North Vietnam

Well my trip to Ninh Binh was interesting. I was told we'd arrive there at 5:30 AM so I woke up at 5 to be ready and at 5:40 AM we pulled into Hanoi which is 2 hours north of where I wanted to be. I guess I slept through Ninh Binh (and I made sure to tell the driver and the woman working on the bus I was going to Ninh Binh, but it didn't seem to matter). So I had to then get a motorbike to the train station but the first train was 4 hours hence so I took another motorbike to the bus station and nearly got charged double for the bus (thank you nice man in front of me for telling me what the true fare was) and I made it to Ninh Binh about 8:30 AM. As this little tale illustrates, I've noticed in North Vietnam the people are much more likely to try and overcharge and misinform tourists than in the South. I'd been warned about this, but it is still frustrating to encounter.

Ninh Binh turned out to be fantastic! The first day I rented a bike and rode down to Tam Coc where you go on a row boat through caves and around huge limestone karsts and rice fields. The scenery is amazing. I was in a boat with a Swiss and a French girl and we had the boat let us off at a temple and walked back from there. There was a festival at the temple and the people were in colorful costumes with all sorts of accessories and things to carry in a parade. From there I walked to another temple a few km away and explored it as well. I met two nice Aussie ladies, Jo and Ally, who helped me not get charged twice (the boat woman took my ticket for the rest of the park "by accident"). Later that afternon I rode up to Hoa Lu which was an ancient capital city and wandered around a bit. The second day I joined Jo and Ally and we again took bikes. This time we started at a small temple tucked away into a karst. A lovely female monk took us on a tour of part of the temple that was in a cave and we watched as she performed a ceremony complete with some terrific chanting enhanced by the natural acoustics of the cave. I thought Jo was going to stay all day. Then we biked to Thang An which is somewhat like Tam Coc only 20 times better. There were no other tourists and the boat took us through about 9 long caves (which were lit up inside) and to 3 temples on the lake. It was truly magical. Later we rode to a new pagoda that is being built and walked around it. Even though it is under construction, they let people into the completed parts. Exhausted we headed back to the hotel (with a stop at another temple to eat more fresh pipneapple- yum!). Ally and Jo had to catch a night train that night. I was sad to see them go. The lady at our hotel came up to me after they left and told me I was lucky to make nice new friends. Pretty perceptive lady :).

The next morning I took a minibus to Haiphong to catch the ferry to Cat Ba Island on Halong Bay. There were 3 French travellers on my bus and I shared a cab with them to the ferry, hung out with them while waiting 2 hours for the next ferry and stuck with them on the boat (guess what, we were all overcharged- see a pattern forming?). I figured I'd continue stalking them so I went to their hotel with them on Cat Ba and they said I could join them on their boat trip around Halong Bay for two days. I lucked out! The boat trip was fantastic! Halong Bay is gorgeous- more limestone karsts, this time coming out of the sea. We shared the boat with a Spanish couple for a few hours the first day but after that it was all ours. We went through a huge cave (on foot) and sailed all over the bay. We rarely saw other boats so we felt like we had the whole bay to ourselves. The food on the boat was plentiful and delicious. We had fresh fish with every meal (so fresh we watched our second day's lunch get caught that morning). My fave was the spring rolls though. We spent the night on a floating fish farm and before going to bed we hung out and drank rice wine with the captain and the guys who live on the farm. The second day we went kayaking through caves to a secluded lagoon. Later we cruised to Halong City where the French crew (Severine, Vincent, and Gregory) left me to head back to Hanoi. I had the boat to myself on the way back to Cat Ba and just enjoyed the scenery. It really is gorgeous! The next day I did a trek in the National Park on Cat Ba. It was really hot, slippery, steep and there were loads of bees. Luckily I only got stung once. After that I headed straight for Hanoi (bus boat bus) and then onto an overnight train to Sapa so I really pity the people who were stuck in a cabin with me. The view fromo the top of the island was nice though.

My plan for Sapa was to hike Fansipan, the highest peak in Vietnam. However, the weather wasn't so great, the treks were pricier than I'd anticipated and I developed an allergic reaction to the bee sting which caused what I like to call "Cabbage Patch Kid arm" meaning pretty hefty swelling from fingers to elbow. So instead I hiked to local villages and waterfalls and enjoyed the scenery and chill vibe (if you can ignore the constant harrassment from local villagers to buy brightly colored crafts) in Sapa. I only stayed 2 days and met Lloyd and Loz from Wales and Emily from Austin on the way back to Hanoi. We thought we were all on the same train, but when it turned out Lloyd and Loz were on the later one, they traded their cush soft sleeper tickets and paid extra money to be snuck onto our train in the employees car (that's how they roll in Vietnam). But it was worth it as we all got to hang out (our car was empty) on the way and until the hostels opened in Hanoi.

