So we decided that instead of bus to Danang, train to Nha Trang then bus to Dalat we would brave the overnight bus to Nha Trang and the day bus to Dalat.
The lights on the overnight/sleeper bus got turned off at 7pm, which meant we couldn't even read to pass the time. This I assume was to allow people to sleep but the driver kept his radio going all night. Oh and we stopped for fuel after 30 mins and then again at 1130pm (despite lights out at 7pm remember) where all the lights went on for 30mins. The assistant driver though it was ok to smoke in the toilet (distributing it through the entire bus via the air con) and the driver was all we expected in the swerving on blind corners, honking every 10mins throughout the whole night.
Thinking of naming something. If you have to name something a 'sleeping' bus rather than a plain old simple bus with reclining seats, you are trying to psych-op the potential customers. For there was no sleeping to be had. First of all you were at the mercy of the driver who felt, yes light is bad but loud Vietnamese radio is good. Coupled with rodeo style swerves from the wrong side of the road that nearly bumped me out of my second level bunk more than once (I refused to put a seat belt on, lest I get molested in the middle of the night by the smoking assistant driver) (yes he was that weird). More than once I thought the drivers number was up and we were just unnecessary servants for the after-life. Let's just say the crash scene would have looked really weird with 20 tourists lying flat down on a bus, with seatbelts on (except me). Everytime the driver took an organised right hand turn to avoid oncoming traffic, someone's water or pillow went flying across the bus. Water at 60km/h hurts. Not to mention that at 5 foot 9 inches I reached the maximum lentgh of the reclining bed. I don't know what the 6 foot + Pom did down the back but I never saw him get off the bus the next morning. And my favourite part of the whole trip was waking us all up at 5am and then stopping five minutes later so they didn't arrive too early at the bus station; cause everyone was having such a good time they didn't want it to end!!!
Anyways that was the most uneventful part of the journey. We had breakkie and a one hour wait at Nha Trang and pottered around the beach for a bit before boarding another bus to Dalat.
The ride started out as normal (a stop for fuel after an hour) and insane driver, but as we wound our way up the hill the road started to get a little less wide and the hills a little closer. We then can to a stop behind a queue of cars. Jono went to look at what was happening and remembering Steph's wish "she hadn't looked" experience on the overnight bus I waited a while. Eventually I went to check it out.
There had been a fairly substantial landslide that had covered the road but this looked like it had been there a while as there were tyre trails through it. What had stopped the traffic was that one of the buses had got stuck over one section. Later in the day someone told us it had actually been stuck overnight but we don't know. They did manage to get that bus off the rise but the next bus got stuck too. After about an hour a digger arrived and two hours later the road had been cleared and we were able to get through. Just before we got through torrential rain started and the entire mountainside was gushing with mud waterfalls.
Imagine three or four buses and 20 or so cars and 4wds split either side of said stranded bus. Then imagine all those people from those machines standing around said stuck bus. Doing nothing except watching said bus driver trying to dig up a rock the size of a 4wd tyre. It didn't work. I tried to help him. Although with a bit of help from an American family who only spoke English, REALLY LOUDLY, everyone realised that they knew nothing about stuck buses on hillsides. And that if listened to REALLY carefully the American family would provide them with 6 years worth of Engineering qualifications so that they too could understand that the straight underside edge of the bus was always going to get stuck because the angle of the rocks and the road was short and steep not long and protracted like their explanations. Ahhh, haven't they done enough in this country already. (The best part was the American adult daughter after this was all over when I was walking back to the bus said, "People are so stupid." I wanted to oh how I wanted to reply in the affirmative but I just couldn't bring myself to say it.)
But once the first bus was freed instead of bringing in the digger to clean up the road, they powers that be (No, not the American family) started letting a few cars and 4wds through and then another bus...that got stuck. Whooo. 2 hours later the digger had finally cleared what was left of the shabbiestly built road and the crew of dimwits who got the bus stuck in the first place had propped up the bus enough for it to not leave it's axle on the road and we were outta there.
The amusing parts of this debacle were that once the digger had cleared part of the way the motorcyclists started to form a group trying to pass and actually honking at the digger. Just stupid, as they did actually get through but got stuck on the other side by the bus. Also once the road was clear the honking matches started as the buses tried to fight their way through the narrow section.
The rest of the ride we marvelled at the ingenuity and craftmanship the went into making this road. We suspect it will wash away in sections fairly soon, at least four sections of retaining wall had already fallen apart and the road was flooded in as many sections where the drainage was useless. The last section of the road is actually being built and this explains some of the issues. The road is built by a group of locals ranging from about 14 to 40, none of which appeared to have any idea of engineering. They gave a bunch of people some cement and some of the rocks that had already fallen off the mountainside and said 'build a retaining wall, you know how to do that right?'.
