So we booked a 3 day, 2 night Halong Bay trip with our guesthouse in Hanoi. There were three levels based on price, and we were pushed to move to the middle one instead of going to the basic one, because the food would be much better, and the tour as a whole would be drastically improved. At the same time, she suggested we leave for Halong Bay a day early instead of our original plans, because the weather was supposed to be much nicer. This was the case, and I am thankful to our host for her advice, because in fog, it's not nearly as dramatic as on a nice day.
So, as usual, we go on a bus. 3.5 hours to Halong City. It was a nice ride, filled with views of some motorbikes carrying pigs, some carrying chickens, lots of industrial parks, and country towns that we passed through. As annoying as being on a bus is, it's really nice to see the countryside passing by, and some of the stuff that you see out the windows really is amazing. For example, the Vietnamese have made an island and filled it with a huge resort offering everything cool that can be done in Vietnam (adventure/beachwise) all in one place. According to our guide, it is where many people go on their honeymoon...
At Halong City, we are dropped off at the tourist wharf, where we join throngs of tourists waiting to get on boats. It's mass chaos. We get handed off from tour guide to tour guide, walk all over the place to find our boat, and have to take a small boat to a bigger boat, swapping people in our group around 3 times. Like everything in this country, the organization needs a bit of work.
The boat was very nice, and our tour group was pretty good. We made friends with an Australian guy and a British girl, only to be separated at the wharf (to be reunited the next day, because we were on the same tour, but happened to be on different ones), and our boat was filled with mostly older people and a young Canadian couple. There were a few Finns that were very good conversationalists, and everyone was generally friendly, which was good for people locked up on a boat together.
Halong Bay is a Unesco World Heratige site, and a 2 time natural wonder of the world. It consists of a bunch of limestone karsts (big sharp island things) jutting out of the water, forming a bunch of islands and waterways that feel like something out of a naval movie/lord of the rings. It really is a beautiful place, but in more of an atmospheric way than as a "holy crap this is amazing" way. It kind of blew my mind at the beginning, but then I settled into the idea and it became a really nice place to kind of cruise around in. We ventured into natural caves filled with all sorts of rock formations (and multicolored lights to emphasize them), around all sorts of interestingly named islands (kissing chickens island is the symbol of Halong Bay), and through floating villages based around fishing.
These villages sold seafood, and I bought a blue swimming crab from them for dinner (not a bargain, but definately really freaking fresh!). It was cold, but I did some swimming in the bay anyways, surrounded by women in boats trying to sell me beer so that I would warm up when I came out. After dinner, there was karaoke (helped along by corn liquor brought by the Canadians), but I went to bed kind of early.
Digression: All of the beds in Vietnam are very hard. I rarely sleep well, and my back isn't in the best shape after all of this... Might get a massage when I get back to Saigon...
We did a bit more sailing the next day, but transferred boats/tour guides because we were staying one more night (on an island). We then met up with our British/Australian friends, had lunch on a beach of one of the islands along with some kayaking. Kayaking around was fantastic, and if I had more time I would have tried to do more of it. The karsts look much more majestic when you're in a small boat, and there are tons of nooks and crannys that you can go through and explore. There are tours that do more kayaking, but with so many options, it's sometimes overwhelming to shop around and find what you want to do, especially when travelling with others.
Side note #2: Every single lunch and dinner was the same. Squid, grilled shrimp, some sort of pork, some sort of green vegetable, and some sort of chicken dish. There was only a very slight variation on the sauces, and huge variation in quality (my beer steamed crab was excellent, however). It was really annoying to have the same thing for three days, and it may have messed with my stomach a little bit, but I was more annoyed with the idea of being in Vietnam and not having the amazing variations of food that there are, and that the people should be proud of...
We ended up on Cat Ba Island, a great base for trekking/kayaking/beaching, but without enough time to do any of it. Us younger people went drinking at a bia hoi stand. This is a streetside beer place that serves fresh, unpasturized beer at crazy cheap prices (3.5 dollars for 2 pitchers), and the idea is to get completely plastered with friends. A definate positive aspect of Northern Vietnam. This was before dinner for us, however, so we drank a bit too slowly for the proprietor. She would constantly come sit down at our table, keep our glasses topped off, and push us to drink. I imagine that it would be a really fun place to spend an evening...
The next day was all travel back to Hanoi. 3 hours on a boat, lunch, 3.5 hours on a bus. It was alright though, since the weather was very cloudy (it would have been our second day if we stuck to our original plan, so I was happy about that), and I learned how to play an interesting Chinese variation of chess on the boat ride. I lost twice (it was very complex), but I feel confident enough to sit and challenge random Chinese people in a park..
So, Halong Bay. Many people say that it is THE thing to see when you come to Vietnam. As with everything here, some people have loved it, and some people have thought it wasn't worth it. I think, as with everything, you get out what you put in. More money for a less crowded tour/better tour guide/better boat. The time is definitely a factor as well. A one day tour would be useless once you factor in travel time. Three days was nice, but because of the atmosphere and amazing amount of things to do, I think the best way to do it would be to park yourself on Cat Ba Island for a week, and just go out and kayak one day, beach one day, cruise around the karsts/see the caves one day, etc... Those huge tourist destinations seem to hide so much from people because many lack the patience to understand what they are. Spending a few hours at the Empire State building or Eiffel Tower is one thing. Places like Halong Bay, the Grand Canyon, or even the Louvre really require you to give yourself over to them. I wish I had more time (of course), but that's the trick of travelling: making the most out of the time you have, and being ok with it...
