We’re leaving on a jet plane…….

7 April 2007

Feeling a little heavy headed from the night before we set about the task of packing our backpacks, which have served us incredibly well over the past 11 months, for the the very last time (this trip 😉 ).

Our flight back to the UK was not leaving until midnight so we had one final day in Bangkok which had planned to spend by the pool desperately working on the tan before returning to the much cooler climate of the UK and all our pastey white family and friends 😉 .
Unfortunately the sky in Bangkok was grey which pulled the plug on our plans so we did the next best thing and headed off for a curry and then for a relaxing massage. We then headed back to Patpong market to get a couple of last minute souvenirs before we said our farewells to Bangkok and made our way to the airport.

The midnight flight home was perfect timing for us as we were ready to sleep and sleep we did – almost the full twelve hours of the flight before we arrived an hour late at London Heathrow where we were to be met by my parents. Knowing they were in the same building as us left me kiddy as a five year old at Christmas however my excitement was prolonged as our bags were one of the last to come off the plane.

As we walked through customs I could see my Dad (who I hadn’t seen in 11 months) behind a cam-corder recording our entry and only after hugging him I realised there was no sign of mum. Looking around for her I clocked her stood further along next to two other surprise familiar faces – Nic and Steve (Chris’s sister and her husband who had visited us in Oz)- and the all important (and now obligatory – well for us!) sign with our names on. As it turned out they were spending their first wedding anniversary in London and thought they would drop by (at 6am in the morning!).

After exchanging hugs with my mum who apparently had been swinging from the railings for the past two hours giddy with excitement (yep Nic – that clearly is where I get it from), and after various photos and a little of the camcorder commentary for which my Dad is becoming infamous (in his own special way!!!!) we decided it would be rude not to have a pint together….well the Geordies had a pint whilst us ‘civilised southerners’ had orange juice 😉

Sadly then it was time to say goodbye to Nic and Steve, if only for a few days, as we set of for Kent and more family reunions with my Grandma brother, Julie, Maxwell and the new addition to the family which we were desperate to meet – Amelie.

After three days in Kent we headed up the M1 via our home in Leeds to Newcastle to see the other side of the family and to plenty more hugs, present giving, food and wine.

So here we are – back to our reality. The past eleven months has been the best eleven months of our lives (so far!) and the trip was definately the best decision (obviously after getting engaged Chris!) we have made. We have been truly lucky to see and experience some of the things we have and to meet the people we have, some of which we will hopefully stay in touch with ….and most importantly we made it through spending pretty much all day…every day together. Hopefully we will never forget this time – we shouldn’t as we have 7,500 photos to remind us!

One last note – some of you who have been reading this blog will remember that we said we were going to raise some money for the Cambodia Light Childrens Association (see link on right hand side) when we returned to the UK and that we were going to set ourselves a ‘challenge’ in order that we could raise lots of money – well a challenge we have set! We have both entered the Dublin Marathon on 29 October 2007 and will be running it for the CLCA. Chris has always ‘talked’ of doing a marathon so we thought this would give us both the incentive to put the hours of training in that is necessary to complete the distance.

Now just for the record – I am not making ‘excuses’ already (as Chris has kindly pointed out) but it is touch and go whether I will be able to run the Marathon in October as I have just been referred by my doctor to a foot specialist after experience pain in my left heel since we were in oz. So if the race against time with the treatment doesn’t pay off I will be finding something else or maybe a different marathon to enter to fulfill my part of the promise we made to each other.

Once we have a justgiving website up and running we will send out an email with the details and post an entry on this site – so watch your ‘in-box’ or this space!

Thankful we had sent our clothes shopping home whilst in Hoi An, we cruised through the 15kg weight limit check on the Air Asia flight from Hanoi to Bangkok. I am using the word ‘cruise’ very loosely as Chris had 0.1kg to spare and I had 0.4kg to spare. But thankful we were especially when we saw others before us having to pay hefty fines.