Oh it was so much better than that. There are perhaps 100 sections of waterfalls that cross the main road. Somebody must have been up there when there hadn't been any rain for months because they have constructed a water system so complex the Romans wouldn't know where to start. Some of it doesn't go anywhere, whereas other parts seem to flow straight onto the road to dislodge it while others flow onto the softest red earth you'll ever see causing even more landslides. Richard Pratt's tax returns were less complex than this. But the retaining walls were the best by a mile. We got to see a few being built and some of them were nowhere near a bit of dirt let alone a face of a mountain. And don't think they would fill the space in later, they don't have fancy things called machines, they might wash away. All the rocks they were using for the walls were ON THE ROAD, not by the edge, on it!!! Piled up nice and high. And did it occur to them to maybe run a diverting drain above the retaining walls? Well no, nobody would have a job to rebuild the wall if you did that.
We did eventually arrive in Dalat. French Alps is really really a stretch.
Our hotel is called Dreams. The LP guide says it really is where Dreams are made. Well only if your dream is to be stuck in the complimentary sauna with a Canadian who sounds like Sarah Pallin. Then yeah.
Saturday, 9 May 2009
Friday, 8 May 2009
Hoi An
Great food. Really good accommodation at a bargain price and gorgeous lanterned streets with some helpful friendly people.
We have had a great time here. Firstly we managed to bargain our hotel room down to $16 US from about $25 US. Everyone in the place had just checked out and we knew we would stay a few days so we hung out until she gave in. The room had clean crisp sheets, a bath, fridge and a TV with cable and the hotel also had pool in the garden out the back.
We didn't do much sightseeing, in fact we didn't even venture to the beach 5kms away. Our days consisted of eating until we felt nauseous (Em couldn't even finish her chocolate mousse desert which I think is unheard of), lounging in the cool room watching movies and going swimming in the pool.
We had some yummy croissants at the cargo cafe, scrumptious 5 course dinner cooked by Mr Kim (whose waiters were hilarious- one guy persisted in showing us how to eat each meal to the point where Jono was convinced he was going to try the aeroplane spoon technique), had genuinely friendly service from a family restaurant across the road from the hotel and one dinner at this collection of street styled vendors near the waterfront. Our waitress and cook were a sister team and we tried all the Hoi An speciliaties (white rose- shrimp wrapped in rice flour dumpling, cau lao- pasta like noodles with salad and tofu and beansprouts and fresh spring rolls). We also got a little tipsy on local beer (bia hoi is the fresh beer and is quite low alcohol and bia tuoi is the next step up, more alcohol but tastes about the same at 4,000 dong a glass- cheaper than water).
We also splurged on some clothes and even had to buy a bag to put them in. I justify this by saying the bag will be useful in Europe. That and it only cost AUS$14- even if the zippers don't work it's still good value.
We visited the Lifestart Foundation workshop, which was set-up by a Melbourne lady (Essendon) to fund orphanages and street kids training in skilled positions. Em got to meet the lady who made her stuffed elephant 'Eddie'. She had a treatable patentcy in her heart that went undiagnosed as a child and now needs a full heart-lung transplant. The foundation sponsored her because her previous job could not pay for the medications she needs. She was so good and enthusiastic at her job that she is now a supervisor. Makes you think you're a right loser when you're wishing you could buy more suits. You can look them up at lifestartfoundation.org. Great place.
As long as we ignore the bank balance it was a perfect few days. Next we are off to Dalat, where it will be cooler and they make quite nice wine.
We have had a great time here. Firstly we managed to bargain our hotel room down to $16 US from about $25 US. Everyone in the place had just checked out and we knew we would stay a few days so we hung out until she gave in. The room had clean crisp sheets, a bath, fridge and a TV with cable and the hotel also had pool in the garden out the back.
We didn't do much sightseeing, in fact we didn't even venture to the beach 5kms away. Our days consisted of eating until we felt nauseous (Em couldn't even finish her chocolate mousse desert which I think is unheard of), lounging in the cool room watching movies and going swimming in the pool.
We had some yummy croissants at the cargo cafe, scrumptious 5 course dinner cooked by Mr Kim (whose waiters were hilarious- one guy persisted in showing us how to eat each meal to the point where Jono was convinced he was going to try the aeroplane spoon technique), had genuinely friendly service from a family restaurant across the road from the hotel and one dinner at this collection of street styled vendors near the waterfront. Our waitress and cook were a sister team and we tried all the Hoi An speciliaties (white rose- shrimp wrapped in rice flour dumpling, cau lao- pasta like noodles with salad and tofu and beansprouts and fresh spring rolls). We also got a little tipsy on local beer (bia hoi is the fresh beer and is quite low alcohol and bia tuoi is the next step up, more alcohol but tastes about the same at 4,000 dong a glass- cheaper than water).
