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Hong Kong – Phooey

Tuesday, August 8th, 2006

Will this be my shortest blog entry ever? (Stop cheering). In a nutshell, I just wanted to yet again use and abuse the FREE internet access at Hong Kong Airport. Yes, against all odds, I arrived in Hong Kong (via Bangkok and Macau – I’ll blog more about the journey soon), and have spent another happy 24 hours here. Felt like home straight away. Even the airport is marvellous. I’ll say it again – come to Hong Kong. Take my car, please. OK, if I had one, but the intention is the same. Do it now and you won’t regret it.

Posted in China, Travel | 1 Comment »

Vietnam – Final Thoughts

Saturday, August 5th, 2006

Hmmm.  A tricky one, this. At the end of a month in Vietnam, I seem to have a different overall view of the country to most of my friends who were here at the same time. I don’t know if I’d say it’s been my favourite country in Asia – in fact, I’m sure I wouldn’t – but I still think it’s pretty great.  So many people are completely disillusioned with it that I wonder am I missing something but, you know what?  This is MY blog, for MY opinions (picture, if you will, me stamping my foot while I say that), so I’m about to offload them all right here.  

I still don’t know why the discrepancy is occurring.  A couple of people have had things stolen which, admittedly, would put a real downer on a place – I know a few other people who have been here in the recent past and have had things go walkabout, as well.  I haven’t, as far as I’m aware, had anything taken, so yes I’m probably lucky in that aspect.  A lot of people have issues with the scams, the hassles, and the bad attitude that tends to be around – especially around the tourist industry.  And yes, I have seen all these, and been at the wrong end of some of them.  But still, I like it here.  I don’t think I’m so stupidly optimistic that all I see is good in a place – in fact, cynicism is one of my worst faults – but I think that Vietnam deserves a chance.  And I’ve been in Asia for five months solid now, so I don’t think that it’s either naivety about the continent nor a honeymoon period.  My eyes are well and truly open, and yet I say – give it a chance.

My biggest gripe with Vietnam is one that’s entirely my own fault.  I don’t feel like I’ve got to see enough of the ‘real’ Vietnam as I have of other countries I’ve been to.  To be honest, I haven’t made the effort.  The tourist buses ply the well-worn route from north to south and vice versa, hitting the popular places, and nowhere in between.  This is so easy – and so cheap – that I’ve not tried at all to get off route, with the exception of going up to Sapa.  And yes, we were almost stung by an unscrupulous travel agent, but going to the train station proved how easy it is to get about under your own steam here.  I’m annoyed with myself, if anything, that I didn’t try to go it alone more often.

On the plus side, this has meant making loads and loads of new friends, and cementing some older friendships.  Because of the shape of the country (basically, long and thin), and the relatively standard time frames (here we get a one month visa, and most backpackers stay more or less the whole month), it’s very easy to meet people doing the same route in the same time as you.  Even if it doesn’t stay exactly that way, it’s likely that you’ll end up knowing people a couple of days ahead, and a couple of days behind you, and often overlap in lots of places with them – with most people converging at either Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi at either end.  I’ve made some legendary friends here, not only because they are sterling people in their own right, but also because the itinerary has allowed us to spend more time together than might have otherwise happened in a different shaped country.  God bless geography!

This has, of course, meant that Vietnam’s been a very sociable country, and some of the highlights have been nights out with new-found friends.  So, in a way, I guess I traded off a deeper knowledge of the country for friends.  And I don’t regret it one little bit (and I’m not just saying that because they’ll be reading this).  I couldn’t do it for much longer – after all I’m getting very old now – but thinking back to Vietnam will always bring a smile to my face.

Because it’s one of the more touristy places, and is getting very well set up for organised tours (not my cup of Vietnamese leaf tea at all, but each to their own), it’s one of the places I’ve visited so far that I would, without hesitation, recommend to people at home to visit.  It’s very easy to get around here and, as long as you keep your wits about you, is a safe place.

