Category: Vietnam

Hue, Vietnam - last stop before Laos

14/4/2010

Hue Citadel

We took the day train to Hue from Danang. Possibly the most scenic coastal rail route in Asia, twisting along clifftops above the sea with gorgeous desserted beaches hundreds of feet below, lots of jungle and clear seas. Unfortunately the train windows weren't as clear so there will be no photos from that little trip......
We got into Hue and had high expectations - it is my equal favourite place in Vietnam based on previous trips (sharing this honour with Sapa in the North West mountains) - so I had been talking it up a lot to Molly and Julia who had minimal memories from 4 years ago when we were last here. Mostly it lived up to my hype.
Sitting on the Perfume River, the North bank dominated by the walled Citadel, Hue is the old seat of power in Vietnam. It was the Capital from 1802 until 1945, has beautiful tree lined streets, colonial shop fronts and buildings and lots of river life for entertainment. Restaurants and hotels cater well for the many tourists and in many places you can actually walk along the footpaths without dodging motorbikes.
We spent 2 nights on the South bank and 2 nights next to the inner walls of the citadel and would recommend the latter for peace and relaxation or the former for entertainment and dining.
When out and about on our 2nd last night we bumped into Margaret and Stephen again, publican extrordinairre's from Grafton, NSW. Somehow we ended up at a street stall in front of their hotel, playing guitars and generally watching the world go by until after midnight. Great fun and it was shaping to be a fitting end to our time in Vietnam.
And then on our way home the three of us were mobbed by Cyclo riders, one of whom ran Julia over, at speed and we were lucky to quickly get into a passing cab. well, the girls got in the cab, I felt some intimidation was in order and happily pointed out to the offending Cyclo moron that he seemed devoid of friends all of a sudden, his mates disappearing in every direction. Other events ensued and ultimately we returned to our hotel safely and really shouldn't judge a country on the behaviour of a few young fools - but our opinion of Vietnam has slowly been in decline since getting here. It is certainly not as charming to us now as it was 5 years ago when we first visited.
Then again, maybe we all loose our charm with age............either way, we are looking forward to Laos.

Sunset over the Perfume Rv

Stephen watching over me on the mean streets of Hue

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Train to Danang

13/4/2010

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We took the slow train to Danang, leaving at 2 in the afternoon and not arriving until after 10 the next morning. Last time we did the overnight train to Danang we left at 7 in the evening and arrived at about the same time, 10 in the morning! The funny thing is that the slow train is cheaper – talk about getting your money’s worth!!

We had a pleasant and uneventful journey, getting joined at 7 in the evening by a Vietnamese lady who was bunked above me. She decided that Molly’s thongs must be offered by the train company, complimentary for passengers who thought high heeled leopard skin pumps were appropriate for train travel. But apart from that she was well behaved!

Danang was….interesting. We got ripped off by a Devil-Woman at a street-side food stall which I have to explain. I am happy to pay a little more than locals but 100% mark-ups are greed gone wrong, particularly given that we sat at the stall almost solely out of politeness in accepting their invitation and only ate because again, food was offered and we were polite! In a town that appears devoid of tourists, it seemed unlikely that a simple street stall would be looking to send their kids through college based on our brief visit! Wrong………So when the price was outrageous I decided to tell the woman, her husband and about 20 Vietnamese eating there that it is one thing to pay a little more but rude and greedy to take advantage of visitors to their country – I also called her “The Devil” many times because she did have an evil look about her and it made me feel good! You know what I’m saying don’t you Rachel?

As time passed in Danang we failed to find anything remotely interesting as far as dining, shopping or otherwise was concerned and discovered that any further investigation into Vietnamese Visa extensions (and thus Russian Visas from within Vietnam) were a waste of time. So after a very strange dinner in a roof top restaurant, empty except for us and with a really limited menu, an equally strange breakfast experience and the feeling that we needed to actually move North, we decided to get the day train to Hue.

