ON THE ROAD AGAIN- TO VIETNAM

TWO WEEKS IN VIETNAM

GETTING THERE

You’d think by now we would have travel down to a fine art.
Wrongggg!
On the day we left for Vietnam we wondered if we were ever going to get there. Our flight to Hanoi via Kuala Lumpur wasn’t due to take off until 45 minutes past midnight but we set off to the city to meet Paul and Katy for dinner and Barbara was to go to a concert before we actually headed out to Tullamarine. There was plenty of time we thought.
Well we got as far as ten minutes from home when we realized we’d left all of our spending money behind.
So back we went, and started again, still expecting to meet up for drinks before the concert, and a spot of dinner in a tapas bar. That’s when I asked Barbara if she had her concert ticket. (This was a Christmas gift).
She had left the ticket at home and this time we were well on the way into town. Too late to turn back! We parked in the Arts Centre car park and hurried across to meet up for drinks, hoping the box office would accept the ticket stubs and let Barb in. When we got there the tapas bar was full and Barb and I dined across the road. Barb got into the concert all right and after that we headed for the airport. It was pouring with rain as we groped our way along the partly closed freeway to where we had to leave the car.
We got to check in in time then waited for the call to board our plane We flew through fairly bumpy weather for eight hours before arriving in KL.   Then an uneventful flight to Hanoi where we waited for the rest of our tour group.

 HANOI

I changed my first dollars into Vietnamese dong. There are no coins in Vietnam and one Aussie dollar gets you 20,000 dong. So for fifty dollars you can be a millionaire.
While we waited for our fellow travelers we bought two Vietnamese coffees at “The Lucky Coffee”  shop. It was black and strong with a slight hint of chocolate. But to drink it the Vietnamese way, you drink it with condensed milk. (Note: Always ask for coffee with FRESH milk) We finally met up with our group and Gayle, the organizer of the trip and piled into a mini van to check into our hotel “ The Hanoi Essence” Counting Gayle there were eleven of us. Let me introduce them. There was Gayle our guide and Barb and I, there was Jonathon and Alex a thirty something couple from Newcastle, Victorians Levina and Kerry (retd). Jack and Lorraine (retd) Vicki a graphic artist from the Age,and  Joyce, a housewife from Singapore
First impressions of this city was chaotic traffic, mostly consisting of motor scooters, and many with enormous loads of cargo on the pillion…anything from bales of cotton to cages containing several pigs. We even saw one guy with a whole fridge on board.

Hanoi traffic

Vegetable Seller - Hanoi

Grounds of the Temple of Literature

An altar in the Temple of Literature 

Ceremonial Drum

As we couldn’t check in until later in the afternoon, Gayle took us to a place known as the Temple of Literature.    This was a complex of very old buildings and temples with curving roofs and ornate guttering and set in a garden of lawns and peaceful pools.  Inside the many shrines were altars
dedicated to Confucius and his disciples. It was one of the earliest universities in the country dating back to the eleventh century.  By now we were well into the city proper and the traffic was getting heavier, despite the fact this was a Sunday. The main means of transport apart from on foot, seemed to be the motor scooter.

Temple Roof

They were everywhere, dodging and weaving along the crowded streets, tooting their horns. When finally we arrived at our hotel we were ready to relax for a while. We were welcomed by the manager of the hotel and offered hot towels and cups of ginger tea. Both were welcome and the latter wonderfully refreshing.
Gayle, our guide taught us how to navigate local traffic as we wound our way through narrow streets teeming with stall holders and street traders of every sort. We learned that the ubiquitous motor scooters will not stop their continuous flow and their continuous honking. So what you do is judge the slightest break in the traffic , then step purposefully off the pavement and walk straight to the other side. You do not stop and on no account do you hesitate and try to dodge individual vehicles. Doing that only confuses the driver. If you follow the rules, no-one will hit you and you’ll make it across in one piece.
Having learnt that lesson, we dined on our first Vietnamese food in an upstairs restaurant a few blocks from our hotel. We were to enjoy a wonderful variety of local food over the coming days. And the prices were laughably cheap.
We went to bed early that evening, looking forward to our first full day when we awakened in the morning.
And it was a full day!

Our Cyclo Convoy

After a buffet breakfast at our hotel, (some of it Vietnamese and some Western) we stepped into the street to find a fleet of cyclos waiting for us. These are tricycles on which the passenger sits in a rickshaw like seat in front and the driver pedals from the back.
To experience one of these in Hanoi traffic, you should keep your arms in at all times. Apart from that you trust in the driver and enjoy the ride. Our ride lasted about 45 minutes and what an introduction to this city. On the pavements traders shouted their wares, men and women in coolie hats trotted along beside us with heavy loads of fruit and vegetables suspended on poles across their shoulders. Women cooked up breakfast on small braziers on the footpath. Little kids played by the roadside while mum chopped up meat and vegetables on boards right there on the pavement.

Breakfast's Ready

We passed streets dedicated to single products all competing with one another. There was a street selling nothing but luggage and handbags, there were streets selling hardware which was being made on the spot.

The Street of Welders

 Welders squatted on the path and made window frames and birdcages. There were streets of florists and streets of leather sellers, streets of toy traders, silverware traders, basket sellers and a hundred other wares. And all the time the scooters tooted and the cars honked, and our cyclo drivers rang their bells. The vibrancy of this city was simply overwhelming.
When our ride ended we were ready for coffee, but without condensed milk. We enjoyed drinks in an upstairs café overlooking the Hoan Kiem Lake and a temple known as Ngoc Son..

Hoan Kiem Lake - Hanoi

Lunch was to be a more sedate affair. Gayle took us to a French Colonial restaurant called the Green Tangerine.It was opened in 1928 and was very elegant. 

