So I've been home for a couple of days now. It's always hard coming home, being conflicted between wanting to see my family and wanting a great holiday to go on. It's been nice to see everyone but equally I miss the people I was travelling with, especially the three girls and Alex and Heather. It's cold here at home and feels really strange wearing so many clothes after spending weeks trying to wear as little clothing as I could get away with to keep me cool. I don't miss having fowl smells assaulting my nose constantly and I no longer have to fear for my life every time I cross the road. I know I haven't written much about the number of motorcycles and the constant fear of being knocked down but the traffic in Vietnam is CRAZY! I've never seen anything like the traffic there, Italy, Bali, and Turkey were bad but still don't even come close! I was always amazed and how the motorcycles manage not to hit one another or any pedestrians as they weave all over the road and up onto the footpaths. Amazing!! We did well by the end of the trip and could almost cross the road like the locals. We found the best method was to look straight ahead, close our eyes and hope for the best until we felt our feet reach the other side of the road. We must have looked liked little ducks all huddled together as we crossed, lol! Anyway... I became a bit slack with updating my blog towards the end and I'm keen to finish journalling my incredible journey, so here I am!
The train trip from Ho Chi Minh to Hoi An (Danang really) was very very long but we survived it. The first 4 hours of the 17 hour journey were a novelty and consequently they were bearable. After that the train was just annoying, bumpy and super hot. I shared one of the little berths with Alecia, Ashleigh and Olivia. We spent the first two hours laughing at nothing in particular and the next hour recovering. We tried hard to sleep but the constant bumping along the tracks made it difficult and I was convinced that I was going to be thrown from my bed onto the floor. The drop toilet was hard to perch over without being thrown sideways so I tried hard to avoid it. Poor Alex got sick overnight, probably from the salami and cheese rolls he'd devoured earlier in the train trip. He was basically dropping his guts all night long, and for the next two days. I played nurse again and gave him some of my antibiotics which seemed to have some effect. The girls weren't too keen on eating their salami and cheese after that so we cracked opened my salt and vinegar chips and made chip 'butties' for breaky! I managed to wake up in the night just in time to get a glimpse of Nga Trang which I was pleased about. When I woke up in the morning it was lovely. The sun was rising over masses of green rice patties. I tried to get some photographs but they didn't really turn out. We ended the train journey in Danang.
Danang was big but also seemed a bit dead. They weren't many people out and some of the land looked quite sparse. Amongst the sparse land there were a few massive sports stadiums that looked out of place. We drove along side the water and I felt like we were travelling to the end of the world until we took a turn and arrived in Hoi An. I loved Hoi An, it is so beautiful. Taking one look at Hoi An you could see that the French had settled here. Beautiful, narrow little streets filled with gorgeous old buildings and masses of pink, hanging blossoms. There is a large river that separates the main land from a few large islands and lots of quaint bridges allowing people to easily walk between the islands. Our hotel was on an island over the bridge but only a short walk back into the town. I was excited to find we had a swimming pool although I never got the opportunity to use it. I was looking forward to a long rest when we arrived but there's no rest for the wicked I guess. We were directed to drop our bags and head out with our guide for a walking tour (in the hot hot sun). I easily could have collapsed into bed, as most of our group did, but I was too worried I'd miss out on something exciting so dragged my tired body out of the hotel doors with Heather and we joined our guide. Hoi An really is very beautiful and has recently been declared a World Heritage site. As we walked around taking in the historical sites I think I fell more and more in love with the cute town. There are hundreds of little shops selling paintings and other hand crafts. Although the town is most well known for its tailoring. Of course I couldn't resist getting some dresses made! Myself and some of the other girls spent some time with the lovely staff at Yaly, the most exclusive tailor in town, fussing over materials and designs. Once I'd decided on exactly what I wanted I had the tailors fussing over me making sure EVERYTHING was perfect before I left their shop with my brand new clothes. It was very exciting! The others had dresses, coats, suits, skirts, shirts and more made. We had some delicious meals in Hoi An and some great cocktails at Lantern Town bar. The local speciality is fried wontons which I was lucky enough to taste. Rather than being bundled up like we would do here the wontons are filled with prawn and crab before being fried flat. They were topped with tomatoes and coriander, a bit like a bruchetta. Yummo! On one of the days the group went on a bicycle tour but I couldn't go because of my coccyx so Heather, alex and I enjoyed some cocktails instead! We did a cooking course which was both entertaining and delicious. The host was very funny and donned us with names such as hot boy and stirring girl. Ashleigh missed out on most the activities as she was sick in bed with a stomach bug. I was sharing a room with her so it was probably a good thing I spent most of the time out and about! On our last night we went for a walk across the bridge to another island where they sell lanterns. All the lanterns were lit up and looked absolutely stunning. It was a great way to end our time in a beautiful location. I loved Hoi An!
