Halong Bay

Hanoi, Vietnam, 29 June 2008
Halong Bay, Vietnam, 30 June 2008

Having learnt our lessons in Phnom Penh and Saigon we were determined not to get bogged down in Hanoi for any longer than was absolutely necessary. First stop - Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. The guy had asked to be cremated but against his wishes he lies here in a glass case while millions (and I mean millions) of people file past. I doubt he is going to do anything about it at this stage. We were agog at the number of people here, it really was astounding. Then there is the argument "is he real or was Madam Tussuad's given a covert operation?" Either way, it is a must do (I guess) if passing through Hanoi. Next we set about booking a trip to Halong Bay...leaving tomorrow preferably. We opted for a 2 day/1 night trip. You could pay as little as 30 dollars but we had heard a few horror stories concerning the lower end options so we plumped for a bit more comfort and that's precisely what we got. We checked out of our dingy little hotel in Hanoi the following morning and were met by our bright and cheerful guide Son. His English was good and it didn't take us long to feel we had made a good choice.

We had a good sized double cabin on board the Phoenix Cruiser with an en-suite, 2 large windows and our own private deck chair/lounging area out front. But whatever the boat was like it soon paled in comparison to the majestic beauty of Halong Bay. As I sat on the front of the boat i thought "how are we going to describe the beauty of this place in words?" Then I read the Lonely Planets description and that seemed to capture it nicely. "Majestic and mysterious, inspiring and imperious, words alone cannot do justice to the natural wonder that is Halong Bay where 3000 or more incredible islands rise from the emerald waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. Halong Bay is pure art, a priceless collection of unfinished sculptures hewn from the hand of nature". It felt like a land before time. If living dinosaurs were to be found anywhere they would be found here.



















We spent our first day exploring caves, kayaking to secret lagoons and jumping off the boat into the warm, Gulf of Tonkin, waters. The second day we spent entirely on the boat meandering our way slowly and silently through the waters of Halong Bay before, alas, arriving at the pier in Halong town and our awaiting shuttle bus back to Hanoi. We had thought that Halong Bay would be to water what Saigon is to roads - traffic mayhem, but that wasn't the case. Sure, where we moored for the night there were plenty of boats but as we were sailing we only passed a handful of other vessels. I won't go on but will finish by saying that Halong Bay should be a "must-visit" on everyone's itinerary.

Floating Houses in Halong

All the way to Hue

Hue, Vietnam, 27 June 2008

Overnight bus from Hue to Hanoi, 28 June 2008

Then it was on to Hue, a short (4 hour) bus journey up the road. This was nothing more than a stop-off point for us on our way to Hanoi. Many people visit the demilitarised Zone (DMZ) from here but it is a long way out (approx 100km) and we just weren't interested enough. We contented ourselves with a cyclo ride around town followed by a tour of the huge sprawling citadel. Our cyclo driver stopped at part of the old citidel wall that had been modified by the American's during the war & talked of the history with charming use of English expletives.

All very interesting but we were happy to catch the night bus on to Hanoi after spending one day in town.

Like shooting fish in a barrel

Fish Pond in the Citadel

The National Flag is more prevalent in North Vietnam

Hoi An

Hoi An, Vietnam, 22 - 26 June 2008

Overnight Bus from Hoi An to Hue, 27 June 2008

Hoi An is a quaint & attractive town lilluminated by colourful lanterns by night. It was an international trading port as far back as the 17th century & influences from Chinese, Japanese & European culture are well preserved in the local architecture & art. It is a nice place to lay low for a few days, so that's exactly what we decided to do.

Hoi An is also the place to go if you want to get some custom clothes made. You simply would not believe the number of tailoring stores in this town. Fortunately we got talking to an American couple who'd been here a few times. They had learned the hard way that the quality can be frustratingly variable but finally they had found Ya Ly. Ya Ly is quite possibly the worst kept secret in Hoi An, everybody goes there... and rightly so, they are excellent. We started off slow just getting a few small pieces made but once Claire saw how good the quality & attention to detail was she went off the rails completely. I couldn't blame her though, I was getting custom fitted cotton shirts for $15. Madness.