The Green Tangerine

Lunch

And so was the food, a mixture of  French and Vietnamese. As this was wintertime, and we were dining outside, we kept our coats on.
As we had a free afternoon we explored the shops and stalls. Barbara bought a scarf and we went in search of another overnight bag.  Unsuccesfully!
Next we visited a tube house, so called because it is long and narrow and usually a couple of storeys high. The design comes from the system of rates.

A Tube House

 The smaller your frontage, the lower your rates! Each house extends a long way back and is broken up by several courtyards.
Inside this house an artist was producing traditional paintings. I wanted to buy a wall hanging with a pen and ink sketch representing Spring. It was just under $10A. But it was part of a set representing all four seasons. So I paid $40A and bought them all.
We spent the rest of the afternoon just wandering and marveling at the life going on around us.
In the evening Gayle rounded us up again and we walked for blocks through the narrow streets. The braziers were alight again and the smell of cooking pervaded the air. Our dinner experience was to be up market followed by down market.
Firstly we visited the Metropole Hotel for cocktails..very up market! The place was a hangover from French colonial days but very modern and very flash. It stands in what used to be the French Quarter of the city and is said to be one of finest hotels in Vietnam.
We relaxed in cane lounge chairs and I really felt I should be wearing a white linen suit and a Panama hat (more about that later) In the meantime I settled for a daiquiri, and Barbara had a Kir Splash.
After cocktails it was time for dinner. This we enjoyed at a Pho Noodle shop where we joined the locals in a meal of rice noodle soup, beef or chicken. It cost about $3A and was hot and delicious.
After dinner what else do you do but visit the theatre? In this case we were to visit the famous water puppet theatre. This is a tradition exclusive to North Vietnam. Called Mua Roi which means puppets dancing on water, it’s been performed since the eleventh century.

Puppet Theatre Orchestra

The Water Puppets

The puppeteers stand behind a screen controlling the puppets which dance across a pool of water on the audience side. All of this is accompanied by a traditional Vietnamese band and is very colourful.
We returned to our hotel to pack for our visit to the famous Ha Long Bay but we would be back to Hanoi.

Junks on Ha Long Bay

HA LONG BAY

We left Hanoi in the morning and drove into the countryside passing endless padi fields and gardens growing vegetables and herbs in bright green patchwork squares. Along the road were people selling fresh bread and bottled water for city bound travelers. Every few kilometers we passed town after town with local people working at all sorts of trades and sales. As usual the motor scooters dominated the highway, some carrying huge loads...ducks, pigs, chooks, mums and babies and dads altogether, even a fridge. In the padis we saw farmers ploughing in the way their forbears had done for centuries behind a single buffalo and a wooden plough. It was lunchtime by the time we reached  the port of Ha Long and were taken by tender out to the Dragon's Pearl junk, our home for the next day. Our cabin was small and mostly occupied by a large bed. The walls were lined with wood paneling, and we had a bathroom and shower. But the view was the thing. As our junk moved out into the bay, we could look out across misty waters with small rocky islands on every side, rearing up through the haze adding to their mystique.

Sunset on Ha Long Bay

Sunset

There are over a thousand curiously shaped limestone islands...the Face of Evil, the Turtle, the Elephant and scores more looming up through the mist and fading away again. As we looked, we enjoyed an outdoor luncheon on the main deck. It was a little chilly but still enjoyable. It was lovely Vietnamese food, four courses plus wine. Then we stopped at an island with a fishermen's cave, high up on the cliff face. People could explore and kayak or just relax on the beach. As the mist burned off the sun appeared, bringing out the beauty of the bay. A beautiful sunset was enhanced with chilled white wine. Our dinner aboard that night was another banquet with prawns and calamari and other delicacies with a seafood emphasis. And the vegetables featured a particular surprise. An exhibition of culinary sculpture!

Perfect Combination

Pumpkin and other vegies

We slept well.
We got up early in the hope of seeing a glorious sunrise, but it was too misty. For breakfast we had a choice of a warming Asian soup with noodles or toast and jam.
Then we boarded a fleet of little boats rowed by women standing in the stern with a single oar.

Taxi to the Village

Fish Farmers' Village

They took us across the bay to a fishing village built over the water. Fish farming and tourism was this village’s main source of income although cultured pearls are also produced here. They farmed the fish in large net enclosures. When we arrived school was in progress, and we learned that it had recently been refurbished by Killara High School in Sydney.

The School on the Water

We rejoined our junk for lunch and we sailed back towards the port after a memorable journey. On the road again to Hanoi we stopped to visit a huge complex with shops selling every sort of local crafts ranging from gigantic Buddhas and other statues down to tiny Viet dolls, embroidery. lacquered bamboo plates and paintings etc!. I bought a red lacquer plate and (to my shame) a packet of Tim Tams. That evening we had free time to do whatever we fancied, so Barbara and I went out for dinner at a restaurant called the Green Mango which we’d been told was good. We actually managed to follow the street map right to its door On the way we passed the usual sight of people cooking their evening meals on the pavement. For us however the Green Mango provided good dinner with a bottle of wine. (It was Chilean. Australian wine is not cheap here.) All up at a cost of $45A!
There was one little problem that day. I realized that I had not brought enough insulin to last the whole trip. Gayle said there was no problem and I should just go to a local pharmacy. They would sell me what I needed without a prescription. She was right but I could only get one type so I had to email home and get advice from my specialist. Thanks to daughter Gemma who did the necessary phoning. Problem solved!
Next morning was a completely free day in Hanoi. We took a taxi and headed towards the Mausoleum where Ho Chi Minh lies in state.