After Hoi An it was time to head north to Hue. We had the option of a quick drive through some tunnels or a 4 hour drive over a mountain range. We picked the later for its photo opportunities. Our first stop was at China Beach (yes, the famous China Beach). The beach was beautiful with a long stretch of sand and glistening blue water. The beach was filled with these fascinating little cane boats that were completely round! I found it odd how quiet the beach was and the way it seemed to be surrounded by nothing in particular. After this we began to climb the mountain range. The view was amazing, blue ocean and shear cliffs covered in bright green vegetation. However, the road was very scary and I found myself giving out little squeals of panic every time our driver attempted to overtake a massive truck on a tiny bend. Scary! When we reached the highest point of Hai Van pass we got out of the bus to take a few photographs. We had an incredible view of water either side of us and an old bunker from the war to explore. We arrived in Hue a few hours later. Hue seemed like a big city compared to Hoi An. Hue was once the imperial capital of Vietnam and holds the treasures of Vietnam's royal past. The city is filled with bustling streets but also has tranquil villages just a stones throw from the main roads. We visited the Imperial Citadel which was amazing and interesting but I don't think I truly appreciated as much as I could have as I was so hot and so tired from a day of travel. I was really only thinking of my bed as we wondered around. The citadel sill has many holes in the walls and other damage from the war. We managed to get a little rest on our return to the hotel and I cooled down with a swim in the pool. For dinner we headed to the home of a local family who live within the Citadel walls. The dinner was delicious, probably one of the best meals we had on our trip. the family had a little girl named Mai who took a liking to me and spent ages playing with me and a coin I had given her earlier in the night. At the end of the meal the grandmother was given a beetle leaf to chew which is tradition. Each of us was offered one to chew also but only Heather and I were game. The family spread the bettle leaf with a paste made from lime stone and placed a beetle leaf nut inside. I chewed the beetle leaf a few times and almost gagged. It was horrible, extremely bitter and left a feeling in my mouth like an unripe persimmon. With each chewing motion red juice formed in my mouth and wouldn't stop. It was a great sight to see Heather and I bent over in front of a tree spitting masses of red fluid from our mouths, the ground was covered. It took until the next morning for my mouth to recover and feel normal again. On the way home from dinner a few of us stopped at the river to take photos of the floating, illuminated lotus' and lanterns for Buddha's birthday. It was a long walk home! The next day was very exciting! It was the day we went on a motorcycle tour of Hue. Our day began early and on a dragon boat cruise down the Perfume River. We disembarked from the boat at the Thien Mu Pagoda which is an unofficial symbol of Hue. It is an active Buddhist monastery and dates back to 1601. Here we saw a car that belonged to a former monk who, in 1963, drove to Ho Chi Minh city and set himself on fire to protest against the treatment of Buddhists by the South Vietnam regime. Following the visit to this pagoda we met our motorcycle drivers. My driver was very friendly and could see I was scared. He was very careful and looked after me well, especially when we drove over the narrowest bridge I've ever seen! We drove off he main roads and down small footpaths through tiny villages. the scenery was amazing! I don't know what our driver was doing with a key but we found an old colosseum where elephants and tigers used to fight. The drivers let us into the run down structure and we had a bit of a play before moving on. We also visited the royal tombs of Emperor Tu Duc and Minh Mang. We had a midday vegetarian feast made for us by nuns and monks before hitting the road again. I bought a Vietnamese hat from a small village where the hats they make are unique with pictures hidden inside. We rode through masses of green rice paddies and discovered a village hidden deep inside. An elderly women of 85 years demonstrated how villagers used to catch fish and collect food, and also performed some ancient Vietnamese songs. We finished the day back at our hotel where my driver was beaming after receiving a good tip for keeping me alive! Dinner was a royal banquet. It was pretty funny as we were all given costumes to wear. Alex and I were dubbed King and Queen and consequently were given a able that looked over everyone else. We got some great photos but the food was pretty ordinary. We decided to forgo the markets that evening and instead headed to Brown Eyes bar where we had a drink and played giant Jenga.