We also splurged on some clothes and even had to buy a bag to put them in. I justify this by saying the bag will be useful in Europe. That and it only cost AUS$14- even if the zippers don't work it's still good value.
We visited the Lifestart Foundation workshop, which was set-up by a Melbourne lady (Essendon) to fund orphanages and street kids training in skilled positions. Em got to meet the lady who made her stuffed elephant 'Eddie'. She had a treatable patentcy in her heart that went undiagnosed as a child and now needs a full heart-lung transplant. The foundation sponsored her because her previous job could not pay for the medications she needs. She was so good and enthusiastic at her job that she is now a supervisor. Makes you think you're a right loser when you're wishing you could buy more suits. You can look them up at lifestartfoundation.org. Great place.
As long as we ignore the bank balance it was a perfect few days. Next we are off to Dalat, where it will be cooler and they make quite nice wine.
Wednesday, 6 May 2009
Hue
Needless to say arriving in Hue was a huge relief. I was even nonplussed by the constant touts from moto drivers for a few days.
We made up for a few days of living on chips and oreos by eating yummy food with some substance. Had a japanse dinner the first night which revived Jono's appreciation for chicken.The previous few days he (I'm sure) was served up some old jaundiced rooster that had been poached then left to dry out for a few days. We had breakfast a On Thu Wheels and one of the kids who was watching cartoons came over and tried to clear the table for us. Unfortuantely he couldn't quite balance the plates and ended up dropping one on the floor. That didn't worry him much though as his mother was cleaning it up he came over to the table again. He picked up our little dish of sugar and stuck his finger in to eat some. Jono tried to stop him and must have actually got the word for "no" spot on as he stopped and looked up. As if to say 'Well if I can't use my finger...' he looks down at the bowl and licks the sugar from the bowl. At this point the stern faces we were trying to keep cracked and we burst out laughing. He was a little confused but not that bothered.
The next day we wandered around the citadel and the citadel within a citadel and spent 30 mins trying to find the citadel within a citadel within a citadel before realising we had passed it on our way to trying to find it. It was quite pleasant in the imperial enclosure and Jono climbed up one of the tanks on display in front of one of the museums. A fairly laid back day and we again stuffed our faces at the Indian resturant in town.
Our plan for the third day was to cycle to the temple which has the car that the monk that burnt himself in protest to the Vietnam War is on display and then to cycle to the closet of the royal tombs. Tim and Steph had said it was the best one so we thought one would be enough.
The trip to the Thien Mu Pagado was strainght foward and we wandered about the temple for a bit before heading of the tombs.
The map in the lonely planet guide is useless and maybe we are a bit useless at following maps. We ended up cycling to the second furthest tomb Khai Dinh. We thought we were at Thieu Tri but had overshot and cycled 10km out of town. We looked at the tomb which was pretty impressive, very ornate and extravagant. The 36 steps that lead up to it were impressive but it is apparently a display of the decline of vietnamese culture, as it is unlike the other tombs and has much more European influence.
So we headed back towards town in search of Tu Duc. On the way we meet a group of school girls who came over while we were studying the map. They asked Jono to sing a song but he refused suggesting they should ask me. After a pretty tone deaf rendition of Row Row Row your boat we asked for a song in return. 5 girls say back 'You are my sunshine, my only sunshine....".It was really lovely, very sweet and a little funny. So we were on our way again and again we overshot and had to cycle 3km back out of town up a fairly hilly section. We did eventually get to Tu Duc Tomb and it does have a lovely garden.
We splashed out on the degustation dinner at Y Thao garden which was an experience. We have a photo of the pineapple peacock our spring rolls came on. We also splurged on a cyclo ride home as the legs started to give in. I did feel a little sorry for the guy having to cycle two people up the hill on the bridge but he ripped us of at the end so I should have saved my pity for someone more derserving!
We made up for a few days of living on chips and oreos by eating yummy food with some substance. Had a japanse dinner the first night which revived Jono's appreciation for chicken.The previous few days he (I'm sure) was served up some old jaundiced rooster that had been poached then left to dry out for a few days. We had breakfast a On Thu Wheels and one of the kids who was watching cartoons came over and tried to clear the table for us. Unfortuantely he couldn't quite balance the plates and ended up dropping one on the floor. That didn't worry him much though as his mother was cleaning it up he came over to the table again. He picked up our little dish of sugar and stuck his finger in to eat some. Jono tried to stop him and must have actually got the word for "no" spot on as he stopped and looked up. As if to say 'Well if I can't use my finger...' he looks down at the bowl and licks the sugar from the bowl. At this point the stern faces we were trying to keep cracked and we burst out laughing. He was a little confused but not that bothered.