We were both excited during the flight to Bangkok….but it was not because we held particularly fond memories of Bangkok; in actual fact Bangkok had not endeared itself to either Chris of myself first time around, but quite simply because we would be checking into the Holiday Inn Hotel. We had decided from the very start of our trip that should the unlikely event of having some cash left at this stage in our travels occur then we would throw what little we had at upgrading to a hotel.

We had five days in Bangkok before our long-haul back to the UK was scheduled to leave and we were intending to make the most of it. We were planning to head North to the ‘Bridge over the River Kwai’ and we had also been considering a visit to ‘Tiger Temple’ – a wat where the monks raise sick tigers and tourists can get up close and personal with the animals (although it is worth noting details of the ‘Tiger Temple’ do not feature in the lonely planet for fears that the tigers are in actual fact drugged). As it transpired we did not make it to either and for the first day we did not leave the hotel making good use of the gym, the swimming pool, the sun in the sky and rooom service. The rest of the week pretty much followed the lazy start it had kicked off with ensuring a stint by the pool to top up the tan before revisiting our favourite cheap restaurant and visiting a few places recommended to us by friends and family.

The only other plan we had for our last week was a bit of retail therapy. We missed out the shopping malls on our first visit as we did not wish to carry any new purchases however after checking BA’s weight limit – a whopping 32kg each until September we were planning to run wild picking up a few presents, some souvenirs and some cheap clothing. Well Chris did as planned and bought himself a number of t-shirts, jeans and trainers whilst I uncharacteristically could not bring myself to part with any cash.

Dan, our good friend from university who is now living in Sydney and has travelled extensively recommended that we visit ‘Bed Supperclub’ – a nightclub based in Bangkok’s Sukhumvit. So on our final night we headed to ‘Cabbages and Condoms’ restaurant which is a NGO supporting the campaign against AIDS. We sat outside amongst thousands of fairy lights and had quite possibly the hotest dish we have had in our lives!

Mouths burning we headed to a nearby bar for a few drinks to cool our mouths. We later made it to Bed Supperclub which is undoubtedly one of the best nightclubs we have ever been in. The website describes it as

‘a ‘dining in bed’ experience. Housed in a custom-built new building and set in a modern and futuristic all white environment, BED crosses the divide between dining and cutting edge entertainment. In BED you take your shoes off, lay down and you’re at home’.

……so we indeed took off our shoes and made ourselves at home! Chris was enjoying the music so much he could have happily stayed there until our fight left.

The journey back to the hotel was a little surreal as the tuk-tuk’s radio played Peter, Paul and Mary’s version of our blog title ‘We’re leaving on a jet plane’ quite fitting as later that day we would be coming to the end of our 11 month trip. In high spirits we asked the tuk-tuk driver if Chris could sit in the drivers seat for a quick photo before retiring for the very last time as travellers.

Our final trip in Vietnam was on board an old Junk boat in Halong Bay. As with everything in South East Asia, you can never be 100% what you are going to get for your money and this trip was certainly no different. Still feeling physical, after our cycle trip to the Vietnam/China border, we were anticipating a three day/two night kayaking trip around the stunning Karst scenery of Halong Bay…..in actual fact we got a two hour kayak! But we weren’t complaining as it turned out to be a blessing in disguise!

We boarded our Junk along with four Swedish, two Brits, two Aussies and a very sweet Korean man. We aquainted ourselves with our fellow trippers over a few beers whilst we cruised out of the port and into the spectacular bay. Halong Bay is a world UNESCO site which holds mystical importance to the Vietnamese as they believe a golden dragon entered down into the bay, and can still be seen today by the very fortunate. The mist in the sky certainly added to the mystical aura of Halong Bay as we looked out at numerous junks dotted around the giant rock faces jutting steeply from the deep green water.