As it was Claire's birthday we went out for a fancy meal that evening. Once we had ordered Claire went to powder her nose. Excellent, just enough time for me to run up to the waitress, give her a couple of candles, order an appropriate dessert and get back to my seat. A few minutes later the waitress came to our table with the menu and told me there was no more Tiger beer, which I had ordered, but she handed me the menu open on the dessert page. Realising what she was telling me, I pointed to the chocolate biscuit cake declaring that I would have a Fosters instead. It all went like clockwork from there. After our meal, which was excellent, we relaxed for a few minutes before Claire stated she would like to see the dessert menu. I asked the waitress to see the menu, wink wink, and moments later Claire's birthday cake arrived. She was completely surprised and couldn't figure out when I could have organised this. We sang Happy Birthday as she blew out the candles and it was a great end to what had been a great day in Hoi An.

As we planned to stay here a few days I, Dave, decided this would be a good time/place to do the advances open water SCUBA course. I booked with Cham Divers, I would be 1:1 with master diver Alex from England. My two days out on the water were really great. Each day there were about 15 people on board and it was a real social affair. Over the two days we did 5 different dives each designed to build on topics that were first introduced during the open water course. Each day we had lunch on Cham Island followed by chill out time on the beach before taking the slow lazy boat ride back to Hoi An.

We had seen posters around town declaring that something Miss Universe related was taking place on 25th June. Sure enough, all the contestants were to be paraded through the streets on cyclos (bike with a seat for one person at the front - see picture). This was clearly an event not to be missed, what luck. We reserved a balcony seat in a nice restaurant & waited with anticipation as the excitement grew. About 8pm the beautiful ladies started coming through. And what an excellent spot we had for viewing the affair. Normal street lighting is very poor so additional floodlights had been arranged. Everything was going well until the first ladies decided to leave the cyclos and walk, then the floodlights blew and everything was in almost complete darkness then the gaps between the contestants became so great that you constantly thought it was all over before a few more forgotten souls would march through and finally, as though to add insult to injury.. the heaven opened for the first time in days and it poured down. Now that's entertainment you just cannot buy.

Meanwhile back at Ya Ly all our tailored clothes were ready and they looked great. We deliberated whether to send home by sea or air but in the end Claire's nerves could never have survives 3-4 months of waiting to hear they had arrived home ok.

I met this charming old man when I was out for a stroll when Dave was diving, he offered to take me a ride in his boat. What a gentleman!

We took an early morning (5am) trip to My Son, the home to Cham ruins.

Nha Trang - the Costa del Sol of Vietnam

Nha Trang, Vietnam, 20 June 2008
Overnight bus from Nha Trang to Hoi An, 21 June 2008

The first thing that struck us as we entered town was the many posters advertising Miss Universe 2008. Now we understood what Peter was trying to tell us when he said... "the model ladies are visiting Vietnam". That's right folks this years pageant will be held right here in Vietnams equivalent of the Costa del Sol and compered by the rather kitsch combination of Jerry Springer & Mel B. To Dave's chagrin the finale wasn't due to take place for another few weeks, doh!

Nha Trang is a beach side town with a very long promenade for romantic strolls. Looking out across the crystal clear water of the South China Sea the time seemed right to re-don the Scuba gear and see what there was to see, see, see at the bottom of the deep blue sea, sea, sea. The following morning, 6;30am, we met at Rainbow Divers HQ before catching a slow boat out to the islands.



Claire, the non-swimmer, spent the morning snorkeling on her own - she is becoming more confident in the water. Meanwhile I did 2 dives and enjoyed being back under the water. The water was warm and the scenery was great. Lot's of coral coupled with an unending variety of fishes. Having not seen any clownfish/nemos when we were at the Great Barrier Reef it was a delight to see the little fellas here tenaciously defending their patch. Claire didn't see any snorkeling so don't mention teh war!

Back in Nha Trang we spent the remainder of the day socialising with a nice English couple, we met on the boat, before catching the night bus to Hoi An.

