Vietnam

Johan awoke in the early hours of his birthday to tell the bus driver that we would get off earlier than the rest at a place an hour or two north of Hue called Dong Ha. This little town is very close to the Ben Hai river, the border between former North and South Vietnam. At about 5:30 a.m. we got off the bus in the middle of nowhere. Two other travellers decided to alight there as well. A local, wakened by the noisy bus, opened his shop and proceeded to call someone on his phone. The guy on the other end could speak English. A while later he arrived on his motorbike to our rescue. As soon as we agreed to check out his hotel 4 other motorbikes appeared from out of nowhere to take us to what would be our hotel for that night (and for 1 or 2 hours of shut-eye that morning too).

We hooked up with the same travellers (the only other travellers in town as far as we could see) and the same hotel tout and headed off through the rain (luckily we chose the car option over the motorbike option) over the Ben Hai River in the direction of the famous Vinh Moc tunnels. 500m North and south of this border river was declared a demilitarized zone (DMZ) where no fighting was to take place during the war. Needless to say - lots did take place here, but we were on our way to take a look at the fascinating tunnels. These tunnels were excavated in North Vietnam to serve as living quarters and bomb bunkers during the last 6 years of the war after the village at the same site was destroyed by heavy bombing. It is one of many similar tunnels throughout Northern Vietnam.

The Vinh Moc tunnels are 2.8km in length and have a few exits that exit right on the beach and others that open up higher in the hills. During the occupation of these tunnels, which are amazingly small, 300 people lived here and 17 babies were born inside. There are also countless other underground tunnels throughout the rest of Vietnam.

The rest of day was for resting. The next day a direct bus would take us out of the cold rainy weather of Vietnam and back into sunny, friendly, peaceful and relaxing Laos.

Although our agent seemed to be a bit more slimy than we would prefer to work with we were eventually picked up from our hotel and 3 hours later we were at the harbour. Halong Bay is a large bay on the coast of Vietnam. The South China Sea waters in this bay are dead still and studded with 1,969 karsts (steep limestone islands) which make it probably the most photogenic spot in Vietnam.

The harbour was jam-packed with tourist boats - all very good-looking wooden sailing vessels, most of which one can spend the night in. We boarded our boat along with 5 other couples and sat down to a fantastic sea-food Vietnamese lunch. First came the crabs, then the clams, then the spring rolls, then the grilled whole fish, squid salad, rice and veges followed. The couple sharing our table was from Russia and were completely lost with all this strange food they did not know - it was just giggles all lunch. Janine was thrilled - more for her!

We checked into our spacious comfy cabin and headed off to the Amazing cave (yes, that is its name) to wonder through the huge artistically lit interiors. There were many an interesting stalactite/mite to behold. Once back on board we set off for one of the few islands with a beach. Here we climbed up to a lookout on the top, took pics and got to know some of our fellow seafarers while dipping our toes in the surprisingly warm waters.

The rest of the afternoon was for lounging on the deck chairs and chatting with the other travellers. The company was great. The idea of this little splurge was to celebrate Johan's birthday a day or two early as we would be travelling on the actual day of the 8th of January. We spent the night of the 6th on board and had one of our best night's sleep.

On the morning of the 7th we anchored next to a floating fishing village which supplied us with sea kayaks. We all paddled off to explore a lagoon only accessible by a cave entrance. The lagoon was beautiful with the steepest island cliffs rising out of the see all around us. Johan spotted a few monkeys too (he loves monkeys).

When all this was over and we were showered and checked out of our cabins we headed back to land again for a great Vietnamese lunch. Vietnamese food is not our favourite food, but we really enjoyed this meal. Our Russian friend downed a double Russian vodka as it was, he told us, Christmas day in Russia. We chatted merrily away for the 3 hours back to Ha Noi. Once back in the city it was just about 2 hours wait and we were heading south in the direction of Hue on rather compact overnight tourist bus.

The amount of traffic filtering through from all directions into Ha Noi is astounding. One such bus picked us up outside our hotel and dropped us off in the chaotic bus station a few kms outside of the Old Quarter. After a rather long (and expensive) taxi ride we were in the happening area of Ha Noi around the Hoan Kiem lake.

