March 14 Hoi An

Katherine has joined us and the shopping is in full swing. Joan and Katherine are having clothes and shoes made to measure today. While they were shopping I took a ferry to an island where they specialize in boat building. The ferry ride was an adventure to watch - all the locals seemed to have motorbikes to load on. The loading was quick and dirty - run them up the plank and put them on the kickstand. If we ever hit a big wave I'm sure we would have lost all the motorbikes. Later I joined the shopping spree and am having 2 copies of my favourite bicycle shorts made. I hope they understand what I’m asking for. I gave them my best pair of bicycle shorts to use as a copy. After ordering 7 pairs of shoes and 12 articles of clothes we still had the afternoon. We did a walking tour of the old town. There are several heritage buildings from the 16th and 17th century open for viewing. The first one we chose we the Tran family chapel. It has been in the family for 8 generations and it seems the 8th generation is doing the tours today. The tour was exactly 1 room and then the 2 different sales rooms. All this after we paid admission. I was so impressed I bought two coins from the 13th century. They are genuine and only cost $8 for both coins.
Shopping and walking is such hard work we stopped early for happy hour. Here in Hoi An they serve a beer called fresh beer. (draught beer in Canada). There seems to be a price war on with all the locales advertising the beer for 30 to 45 cents per mug. The fairest thing to do is share my trade around.

March 13: Hoi An

Another day in Vietnam – Another lesson in life. Joan and I got bikes from our hotel and rode down the road looking for rice patties this morning. We were successful at last and we ended up in a large field of rice patties with rice growing all around us. There were several people working in the fields and the first lady posed for pictures but couldn’t answer any of our questions. Then we came across a man pulling up rice plants and he spoke a little English so he was able to answer some of our questions. He showed us some rice almost ready to harvest and the could see the rice forming. Then we got a lesson in the Buddhist religion. There was a Japanese tomb close by and the man led us there and showed us how to pay out respects. We lit incense, we bowed 3 times, we planted 3 incense sticks here and one there and then he told me to give him some money for the alter. I had often seen the worshippers putting money on the alter to burn so I took out a 2000 VND bill (about 15 cents) and handed it to him. Quick as a wink he gave me back the 2000 and extracted a 100,000 VND dong bill from my wallet. I protested and he gave it back but then he made me go through so rubbing, kissing, and touching the gravestone until the bill was buried under the urn and I was wondering how come I’m such a sucker. When we finally parted company guess who made a beeline for the grave and emptied the urn. I never took my wallet out of my pants the rest of the day.

March 12: Da Nang to Hoi An

After only one day we left Da Nang and headed to Hoi An – one hour south. We took the bus (the open bus it is called) and we were in Hoi An in an hour. I had tried to book a room last night and I had logged on to the website of the hotel and reserved a deluxe room overlooking the rice patties. Shortly after leaving the website I wrote down the name of the hotel so I wouldn’t forget it. Way too late! I showed up at the hotel and informed them I had a reservation. They couldn’t find it - but they didn’t want me to leave and I didn’t want to confess I was at the wrong hotel – so we have a nice room in the Phouc An Hotel that overlooks the alleyway.
Hoi An is an old village that has preserved most of the building from the 17th and 18th century. It is a tourist town, but still has some charm. However it’s major claim to fame is a clothing centre. There are 500 tailors on town and all are quick and good. I’m might have a few Tilly shirts made here. Katherine will join us tomorrow for the weekend
in Hoi An.

March 10 and 11th

What a difference a day makes! On Tuesday, we booked a bus trip to the Perfume Pagoda, 2 hours from Hanoi. Upon leaving the bus, we (15 of us from the tour) got into a rowboat and were rowed for 45 minutes to the base of a mountain where there are many pagodas in caves and on the mountainside. However, much to our dismay, there were also rows and rows of vendors all the way up the mountainside, blaring music, litter all over the place and thousands of people. It was really not an enjoyable day.
Wednesday morning, we flew to Danang and took a cab into the city . I sat at a café with our luggage while Tim went to find a hotel. A Vietnamese gentleman joined me, asked how long we were staying ,suggested that he could drive us by motorbike to see the caves and pagodas in the nearby Marble mountains then phoned a friend to come by to meet us – he would be the second driver. By the time Tim returned, this fellow had planned our afternoon for us. We decided to take him up on his offer, negotiated a price and agreed to be picked up at our hotel at 2pm. We had a lovely afternoon. The mountain, caves and pagodas were peaceful, beautiful, clean and had only a few vendors selling refreshments, not tacky souvenirs. After our mountain visit, the drivers took us to
China Beach-an absolutely beautiful stretch of sandy beach that goes for kilometres.
What a difference a day makes!

