Hoi An

Did I mention that Hue is a Unesco site, well so is this, the whole town. Beautiful old streets lined with custom tailors and shoe makers but since I don't wear suits anymore and choosing silks for the girls is difficult I spend all my time saying no thank you to the, very friendly, shop keepers.



Well I flew in to Singapore and the President of Singapore came to Hoi An today to see how I was getting on. The streets were closed around his motorcade of 3 cyclos and he stopped and went shopping with the other tourists. I thought the town was being well groomed and this was why.

I wasn't kidding about the motorcade...



Walked over the bridge and had lunch looking across the harbour to the old town, an oily fish, looked like mackerel, cooked in a banana leaf with ginger, garlic and chillis, just delicious. Washed down with the local draft brew, nice and cold and 10p a glass!



Spent some time in the crafts workshop watching pottery, embroidery, weaving, carvers and most fascinating of all, silk spinning. Never seen this before, took a video to bore you with. Bought a few things from a fair trade shop but otherwise the choice of shopping is just bewildering.

This is the famous, 16th century, Japanese covered bridge, early in the morning which is obvious from the lack of tourists and Presidents of neighbouring countries...



This is a small town, I can't carry any more shopping and the excursions don't look too interesting, so, I am going to catch the "sleeper" bus to Nha Trang tonight and sus that out. Beach resort town, sounds like Blackpool but a 2 hour ride from Da Lat where I fancy spending a few days.

Hopefully internet service will be better there and I can upload pictures.

Hue, Lewis: the news

Been waiting years to get that one in. No time tonight, will update tomorrow. Have found the settings that allow comments without needing to register for a Google account, hope this helps.

Well, I had to wait 6 hours in a hotel in Ninh Binh for the sleeper bus to Hue, but had a long conversation with Hien, a young teacher, working in the hotel to try and learn English, and I was her tutor for 3 hours. We spent a long time practising long vowel sounds which are not familiar to the Vietnamese so, if the sun ever comes out, Hien will be able to say "it is warm" in perfect English. Thankyou for your company Hien.



The sleeper bus could more accurately be called the bus. Sleep is difficult but managed enough to get me through the net day in Hue. Met up with Patrick, Maryline and Sabine from Switzerland and we took a taxi to the Holiday hotel and then a 5 hour cruise on the Perfume river to see the temples and tombs of the Nguyen Emperors. (pictures to follow, no card reader here.)

My Swiss companions..



We had a very pleasant day on the river though, beautiful, wide (driver, wedge or nine iron), cultivated all along the banks right to the water edge, with trees and palms behind and the people working in the fields in their conical hats, a classic image of Vietnam.





our "dragon" boat...



My investment in a plastic coat is paying off, it has drizzled since I got here.

The hotel room was so comfortable, paid $15 but wonderful shower, comfortable bed and the best night's sleep since I got here. Then this morning took a cyclo (those guys work hard) for 1 hour, to the Citadel and walked around the (no longer) Forbidden City. The Citadel was built around 1800 by the Nguyen Emperors, an imitation of the Chinese version in Beijing and is on a massive scale. The square walls must be 2.5km long, 6m high and surrounded by a deep moat. Inside the temples and pagodas of the emperors are crumbling but were clearly at one time magnificent. Unfortunately the emperors did not include Macdonalds arches into their designs so, having little cultural merit, the Americans decided to bomb the Citadel heavily during the war.

To give an idea of scale, this is one from the edge of the Citadel looking towards the gate in the centre of the walls.



Well it continues to rain here and I am fleeing south to try and find the climate I came here for. Catching the 1.30 bus to Hoi An and plan to spend 2 or 3 days there. Have prebooked a hotel for the massive price of $20/night but right in the centre with all amenities. It sounds a lot paying 320,000 Dong per night, 1 million if I stay for 3 but it calculates to only 30 pounds!

Arrived in Hoi An after a 3 hour bus ride. As we passed over the mountains outside Danang.....it stopped raining!! Temperature is back to tee shirt in the evening, first time my fleece has been off since Hanoi.

Tam Coc

Called the Halong Bay in the rice fields, this place is even more beautiful. Same Karst rock formations (created by dragons no doubt) today covered in mist, well, a light drizzle, but looking all the more mysterious for that. Shared a small flat boat with a young Dutch guy and we were paddled around for 2 hours to see the sites. Some of the Vietnamese were rowing with their feet, whatever dexterity is with feet, that was it.





The trip included caverns as long as 128m under the rocks and only just enough room for head clearance. As the Dutch guy said, glad it was low tide!



This place was at one time the capital of Vietnam, and we visited two temples, build by the Emperor who first named the country in this way back in 1130. The locals light 3 incense sticks and bow 3 times, once for the sky, once for the earth and once for their ancestors. Very beautiful, place, shame about us tourists.



Very glad I made an investment in a raincoat, 50p, and not the height of fashion but it will come in useful I think. The tourist bus has dropped me in Ninh Binh at 4pm and the sleeper bus to Hue will pick me up here ar 9.30. Too cold and damp to go anywhere but just into The Name of the Rose again so should get through a few pages tonight.

