Last words

My last day of Vietnam was spent fruitfully, with my new Vietnamese friend bringing me to shop for souvenirs and we also had lunch in a local Vietnamese restaurant. At night fall, I walked my last steps at the touristy nexus of Pham Ngu Lao, smiling and waving at the touts and xe-om drivers who greeted me with smirks, and I even had a game of Chinese chess with the construction workers.

My 18 days in Vietnam was a brand new experience for me. From the temperamental city of Hanoi, I ventured north into the Tonkin Alps after a brief visit to the piscturesque city of Ninh Binh, explored the amazing limestone karsts of Halong Bay, before departing to the Imperial City of Hue and the ancient port town of Hoi An, and eventually completing my journey in Saigon. 

I lost 4 kgs, gained lots of new experiences, left a lot of footprints, and took back lots of wonderful memories! Vietnam indeed is a splendid country. :)

Cu Chi Tunnels / Cholon (Chinatown)

I woke myself up early the second day after a splendid night of sleep (have been walking so much in Vietnam until I feel my undergarments becoming looser), and headed off to Pham Ngu Lao to catch my tour to Cu Chi Tunnels, which is located around 2 hours away from HCMC.

Anyone who is familiar with the Vietnamese War history should know bout the subterranean VietCom tunnels, spanning thousands and thousands of miles beneath, even reaching the borders Laos and Cambodia. What amazed us is that the Vietnamese people dug the tunnels with such primitive tools and even with their bare hands, until they could build up such a formidable tunnel system and turned the tide in the Vietnamese War! With these underground tunnels (around 6 feet underground), they could elude the American GIs and the bombers, as well as surprise their enemies with guerrilla war tactice! 

On arrival of the Cu Chi tunnels, we were not alone. There were zounds of tourists everywhere! Our tour guide was an elderly gentleman in his 60s, whom claimed to have served in the war. And his vivid description of the tunnels reanimated our imaginations so well, that we felt like we were in the war itself! 

We were shown the various primordial but effective booby traps that the Vietnamese innovated to protect themselves in the tunnels. Fatal traps that kill you slowly and painfully. The authentic tunnels were only like 3 feet wide (just nice for the petite Vietnamese people); no wonder the Americans can't touch them since they can't even reach them!

We were also allowed to visit the tunnels (which had already been enlarged to 5 feet wide to fit in Westerners) and experience it. Damn it was totally claustraphobic inside there, especially for someone my height! I actually wanted to try their entire trail (100 meters) but I got lost and came out from the 60 meters exit! Too bad! What was impressive that there were 2 angmoh senior citizens who completed the entire 100 meters!

By late morning, we left the Cu Chi tunnels and headed for HCMC. I did not join the full day trip which included the Cao Dai temple visit as I felt it would not be that interesting anyway. We arrived in HCMC around lunch, and I set out for Cholon, a.k.a. HCMC's Chinatown.

I initially thought it was just a crow's flight from my hotel to Cholon, and it turned out that I had walked 6km! Damn! Cholon in the daytime wasn't that fascinating, as I realized later, since you can only visit the few temples there. It is somehow ironic, that the Chinese in Vietnam maintained these temples so well but then could not speak a word of Mandarin at all! How disappointing!

The market was even disappointing. I felt like entering a den of thieves; it was gloomy and creepy and yet so busy with the trade going on! And there were nothing much to see; it was just an ordinary marketplace where they sell everything, just like the ones we have in Malaysia. Maybe to the foreigners it would seem fascinating, perhaps. 

I took a cab back to my hotel, since I was never going to take another 6km walk again! That night I went out with a new Vietnamese friend whom took me for a spin in HCMC on his motorbike. It was a totally different experience when you visit non-touristy places of a foreign city where you really see how the local people lead their lives; and HCMC is just like any other capitalistic cities in the world, where you see apartments and condominiums, restaurants and cafes, cinemas, and discos and pubs and everything else you can think of.

I reached my hotel pretty late, as I started planning my last day in HCMC, and Vietnam. 24 hours more in this amazing country, and yet so many things to do and see!

The heat is on in Saigon

My backpacking trip in Vietnam ends with Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), the economic nexus of Vietnam. HCMC has always been a fascination among writers and film makers, especially in relation to the dramatic fall of Saigon in the Vietnamese war. 