We pulled into a sheltered area where we were given the opportunity to swim and jump from the boat. Not ones to miss such an opportunity we stripped down to our bathers and followed Jason (the Aussie) in by jumping from the top deck….well it is sensible to let someone else test how deep it is! I am not sure who enjoyed the swimming and the jumping from the boat more – us or the sweet Korean guy who kept giggling/taking photos/taking video footage of us jumping into the water. After we dragged ourselves from the water the Korean man presented us with a packet of Oreo cookies as a reward for our escapades or maybe just a thank you for contributing to his holiday snaps!

That night we had a delicious meal before retiring to our rather plush double cabins with ensuite bathroom. Feeling rather smug at our wonderful surrounding we hopped into bed and turned of the light only for us both to fall silent when we heard a scuffling sound. Chris, being far more intuitive than I, immediately identified the sound as a rodent to which I responded by leaping for the light to search for the culprit. Having no success I shut the window and wrapped myself tightly in sheets so no skin was exposed. After plucking up the courage to turn off the light and having come to terms with the fact there would not be much sleep that night we lay still listening for the little critter. After a restless but rat free night we met up with the other passengers for breakfast to learn that the rat had entered the Aussies room only to cop it over the head from Jason’s flip flop (technically Jason being an Aussie I should have said ‘he copped it over the head from Jason’s thong’ but that would have been so wrong to all the British people reading this!). The more discerning of you will be pleased to learn the dazed rat made a sucessful get away.

Day 2 saw a visit to ‘amazing caves’ – yes that is really what they are called – the guy who named them was clearly a straight talker! These caves are three rooms which increase in size with the last one looking like a set out of a science fiction movie. The caves are ‘amazing’ which spectacular rock formations which the Vietnamese think look like various animals. The caves are also lit by coloured lights which left Chris remarking at what a good night club the caves would make (you know- if they weren’t a UNESCO site!). The peoples favourite rock formation had to be the ‘pink penis’ judging by the scramble for the perfect position for the photo op!

We also vistited a cave with its very own singing guide – a surreal but extremely memorable experience! The guide is a Vietnam veteran who spoke no English so sang to us all as he showed us around a cave which was lived in during the war with America.

We later disembarked the newly christened ‘Rat Boat’ on Cat Ba Island where we headed of on a 5-6km hike up to a view point. The hike was under normal conditions would have been ‘a walk in the park’ except the ground was slippery from rain, the going was rocky and steep in places and Chris and I had packed for a ‘two day kayaking trip’ so the only shoes we had brought from our hotel in Hanoi were flip flops! Oh and I didn’t mention that one of my flip flops had broke the day earlier forcing Chris to pull an 11th hour repair job using someones lighter and some leaves – a survival technique that would clearly leave Ray Mears envious!

Following the hike we checked into our hotel, cleaned up and headed straight back out again to go kayaking. Naturally Chris and I were excited at this prospect and were naturally paired up. We soon learned that kayaking is an activity that always seems appealing and in fact is…..for the first ten minutes ….and then the arms go numb and the novelty wears off! Once again to make matters worse we had a wonky kayak that would only veer to the right! Soldiering on and frequently ramming other kayakers we paddled around enjoying secret lagoons which compounded the mystical nature of the bay by giving rise to echoes.

Back on dry land we met for dinner and all headed out for some last night drinks and Karaoke. It was over dinner that whilst chatting to our guide I took the opportunity to ask if he too had heard the rat(s). A very sheepish guide admitted to hearing the blighters and then regaled how he woke to find one sat on his stomach!!! Having chased the rat off he returned to sleep only to wake again to find his companion back again in the same position! He then told us he owns a cat which sometimes sleeps with him and he had been dreaming the cat was lying on his stomach. Yuk!!!

After a great night out with cheap beer, Karaoke and dancing we woke a little worse for wear the next day. The group, somewhat subdued, boarded the junk to make our way back to the mainand where lunch was waiting for us. Although the trip was not exactly what Chris and I signed up for, we had a great time and met some more people happy to share some wonderful memories of what will forever be known as ‘The Rat Boat’!