March 9 Hanoi

This morning we decided to try the cyclocab to get around Hanoi. These contraptions have 2 front wheels and can hold 2 people. The driver gets behind and pedals. We tried two today and there isn’t any slower way to get around. The old women walked faster than we went. We had a one-hour tour and we might have covered 2 kilometres before time was up. We did see some interesting streets however and pedaled along two of Hanoi’s lakes .
We have just returned from supper. We worked up our courage and decided to eat on the streets tonight. We started with a beer at the first corner beer parlour. We sat on the street and drank draught beer and ate peanuts. It’s a bit disconcerting when your beer comes out of a plastic hose, but it’s still good beer. Hanoi is covered with these hole-in-the-wall street beer parlours. The beer is brewed in Hanoi according to a Czech recipe and it does not suffer in translation. Then across the street was the Berliner Doner Kebab. I still don’t know what type of meat we ate. It looked like wurst – but I liked it. Joan ate hers too. I liked it so much I followed it with an Istanbul Doner Kebab from a stall down the street (I think the meat was beef). The next stall sold prawn patties – so I ate one. It was a round patty of batter with two large prawns stuck onto it. I guess because I was a foreigner she cut the head off the prawns before I ate them, but they were still in the shell. I ate them shell and all. The next place looked like fish sticks so I asked for one. It was deep fried banana – delicious. It tasted like Tim Horton’s apple fritter. Then we finished it off with more beer and peanuts at the next corner beer parlour. All this and we were only 2 blocks from the hotel. Just wait until tomorrow night.

March 8 Halong bay to Hanoi

We returned to our boat and cruised slowly back to Halong city. A fitting end to a lovely boat trip.

March 7 Halong Bay

We awoke to the sound of waves lapping at the boat. I was up early to get the early morning light, but there was no sunrise, just another grey day. I still took a load of pictures. Shortly after breakfast we landed at Cat Ba Island – a national park. Katherine and I did a one hour hike straight uphill to a fire tower. The uphill was no problem. The climb was steep but there was a rock path and lots of jungle vines to hang onto while we were climbing. Coming down was a bit more challenging since we took the wrong path and did the “adventure trail”. It might have been okay in dry weather but the path was muddy and by the time we descended our shoes were covered in slippery red mud. Now my only pair of long pants are red too. After the big hike we were ferried to Monkey Island, where we overnighted. We slept in bungalows on the beach. They were small but nicely done. We were 5 people at the resort – which had a staff of 5 (or more). The others were 2 girls from England who were on the same tour as us. Joan, Kath and I hiked across the island to a big beach on the other side. It had a café and monkeys. While we were there the monkeys attacked 2 women who were taking pictures. We had our own monkey on our beach also and before we left it attacked the 2 girls. The monkeys don’t seem to like women. Maybe that’s why the guide book said don’t go to Monkey Island. However, we enjoyed our stay on the island-it was peaceful and relaxing.

March 6 Hanoi to Halong Bay

We boarded the bus in Hanoi and drove for 3 hours to Halong Bay. As usual we drove through beautiful scenery and didn’t stop. We saw thousands of rice patties right beside the road and surrounding little towns, but the only stop was a concrete gas station. We arrived at noon and boarded the boat – a large junk that had 12 cabins. Joan and I had cabin number 1 on the upper deck and we had a little balcony we shared with the only other cabin on the upper deck. The scenery in Halong Bay exceeded my expectations. Even in the semi fog the islands were awe-inspiring. Large limestone monoliths rise straight up out of the ocean. The view is 360 degrees. And as we travelled, more inspiring scenery kept appearing. We crammed a lot into day 1. We landed on an island and toured a cave. There are several large caves throughout the bay. After the cave, Katherine and I kayaked through the islands for an hour and then we boarded again for more spectacular scenery before supper. At dark we anchored in a bay and Joan and Katherine enjoyed Baileys coffee whilst I sipped beer and the universe was in order.

