1st oct- sooz:
free breakie...usual bread, egg, jam. the get packed and get tuk tuk to Vientaine airport, as Hanoi airport repened today after typhoon. airport is speedy
and effcient, v different from normal Laos!a real class divide is sensed here- the poor in the bamboo huts, the rich jetting off.
We fly 'Lao air...later to discover their very ppor reputation, thank god we found out later!
a very cheap easyjet, with old european airplanes!
a lovely propeller plane, felt every bump+turn...i almost shat myself when the seatbelts sign lit up half way through the flight! anyways, we land safely, hooray!and brush off the touts at hanio airport...be careful if eery passing through here, for rip off taxi. and get 1 1/2hr transfer bus to central hanio for $3 each..bargain!
I have never seen so many mopeds! really crazy, there are no rules here, and a red light definately doesnt mean red!- check out top gear vietnam special to appreciate it!
they drive the wrong way, on pavements, on the phone etc!
Hanoi is a sprawling city, over 4 1/2 million i n 20 square mile and over 3 million mopeds.Its polluted, loud and overcrowded.
check into a $7.50 room- corrigated ron wall/door place, tiny and in a 3rd floor swatshop type place!.
We decide to get dinner....so so usy, the pavements are used as a mopedpark, so uyou risk life and limb by walking on the road. Crossing the road is then the next step
NEVER EVER run. if you do, you will get creamed by a car or moped. wlak very very slowly, the mopeds move around you! or if not then find a local who is crossing,
stand behind them and cross- a good human shield! we found the best one...walk behind a street cleaner,...we found one
pushing a wheelie bin and hid behind the bin!
anyway, we cross the road and find a beer Hoi stop..famous here,...look for signs, they are everywhere...tiny platic chairs/tables in the street with locals- 6000d a beer....20p!!!
the locals laugh at us...long legs...small chairs, but very cheap beer!!.
Next after a couple of beers, we find street food- a pho place...excellent noodle soup type meal.I sign 2 portions of the old lady making it, give her 50000dong. they bring it over and we enjoy with the locals. when we finish,
she comes over, signals we have not payed...she calls over2 vietnamese lads, to tell them, they say in english we not pay, we owe 20000dong. we say we have, and they disagree. we give another 20000dong, as we cant argue and don't want to beset upon, or attacked with her big cooking knife!we are so s0 angry and upset that they rip us
off just because we are 'westeners' white skinned! we stand in her way while she sweeps up to piss her off and i shout at her she's a liar. stupid cow. I hope karma exists and she chokes on her pho!!!
watch oout for 'tourist prices' folks, its a shame, but u gotta pay!!
2ndd oct
we wake + decide to check out as v isolated from other travellers. Take a short walk to Hanoi Backpacker's hostel....a grat
atmosphere, free internet+brekkie- well worth checking out if you want to mingle+meet folk. Check into the dorm + then we wander
off to explore the city. We walk around the walk+green areas, indulge in some ice cream at 'fanny's', lol, then we went to see the
water puppet show- a form of puppetry formed in Vietnam by villagers in rural areas- the water hides the mechanisms the puppeteers use.
It wasn't as spectacular as we thought it might be, but good to see a bit of traditional arts and music (although the musicians looked
so fed up..i guess they do the show about 5time a 365days a year!) We head back to the Hostel via a Bia Hoi, then take advantage of the 2 for 1 happy
hour at the hostel + BBQ on the roof. feeling full we decide to get an early night as we had booked onto the Halong Bay trip.
3rd Oct
We set off on our 3day Halong bay trip with the hostel, a good mix of 25 travellers pack out a couple of minibuses and we set off through the manic streets
of Hanoi on a 3hr journey to Halong. We arrive to a manic port +after a little wait, board a transfer boat to our main
'junk'- a 3 tiered wooden cruiser. The hrour is scattered with variuos sized junks and behind is a spectacular setting of thousands of limestone islands.They are
trying to get it recognised as one of the natural wonders of the we definately think it should be!! We cruise for an hour,through beautiful islands, eroded to form beautiful shapes. It is truely vast beyond expectation. We sun ourselves on the top deck,
have a leisurely vietnamese style lunch of prawns, squid, beef + noodles, during which time we have arrived into a bay of one of the islands, which is where we were to
moor for the night.
Then it was time to jump off the boat...the top of it!! i decided to pluck up the courage + jump...the 2nd girl to man up to do it! bloody high, but fun..
apart from the usual bikini issues involved when jumping into water! After splashing around for awhile, we all jumped into kayaks and paddled for 30-40mins to another island +clambered out into a cave opening.
