Bangkok & back again

Our Air Asia flight from Ha Noi to Bangkok goes smoothly and by mid-day we are safely ensconced in our chosen hotel. We are staying in Shoplandia, there is mall after mall after mall here.
First stop is lunch which we find in a little street kitchen on our very own street. It looks so good we virtually order one of everything!  From here,  we head to the MBK Centre which we’ve been told has loads of bargains. It doesn’t necessarily have loads of bargains but it has fake everything.  It is really interesting to go from here to a ‘real’ mall and check out the difference in quality – which in some cases is not really that apparent.

At the night market again you are able to buy anything and everything with sex shows thrown in. It’s quite sad really as the only people who are approached seemingly are westerners, what does that say!  Surprisingly I’m not too overwhelmed by all this (prude that I am) and do offer to go to one of the shows with Adrian if he wants.  He declines.

The Royal Palace in Bangkok is quite something and it’s a 3 km walk from our drum.  Trouble is the tuk tuks and taxis are so corrupt with ridiculous overcharging and whisking you off to gem shops and tailors “just to look boss” which amazingly reduces the cost of the fare quite considerably. It is fantastic and it is quite sizeable all decorated in little squares of coloured glass, with a magnificent Buddha carved from a single piece of jade that was apparently lost, hidden behind a layer of plaster.  The Palace and temples undergo a permanent  programme of renovation so is kept in tip top condition.

Finally we have found tasty food - I don't think I've stopped talking about KFCs for 2 days now!  I must master the art of a thai curry - after I've finished filling my face with lots and lots of tasty home cuisine.  Even tastier food is to be found in China Town.  We lose several hours in China Town just browsing the markets, sampling the street food and buying lots of stuff for home. I've bought a lifetime's supply of cinnamon sticks for less than £3, and star anise well, don't get me started.

I've had a wonderful holiday with lots of contrasts. Again and again when visiting other countries I am reminded how lucky I am to have done well in life's birth lottery.  When you consider that at the age of 7 my life could have been to work 15 hours a day in rice fields for the Khmer Rouge or, as an adult, I could have given birth to children with terrible deformities a resulting legacy of Agent Orange, you'll understand why I am happy to be just plain old Louise Sara Rogers who is lucky enough to visit these places and become a little more educated about them.  I'll never win any Nobel Peace Prizes but by the same token, I'll never start any wars.

All that remains to be said is "thank you" to Adrian who has spoiled me rotten for the last 6 weeks and been a most interesting and entertaining travelling companion.

Ha Long Bay

Ha Long Bay is on the north east coast of Viet Nam and is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site because of it's strange geology.  It is quite a stunning stretch of coast line, with huge limestone craggs rising from the water and lots of little coves within.

Our plan was to sail round the bay on a Junk boat, spending one night on board and then some kayaking and swimming. Sadly we arrived in Ha Long Bay just hours after one of the Junk boats sank with 27 people on board, 12 people lost their lives. 

The tour operators tried to keep the sinking very quiet however a couple of Swiss girls we were with got a text message from a friend informing them about it and word quickly spread. The tour operators then tried to manoevre people into a one day tour but the internet was saying that they were still looking for survivors so the four of us opted out.  It felt a little disrespectful, and whilst the bay is large we are reminded time and again how small a world we live in.

We had a lovely quiet lunch at the edge of the beach in a sweet little restaurant and talked about cup cakes and a Swiss/English chain of cup cake and hot chocolate shops.  Oh that does sound tempting. Please can someone get me a cup cake in for when I get home!

On a lighter note, we met another travelling gnome today, Hans is from Holland and to date has visited 23 countries. Norman has someway to go to catch up but hey, you gotta start somewhere.

This evening sees us returning to Ha Noi and the lovely Ha Noi Street Hotel, tomorrow we will visit the museum of ethnology and arrange a shuttle bus to the airport for our flight to Bangkok on Saturday morning.

Delhi Belly and other germs

Well, no trip is ever without it's share of germs.  Usually it is Adrian who gets the Delhi belly but this time it's my turn! No idea where it's come from but it was a very worrying 11 hour train journey back to Ha Noi - thank you Imodium you didn't let me down!