March 5 HCMC to Hanoi

At 6 am we were underway to Hanoi. This time we were three since Katherine took time off work to join us for a extended weekend. We arrived in Hanoi at 10 AM and for the first time since arriving in Vietnam it was cold ,just 18°C. Hanoi is smaller than HCMC – only 4 million people and the architecture is different. It also is overrun by scooters but it is less frantic and less aggressive than HCMC. Our hotel was in the old quarter, which seems to be the shopping district of Hanoi, so Joan and Katherine went shopping and I went to visit the Temple of Literature. It was the way I expected a temple to be – it took up the whole block and was surrounded by a nice courtyard and gardens.

March 3 Ben Tre to HCMC

We started the day off with a bike ride before breakfast. At 7:15 the village was hopping with everybody either breakfasting or their way to work. Apparently the markets start up between 6 and 6:30 so that people can eat at the market or buy their food for breakfast.
We were back before 8:00 and then we set of for HCMC by minivan bus. The more affluent take the minibus because it’s air-conditioned. They are popular and we were packed in tightly. There were 17 of us in a van that would hold 11 in North America. Good thing I just had a shower.

March 2 Ben Tre (Mekong Delta)

We went for a bike ride again this morning and then took a Motorscooter taxi into Ben Tre. Taxi cars are hard to find in the delta so Joan (under great duress and stress) climbed onto the back of a scooter one last time. Ben Tre is on a branch of the Mekong River and is a busy port. It also has a huge market that was filled with fishmongers. There were more kinds of fish then I could ever name. Alongside the fish were the shellfish and the snakes. The surprise was the locals doing their shopping without getting off their scooters. Even in the covered market scooters were driving right up to the vendors and leaning over to select the produce. Most of the scooters are between 50 and 100cc’s. But they are all 4 stroke engines and still pollute. Ben Tre is connected to an island just offshore by a footbridge. Again the crush of scooters was incredible. I created a traffic jam when I stopped to take pictures. We stayed long enough in Ben Tre to take pictures of the sunset and then we took the motorscooters back to the hotel in the dark.

March 1 Ben Tre (Mekong Delta)

This morning we took the bikes and went out for a ride again. In the afternoon we took a boat trip through the delta. There were only the 2 of us, but we had a crew of three: A captain, a young boy who was jack of all trades, and a young girl who spoke English. The captain was a bit shaky, the young girl could speak English but she couldn’t understand a word we said, and the young boy was a delight to watch. Before we even got to the boat he was knocking fruit off the trees for me to eat. We cruised some of the smaller rivers and then stopped at a tourist spot where they made coconut candy. Again it is similar to maple sugar. They boil the coconut milk down to fudge. Because it’s so sticky they wrap it in rice paper and you eat the whole thing, rice paper and all. At the same spot I had my picture taken with my pet boa constrictor and we had a singing group give us a concert. About 8 musicians for 2 guests. Next we looked for water coconuts and the young boy put on a show. He was hacking, testing, and jumping on and off the boat until he found the perfect ripeness. He then cut off a bunch, but they fell into the water so he jumped in after them. Then because he was wet he went under the boat to do some work, then he hacked open the water coconuts and fed us. Ten kilos of water coconuts gives enough to feed 2 people. We visited fish farms, museums, shrines and then the sun set. We motored slowly home until we found a tree full of fireflies. Then the young boy hopped into action again and filled a jar full of fireflies for Joan. Either he’s fast or the fireflies are slow. We slept the next 2 nights with the bottle of fireflies in our room.