The next day we wandered around the citadel and the citadel within a citadel and spent 30 mins trying to find the citadel within a citadel within a citadel before realising we had passed it on our way to trying to find it. It was quite pleasant in the imperial enclosure and Jono climbed up one of the tanks on display in front of one of the museums. A fairly laid back day and we again stuffed our faces at the Indian resturant in town.
Our plan for the third day was to cycle to the temple which has the car that the monk that burnt himself in protest to the Vietnam War is on display and then to cycle to the closet of the royal tombs. Tim and Steph had said it was the best one so we thought one would be enough.
The trip to the Thien Mu Pagado was strainght foward and we wandered about the temple for a bit before heading of the tombs.
The map in the lonely planet guide is useless and maybe we are a bit useless at following maps. We ended up cycling to the second furthest tomb Khai Dinh. We thought we were at Thieu Tri but had overshot and cycled 10km out of town. We looked at the tomb which was pretty impressive, very ornate and extravagant. The 36 steps that lead up to it were impressive but it is apparently a display of the decline of vietnamese culture, as it is unlike the other tombs and has much more European influence.
So we headed back towards town in search of Tu Duc. On the way we meet a group of school girls who came over while we were studying the map. They asked Jono to sing a song but he refused suggesting they should ask me. After a pretty tone deaf rendition of Row Row Row your boat we asked for a song in return. 5 girls say back 'You are my sunshine, my only sunshine....".It was really lovely, very sweet and a little funny. So we were on our way again and again we overshot and had to cycle 3km back out of town up a fairly hilly section. We did eventually get to Tu Duc Tomb and it does have a lovely garden.
We splashed out on the degustation dinner at Y Thao garden which was an experience. We have a photo of the pineapple peacock our spring rolls came on. We also splurged on a cyclo ride home as the legs started to give in. I did feel a little sorry for the guy having to cycle two people up the hill on the bridge but he ripped us of at the end so I should have saved my pity for someone more derserving!
Sunday, 3 May 2009
Dong Hoi, Dong Ha and the DMZ
The train ride to Dong Hoi was great for the first 5 hours, beautiful scenery and much calmer than the roads. However there were only hard seats left when we booked and we had to sit on different sides of the train. This left us open to the experience of locals with no concept of personal space. At one point Jono had one person sleeping under him and three people squeezed onto the two person hard seat (sized for two vietnamese people). The granny opposite me thought it was fine to put her feet up on the seat and lean them on me. Now I am not that worried by granny feet but both of us had been to the toilet before this.. the loo is a metal surface with a hole that goes down to the tracks, one of the lovely hoses included so the entire floor is wet. She had been twice and one of the trips she took toilet paper, so her feet as they slipped out of her plastic sandals and onto my leg were radioactive as far as I was concerned. Shaking that memory off will be hard.
So we did eventually arrive in Dong Hoi and managed to bargain our way down to 40, 000 dong for the cab to the hotel. The owner was really lovely and cooked us some noodles when we arrived.
We awoke to a downpour, and the owner explained it was Reunifcation/Liberation day which meant he was booked out and all the rooms would be double the price the next day and most are also booked out. So we thought we would go to Dong Ha and get to the DMZ (demilitarised zone) from there. We were aiming to avoid Dong Ha as lonely planet says there is no conceivable reason to visit save to go to the DMZ but the owner of the hotel said there would be more accommodation choices there. So off we went to the bus station. We arrived to have a very helpful chick tell us that there are no buses to Dong Ha (this we gleaned from the fact she said no to every question we asked, leaning back in her chair and trying to pretend we were not there). A nice guy thankfully explained to us that we could get off in Dong Ha (if we asked the driver) but we had to buy a ticket to Hue.
Our bus was a minivan which had probably survived the Vietnam war. It leaked from every possible corner, join and window. We were pushed to the back seat and the pimp who tried to run the show attempted to pack as many people and bags of stuff as possible onto the bus. At the high point we had our packs on our laps on the back seat breathing in not only passive smoke from some genius who thought it was okay to smoke on a fully packed bus with all the windows closed because of the torrential rain but also exhaust fumes flowing in through the rust holes in the floor.
Dong Ha was all lonely planet said it would be and then a little more revolting. The hotel had dead cockaroachs and cigarette butts on the floor and a shiny stretchy sheet that seemed to come off the bed leaving you sleeping on a bare mattress. Jono didn't even tell me about the used syringes on the window sill until after we left.