Guess most of you are aware we are now back in good old Blighty. That’s not to say we are not going to finish what is effectively our travel diary, it’s just that the sun has been shining (yep we were in our shorts and t-shirts all weekend – who would warrant it in April!), we have been catching up with family and friends and we no longer have internet access. To rectify the last factor we went out yesterday and bought ourselves a PC on the basis that we hadn’t quite maxed out the old credit cards on our travels and it would be a perfect means to keep in touch with all our friends we met whilst travelling! Plus we have 7,500 photos to sort through!

Anyway what I am trying to say is the final three blogs will be following shortly so watch this space!

28 March 2007

Saddle sore we returned to Hanoi on a one day stopover before we were scheduled to head out to Halong Bay. This time we were determined to make to see ‘Uncle Ho’. Our train arrived in Hanoi at 5am giving us plenty of time to make the 11am cut off for visitors to the Mausoleum so we had a leisurely breakfast at the authentic Vietnamese ‘Baguette and Chocolat’ 😉 before we retraced our footsteps from four days earlier to see Uncle Ho.

We made it to the Mausoleum at 10.10am only to be stopped by a guard who grunted at us and pointed at the far gate which was about another 15 minutes walk. Deducing that we were at the wrong entrance we checked the Lonely Planet only to read that although the Mausoleum shuts at 11am the last entry was at 10.15am! Determined that this trip was not going to once again become a failure and vowing that we would not be returning for a third attempt we jumped in a taxi and sped round the roads of Hanoi.

We made it and after various bag searches and queues we were in. We entered the darkened room to see Ho Chi Minh’s embalmed body lying in a glass case – or was it? Chris was of the opinion the body looked suspiciously wax like and was not convinced. I, on the other hand like to give the benefit of the doubt. Eitherway, the Mausoleum, or more precisely its contents, reflects the immense Vietnamese pride in the former Communist leader. The whole experience was certainly not up there in our list of ‘must do’ recommendations from this trip and wa a little sad considering I later read that ‘Uncle Ho’ was a humble man who wished to be cremated upon his death.

Strangely (and worryingly) the whole experience left us both hungry so we made tracks to KOTO (know one, teach one) another NGO aimed to teach street kids a trade. After three courses which culminated in chocolate mud cake for Chris and chocolate bread an butter pudding for me (you can scratch that from the wish list Mum!) we conteplated the options for the afternoon and settled on a visit to Bia Hoi Junction.

Bia Hoi Junction is what it says on the tin….a crossroads which has Bia Hoi vendors on each corner. Bia Hoi is a Vietnamese beer which prices in at an astonishing 7p a glass. I know you can probably do the maths but let me help you out….7p a glass….that’s 14.2 glasse to the pound….or two hangovers for approximately 2 pounds (the glasses are not pint sized!). So the junction is where we settled for the afternoon/evening watching the world go by and jumping up from our seats with the other consumers when a police van was spotted in order to quickly relocate onto the pavement…only to spill back onto the road once they left again.

In case you had to ask – Bia Hoi Junction is definately up there on our ‘must do’ list!

24th March 2007

As the days counted down on our Vietnamese visa, we decided to splash out what was left of HSBC’s hard earned cash on a couple of organised trips away from Hanoi. We had long earmarked Sapa in the far north of Vietnam as a place we would like to spend a few days trekking in the hills, but as we weighed up our options, we came across a company offering guided mountain bike tours, that would allow us to take in some of the less touristy areas of the border region between Vietnam and China.

We signed up and headed out the following day on a 3 day guided mountain biking tour of Northern Vietnam. The itinery enabled us to leave Hanoi via the overnight train, and despite missing out on a first class sleeper cabin normally sold to tourists (we had left our booking pretty late as usual!) we still managed to sleep for the majority of the 12 hour journey, in our six berth ‘hard sleeper’ cabin. We arrived into Lao Cai station early on Sunday morning and were met by our guide who took us over the road for breakfast. It quickly became clear that we had struck gold, and it was only the two of us booked up on the tour, which we had been told could have included up to six other people.