Central Highlands: Dalat

Dalat, Vietnam, 18 - 19 June 2008

In Saigon we hit a psychological low point. After the dirt of Phnom Penh, the chaos of Saigon and the inability of a global icon like the Mekong Delta t impress we wondered if perhaps we'd had enough of South East Asia. But then we collected & posted our Boteros then caught the first bus out of town & up into the hills of Dalat (guidebook says it is popular with Vietnamese honeymooners). The scenery was once again inspiring and the heat a little less oppressive. We determines to speed up the pace of our travels and endeavour not to get bogged down in a dump like the aforementioned cities again. "Are you listening Hanoi, get ready for a whistle stop".

In addition to it's beautiful scenery, Dalat is also famous for it's "Easy Riders". This is a group of motorcyclists who hang around town trying to sell you a tour of the area by uttering their immortal catchphrase "I am Easy Rider". I (Claire) was not keen to spend the day on the back of a maniacs bike so we chartered our own private minibus. Our guide, Peter, accosted us at the ATM machine and we were almost blown away by his standard of English. It transpires he lived in Canada, for 5 years, with his Scottish girlfriend before caught by the authorities and given a free flight back to Vietnam. We passed a very pleasant day together visiting a minority village, waterfall, temple, rose garden, coffee plantation, silk worm factory and finally the Crazy House with it's Alice in Wonderland architecture.

True to our word the next morning we left Dalat and caught the bus to Nha Trang.

A handful of silkworms

Silk Worm Cocoons

Mekong Delta

Mekong Delta, Vietnam

We took a daytrip from Saigon to the Mekong Delta, the region is hailed as the Rice Bowl of the country. We had romantic visions of blankets of green paddy fields tended by Vietnamese ladies in conical hat all living a slower pace of life. However, truth be told we were not hugely impressed. Another boat trip, more floating markets, terrible lunch including a cringe worthy traditional folk performance coupled with a tour guide speaking indecipherable "English". It did rain too so that didn't help.

Life on the Mekong Delta

We went to a small family workshop where they made coconut candies, rice cakes & rice paper. The picture to the left shows the steaming of the rice paper.

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Lotus Flower

Ho Chi Minh or Saigon?

Saigon, Vietnam, 13-17 June 2008

Having initially thought we'd head north to Laos we had a last minute change of plan & caught the bus to Ho Chi Minh instead. If there are 9 million bicycles in Beijing there must be at least 9 million motos in Saigon. Coupled with this is that there are very few pedestrian crossings. Consequently crossing the road is an art form all in itself. Briefly, find a small gap and step into it. Now that you are on the road head slowly to the other side, don't worry about the torrent of motos, they will avoid you... hopefully. Many of the roads are incredibly wide and words don't do justice to the number of motos that will have whizzed past you before you reach the other side (hoping that you do reach the other side). People who complain about the traffic in Bangkok have not had a look-in until they have played chicken on a Ho Chi Minh road.

Then there is the question of what to call the city. Officially it is now Ho Chi Minh since re-unification after but everyone still calls it Saigon especially the Vietnamese. So let's do the same.

We took a trip out to the Cu Chi tunnels. This tunnel network facilitated Viet Cong control of a large rural area only 30 kms from Saigon. It is a fascinating place to visit. You get the opportunity to wriggle through one of the expertly disguised entrances and travel through 100 metres of tunnel. It is mind boggling to think people lived down here for weeks on end coming out only at night. We saw all the raps the Viet Cong set to maim/slash or impale the advancing Americans. Pretty gruesome. Next we had the opportunity to shoot our weapon of choice , "what will it be today then Sir? AK47, M16? Or would Sir prefer something with a bit more oomph?" We chose to abstain from this bad taste form of escapism tourism. Finally the tour ended with a rather odd, somewhat bizarre, very old & rather biased documentary about the war showcasing the Viet Cong's greatest "American Killers". Propaganda aside it was an informative day out.

We also visited the War Memorial Museum, Notre-Dame Basilica, the Opera House & we must give mention to the Post Office (see picture opposite) ... the building was constructed, of Gothic architecture style, by the French colonists in early 20th century during French Indochina . It is worth a visit.