Each of the hundreds of streets has a name reflecting the kind of products one can purchase there. We settled into our cheap hotel room and set off to explore a bit. Strolling around the lake is great as the walkways are well designed and relaxing. One can watch the locals doing their stretching routines out here in the public. We found a huge supermarket and dined very well at a particular restaurant called Little Hanoi. Janine was very excited about all the shopping opportunities although prices in this tourist area were quite inflated for what one would expect to find in Vietnam.

The next morning we headed off to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum where the embalmed body of this long-since deceased national hero lies for all to view, albeit by strictly regulated control. The queue was long but quick. Bags are checked in and you are security checked. The hoards of people hoping to catch a glimpse of Ho Chi Minh are organized into long lines of pairs and marched off to the entrance. Silence must be observed, no hats, no hands in pockets, no cameras and a slow, reverend, but continuous walk around the body takes place, all this under the watchful gaze of uniformed custodians. So before you know it you are in and out.

Next to the mausoleum is the Ho Chi Minh museum - a striking abstract and artistic attempt at depicting the noble triumph of Vietnamese revolutionaries against the ruthless and decadent imperialist invasions they have known in recent history.

The rest of the time in Ha Noi was spent shopping (Janine had 180 fine napkins made for her sister's wedding and Johan decided to purchase an extra piece of luggage to handle our accumulating buys), eating and internetting (the usual). We also went to see the show that Ha Noi is famous for - a theatrical production of a traditional water puppetteering that evolved in the Vietnamese rice paddies as a form of entertainment. Each scene depicts something of the Vietnamese culture, beliefs and everyday life. We enjoyed it very much.

We also changed the date of our return flights to South Africa at the Singapore airlines offices and booked ourselves on a 2 day tour (by far the cheapest way to do it) of Halong Bay. Generally just a city where we could get things done.

Culture shock: One can't imagine the density of motorcycle traffic in this city. There is never a break in the traffic, so it does not help waiting for a chance to cross the street. The only method of pedestrian movement is to just walk, slowly and smoothly, across any road and let the traffic weave around you. Quite quick and easy once you get used to it!

Sunday the 31st of December was a well deserved day of rest for us. From leaving Vientiane we had travelled hard and non-stop and accumulated many bus miles along the way. Janine was in her element as there was decent food, free internet in the hotel for her to do a good deal of her sister's wedding planning and, can it be emphasised enough, the bath. Vietnam was cold so packing out, catching up on washing, watching cable TV, reading and bathing in our cosy suite was just too sublime. We were well asleep by the time the clock struck 12 and woke up the next morning to a brand a new year.

We had organized transport with our hotel to the Cuc Phuong National Park - about 1.5 hours away on the back of motorbikes. Our bike drivers (also staff at our hotel) were great and enthusiastic to take us around and show us (repeatedly) the "beautiful" pineapple plantations which we were obliged to take photos of.

Just outside the entrance to the park is a primate rescue and breeding center where a few species of bizarre and beautiful monkeys, unique to the area, are protected against the threats to their survival in the hope to reintroduce them into the wild. While the apes were great to see one can't wonder there on your own or get really close to the cages. Before long the quick show-around was over and our drivers whisked us off again through the cold Vietnam air deep into the park.

There is a circle route hacked out of the jungle which we proceeded to follow. The jungle is beautiful and dense. Along the way one passes a 1000 year old tree. After quite a few kms of climbing and descending we were out again. It had started to drizzle slightly. On the way out of the park we stopped at a cave (Con Moong Cave), some ancient cave-man home. We climbed and explored all over completely on our own and climbed out through an opening high up in the cave which took us well away from the path. After a descent amount of scrambling over rocks we were back with our bikes.

The drive home along a different route was breathtaking - through villages and rice paddies, next to lakes with karsts jutting out - all shrouded in a fine mist. We arrived home at the end of our day wet, cold and tired. The bath and our great room was once again so welcoming.

Our last day in Ninh Binh was warmer and without rain. Good timing as we hired bicycles for a day out in the countryside. Janine bought a local Tee-Pee looking hat along the way to keep out the sun. Our first stop was the famous Tam Coc - a large area of watery rice paddies which the locals consider to be the "Halong Bay in the rice paddies". The name Tam Coc means "3 caves". We hired a boat with two lady paddlers and headed off for a beautiful paddle which takes you through these 3 caves, the first being 127m long.