Here lies Ho Chi Minh

We got there to find it closed. We were told it would reopen at 2pm. This from an eager cyclo driver who persuaded us to use his services. Only 200,000 Dong he said and he would take us around to various other places we wanted to see and bring us back by 2pm. That’s about $10A.

“Only 200,000?”, we said.
“Only 200,000”, he assured us.

The "Hanoi Hilton"

In French Colonial Times

“Ok”, we said and squeezed into his cyclo for another thrilling ride through the streets of Hanoi. Our first stop was the old Hanoi Prison, a very old building built by the French to house political prisoners in what looked like very cruel conditions. The prisoners were held on long concrete benches big enough to lie on, but each prisoner was restricted by iron manacles set in the concrete and placed around their feet. Many of these prisoners were early members of the Communist party, long before Uncle Ho, men and women who risked their lives to struggle for freedom from colonial rule. We saw these cells and mock ups of the prisoners in tiny cells as well as the large communal ones.
But this place was better known to us as the famous "Hanoi Hilton" where downed American pilots were imprisoned during the Vietnam War. John McCain was held here and Captain Pete Petersen who spent six years here and who would later become the first US Ambassador to Communist Vietnam.
Then back on our cyclo and on to the Museum of Fine Arts where we saw many ancient relics, axe heads etc as well as ancient statures of Buddha and lacquered wooden statues of feudal lords and princes of the past.
There was also an art gallery of more modern work which included a lot of revolutionary paintings We rejoined the cyclo and went looking for lunch. Our driver dropped us off near the mausoleum and then said he wanted 700,000.
“Oh no”, we said. “You said 200,000 NOT 700,000”.
No he explained, that was just for the first leg or the ride. Well we argued the toss for a while and settled for 500,000. After all we had had him for 3 hrs and half a million dong is about 25 dollars.

Ho Chi Minh Museum

Memorial to Uncle Ho

We then discovered from a helpful passer by that the mausoleum was actually closed for the day. It was the Ho Chi Minh Museum that was reopening at 2pm. So we missed out on seeing another mummified communist leader. However the nearby museum, a huge marble building housing memorabilia about the rise of Ho and the struggle first to get rid of the French and then to resist the Americans and then to reunite the country, was very interesting. We learned that in his youth Ho Chi Minh was known as Nguyen Ai Quoc and in those early years he took a cook’s job on a boat and worked his way to New York and Boston, then England and finally Paris, where he became a communist There was a lot of Ho memorabilia and a lot of stuff about the war. Outside the museum we encountered the One Pillar Pagoda, a building designed to look like an open lotus flower and dating back to 1049.

The One Pillar Pagoda

After all that we decided to try to find the RC St Joseph's Cathedral. We followed the map but got totally confused until once again helpful locals guided us.

St Joseph's Cathedral

The building is very French Colonial (Neo Gothic circa 1886) and inside beautiful and peaceful away from the din of traffic outside.
That evening Gayle once again guided us through the traffic to a hotel a few blocks away for dinner. Our baggage was already waiting at the railway station because we were to board a train for the old French hill station of Sapa as soon as we were through.
We enjoyed a Vietnamese meal with red wine then our car picked us up and we headed for the station.

Looking for the Train

We passed several very grotty trains but found ours to be quite nice if a bit run down.
Each cabin had four single bunks and Barb and I shared with Gayle and a Vietnamese guy. Shoes off clothes left on and into our bunks. It was half ten and we were off.

 SAPA

The journey overnight was ok. The train rattled along as trains do and we climbed high into the mountains towards Sapa. We had a reasonably uninterrupted sleep apart from a visit to the toilet when I had a struggle with the door. Then I couldn’t recall which was our cabin and tried pot luck. I got it in two tries.
At six a.m. we arrived at Lao Cai, the provincial capital, and climbed into our waiting bus. Gayle introduced us to Mr Yep and his wife. Mr Yep was to be our guide.

Cold and Foggy Sapa

 Our first impressions were of an almost alpine climate with a landscape of padi fields in the valleys, and mountains towering above. At this time of year the latter were constantly being engulfed in cloud. The French built a lot of the town of Sapa as a place to relax and get away from the summer heat. As it was still quite early when we stopped at a French Provincial hotel for breakfast. We reached Sapa up a winding road up the mountains. Very Alpine and very very misty. We left our baggage at the Hotel Bamboo before visiting a local shop to buy very cheap but good fleeces etc. North Face for $20 Gortex for $40.
Outside we could already see the waiting hoards of H’Mong women ready to pounce. The H’Mong are one of the minority groups of people who live here. They come originally come from Southern China.

The H'Mong are waiting

There are many other groups including the Red Zay people, the Black H’mong, and the Tay to name a few.
They all wear colourful distinctive clothes and headgear. Gayle warned us that once we started our walk through the town each one would follow us and mark us as targets for their sales pitch. She said not to buy anything until we finished our walk, and then only buy some small souvenir. Her advice was well taken. We were about to set off on a 4km walk down into a valley where we would wander through various villages and enjoy lunch as a guest in a village house. No sooner had we hit the road than the cries began
“You buy something from meeeee?”
“Where you from. You buy from me?”
Our stock reply was “Maybe later.”
Then we drove to a H’Mong village and walked 4km amongst padi fields and steep and windy rocky roads, slippery with mud.

Terraced Rice Padis

The various groups live together but there are differences. For example the Zay live a sedentary lifestyle and always choose the low land near the valleys’ bottom and river for growing wet rice while the H’mong prefer the higher elevation for corn farming.

