Sin jow Vietnam

Day 204 - Sunday 3 August 2008

Wow - where's that week and more gone - the frenetic pace of life here in Vietnam must be seeping into my system - for it's just that - aside from when people are asleep between 23:00 and 05:00 these people are on the go - working hard, turning another country into a rapidly evolving capitalist society and making travel pretty easy - you need a bus ticket booking at 22:00 - no wuckers - a phone call is made and it's done - or maybe time's flying because I'm tandem travelling for the first time this trip

Lucy, an old work colleague from Staffordshire, (and a multi-tripped traveller) has decided to spend her Summer hols checking out South East Asia - a place I just happen to be in (actually, it was a bit more planned than that!) - so after the longest ever wait for bags at Hanoi Airport (I'm sure the cabbie thought I'd made up my imaginary friend after over an hour) I was no longer dining alone at night, I'd heard all about the imminent recession in England and the latest on the world of sports development (or the education sector of it Lucy!) a year after I left it - it's great to have someone to share the exploring and it's travelling in a different context with a different feeling - in fact it all feels a bit too easy!











But maybe that's because of the way travel is set up here in Vietnam - the people have fast learned about the tourism industry and everyone wants your business - it's fiercely competitive - and everything's packaged into tours - you can book at a million different outlets in any city (your hotel are always the keenest!) but you know damn well you'll end up on the same boat at the same time with the same guide - just hope you paid the best price - yesterday someone had paid 50% more than us - but at least the money's being shared around (the commission portion) and we're only talking minimal pounds

So Hanoi was a dream - the Old Quarter around Hoan Kiem Lake is old Asia at it's finest - and I was surprised at how comfortable I immediately felt walking across a city street teeming with motorbikes who see the pedestrian crossing but ignore it - and often the lights as well - it's a case of look straight at the oncoming barrage, make/keep eye contact with the drivers, always be moving and get ready to walk up and down the road as well as across it - imagine Frogger without a Sinclair Spectrum and higher stakes - there you go - you've got it! - in fact I'm feeling very Second World content - I use sun screen and deet more than deodorant and moisturiser - I barely notice the rubble in the streets - I've taken my first ever pillion ride on a taxi moped - and I can politely refuse that vendor's drink in Vietnamese automatically - my Cub Scout travel badges are well and truly stitched onto my arm!
















In Hanoi we visited the Temple of Literature - the oldest sight I've seen yet in Vietnam - built in the 11th Century it served as a university for generations of ancient scholars

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Literature

The subtle differences in the styles of these treasures are interesting as I move across Asia - here the walls are all painted in yellow, there's a hefty use of ceramic tiling, dragons are in abundance, elephants have appeared for the first time and turtles are massively symbolic - most strikingly everything's soooo crumbly - Vietnam's continual success in repelling it's invaders (of which they're rightly proud and have venerated Ho Chi Minh in a remarkable scale) has resulted in buildings looking three times their age!

We also strolled around Hanoi's equivalent to the Mall and it's huge open green space that surrounds the Presidential Palace and Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum - it was remarkably quiet around 15:30 when we arrived and my thermometer hit a record high for this trip of 38C (a slight anomaly perhaps having sat on a hot concrete kerb for a break!) - but when the sun went in the locals came out to play and it was suddenly packed with walkers, runners, badminton players (they love it here!) and hangers around - the Mausoleum is quite something by the way - we didn't go inside and see Ho - but we did get some great photos of the Parthenon inspired structure (which will appear here when I find a better internet connection!) - and I also got whistled at (told to move) by a Vietnamese policeman with a big gun when I stepped a pace too close towards Ho's resting place!
















I got an insti-tan (sun burn's name a few days after the stinging's subsided) when we visited the Perfume Pagoda outside Hanoi - two roasting bus rides framed an even hotter journey in an Austrian made gondola to a Buddhist temple in a secluded cave built into the Huong Tich Mountain - very atmospheric and I felt like a real pilgrim when we walked back down off the mountain to the river (the other 20 people in our group took the gondola back down but not us - how else can you feel like an elderly Buddhist monk!) - the only way to reach the cave is by a big metal boat rowed effortlessly by a Vietnamese woman who'll make you feel wonderful while you enjoy the spectacular scenery - and then make you feel bad when you're asked for more money no matter how much you put in her hand for a tip

And for that reason you have to be on your toes here - for the people are bright, cheerful, welcoming, chatty and the finest scammers I've met yet - they don't simply try to increase your price of everything like they do in South America - they're more creative and interact with you a lot more - like the woman who ask you to buy a cold drink for your taxi driver because it's hot only to pocket the money and her husband (the driver) to stick the drink back in her hand ready for the next person - I have to say there's some assumption here because I didn't see this plan to it's full fruition (I refused the drink) - but I must be getting a bit wise and travel hardened because I kind of love the people for their cheekiness - you can get stuck in - have a bit of fun - turn them down politely and walk away without being chased down the street - and having said all this - I may well get caught out this afternoon!