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While wandering around the backpacker area (Pham Ngu Lao) of Saigon we came across plenty of art stores selling replicas of famous paintings. Once Claire had spotted a few by Fernando Botero that was it, she had to have them. Botero is a Colombian artist with a very quirky style, all his characters & still life have an over sized appearance. We saw his work for the first time in Bogota (see Botero - What an Artist blog entry) and enjoyed it immensely. We were able to find one off the shelf but the other 3 painting we wanted would need to be prepared fresh. This, needless to say, would take a few days and as much as we didn't want to stick around any longer than necessary we couldn't bear to leave without our beloved paintings.

Phnom Penh - Capital of Cambodia

Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 9 - 12 June 2008

From Siem Reap we travelled south to the capital Phnom Penh. We took the front seats upstairs on the bus but within 15 minutes Claire had moved to a seat near the back. Her theory: "it's one thing to think that your driver is a lunatic, it's another thing to have all doubt removed.... on a continuous basis for 6 hours". First impressions of Phnom Penh were not good. The city is very very dirty. There is rubbish everywhere and you cannot walk on the footpath for more than 10 yards because it is completely clogged with stalls, cars, motos, cyclos, tuk tuks and of course rubbish. And man o man were the tuk tuk drivers tenacious? You have no idea. Every time we set foot outside our hotel/restaurant etc there was a swarm of them ready to pounce. Now we know what it must feel like to be a celeb beating off the paparazzi.

Under normal circumstances we would have simply rolled in & out (on the same day preferably) but we had business to attend to in Phnom Penh. Having heard on our travels that the Chinese had made it more difficult to obtain travel visa's on the run up to the Olympics we decided to make the Chinese Embassy our first port of call. Sure enough, because we were on a tourist visa in Cambodia we were not eligible for a Chinese visa. The guy recommended we return to our home country and make an application from there. "Ok, thank you, that is most helpful..." Next stop, the Laos Embassy. Thankfully there were no issues here followed by the Vietnamese Embassy which went equally smoothly.

While waiting on our visas to process we took a trip out to the Killing Fields. This is where, during the time of the Khmer Rouge (1975-79), thousands of people were brought and killed. An air of gloom resides over this surprisingly small site. Even after 30 years you can still see pieces of bone and clothing protruding from the ground as you walked the short circuit. They, the Cambodian government, which incidentally is still run by an ex-KR man have done very little with the area other than to build a large glass tower. The multi level tower is filled with the unearthed skulls, bones & clothing of the victims that were buried here. As if to get all the gloom out of the way in one day we visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum where many of the victims were first tortured before being dispatched to the killing fields. These are very sad places indeed and it is made all the more disturbing when you think about how recent the events were. Very sad, very sad.

Footnote on Cambodia:
Of all the countries we have visited it is here that is pulling at my (Claire's) heart strings the strongest. Cambodia is a country that is struggling socially & economically following years of political experimentation, civil war & continued corruption. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge regime left it's legacy with over 2 million deaths (from disease, malnutrition, torture) during their failed ideal. They executed anyone intelligent (Dr's, teachers, lawyers etc) or anyone perceived as being an intellectual (wearing glasses), artists, dancers, young & old. They were ruthless and a visit to the Killing Fields & the Genocide museum brings home the harsh reality of this countries harrowing past. What a mess. Landmines are still present in abundance in the countryside and many adults are HIV positive as a result of rape during the KR rule. Maternal mortality is very high while many die from malaria/ dengue fever/TB.

On a positive note there are many people who care. A Swiss Dr set up several children's hospitals that operates primarily from private donations. NGO's have invested in non-profit or ethical profit operations creating sustainable social impact through high quality training & access to employment eg:
you can dine at a restaurant where food is prepared by former street children
have a massage by a blind masseuse
buy handicrafts prepared by landmine victims