Anyway, today HCMC does not look like a communist city, in fact, it is so much different from Hanoi! With tall skyscrapers dominating the skyline, and shopping arcades mushrooming everywhere, you wouldn't feel like you're in a communist country at all!

I flew to HCMC from Danang since there's not much difference in the fare compared to taking a train, and I have extra 12 hours too! And after eating pho for 2 weeks, I was so pleased to see a fast food chain! Ahh... the taste of a cheeseburger is such satisfying!

Throughout the flight I was somehow amazed that the air hostesses thought that I was a Vietamese, as I had been getting remarks from the taxi drivers and tour guides that I looked Japanese / Korean / HongKong, and I had to constantly remind them that I do not speak Vietnamese!

Having landed in HCMC's Tan Son Nhat International Airport, I grabbed a bus and headed downtown to the CBD, and it only costed me like 4000 dongs (if I remembered it clearly!). The trip took me around 30 minutes and having arrived near Pham Ngu Lao I had to navigate my way to my hotel. After departing from Hanoi for so long, I eventually get to experience the madness of the Vietnamese traffic here again! Nonetheless, in Vietnam there's this tourist friendly traffic police which facilitates poor helpless tourists (like me) to cross the road a midst the endless stream of traffic! What's more? They also give you unbiased directions and tourist advice too!

After locating my hotel and settling down, I started heading out for the Reunification Palace, where the President for South Vietnam resided then. According to the guides, this palace was maintained in its old form even after its surrender, just like how it was when the first North Vietnamese tank barged into its main gates.The tour around the palace was interesting, demonstrating its lavish and somehow extravagant design, as we ventured into the President's offices, guest reception rooms, living suite, and his personal war bunker.

Later on, I took a short stroll to the other favourite tourist sites, starting on from the Notre Dame, the Opera House, and the Post Office, where I sent a few postcards to a friend and my mom. I can't explain why, but I just am terribly fascinated with the architectural design of such old buildings, as it brings an intricately warm sense of posh to myself.

What surprised me was that I spotted a row of shops selling branded designer goods! This communism country somehow has embraced capitalism in a very clandestinely subtle way! Probably Uncle Ho would roll eyes in his mausoleum in Hanoi!

Ultimately, I headed back to Pham Ngu Lao, the touristy district area or HCMC's equivalent to Khao San Road, to catch a quick dinner, and book myself for a 1/2 day trip to Cu Chi tunnels the next day. And what else? I slept like a baby throught the night!

Hoi An

I spent the next two days in Hoi An, which is just an hour away from Danang, and it has always been more popular than the latter. In this matter, while taking a cab, I decided not to visit the Marble Mountains, located on the way to Hoi An. 

Hoi An reminds me of Malacca, in a much smaller scale, as there are certain roads that vehicles are not permitted to enter. The town itself consists of old buildings, most likely erected before the Western colonization, hence this cozy little town has been granted a UNESCO World Heritage status. 

Fortunately, I managed to get a room which is near to the city center and the riverbank. After checking in and settled down, I couldn't wait to go explore the little town itself. You can actually get yourself a package ticket which allows you to visit 4 different historical buildings (not all are interesting, so might as well just pick one from each category), and these sites are not far from each other anyway. 

Surprisingly, I rendezvoused with Shirley (The Hong Kong lady I met in Hue) in one of the sites! And it was delighted indeed; having someone else to talk to besides the innkeeper or the peddlars certainly was a relief, and you can have someone to sit down and spend a meal together with too! After touring a couple of buildings, we ended up having lunch in a local shop, savouring the few local delicacies (which I don't think are that scrumptious anyway compared to pho!).

I had to admit that my bargaining skills suck to the max, and yet my mother and my sister has been placing lots of orders for me to get them souvenirs - scarves, bags, etc.. So I turned to Shirley for help.

"Don't worry." She said, "All these Vietnamese are foxy traders. I'll teach you how to bargain with them!"

So I witnessed with myself Shirley's exemplary bargaining skill!

"Hello this one how much?" She asked the shopkeeper.

"US$20." The shopkeeper replied. "Where you from?"