If you're ever in Hanoi you must stay at The Ritz Hotel - River, Spring and baby Brave gave us the best customer service I've experienced anywhere on this planet - very low if zero commission and always sound advice and bookings - they sorted everything for us - and always as if there was nothing more in the world they wanted to do at that time than help us - so when we left I helped them

Leaving was a trip to Ha Long Bay (check it out on the UNESCO ultimate list!) and a 3 day/2 night luxury (Vietnamese style) boat trip and beach hut retreat - wow - a dense collection of limestone karts jutted out of the South China Sea and were back dropped by an orange glow that licked the ones on the horizon at twilight - it was memorable - and I take some impressing these days - it was everything I expected and more - we kayaked into Lan Hah Bay through caves with bats flying around and heard monkeys screech from their dense undergrowth hideouts - and I tomb stoned off the top of our old junk into the emerald green sea below (whacking the old Queensburys on one occasion courtesy of poor form!) - we then transferred to Cat Onh Island and stayed in a wooden, elevated beach hut where the sea, at high tide, pretty much went underneath where we slept - the food was brilliantly sea foody and a million courses long - all eaten on the beach under candle light and in the company of a Chris Jackson dopple ganger called Feargal from Ireland - there had to be a catch in there somewhere - that's a Chris Jackson gag - not a slight on the Irish - who are in Vietnam in their hundreds!
















It seems that the north of Vietnam is place to be for this country's raw beauty - for on our last day in Ha Long Bay we whizzed across to Cat Ba Island and Cat Ba National Park - this place was described in the Lonely Planet as being straight out of Jurassic Park - I wouldn't say that - it's hills just aren't big enough - they're just that - hills not mountains - but they are steep and similarly green, lush and potentially full of weird and wonderful creatures (we saw a cracking black and yellow big spider!)

A trip to a hospital hewn into a secluded (and never discovered by the other side) cave gave us our first look at the history of the American War (remember they see it from the other side here) - to be fair - I'm not overly fussed by it all - I do need to see some of it to understand Vietnam - but that's all I'll need - a taste - I've read up, I know it's a north v south civil dispute where communism is backing one side and capitalism is backing the other - it ended - way too many people died - and thank all idols that it's over and these people have survived it to be so intriguing

On Cat Ba Island we then cycled over 10km along brilliantly rolling hills (where downhill was always more than uphill) in a monsoonal downpour! - hammering downhill quickly on mountain bike ride number 3 of this adventure was fun - even if the spray and sheet rain made visibility a problem - but soakings in this part of the world are welcome when you're constantly searching for the next way to cool down - in reality - I'm loving the climate - yes - I do search for air con in a hotel so I can sleep comfortably at night - but being sweaty's all part of the fun - I told Trailfinders I wanted to be freezing and oppressively hot on my travels - my wish has been granted!











And now I sit and type from Hue - (just 35 quid for a quick flight that we took from Hanoi) - Hue was Vietnam's capital from 1802 for over a century when Emperor Gia Long united the country and started the Nguyen dynasty - consequently there's a fabulous 18th century citadel and Imperial Palace that's been knackered but by a combination of restoration and your imagination has retained it's character and bygone city feel - plenty of walking ruins on a sunny day and I was in my element - and so was Lucy to be fair - she's a bloody good photographer with a bloody good camera - and her influence must be rubbing off - my volume of shots has gone through the roof here in Vietnam!

Yesterday we jumped into another tour and for just under 2 quid took a dragon boat up the Perfume River (for dragon boat read normal motor boat with two metal sculpted and garishly painted dragons adorning the front of it!) - nestled right up against the banks of the river was Vietnam's most iconic structure called the Thien Mu Pagoda - a brilliant location overlooking the river and hazy mountains in the background

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thien_Mu_Pagoda

But the most impressive (and new exploring experience for me) were the Tombs (can't remember doing one in this context before!) of Tu Duc and Minh Mang - they sat just off the river bank and were used as retreats by the Emperors and Empresses and then places to worship their souls - the Tu Duc Tomb was especially amazing sitting in the heart of a pine forest and with a wooden pavilion by a lake where concubines would hang out while waiting for their latest dalliance with the Emperor - I wonder if the Empress had the same opportunity!

These tombs had amazing welcoming courtyards where intricately detailed grey statues of elephants, horses and mandarins (the Emperor's/Empresses' advisers and government officials) stood proudly next to each other - straight out of Narnia!
















And we're bang up to date - Vietnam's immediately showing off South East Asia's history (that's not really as ancient as I'd like to believe) and it's whetting my appetite for more - literally - the food here is incredible - flavourful, wholesome, piping hot, very cheap and tasty - providing you like rice ...