Floating Villages of Siem Reap

Siem Reap, Cambodia, 31 May - 8 June 2008

Following our trips to the temples our next excursion out of town was to the Tonle Sap lake. We asked Chantha to take us to the less visited Kompong Phhluk village. Little did we know the adventure we would have to undertake to get there! After 30 minutes on a paved road then 10 minutes on a bumpy mud road the tuk tuk finally came to a stop. At this point, during the wet season, you can simply take a boat out onto the lake. But the wet season had not yet arrived, Chantha unhitched the tuk tuk. Another guy turned up with a moto (motorbike). With me (Dave) on the back of Chantha's bike and Claire on the back of Mr New's bike we travelled another 10km on a severely bumpy dirt track. This felt like "real" independent travelling. We finally rolled into what was like a surreal wild west town. It had the obligatory dusty road running through the middle and all the houses were constructed from the stereotypical well worn wood.... the only difference was that these houses were 20 feet up in the air. That's right all the houses were supported on long wooden stilts that wood keep them safe from the Tonle Sap's annual expansion. From here we took a boat out on the lake. Even at this, the end of the dry season it stretched off as far as the eye could see in every direction.

On our way out onto the lake we passed mangrove forests that, before too long would find themselves completely submerged beneath the surface of the mighty Tonle Sap. I would love to say we were the only tourists this town had seen in years but I said Kompong Phhluk was less visited not unvisited. There were many children & we went inside the local school (see children opposite). There were few other farangs/fabangs/gringos/whities whatever you want to call us... but not many. We counted our blessings as we got back on the motos that it hadn't rained. the road would have been impassable. Once back safely in the comfort of the tuk tuk Chantha headed back towards town. As always he couldn't resist throwing in a few extra stops....

First he swung into the courtyard of a working Buddhist temple then he stopped outside Bakong, a 5 tiered pyramid temple.It is part of the Roluos Group - the very first site of the Khmer civilisation and the inspiration for many of the temples that followed. As our pass had expired we could only admire from outside. I think we had psychologically moved on from the admiration of temples anyway and so were happy to head on back to town.

That evening we went to Kantha Bopha Children's Hospital where every Saturday the Swiss hospital founder/director, Dr Beat Richner, plays works for cello by Bach along with some of his own compositions. He told us of his efforts to provide free health care to every child in Cambodia. He was a medical Dr working here in the mid 70's before he was forced to leave when the Khmer Rouge took power. This amazing man has opened 5 hospitals in the past 15 years in Cambodia. We made a monetary contribution and the next day Claire contributed 350mls of blood. They need blood that is free from Hep B & HIV as many children need transfusions as a result of dengue fever with underlying TB. Cambodia has one of the highest rates of HIV infection in SE Asia.

Below: Chantha wearing traditional Khmer checked scarf called the "krama"

Chantha dropped us back at our hotel for the last time. He had been so good to us all week.....bringing us warm bread at 5am, introducing us to such delicacies as baked bananas, jack fruit, deep fried grasshoppers and the myriad of "other" foods for which he would accept no compensation. We bought him a t-shirt at the landmine museum but it was a fight to get him to accept it, and in the end he would not accept our $20 tip either. Claire was exasperated trying to force it on him but he humbly told us to donate it to charity. What a guy.
Apsara Show Traditional Khmer Dance Performance:
We felt like VIP's because there were long rectangular tables leading all the way to the stage (a buffet meal was included) and there was one circular table for two people right at the front at the side of the stage. Yep, that was for us! The performance only lasted 1 hour but it was a quality show. It was like a play in that the dances depicted farming & fishing traditions not to mention a liberal sprinkling of courting traditions.

Jack fruit: a relative of durian

Blue Pumpkin, quickly became a favourite for breakfast. Comfy sofas & free WFI not to mention fab food.

Another cafe of choice for us was the Singing Tree Cafe, a not for profit cafe which offers training/employment to disadvantaged youths. The food was fantastic & the service first class.
http://www.singingtreecafe.com/

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Roadside treats: grasshoppers

Temples of Angkor

Siem Reap, Cambodia, 31 May - 8 June 2008

Monk posing for a photo at The Bayon temple

Not sure what the visa application process would be like in Siem Reap we were pleasantly surprised to find it was fast and efficient. The officials are only interested in collecting your $20 and sending you on your way. Ideal. Why one needs a visa is another argument entirely but we won't get into that. Hard to believe but there was a real Vegas feel as we tuk tuked our way into town. Night had fallen and the road was lined with huge, brightly lit luxury hotels. You were snapped back to reality once you looked at what was outside the hotel boundaries. Dirt roads, food vendors and an ocean of underpowered motos. Chantha (our tuk tuk driver) tried his best to convince us to visit the temples the following day (in his tuk tuk of course) but we put the foot down. As we were not on a short holiday we could afford to "waste" a day simply wandering around Siem Reap getting our bearings and deciding on a plan.