"Mangkalai (Cantonese for Bangladesh)". Shirley answered cunningly.

"Mangkalai?" Asked the astonished Viet lady. "Where is Mangkalai?"

"You don't know Mangakalai? Never mind. You give me US$4 I buy." Shirley started her fatal attack.

"US$4 not enough. Please more." The shopkeeper retaliated. 

"In Mangkalai US$4 very expensive. You no give me US$4, I go. Bye" Shirley turned around and dragged me out of the shop.

"Ok ok. I give you US$4 but you buy one more from me." Beseech-ed the shopkeeper.

And there it was. She got me 2 scarves for US$8 instead of US$40! Amazing.

We actually realized that the locals would ask all their customers so they could expect how low we would offer them, as us Asians would often bargain to a very low price. Hence, by proclaiming you're from some exotic country and gaining that element of surprise, you someone could catch them offguard! 

And so, with the new skill I mastered from Shirley, I bought a couple of stuffs in Hoi An for my Mom and Sis, and keep them contented for a while. I was contemplating of getting a few suits done here, but then I could not think of what kind of suit I wanted, so I gave up instead.

The second day, I took a day trip to visit the old Cham ruins of My Son, which is 2 hours away from Hoi An. Souther Vietnam used to be inhabited by the Champa people and they had a grand city in My Son before the city got decimated. The Champas, unlike the Viets, are Hindus and thus their temples are enriched with Hinduism influence. Nonetheless, due to the war and the poor maintenance, these ruins are badly eroded or destroyed. 

Anyway, back to Hoi An. Almost every night, there will be lanterns decorated on the streets with performances and songs! So, Hoi An is always bustling with life day or night. Kids will be playing folk games on the streets while tourists stroll around enjoying the river breeze and the lights.

I felt totally immersed with this wondrous atmosphere; Hoi An really is a wonderful place to be. 

Danang

Danang is Vietnam's third largest city, and is situated around 1-2 hours of train ride from Hue. It has an international airport, and the Vietnamese government is heavily promoting it as a resort city, owing to its splendid stretch of white sandy beach.

Having visited Hue, I needed to decide whether I would want to do Danang - Hoi An, or skip Danang and do Hoi An - Na Trang - Mui Ne instead. Well, I'm not really in the mood to do beaches by myself, so in the end I opted to pick the former route.

The train ride from Hue to Danang was amazing, and it was reputed to be one with the best scenery in the world! As the train gently hikes up along the coastside cliffs, you get to see the amazing seaside view, interjected with greens from lush tropical jungle. I noticed that everyone in the train just could not help turning their head to behold such an amazing view. 

Danang's train station is always packed with taxi drivers and touts, as everyone comes through here on their journey to Hoi An. Dejected by a taxi driver who refuses to drive me in town (sending tourists to Hoi An simply would be more lucrative), I slowly walked my way to my hotel, which lies 2km from the train station. And there wasn't much things to see in this city, as the beaches lie 3-4km from the city center, which made it impossible for someone so used to travel on foot, like me, to linger there.

I spent my time in the hotel resting, and do my long awaiting laundry, since I couldn't dry my clothes in the horrendous hotel in Hue! By evening, I took a stroll down to the city center by the riverfront and it was lovely. There was a well lit bridge of which its ornamental lights would change their colors; and as I saunter my way back to my hotel, I was gently greeted by the river breeze as my eyes feasted on the psychedelic lights.

I rested early and make my arrangements for my trip down to Hoi An. :)

The Emperors' Tombs

Besides the imperial citadel, Hue still has other attractions, for instance, the tombs of the Nguyen Emperors which are scattered around Hue. I was somehow a bit too lazy to plan my excursion to the tombs, since it would be much fun doing all those alone, so I joined a local tour.

We boarded a dragon boat (some boat with its bowsprit replaced with a dragon's head) and sailed upstream on the Perfume River. Our first destination would be some local residence to visit the tropical garden (which of course was nothing extraordinary to me). The tour guide briefly introduced us various trees bearing tropical fruits; some foreigners gawked with disgust at the mention of "Durian". Weird.

