Pick of the day:Boat to Cat ba, taken mid Halong Bay...... yes its from the last post.
Style: Western sit
Atmosphere: Sloshing
Extras: The time to use this loo was as soon as we boarded. As time passed and various people missed due to the rolling nature of boats and sea sickness setting in for a few, things could only get worse. This is a before shot!
07/05/13 to 17/05/13:
Hue, the DMZ, Phong Nha farmstay and Hoi an
After an uneventful overnight train from Hanoi we arrived in
Hue to be greeted by the most welcoming hotel yet. Despite it being a cheap
place (we always stay in cheap places) they carried our bags in, gave us cold
towels to refresh and then a glass of ice cold watermelon juice and a plate of
cold sliced mango- bliss!
Hue has the old imperial city at its heart and it set along
what is known as the perfume river so it’s all very romantic sounding. On our
first day, once suitably revived we wandered out into the scorchingly hot streets
for a general wander around and a visit of the imperial city. Sadly the purple
city (sort of equivalent to beijing’s
forbidden city) was occupied by north Vietnamese troops during the
Vietnam war and consequently was utterly flattened by American bombs. An
American general at the time said that in order to save the city they had to
destroy it. There is still just about enough left to get a feel of what the
place would once have been like and they have started rebuilding parts of it
but most of it is eerie ruins that are slowly being reclaimed by jungle.
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| Its ram-shackled, and flattened and the impending cloud burst wouldn't help |
We carried on mooching around the old canals and waterways
until a few scary looking black clouds and distant thunder sent us scurrying
back to the hotel. Dinner was a bit of a revelation with pork kebabs cooked
using lemongrass as skewers and then rolled into rice paper rolls with loads of
salad and herbs- very tasty.
The next day we embarked on a tour (though we hate tours
sometimes you really can’t avoid them) of the DMZ. This is the old
demilitarized zone which was a 20km wide strip of land that divided north and
south Vietnam and was the scene of many a battle and some particularly fierce
fighting during the war.
We were taken by minibus to go to Khe Sanh combat base which
was used by US marines during the war and was supposed to be only accessible by
air but for 70 odd days just prior to the Tet offensive was constantly attacked
by north Vietnamese troops. The base itself is more or less a simple airstrip
but some bunkers and trenches still exist and a fair few captured/abandoned US
tanks and aircraft are on display including the obligatory Huey, a Chinook and
a Hercules. Ben got terribly excited.
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| Huey's. Every Vietnamese sight has one. If its really good it has two... |
We then stopped off at a bridge that marked a crossing point
over a river for north Vietnamese soldiers travelling down the famous Ho Chi
Minh Trail to fight in the south and supply the Vietcong. Historical note: The
Vietcong were the guerrilla soldiers of South Vietnam who fought in favour of
the North- distinct from the North Vietnamese soldiers in that they dressed as
peasants and were less well trained/equipped (learn something new every day!).
You can actually now motorbike down most of the old Ho Chi Minh Trail which
would have been a really cool trip had we known about it before actually
reaching south Vietnam.
We then visited the Vinh Moc tunnels which were tunnels
built by the local farmers and villagers to hide in during the bombing raids.
The tunnels were really extensive and consisted of many levels including a
specially deep bunker for when the B52s were coming round (which apparently
they could recognise from sound alone). The locals lived in these tunnels intermittently
for 6 years and they were even set up with nurseries, delivery rooms (fair few
kids born in the tunnels) and meeting rooms. They were theoretically civilian
only tunnels although that’s a little suspicious considering that there were a
few ammo and gun stores and an island nearby that was north-vietnamese occupied
and needed supplying. Basically in the war who was/wasn’t involved was a bit of
a grey area.
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| Learning history from the other side of the coin |
Lastly we visited the local cemetery which had an
overwhelming number of graves that had no names on them because many of the
north Vietnamese soldiers who came to fight had no ID on them and also with the
extent of the bombing sometimes there weren’t whole people to be found.
Having buffed up on our history knowledge we then headed
inland to a place called Phong Na Farmstay which is a beautiful guesthouse in
the middle of a load of rice paddies and nothing else. The setting is amazing
with a lovely pool, hammocks everywhere, great food and cocktails and a
collection of puppies of varying ages for entertainment.