On the plus side, I made two friends that will be in Sydney when I'm in Sydney. Rock on.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Hanoi, all the fun of Saigon, packed into a smaller city!
I like this city, I really do. It's got it's ups and downs, and it really is crazier than Saigon, because of the smaller streets, and smaller city layout, but it has an energy and a "old school city" feel that Saigon lacks. Like the soul of Boston with the hecticness of NYC, multiplied a few times..
We have been here two full days, with a trip to Halong Bay in between, as recommended by our first hotel (more on that later). The first day was spent hanging out around the old quarter, an area of town that is like a big market. The streets were named a long time ago based on the craft guild that settled there, so each street is named "teapot street" or "shirt street" etc.. The streets are narrow, and the sidewalks are lined with motorbikes (with and without people that push you to ride them. Some things are constant throughout the country), so you must walk in the street, and it's much freakier than Saigon in that regard. But, the streets are also lined with cool little shops and tons of street vendors. Also, there are markets and little alleys full of cool street shops seemingly around every corner. There is also a nice sized lake for walking around directly south of the Old Quarter, so it's a nice respite from the streetwalking.
And walking is what happened. The archatecture is still French inspired, but since the North of Vietnam is so close to China, the people look distinctively more Chinese, and so does some of the city buildings. Much was eaten, as Hanoi (and of course, this is the big reason why I like this city so much) has such a wide variety of street food. I have had countless types of things I can't totally identify, and 95 percent of it has been pretty freaking delicious. The only exception was a hen's egg that was allowed to mature a bit longer than a normal egg. When I started crunching into wings, I had to stop. I got halfway though before I had to quit (I'll do a post on food later, don't worry, I've been eating...).
The city is very cosmopolitan and modern, and it's a great city to wander. People are friendly for the most part, although everyone isn't as crazy tourist friendly as Saigon (although, that may have been the area which we were staying in Saigon, which is known as the backpacker district...). It's a great city to experience, although after almost 2 months of traveling, I am getting a bit on the weary side, and ready for some English places again. This language is so hard to even try and pronounce, and I'm usually made fun of. In addition, I'm not sure the literacy rate is that high, so some people can't even understand when I point to a word in the phrasebook/dictionary thing I carry around. All of this makes communication very difficult.
So we did Halong Bay, which the next post will be about, and got back (after 3 days) yesterday afternoon. Our guesthouse, which I had booked on both sides of the trip, told us they had no rooms, but had gotten us rooms in a place nearby. At first glance, it seemed nicer. Bigger beds, bigger rooms, nicer furnishings. However, the beds were less comfortable, the toilet/faucet seem barely attached to the floor/wall, and the staff is considerably less friendly.
Immediately after putting our bags down, the desk clerk asked:
"You want to take a city tour tomorrow?"
"No thanks, we want to walk around."
"City tour very nice!"
"We have spent too much time on a bus already."
"Only 15 minutes on bus, very short trip."
"No thank you!"
The pushiness of everyone is insane. It feels as if everyone is in cahoots with everyone else to try and get commission and obtain as much money as possible, by squeezing it out of tourists. And this is probably my least favorite part about the country, as well as the most tiring part. There are really good people around, but it's very hard to find them, and it's very hard to trust anyone as a result.
That being said, today was a very good day, filled with nothing of the sort. I started by walking to Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, where he is entombed for all eternity. These guys really really like him. Every year for two months, he goes to Russia for "maintenance" (or his "vacation", as the hotel girls put it), and he just got back. It's a very somber affair, with very strict rules. No sunglasses, long pants, no open toed shoes, double file, hands to the side, don't put your hands in your pockets, etc.. There are guards every 20 feet to make sure these rules are adhered to, as well. I did get to see the guards change, an event Lonely Planet says is very cool to see, and it was... think like the guards at the palace in London.
As the guards were changing, the guys behind me were remarking: "Isn't it funny how all totalitarian goverments/dictatorships have a goosestep?" Seemed like the wrong thing to me to be mentioning near armed guards at such a sacred place for Vietnamese Communists...
Also in the area is the One Pillar Pagoda, a pagoda standing on one pillar (surprise!) designed to mimic a lotus flower. Cool, and crowded, but kinda just another pagoda. I then walked to the Temple of Literature, a very cool place. It was created by one of the first Kings of Vietnam as a place to study Confucianism, and has evolved into the top university in Vietnam. There was a graduation ceremony going on today, and I arrived on the tail end, but it was cool to see all the students in really traditional garb, and the GIGANTIC amounts of flowers all of these kids got! The school was divided into 5 sections, based on water/trees/fire/earth/wind (heart?), and the coolest part were the turtles (symbol for long life) with stones on their back, where all of the graduates' names were etched for eternity. There were of course giant statues of scholars, a big bell, and a big drum. Also, in the back there was a gift shop, and a room where traditional musicians would play a bit and then push their cds on you. I didn't even really hear any of the music, I sat down and then they finished their set and tried to sell me a cd!