Next we headed to thee Thien Mu Pagoda, which legends state that it was built by the emperor to reinforced his reign as the site of the pagoda bestows excellent feng-shui harmony promising thousand and thousand of years of imperial Vietnamese rule, and that proved to be wrong with the colonization of Vietnam by the French. Further upstream, we visited another small temple which shared the influence of the local Viet, Buddhist and Confucianism, and it was rather eerie and spooked the shit out of me.

Our dragon boat ended swiftly with the visit of the first tomb, and subsequently we visited the other tombs on a minibus. The tombs of the emperors were pretty much the same; there's an ornately decorated hall / shrine, which is guarded by stone carved statues of warriors, mandarins, horses, elephants, etc., and depending on each emperor's personal liking, the tombs are either beside (an) artificial lake(s), or at the foot/top of a hill. The emperors were clever enough to hide their coffins, so as to avoid grave robbers. I can't really remember which graves I had visited, but most of them were splendid, albeit the poor maintenance.

Finally we headed back to Hue, after stopping by to see a local incense-making store. The trip itself was fruitful, as I got to know Shirley, her mother and her friend. At least I did not have to talk to myself throughout the tour! We went out to our own ways after the trip, but it was delightful that we met each other again in Hoi An. 

Hue - Little Beijing

Having bid Jess goodbye, I carried on with my adventure southbound, alone. And so, after around 12 hours of train ride, I finally arrived in Hue, the last imperial capital of Vietnam.

As usual, having disembarked from the train, I am welcomed by troupes of touts and taxi drivers, who just can't wait to drag me into their taxi/van but I casually waved a "No" gesture and replied politely with "Homh" (which meant No, Thank You in Vietnamese) and they just left me alone. Gracefully I trotted our from the train station and headed towards the city center.

Walking along the banks of the Perfume River, I could vaguely see the Imperial Citadel at the opposite bank. But the sun was scorching hot and I was starting to sweat like mad, I had to hasten my steps to reach my hotel. I never had to worry about sweating when I was in Hanoi! I had booked a room in a hotel whom had received wonderous ratings from www.agoda.com but it turned out to be a big disappointment, which I'll unfold the details later.

My room wasn't really ready, so I took sometime to explore around the hotel, resetting my bearings. Around an hour later, my room was finally ready for me to check in. I was a little bit dismayed with the room, which was in the middle of the hallway with a window overlooking the corridor, and another one overlooking the staircases! The ventilation was terrible, explaining the mold infestation on the ceiling. Moreover, the floor was still wet indicating it has just been mopped not long ago! 

I was not going to let this ruin my day, so I turned on the air condition, hoping it would dry up the floor board, and I headed for a stroll in the city. I first stopped at the famous Mandarin Cafe to try its pancakes, and get a copy of Mr Cu's excellent guides on exploring the city!

I crossed the Perfume River and starting heading towards the Imperial Citadel. Just like Hanoi, the streets in old Hue are fairly narrow, and occasionally you can feel motorbikes brushing beside you very closely. The Imperial Citadel of Hue is just like a mini replica of the one in China, but it was badly damaged during the Vietnamese War, and the undergoing restoration works barely uplifted it from its current state of ruins. Too bad.

I only needed around 90 minutes to finish exploring the Imperial Citadel; I wondered if the old Emperors of the Nguyen Dynasty did realize how small their palace were, compared to the one in China? I sat on the roof of the southern gate, gazing at the setting sun, together with the other tourists, enjoying the cooling breeze. Somehow I missed Hanoi and it's chilly weather!

By nightfall, I took a stroll at the Perfume River's waterfront where there's a local night market, which mainly caters for the local people. Nothing fancy actually, especially if you've been to Chiang Mai's night market or Hong Kong's Temple Street. 

When I've returned to my hotel room, the floor was still disappointingly wet and the room humid. Somehow I regretted having booked 2 nights in this hotel. I forced myself asleep as I had a long day ahead of me tomorrow, as the tombs of the Vietnam emperors await me.

Goodbye Halong Bay, Hanoi and Jessica~!

We woke up early to grab our breakfast, prepared by our crew. The weather a little bit cloudy, and hence the sea breeze felt chilly too, but still I took a small nap on top of the sundeck, cloudbathing instead of sunbathing. 