Saigon Municipal Theatre

Continental Saigon, where the novel The Quiet American was written, centering much of the story around the Hotel itself

The devil Woman's rice wagon - she was stood behind us but strangely does not appear in the photo

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Ho Chi Minh City

13/4/2010

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Read on and the siginificance of this card will become clear

Renamed Ho Chi Minh City after re-unification of North and South Vietnam in 1975, Sai Gon still exists as part of the larger city and in fact the main train station is called Ga Sai Gon. So being a lazy westerner (and not because I am living in the past) I will choose to refer to this great city simply as Saigon!
OK, disclaimer aside, we spent 10 days in Saigon, waiting for some Visas, eating, drinking, playing games and dodging motorbikes. Actually, we were dodging, jumping, side stepping, skipping past, brushing against and pushing away various types of motorbikes for at least half of our time there. Footpaths are shortcuts, thoroughfares, parking lots and service stations for bikes in Saigon so they are no refuge. Side streets and alleys are usually quieter but certainly not a place to let your guard down!
It didn’t stop us but we did decide that most of our eating and drinking would be done within one street block of our hotel to limit road crossings. The great thing was we were close to some good restaurants and lots of hotels so we got to eat well and meet some great people!

Firstly, let me say that the above photo is not a guarantee but if you are as tight as the Welsh and want a free drink next time you are in Grafton, give it a go – just print this page, cut out the photo and don’t mention you know us!! But do give Margaret a hug and maybe pass comment on how smashing Stephen’s shoes are! They own the pub and are a great laugh and we enjoyed several chats with them, most memorably sitting in the street outside the central markets where beers are about .60 cents and the management is warm and friendly (I expect just like the Walkers Marina Hotel!!?).
As well as Margaret and Stephen we met John from Wangaratta, bringing people together, sharing his experiences and generally being a good bloke whilst relaxing in Saigon. Through John we met an English couple, Tony and Jane, who basically spend 3 months in Asia as soon as they can afford it and then go home to the UK and save again until the next opportunity comes along.
Consulate General visits in Saigon were interesting – the process for China was orderly but they wouldn’t let me submit Molly and Julia’s applications without proof that I was related – apparently the names in the passports and the fact that I have the passports aren’t clear indicators that I know these people!? And why would I get some stranger a Visa for China? They ain’t cheap!! The Russian guy in front of me had the same problem and was told he could submit the applications if they included birth certificates and marriage certificates showing his relationship to his family. He suggested that was an interesting concept but given that probably no-one at the Chinese Consul could read the Russian document he failed to see the logic of the request. No change on the policy so I raced back to get Julia and Molly as it was Friday and of course we had only 40 minutes left before the embassy closed up for the weekend!
The visit to the Russian consul lacked the logic of the Russian gentleman in front of me at the Chinese Consul – as we haven’t yet solved our Visa situation for Russia I will leave that story for another day!
Fortunately the Laos Consul was a very easy and pleasant experience, taking all of 20 minutes for all 3 Visas. Unfortunately the promise of a 90 day Visa (which we need to assist in processing our Russian Visa app in Vientiane) was a bit of an Asian “yes, yes” situation, where in fact the answer should have been “no, probably not, but who knows eh!?”.
Overall our time in Saigon was a bit lazy, spent waiting mostly for Visas but we still saw all the famous sites, played some ten-pin bowling and met some great people. We enjoyed Saigon but lamented the lack of pedestrian overpasses and wider footpaths.

With Stephen and Margaret outside the Central Market, note the personal ice buckets for keeping the beers cool!

Good food at Cappucino's, the flash seems to have stunned me a little!

Margaret, Stephen and Johnathon, Sa Sa's

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Mekong Delta

13/4/2010

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Looking out of the Bus on a Mekong Ferry Crossing

