A great night in Hoi An, a trip to the beach, and a so-so start to Nha Trang

When I last left you I was about to head out from my homestay and see Hoi An's Old Town at night. And oh what a night it was.

I spent about an hour or so walking up and down the river, perusing the various vendor's wares, watching the other tourists take touristy selfies on the bridge, and photographing some of it. There were many restaurants and street food stalls that were appealing (lots of donut ladies!) but despite their sales pitches I wasn't really hungry. After a time I had seen more or less what there was to see and I decided to sit on a riverboat bar which had a guitarist playing. I seated myself, ordered a cuba libre, and was enjoying a few songs until...

the Columbians appeared.

There were 5 of them, they were loud, they were boisterous, and most of all they were happy. They did distract from the guitarist a bit but all in all they were a lot of fun. They spoke very little English and not many of us on the boat spoke enough Spanish for it to matter. I realized fairly quickly that outside of the Columbians I probably had the most Spanish; I neglected to mention this to them for fear they would focus on me. They sang songs that weren't being played, requested La Bamba a few times, and damn near put down a bottle of Johnnie Walker Red in the 30 minutes or so they were there. See the mayhem for yourself...

About 10pm most of the stores and shop had closed up, and by 10:30 it was quiet as a mouse. The streets were empty, the lights were all off, it was time to go home. Though I have a feeling the Columbians didn't stop partying for a while. 

The next morning the family at the Bamboo Garden homestay cooked me a very tasty fried rice w/ egg breakfast and also made a pretty good ca phe sua da. I borrowed a bicycle from them and hit the road, aiming towards the beach. It was slow going as it was a fairly cheap 1-speed bike, so the 4km trip took me about 25min. The beach at the end of Hai Ba Trung St was beautiful, wide and incredibly long. Unfortunately I was leaving town later that day and wouldn't have time to dry out my swimsuit before leaving so I didn't swim, but it was good to at least be there. 

On the way back I had a little extra time so I decided to take a detour and go down a farm road. I ended up adding a kilometer or two to the trip but it was worth it as it took me down a dirt road past numerous farmhouses and seemingly endless rice fields. The decision left it's mark on me however, in the form of one pretty decent sunburn. I returned to the homestay, showered, packed, and checked out, then headed to a nearby cafe along the river to pass the 5 hours until my bus showed up to take me to Nha Trang. 

The bus was all too similar to the previous sleeper bus I had taken; it smelled bad, the driver seemed a bit too aggressive, and the berth was built for a Vietnamese frame. But it got me to my destination, Nha Trang. Or should I say, got me past my destination, as I realized too late that I missed the ideal stop and instead had to take a taxi ride back the way we'd come to get to the area my next homestay was in. It wasn't too far, the taxi fare was only 119,000d, and it was 5am so there was no traffic. 

The place I was/am set to stay in for the next night wasn't open yet so I decided to spend some time watching the sunrise at the beach, which was only about a 2 minute walk away. And I was not disappointed as it was a beautiful greeting from the sun. 

What surprised me most once I got to the beach was how many people were out and about already. There were a few dozen people swimming in the water, another few dozen on the beach preparing to get in, and even more on the sidewalks adjacent doing their morning exercise routine. I'm not sure how effective these routines are as it's essentially walking and stretching, but then again Asian people do live longer than their Caucasian counterparts so maybe there's something to it. 

After that I realized that I hadn't eaten in damn near 14 hours and that noise I heard had to be my stomach telling me I was an idiot. So I walked down the road a ways and found a cafe, where I sit now and type this. After scrambled eggs, toast, coffee, and a coconut smoothie I am ready to start the day and see what I can discover here. 

I'll end off today's post with a simple request; do two things today for no other reason than to make someone happy. One thing for a stranger or a friend, and one thing for yourself.

A Hue we go!