Since we only paid for the 2D1N trip, we would be heading back to Hanoi at noon, while some of the others whom had enrolled in the 3D2N cruise would be heading towards Cat Ba Island. We bid farewell to our Finnish friends and headed back to the coast, where we would take a minibus back to Hanoi. 

After 3 hours of bus ride, we arrived in Hanoi. Somehow I missed the hustle and bustle of this polluted city. Since it was already 4pm when we had reached Hanoi, Jess and I decided to take a final spin; I would be leaving later at 10pm to catch a train southwards to Hue, while Jess had an early flight back to KL the next day. We took a final stroll along the lake, as a gesture of farewell to this little city. We both had a tinge of homesickness, thus we had our dinner at a Malaysian restaurant in Hanoi! It's good to have a taste of home food; both of us ordered Nasi Briyani which costed us around RM18! Then it was still worth it!

I bid Jess goodbye as I hopped on a taxi towards the train station and boarded my 10pm train. Amazingly, the south bound Reunification Express wasn't as packed as the Hanoi - Lao Cai train, hence I managed to secure a soft bed on this train. Imagine having to sleep on a seat again for 12 hours! Dreadful indeed.

This time I was smarter, and managed to elude the train touts. So, I would be leaving the chilly northern part of Vietnam, into the central area of Vietnam, and my next destination, Hue, awaits me! :)

Halong Bay

Again, we woke up around 6 am in the train, worrying if we could reach Hanoi in time. However, as all the return tickets to Hanoi were fully booked, this train we boarded would stop at Long Bien station in the outskirts of Hanoi, and this station we were told, is near to the Hanoi's Friendly Backpacker's Hostel where we were supposed to wait for our pickup to Halong Bay.

The train arrived at 7.45 am sharp, and we scurried off and rushed towards our hostel. It was a Monday morning and we were stuck in the heavy traffic of the rush hour. Fortunately, we were on both our feet, so we could just zigzag in and out between the cars and motorbikes. I can still feel my heart pounding with adrenaline rush, as we could not afford to be a single minute late for our pickup. Eventually we reached our hostel at 7.57 am, and we could see the hostel receptionist waving at us from afar, and the pickup van just outside our hostel!

Thank God we made it!

We dumped our bags into the minivan, and started on another journey to Halong Bay. However I felt like I had caught a flu, with some amount of sore throat and low grade fever, and my right thumb got infected with paronychia! 

The journey from Hanoi towards Hai Phong, where the jetty lies, took around 3 hours, and  our tour guide, a local Viet gentleman, started giving us brief introductions on Halong Bay - the Bay of the Descending Dragon. Somehow the Viets believe that they are direct descendants of a dragon, but from how they trip to rip us off, it would be extremely difficult to make me believe that! Anyway, Halong Bay has been acknowledged as one of the most beautiful places in the world by UNESCO due to the lovely limestone karsts and islands, and no adventure in Hanoi/Vietnam will be complete if you miss Halong Bay!

We reached the jetty and it was already swarmed with tourists. We hopped onto our junk (ship, not trash mind you!) - the Imperial - (apparently all the junks were labelled according to the cruise company's, so there will be a few the Imperials instead of only one), and were given a warm welcome by the ship's crew. So you pay US$65 to US$80 for a 2 days 1 night tour to Halong Bay, which includes entrance fees and food, but not beverages. And it costs US$1 for a small bottle of mineral water or a can of beer, US$4 for a glass of fruit juice and US$30 for a bottle of wine. Besides that, what you pay is what you get; there are a variety of tours available for Halong Bay, and the cheap ones can be around US$30 while the high end ones can go up to US$300! We settled for the medium ones and so far it hasn't been disappointing; US$85 each for a deluxe room, which was a bit bigger than the standard ones, with a jacuzzi in the bathroom, and a bowl of fruits - 2 mangoes, 1 dragon fruit, and a few oranges! I needed the heavy dose of Vitamin C for my cold!

The Imperial embarked on its voyage, and we started off our tour with a quick lunch on the deck. Following that, our tour guide, Mr Hung, started showing us the numerous limestone islands with all sorts of creative names - fighting-cock island, incense-holder island, horse saddle island, etc. And while gazing at the amazing views, we were enjoying the sea breeze and the warm sun. March could be a tricky month to visit Halong Bay, as just like Sapa, it may get foggy and you would end up seeing nothing!