After breakfast, Tanh (our personal guide!) introduced us to our very own driver, who would be in charge of our very own personal support vehicle that would follow the three of us around as we explored the surounding countryside on our bikes. The support vehicle was a basic 4×4 that had previously seen action during the American War. Our guide and driver were imensley proud of the truck, which they always referred to with as ‘The Russian made support vehicle’. Our ‘Russian made support vehicle’ had ample space for the two of us in the back, and had a boot which just about fitted the three mountian bikes which were to be our main mode of transport for the next 3 days (thankfully they had modern gel cushioned seats to prevent saddle sore!).

The bikes would have to wait however, as we set off in the jeep towards the small hill town of Bac Ha, 50kms away. For much of the trip we followed the Song Hong (Red River), which forms the border between China and Vietnam. The countryside was spectacular, and extremely peaceful having coming from the chaos of Hanoi! We were heading to Bac Ha for the Sunday market, which is the most important event in the weekly calendar of the Montagnard Hill tribe people of the surrounding area. As we aproached the town we passed several groups of people coming down from the hills, walking to Bac Ha with their market goods.

There are approximately 10 different groups of Montagnard people in the area, and each has their own unique, elaborate, colourful traditional clothes which are worn with imense pride to the Sunday market. The most colourful group of all were the Flower H’Mong people and the women from this group wore colourfully embroided floral motifs on their skirts. The nice thing about visiting Bac Ha was that it is a traditional working market, the colourful clothes were worn through tradition, rather than as an extra to attact tourists into the area. Infact, as we passed through the market there were only a couple of other Western faces around, and it was us who were clearly viewed as aliens (no doubt with very boring dress sense) by the friendly locals as they went about their business.

The market itself was crazy! With very few stalls aimed at tourists, the goods being brought and sold were as diverse as Water Buffalo, Horse, Pigs, Dogs and Chickens (for working / eating or both) to huge piles of tabbaco, potent Rice wine and pouches of Opium (don’t worry Mum, we didn’t indulge!). We spent a couple of hours wandering around the market in amazement, the colours and atmosphere were like nothing we had come across in the countless markets we have visited during the last year.

After lunch, we jumped on the bikes and headed out for an afternoon cycle in the hills, a 20km round trip to Heavens gate, a mountain pass approx 1000m above sea level. The climate was perfect for cycling, refreshingly cool and the air was clear of the pollution that is a problem in most of the cities we have visited in South East Asia. We passed through some gorgeous countryside, where those who weren’t at the market were working in the fields, planting or harvesting various crops (tea, coffee, rice, various nuts etc) by hand or with the aide of Ox drawn plough (not a tractor in sight!).

Our guide took us to the house of a local Flower H’Mong family, who genorously invited us in, and we spent an hour or so chatting with the aide of our guide. When we asked the woman where her husband was she told us that he should have been back a couple of hours ago, but was probably getting drunk down at the market with his mates! It’s nice to know that no matter where you are in the world, there is a constant of an angry Women waiting for you when you return from having a few bevvies with your pals! On the way back down to Bac Ha, we stopped in to visit the former H’Mong Kings house, the locals have long since converted the former coutyard into a Badmington court, which provided the entertainment as we strolled around the abandoned palace. On the final leg back into town we had to dodge several men stumbling home along the road after an afternoon on the rice wine down at the market!

Next day we were given a lift high up into the mountains from where we jumped back on our bikes and spent the morning cruising back down the 20kms or so to town. Again, the scenery was spectacular, and being well and truly off the beaten track, nearly everyone we passed stood in amazement at the sight of these two huge westerners on mountain bikes. Once the shock had worn off the locals seemed genuinely excited to see us and we would always exchange an attempt to say hello to each other, and often stop to play around with our camera, which provided endless entertainment! In the afternoon we cruised another 30kms (thankfully all downhill) to a small isolated village which is where we were to stay the night with a local family of Tay people. The house in which we were staying was the only one in the village with electricity, and when we arrived, pretty much everyone from the village was huddled into the front room of the house to watch a Chinese martial arts soap opera. There was much drinking (green tea) and smoking going on, and everyone was completly absorbed in the plot of the soap. After the show finished, the electricity was turned off again, and all the guests filed out of the house no doubt to return for tomorrows episode!

