Hanoi, Halong, Hue, Hoi An
Monday, July 20th, 2009
We’ve now been in Vietnam for about 10 days. We flew into Hanoi from Laos and it didn’t take long for us to realise how different Vietnam is from our experiences of South-East Asia so far. Everything and everyone is faster, meaner and way more rude. We stayed in the Old Quarter of Hanoi which is filled with streets selling everything you can imagine. They seem to be organised according to what they’re selling, so you get a whole block of sunglasses, then a whole block of plastic toys or t-shirts or tools or whatever. It was fascinating to wander, but very exhausting especially with the stifling heat and the huge numbers of motorbikes you have to contend with just crossing the street. Crossing the road is a talent that I haven’t quite perfected. Having traffic driving on the right hand side of the road makes it more of a problem. Tim nearly got wiped out with Charlotte on his shoulders as he stepped out confidently forgetting to look left first instead of right. Very scary! After a couple of hours out on the street it was so nice to retreat to our hotel room and escape the chaos.
So far we’ve found Vietnam quite hard work. We feel as if everyone is trying to rip us off and we have to constantly be on our guard. In Hanoi I had a bit of an incident with a shop owner which was quite amusing. I went into a guesthouse that advertised international calls. At that moment there was a power cut so she said I could use her mobile and that it would cost the same. She very clearly quoted the price per minute and then dialled the number for me. I talked for about 10 minutes and then went to pay. She was all friendly and told me the amount to pay her and then suddenly she saw that she’d made a mistake and that her phone credit had gone down more than she had expected and she went nuts! She started yelling at me and telling me I was a bad, crazy lady! I don’t like confrontation and don’t get stroppy easily but after a couple of days in Hanoi I was ready for a fight! So after lots of her yelling, telling complete lies about the price she quoted and me telling her that NO, she is lying and dishonest, I just said “Goodbye!” and walked as fast as possible back to our hotel, occasionally looking behind just to check she wasn’t chasing me! We had lots of similar incidents which make life hard work. It’s all part of the experience, though, seeing how different people are and wondering why cultures are the way they are.
While in Hanoi we went to a water puppetry theatre one night and a circus another. The circus was more like a stage show and was Ali Babar, Vietnamese style. It was a real ‘old style’ circus with monkeys riding bikes and en elephant balancing on one foot.
After 3 nights in Hanoi we booked a trip up to Halong Bay which is probably one of the ‘must see’ sights in Vietnam. The tour was for a night on a boat cruising in the bay, checking out the islands , swimming, kayaking and going to a cave. Well, after the 3 hour ride by mini-bus we then queued with hundreds of people who were all getting on boats like we were. The difference was that we had all our bags,(we decided not to leave most of our bags back in Hanoi as most people do, in case we stayed longer up at Halong Bay. There was so much waiting around and so many boats and no one really telling us what was going on. Anyway, we FINALLY got out in the bay and the scenery was stunning, huge limestone cliffs and over 3000 islands of various sizes. We had lunch and dinner on the boat and we had two rooms, our one even had a bathroom. We all got to jump off the boat into the sea which was awesome even though we only got to swim at about 7pm and the girls had been waiting all day. Michaella got stung by a jellyfish which was a bit of a bummer. That night we were told that a storm was coming so first thing in the morning we’d have to head back early along with the hundreds of other boats. At first we thought they were tricking us and just trying to shorten the trip but a storm was really coming and the other boats were all heading back too. Our boat seemed on a mission to be the first boat back so we were woken at 5.45am, given breakfast, and then dumped on the pier by about 8.30am. So, the trip was a bit of a disappointment really, not just because we came back early but just the lack of organisation and waiting around. I guess also, because Halong Bay is promoted as this beautiful spot to see, you have huge expectations and while it is awesome it’s so commercialised that it has been spoiled by so many boats and tourists everywhere.
Because we had planned to stay up north after the tour, we hadn’t booked the bus back to Hanoi. With the weather not going to be great for a few days we decided to head back to Hanoi for a night before we headed south for Hue down on the Central Vietnam coast. Booking a bus back was a mission but we finally got a bus (which again involved Tim fighting about seats and money) and we held on tight for yet another scary bus ride with the scariest overtaking moves yet. We arrived back in Hanoi, just ready for the afternoon downpour which turns the streets into calf deep puddles within about 5 minutes of torrential rain. We jumped into a taxi to avoid the rain and promptly got ripped off by the dodgy meters that run super fast. By this stage in the day I didn’t really care, I just wanted somewhere to stay. We were dumped in the Old Quarter where all the hotels were and Tim went off in the rain to try to find us a room. He came back and said he’d found a place so off we went. After walking in calf deep water in the rain, where we were dodging cockroaches that had been washed out of the drains, we got to the hotel only to be told that sorry the rooms are gone now. Fortunately, they found somewhere for us which was out of the centre a bit but they took us in a taxi and paid for it! Amazing! I wish I could have managed to get the camera out when we were all walking along in the deep water because we did look very amusing. The six of us and all of our bags, slushing our way through the streets of Hanoi was quite a sight and we were getting lots of laughs from locals and foreigners too! We finally reached our hotel and collapsed. That was one of the least enjoyable travelling days so far, but definitely a memorable one!