The owner of the hotel was very friendly though and he took us on a tour in a minivan to the DMZ (just us and the girl we met in Ninh Binh). The Vinh Moc tunnels were really amazing to see. There are 3 levels; the deepest is 24m underground and they extend an amazing distance. There were lots of little family rooms on the cilivian level and then rooms for soldiers on the military level. The tunnels were tall enough to walk through with a stoop for us but I would not want to be a tall european and try to get around. The tunnels had a few exits to the beach and there were a few ventilation shafts (one of which was made from the most succesiful US bomb attempt- it didn't explode). They gave you perspective on how deep down you were. It was impressive and very sobering to think people lived there for 4 years. 17 babies were born down there.
We also saw the Khe San combat base which doesn't really exist since the US destroyed the entire thing before they left so there was nothing for propoganda (they found some stiff though). We climbed onto one of the tanks and generally got a bit freaked out in the thick fog that surrounds the place. There was a combat helicopter and a chinook transport helicopter there. They were still very well intact but they didn't look like the kind of thing a government defense force would pay for, more like an enthusaists toy. We got to see the difference between AK-47s(Russian made for North Vietnamese) and M-16s(US). The AK was much smaller but apparently would work after being submerged in water or buried hidden underground for months, whereas the M-16 generally did more malfunctiong than actual firing.
A minor hick up with getting a bus out of Dong Ha to Hue but after a few kms of walking and some bargaining we got on a minivan. We had an amusing time trying to improve our vietnamese learning the phrases for no thank you, i don't want that, i don't like that and leave me alone to try to get rid of the persistent drink selling vendors.
So we did eventually arrive in Dong Hoi and managed to bargain our way down to 40, 000 dong for the cab to the hotel. The owner was really lovely and cooked us some noodles when we arrived.
We awoke to a downpour, and the owner explained it was Reunifcation/Liberation day which meant he was booked out and all the rooms would be double the price the next day and most are also booked out. So we thought we would go to Dong Ha and get to the DMZ (demilitarised zone) from there. We were aiming to avoid Dong Ha as lonely planet says there is no conceivable reason to visit save to go to the DMZ but the owner of the hotel said there would be more accommodation choices there. So off we went to the bus station. We arrived to have a very helpful chick tell us that there are no buses to Dong Ha (this we gleaned from the fact she said no to every question we asked, leaning back in her chair and trying to pretend we were not there). A nice guy thankfully explained to us that we could get off in Dong Ha (if we asked the driver) but we had to buy a ticket to Hue.
Our bus was a minivan which had probably survived the Vietnam war. It leaked from every possible corner, join and window. We were pushed to the back seat and the pimp who tried to run the show attempted to pack as many people and bags of stuff as possible onto the bus. At the high point we had our packs on our laps on the back seat breathing in not only passive smoke from some genius who thought it was okay to smoke on a fully packed bus with all the windows closed because of the torrential rain but also exhaust fumes flowing in through the rust holes in the floor.
Dong Ha was all lonely planet said it would be and then a little more revolting. The hotel had dead cockaroachs and cigarette butts on the floor and a shiny stretchy sheet that seemed to come off the bed leaving you sleeping on a bare mattress. Jono didn't even tell me about the used syringes on the window sill until after we left.
The owner of the hotel was very friendly though and he took us on a tour in a minivan to the DMZ (just us and the girl we met in Ninh Binh). The Vinh Moc tunnels were really amazing to see. There are 3 levels; the deepest is 24m underground and they extend an amazing distance. There were lots of little family rooms on the cilivian level and then rooms for soldiers on the military level. The tunnels were tall enough to walk through with a stoop for us but I would not want to be a tall european and try to get around. The tunnels had a few exits to the beach and there were a few ventilation shafts (one of which was made from the most succesiful US bomb attempt- it didn't explode). They gave you perspective on how deep down you were. It was impressive and very sobering to think people lived there for 4 years. 17 babies were born down there.
We also saw the Khe San combat base which doesn't really exist since the US destroyed the entire thing before they left so there was nothing for propoganda (they found some stiff though). We climbed onto one of the tanks and generally got a bit freaked out in the thick fog that surrounds the place. There was a combat helicopter and a chinook transport helicopter there. They were still very well intact but they didn't look like the kind of thing a government defense force would pay for, more like an enthusaists toy. We got to see the difference between AK-47s(Russian made for North Vietnamese) and M-16s(US). The AK was much smaller but apparently would work after being submerged in water or buried hidden underground for months, whereas the M-16 generally did more malfunctiong than actual firing.