After that we took a boat trip with our hosts down the river to ‘Fairy Cave’, where the village people (not of YMCA fame) had hidden and lived during the brief war with China in 1979. The scenery was pretty nice, but given it was dry season, our boat kept running aground in the river, which was literally only ankle deep in places. We often had to jump out and push the boat back to deeper water, a task which wasn’t difficult, but was slightly un-nerving given we kept seeing Viper Snakes a couple of meters long cruising around in the water! It only seemed to be us who were running aground however, as other boats passed by with no problems. Either the guy driving our boat didn’t know what he was doing, or whatever it was he had been smoking earlier on in the afternoon was seriously effecting his judgement! When we got back to the house, I went down to the local stream to take a bath (when in Rome!), whilst Charlotte looked on, before settling down for dinner. After dinner we sat around for a while drinking rice wine with the family. Rice wine is grim stuff, but not wanting to offend our hosts Charlotte declined after the first shot leaving me to tuck away a good few shots of the paint stripper strengh brew! As the sun went down, and having used all the available electricity watching the TV earlier, it was off to bed as it was too dark to do anything else. It was about 6pm, rock and roll!

On our final day, we were driven to Coc Ly to visit a smaller scale version of the Bac Ha market. After this we were back on the bikes for the 40km journey back to Lao Cai, from where we were to get the night train back to Hanoi that evening. During the afternoon cycling we were right up against the border with China. I was really tempted to wade across the red river to the other side to set foot in China, but after our guide told us this could land me in jail for a couple of months, I decided it was probably best not to! We did not get to cross the border, so had to be content that it was as close as we will get to China on this trip! When we arrived back into Lao Cai, we had a couple of hours to kill before our train left for the capital, thankfully our guide had arranged for us to have use of a room in a guesthouse, so we could take a much needed shower!

As we boarded the first class cabin of the sleeper train back to Hanoi, we were left to reflect on a great 3 days of cycling in the border region, which gave us the opportunity to take in some of the most spectacular scenery of our entire trip to date. The market at Bac Ha and the colourful Flower H’Mong people were also a great experience, although probably best avoided by dog lovers!

23 March 2007

After a twelve hour night train fom Hue to Hanoi we checked into our hotel in Hanoi’s Old Quarter and caught up with some much needed sleep. We spent our first day doing what we usually do when we arrve in a new city – walking aroud and getting our bearings.

Street Food – Hanoi Style

At the end of a long day walking around the various roads and lanes which each seem to sell a different type of product, ie. the washing powder street, the sunglasses street etc etc, stopping for beer and smoothie breaks and generally watching the world go by, we ended up at Hoan Kiem Lake which is where the nightly water puppets shows are held.

Chris by the lake

Moto Mayhem

Family of five on Moto

We were not really that bothered about seeing the water puppets, but as it is an ancient Vietnamese Art which dates bck to the 10th Century and seeing as we were in the area we joined the queue. We eventually made it to the front to find the tickets were sold out but a tout came to our rescue and sold us two tickets at face value …where was the catch? Well it became evident when we took our seats; me in row B and Chris is row E, that they were the last tickets of the day.

The water puppetry is performed in a pool of water with the water surface being the stage. The puppeteers, who train for approximately 3 years, stand behind a screen and control the puppets using long bamboo rods and string mechanism hidden beneath the water surface. The puppets are carved out of wood and often weigh up to 15 kg. A traditional Vietnamese orchestra provides background music accompaniment. Singers of Cheo (a form of opera) sing songs which tell the story being acted out by the puppets.

The puppeteers

The show was entertaining, even if we could not understand the commentary, moving fast enough to hold our limited attention spans. Each scene was a short skit which covered farming, fishing, swimming and a number of other activities. I think we both ended up surprised by how much we enjoyed the hour show and felt we had well and truly ‘got our moneys worth’.

