Finally reaching Moon Hill and the 1251 steps to the top we set off only to be followed by old Chinese ladies trying to sell us drinks. Escape was impossible as these old ladies knew how to haul ass when they could smell the lure of tourist money. We took a stern approach and ditched our unrequested tour guides. After stopping for Lauras numerous rest breaks and debating whether she should go back down because she was tired we reached the top. The view was to say the least impressive. Yangshuo had other treats however such as some traditional chiense cooking. We were treated to a trip to the farmers market to start and saw some interesting delights such as fried pig ears, live baby ears and an assortment of dried cats and dogs. he cooking itself was more pleasant working on the restaurant rooftop we donned our aprons and chef hats while we were led through cookng vegtable dumplings, aubergine with pork and chilli, and beer fish.

Dinner and a view. Sunset from the patio of Cloud 9 restaurant

At the end were were allowed to devour all we had cooked along with some boiled rice and a cold bottle of Tsing Tao as we sat on the roof to watch the sun set behind the karsts.

Hanoi, Vietnam

Our passage into Hanoi from China was through a city called Nanning. 1.3 million population but very little to do. It was a really plesant city and if you enjoy lots of attention its great because of the 1.3 million people in the city about 20 of them are white so we got used to being stared at all the time. The giant Wal Mart there was about the only interesting part as it allowed use to get real cheese, bread and crisps for the first time since entering China (which we had a craving for).

Snacks in Nanning courtesy of Wal-Mart

Having suppressed our appetite for Western food and got our Vietnam vsia we booked on for an 8 hour coach trip to Hanoi. Changing coaches at Frendship pass which is the name for the boarder checkpoint we arrived without complication. Getting to the hostel was not a problem as the bus company laid on a taxi to the door.
We are staying in a section of Hanoi known as the Old Quarter. The street we are on is called 'Hang Ga' meaning Chicken street. Every street name in the Old Quarter indicates what is sold on it for example; if you want some baskets you go to Hang Bo (Basket street). This does hold true and the streets are filled with exactly what their names suggest.
The hustle and bustle we had experienced on Chinas roads pailed into insignificance in comparison to the Old Quarter. To give you and idea of the number of bikes, scooters and cars on the road here is our safety tips for the Old Quarter:

1) There's no such thing as a side of the road so expect traffic in both directions at once
2) Don't assume that because you are on the pavement that you don't need to look for motorbikes coming at you.
3) Red lights mean stop if you want to (seriously, it's not a joke)
4) Looking for the next gap in the traffic is pointless, just cross in the traffic
5) When crossing do not look at the on-coming vehicles, it will only scare you
6) Walk very slowly and let the traffic work its way round you
7) Always remember, don't ever stop in the road or you may die.
Having taken a few days to familiarize ourselves with the 'Highway code' we got quite good at just stepping out in front f moving vehicles just as the natives do. Once we learnt how to cross the roads, the next step was to go somewhere. One of the highlights was the Temple of Literature. Built in 1076, it was the home to all scholars in Hanoi and created by the KIng himself to train Vietnams literate men. Stone tablets seated on giant stone turtles contain the names of every graduate of the national exams since 1442. The temple is set in stunning gardens which a beautiful in their simplicity.
The m ain temple building contained satues to Confucius whose teachings inspired the creation of the temple. Even as the tour groups pased through, many Vietnamese prayed outside the temple door.

Confucian alter in the Temple of Literature

The furthest hall was rebuilt in 2000 as it was bombed by the US in the Vietnam War. While it was a faithful recreation it was nothing compared to the main temple old buildings. However to comemorate the original buildings, they did install a large bell and drum

Wooden drum installed in 2000

which were most impressive.
The other major stop for us was the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum complex. Ho Chi Minh requested that when he die he be creamated and there be no special grave or monument to him. As a result, the Vietnamese built what may be one of the most enormous and visually stunning mausoleums in the world.

Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum

The entire area is surrounded by the buildings which made up the old French colonial buildings and the villas of the colonists themselves which are a far cry from the living accomodations of the Vietnamese people of the time. The French villas are now part of a military base in the city and the governance buildings are occupied by the Vietnamese Communist party. As both are swarming with guards and 'No photograph' signs, we can't show you what they look like but Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum which is right next door is along the same size and scale but lacks the French sence of style.
The Tran Quoc pagoda was our final major site. The pagoda sits on the Ho Tay lake. The temple is small but impeccabley beautiful and the pagoda itself houses eight white marble Guan Yin (femal buddha) on each level.