The tourist industry tactics here involve vendors who paddle up next to you and try to sell you refreshments. When that succeeds or fails they try to coax you into buying something for your boats-women. The scam is that the boats-women later resell your generous gift to the original vendor for half the price. Johan was quite chuffed to foil this little scheme - he offered our ladies non-returnable single bananas and little apples, which didn't seem to excite them too much - but we were all, nevertheless, in good cheer.

Once through the 3 caves one returns by the same way in which you came. At an opportune moment the boat lady pulls out an enormous pile of embroidery for our convenient purchase. Johan also knew this would happen, but that did not stop us from purchasing one of her wares. Did we mention that they paddle mostly with their feet?!

After that we lunched for rip-off prices and then head off on our bikes, first past some famous pagoda (a specific style of building here with religious function) and then off in the direction of quiet countryside. We cycled as far as the picturesque Hoa Lu, an ancient (older than 1000 years) capital of this area from some bygone era. Johan reckons that we covered at least 40km on our rickety bikes that day. The last stretch was highway and then back in our room with a bath. We were thoroughly sore from sitting on hard seats for way too long!

Culture shock: This is a motorbike dominated country (specifically these 125 cc moped-looking motorbikes you see everywhere in Asia) - all manner of object is transported on these little beasts from building materials and agricultural products to entire families, infants and all. We saw enormous containers filled jampacked with young pigs and some with chickens. One guy was transporting a huge tied plastic bag filled with about a tonne of water and live fish. We also saw two people on one of these bikes with still two live cows strapped on the back!

So the grand plan was simple. Once a week one can catch a direct bus from Xam Neua all the way over the Nam Neo border and well into Vietnam to a town called Thanh Hoa. We had planned well to catch that very bus the Saturday morning, a day before New Years. From Thanh Hoa a connecting bus will take you 1.5 hours north to Ninh Binh or another 2 hours further to the capital city of Ha Noi. Our plan was to avoid the New Years crowds in Ha Noi and head for Ninh Binh...

After a fast departure and a tedious process of getting over the Vietnam border (a new and much better border crossing should be operational there about 2 weeks from when we crossed) we stopped for lunch in a nowhere Vietnam border town. While the other travellers searched for something edible, Johan searched for Dong (Vietnamese currency). Janine spotted a pharmacy. There was a drinking get-together happening in the room at the back and before we knew it Johan had been carried inside. By the time Janine had finished purchasing her Vit C, Johan had already thrown back a tot or two of their local whiskey (or whatever it was) and was eating tiny whole crabs - much to the delight of the drunk Vietnamese crowd entertaining him. One particular gentleman associate with this group proved particularly difficult to shake later.

After a really long wait a border official came to inform us that our bus was being turned back to Laos and that we would have to catch another bus heading to Ha Noi. After a bit of confusion and an astonishing partial refund we were on our first shoddy local Vietnamese bus (along with the same drunk guys from earlier) full of rice bags and other cargo. After a big fight over price (the English-speaking border official had to be called back to end the dispute) the two of us and the 5 other travellers in the same predicament settled in for our harrowing high-speed bus journey to Ha Noi.

Locals seem to love to smoke and they do it liberally in the bus. A new thing for us was the huge bamboo (about 80cm long and about 5cm in diameter) pipe filled with tobacco that they pass around. About 7 hours or so later we arrived in Thanh Hoa (where we were meant to arrive about 5 hours earlier than what we did). Our bus driver thought it not worth his while to continue all the way to Ha Noi with just the 7 of us (just travellers remaining!) so he put us on a smaller bus rocketing in that direction. All in all we thoroughly enjoyed our time with the other travellers we met that day - great people and some great chats. All worth it!

At around 10:30 pm we were dropped off in Ninh Binh and bid our fellow travellers farewell. We were well rewarded for the days trouble with a super amazing huge room in Thanh Thuy's Guesthouse with a fantastic bathroom and, yes please, a bath! All this for only US$15.

Culture shock: People smoke on busses - not just cigarettes, but also with huge bamboo pipes. Locals are much more loud than the softspoken Lao people.