After arriving in Hue and getting off the bus, I was almost immediately approached by an overly friendly Vietnamese man who was very curious as to my travel plans. I've gotten used to these sorts of fellows so I knew he had something to sell or someone to sell me too, figuratively speaking. I politely told him over and over that I had my own plan and was going to do my traveling my own way, but he would not take no for an answer, as none of them do. He was trying to convince me to ride or let him drive me from Hue, where we were at, to Da Nang, my next destination.

I finally was able to rid myself of him and set off with my bag in the other direction. This was just after 6am so there were not many shops open but I knew I at least had to get some coffee. About 3 minutes later guess who drives up next to me as I walk down the street. Yup. I suppose I hadn't truly convinced him that I wasn't interested. Finally to get him to leave me alone I told him I'd go to the travel agency he was working as a recruiter for and hear the spiel. To make a long story short, an hour later I was paying said agency to rent a bike for 2 days to drive to Da Nang and then to Hoi An.

This mean I had only the one day in Hue, but it was early enough that I figured I could get enough sight seeing in. They told me about the best places to visit and off I went. I ended up seeing only two locations in the city; the Imperial Palace and the Thien Mu Pagoda. It was enough, I think. The Imperial Palace itself was quite interesting, I paid 150,000d to get in and give myself a tour and I felt like it was worth it. It was quiet outside of the tour groups babbling in their various languages. Pictures from that trip will be up on my flickr page at some point.

The pagoda was serene and calming, two things that Vietnam at large is not. There were a half dozen or so monks there, all teenage males with the standard shaved head and brown robes. I thought about taking a photo of one but declined, I don't like to make people feel like they're a zoo exhibit.

The weather was starting to turn and it was about a 2.5 hr drive to Da Nang so I figured I should hit the road before it got too bad. I headed back the agency, loaded up my luggage, and set off. Unfortunately I forgot to change into long pants so I made this drive in shorts and a tank top but I was able to put a windbreaker on to at least keep the rain off my upper body. It was surprisingly cold, I'd estimate it was about 70 degrees fahrenheit, which doesn't seem too bad unless you're driving 60mph in shorts and it's raining. But on the bright side someday I'll be able to tell my potential progeny about the time their ol' pappy motorbiked over a mountain pass during a monsoon on a Monday. (It wasn't really a monsoon more like a sprinkle). The first half of the drive I HATED and told myself I'd never be back, that is until I got to the Hai Van Pass.

It was a twisty, turny, fairly steep climb from sea level up to about 1,600ft. It was cold, there was a ton of fog, and I had a great time. I can't explain the change in my attitude as I was still freezing and the views which are legendary were not very visible. But I really enjoyed driving up and down the pass and looking out into the sea of fog covering the ocean. I've decided I'd like to come back and do it again sometime when the weather is nicer.

So I arrived in Da Nang, which I found to be a very nice and clean city compared to Saigon. Much of it is on or near the beach, which I couldn't see much of at the time but I'd heard was very beautiful. After driving through the heart of the city and reaching my hotel I nearly collapsed on the bed and fell asleep right there at 7pm, but I had seen some cool bridges on my way in and decided to go for a walk with my camera and get some photos.

So I walked about 2-3 miles around the city, took a few pictures which can also be seen on my flickr whenever I get around to uploading them. Afterwards I went back to the hotel and passed out. The next day I set out about 9am for some breakfast, and based on google reviews I chose a place nearby called Tam's Pub & Surf Shop. Doesn't really sound like a good breakfast spot but it was, and just as the reviews said the best part was Tam herself. I'll write up a separate post about her but she was/is one of the most interesting people I've met in Vietnam. She was 10 when the war started and worked as an interpreter for the US.

After spending 30 minutes eating and 2 hours listening to Tam's stories I set back out to see the beaches of Da Nang. Unfortunately I only had time to see one, My Khe, which was about 5 minutes walk from my hotel, but it was more than enough as it was an incredible beach. It was wide, very long, clean of trash and debris, and there were not many people enjoying it. I took a few pictures then headed back to my room to collect my things for the trip to Hoi An.