We stopped at the Surprising Cave for a visit; it is one of the largest caves in Halong Bay and the most visited. Within the cavern you'll see zounds of stalactites and stalagmites and by using your imagination, they do have some resemblance with what the tour guide said - animals, objects, and even genitalia. We spent around an hour in the cave, and headed back to our junk, as we were dying to take a shower! (The last time we showered was yesterday early morning before leaving for Bac Ha!)

I wasn't feeling quite well while Jessica was in her usual lazy form, so we did not join the kayaking trip but instead napped in our cabin during the free time before dinner. In the middle of our nap we heard someone tapping on our window which somehow startled us! Who could be tapping on our window in the middle of the sea? And you could see peddlars on rowing the small sampans going from one junk to another, selling their ripped off wares. I had a hard time telling her "No" so I resolved to locking my windown and pulling the curtains together, while waiting for the discouraged peddlar to row away herself.

Dinner was ordinary, and we were seated together with a Finnish family comprising of a young Finnish with his Vietnamese wife who had spent most of her life in Finland, and his elderly parents. It was nice making new friends again! The ship crew actually planned to have a karaoke session with us, but the Westerners seemed not interested with the idea, so I ended up watching a movie on the deck while the rest of the crew, and Jessica went down to the cabins to sleep! 

After the movie and some chitchat with the crew, I retreated to my cabin for my bedtime. I really needed a good rest after the backaching train ride! 

The Flower Hmong

We woke up early the next day even though we were kind of sad to leave our warm and cozy beds, as we had booked a trip to visit the Sunday market in Bac Ha, which is frequented by the Flower Hmong people. We boarded a minivan from our hotel, and took a 150 minutes ride which I doze off uneventfully after swallowing a Stugeron. 

When I woke up, we were aldy in Bac Ha, surrounded by the lovely Flower Hmong people, dressed in pink. Every Sunday, the Flower Hmong kinspeople will flock to Bac Ha to trade wares, buy groceries, meet each other and gossip (according to what the guide said). And they sell almost everything here! Pottery, cutlery, cooking utensils, vegetables, gardening tools, knives, gasoline lamps, furniture, pets, horses, buffaloes, dogs, pigs, poultry, etc. The dogs, on the other hand, are not being sold as pet, mind you. Jessica somehow seemed interested to buy some piglets home, had I not dissuaded her!

Although they are known as the Flower Hmong, their traditional costumes are pink, just like the Black Hmong with their black costumes. And somehow they are not really bothered with the presence of tourists in their area; I don't recall being approached by any Flower Hmong people asking me to buy their wares, but then they would still ask for money if you take photos of them. The other funny thing that I noticed is that it would be the women folk doing the trading, while the men would just gather and binge drink alcohol until their wives carry them back on donkeys!

3 hours later, we headed back towards Lao Cai in our minivan, but made a brief stop at a local Black Hmong village for a short stroll. The Black Hmong still resides in their traditional mudbrick houses with thatched roof, and thrived on planting paddy and other crops. Shy Hmong children would just peeked at us from the windows, occasionally throw us a "hi", while the adults would be busy with their own daily routines. 

Our guide happened to be a 18 year old Black Hmong girl from Sapa; she had been a tour guide for the past 4 years and she has learnt English and French on her own just by conversing with tourists. What an achievement! And she only studied till elementary school, and was forced to work as high school in Vietnam is not government subsidized! 

We were dropped off in Lao Cai after having peeked at the Vietnamese-Chinese border (He Kou); we loitered around the streets of Lao Cai, shivering (it was stll 10-12 degrees celcius), while waiting for our train back to Hanoi. And all train tickets back to Hanoi were sold out as well, so we had to get one which stops at the northeastern edge of Hanoi, which worried us to hell - we needed to be back in Hanoi by 8.00am to catch our minivan for Halong Bay which we had pay US$85 each! It would be such a big waste if we had miss it!

And as I lay myself down to sleep, somehow I prayed hard that we would reach Hanoi in time...