An early morning flight to Hanoi had me a little anxious as I was worried I was going to be in pain with my ears. Thankfully my ears were fine and the flight was short, only 1 hour. Driving into Hanoi from the airport was pretty unremarkable, not much to see. I felt like that generally about the city I guess. The lake in Hanoi is beautiful but outside of that the shopping isn't great, there weren't many landmarks to see and the people weren't overly friendly. The best part of our first day in Hanoi was the coconut ice cream (that we'd previously had the good fortune of trying in Hoi An). We spent the best part of 40 minutes trekking through the rain and around the lake to find Fanny's, home of the most incredible coconut ice cream! I just basked in the simplicity of coconut ice cream in a cone but the others went all out. Ice cream that looked just like sushi and a fondue plate with 14 flavours and chocolate dipping sauce! It was pretty outstanding and it made me think of Luke. In the evening we went to the water puppet theatre. The girls didn't come with us because they'd heard from someone at home it was lame. I think they really missed out, it was great! Afterwards we ran through the rain to find the Green Mango restaurant. The food here was DELICIOUS with a capital D. I was so in need of something that wasn't Asian and was good quality. I had incredible calamari and some great soft gnocchi with Napoli sauce and olives. It was all topped off by an unbelievable coconut mojito! Yum yum yum! All of this was set off with a very loud and vicious thunder and lightening show. Wow!
The next morning we packed an overnight bag and headed off to Halong Bay. I was so excited!! Our first stop was for breakfast at Koto. Koto is an organisation that teaches street kids hospitality skills that will enable them to find employment. It is safe to say that the breakfast here was the best since beginning the tour. I was satisfied and ready to go. A bit of a boring drive (4hrs) paid off when we arrived and stood before the breathtaking limestone formations. The formations were similar to those I've seen in Thailand but the sheer number of formations here is what makes it look even more spectacular. We boarded our private boat, which was much more luxurious that we'd all imagined, and ate lunch while cruising amongst the dramatic limestone peaks. I know I took too many photos here but I just couldn't help myself. Halong Bay is a secluded harbour with 2,000 of the limestone islands rising from the emerald waters of Bac Bo Gulf. Following lunch we disembarked onto one of the limestone formations and climbed up its steep face for what felt like forever. When we reached the top we were greeted with the most extraordinarily large cave I have ever seen! Masses of steps, stalagmites and stalactites awaited me. We explored and photographed the caves for a long time before descending down the hundreds of steps back to our boat. We had a few stops, one were the others went kayaking (I was a wuss after Byron Bay) and another where I was lucky enough to go for a swim in the South China Sea. We spent a peaceful night onboard, beneath a night sky alive with stars. We were served a fancy dinner cooked by our private chef who had gone to great lengths on the presentation of our food. Dinner was then followed by karaoke under the stars. It was quite funny to watch and our guide, Bao, and ship crew were all very eager to sing. We also managed to teach our English friends how to play Uno in that time. Needless to say it was a very late night!
Our return to Hanoi was uneventful. We arrived late in the afternoon and spent time wandering around wondering where the good shopping had disappeared to. No purchases were made and so we headed back to the hotel for a final ice coffee, something that is a favourite in Vietnam and was consumed a lot on the trip. We all prepared for our final dinner and opted to splurge on taxis for our last night (we were tired of walking in this big city). Dinner was delicious but there was undertone of sadness as we were all thinking about our wonderful trip that was coming to an end. The six of us who had been together from the start had some photos together and made plans to go back to the hotel and play Uno. When we arrived back to the hotel we were so tired we just went to bed.
Breakfast on the morning of the last day was sombre and everyone was super quiet, which was very unusual. I was the first to be leaving and so we all said our goodbyes after breaky and parted ways. I shared a taxi to the airport with Graeme and Carol from Cambera. Waiting around for the plane was the worst. There was nothing at the airport to see or do and it was the first time I'd really been away from the others for the whole trip. The flight to Kuala Lumpur was ok and I was glad to have a break at the airport. I had 5 hours to waste. I wandered around exploring for a few hours, I had some dinner, skyped home and played with my phone for a while. With 15 minutes left to boarding I was feeling miserable and decided to spend my last few dollars on a massage chair. It was the best way to prepare for the flight and I can't believe I hadn't thought to do it earlier! Just before I was about to board I saw Alex and Heather racing from their plane that had just arrived to try and catch me. It was good to see them and helped to pep me up before my flight. It was nice having someone to see me off.
On arrival in Melbourne customs boarded our plane which delayed us getting off for a while. It was a bit suss and I'm not sure what it was all about. Someone mentioned something about making sure we were all healthy but I'm not certain. When I finally came out of the gates it was great to see Mum but I also felt a little sad that my holiday was over.
I had a wonderful time and I think the trip even surpassed my expectations. Cambodia was definitely my favourite country and I'd love to go back some time soon to do some aid work.
Ciao until my next adventure,
Charissa xox