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| View from the Farm. |
We decided to splash out on a tour to a local cave system
called paradise cave. One of the largest caves in the world and part of a cave
system over 100km long and involving hundreds of caves, Paradise cave is truly
spectacular. Normally visitors are allowed into the first kilometre of the cave
on wooden walkways and can marvel at the nicely lit and amazing
stalagtites/mites and geological structures (Ben basically wet his pants). We
managed to get onto a tour where a group of 6 of us were given torches and
guided 7km underground through the cave system and across and underwater lake
to a sky hole into which a small waterfall was flowing creating the most
beautiful light. It was awesome. Also awesome was the fact that we were all
given Vietnamese army-issue camouflage fatigues to wear (due to the mud down
there) which only actually fit the two women in the group due to the short
stature of most Vietnamese. We felt like rip-off rambos.
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| This cavern is huge and the acoustics are fantastic. They even hold concerts in here. |
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| Chock full of this shiz |
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| The end of the road and a hell of a picnic spot |
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| Trying (failing) to capture the light |
That night there was an amazing lightning storm over our
hotel with massive forks of lightning which were very impressive but annoyingly
also caused the puppies to take cover
outside our bedroom door and cry like the end of the world was nigh all night.
The next day we had to leave but decided to take a little
walk in the sunshine across the paddy fields to get a little feel for the
countryside. We got a little closer to nature than intended as the mud left
from the previous nights rain threatened to suck out flip flops off our feet
and we ended up rambling around barefoot like peasants. Also, the hotel’s mummy
dog had decided to accompany us despite the sign on the door saying not to take
the dogs outside as they get kidnapped and eaten by the locals (sad but true).
We tried to keep her close by to avoid having to explain any dog-napping
episodes to the owners since she wouldn’t go home but to our horror as we came
across a farm, she hunted down and destroyed a live chicken before our eyes.
The farmers didn’t seem that bothered but nevertheless we hurried home in fear
of retribution and explained to the manager that somebody might come along
later in the day demanding payment for said chicken.
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| *Or they kill livestock making you flee for your lives |
We went back to Hue for another night which was only really
notable in that the staff of the restaurant we ate in spent a considerable
amount of time chasing a rat around the inside seating area with a shoe and
having battered it to death happily displayed it on a spade for all to see.
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| Hue's got Vegas lights. The bridge changes colour through the evening |
Next we took a weird sleeper bus to Hoi An which had seats
so that you could lie flat and nap but no toilet so made for both a comfortable
and very uncomfortable trip. Having been dropped off in the middle of nowhere
we were pretty glad for our hotel pick up although a little frustrated that we
ended up at a different hotel as our original booking had apparently lost all
power.
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| Looks comfy. Really isn't. |
Hoi An is a really pretty little town on the coast that is
making a concerted effort to attract the ‘right’ kind of tourist and as a
result has a fairly relaxed laid back atmosphere and a lot of middle aged white
people.
It’s famous for its tailors who pride themselves on being
able to make just about any item of clothing you wish to buy in a short space
of time tailored to fit you. In fact you can bring in a picture of a
dress/coat/suit by a famous designer and they will copy it exactly for a
fraction of the price. We duly succumbed and I made a blue silk dress tailored
while Ben had a copy of a Burberry wool coat made. Which he regretted as soon
as he was made to put it on for the fitting when it was about 40C.
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| Hoi'an Riverfront from the bridge |
We then spent our days mostly cycling round the countryside
(and consequently getting sweatier than we had ever been in our lives) and
cycling to the beach. The beach was a
beautiful palm fringed white sand affair dotted with little restaurants that
had palm shacks and converted basket boats to sit in the shade and enjoy a cold
lemon juice or fresh coconut (they have about 1L of juice in them here). The
sun and sand was white hot during the day but come 5pm was suddenly inundated
with locals who came for a barbie on the beach. There were also a few beggars
who we felt really badly for as so many people in Vietnam were left disabled by
the war, both by the bombings and the effects of the defoliants and napalm on
subsequent generations, and with no form of welfare are more or less left to
make a life for themselves selling peanuts and newspapers. Thankfully there are
a few charities in Vietnam now working to try and give these people skills that
they can use to make a better living.
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| A slightly worse bridge |
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| Tanning. I stayed in the shade. Too bloody hot. |
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| Watching the local nightly beach party |
In the evenings having sufficiently cooked ourselves we
repeatedly went back time and time again to the same restaurant which made
easily the best food of the trip so far and quite honestly some of the best
food either of us have ever had in the world. If you are ever in Hoi An go to
Morning Glory (it’s a type of vegetable here for those with dirty minds)- every
single thing we ate was out of this world. Just across the street is a French style
bakery where Ben managed to get a chocolate brownie cheesecake as a
pre-birthday treat.
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| Best food in vietnam (possibly the whole trip...) |
And so, sufficiently fed, clothed and sunned we moved on to
Ho Chi Minh city for meeting THE LEA PARENTS….
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| Where are the hueys when you need them!? |
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