Feb 28 Ben Tre (Mekong Delta)

We boarded the minibus at 8:30 for a trip to the Mekong Delta. We had no reservations and no firm plans, just 4 days to wander the delta. I had a business card from the bus company and a brochure from the hotel at which I wanted to stay. The clerk at the bus company boarded the bus to tell the driver where to let us off and passed on the name of the hotel. I was pretty sure I could find the place since it was so close to where we got off the ferry. However a new bridge has opened and the ferry doesn’t run anymore. The driver told us where to get off and handed our bag to a motorcycle taxi with instructions and Joan and I were on two motorcycle taxis again. This time my driver ha,d our one large suitcase in his teeth. Okay not really the suitcase, just the name tag because it kept flapping in his face. We arrived at the hotel safe and sound and spent the afternoon biking through the delta. The Mekong Delta is the breadbasket of Vietnam. All of it seems cultivated and crisscrossed with canals and rivers. The Mekong River has 8 major and several minor outlets to the ocean. When biking you cross a river every 200 meters. We were riding along narrow roads, paved paths and dirt paths. The whole time we passed house after house. If we weren’t in a small village, each house had about an acre of garden or orchard. Some houses were poor - some seemed incredibly rich. These mansions were only accessible by motorbike, there was no way a car could travel these paths. We finished our day with a supper of elephant ear fish.
Note to TimG: The bicycle was a 1 speed, calliper brake, low tire pressure model that hadn’t seen an oil can in 5 years. On my second trip my front carrier basket fell off and dropped my yogurt and apples in the middle of the road. When I got it all collected and went to ride home, I discovered my back brake was broken. So I carried the basket in my right hand and used the front brake only.

Feb 26 Siem Reap

When we arrived at Siem Reap, Rady picked us up at the bus station. Yesterday he drove us around in his Tuk-tuk and today we asked for him again. After 2 days we were very comfortable with his suggestions and the more time we spent with Rady the more he told us about his life. He lives 50 km from Siem Reap and cannot commute back and forth. He sleeps in a mini bus in the city and goes home twice a month. He drove us around all day and then he worked the evening shift in the restaurant. He is married, but still lives with his parents, since he cannot afford his own house. He has a 2 year old boy and a 12 day old girl. As a youngster (he is now 30) his family made Palm sugar by boiling down the palm sap collected from the trees. He showed us the complete operation at one of the roadside stalls and it is exactly the same as making maple syrup or maple candy. Rady’s job was to sell the candy after it was made.
Today he suggested the itinerary and off we went. We visited 2 temples in the morning and 1 in the afternoon. The day got a little hot (about 35° C) but Joan and I both have Tilly hats so we don’t mind the heat. Along the way I read up on the temples in my new guidebook. This guidebook costs $30 in the stores, but because I’m Canadian they( the vendors -mostly children who are numerous at each of the entrances ) asked only $20. Then I negotiated the incredibly cheap price of $6. I was a little surprised when the boy at the next temple offered me one for $1.
We saw Pre Rup first. The temple is small but high. We were able to climb to the top and we finally were above the jungle looking down. Then we went on to Banteay Srey. This was a compact temple surrounded by a moat. It was nice to walk around the temple before going inside. After getting the 360 view I didn’t feel we had to rush around so we could see everything. (‘rush around’ is a figure of speech – we moved extremely slowly in the midday heat.) The restoration of this temple was above average. The temples were built with the Hindu gods in mind, but they have been converted to Buddhism along the way. Whoever is responsible for all the celestial dancing girls seems like a nice religion.
In the afternoon we visited Angkor Thom, then back to the guest house for a shower and off to HCMC by plane.

Feb 25 Siem Reap

This morning we finally got to see one of the seven wonders of the world - Angkor Wat. It is an immense stone temple from the 10th century. It was rediscovered in the 1800’s. The site of Angkor Wat is enormous, about 1 square km. It takes a half a day to wander through it and see the main sites. Although it is a ruin there is plenty of details to give you the impression of what an incredible building it must have been – 1000 years ago.
Angkor Wat is one of about 10 major temples in the area. All the temples are in disrepair. In the afternoon we visited a temple that will not be reclaimed from the jungle and still has the trees growing through the roof. What a tribute to mother nature.