A minor hick up with getting a bus out of Dong Ha to Hue but after a few kms of walking and some bargaining we got on a minivan. We had an amusing time trying to improve our vietnamese learning the phrases for no thank you, i don't want that, i don't like that and leave me alone to try to get rid of the persistent drink selling vendors.
Ninh Binh
So we spent our last morning in Hanoi purchasing weasel coffee. Weasel coffee is coffee that has been fed to weasels and then its excreted in the stool and the bean is reshaped or so the story goes...
It's only 3 or so hours from Hanoi which was great except the guy opposite us kept smoking in a non-smoking carriage. Took LPlanet's advice and stayed at Thanh Thuy Hotel. Apart from being pestered while eating your breakfast to go on tours they were unbelievably rude. Still we somehow got a good room for US$10/night with a little sad face routine. The only honest person that worked there was our tour guide Luc, who was from Halong Bay and had only been there 2 months.
The next day we headed out with Luc on motorbikes with Jono somehow being convinced to drive his own bike in a country that drives on the wrong side of the road!
We visited Tam Coc -basically a floodplain river, where women or man in our case paddle you along the river while old ladies try to sell you bottles of beer for extortionary prices. They even go so far as to embarass you into buying by asking you to buy a beer for the boat rower. Then the boat man asked us a for a tip even after we helped him row! We gave them a lesson in negative punishment - we won. It was a very beautiful trip, especially cool was the goats high up on the mountains either side of the river.
Ancient Capital Hoa Lu- lots of old buildings for very small people. Better visit it before progress ends up on top of it.
Floating Village Kenh Ga - not really a floating village anymore, everyone lives in houses on the banks of the river. Guy that paddled us around was genuinely a nice guy (after we paid anyway) and even helped us learn to count to ten (in vietnamese you doubters!!) not that we can remember it now without looking it up. Showed us the Catholic Cathedral in town. Wanted to show us inside but it was locked. Very lovely church none the less. Catholicism is the second biggest religion in Vietnam. He couldn't explain to us how it came to be the religion of the village though. We drank lots of tea with him and he evn tried to get us on the whiskey when we got back. At least Jono had the excuse he was driving.
Mua Cave - which is actually a really long staircase to the top of a mountain and a really small cave tunnel that looks over to Tam Coc. Breathtaking view from the top. Photos would never do it justice. Somehow survived US bombing very well. Able to see town of Ninh Binh from it. A bit like a Himalayan staircase to a hidden monastery except not very hidden.
Next day the powers that be at the hotel stole our trusty driver/guide and tried to palm us off to another driver so we decided to go ourselves to Cuc Phuong National Park and Primate Centre. We mainly just wanted to see the Primate Centre and had the pleasure of motorbiking in howling rain about 80kms to get there. When we got there the office told us it was better to wait till the afternoon to visit the primate enclosure and we should ride into the park to have a look. So we did and Jono nearly committed murder when they charged us 3000 dong to park our motorbike in the rain, even though you pay to enter the park before that and then proceeded to let all the Vietnamese visitors park undercover. So much so that he let the park ranger at the office have it....they'll probably be getting an email soon too. After we've left the country.
So we waited around to see the primates after turning right back around in the national park and was treated to a blindingly long 10 minute wander around the primate centre. Captivating is too strong a word. The fact they think people should visit this place is delusional enough to have them committed. So we got back on our bike and headed home in the rain. A bus overtaking another bus on a narrow bridge tried to run us over about 5km from the hotel. The tourist bureau will be getting an email about the standard of bus drivers in this country too by the way. They seem to have got their bus licenses from ACME School of Stunt Buses.
Booked our train to Dong Hoi for the next day. Only had hard seats available because it was Liberation Day in Vietnam and everyone was travelling to the country.
It's only 3 or so hours from Hanoi which was great except the guy opposite us kept smoking in a non-smoking carriage. Took LPlanet's advice and stayed at Thanh Thuy Hotel. Apart from being pestered while eating your breakfast to go on tours they were unbelievably rude. Still we somehow got a good room for US$10/night with a little sad face routine. The only honest person that worked there was our tour guide Luc, who was from Halong Bay and had only been there 2 months.
The next day we headed out with Luc on motorbikes with Jono somehow being convinced to drive his own bike in a country that drives on the wrong side of the road!
We visited Tam Coc -basically a floodplain river, where women or man in our case paddle you along the river while old ladies try to sell you bottles of beer for extortionary prices. They even go so far as to embarass you into buying by asking you to buy a beer for the boat rower. Then the boat man asked us a for a tip even after we helped him row! We gave them a lesson in negative punishment - we won. It was a very beautiful trip, especially cool was the goats high up on the mountains either side of the river.