I've spent the last couple days in and around Hanoi. The most fascinating thing I've done in the city was to visit the Ho Chi Minh masoleum. Yes, if you fly to Vietnam, you too can view the preserved corpse of Uncle Ho. You must be properly dressed (no shorts or tank tops) and can not laugh, talk or smile while in his presence (armed guards are there to enforce this). You may not take photos and must keep moving and not stop and gawk. Got it? Good :). Today I took a day trip to the Perfume Pagoda. I have no idea why it is named the Perfume Pagoda. It didn't smell particularly nice and after a sweaty hour on an open boat in 40 degree heat and then an hour hike up the hill, we certainly didn't smell very nice either. But the temples are nice to see- the highest one being inside a cave (so you can cool off before hiking down and getting back on the cramped, sweaty rowboat). I met a nice Israeli and a couple from Argentina so I'm going to head out in a sec and meet up with them.

Tomorrow is my last day in Vietnam. I'll be sad to leave it and highly recommend it to any of you who are thinking about coming over to SE Asia. Next stop a short stint in Thailand, a quick jump to the US for Mere's wedding, and then I am off to India. More adventures await!

Easy Rider

Sin jow,

OK, so the trip with the Easy Rider was AWESOME! Definitely worth the money. We did so much that I know I won't be able torecap it all in this post but I'll list some of the things we did. The best parts for me were stopping and visiting the local people and seeing what they did and how they lived. It is definitely not anything you can get on a bus tour. I think it was the most authentic local experience I've had on my trip so far.

The first day we left Dalat and headed to Lok Lake. On the way we stopped at a silk factory and a waterfall and then went on to a family that raises the worms for the silk factory. That was really cool. We also stopped and spent a little time with a squatter family. Jean, my guide, brought passion fruit from his family's farm and twice a day mixed it with water and sugar for a really refreshing drink. We ate in little local restaruants with cheap, terrific food and we ate a lot! Day one it was lots of small plates of meats and veggies with rice. Day Two we went from Lok Lake to Buon Ma Thout. BMT is the biggest town in the Central Highlands. There is a large War Memorial in the center of town. We stopped at a family that makes brooms on the way and went to an old bridge that was the site of a battle during the war and another waterfall. Lunch was vegetarian food which was terrific. Dinner though was my favorite meal in Vietnam to date. We went for make-your-own spring rolls. They brought out rice paper, noodles, lettuce, mint, banana, mango, cucumber, fig, grilled meat and crsipy sticks. You roll a bit of everything in the rice paper and dip in this amazing peanut sauce. I hope I canfind another place like that before I leave Vietnam! Day 3 was the longest day on the bike. We did over 200 km to get to Kon Tum. We had fresh mango on the way and stopped to see a couple of local tribal communities, rice harvesting, andsome more battle sites and memorials. Day 4 we went to a small town whose name I have forgotten. This day we started riding on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The trail is now a paved road, but in many places, you can still see the path used by the VC during the war. The scenery became more dense and beautiful as we got farther north. We stopped to see some incredible wood carving and cement tree pot making (huge). Our last dinner we had venizon and rice (yum). The last day on the bike we went to Hoi An. We started again on the HCM trail but left it eventually. We stopped to see pineapple harvesting and try fresh pineapple. We also went to a hill that was the site of many battles and saw bomb craters (you see these all over Vietnam). The trip ended in Hoi An and Jean headed for home.

Hoi An is a UNESCO world heritage site (the old town anyway) and a great place to wander around the small alleys and look at the old buildings. Hoi An is also known for its tailors and many travelers end up having way more clothes made than they anticipated (case in point my Irish friends who started with one suit each and then spent 3 extra days buying more clothes). I just had one dress made for Mere's upcoming wedding. Had to bedone :). I did a day trip to the Cham ruins at My Son. The site predates Angkor Wat by about 700 years. Unfortunately the war destroyed most of the temples. Bomb craters litter the site. We took a boat trip back toHoi An and stopped to see a craft village on the way. After Hoi An I planned to spend a night in Danang to explorethe Marble Mountains and China Beach, but it was raining so I just got a train to Hue. The train ride was lovely despite the weather. Ocean on the right, mountains on the left. Definitely a nice cahnge from the tourist buses.

The last few days I've spent in Hue. Hue is on the Perfume River and was the capital of Vietnam under the Nguyen dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The first day I wandered around the old Imperial City which has lots of temples and old royal buildings. Yesterday I did a day trip down the river to some more temples and some of the tombs of the kings. The tombs are in parks with lakes, trees, and multiple old stone structures. Really cool to wander through. Last night I went on another boat to see Hue folk music on the river. My favorite part was when each person on the boat was given a candle in a floating paper box to set down in the river. Something about fire on water... Tonight I head north to Nimh Binh. The weather has been bad the last 3 days and I hope it clears as I go north. I hear Halong Bay and Sapa (both of which I am totally looking forward to) are not nearly as nice in bad weather. Fingers crossed!

Oh and if you are interested in reading about the Easy Riders I went with from Dalat, the web address is www.dalat-easyrider.com
The one Annie posted in the comments on the last post is from another town. Many towns in Vietnam have Easy Riders, but the ones from Dalat are supposedly the original and best. Also the most expensive...