All other germs and ailments have been Adrian's.  We arrived in Phnom Penh with the need for a hip replacement which thankfully has been postponed by the power of Ibuprofen! Then on arrival in Saigon we had Swavian Flu - yes you read it correctly, Swavian flu is a cross between Avian and Swine flus, in most but the hardiest it is deadly, thankfully Paracetamol was on hand to save the day. Finally we have a DVT in the knee! Even I am unable to find words to comment on this!

Bac Ha

Sunday is the day of the big market in Bac Ha where all the hill tribes do their trading.  It was easily the biggest market we've been to. The sights,smells and sounds were unbelievable.  Everywhere a sea of colour with the Montagnards (hill tribes) all in their different dresses. There was a livestock section selling buffalo which can go for as much as US$800, pigs, big dogs for eating,, little dogs for something else, chickens, ponies you name it, it could be bought. There was even tofu being made.

There was a large catering section selling goodness only knows what. Normally that would have been the place we would head for lunch however,  once we heard horse hotpot was an option we decided perhaps not! Our lunch was a vegetarian affair and caused a stir as Adrian wasn't able to sit on the little stool, he had to put one on top of the other and then got the very elderly vendor to help him up. The guy knows no shame. We had great fun bartering for our shopping and entering into the spirit of it, and came away happy that we got good deals.

From Bac Ha we went to Ban Ho which is a village of the flower Hmong tribe.  We went to the house of a family and were shown around - which is an overstatement, two rooms, one a kitchen, the other a living room with beds curtained off.  Here the family were making corn wine which we were able to taste.  It was like any countries fire water, but the Polish people on our trip really enjoyed and finished it off.  We had a walk around the fields that they were cultivating and saw some ploughing being done, this looked very skillful  but perhaps a little barbaric as they were holding onto the buffalo's tail.

From here we went to Lao Cai and to see the Chinese  border which we didn't bother with we just bought peanut brittle and had a sugar hit instead.

Sa Pa

Our ten hour train trip to Lao Cai is an experience.  There's all manner of things going on, hard seaters sitting in soft seaters seats, non-stop eating, puking, hawkers you name it and the train is absolutely filthy - I am so glad we changed our minds to the day train and not the overnighter!

At Lao Cai the minibuses are lined up ready, we are armed with the knowledge that the fare is 28,000 VND, and fall off our perches when one asks for 500,000 VND. They really do see all westerners as wallking dollars and it is now starting to get wearing. We finally agree on 150,000 VND for both of us. Sa Pa, when we finally arrive is in darkness but it feels nice and there are dozens of ladies and young girls dressed in the garb of the various hill tribes around all selling and it's persistent, in fact it's the hardest sell we've come across!

The Auberge sees us for tonight with a balcony and hot water for US$8. Beer and food is needed as all we've had today is ritz crackers. Adrian falls for the pasta pangs but I stick with Vietnamese food, beef Lok Lak - good choice.

The weather is beautiful today much better than we had anticipated, it must be 28 degrees and sunny sunny sunny. We walk to Cat Cat Village, which is a hill tribe village, we get up close (but no personal) with lots of Vietnamese pot bellied pigs and see a lady weaving, their outfits are quite beautifully decorated.  There are about 10 hill tribes around here and they all wear different clothing.  The path continues beyond the village to a beautiful waterfall and then rejoins the road to Sa Pa.

Dinner tonight is a set menu, vegetable soup, spring rolls, chicken (Adrian) beef (me) with steamed rice, a pancake with banana chocolate sauce followed by Sa Pa tea. Delicious.

It's bloody freezing in Sa Pa!!! It's 4.45pm  and we're sat huddled round a fire in the hotel. It poured down at 4.30am and the mist hasn't lifted all day.  Everything is damp, and yes, I am moaning! I went for a pedicure this  morning, all that flip flop walking has really taken its toll on my feet so I thought I'd treat them.  US$5 for a full pedicure absolute VFM.

Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh

The sleeper bus thankfully got us to Ha Noi alive - it was touch and go at one or two times! Sleep was off and on but was a saviour from the maniacal driving.  We found a nice little hotel just off the backpacker alley and by 8am had showered and breakfasted and on our way to see Ho Chi Minh. Passing a huge statue of Lenin en route how odd!