However, it was a cool place, and I lingered in the quieter areas because it was a great oasis from the hubub of the city. Right next to it was a restaurant I read about in Lonely Planet (Usually something I avoid like the plague) that seemed like a great idea...
KOTO - Know One Teach One was developed by a Vietnamese-Australian as a way to get kids off of the streets and doing something with their lives. The program (now almost 20 years old) puts kids in an intensive 2 year hospitality course, learning about front/back of house at restaurants, and they train/work at a restaurant in Hanoi right next to the Temple of Litearature.
With such a cool concept, I had to stop in. I was there from 12 noon until almost 3PM. The food was great (the desert was the best part, an out of this world chocolate tart), but the service simply blew me away. These kids understood and could speak English extremely well, had been ridiculously well trained in how the front of house works (crazy efficency behind the bar, I dropped a spoon accidentally when eating desert, and a new one was brought immediately without asking), and to top it off, they were super friendly and bent over backwards to provide all sorts of service.
I ate for a while, and as I was leaving I ran into an Australian family that had been on the Mekong Delta tour with us! So I sat down and was chatting with them for almost 2 hours, and it was great to hear their stories (they got hardcore taken advantage of at every step of the trip. I feel as if people can read how much money you have, and how much they can get out of you up here...), and their little girl was very cute (and a great traveller! 6 years old and telling me stories about falling off of elephants and her favorite ice cream).
After this, I did more wandering back towards the hotel, eating copious amounts of street food along the way. I was having some meat on a stick, and this really old lady started speaking me to me in French! "Beaucoup Bon! Beaucoup Bon!" And, she even bought me a shot of rice wine. I've got a great picture of her, and it was totally weird to have to speak french in Vietnam (but it makes sense, and lucky I know a bit...).
I ended up on the lake (Another thing about Saigon is that the same road has a new name every block or two, and it's really hard to navigate unless you know the city or have landmarks), and sat down on a bench to chill for a bit. Before I knew it, two girls walk up to me and say they would like to have a conversation. They are two University students, studying economics and finance (one wants to be a CEO and have a big house/car), and they like practicing English when they can (one of them did, the other was very shy... I can't picture a shy CEO...). So I was sitting with them and chatting (I was told I was handsome... Many Vietnamese keep telling me this, it's great for the ego. Maybe I should move here... who's coming with me?), and this really weird guy starts looking over our shoulder and giving us big smiles. We try to talk to him, and nothing comes out for a few minutes. Then he hands me a spec sheet for some sort of electrical engineering project, pointing out to me how heavy (in kg) things were... The girls and I were thrououghly confused (and a bit creeped out) when this guy launches into fantastic English!
"HELLO! HOW ARE YOU!!?"
He then goes on to tell us (and show us) how he is an electrical engineer, does deals with people all over the world, designs transformers and turbines, has been to Switzerland ("Have you been to Zurich?" he asks me...), and is moving to Milan in a few months. This talk goes on for a while, him dominating the conversation, and then he mentions a few times how he is a single man, and very skinny (He takes off his jacket and turns sideways to emphasize this). He wants a nice girl to settle down with, and he gives the shy girl his phone number and email address to "practice English" with. After this, he says he has to go, and just disappears.
While this is going on, no less than 3 random passerbys stop and watch us, sometimes coming right behind the bench and looking over my shoulder. Quite an unnerving experience, but I got out of it alive.
Immediately, another guy comes and starts talking with us, much less weird, much more amicable. He was also an electrical engineer (I then murmered how it was a small world, and had to explain the meaning of coincidence to three Vietnamese at the same time. God bless cell phone internet.)
Yeah, then they left, and said they hope I come back soon. Nice people, finally found in a country where it seems to be dog eat dog. At least when it comes to getting tourist's money...
We have been here two full days, with a trip to Halong Bay in between, as recommended by our first hotel (more on that later). The first day was spent hanging out around the old quarter, an area of town that is like a big market. The streets were named a long time ago based on the craft guild that settled there, so each street is named "teapot street" or "shirt street" etc.. The streets are narrow, and the sidewalks are lined with motorbikes (with and without people that push you to ride them. Some things are constant throughout the country), so you must walk in the street, and it's much freakier than Saigon in that regard. But, the streets are also lined with cool little shops and tons of street vendors. Also, there are markets and little alleys full of cool street shops seemingly around every corner. There is also a nice sized lake for walking around directly south of the Old Quarter, so it's a nice respite from the streetwalking.
And walking is what happened. The archatecture is still French inspired, but since the North of Vietnam is so close to China, the people look distinctively more Chinese, and so does some of the city buildings. Much was eaten, as Hanoi (and of course, this is the big reason why I like this city so much) has such a wide variety of street food. I have had countless types of things I can't totally identify, and 95 percent of it has been pretty freaking delicious. The only exception was a hen's egg that was allowed to mature a bit longer than a normal egg. When I started crunching into wings, I had to stop. I got halfway though before I had to quit (I'll do a post on food later, don't worry, I've been eating...).