Ancient Capital Hoa Lu- lots of old buildings for very small people. Better visit it before progress ends up on top of it.
Floating Village Kenh Ga - not really a floating village anymore, everyone lives in houses on the banks of the river. Guy that paddled us around was genuinely a nice guy (after we paid anyway) and even helped us learn to count to ten (in vietnamese you doubters!!) not that we can remember it now without looking it up. Showed us the Catholic Cathedral in town. Wanted to show us inside but it was locked. Very lovely church none the less. Catholicism is the second biggest religion in Vietnam. He couldn't explain to us how it came to be the religion of the village though. We drank lots of tea with him and he evn tried to get us on the whiskey when we got back. At least Jono had the excuse he was driving.
Mua Cave - which is actually a really long staircase to the top of a mountain and a really small cave tunnel that looks over to Tam Coc. Breathtaking view from the top. Photos would never do it justice. Somehow survived US bombing very well. Able to see town of Ninh Binh from it. A bit like a Himalayan staircase to a hidden monastery except not very hidden.
Next day the powers that be at the hotel stole our trusty driver/guide and tried to palm us off to another driver so we decided to go ourselves to Cuc Phuong National Park and Primate Centre. We mainly just wanted to see the Primate Centre and had the pleasure of motorbiking in howling rain about 80kms to get there. When we got there the office told us it was better to wait till the afternoon to visit the primate enclosure and we should ride into the park to have a look. So we did and Jono nearly committed murder when they charged us 3000 dong to park our motorbike in the rain, even though you pay to enter the park before that and then proceeded to let all the Vietnamese visitors park undercover. So much so that he let the park ranger at the office have it....they'll probably be getting an email soon too. After we've left the country.
So we waited around to see the primates after turning right back around in the national park and was treated to a blindingly long 10 minute wander around the primate centre. Captivating is too strong a word. The fact they think people should visit this place is delusional enough to have them committed. So we got back on our bike and headed home in the rain. A bus overtaking another bus on a narrow bridge tried to run us over about 5km from the hotel. The tourist bureau will be getting an email about the standard of bus drivers in this country too by the way. They seem to have got their bus licenses from ACME School of Stunt Buses.
Booked our train to Dong Hoi for the next day. Only had hard seats available because it was Liberation Day in Vietnam and everyone was travelling to the country.
Saturday, 2 May 2009
Halong Bay
We went on a 2 day tour of the bay, one night on the boat and one night at a resort on Cat Ba Island.
We had some great seafood on the boat, even managed to crack apart a mini crab for starters. Unfortunately we were on the boat with only two other tourists, both English accountants. Not the most interesting people on the planet.
Again the understatement of the century. Imagine if you will, two people from an island that hasn't tasted real food for over a century and has then decided as a future profession a job so boring that it would bore the arse out of a wooden horse, you can probably conceive of the two people we spent two days on a boat. Not only that we found out when the Brits go on holiday they don't do anything! They sit around thinking about being on holiday but secretly wishing they were back in England at home in front of the tv, dipping biscuits into weak tea.
Kayaking became our personal mission to remove as much rubbish from the water as possible, this was quite amusing to the boat staff as Jono pulled can after bottle after bag of rubbish from the hull of the kayak.
The water and surrounding karst landscape was extremely beautiful. Very easy to get lost. We were a little dissapointed the guide couldn't show us a cave with an abandoned pirate ship...thems the breaks.
Halong Bay is a world heritage listed area. After seeing what Tasmania tries to do to some of its most pristine and beautiful environment I was hoping Vietnam, after being hammered with US pollution (Napalm, Agent Orange and UXO) would have a more advanced system in place to deal with environemntal pollution. Unfortunately poverty is too commonplace to allow sufficient funds to deal with it efficiently. Amazingly Tasmania (the government and Gunns that is) still thinks it's ok to pollute its waterways and drinking water with a close cousin of Agent Orange called Atrazine(banned in Europe). I smell a class action coming on!!!! Hence forth it was a mission to pick up as much rubbish out of the water as possible. People don't realise cigarette butts contain a plastic which takes up to 10 years to decompose. We gave the boat captain 20,000 dong as thanks for taking the rubbish away. Hopefully he didn't throw it over the other side of the boat.
It was quite misty which made it quite mystical and the resort was really plush which was nice for a night.