Our personal hawkers

All the while on our walk we were accompanied by women selling stuff. They were there for a purpose of course, but they were quite friendly and answered our questions as we walked along. Many of them had babies on backs. They asked my age and where I came from, then “You buy from me? Yes?” One took Barbara’s arm and helped her along as if she was about to fall over at any moment. The Black H'mong women of Sapa are instantly recognisable - by their sheer weight of numbers and their distinctive black indigo skirt and shirt. Usually a long black waistcoat is worn over the shirt and a black pillbox hat is worn on the head.
We stopped at a local school where all the kids were on a play break, and they surrounded us and laughed and said “Hello”
By now we each had an assigned hawker for the whole walk.  We stopped for coffee half way along and I thought it was lunch so I bought a bag from my two ladies. I was wrong and Gayle ticked me off as it was only a coffee stop and as a result many more ladies appeared because they thought we were all ready to buy. Oops!

Little H'Mong Girl

Shy sister and brother

Our walk continued past buffaloes and ducks and pigs and people until lunch in a house belonging to a H’Mong family. Lots of rice and beef and chicken with spicy sauces and little shots of rice wine.
Then we walked the last kilometre to out waiting bus. On the way we were attacked by two cheeky little kids with sticks. Nothing serious; they were just cheeky kids. But one of the H’Mong women told us "They are Zay children. Very bad!”, not of course, like H’Mong children. But they all looked very cute to me.
Finally we checked into the Bamboo Sapa and a nice big room with a balcony looking out on mountains and a valley. But the mist blocked out most of it.
Then we got another pleasant surprise.
Mr Yep,we learned, had only recently married and he invited us all to a celebratory party on the following night.
The next morning was very cold and very very wet. We spent a fair bit of time in our hotel room after sleeping in until 9.30.

In the afternoon we went to a Pho Noodle place over the road where the lady sat us down, placed a charcoal brazier beside us and cooked us a pho noodle soup of chicken, chopped coriander, spring onions and garlic, a meal by itself.

Warming up in the noodle shop

We added a little chili sauce and it warmed us up beautifully. We followed this with green tea in little cups, all for about $5.

Then we walked thru pouring rain up the hill looking for the ethnic museum.
This was very interesting as it exhibited all the Hmong, Zay and other ethnic minorities’ clothes and traditions etc.
On the way back we visited a local Catholic church. Once again the French colonial style was evident in this quaint stone building. We met a Vietnamese nun who told us there were about 35 young students of Catholicism whom she taught and about 40 people came to Mass there.
There was some bad news when we got back to the hotel.
Gayle had broken her arm and had to see the local GP. We had to wait until 6.30 for her to get back so Barbara and I adjourned to bar across the road with our Novovcastrians, Jonathon and Alex. There we enjoyed a couple of mulled red wines with cinnamon just as a heart starter. Gayle returned from the doctor’s with her forearm arm in plaster, but otherwise ok.

Then we all headed off all off in a minivan to that wedding celebration at the hotel where we had breakfasted on our arrival..

When we turned up we were greeted by a room full of Vietnamese plus our group and a couple of other Europeans and a mass of food on each table.

On the left Mrs and Mr Yep

The Feast

There was chicken and beef and vegetables and rice on every table as well as bamboo shoots and a variety of sauces. In plastic water bottles there was rice wine known locally as “happy water”...very potent and served in little shot glasses. The trap was that every few minutes or so somebody from another table would come and welcome us by pouring shots all round which we were obliged to drink in one hit and then shake hands with the guy who poured it. This soon broke the ice and everybody lightened up. Boy did we lighten up!
We wished them good luck and they wished us good luck and we drank more shots and more shots. Then some from our table returned the compliment, going round each table and introducing themselves. They were all so friendly and thanked us for coming. We drank with the groom and his rather shy wife and all their friends. I taught one guy some Australia Culture by introducing him to a toast. “Get it into you!.”

Geting it into us!

He practiced a few times and cottoned on. He filled our shots again and said to me...”We will get it into us!"

                                                                                There was disco music and Barb and I got applause for joining in.

Then more rice wine until it was time to go. We felt really privileged to be invited to this celebration. We had a ball and hopefully wouldn’t suffer too much in the morning.
We got up early again in the morning and were surprised to see that the weather was clearing and we could actually see sunlight on the slopes of the mountains.

Now the sun comes out.

But we only had time for a few snapshots before leaving Sapa for a trip back down into Lao Cai via the town of Bac Ha.  This involved a two hour drive through semi jungle, the roads lined with houses of every sort, some old wooden, some quite smart villas. Every place had its vegetable garden. The houses mostly looked a bit ramshackle but those folk we saw sunning themselves on the porches seemed comfortable enough, and of course there was a motor bike or scooter outside.
When we reached Bac Ha it was after eleven and we were confronted with one of the biggest Sunday markets in Vietnam.

Shoppers

There were thousands of local H’Mong people and other minority groups thronging the markets. Stalls lined the road to the market entrance selling local traditional crafts of every kind, cushion covers, scarves, embroidery , traditional dolls, silver jewellery and more. And everyone was yelling “Helloooo..youbuy something from meeee!”

We plunged into the market proper with the crowd pressing so close, women with baskets or babies on their backs and men carrying long tubular baskets of chickens or pigs or ducks. We were hemmed in we were a bit concerned about pickpockets but nothing happened.

In her Sunday best

 We passed women in their Sunday best traditional clothes, shawls edged with dangling glass beds, and bright pink or turquoise head coverings, and shawls in bright colors and dangly earrings.
Barbara bought earrings. I bought a traditional stripy hat that made me look like Glen A Baker. We pressed on through a sort of open air restaurant serving food from many boiling woks full of rather grey looking meat; maybe horsemeat, and others with steaming rice and other local delicacies. Then past rows of butchers selling huge lumps of pork and beef from the tables in front of them. There were bellies and heads and trotters all laid out. Then at the end we passed ducks for sale, chicken and pigs with their heads covered with bags to keep them calm. And there were also dogs for sale for human consumption which horrified Joyce who cares about animals. All this resulted in a cacophony of clucking and grunting and quacking and barking and human voices, almost deafening.
Then we climbed some steps to the buffalo market. Each of about sixty full grown buffalo waited patiently to be sold for around a thousand dollars each or more.