The city is very cosmopolitan and modern, and it's a great city to wander. People are friendly for the most part, although everyone isn't as crazy tourist friendly as Saigon (although, that may have been the area which we were staying in Saigon, which is known as the backpacker district...). It's a great city to experience, although after almost 2 months of traveling, I am getting a bit on the weary side, and ready for some English places again. This language is so hard to even try and pronounce, and I'm usually made fun of. In addition, I'm not sure the literacy rate is that high, so some people can't even understand when I point to a word in the phrasebook/dictionary thing I carry around. All of this makes communication very difficult.
So we did Halong Bay, which the next post will be about, and got back (after 3 days) yesterday afternoon. Our guesthouse, which I had booked on both sides of the trip, told us they had no rooms, but had gotten us rooms in a place nearby. At first glance, it seemed nicer. Bigger beds, bigger rooms, nicer furnishings. However, the beds were less comfortable, the toilet/faucet seem barely attached to the floor/wall, and the staff is considerably less friendly.
Immediately after putting our bags down, the desk clerk asked:
"You want to take a city tour tomorrow?"
"No thanks, we want to walk around."
"City tour very nice!"
"We have spent too much time on a bus already."
"Only 15 minutes on bus, very short trip."
"No thank you!"
The pushiness of everyone is insane. It feels as if everyone is in cahoots with everyone else to try and get commission and obtain as much money as possible, by squeezing it out of tourists. And this is probably my least favorite part about the country, as well as the most tiring part. There are really good people around, but it's very hard to find them, and it's very hard to trust anyone as a result.
That being said, today was a very good day, filled with nothing of the sort. I started by walking to Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, where he is entombed for all eternity. These guys really really like him. Every year for two months, he goes to Russia for "maintenance" (or his "vacation", as the hotel girls put it), and he just got back. It's a very somber affair, with very strict rules. No sunglasses, long pants, no open toed shoes, double file, hands to the side, don't put your hands in your pockets, etc.. There are guards every 20 feet to make sure these rules are adhered to, as well. I did get to see the guards change, an event Lonely Planet says is very cool to see, and it was... think like the guards at the palace in London.
As the guards were changing, the guys behind me were remarking: "Isn't it funny how all totalitarian goverments/dictatorships have a goosestep?" Seemed like the wrong thing to me to be mentioning near armed guards at such a sacred place for Vietnamese Communists...
Also in the area is the One Pillar Pagoda, a pagoda standing on one pillar (surprise!) designed to mimic a lotus flower. Cool, and crowded, but kinda just another pagoda. I then walked to the Temple of Literature, a very cool place. It was created by one of the first Kings of Vietnam as a place to study Confucianism, and has evolved into the top university in Vietnam. There was a graduation ceremony going on today, and I arrived on the tail end, but it was cool to see all the students in really traditional garb, and the GIGANTIC amounts of flowers all of these kids got! The school was divided into 5 sections, based on water/trees/fire/earth/wind (heart?), and the coolest part were the turtles (symbol for long life) with stones on their back, where all of the graduates' names were etched for eternity. There were of course giant statues of scholars, a big bell, and a big drum. Also, in the back there was a gift shop, and a room where traditional musicians would play a bit and then push their cds on you. I didn't even really hear any of the music, I sat down and then they finished their set and tried to sell me a cd!
However, it was a cool place, and I lingered in the quieter areas because it was a great oasis from the hubub of the city. Right next to it was a restaurant I read about in Lonely Planet (Usually something I avoid like the plague) that seemed like a great idea...
KOTO - Know One Teach One was developed by a Vietnamese-Australian as a way to get kids off of the streets and doing something with their lives. The program (now almost 20 years old) puts kids in an intensive 2 year hospitality course, learning about front/back of house at restaurants, and they train/work at a restaurant in Hanoi right next to the Temple of Litearature.
With such a cool concept, I had to stop in. I was there from 12 noon until almost 3PM. The food was great (the desert was the best part, an out of this world chocolate tart), but the service simply blew me away. These kids understood and could speak English extremely well, had been ridiculously well trained in how the front of house works (crazy efficency behind the bar, I dropped a spoon accidentally when eating desert, and a new one was brought immediately without asking), and to top it off, they were super friendly and bent over backwards to provide all sorts of service.
I ate for a while, and as I was leaving I ran into an Australian family that had been on the Mekong Delta tour with us! So I sat down and was chatting with them for almost 2 hours, and it was great to hear their stories (they got hardcore taken advantage of at every step of the trip. I feel as if people can read how much money you have, and how much they can get out of you up here...), and their little girl was very cute (and a great traveller! 6 years old and telling me stories about falling off of elephants and her favorite ice cream).
After this, I did more wandering back towards the hotel, eating copious amounts of street food along the way. I was having some meat on a stick, and this really old lady started speaking me to me in French! "Beaucoup Bon! Beaucoup Bon!" And, she even bought me a shot of rice wine. I've got a great picture of her, and it was totally weird to have to speak french in Vietnam (but it makes sense, and lucky I know a bit...).