Halong Bay

Made it to Halong Bay after a 3 hour bus ride and embarked on a 2 day, 1 night cruise round the bay. This is another Unesco World Heritage Site and is voted by many as one of the 10 natural wonders in the world. Stunning views as 2,000 karsts, hundreds of feet high rise sheer out of the sea with 100's of sea eagles swooping from the crags.

I don't think my pictures, taken on a dull day will do justice but here are some examples....this was 5 minutes out from the harbour.



We also visited a huge cave system, Thien Cung, only very recently discovered but spectacular. Again, camera can not capture what the eye can take in but here is an impression.



This was me being brave high up again after coming out of the cave, with my Luang Prabang tee shirt on....been there done that.




And one of the boat I was on...



I had taken the tour for $35 including all meals, transport etc and disappointed to find the younger set had paid only $27 but, to see one of the world's wonders, who cares. Cabins were supposed to be shared on the boat, and with 3 couples, 2 Canadian girls travelling together and six female dancers from Sweden the options were interesting but I eventually had this little cabin to myself and woke to this eye level view of other boats moored in the bay.





Have finally found the explanation for how these karsts are formed, bit scientific this, but apparently this is where a dragon flew down from the sky and descened into the sea. Now why don't they teach that in Geography.

Got back to Hanoi for one last night, the capital city, after the sublime scenery at Halong Bay, is once again a shock to the senses. Here is the view from my bedroom window of the power and telecommunications network. In one place I saw an engineer sitting like a bird in a nest amongst the cables doing a repair, no other support, just this mass of cables. Amazing.



Off to Tam Coc in the morning then sleeper bus in the evening to Hue, leaving from Ninh Binh, so no need to come back north to Hanoi, will arrive 6am. Plan now looks like: Hue, Hoi An, Dalat, HCMC. The bus is $60 for an open ticket all the way to HCMC. Fantastic value, providing I can sleep.

In Prison

But not locked up thank God. Visited Hoa Lo prison where the French for 60 years brutalised the Vietnamese resistance and where during the 60's American airmen were locked up: "the Hanoi Hilton" as they called it. John McCain was one of those held there and revisited the site in 2000. Strange how these events have come to be viewed. In Vietnam these airmen bombed Hanoi from B52's, indiscriminate terror bombing, designed to weaken resistance and causing enormous tragedy on the ground and yet there seems no bitterness here. Clearly from the attached quotation the airmen themselves felt badly abpout what they were doing.



All over the city there are people trying to get by with terrible deformities, the effects of the dioxins in Agent Orange that the US dropped on the forests. Will we ever learn or continue to make the same dreadful mistakes? Perhaps McCain would have a more enlightened view on the use of the American military after his experiences here?

Also visited the Catholic cathedral,10% of the country is Catholic, a French hangover, but not in my mind the best they left behind, that would be the coffee which is just brilliant.

Did some shopping and booked some tours for the next 3 days. Will be out of contact for 48 hours but hope the report will do justice to Halong Bay.

By the way, finally sorted out the flash drive so have added some pictures to earlier posts.

Hanoi

Found the problem with uploading pictures is a virus on the flash drive. Can't open it easily so may just buy new as it will be cheap here. Until then some words and I will add pics later.

Just arrived, flight 50 mins fom Luang Prabang left EARLY!!! landed and through immigration within 10 minutes. What a first impression, compare that with most visitors experiences arriving in Heathrow.

Hanoi is an assault on all of the senses but particularly the ears! Motorcycle navigation seems to be determined bat like, by the emitting of frequent horn sounds. Crossing the road is a challenge but I am still here so they must know what I am doing because I don't.


Was starving when I got here and went straight from the hotel ($15, two beds, balcony, good shower) to the pavement for some Pho, (chicken noodle soup). Delicious, cost about 60p. Bought some sandals for $4, asking price was $15 and still think I overpaid and now off to find the local draft beer.


Some of the narkets just round the corner from me, no close ups of the fish, very interesting but not for the faint hearted...








Another first impression, the people are so friendly. Everyone says something in English, just to show they can, not trying to sell me anything, they smile a lot, I think I will enjoy it here.

Luang Prabang

I love it here, so laid back. Had a bit of a bad night though, something I ate I think and couldn't face the morning excursion so stayed in bed. Walked around town and went to Wat Xieng Thong. Typical (apparently) Laos architecture with the roof sloping almost to ground level. A serene place despite the number of visitors, originally built in the 1500's and the walls decorated with glass mosaics, this picture shows the tree of life, and one of me taken by a french woman who had the same camera and I thought, wrongly as you can see, that she knew what she was doing.






















Managed a coke for lunch and then went on the waterfalls trip, to Quang Si. Just beautiful, the falls must be 150 feet high, falling off limestone cliffs into a turquoise pool. I managed to climb half way up and had someone take a picture...how brave was I?