The cave ...nicknamed the amazing cave, was full of stalagmites + tikes, small passes to squeeze under+ larger chambers. Eventually this lead to a vivid blue lagoon in the centre
of the island, closed off from the sea, really eerily quiet. We made our way back to the kayaks for the journey back, by which point the sun was setting over the beautiful
surroundings and mill pool like sea. After much 'discussion' about who was/wasn't paddling (claire was in the back seat+ i think took the odd 'rest',lol) we just about made it back...in the dark, managing to work
out which junk was ours (by this time about 10 boaats had moored here too)- there is no health+safety here!
We freshen up+fuel up on more lovely grub. We chat away to fellow travellers on the top deck + sip our cocktails. Also as it was the annaul
moon festival- celebration of the new year, that night, we celebrated with Vietnamese wine (ie. v sweet wine) + moon cake ( a very looose term 'cake' , resembling more like a pork pie on the outside, with various fillings on the inside...sweetened rice, pork or egg.) interesting!
4th Oct
Up at 7am, we transfer to a small boat + are taken 1hr to a remote private cove on a small island, so stunning,just for us- a coral beach, surrounded by cliffs(attracting free climbers) and lush greenery, heaven!
The island reps make us feel very welcome + we spend the day, snoozing in hammocks, sunning ourselves, attempting volleyball+ my first attempt at Wakeboarding... Claire
gave all her moral suppport from the boat, but it was a painful process of me repeatly hitting the water..but much fun though and not the last time i'll try!
We enjoy a BBQ dinner + play cards/drinking game with the reps, a fire dance by David, a mexican rep and generally chat+drink the night away. We head to bed as we are tired,
but overhear the guys shout plankton.. claire decides to stay in bed (ie. in a mossy net on a bamboo platform, overlooking the beach) while I run down into the water in the bay, we swish our hands around, which causes the plankton to glow...
it looks like fairy dust trailing behind you as you move, so so beautiful...ive you've seen the beach, you'll understand..or youtube it folks!)
ng process
5th oct
We say farewell to the beach + rejoin the main junk ship, back to the port + topping up our tan. On arriving back to the Hostel, we head out for dinner with Mary, Michelle, Anya, Henry, Diane+Natalie from the trip
to endulge in a cheeky bit of western food- stonebaked pizza (during which, everyone discusses their cravings for cheeses, fresh milk etc,lol)
6th oct/7th Oct
We Check out + we- us+anya, henry, Diane + Nat, decide to find the train station, to book our overnight train to Hoi An .We
endure the vietnamese queueing system- ie crowd round the booth on mass +push in ( at one point a lad actually started to peel my fingers off the side i was leaning onto block folk pushing past me!) + bought our
tickets (for 1/2 price what the hostel offered) for a 18hr 'hard sleeper' train ie. 2nd class 3 tiered bunk beds in compartments, with matresses about 1/2cm thick,lol.
We waste afew hours mooching round shops, stocking up on beers +snacks for the train,brunching and Pho Bo 'ing (DIY style noodle soup) it up,
We cram into the 6berth compartment, Diane+Nat thoughtfully saying they'd have the 3rd top bunks, as we were much taller+you couldn't even sit up!
We head down to the restaurant carriage- so we can actually sit upright somewhere + have a good few beers+chat with the girls to help the sleeping process.
During this time, a seemed to have attracted a strange middleaged vietnamese guy- randomly talking to me in vietnamese+staring at my hair...which he then touched, so i touched his hair back!
He then took the opportunity to sit next to me while claire went to the loo, he gestured to his phone, then took a picture of me + showed me that he'd made me his screensaver!!!!! a little freaky! i then gestured
with our camera to take a pic of him, which he then refused, got up+left!!!!! how rude! but very entertaining, as we were all in fits of laughter!!
We venture back and have a very broken nights sleep- rudely awoken by the old couple in the bottom bunk....talking at full volume at 3am, then coughing/spitting, luuurvely! I end up wandering round ( or should I say up+down the train)at 5am for an hour
then manage to sleep till 8am. Eventually we arrive in Danang+all share a taxi to Hoi An.
Hoi An is a charismatic,charming old town- an important old seaport, it has mixed influences of chinese, french and japansese background.
It is listed as a world heritage town. The impact of the typhoon the previous week, that directly hit Hoi An, seemed minimal- only debris and sand srewn across the roads and some trees blown down. They seemed to have
recovered quickly.
After checking afew hotels, we check into one that Henry negoiated down :-) then all headed for lunch as we were so hungry. Cafe 96, set in an old distressed aqua colonial building, by the river- indulged in superb tapas style dishes- eggplant, fresh springrolls,
chicken/lemongrass, white rose + cau lau (hoi an specialities) a recommendation for well cooked foodfresh, simple ingredients!
After still feeling hungry due to the smaller portions,a drink+a vietnamese style doughnut sorted us out!