I ended up on the lake (Another thing about Saigon is that the same road has a new name every block or two, and it's really hard to navigate unless you know the city or have landmarks), and sat down on a bench to chill for a bit. Before I knew it, two girls walk up to me and say they would like to have a conversation. They are two University students, studying economics and finance (one wants to be a CEO and have a big house/car), and they like practicing English when they can (one of them did, the other was very shy... I can't picture a shy CEO...). So I was sitting with them and chatting (I was told I was handsome... Many Vietnamese keep telling me this, it's great for the ego. Maybe I should move here... who's coming with me?), and this really weird guy starts looking over our shoulder and giving us big smiles. We try to talk to him, and nothing comes out for a few minutes. Then he hands me a spec sheet for some sort of electrical engineering project, pointing out to me how heavy (in kg) things were... The girls and I were thrououghly confused (and a bit creeped out) when this guy launches into fantastic English!
"HELLO! HOW ARE YOU!!?"
He then goes on to tell us (and show us) how he is an electrical engineer, does deals with people all over the world, designs transformers and turbines, has been to Switzerland ("Have you been to Zurich?" he asks me...), and is moving to Milan in a few months. This talk goes on for a while, him dominating the conversation, and then he mentions a few times how he is a single man, and very skinny (He takes off his jacket and turns sideways to emphasize this). He wants a nice girl to settle down with, and he gives the shy girl his phone number and email address to "practice English" with. After this, he says he has to go, and just disappears.
While this is going on, no less than 3 random passerbys stop and watch us, sometimes coming right behind the bench and looking over my shoulder. Quite an unnerving experience, but I got out of it alive.
Immediately, another guy comes and starts talking with us, much less weird, much more amicable. He was also an electrical engineer (I then murmered how it was a small world, and had to explain the meaning of coincidence to three Vietnamese at the same time. God bless cell phone internet.)
Yeah, then they left, and said they hope I come back soon. Nice people, finally found in a country where it seems to be dog eat dog. At least when it comes to getting tourist's money...
Monday, November 16, 2009
Addendum on Driving
So I'm in Hanoi, and we got picked up from the airport by the hotel. That was the first time I've ever had my name on a sign with someone waiting for me, which was kind of cool.
The drive into Hanoi was crazy. Our driver was nuts, as all are (he had a dvd player in his car, and was watching music videos while driving), but then there was traffic... So he swerves behind a police car into the motorbike lane, and passes a good hour's worth of traffic! And when we get to the bridge, police have put up barricades to stop people from getting on it. The barricades are lifted, and when we get stuck behind traffic, we swerve into oncoming traffic, tailing a line of cars that are following a police car to beat the traffic.
I swear. This place has to be experienced. I think that they would be great at nascar, but maybe not, because there would be a whole hell of a lot more crashes.
So I guess they would be great at nascar then...
The drive into Hanoi was crazy. Our driver was nuts, as all are (he had a dvd player in his car, and was watching music videos while driving), but then there was traffic... So he swerves behind a police car into the motorbike lane, and passes a good hour's worth of traffic! And when we get to the bridge, police have put up barricades to stop people from getting on it. The barricades are lifted, and when we get stuck behind traffic, we swerve into oncoming traffic, tailing a line of cars that are following a police car to beat the traffic.
I swear. This place has to be experienced. I think that they would be great at nascar, but maybe not, because there would be a whole hell of a lot more crashes.
So I guess they would be great at nascar then...
Hue
Blogging like crazy today. In Hue, going to get on a plane to Hanoi later tonight...
The hotel we were staying at here has been fantastic (as they all have been, which is nice). They were a bit pushy to get us on tours (as they get commission), but they had free breakfast, they carried all of our bags to our room (with the shopping we did in Hoi An, up 4 flights of stairs, no small feat), and were very helpful when it came to just about everything.
Hue is two cities in one. Divided by the Purfume River, the ancient city on one side of the river is built in a Citadel that used to house the Nguyen Dynasty. It is the part that is small, similar to Hoi An (with less selling), and a blast to walk around. I saw schools, ate some great street food, and had a good wander. On the other side of the river (and around the citadel outside of the huge walls) is a modern society that seems very much up to date. Kids walk around in fashionable clothes, there is a large percentage of young people (and tourists). Everything about the modern area seems more advanced/western. The cyclo (like a bike rickshaw) drivers, motorbike drivers, and boat drivers are as annoying as flies (or even more so). They will follow you even after you tell them no 10 times. "Maybe later?" is the phrase here...
The historical part of the citadel (the citadel inside the citadel) is an ancient Chinese temple (ancient meaning a bit more than 200 years old), and it's weird to see something so blatantly Chinese in Vietnam. I know that the Chinese occupied them for a while, and have a big influence on everything, but still, you expect something distinct because of the way the culture has adapted. It was beautiful, and you could tell that there was lots of construction going on to renovate the various buildings and make them more apt for tourism. The tilework was beautiful, and some of the renovated areas were very nice. It really makes you wonder how life would have looked in a place where the king had over 300 wives, 1000 servants, and 400 meter squared grounds (It seemed like more though). I would have liked to see a gigantic ceremony with a bunch of guardsmen in the same costume, with a regal procession, etc...
But when it comes down to it, it was another temple/palace complex.