Also on our agenda whilst staying in Hanoi was a visit to see Ho Chi Minh at the Mausoleum. We dressed appropriately the next morning (no shorts and no sandals) and headed out on the walk across the city to the Mausoleum only to find we had well and truly mis-timed our visit and the place was shut for the day (strangeley the place shuts at 11am on the days when it is actually open). Disapointed our trek had been in vain and we didn’t get to see the preserved body of the former Communist dictator we commandeered a cyclo to take us back to our hotel.

On our way back we were slowly chugging along (speed is not something that can be expected when some poor Vietnamese guy who could only be weighing in at 10 stones max is having to power himself and us two heavy weights along) when we noticed a small crowd of people staring at something on the road. As we passed by we found out they were staring at the body of a young man (maybe in his thirties) lying in the road. Our cyclo driver said he was sleeping but having seen the man’s grey face and no signs of breathing we questioned this only for the driver to reply ‘Mafia’ ….’Opium’. Disturbed by the sight we continued back to our hotel having been disapointed not to see the dead man we had set out to see and disturbed to see another.

20th March 2007

As the rain came down in Hoi An, we broke our vow to never get on another Vietnamese bus, and headed north to the former capital city Hue (pronounced like Howay, as in Howay the Lads).

Thankfully, Hue was only 4 hours drive from Hoi An (its amazing how travelling changes your perspective of journey times, a 4 hour bus trip now feels like your just popping out to the local shops!). The other good news about arriving in Hue, was that it is on the main North – South train line, as were the rest of our planned stops in Vietnam, so this really was the last bus trip we would have to endure!

Hue dosen’t have too much going for it. There is an old citadel (which we wandered around), some Pagodas (which we skipped) and the DMZ cafe, which sells first class chocolate mousse (which we sampled twice!). However, the main reason for our stop off in Hue was to pick up a trip to the surrounding countryside, the scene of the main fighting during the Vietnam War.

Hue is located just outside the former Demilitarised Zone, a 10km wide stretch of land that used to split Vietnam in two, passing from the coast to the border with Loas, either side of the Ben Hai River. The River used to form the demarcation line between North and South Vietnam, and the Demilitarised Zone was set up to prevent the armies of the two sides getting too close to each other. As tensions mounted and the Americans arrived, the Demilitarised Zone ironically became the most militarised place on the planet.

We chose to visit the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ – note to our allies from across the Atlantic, this is prononced DMZ, not DMZeeee, despite what you learned on Sesame Street) on a guided tour which left Hue at 6.30am. We headed first to the Ben Hai River, saw an old bridge (which used to be painted half red, and half yellow) with gaurd towers on either side. The original loud speakers are still on the towers which were used during the war to transmit propoganda messages.

From here we crossed into the former North Vietnam and headed to the Vinh Moc tunnels. There are 2.8kms of underground tunnels here, and unlike Chu Chi, which we visited previously, the tunnels have been left as they were, not altered for the tourists. Having nearly cried like a big girl in the tunnels at Chu Chi (Well done to Uncle Jack, who despite being a Charlton fan was brave enough to take on the entire Chu Chi tunnel experience!), I was ready to sit out the tunnel tour, but we were assured by our guide that these tunnels were much more spacious than Chu Chi, and thankfully he was right! The Vinh Moc tunnels were bigger than Chu Chi as they were used for living in, rather than fighting, and the impressive network included a hospital, (including a maternity wing where 20 children were born during the conflict), classrooms, etc etc.

After the tunnels we got back on our bus and headed out along Highway 1, past the former American base at Doc Mieu and countless war cemeteries with thousands of identical, aligned headstones, very sobering. After lunch we moved onto Highway 9, and further inland to visit ‘The Rockpile’, which used to be a strategic lookout for the Americans, but now has reverted to simply being a pile of rocks. We also saw the Dakrong Bridge which was a critical part of the Ho Chi Minh trail, used by the North to supply its fighters as they moved South.