The Buffalo Market

Pork anyone

The smell was overpowering. So we descended the main market again, along the rows of stalls until we found another auction spot where they sold mustangs, little pony like horses which are used to pull carts and do other farm work.

Mustangs for sale

Buy buy buy

From the market we bussed again along the busy road, dodging trucks and endless motorbikes and a visit to the former palace of a hereditary chief of the region. Apparently he was also a puppet of the French regime.

The villa near Bac Ha

This imposing edifice was built in a beautiful villa style with an inner courtyard and curved stone stairs sweeping up to the second floor.




And then on again down the valley towards Lao Chai past scenic vistas until we reached a H’Mong village where we stopped to visit. This was the real thing. The rough pathway to the village houses was muddy and very slippery and smelled of pigs, of which there were many grunting away in their sties.

Village House

The houses were fairly primitive looking from outside but we were allowed to visit one family (from Grandma down) and see inside.

The family

The interior was an open dirt floor plan but it had its own TV, a DVD player as well as electric power, long life bulbs and the phone charger in the wall. Quite a contrast!
These people were poor by our standards but in local terms quite comfortable with their way of life.




Another bus ride down and down towards Lao Cai, stopping to view the China-Vietnam Border

Vietnam-China Border

We took a few pictures and got our muddy shoes cleaned.

Because of her broken arm Gayle didn’t join us until that evening and we were left in the hands of Mr Yep. Which reminds me that on this trip we made an unscheduled stop so that Mr Yep could pick up some corn wine (a local brew) for the Tet (New Year) celebrations. He bought 25 litres of it!
We finally reached Lau Cai where we were met by Gayle and had dinner in a local café.
After that we headed for the station again and boarded the night train for Hanoi before flying south to the old capital city of Hue. 

HUE

The Citadel in Hue

We had an uneventful night on the train back to Hanoi and had to be up by 5.30am.Gayle had booked us all rooms at the Hanoi Essence so that we could shower and freshen up and have breakfast.
We also had time to do a little repacking and some shopping. We bought silly pink ear muffs for the grandchildren Claire and Heather. (All the young girls wear them in winter in Hanoi)
Talking of shopping, we had brought a bag for small things in Hanoi. Its handle broke so we bought another bag with stronger straps. It broke too.
We have something of a history with bags.
Then out to the airport to pick up an Air Vietnam flight Hanoi to Hue. The flight took less than an hour and was very comfortable.
Regrettably we arrived too late for lunch so we made do with snacks from the airport shop before taking taxis into the city proper.
Before our taxi went on to our hotel, we were dropped off at the Citadel, a huge stone fortress built in the 19th century by the feudal Nguyen dynasty, puppet emperors under the French.
Beyond that lay the Imperial palace grounds and the so called Purple Forbidden City.
Hue was the national capital until the emperor Bao Dai capitulated to the communists in 1945.
The buildings were impressive and splendid but the day was spoiled somewhat by constant drizzling rain which soaked you to the skin. I gave up in the end and found my way to the exit where I waited for the others. I finished up pretty grumpy because I paid an exorbitant amount for an umbrella while waiting just a few minutes before everybody else showed up.

Dressing up for the tourists

We checked into the Hotel Asia and my mood brightened once I’d had a hot shower and changed for dinner at a restaurant across the road. Plus the fact that I got a fair bit of ribbing from my fellow travelers about losing my cool over an umbrella
Our second day in Hue was much more pleasant. The rain had stopped for one thing and we enjoyed an excellent breakfast. It was the best coffee we had yet sampled in Vietnam. Our first port of call was the Tomb of Minh Mang. Minh Mang was a nineteenth century emperor. He died in 1840. His tomb is set in parkland and with its own lake.
Everything is very still and peaceful with a sense of decay even though the place is only 150 yrs old.

Tomb of Minh Mang

The buildings were of brick and stone with broad courtyards and statues of mandarin courtiers leading up to a temple, all mossy and blackened by time.
When we left this site we found the usual peddlers waiting to sell us bananas and souvenirs. Some of them had their little kids with them, trying to sell us fruit. It was very hard to resist
We drove on to another tomb this time, the tomb of another emperor To Duc.

Stone Courtiers

To Duc was also an expert in eastern philosophy and something of a poet. There was a lodge in the middle of the lake where he would go to compose his verses. This place too was beautiful and peaceful with the still water and trees and flights of steps up to the temple. However the only poetry it inspired in us began with “There was a young man called To Duc…and deteriorated from there.

To Duc's Inspiration Place

Then  we headed off again to the banks of the Perfume River where we boarded a dragon boat for a cruise back to Hue. This was a tourist boat with a dragon’s head at the prow. There were seats and a sampan style roof. The man who ran it lived aboard with his wife and children and earned his living by carrying tourists.

A Dragon Boat

His wife sold goods such as silk pyjamas, shirts, watercolors and other stuff. We bought a pair of Chinese style pyjamas, some little painted pictures and a shirt.
There was a baby 18 months old, asleep in a hammock  and she didn't wake up even as we cruised along past rice padis and vegetable gardens and small riverbank villages.

Sleeping baby aboard

Barbara was admiring the baby and jokingly asked how much? To her surprise the woman actually asked her if she could take the child. She repeated this several times, saying she had four children and no money. That gave us pause for thought and Barbara is determined to see if she can help this family. She took a note of the boat’s licence number so we’ll see what can be done.
Meanwhile we watched the traffic on the river; other tour boats, sampans, barges and one person boats. People in traditional coolie style hats, punting along!