Feb 24 Bus trip from HCMC to Siem Reap, Cambodia

We started our bus trip at 7:00 AM at the office where we had bought our ticket. The nice ticket agency lady then introduced us to the guy we would follow to the bus. Imagine our surprise when he handed us each a helmet and motioned us to get on the back of his and his friend’s motorscooters. We also had 3 bags, which he loaded onto the scooters with plenty of room to spare. So we started the trip with a 10 min ride through the HCMC traffic. I got there first. (I arrived shortly after Tim but have to say that I am not a happy motorscooter rider – especially in the absolutely crazy Saigon traffic. However, I had no choice today)
The bus trip was uneventful. We crossed the border into Cambodia and then had a coffee at a restaurant up the road, while we waited for our passports to get stamped. I thought the process was a bit strange but it seemed to work. At one point we had to wait for the ferry. Since the bus was air-conditioned we stayed on the bus. Then as we pulled onto the ferry I saw the chicken truck. It was a small truck with the rear loaded with live chickens. The top had been built out over the driver and it had a 10 cm lip on it. It was also loaded with live chickens that didn’t seem to be tied down. I guess it really is true that chickens can’t fly.
Although we changed busses in Phnom Penh, we didn’t stop in the countryside. The architecture in Cambodia is different from Vietnam. Most houses in the countryside are built on stilts and the walls are either wood or thatch. The roofs are always corrugated metal. We arrived in Siem Reap at 7 PM. It was dark and the bus station was far from the city centre. Fortunately the guest house where we are staying had sent a driver to pick us up – so we got our first ride in a Tuk-Tuk today.

Feb 23 HCHC – Cholon district

After a leisurely morning shopping in the local market near Katherine’s place, we headed for Cholon, the Chinese district in HCMC. We visited 6 pagodas. It was probably too many, but they are so close together we just kept walking to the next one. The atmosphere in the pagodas is always the same: the smell of incense, smoke from the incense and a vast array of vivid colours. One of the 5 was extremely active with booths set up for the 5 main “saints” and a steady stream of worshipers. There seemed to be no restriction for tourists, we just wandered around and took pictures. Every second pagoda we found a street vendor and sat down to read the guidebook with a beverage in hand.
I am going to add to Tim’s commentary on the market. It is a fascinating place in the alleyways very close to Katherine’s house. It opens around 6a.m. You can buy fruits, vegetables, meats, live fish, clothes, material, household items and more. Some of the vendors set up on tables, some spread their wares on a sheet on the ground. The sale of meat goes against all of our standards-pieces of pork, chicken etc. lying on a table in the heat. We have started to frequent one of Katherine’s favourite vendors – the gentleman who trims and slices the pomelos ready to eat for 5000 dong(about 35 cents) or 4000 dong for Kath when she brings her own Tupperware container.

Feb 22 Cao Dai temple and Cu Chi tunnels

We bussed it to the Cao Dai temple in the morning. The Cao Dai religion is a mixture of 4 main religions and it seems designed for prime time television. It is colourful, ornate and it’s 3 saints are Sun Yat Sen, Victor Hugo, and Vietnamese poet Nguyen Binh Khiem. The main symbol is an eye. We were there for the main service at 12:00. Like the religion the service is colourful with the members dressed in white robes and the management in blue, red, and yellow. During the ceremony they have Indian music playing and a large Buddhist gong. The temple is large, colourful and tacky. This is one place where I could have spent a lot more time.
In the afternoon we visited the Cu Chi tunnels. The guerrillas of the Cu Chi region built them during the Vietnam war. The visit was interesting but not fun. The museum is a large forest tract with the tunnels and other exhibits set up. You must watch a 20 min propaganda film first. They show you some real tunnels and then they let you crawl through a 100 meter tunnel that is double the size of the original. It was nice to get out of there.

Feb 21 Ho Chi Minh City

We flew back to HCMC today. The trip back was short and sweet. Short because the flight was only 45 minutes and the visibility was excellent. As we flew over the Mekong Delta we could see the canals and boats. It was sweet because the people along the way were so nice. We were the only North Americans in the airport and on the plane and we seemed to get treated with respect. All the time we were on the island we never felt we were being hustled or conned.
Once we were back at Katherine’s place we took a walk through HCMC and decided to book a trip for tomorrow to the Cao Dai temple and the Cu Chi Tunnels. We finished the day with a soup at the number 1 Chinese soup place near Katherine’s. I have to agree it was a very good soup.