The drive to Hoi An was so nice that I wish it were longer than 20 minutes. The two cities really are quite close together. Close enough that I was worried that it would feel like Da Nang Jr but it has it's own charms that only a smaller city can have. It's still on the beach, which I'm going to visit tomorrow, but it almost doesn't even seem like a Vietnamese city. It reminds me of cities back home in the US. Tonight I'm going to see the Japanese Bridge which is renowned for it's beauty and to see the night market, which is always an experience regardless of where you are. I'm staying at a place called the Bamboo Gardens which a family runs and it's a really beautiful little compound. I have my own separate ground level room with a garden view.

So now I'm off to see some of Hoi An at night. Until my next posting, be excellent to each other.

Near-disasters in Vietnam or how I learned to stop worrying and love the chaos.

The last two days have been interesting. And I mean it in the way that only an experience in a foreign land can be interesting.

My flight to Hanoi went off without a hitch, relatively. The flight was delayed, then delayed again, but at this point I’m as used to the lack of punctuality here as I am the suspect hygiene standards. My Uber to the HCMC airport was cheaper than expected, the airports were nicer than expected, and to my surprise there were several shuttle busses in Hanoi that ferried travelers to the downtown of the city for a mere 40,000d (about $2). I’d heard that the main way to get from the airport to downtown was a 350,000d taxi ride. Note to self: tripadvisor users don’t know shit.

I found Hanoi to be not significantly different than Saigon. On the positive side there were fewer street touts hocking their knockoff knick-knacks, but the trade off was a severe shortage of sunny sky. The air feels dirtier, which is a surprise. The people seemed the same in terms of temperament, though I’ve been told that people in the north are generally friendlier. My hostel room was basic and not terribly unclean, though for $10/night I suppose you get what you pay for.

I had arrived at about 1am so my first real experience with the city was the next day. I had breakfast then decided to test out the travel agents in the area and had I tried to check prices at all of them I’d probably still be there now. It wasn’t an exciting experience, mostly like bargaining for an item in the market. I ended up going with Rose Travel Agency because Rose (I assume it was Rose) gave me an initial price that another agent told me “No, not possible for that price.” That, and her 5 star rating on tripadvisor (despite their users not knowing shit). I paid $90 but Rose advised me to tell people that I paid $110 so they didn’t feel bad about overpaying a bit. She even wrote $110 on the bill then still charged me $90. Nice lady.

Everything was straightforward, and I even used Rose to book a sleeper bus from Hanoi to Hue the day I returned from Bai Tu Long Bay. Oh right, I haven’t told you about that yet. Well I’m getting there, just hold your horses.

The following morning at 8am I met at the travel agency with a man who ushered me and a young woman over to one of the prototypical travel busses seen all over Vietnam. From there we picked up a few other passengers and set off for Ha Long City. 4 hour bus rides are not fun, but you make the best of it when you’re headed to a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Our group was an interesting mix; there were 2 Germans, 2 Danes, 1 French woman, 1 Argentinean woman, 2 Malaysians, 4 South Africans, 4 Brits, and 1 American (yours truly).

We got to the boat, set sail (figuratively), and were then lead around like schoolchildren for the next 24 hours. I exaggerate, but the tour guide leader did have a tendency to try forcing everyone into doing every activity exactly when we were supposed to, even if people didn’t want to. But as with the other idiosyncrasies here, I dealt with it. The South Africans had an issue with the boat crew not honoring their free alcohol perk and the French girl wasn’t a fan of the guide but other than that I think we all got along perfectly fine. I brushed up on my Spanish with the Argentinean, chatted about the recent Liverpool-Dortmund match with the Brits, and learned a bit about the South Africans’ homeland. Of the group at large I connected most with the Argentine and the French girl, possibly because we were the only solo travelers.

The first day our activities were as such: kayaking, swimming, beach volleyball, and a totally-not-tourist-trap-but-would-you-please-buy-some-pearl-jewelry trip to a pearl farm. After my Mekong trip I immediately recognized this side trip for what it was, not that I could have afforded anything at the prices they charged anyway. The swimming/kayaking was fun but could have been better had it been sunny and had there not been trash in the water. I’d figured that we were far enough from the mainland to be encountering trash in the water but that just goes to show how little I’ve learned about my new home.