Ho Chi Minh, or Uncle Ho to his friends, is kept in an enormous mausoleum built specially for the purpose. The security is absolutely unbelievable.  We even had a bottle of water taken off us as we went through security. Adrian got told to unclasp his hands from behind his back, I got told to shut my guidebook which I was reading in the queue - yes, queue! It was good to see the old guy but it has to be said he looked very like a wax work. From here we went on to the Ho Chi Minh museum which was very interesting but quite propagandarist (if that is actually a word).

Ha Noi is a lovely capital city, nothing like what we were expecting at all and certainly not like Saigon which is what all the other travellers we've spoken to have said.  Strange what different people like isn't it! As you can imagine we're knackered from the bus so a good afternoon ziz is required.  Our bar in Ha Noi is a little locals bar at the road side with cheap draught beer which is a barrel in a fridge with a hose from it which if lifted stops dispensing - genius.  At the centre of the old quarter is a lake with a little island in. On the island is a little pagoda with an embalmed tortoise, legend has it that these live in the lake and even in 2007 a picture was taken of a large tortoise swimming in the lake - The Ha Noi'an Nessie!

Walking the streets is an absolute must here, there are so many shops all selling the same thing - eveything is beautiful and relatively inexpensive. Tickets to leave by the 6am train tomorrow have been purchased but we'll be back!

Hue

The road to Hue is stunning lush green mountains on the left, beautiful  coast line on the right. At our little stop there is a beautiful stretch of coastline with boats bobbing around. This is Viet Nam, beautiful and unspoilt, unfortunately it isn't all like this.

The bus drops us outside Binh Duong II Hotel which turns out to be the place for us. Our room has a bath, only the second one I've seen since we've been away, and a lovely balcony with table and chairs.

Dinner tonight is to be at a vegetarian restaurant which gets a write up in the book and sounds great. The menu is extensive and sounds mouthwateringly good.  It turns out we can only order noodle soup (I'm so sick of noodle soup) or the set menu for 90,000VND, there's no translation for this so we order one to share! It looks good apart from the sizeable bug in the rice (which she changes) and we tuck in.  Then the rats come out to play - needless to say we left fairly quickly.

The next day dawns with a serious mist and we head off to the railway station to book tickets on the reunification express - it's not to be, full today full tomorrow.  Eventually we settle for the overnight soft sleeper bus to Ha Noi, it's full today but we get seats for tomorrow.  Now our time in Hue can begin.

The Citadel is the old imperial city and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It ts quite beautiful and peaceful despite the hoards of Vietnamese tourists - it is still New Year you know. The centre of the Citadel is very much Indochinese but the outer, later buildings are quite definitely French, built by an Emperor who went to France to be educated. All  in all it's a quite beautiful place.  From here we head to the market which is still not fully open but it's interestin all the same.  Hue is THE place to buy the Vietnamese cone hats, they make a special one which when held up to the light shows a picture of the Pagoda, a poem about Hue, a couple within a heart and the victory bridge. They;re quite clever as you can't see anything inside and out unless you hold it up to the light.

Dinner tonight is preceeded by beers and backgammon on the balcony. We find a very busy restaurant just around the corner where they order beer in crates! Dinner is very tasty and the man on the next table gives us jelly fish to try - it's an acquired texture sort of crunchy and jellified all at once - and it's quite expensive.  He explains that the sign on the wall for BaBa (which we thought was the beer Bar Bar Bar) is turtle which is available as free range or farmed and priced accordingly.

A bright and sunny day awaits for our boat tour on the Song Huong (Perfume River) today. First stop on our twin hulled dragon boat is a little temple. This is followed by the Thien Mu Pagoda when I am asked (more than once) to pose for pictures with various Vietnamese people.  I think I might have missed a money making opportunity here!

Next stop is the tomb of Emperor Minh Mang which is really nice and peaceful.  The Emperor had 200 wives but only 142 children oh, and several concubines too. Busy chap! A good hour down river and we stop at another tomb, we decline this time and sit by the river in the sun it's so peaceful.

Lunch on the boat is rice and tofu, it's the best tofu I've tasted whilst we've been away, not spongy at all.  Could just do with a nice big slice of coffee and walnut cake!

After lunch another couple of tombs and a little shop where they make incence sticks and cone hats.  It's been an interesting and relaxing day and we're now on the road to Ha Noi.