That night we booked tickets for the overnight train for the following night heading to Hue, down on the coast. We wanted a six berth cabin but when our hotel booked it for us they said they were all full , so instead they booked us a 4 berth which was cheaper, but 2 of us would have to share. We decided that would be fine, but when we boarded the train we found that we didn’t have a 4 berth to ourselves, we had a six berth but only 4 beds, so we had to share with two strangers. Fortunately, they were a really nice couple, a kiwi and a South African, and it was all fine.
From this point on we started to enjoy Vietnam a lot more. It’s true what everyone says, the further south you go, the more open and friendly people are. We spent a couple of nights in Hue, a really pretty town which we explored on bikes. We spent an afternoon at the beach just relaxing, or trying to at least, quite hard to do with so many people trying to sell us something though.
From there we caught the train 3 hours south to Hoi An which is where we are now, and LOVING it! The train ride was spectacular as it followed the coast and below we could see the white sandy beaches and rice fields. The girls were very excited to see the beautiful sea and couldn’t wait to get swimming!
Hoi An is a gorgeous town full of history with old Chinese buildings, over 600 tailor shops that make the most amazing clothes and to top it all off, fantastic white sandy beaches with coconut palms and gentle surf. At night, the town is lit up with lanterns on all the old buildings and it is stunning.
The beach is about 5km’s from town so we hired bikes and rode there. Maddie had a wipeout and got some nasty grazes on her leg. I came round the corner and there she was in the gravel on the side of the road with a little Vietnamese man running out to her rescue. He came over with clean water and and cleaned it all up. Just as we were about to go, he said, “No wait, medicine is coming!”Then another man on a motorbike arrived with first-aid gear and he then did a bit more cleaning up. He didn’t even ask for money for his help. It’s horrible that that went through our minds, but it was quite a surprise for someone to do something nice here without asking for something in return. In Hanoi, Tim asked someone where an ATM machine was and the guy told him and then asked for money for telling him! So, Vietnam is growing on us. We’re having lots of positive encounters with people now and that changes everything. Our time here in Hoi An has been very refreshing, there’s nothing like the beach to chill you out! (especially when the temperature is 35degrees in the shade!)
Just in case you all think we’re doing nothing except sit on the beach, I must tell you that we have been doing a bit of schoolwork here. Yesterday, Tim did a ‘lesson’ on the Vietnam War(known as the American War here). He found a great site on the internet which showed all sorts of photos of the area we’re in. It was fascinating for the girls (and us) to see the beach we’re at, with American troops landing on it and running through the rice fields etc. The beach we’re at is the iconic China Beach where the American troops spent a bit of time during R and R times during the war. Occasionally we see older Vietnamese amputees and I wonder what happened to them and how they felt about the war. I only wish we could have a conversation with some of them.
Yesterday we hired a motorbike and joined the locals in seeing how many family members we can get on one bike. Tim ferried us to the beach. First he took Charlotte and me, then came back for the big girls. I was a bit of a nervous passenger at first, but I must admit I’m quite enjoying it now. For $5 a day for a motorbike it’s such a good way to get around. Tim’s trying to convince me to drive one so we can all go out at one time. I’m not so sure.
In the next couple of days we’ll leave here and head for Nha Trang which is again a beachy town with lots of fun stuff to do, so we’ll probably hang out there for a while. We’ll then make our way to Saigon and arrange getting to Cambodia. We’ve arranged with World Vision to meet our sponsored child and her family on August 5th which is quite exciting. We spend the whole day, first visiting the office and hearing about the work in the area and then meeting Samreth and her family and having lunch together.
We’re also now planning the Europe part of our trip. We’ve discovered Germany is the cheapest place to hire campervans(way cheaper) and also discovered 1 Euro flights to and from London(actually about $35 flights with all the other costs) but still the cheapest option, so we’re going to fly to Frankfurt, hire a camper and drive around Europe for a month. It will be lots of driving but we can’t wait. We’re looking forward to having our own transport and ability to cook for ourselves. Of course, this plan could well change by that time but at this stage that’s the plan.
Don’t forget to check out the ‘more photos’ link.
………will post photos on here later today
kim