Thien Mu Pagoda

We stopped at the Thien Mu Pagoda, another beautiful spot with a large pagoda towering above a flight of steps up from the river bank. This elegant seven storey pagoda was built in 1601 by the Nguyen Lords. It has a giant bell which allegedly can be heard up to ten kilometers away.

By the Perfume River

There is also a piece of more recent history next to the Buddhist school nearby.

A relic of the 60's

It is a somewhat rusty old Austin sedan, the car which brought a monk named Thich Quang Duc to Saigon. There he burned himself to death in protest at the Diem government's treatment of Buddhists.

Nearby there was a garden of bonsai trees and white camellias and yellow chrysanthemums.

Leaving this place we boarded our dragon boat again and returned to Hue city. Barb now had a cough and a sore throat. She bought medication at the chemists for a fraction of the price at home.

Then we had a beautiful lunch at a restaurant over the road from our hotel. Barb had a spicy mix of rice and meat and vegetables. I had fried rice with vegetables mushrooms, egg and shrimps all served in a scooped out pineapple and decorated with a flower made from peeled tomato skin.
All this was washed down with two Hue Beers. (The label said Hue Beer is preferred by all the world) Barb had three flavours of ice cream, mango, coconut and lemongrass.
All of this for just 350,000 Dong or $17.50 Then cafe latte and back to the hotel for a rest.
The whole group ate dinner that evening at the same place. It was called the Why Not. I don’t know why, but why not!

 HOI AN 

Up early again after our last dinner in Hue. Barb still had her nasty cough but was coping. We took off through a busy early morning in Hue and out onto the highway connecting Hue to Danang .Along the way we passed more bright green rice padis and water buffalo and lots of houses.

China Beach nearr Lan Co

 We stopped for a break on the coastal resort of Lan Co.  This is a very modern set up, reminiscent of Port Douglas. We now had the first bright sun we’d seen since we got to Vietnam and it was hot although tempered by a cool sea breeze. Then we climbed up into the mountains cloaked in jungle and lush undergrowth. We stopped a few times to take views of the bay and every time we were assailed by coolie hatted Vietnamese ladies selling bananas and souvenirs. At the highest point, the Hai Van Pass there were old concrete pillboxes and fortifications put there by the French. These were later used by the South Vietnamese and the Americans.

Fortifications at Hai Van Pass

From there an army could control the whole road.
Then we headed down to the coast again and the city of Danang. Once a major American airbase, Danang is now a modern booming city with a major airport. But our destination was Hoi An, twenty minutes further on.
Hoi An is a world heritage city of some 120,000 residents. It sits on the coast of the South China Sea and has been a major trading port for goods as far away as Egypt and the Middle East. Its history goes back to the first century AD.
We checked into a beautiful hotel with cool dark corridors and luxurious rooms.
Ours was a suite with sitting room and a spa.
Most tourists come to Hoi An for the shopping. There are markets and shops everywhere, especially tailors and shoemakers who offer their wares at remarkably cheap rates.
But we would look at the shopping later.

Hoi An riverfront

Street traders - Hoi An

First we had a delicious lunch at a restaurant called the Cargo Club. Gayle knew the people well and they treated us like royalty. It was a superb meal of dishes we had not encountered before. There were Wontons, vegetable rolls which we made up ourselves in rice paper, and a vegetable, pork and noodle soup to finish. All this was washed down with Heineken beer. Total cost $17A each including drinks! This place also offered beautiful French patisserie and crusty rolls which we would sample later.
After lunch Gayle showed us the best places to shop. Barbara was thinking about clothes for school and I had a hankering for a linen jacket and some shirts. We checked out a place called AoBaBa   which Gayle recommended.

At the tailor's

We arranged to return in the evening to make decisions and fittings. I bought a pair of sandals, then we walked back along the waterfront through a teeming market offering all sorts of stuff, chopstick sets, t shirts, scarves and so on.

That evening as planned, we went back to the tailor’s and made some serious choices. Barb ordered some clothes for work. Slacks, jackets and mix and match stuff. I got measured up for a linen jacket and a couple of shirts. Shirts $24 and jacket about $40. We were attended to by a lovely Vietnamese girl called Wendy. She appeared dressed in those long silk trousers with a tunic-like silk overall split to the thigh. It’s called an Aodai.
Wendy took our measurements then discussed various style options. They will make up any style you want. Mine was single breasted with outside pockets. A blazer basically! Then they photographed us against a kind of graph board from the front, side and back and that all went into a computer. If ever I wanted to order something more I could do it from home online. Having gone through the stress of deciding what to wear, we crossed the road to an open air restaurant called Hai Cafe. This was a courtyard with bamboo in the middle and tables around lit by Chinese lanterns. We drank Australian chardonnay and sampled a wonton dish called a white rose. This was followed by chicken rice. Barb had spring rolls and crispy fried chicken. Our waitress gave us salted peanuts and then plied us with more wine. She brought more peanuts and then said "More wine" We had four and left feeling pretty cheery.
We knew that the town was dressing up for Tet and there were Chinese lanterns everywhere. In the morning after breakfast we took taxis for a Vietnamese cooking experience. First stop...the Hai Café again but this time for refreshing free lemon juice. Before we were allowed to cook anything we were taken by a young Vietnamese girl named June for a visit to the food market.

Hoi An Market

Some familiar - Some not!