We bumped into Chantha "by chance" outside our hotel and we organised to spend the day visiting the Silk Farm and taking in a sunset at the temples of Angkor. I, Dave, had occasionally pondered how the whole silk worm thing works. Was the "farm" we were about to visit set up like a little milking parlor for worms. Needless to say it is all straightforward and shattered many of my ludicrous ideas. There is a metamorphosis step in the worms lifecycle where it changes from a worm into a moth. The worm forms a cocoon around it's body and it is the unravelling of these cocoons into single threads that gives the farmer his silk. Simple really.

We had deliberated over whether to get 1 day, 3 day or 1 week pass for the temples. Would we be temples out at the end of Day 1? We decided to give this global icon it's fair due and opted for the 3 day ticket ($40 each). You can buy the ticket the day before and are allowed to visit the temples that evening between 4:30pm and closure (6pm). People take advantage of this to sneak in an extra sunset at the temples and so we did too. On Chantha's recommendation we headed for Phnom Bakheng. En route we passed the beautiful moated Angkor Wat and our excitement levels rose at the prospect of spending the next few days amongst these ancient wonders. The sunset was a non event but we were happy to get up close and personal with our first site in the park.

Feeling adventurous or maybe just plain crazy we decided to do sunrise the next morning. Having not worked for over 1 year and consequently not having had a need to get up too early we found this whole experience excruciatingly painful (alarm set for 4:30am). The sunrise as we had envisioned it didn't really happen either, the day simply got bright with no sign of the sun anywhere. Most people with limited time do either the grand circuit or small circuit in a day which takes them to all the major sites. I think Chantha was surprised when, after visiting Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, we asked him to drop us back at our hotel. We had been out for about 5 hours at that stage and it was still only 10am. More sleep was needed. We met him again at 3pm feeling much better, amazing what some Zzz's and good food can do for you. Next stop was Ta Prohm. This is the temple immortalised by the movie Tomb Raider where the huge roots of trees hang down over the ruins and give them the appearance of being engulfed by nature. Very picturesque indeed (see photo above). Afterwards we tuk tuked west to Pre Rup in a second effort to catch an amazing sunset. Again it didn't happen but it was most agreeable to sit on the highest point and have frosty beers delivered to us as we watched the light fade over Cambodia.

Day 2 of our pass and we took the long trip (37km) to Banteay Srey. Sunrise wasn't even a consideration. As if to make up for the diminutive size of this site, every square inch is covered in carvings of the finest detail and artistry. On our way back to town we visited the landmine museum, a real wake up call to this country's grim past. A landmines function was not to kill but rather to maim. The reason for this is that it would cost your enemy more to look after a maimed soldier than it would to simply bury a dead soldier. Millions of landmines were used in the time of the Khmer Rouge and there was no record of where they were being laid. It is a legacy of those harrowing times that every year hundreds f Cambodians inadvertently activate these landmines and end up severely maimed for the rest of their lives (if they survive the initial blast). The number of amputees in this country is a human catastrophe.

www.cambodialandminemuseum.org

I think we surprised Chantha again by asking him to drop us back into Siem Reap. We were a long was from town and could've taken in a few more sites but the tummy's were rumbling and we simply couldn't face what the roadside eateries churn up. We asked to be dropped at the Singing Tree Cafe, which had quickly become a mainstay of ours. In reality we didn't have that much time before we were back out to an Apsara performance.

Last day of our temple pass and we chose to take in those temples we had not yet seen on the Grand Circuit.... "but first let's have one more look at Ta Prohm". We ended our last day at Angkor Wat, it seemed like the right thing to do.