There are scams, of course.  Friends of mine experienced horrible bus journeys, we suffered at the hands of unscrupulous travel agents, too many things were stolen.  Unfortunately, it seems to be those in the tourist industry who are taking advantage.  This is horribly wrong and cynical – I have no objection to spending my money in a country, but targeting visitors is one sure fire way to stop them coming at all.  And yet – if I can be allowed to understand it without condoning it in the slightest – these people have, within the last 40 years, suffered utterly at the hands of a Western superpower.  They are still, by our standards, exceedingly, hideously poor.  So, presumably due to a combination of the two, they see us, no matter what kind of a low budget we are on, still able to afford both a passport and an air ticket to visit another country – beyond the wildest dreams of a lot of the Vietnamese people, for whom life is very much a day to day struggle.  Like I say, not condoning, nothing can excuse it, but perhaps understanding could help to change things.  Getting mad at someone who hassles you on the street (and I’m pointing the finger more at myself here than anyone else – I shouted at a cyclo driver who physically grabbed me to put me in his cyclo) will not, ever, change a culture.  What can be done?  I’m not sure, but I’m sure wiser people than me would have some ideas.

As well as meeting so many friends, there have been some memorable highlights in Vietnam that I will treasure.  Crossing the road through the insane traffic in HCMC and Hanoi and – miraculously – surviving.  The Easy Rider motorbike tour in DaLat.  Drinking in the lush scenery in Sapa.  Kayaking in the pouring rain in Halong Bay.  Best of all, though, was meeting the wonderful, welcoming family of tailors in Hoi An.  Not only did they make beautiful clothes (all arrived safely home now, thank goodness), but they welcomed us into their family in a way I’ve never experienced.  It was incredible and heart-warming and that shop remains my favourite place in Vietnam.  So was I just lucky?  I suppose yes, in one way, because I met them.  I have no doubt, though, that they would have extended that hospitality to everyone they met.  And I think that is the thing that makes me smile most.

Posted in Final Thoughts, Travel, Vietnam | Comments Off on Vietnam – Final Thoughts

Hanoi – And then there was one

Saturday, August 5th, 2006
After returning from Halong Bay to Hanoi, we caught up with Rich and Dean, but I was sorry to hear that my Canadian buddy Jamie had decided to give up on Vietnam and head over to Thailand before he tackles ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Travel, Vietnam | 2 Comments »

Halong Bay – Wet, wet, wet

Saturday, August 5th, 2006
Before I even came to Vietnam, Halong Bay was one of the places I was most looking forward to seeing. A world UNESCO site, the photos I'd seen had shown gloriously turquoise waters nestling stunning steep islands, appearing as ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Travel, Vietnam | 1 Comment »

Hanoi – The puppet master

Friday, August 4th, 2006
Something that we had to do, apparently, in Hanoi, was to go and see the water puppets.  To be honest, I was fairly ambivalent about it; it sounded more of a children's thing.  Not that this has ever stopped me, ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Travel, Vietnam | 1 Comment »

Hanoi – Rocks!

Thursday, August 3rd, 2006
We got back to Hanoi unhindered by shoddy journeys (a first, perhaps, for me?), and went to the same hotel in the Old Quarter that Dean, Rich, Pete, James and El were staying at.  Our plan was to go and see ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Travel, Vietnam | 1 Comment »

Sapa – The hills are alive

Thursday, August 3rd, 2006
I was really looking forward to getting up to Sapa, in the mountainous north-west of Vietnam.  It was gaining almost 'The Beach' - like mysticism about it - I'd never met anyone else who'd been, but almost everyone knew someone ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Travel, Vietnam | 3 Comments »

Hanoi – Downhill

Thursday, August 3rd, 2006
Getting on the night bus from Hue heading for Hanoi we should have known it was too god to be true. For ages we were going great guns. We were having actual fun (unknown on night buses), with ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Travel, Vietnam | 1 Comment »

Hue – Chocoholic

Wednesday, August 2nd, 2006
After our emotional goodbye to the gorgeous family at Diem Diem, we crawled onto the 8am bus with a heavy heart.  Nothing we'd seen or done so far in Vietnam could come close to that; we were also in some ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Travel, Vietnam | 1 Comment »

Hoi An – How I fell in love and it was lovely lovely

Tuesday, July 25th, 2006
Hoi An was the place I was most excited about going to in Vietnam.  Not only, I'd heard, was it a gorgeous, quaint old town (a world heritage site, no less) with apparently the best beach in Vietnam, but it ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Travel, Vietnam | 9 Comments »

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