This was crowded with stalls and pitches selling all sorts of vegetables, some familiar and some new to us. There was dragon fruit, a kind of plum, plus vegies...again some familiar some not. There were lots of Vietnamese herbs too and June explained what each one was and what it was used for. Then onto the fish market where they were selling fresh fish...huge ocean mackerel, and many others. Then on again to where they sold knives and cleavers and gadgets for slicing vegetables. We passed a place which sold chopsticks and I bought a beautiful lacquered black box with a lid carved in a Viet dragon design. Inside 12 black chopsticks and their little stone rests. Price 10 dollars!
We next boarded a sampan and set off along the river for our appointment at the Red Bridge Cooking School for a Vietnamese cooking lesson. We inspected the herb garden with mint and ginger and morning glory (not our sort).

Our Chef Instructor

Then we all sat in a sort of open air classroom, supplied with notes on the recipes we would be learning about. Our female chef began by showing us how to make fresh rice paper from a thin rice batter. Then we had to go to the practice bench where heaters were burning and we made our own rice paper.
Next we made Hoi An pancakes and placed them on the rice paper and filled them with vegies, rolled them up and we had spring rolls. We made an eggplant concoction in a clay pot and we learned how to sculpt cucumber and turn a tomato peel into a rose for decoration. At this we were only mildly successful. We could eat what we made but Gayle warned us to only eat a bit because we would be having a full luncheon later.
So we moved to the riverside restaurant part of the place and enjoyed a vegetable salad served in a hollowed our pineapple with shrimps and herb.

With our own hands!

Then the spring rolls and Hoi An pancake followed by the eggplant clay pot, and finishing off with fresh fruit and the obligatory glass of wine. We now have copies of the recipes we learned about and can’t wait to try our hand at a Vietnamese banquet. We’ve got the chopsticks too!
After graduating from cookery school, we boarded our sampan and headed back to town. There were kingfishers and herons on the riverbank as we glided past.
Barb even got to steer the boat as we passed sampans and workboats on our way back.

Barbara takes the helm

At our hotel we took a rest for a couple of hours. It was now quite hot and humid although the breeze off the river cooled us off.
Then Barb and I returned to see the tailor and tried everything on. A few alterations were needed and I decided to buy some linen trousers to complete the Graham Green look.
I’ve already got a Panama hat.
Later in the afternoon we met up with some of our friends and decided to visit a spa and massage place. We took a taxi to the place which cost all of $2.
Barb had a foot relaxing massage and a pedicure. I opted for something called a full aroma body massage which would take ninety minutes. Some of it was very relaxing and some of it really hurt. That lady got her thumbs into muscles I didn't know I had. She even massaged my face, my scalp and finger tips and toes. At the end I felt great.

Tet Lanterns

That night we dined at a place called the Secret Garden with Gayle, and one of the group, Joyce who is from Singapore. All the Chinese lanterns were lit and the whole town looked beautiful.
The Secret Garden, which Alex and Jonathon had recommended to us, was down a narrow alleyway and the place itself opened out into an outdoor courtyard with a bar and dining tables.

At the Secret Garden - Hoi An

A guitarist played in one corner and as we enjoyed dinner a very slim elegant young Vietnamese girl in traditional Aodai, sang traditional songs in a high quavering voice. If I seem to rave on a bit about Vietnamese girls it is because they are so graceful and fragile looking. Well most of them anyway!
After dinner we strolled back to the hotel, dropping into that restaurant called the Cargo Club where we enjoyed coffee and French patisserie. Decadent!
Our time in Vietnam was coming to a close. In the morning we took a bus to Marble Mountain which as the name suggests is a mountain consisting mostly of marble. This area overlooks the city of Danang and during the Vietnam war the mountain’s many caves were used as a Viet Cong base overlooking the big US base at Danang. The VC even had a big underground hospital there.

Cave at Marble Mountain

Inside the cave

Today you can explore the caves which we did a bit but it's very steep and hard to get about.

Buddha

We took a lift to the summit where there were lots of Buddhist temples and some magnificent views. There have been people living here since 900AD.
Down below were scores of workshops and factories producing marble statues of lions, Buddhas, and all sorts of decorative pieces on a giant scale.

Temple Roof

Along the way we passed what appeared to be a funeral or a wake.

A funeral or a wake!

There were fifty or sixty people, most wearing white cloth headbands all sitting together while a traditional group of musicians played Vietnamese music and boomed on a big ceremonial drum. There was also a lot of chanting of prayers.
Driving back to town we got back to the hotel and made plans for the rest of our last day here. We returned to the tailor and did final fittings for the clothes we had bought. They would deliver them to our hotel before we left. We were both very pleased with the results of our shopping expedition.

Something for the garden?

So naturally when we went looking for lunch. We enjoyed some western food at the Cargo Club, just for a change.Baguettes and a salad and for Barb a croque monsieur with salad and a couple of glasses of orange and lime juice.
We bought yet another cabin bag for 19 bucks which should allow us to get everything home. We've got to learn to travel light. We also bought a little silver chain to go with a mother of pearl gift for Gayle.
And much against my judgment but everyone insisted, I bought some spectacle frames for new glasses. I must admit they were pretty good. And they only cost $45A, a fraction of what they'd cost at home.

I rested for the afternoon while Barbara went off for a facial and some other massage.

Then in the evening our new clothes arrived, delivered from the tailor's.
Everything was just perfect and looking good.
Everyone met up for a last dinner together. Tomorrow some would set off to Cambodia, Joyce was flying home to Singapore and others heading home to Australia.
We dined together again at the Secret Garden and presented Gayle with the small gift I mentioned earlier. After a beautiful dinner we wound up taking a stroll down some very narrow alleyways back to the Cargo Club for delicious coffee and cakes. We were due to check out at noon on the next day and we had to pack for our flight from Danang to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City).
With the hours slipping away Barb went for a morning walk through a somewhat less hectic Hoi An. Many people were away for Tet and there was not much traffic.