Our guide was the type that really made me see red but Jono wasn't really riled up at all and interesting reversal of roles for a few days. He gave us the itinerary which began, we will get up at 700, breakfast at 730 and leave for kayaking at 800 or 810. Sorry, the boat had four people on it but we have a 10 minute window! He actually knocked on our door to make sure we were up. Seriously dude what happens if we are 1/2 an hour late. He also liked to tell stories (which were long winded and devoid of punch lines) when we were in the middle of a beautiful lagoon when we made it plain that we could entertain ourselves. When we went 50m away from his kayak he starts getting upset and holding his hand in the air like a primary school teacher. Anyway I'll stop now.
On Cat Ba Island we hired a bike and rode to the hospital cave which was used during the war, solid concrete bunker underground which was really impressive. On the way back it rained which was a bit of a dampener on the day (we also helped two people who had slid out on their bike and broken the front plastic on their brand new bike- thankfully they were fine).
We had some great seafood on the boat, even managed to crack apart a mini crab for starters. Unfortunately we were on the boat with only two other tourists, both English accountants. Not the most interesting people on the planet.
Again the understatement of the century. Imagine if you will, two people from an island that hasn't tasted real food for over a century and has then decided as a future profession a job so boring that it would bore the arse out of a wooden horse, you can probably conceive of the two people we spent two days on a boat. Not only that we found out when the Brits go on holiday they don't do anything! They sit around thinking about being on holiday but secretly wishing they were back in England at home in front of the tv, dipping biscuits into weak tea.
Kayaking became our personal mission to remove as much rubbish from the water as possible, this was quite amusing to the boat staff as Jono pulled can after bottle after bag of rubbish from the hull of the kayak.
The water and surrounding karst landscape was extremely beautiful. Very easy to get lost. We were a little dissapointed the guide couldn't show us a cave with an abandoned pirate ship...thems the breaks.
Halong Bay is a world heritage listed area. After seeing what Tasmania tries to do to some of its most pristine and beautiful environment I was hoping Vietnam, after being hammered with US pollution (Napalm, Agent Orange and UXO) would have a more advanced system in place to deal with environemntal pollution. Unfortunately poverty is too commonplace to allow sufficient funds to deal with it efficiently. Amazingly Tasmania (the government and Gunns that is) still thinks it's ok to pollute its waterways and drinking water with a close cousin of Agent Orange called Atrazine(banned in Europe). I smell a class action coming on!!!! Hence forth it was a mission to pick up as much rubbish out of the water as possible. People don't realise cigarette butts contain a plastic which takes up to 10 years to decompose. We gave the boat captain 20,000 dong as thanks for taking the rubbish away. Hopefully he didn't throw it over the other side of the boat.
It was quite misty which made it quite mystical and the resort was really plush which was nice for a night.
Our guide was the type that really made me see red but Jono wasn't really riled up at all and interesting reversal of roles for a few days. He gave us the itinerary which began, we will get up at 700, breakfast at 730 and leave for kayaking at 800 or 810. Sorry, the boat had four people on it but we have a 10 minute window! He actually knocked on our door to make sure we were up. Seriously dude what happens if we are 1/2 an hour late. He also liked to tell stories (which were long winded and devoid of punch lines) when we were in the middle of a beautiful lagoon when we made it plain that we could entertain ourselves. When we went 50m away from his kayak he starts getting upset and holding his hand in the air like a primary school teacher. Anyway I'll stop now.
On Cat Ba Island we hired a bike and rode to the hospital cave which was used during the war, solid concrete bunker underground which was really impressive. On the way back it rained which was a bit of a dampener on the day (we also helped two people who had slid out on their bike and broken the front plastic on their brand new bike- thankfully they were fine).
Hanoi
We were picked up at the airport by the hotel to avoid the nightmare taxi scams. The drivers here are even more insane than Bangkok and like to use their horns whenever possible.
The rules I have gathered are:
When overtaking on the wrong side of the road you must honk just as you appear in someones bling spot. This is best if you area a freight truck and you are honking at a cyclist.
If you overtake on the wrong side of the road all you need to do is flash your lights at the people drivingh straight at you on the other side, this neagtes all responsibility for near fatal injuries.
If the traffic slows down it is obviously because no one is honking their horns.
We had a great dinner at Little Hanoi 2 which has roll your own fresh rice paper rolls with yummy herbs... delicious.
Next day we explored the old quarter and saw the water puppets.
The rules I have gathered are:
When overtaking on the wrong side of the road you must honk just as you appear in someones bling spot. This is best if you area a freight truck and you are honking at a cyclist.
If you overtake on the wrong side of the road all you need to do is flash your lights at the people drivingh straight at you on the other side, this neagtes all responsibility for near fatal injuries.
If the traffic slows down it is obviously because no one is honking their horns.
We had a great dinner at Little Hanoi 2 which has roll your own fresh rice paper rolls with yummy herbs... delicious.
Next day we explored the old quarter and saw the water puppets.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)