From the Cambodian border crossing on the Mekong we continued downriver before heading up tributaries to join the Bassac River at Chau Doc.
Leaving the ferry we were given clear directions to Hotels and then walked a few hundred metres to find good accommodation for only $20/night. We explored the town from river front to parks and town squares and had a good local meal, with drinks for $5. At this point we thought of staying for a week!
However the plan was to get to Ho Chi Minh City to sort out Visas for China so we figured we could dwell in the city and get stuff done rather than just hanging around the Mekong Delta for a week. So the next morning it was time for a Vietnamese bus ride.
Actually it was 3 bus rides – all the same bright green colour but different sizes. The first bus was a mini van, 25 minutes late but it only had to take us 10 minutes down the road to the next bus.
Bus number two was starting to look like a bus – a mini-bus but as the seats were numbered (like our tickets) we wondered if this was our bus for the entire journey. After 10 minutes we agreed that we would be happy for this to be our transport for the day, despite all of the lesser framed passengers having bags’d the spacious forward seating and leaving us the back row. 4 seats, none of which resembled our ticket numbers, neatly positioned a foot behind the rear axle and only 73 poorly maintained bridges (resembling speed humps turned into moto-x jumps) to cross before we hit the flatlands outside of Saigon.
Still, the windows were large and there is plenty to see as the scenery varies between town life and river life. In fact there seems to be almost never a kilometre devoid of housing as you drive through the Mekong delta so it is an entertaining trip.
However as was hinted at when we bought the tickets, there was a big bus waiting for us. Air-conditioned and inclusive of neck pillows for every passenger, this looked good. We stood and stared at it for a couple of minutes wondering if it was going to Saigon until someone yelled at us and pointed excitedly at the front of the bus and we took our cue to get on board!

For a bit of a change, I shared with Molly and Julia was sat in front of me next to a Vietnamese lady – we assume it was a lady but as with Muslim’s in full Burkha’s, this person was completely incognito. Courtesy of a low hat, glasses and a very elaborate dust mask covering from the bridge of the nose, out to each ear and down to under the chin. Coupled with long sleeves, gloves and jeans, the only indication of sex or age was bumps in certain places. She was a she but over the next 5 hours Julia came to find she was no lady! Grumpy, private and insular maybe, but not a lady. Julia had a ball.
Meanwhile, sat in the aisle seat, I was enjoying the sights and sounds of the young lady in the other aisle seat as she quickly scoffed down some takeaway rice and stir fry beef from a styrofoam container. Apparently it wasn’t allowed so a very stern bus trolley dolly came along and told her to put it away. She got through a fair bit though which was good because she clearly needed something to settle her stomach – bus travel didn’t appear to agree with her. One hour in she was covering her face and throat in some magical potion – smelled like a cross between tiger balm, lemon essence and car air freshener. It didn’t work……..

So for the next hour and a half the young lady filled a plastic bag with her lunch. As it filled and I wondered what she would do next, I realised it was time to step in – but too late I acted. As the bile was rising in her mouth, she decided to start expelling it onto the floor of the bus, firstly under her feet and then in the aisle. I quickly passed her a fresh bag, having checked it was without holes, and soon after she started to fill it.
The lunch break at the Mekong delta’s version of a road house was a nice break. Molly had some rubbish rice that I was way overcharged on – what can you do??!! I knew it wouldn’t be the last time but I wasn’t going to judge the country on one rice stall on the edge of Highway 1 (or whatever highway we were on!?). We had been to Vietnam twice before and had only felt once or twice that people were a little too greedy when charging the wealthier foreigners.
Meanwhile I passed my friend from seat B6 as I was washing up outside the toilets. Clearly she was relishing the opportunity to freshen up, walk around and relax away from the stomach churning hell she had been stuck on. Of course what I didn’t know until we re-boarded the bus was that she was also re-filling that churning stomach.
So 20 minutes later she started again, this time using the bag that her coke had come in – not a large bag and looking quite alone as it quickly filled with pre-used coke. The great thing was that she rinsed her mouth after each episode with more coke and then when it ran out the guy next to her gave her his cup of coke! I remained compassionate on the first half of the trip, having suffered car-sickness quite often as a young child and thinking of Molly and how I would want someone to help her in the same position. But after re-filling at lunch and churning (quite literally) through two more cups of coke during the next 2 hours after lunch, I started to wonder if this girl should be banned from any form of public transport.
The bus station transfer in Ho Chi Minh City, from bus to taxi was trouble free and after a bit of a search we had a great room with two double beds, close to restaurants, markets and the city centre for $32/night. There was much cheaper on offer but as it turned out we were glad we settled on this level of comfort – we stayed in HCMC (Siagon) for 10 days.

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Hue, Vietnam - last stop before Laos

Train to Danang

Ho Chi Minh City

Mekong Delta

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