Marrying at Tet is good luck

After breakfast we went to another part of the town where there was a very old Japanese bridge and many old houses.
Then it was back to the hotel where we packed for the flight to Saigon.

Ancient Japanese Bridge

We made our farewells to our travelling friends, promising to keep in touch, if only by email. Then we and Gayle, Jon and Alex drove to the airport at Danang.

SAIGON (HO CHI MINH CITY)
The flight to Saigon took about forty minutes, followed by a hotel van ride. Our hotel was on the main drag of the city. Even on the way into town we could see that the traffic was even heavier than Hanoi, and that is saying something. The main difference between the two cities is that where Hanoi is made up of a tangle of many narrow streets, Saigon has broad avenues and large squares, as well as a tangle of narrow streets.

Saigon traffic

Gayle had to take a plane for home in an hour or two but she did take us down the street to sample the wares of an ice cream shop which specialized in exotic ice creams served in hollowed out coconuts. Yummy! But you don’t say yum in Vietnam because it means horny. After saying goodbye to Gayle we walked back with Jon and Alex through an undercover market where we bought souvenir t shirts and presents for the grandchildren.

Saigon Night Market

Barb got ripped off over some shirts and slacks but even though she paid too much it was still much cheaper than home prices.
I, in the meantime, was standing around waiting for her when a stallholder insisted I sit down. I said no thanks but she insisted. Then she said “You look like Santa Claus”.
They do respect the elderly in Vietnam.

The Majestic Hotel

We were leaving for home in the morning (Sunday) so back at the hotel we inquired about any short tours we might take. Alex and Jon were staying for three days so they were going on a tour of the famous Viet Cong tunnel complex outside Saigon. We had to be at the airport by early afternoon so we decided to just do a little local exploration.

In the meantime we had been told that one of the posh hotels in this city was the Majestic. It was a favorite haunt of Army officers during the war. So Alex and Jon joined us in a taxi to the Majestic, through the most incredible chaos of motor cycles and scooters. We got there in one piece and found the Majestic across the road from the river where big floating restaurants were doing a brisk New Year trade.

Cocktails at the Majestic

They were decorated with thousands of lights in all sorts of designs from junks to sharks. The Majestic proved to be another of those grand old establishments of the past with magnificent halls and staircases and chandeliers. We took the lift to the fifth floor where the Sky Bar looked down on the myriad of lights below.
An immaculately clad waiter took our orders for cocktails. I had a banana daiquiri and Barbara had something called a Saigon Glory. In fact we had two.
From the luxury of the Majestic, we descended to the streets again and found a taxi back to our hotel. If we had thought our first encounter with Saigon traffic was scary, this was much much worse. Thousands of scooters were out, all moving at around 5kph and all hooting and tooting in a crazy mix of sound.

Crazy SaigonTraffic

We looked out on a sea of motor scooters with whole families aboard. Mum Dad and two little kids standing between them. There were thousands of them going along the road and crossways at every junction and even pedestrians risking life and limb to cross the jampacked roads. Our driver seemed unphased by all this so we just sat back and laughed all the way home. That’s what a couple of banana daiquiris will do for you.
We said good night to Jon and Alex and went to a nearby Pho Noodle place for a cheap dinner. Then out into the street and along the stalls of the local night market selling all the same old stuff...t shirts and leather stuff and so on, with fruit and veg of every kind on offer.
Our last morning in Saigon left us with just a few hours before checkout, so we grabbed a map and headed out onto the streets. We walked through the market again in search of the Palace of Reunification. It used to be known as the Presidential Palace and it is where the Vietnam War came to an end. Everyone knows that famous photo of a North Vietnamese tank smashing through the iron gates of the palace. That’s what we went to see.

Our helpful passer by

On the way we stopped to check our map and of course a bloke asked us where we were going and he put down his load of coconuts and showed us the directions. Then he wanted us to photograph him. We obliged, and of course he then wanted us to buy his coconuts. We had little choice. Besides a drink of fresh coconut milk was very refreshing.

We eventually reached the palace with it’s now restored front gates.

Those famous gates

And they even had a tank there. Not THE tank but one very similar, to commemorate the victory and the end of the war.

North Vietnamese tank

The interior of the palace was not so impressive.

Once the Presidential Palace - Now the Palace of Reunification

There seemed to be a lot of conference rooms but not much else. Still this was a piece of relatively recent history and worth the visit.

Out on the street once again, we walked another few blocks to Notre Dame Cathedral, which was just closing after morning Mass. Again this wasn’t especially impressive, and certainly nothing compared to its namesake in Paris. Finally it was time to head back to our hotel so we consulted our map once again. And once again help was at hand.

A last cyclo ride!

Two cyclo drivers offered to run us back for only 200,000 dong. We were cautious having previous experience of cyclo drivers, but these guys seemed ok and we headed off through the traffic. It was a pleasant last memory of Vietnam, particularly as we stopped at the wrong hotel and then had to find our way through market stalls and busy streets that all looked alike, until we stumbled on our own hotel.
We had enough time to shower before check out, and to get changed. The day was hot and we were pretty sweaty.
As we drove out to the airport, we had a lot to think about. The streets of Hanoi and the H’Mong people of Sapa. Mr Yep’s party and all those shots of “happy water”. The pagodas and the temples of Hue and the lady who wanted to give away her child. The street life and the old houses.The decaying tombs of emperors past. The markets and the tailors, the relics of war, the islands of Ha Long Bay. And of course the food! And those graceful Vietnamese girls!

How lucky we have been to have experience this wonderful country and its wonderful people. Unforgettable!