Myself and claire branch off from the group, we wander through the old narrow streets, separating the yellow+aqua building + we book
onto a cooking course for the following day (thank you Andrew!!).(claire takes over blog.....Sadly we saw something awful on our walk after...a poor little kitten varely 6 weeks old was attacked
by 3 dogs. We weren't sure what it was at first and looked like they were fighting over a fluffy toy! Sadly, it was a kitten :o(.
Awful, we felt sick. We wanted to pick it up and take it to a vet or something, but we did not know what to do. The locals left it
on the road and it could barely walk. Sad. Could not stop thinking about the poor thing all day. After some chillage time we met up
with our friends we had been travelling with for dinner. (Onya & Henrique from Norway and Natalie and Diane from USA)
Had god food as always in Vietnam! And some Cocktails, always good!
8/10/09
Cooking Course Day!Yay! Went to Cargo Cafe for a breakfast. The best ever which a French influence to the cafe. Croissants, breads and jams.
Yummy. Got to place for 11am meet. Tour guide took us to Market for a walk around and we learned about the foods, vegs, spices and
fish sauce...the secret to Vietnamese cooking :o) Yum. The market was buzzing and full of atmosphere, can hardly explain in in words. Our guide was funny, cracking jokes and speaking great English!
Boat caught to Red Bridge Cooking Schoolalong the river. We could see the effects of the typhoon 10 days ago as all the banks of the river
were all awash with and flattened down.
At school again...we had clipboards with recipes and instructions for us to make notes. Classroom! The chef was funny, cracking jokes
and was really nice. We watched how to make a shrimp salad in a pineapple boat, but we were not to make this ourselves. We were going on
to the harder task of makinbg a rice pancake (spring roll ones). He made it look easy of course, but it wasn't of course!
Hot steaming pot of water with a linen cloth over, pancake on top and then slide it off the linen with a bamboo stick....Needless to say that both
Sooz and I smashed our first one...but we quickly did another and we were back in the game...roll it up with shrimp and salad, served
with chilli fish sauce...eat...yum..yum.
Then we observed a shrimp pancake and were set off to do our own...go! that was easier, we rolled it in another rice pancake after
and munched that too!!!
Next, we watched Eggplant Clay Pot dish and then went to cook our own. This was great and easy. Whilst cooking we were then shown how to
decorate the plates with fancy salad things....a tomato rose and a cucumber fan............complete disaster! My fan looked like a porcupine with halapetia!!! Sooz's
wasn't much better...My tomato rose was ok, and I helped Sooz with hers...Honestly, these left handers! tut tut :o)
Eggplant was cooked and time to eat it with food from restaurant. Shrip salad and baked fish..yummy yummy. Full full! Not getting
any lighter in Vietnam for sure..the food is just too damn good!
After, we met up with the guys and had dinner and shared our experiences of the day.
9/10/09
Cargo Cafe again for breakfast. Heaven! Then we hired some bicylces for the day! We were cycling to the beach. Was only about 20mins
and a little scary as the traffic in South EWast Asia does not seem to have any rules. The bigger the vehicle the more power they have for
you to move out the way. They beep at you to let you know they are there or overtaking...where as at home we see the use of horn as an angry thing...
very confusing! Anyway, we got to beach and parked bikes up. Chilled, went in Sea which was rough and choppy but warm...strong current.
We made up our own games of shotput and bowles with some old coconuts. Good fun. Cycled back in one peice and said good bye to Diana and Natalie
as they are heading to Saigon. Sad to see them go! We have had such a good few days with these guys. Met up later with Onya and Henrique in bar
Before & Now. Alos met up with Dan, Megan and Laura the Aussies off the Halong trip again. Caught up and had drinks and a laugh.
10/10/09
My Son Tour. This is a place with some old Cham temples there, from the old ancient Champa Kingdom 4th-13th century. A very holy land.
Our guide was a little hard to understand with his English (poor Onya and Henrique had no idea) but he was a nice guide. My Son means
beautiful mountain and you could see that in the background behind the valley temple. The bricks were put together with no mortar in between
and the craft wortk was excellent. Makes you wonder how they did it so many years ago. There was also a rock carved like a symbol
of both female and male genetalia (in a loose sense) that they would worship for fertility.
Sadly, the temple had been bombed during the Vietnam war and had destroyed some of the ruins. You could see bomb craters there too.
They are renovating in one area the runis. Was a good trip to see some of the architecture and history.
Afetrnoon we lunced and checked out buses for tomorrow. Met up again for dinner and went to a street food restaurant place with
a funny waitress who called herself Lisa. She was Vietnamese but had great English and a funny sense of humour!
On the move tomorrow, goodbye Hoi An - we have had a great few days here and defo one of the favourite places. Our mum's would love it
here with all the shops and cafe's!!!