After that, I walked around and got something to eat. I found a place where there was a variety of food (chicken, pork, shrimp cakes, etc..), and sat down. The son of the lady cooking was a student who spoke great English, so we chatted for a bit. While I was eating, a bunch of white travelers saw me, and all stopped to eat after asking me if it was any good (it was). The whole family, who was staring at me oddly at this point, got really excited that more people were going to eat (6 people came, but only 2 of them ate). I chatted for a bit with a guy from Sweden and a girl from South Africa, and when they left, I continued my conversation with the son for a few more minutes.
I wandered around the city for a bit longer, and then meandered back to the hotel via the river. I sat on the banks, just hanging out for a bit, which was nice, because it was the one place I wasn't pestered in the city. Even sitting here, there is a group of Vietnamese girls that are staring over my shoulder for some reason, maybe waiting to use the computer. I swear, no peace in this country...
The hotel we were staying at here has been fantastic (as they all have been, which is nice). They were a bit pushy to get us on tours (as they get commission), but they had free breakfast, they carried all of our bags to our room (with the shopping we did in Hoi An, up 4 flights of stairs, no small feat), and were very helpful when it came to just about everything.
Hue is two cities in one. Divided by the Purfume River, the ancient city on one side of the river is built in a Citadel that used to house the Nguyen Dynasty. It is the part that is small, similar to Hoi An (with less selling), and a blast to walk around. I saw schools, ate some great street food, and had a good wander. On the other side of the river (and around the citadel outside of the huge walls) is a modern society that seems very much up to date. Kids walk around in fashionable clothes, there is a large percentage of young people (and tourists). Everything about the modern area seems more advanced/western. The cyclo (like a bike rickshaw) drivers, motorbike drivers, and boat drivers are as annoying as flies (or even more so). They will follow you even after you tell them no 10 times. "Maybe later?" is the phrase here...
The historical part of the citadel (the citadel inside the citadel) is an ancient Chinese temple (ancient meaning a bit more than 200 years old), and it's weird to see something so blatantly Chinese in Vietnam. I know that the Chinese occupied them for a while, and have a big influence on everything, but still, you expect something distinct because of the way the culture has adapted. It was beautiful, and you could tell that there was lots of construction going on to renovate the various buildings and make them more apt for tourism. The tilework was beautiful, and some of the renovated areas were very nice. It really makes you wonder how life would have looked in a place where the king had over 300 wives, 1000 servants, and 400 meter squared grounds (It seemed like more though). I would have liked to see a gigantic ceremony with a bunch of guardsmen in the same costume, with a regal procession, etc...
But when it comes down to it, it was another temple/palace complex.
After that, I walked around and got something to eat. I found a place where there was a variety of food (chicken, pork, shrimp cakes, etc..), and sat down. The son of the lady cooking was a student who spoke great English, so we chatted for a bit. While I was eating, a bunch of white travelers saw me, and all stopped to eat after asking me if it was any good (it was). The whole family, who was staring at me oddly at this point, got really excited that more people were going to eat (6 people came, but only 2 of them ate). I chatted for a bit with a guy from Sweden and a girl from South Africa, and when they left, I continued my conversation with the son for a few more minutes.
I wandered around the city for a bit longer, and then meandered back to the hotel via the river. I sat on the banks, just hanging out for a bit, which was nice, because it was the one place I wasn't pestered in the city. Even sitting here, there is a group of Vietnamese girls that are staring over my shoulder for some reason, maybe waiting to use the computer. I swear, no peace in this country...
Sean has big balls, or, why I'm gonna get a Vespa.
I hate to say it, but Dennis was right. And, to a certain extent, Paul.
Yesterday I did one of the coolest things I've ever done in my life. Having never driven a motorbike/motorcycle/scooter before, I rented one, and with a guide, Megan and I rode for 6 hours (with stops) from Hoi An to Hue, over the Hai Van Pass, and around the coast of Vietnam.
Wow.
So, after a bit of a miscommunication trying to get the trip organized (the tourist agency thought a bit differently than we were, but we pressed firm and got what we wanted... you need to be really really clear, and have everything in writing here. They will try and screw you any way they can...), and a bit of practice on the automatic (thank god) 50cc (maybe?) bikes they gave us, off we went.
First of all, if you come to Vietnam, seeing it by bike is the way to go. It's not a fast paced way to see it, and as everyone has them, it's affords you access to many more places than just being on foot/tour bus. Riding around, wind blowing in your face, watching rice paddies being harvested, you get this feeling as if you're actually in Vietnam, and not just seeing it from a bus.
And then we rode through Danang. The driver tried to take us the path of least resistance, but remember all the talking I was doing about crazy drivers in the cities? We had to learn fast. Merging onto roundabouts, passing other people (Our guide wasn't a slow mover), avoiding head-on collisions, and actually avoiding people crossing the street (the shoe is on the other foot!) were all lessons that were taught at the beginning of our trip.
After Danang, we stopped on the outskirts, had some sugar cane drink of some sort. A lady with a cart passed sugar cane through a grinder, and a frothy white beverage came out. Delicious! You could see the mountains ahead of us, and the whole mountain in the clouds really lives up to it's name.