Finally, we visited the ‘Khe Sanh Combat Base’ which was the scene for a famous siege in 1968 which cost the lives of 500 Americans and 10,000 North Vietnamese troops. There is very little of the base still in tact today, but as the mists rolled in from the surrounding hills, the area had a very, very eerie feeling about it. There was also a small museum here, with a comments book in which many Vietnam Veterans have recorded there thoughts about the conflict on their subsequent return, which made for very moving reading.

And that was just about it, we returned to Hue, from where the following night we would depart on the night train (how exciting!) to Hanoi. OK, so our trip to Hue and the DMZ will not feature in the hightlights of our year away, but we did get to learn some history of the war, which will stick in the mind much more having visited the battlefields.

18th March 2007

From Nha Trang it was another overnight bus journey to our next destination, Hoi An, as we continued our journey North through Vietnam. Night busses are really cheap here, but unlike the luxury of South American long haul busses, in Vietnam, you get what you pay for!

So, after 10 hours with no air con, no toilet (not good after suspecting I ate dog for lunch the previous day!), a broken seat, the ever honking horn, and surprisingly no sleep, we left the bus at Hoi An and made a vow to never, ever, never, ever, never, ever get on another overnight bus in Vietnam again!

Thankfully, despite the traumas of our journey, Hoi An proved to be well worth it! Our $10 a night accomodation budget even stretching to pad with a swimming pool, cable tv (although this meant I got to watch Newcastle lose 2-0 to Charlton!) and mini bar, happy days!

Hoi An is billed as a ‘shoppers paradise’ as it is one of the cheapest places on the planet to buy tailor made clothes! The city itself is relatively quiet by Vietnamese standards (i.e. only 2,000 motorbikes per sqaure inch), with gorgeous old buildings and cobbled streets.

Having read all this before we arrived, I must admitt Charlotte was looking forward to our time in Hoi An more than me. However I agreed to spend a couple of days here safe in the knowledge that I would earn enough Brownie points to last the rest of our trip, and maybe even roll over a weekend or two when we get home!

In reality, I’m ashamed to say that we both really enjoyed our time shopping in Hoi An! I discovered that buying clothes is actually ok if they are being tailor made, and you can sneak to the pub for a couple of lagers in between fittings! Unfortunatley, the shops accepted credit cards, so we ended up getting a little carried away (surprise surprise!) and ordering a complete new work wardrobe for when we get home (fingers crossed the Vietnamese post service is reliable!).

We chose to do our shopping in Yalay, and Thu Thuy shops, which despite being relatively more expensive, provided fantastic service, and made the best suits and shirts I have ever seen (and I have shopped in Geordie Jeans before you know!). The tailors of Hoi An are extremely talented, you can choose any design of clothes or shoes, select your material, and within 2/3 days you have a perfect fitting, carbon copy for significantly less than you would pay at home!

The town itself has a unique feel, with every building housing either a clothes / shoe shop, the workers producing the material or the cutters and tailors making the alterations. The click clack of the old fashioned looms that work all night to produce the material provides the sound track to a Hoi An evening. Suits and jackets replace the usual pigs and chickens as the main cargo on the back of the motorbikes that fly around the tight streets all day and night!

In the end we spent 4 great days, lazily wondering around Hoi An centre, we didn’t even make it to the beach which was only 4kms away! The evenings were spent eating great food (including fantastic desserts!) at the Cargo Club overlooking the river. On our last day in Hoi An, the heavens opened, and we were treated to our first rain since Australia, nearly 3 months ago! It would take much more than a bit of rain though to stop the Hoi An locals going about their tailoring business as they simply pull on the ponchos, or drive one handed on their motos whilst taking shelter under an unmbrella!

Without doubt, Hoi An has been our favourite place in Vietnam so far. The town centre has some great old buildings and there is a great feel to the place, oh, and the clothes aren’t bad either!