11/10/09
Time to squeeze in a Cargo Cafe and some choc croissants to go! woo hoo. Said goodbye to Onya and Henrique. Sad times again as we have
had such a lovely time with these guys! Bus to Quang Nga had seats already laid back as it must be the sleeper bus that goes through the whole
of Vietnam. We thought we were on the bus for 7 hours, but it seems we were only on there for a couple of hours...when we were dropped off
in what seemed like the middle of nowhere! We had chosen to come to Quang Nga as there is a memorial here of the Mai Lai massacre and
we wanted to pay our respects. Well, we did not know where we were when we got off bus. I tried to ask some locals by showing them the map on the LOnely Planet.
They were trying to signal to us...we were losing hope...then a taxi appeared from nowhere...thank god it was not night time!!!
The locals had been directing us the right way and the taxi took us to the hotel. We booked in. There were no other tourists
anywhere to be seen, so we knew we were well off the beaten track here! lol. We watched TV in our room and then we popped to a local place
for a dinner of Vietnamese rice dishes. Yum. We were definately a spectacle as all the locals kept looking at us! Will got to
the memorial tomorrow and then bus station to continue South.
12/10/09
Son My Memorial in Mai Lai. We hired a taxi to take us there. Gosh it was v emotional. The memorial is basically the Mai Lai Village ruins.
The US had beleived that Viet Cong were hiding there and so they planned an attack on this village. An entire massacare of 504 villagers
including babies and old men and women. The memorial shows the foundations of the houses that were burned down,a recreation of the footprints of the US soldiers + villagers barefeet and also shows the
ditch where they were all lined up and killed in cold blood. There was also a small museum that showed awful pictures of Vietnamese killed, or about to be
killed. It was so sad. It also told of US that tried to stop the killing. What an awful time in history. Was a sombre mood (sooz cried)but glad we saw this important
piece of remembering the history and the suffering.
We then got taxi to take up to train station and we got tickets south to Nahtrang, a beach area. We had to wait a few hours.
We spent some time with locals sat at a little table with plastic chairs (the usual thing in the streets everywhere in Aisa). We had
some rice and pork and drank a beer. They obviiusly did not get many tourists here as we were a spectacle and everyone was looking at us.
Was amusing after a sombre morning.
Train to Nahtrang was un eventful, although the locals are really lovely nd heppy to help you with anything on train. Like where your seat is
or just to smile at you. We walked down to food cart and could only get more rice for dinner, which was not nice with whatever it came with...leaving the food
conversation there! Getting some fresh air between two train carriages, I was stood by a bag, which out of nowhere rolled over my foot and started
chirping...scared us half to death....bag of more than one bird/chicken of some kind moving around...poor things...definately not for the
Vegetarians out here...the poor things must have been scared so much..
We got to Nahtrang for 9.00pm and taxied to Sao Mai hotel with a roof top terrace room with air con for $10. all good.
It looks a busy place here in Nahtrang, lots of hotels competing against each other.
13/10/09
Breakfast at the Same Same But Different Cafe. Heading to beach to chill. Cross the road and we are approached by a Vietnamese guy
saying 'EEEEAAAAASSSSSYYYYY RIDER'. Now, Sooz had heard of this venture in the book and we were thinking of getting Easy Riders in Dalat, our next place South. You hire them to drive you around on a trip.
So he asks to chat to us, his name is BINH. He shows us his photos of some trips he does and shows us his reccomendation book by
other travellers. It all looked very good, so him and his friend took us to a cafe back by the hotel and sits us down and shows us the trips. He is not pushy in anyway
and said for us to think about it andf let him know. $50 each a day was the reason we had to think about it, but then we have our
wedding gift money and it is somehting we really wanna do. We looked at each other and said yeah, let's do it. How right we were to make
the decision and glad we were that BINH had seen us. You will understand why when you read our Easy Rider Diary Blog. Was awesome!
So we booked a 3 day trip to Dalat, through the Central Highlands. Excited!! We arranged to meet at 7.00pm for drinks later with BING and HUY.
We spent the afternoon on the beach, being hassled by beach sellers but they are so sweet and not too iritating like in Thai.
We purchased some bracelets of some :o) On the beach you can see and island opposite that has a Hollywood style sign on it
of the Vinpearl complex. Has completely wrecked to natural sight beauty of it. Why!!
7.00pm meet BINH and HUY and they take us on bikes a few mins to outskirts of Nahtrang city and we sit at a local place, small table and plastic chairs...
our favourite cheap way of Aisa. We had some Beer Hoi and Seafood Noodles and we chatted to night away. We became good friends in just a couple of hours
and were feeling really happy about the trip tomorrow! The beers anf food only cost £3.50 for all of us...cheap cheap when your with the
locals and not on tourist prices. BINH and HUY are lovely. BINH's English is fantastic and HUY is not so great at it, but very funny and lovely guy.
Very excited for the trip.......bring it on...read the Easy Rider Diary Blog....it was the best time and money spent and friends made...
the REAL VIETNAM!!!!!!!!