When we got back to the big boat we had a great dinner (side-note: the food on the trip was F A N T A S T I C) then were told our activities were karaoke, fishing, and relaxing. Guess which one we all opted for, here’s a hint it involves laying on a lounge chair. It was a really nice night, all of the boats in the area congregate in the same area of the bay which made for a nice view with all the lights reflecting off the water. Myself, the French woman, the Argentinean, and the South Africans sat around on the sun deck chatting about… come to think of it I can’t remember what we talked about but it was a great conversation. We all retired about 9:30 and it just occurred to me I hadn’t described the accommodations.

The room was sort of small but the bedding was comfortable and the bathroom was surprisingly nice, it had a big glass enclosed shower with a waterfall showerhead. You’ll hear no complaints from me about the boat; it even had a bar in the dining room.

The second day we woke up about 7am for breakfast, which, true to form, was delicious if not extravagant. We then headed for a nearby cave called… something or other. I’d remember it if it were more memorable. I had naively assumed that our group would be the only ones visiting. Ha! The line of people marching up the stairs to the cave entrance resembled a line of ants returning to the anthill. Even better the entrance/exit was wide enough for one person at a time so you can see how it might be a little hectic. The cave itself was fairly interesting though not unlike a cave you might find anywhere else in the world.

Our next test was the construction of our own lunch, or at least part of it. We were granted the honor of assembling our own spring rolls. At which I must say I found myself to be a natural, my fingers deftly producing roll after roll of delicious rice paper-wrapped goodness. The rest of the lunch was (cue the broken record analogy) above expectations.

After this we headed back to the harbor, which lead to the first startling event of the first day and the first time since I’ve moved here where I had the thought, “I might die pretty soon.” To explain it simply, we were all on the smaller boat that’s tied to the left side of the main boat while we maneuvered the harbor, and the big boat was aimed just to the right of an even bigger boat, putt us in the small boat (you guessed it) on a warpath to collide with an opponent we had no chance of besting. Before we’d have hit that boat though, we’d have hit its anchor line, which would have been bad for one or both of us. The crew let us get a bit too close for comfort before unhooking from the main boat and ramming it into reverse, and by too close I mean about 5 feet. I was at the front so I got a niiiice view of my possible impending death.

But I’m typing this post so obviously we escaped unharmed, at least this time. Nothing else of note happened on the trip until the drive back to Hanoi, when there was a truck parked on the highway forcing us to stop. Our driver got out and shouted at whoever would listen, to which the driver of the truck responded with a right hook. He was wearing a camouflage jacket so at first I thought our driver had pissed off a soldier and was about to get a state-sanctioned ass-kicking but it turns out he was just some local with a temper. But as he and the driver had a pretty decent fight for about 5 minutes, we in the group were locked in the bus and it had the feeling of a tour group on a safari watching the wildlife from the safety of a glass cage. In the end neither of them really won and some other bystanders broke them up.

We arrived back in Hanoi about 4:20pm; I had a quick early dinner and a beer and was summoned for my bus trip by the travel agent next door. Now here I sit on a 12hr ride on a sleeper bus to the city of Hue, the ancient capital of Vietnam in the days when Vietnam had an emperor. It cost only $17 and after googling reviews of the company I see why. Many people posted on tripadvisor (idiots) that the sleeper busses here are generally inconsistent, inconsiderate, and unsafe. They post about busses crashing or nearly crashing into head on traffic, but if you’ve been in Vietnam for 5 minutes you know that that’s a possibility no matter what sort of vehicle you’re in. The wifi that the bus is supposedly equipped with mysteriously doesn’t work so I’ll have to post this at a later time, unless we have a head on crash in which case consider this my wheel and I leave everything to Bella, my parent’s dog.

Until next time, be great and be good to each other.