We then headed up the pass, with steep uphills, windy roads, and not a whole lot of traffic (blessedly). It was good that it wasn't crowded, because it was hard to keep your eyes on the road. I haven't seen this Top Gear episode, but I will as soon as I get back. It is mind-blowingly beautiful. Stunning, Amazing, whatever superfluous adjectives you want to apply, and then some. Kind of like the Great Ocean Road in Australia, but a few notches above it for a certain je ne sais quoi. The temperature dropped, we rode through the clouds, and going around these curves on a motorbike (for the first time ever) added an amazing sense of wonder/awe. I think it's what freedom feels like, as corny as it sounds.
We stopped almost at the top of the pass to take pictures. There were a bunch of little memorials on the side of the road for everyone that had died on the pass (and, while in Danang, we passed two bikes that had gotten into an accident in a roundabout. Don't worry, not foreshadowing, but a bit freaky), and amazing views of the ocean (Pacific?). Our driver drove fast, and didn't like to stop that much, but he was understanding when we wanted to take pictures, or stay a bit longer in one place.
Up and over the other side, we were weaving in between trucks, around hairpin curves, getting passed by/passing everything on the road. We passed a city built on an island, with an amazing beach (views of those mountains we just rode through!), and then, before getting to Hue, we stopped at a place called Suoi Voi (Elephant Springs), on the recommendation of our guide. Look it up on google image search now. A bit in the middle of nowhere, with a 10 minute hike from the parking lot (if you can call it that), you get these crystal clear waters flowing down a big rocky gorge, with these mountains all around you. A fair amount of Vietnamese were there (no tourists), and our guide immediately stripped down and got in the water. When in Rome, right? So refreshing, cold, and after a hot day of driving, exactly what we needed. It was a stunning place I could have spent all day hanging out in, even with the things in the water (A leech attached itself onto my leg, that was fun).
Then, a haul to Hue. Someone compared Hue to Hoi An, and riding in, it was nothing of the sort. We went through traffic like Saigon, and it was freaky, especially at the end of our trip. We were tired, and then we had to weave in and out of traffic in an attempt to follow our guide, who didn't know exactly where he was going... We got to the hotel alright though, and the lady at the counter knew exactly who I was. Crazy good service.
All in all, an amazing trip, one that I would repeat again in a heartbeat, or even extend to do most of the country (or a similar one)... Who's with me?
I will say though, it was kind of weird driving through the small villages on the way to some of the sights. A lot of the children will smile and say "Hello!" as loud as they can when you pass, but the second English word they seemed to learn was "Money?" It was kind of a shame to see that even at a young age, they were bred to be this way towards tourists. Not all of them were like that, but it was shocking to see.
The lifestyle differences are also shocking. We saw a little girl holding her baby sister on a bicycle with one hand and steering it with the other. Neither of them had helmets, and they were going down a busy street. In any western society, child protection services would have been called. It's just a different feeling, and depending on your outlook in life, you'll either get freaked out or just accept it as cultural differences. In a way, I kind of think this is what the US was like as it was developing (Maybe during the industrial revolution), except this is a more modern lifestyle (in a sense, with internet/telephones/motorbikes)...
Yesterday I did one of the coolest things I've ever done in my life. Having never driven a motorbike/motorcycle/scooter before, I rented one, and with a guide, Megan and I rode for 6 hours (with stops) from Hoi An to Hue, over the Hai Van Pass, and around the coast of Vietnam.
Wow.
So, after a bit of a miscommunication trying to get the trip organized (the tourist agency thought a bit differently than we were, but we pressed firm and got what we wanted... you need to be really really clear, and have everything in writing here. They will try and screw you any way they can...), and a bit of practice on the automatic (thank god) 50cc (maybe?) bikes they gave us, off we went.
First of all, if you come to Vietnam, seeing it by bike is the way to go. It's not a fast paced way to see it, and as everyone has them, it's affords you access to many more places than just being on foot/tour bus. Riding around, wind blowing in your face, watching rice paddies being harvested, you get this feeling as if you're actually in Vietnam, and not just seeing it from a bus.
And then we rode through Danang. The driver tried to take us the path of least resistance, but remember all the talking I was doing about crazy drivers in the cities? We had to learn fast. Merging onto roundabouts, passing other people (Our guide wasn't a slow mover), avoiding head-on collisions, and actually avoiding people crossing the street (the shoe is on the other foot!) were all lessons that were taught at the beginning of our trip.
After Danang, we stopped on the outskirts, had some sugar cane drink of some sort. A lady with a cart passed sugar cane through a grinder, and a frothy white beverage came out. Delicious! You could see the mountains ahead of us, and the whole mountain in the clouds really lives up to it's name.
We then headed up the pass, with steep uphills, windy roads, and not a whole lot of traffic (blessedly). It was good that it wasn't crowded, because it was hard to keep your eyes on the road. I haven't seen this Top Gear episode, but I will as soon as I get back. It is mind-blowingly beautiful. Stunning, Amazing, whatever superfluous adjectives you want to apply, and then some. Kind of like the Great Ocean Road in Australia, but a few notches above it for a certain je ne sais quoi. The temperature dropped, we rode through the clouds, and going around these curves on a motorbike (for the first time ever) added an amazing sense of wonder/awe. I think it's what freedom feels like, as corny as it sounds.