At the rear of the pagoda there was a small temple hall in which could be heard chanting. People entering were instructed to take off their shoes before entering. The hall was filled with women chanting and after walkking through to the other side I was informed that this was a funeral ceremony and that these women would chant continuously for up to two hours. While not stunning, this temple was very unique in its style and atmosphere from all the others we had visited.

written by

Mal and Laura on August 31, 2007 from Hanoi, Vietnam

from the travel blog: A bit of China and Vietnam

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Ha Long, Vietnam

DAY 1
6:30 am. Showered, dressed and packed for 7:15 am. Served a relativelty disappointing baguette with jam and butter to get us through the morning on the bus. Yes, we're off on a field trip.
Ha Long Bay is a 2,00 sq. km. area of the Nort East coast of Vietnam and home to some of the most impressive karsts (there's that word again) in the world. UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organazation) has declared the bay a World Heritage site but we'll come to that in a bit. Firstly the trip. The minibus picked us up at 8:00 from the hotel and we were packed in with a very varied group. An Aussie backpacker who has spent 6 out of the last 10 years travelling the world, an Aussie family with 2 young girls and a boy, two french girls who have spent the past 6 months teaching English in Ho Chi Minh city and three business men from Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan respectively who were on a group getaway from work in Singapore. The 180 km trip took over three hours due to the fact that there is a 60km/h speed limit on most of the roads. This was also prolonged by our stop at a 'tourist warehouse'. This pretty much does what it says on the tin. Its a big warehouse full of touristy crap that you don't want or need and the tour buses stop there for an indeterminate amount of time. To imagine it, think of what John Lewis would look like if it were established in Communist Eastern Europe about 20 years ago. When we did arrive we were greeted by some British weather, rain, which sounds bad but was quite refreshing given the heat wave of the last few days. Next we had to find out what boat we were on. All of the tourist boats were dressed up and painted in various bold colours to make them more impressive than the next. We were guided down the docks to ours and led into the main seating area on the middle deck. We were joined by another tour group and were served lunch. The table I was sat on was mainly European and there was only me and a Vietnamese woman who were using chopsticks. I only mention this because when the Vietnamese women asked for chopsticks they were fine with it but when I asked they were confused and seemed to wonder why I couldn't just use a fork.
We set out to sea and with a small detour into a small cave we spent most of the afternoon exploring the bay. The views were stunning but the bad weather put a dmpner on it. One of the guides sat with us out on the deck and told us what some of the karsts were called. He then informed me that I looked like some one famous which I was pleased with. I was less pleased when he told me that I reminded him of Pipin from Lord of the Rings, I was less impressed. He wasn't sure I I was amused by this or not so he pulled a funny face and walked away.
That evening was the best part, we dropped anchor out in the bay and they lowered the ladder out into the water. In about six seconds flat half of us had already dived off the lower deck into the water. As we swam around and enjoyed the beautiful view, a small boat rowed up. It was absolutley heaving with cakes, biscuits, cigarettes and drinks. We were told by the captain of our boat that if we bought anthing from the boat lady that we had to pay a 30% charge to our boat! This seemed a little absured so we passed. We stayed outt in the water until the sun went down and just as it set we got a quick shot of the bay.

Dinner was served at 7 pm and we were treated to more Vietnamese food which was mostly seafood. We ended up spending the rest of the evening drinking overpriced super strenght beer and we got into a very serious political discussion with the Taiwanese man ?(Mr. Li) over the History of the Chinese government, British politics and the rise of capitalism in communist countries. For a 64 year old Taiwanese businessman he had a staggering knowledge of English and Irish history and put both of us to shame. By that same token he was surprised that I semed to know so much about Chinese culture and society so it was an interesting trade off. After a few beers and some anti-Chinese sentiment from Mr Li we retired to our cabin and wiped out from the busy day, we were asleep by 10 pm.

DAY 2
We were up at 6 am and wathcing the boat already moving. At 7 am we were served an unusual breakfast of one fried egg, tonnes of bread, butter, jam and a banana. We decided upon one egg sandwich and one jam and banana sandwich. With that out of the way we found out we were heading for the docks on Cat Ba island. Arriving an hour later we found that the dock was much higher than our boat due to low tide so we had to climb 2m up a gang plank to get off the boat. After this we were lead to a small minibus and taken across the island. Before heading to our hotel in Cat Ba town, we had a hike through the national park to complete. A very dull fifteen minute video in the hut at the edge of the park introduced us to the place then we were out on the trail to the foot of the mountian we were to climb. Along the way our tour guide showed us a strange plant by the path side whose leaves folded over and curled up as soon as you put your finger on them. It was an interesting little plant to watch but we had places to be. In five minutes we were outside a small shack waiting to go up the mountain. Our guide waited at the bottom and a small lady began leading us up the steps.

Don't have time to finish it all now, catch up on the rest of this later.

written by

Mal and Laura on September 5, 2007 from Ha Long, Vietnam

from the travel blog: A bit of China and Vietnam

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A bit of China and Vietnam

a travel blog by Mal and Laura

Hanoi, Vietnam

Gagged and bound for Yangshuo

Yangshuo, China

Ha Long, Vietnam

Cat Ba, Vietnam

Hanoi, Vietnam

Evidently Chicken Street

Hanoi, Vietnam

Sitting on a boat on the Bay

Ha Long, Vietnam