Arrived
back in Adelaide Sunday – here’s the final installment of our travels.
No seriously, I (we) have been so surprised and impressed by the stunning beauty of this place – from the rice terraced hillsides of Sapa to the majestic splendor of Halong Bay, the white sandy beaches & blue waters on the coast and the awesome coastal views from Hai Van Pass.... to the surprise upgrade at one hotel to the Honeymoon suite!!!!!?????
Our
Vietnam adventure began in Hanoi. Staying in the old quarter is an experience
in itself with its narrow streets crammed full of every sort of shop imaginable
– each street specializing in one type of product (e.g. one street we counted
15 shops selling glasses, another was full of fabric shops, another shoes,
another hardware etc. As always there are sights to make you smile – one shop
sold only two products – baby formula and alcohol???? Food is never far away
with innumerable restaurants as well as those cooking and selling food on the
footpath or hawkers with their traditional dual baskets carried over the
shoulder. The streets are very narrow, but an amazing amount of traffic
squeezes through. Watching bus vs car vs motorbike vs bicycle vs trishaw vs
pedestrian vying for places on the road is entertainment or terror depending on
whether you are observer or in the midst of it. Around the city of Hanoi there
are a few “must see” sights. One of them is Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum. Well
seeing the outside of it is no problem, but going in to see his body – that’s
another story! I have NEVER seen queues like it (not even at the Vatican!)
–hundreds of metres long (our guide estimated a 1-2 hour waiting time) We opted
not to bother – as the guide said - all you need to do is look at any money
note which bears his face and just pretend he’s got his eyes shut! Anyway
seeing the great man’s dead body is obviously a very popular thing to do. We
settled on going in to the museum of his life which was quite interesting.
(Perhaps they could get a wax look alike to put in there!!??) A day trip out of
Hanoi took us to the sight of the ancient capital, Ninh Binh where we checked
out the first of what seems like countless temples, pagodas and Buddha statues!
(yes I am being a bit cynical – but as any seasoned traveller knows, you
usually get an overdose on something in any one place – like cathedrals and
castles in Europe!) We also “enjoyed” a lovely scenic 10km bike riding through the
countryside (that wasn’t on my itinerary!!!). It was stunning scenery amid rice
fields, rivers and huge rocky outcrops. Later we relaxed on a canoe ride down
the river and through some caves, impressed by the skills of locals who
mastered the art of rowing with their feet!
Sapa
is a delightful town up in the hills in the far northwest of Vietnam, close to
the Chinese border, requiring an overnight train trip followed by a 45 min bus
trip. In some ways it reminded me of an alpine village that could have been
somewhere in Europe, however the rice fields were kind of a giveaway that it
was not! This was the only place we encountered rain… not a good thing when
you’re about to embark on a 12 km trek through the hillside! Thankfully rain
stopped after only an hour and half but left a fairly muddy trail to walk (or
in places I should say SLIDE) down! David managed to fall gracefully and
surprisingly did not get his clothes muddy. Day 2 in Sapa we did a 7km easier
walk through some villages. What a sight to see the amazing agricultural feat
as the terraced rice fields cover the hillsides, and where the slope is too
steep they plant corn. Many ethnic hill-tribes inhabit the area, wearing their
colourful costumes and selling their hand-embroidered craft items. Vietnam’s
tallest mountain Mt Fansipan towers over Sapa, but its top remained hidden in
cloud.
Halong
Bay is the second “must see” destination of the North. About 3-4 hours by bus
from Hanoi, Lonely Planet describes it as “a priceless collection of unfinished
sculptures hewn from the hand of nature” – thousands of limestone pinnacles and
islands within the bay, many are home to numerous caves. What could be better
that cruising around for a few hours amongst this amazing beauty, taking time
to explore a limestone cave, taking to the water in a kayak, swimming in the
warm tropical water… Unfortunately we had a close encounter with a jellyfish
–both of us got stung. When I spoke to our guide about it, at first he was
quite adamant that it couldn’t possibly have been a jelly fish, but after 15-20
mins as the redness and lumps developed he had to agree it must have been.
First Aid??? Ah yes we have vinegar….on the boat…. At this point we had been
kayaking and were away from the boat and not heading back for an hour or so!
Lucky it wasn’t a Box jellyfish. Anyway some antihistamines and steroid cream
later did the trick and it wasn’t too uncomfortable. We slept the night on the
boat, anchored in a nice quiet secluded bay…..with 20 other boats!!! We were
blown away by the food on the boat, being served about 8 dishes at each meal
and the presentation was simply first class.
After
6 days in the north, we flew down to Hue in Central Vietnam, which had served
as the country’s capital during the dynasty when emperors reigned for 150
years. The remains of the Imperial Citadel are impressive, but much of it was
destroyed by bombing in the war. A number of emperor’s tombs can be viewed -
elaborate displays of the wealth of the powerful.
A
road trip from here to Hoi An proved to be a pleasant surprise, giving us the
opportunity to see some of the magnificent coastline. We stopped off at a
beach, but were not expecting to see such a beautiful wide white sandy beach
complete with palm trees and blue waters. Came across a funny scam here –
hawkers on the beach asking if you had any foreign coin to give them to add to
their collection. A bit later another one approached and asks if she could cash
in all her Aus coins for local currency!!! This route also took us over the Hai Van Pass, so it combines the beauty of a coastal road, with the views of crossing a mountain range. It truly can rival Australia’s Great Ocean Road (just without the 12 apostles!) Occasional remnants of the Vietnam war were to be seen along the way and numerous war cemeteries/memorials are found throughout this area.
Hoi An is a quiet place, even though full of tourists. The Old Town area is well preserved with cars being excluded so it makes getting around a bit easier. There are plenty of old heritage sites to see from Chinese and Japanese past influences. An 8 km round trip by bicycle took us to a nearby beach – another beautiful place to sit and relax for a while on our last day (notwithstanding the intrusion of the ever-present hawkers!)
Thankfully one thing that was noticeably absent throughout Cambodia and Vietnam was FLIES! About the only time we saw them was on the fish and meat in the markets!! That’s a sight one prefers not to think about when dining out, as eating is definitely one of the highlights of travelling in Asia – so much good food, and so cheap! The Beer is always cheap too, although finding a REALLY cold one is a bit difficult. Wine is best avoided.
I must say it was hotter here than I expected with temps in mid-high thirties with high humidity, but overall we are very glad we returned to Vietnam to see the North and Central areas and would definitely recommend this place for a holiday.
Signing
off for now til our next adventure,
Jenny
and David 17/7/12
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