We stopped almost at the top of the pass to take pictures. There were a bunch of little memorials on the side of the road for everyone that had died on the pass (and, while in Danang, we passed two bikes that had gotten into an accident in a roundabout. Don't worry, not foreshadowing, but a bit freaky), and amazing views of the ocean (Pacific?). Our driver drove fast, and didn't like to stop that much, but he was understanding when we wanted to take pictures, or stay a bit longer in one place.
Up and over the other side, we were weaving in between trucks, around hairpin curves, getting passed by/passing everything on the road. We passed a city built on an island, with an amazing beach (views of those mountains we just rode through!), and then, before getting to Hue, we stopped at a place called Suoi Voi (Elephant Springs), on the recommendation of our guide. Look it up on google image search now. A bit in the middle of nowhere, with a 10 minute hike from the parking lot (if you can call it that), you get these crystal clear waters flowing down a big rocky gorge, with these mountains all around you. A fair amount of Vietnamese were there (no tourists), and our guide immediately stripped down and got in the water. When in Rome, right? So refreshing, cold, and after a hot day of driving, exactly what we needed. It was a stunning place I could have spent all day hanging out in, even with the things in the water (A leech attached itself onto my leg, that was fun).
Then, a haul to Hue. Someone compared Hue to Hoi An, and riding in, it was nothing of the sort. We went through traffic like Saigon, and it was freaky, especially at the end of our trip. We were tired, and then we had to weave in and out of traffic in an attempt to follow our guide, who didn't know exactly where he was going... We got to the hotel alright though, and the lady at the counter knew exactly who I was. Crazy good service.
All in all, an amazing trip, one that I would repeat again in a heartbeat, or even extend to do most of the country (or a similar one)... Who's with me?
I will say though, it was kind of weird driving through the small villages on the way to some of the sights. A lot of the children will smile and say "Hello!" as loud as they can when you pass, but the second English word they seemed to learn was "Money?" It was kind of a shame to see that even at a young age, they were bred to be this way towards tourists. Not all of them were like that, but it was shocking to see.
The lifestyle differences are also shocking. We saw a little girl holding her baby sister on a bicycle with one hand and steering it with the other. Neither of them had helmets, and they were going down a busy street. In any western society, child protection services would have been called. It's just a different feeling, and depending on your outlook in life, you'll either get freaked out or just accept it as cultural differences. In a way, I kind of think this is what the US was like as it was developing (Maybe during the industrial revolution), except this is a more modern lifestyle (in a sense, with internet/telephones/motorbikes)...
Food in Hoi An
Food in Hoi An was fantastic. A lot of local specialties, all based around Chinese style dishes. Fried Wontons filled with pork or shrimp, topped with a sweet tomato chutney thing. Steamed rice flour dumplings filled with a shrimp mixture (Called White Rose), and a flat chewy noodle dish with fried wontons and pork slices... Cao Lau.
I was sitting down to Pho for breakfast at a place by the hotel, when a Vietnamese Lady sat down across from me and started making conversation (Many people in Hoi An speak English well, as you need to for the sake of selling lots of clothes/trinkets to the multitude of tourists that arrive). She was an owner of one of the tailor shops, and when I told her I was a chef, and showed her the list of Hoi An specialties that the Hotel clerk told me to try, she said that the best Cao Lau was at a place 5 minutes away by motorbike, and if I went to her store later, she would take me.
So I did.
Around lunchtime, I rolled up to her store, and when she saw me, she was a bit surprised. "You want to go get Cao Lau?" So she drove me on her motorbike to a restaurant, and I got some to go. She wouldn't take any food, payment, and she wasn't even pushy about looking in her store. She had been a tailor for 12 years, and had owned her own store for about 5 of them. And, her parents-in-law are from Hue, so she wrote me a list of things I needed to try when I came up to Hue (where I am now..).
For all the people that ask for money/sell trinkets/try and wheedle money out of you in any way possible, there are a few generous souls that just want to help and be friendly, and the trick of traveling is finding those people...
I was sitting down to Pho for breakfast at a place by the hotel, when a Vietnamese Lady sat down across from me and started making conversation (Many people in Hoi An speak English well, as you need to for the sake of selling lots of clothes/trinkets to the multitude of tourists that arrive). She was an owner of one of the tailor shops, and when I told her I was a chef, and showed her the list of Hoi An specialties that the Hotel clerk told me to try, she said that the best Cao Lau was at a place 5 minutes away by motorbike, and if I went to her store later, she would take me.
So I did.
Around lunchtime, I rolled up to her store, and when she saw me, she was a bit surprised. "You want to go get Cao Lau?" So she drove me on her motorbike to a restaurant, and I got some to go. She wouldn't take any food, payment, and she wasn't even pushy about looking in her store. She had been a tailor for 12 years, and had owned her own store for about 5 of them. And, her parents-in-law are from Hue, so she wrote me a list of things I needed to try when I came up to Hue (where I am now..).
For all the people that ask for money/sell trinkets/try and wheedle money out of you in any way possible, there are a few generous souls that just want to help and be friendly, and the trick of traveling is finding those people...
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