You can't escape the realities of life here though and at the base of the falls there was a sanctury for a rescued tiger, Phet, fully grown now but orphaned at 2 months by illegal hunters and also some rescued black bears.



In the evening I climbed Phousi hill inside the town, to watch the sun set over the Mekong and the River Khan which runs into the Mekong just north of the town.



Well it is Thursday (I think) and I am just back from a 1/2 day cruise, 2 hours upstream to Pak Ou caves containing 1000 Buddahs and 1 hour back. The river is majestic, the 11th longest river in the world and 3 or 4 times the width of the Thames in London. I estimated driver, three wood then think about it. (No comments from the golfers who know me that it must be about 250 yds then). Going upstream the boat kept close to the shore to avoid the strong current but on the way back we kept to the centre and went very quickly. The scenery all around is stunning, mist in the mountains, and I am afraid the photographs will not do it justice but I will never forget it. This is the view the Buddahs have.




Have also visitied the Royal Palace, now a museum and no photography allowed but what oppulence. The royal family were exiled to the north in 1975 by the communist government and never been heard of since, I don't think I am supposed to ask what happened? I took this shot leaving the palace looking at the hill where I watched the sunset last night.



Luang Prabang is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and for good reason, but I can't stay here for ever and have booked a flight to Hanoi for tomorrow. I don't expect to find the same tranquility but I want to see it all so must move on. The purists here say I should get the bus as the 28 hours is an experience.....I'll fly.

It's taken me ages to upload these pictures but I take them all on maximum setting to keep so just have to put up with it. Beer time now though.

Last picture, this is the way the girls ride their motorbikes in LP...

"Friends" in Viang Vien

And I don't mean people I know. Those annoying 30 somethings playing on wide screen tv's in open air bars to an audience of 20 somethings reclining on mattresses. To be fair, a lot of travellers here have been away from home for so long that they probably need an injection of western "culture" but I felt a bit out of place. The town seems to have been taken over by the backpackers almost totally. Some good points, English is spoken everywhere and lots of budget accommodation, everyone very friendly and the sublime scenery make it a must for the younger set (Jo, you must add this one to your itinery), but it was not for me.

A pity the misty conditions did not allow me to capture the beauty of the mountains but I "borrowed" this image from another blog to give you an idea.




In the morning I decided to take the mini bus to Luang Prabang, 6 hours north and so glad I did. The journey up here was an experience in itself. Winding between the Karsts (must find out how they are formed) the road was suprisingly flat despite the mountain scenery. As we went further north though the mountains became higher, and more of an obstacle. The whole population seems to live at the roadside and we made countless diversions around cattle, chickens, piglets and children. The traffic that we overtook was much less of a problem. The bends looked blind to me but our driver could see through solid rock.

Luang Prabang is the most relaxed, laid back town I have ever been in. A beautiful mixture of traditional Lao and French colonial building, a cluster of Wats in the centre and the Mekong river all along the Eastern edge of the town. The night market is in full swing with a stunning display of locally made handicrafts, especially hand woven silks, and the people are so pleasant they just let you look without any pressure to buy. So unlike other places I have been.

Here are some views: the ride into town on a tuc tuc, the mighty Mekong and the boats for hire (on one of those tomorrow, going on a tour) and the view from my balcony, splashed out here and gone for a nice guest house, teak floors and furniture in a quiet lane in between the streets used by the night market. I have a shower that works and if you look carefully, through the gaps in the houses, I do have a river view..

The Ancient City, Bangkok

Took some pictures of the Atlanta lobby which was exactly as described by Lonely Planet, No Humphrey Bogart, but the Queen of Thailand used to eat there in the 60's. (I don't think she does now!)





















Spent Sunday with my charming friend, Miss Tussanee, who works for Swan Industries in Thailand and helped me during a trade show last year. We took a taxi to the "Ancient City", a 300 acre site with a fantastic collection of Buddhist shrines and temples, ancient remains, traditional Thai arts and crafts and wildlife. The site is so big we hired an electric golf buggy to get around (the nearest to golf I will get on this trip) and the breeze while we toured around was a relief from the extreme heat, >30 deg C. We had a meal of noodles and pork with a fresh, chilled coconut in a beautiful floating market in the centre of the park. Cost, 45 TB each, about 60p, can you imagine the cost of that in Alton Towers?

Here are some pictures from my phone camera just to give you an impression of some of the beautiful sights, my lunch and an example of the local fauna...





























We went back in to Bangkok to buy the camera, I withdrew some cash then decided I needed more to get the discount in the Panasonic store, tried to withdraw more and then found the card had been blocked, a security precaution I think, but a bit embarrassing having to explain back in the store. All sorted though and I have a new Lumix DMC FS3 and an instruction book written in Thai. Well I did expect some challenges but that is one I can't overcome!

Thank you to my lovely friend for spending her only day of holiday in the week with me. This is Miss T, "Ginger Juice" trying to look serious but difficult for the most smiley person in the whole of the "Land of Smiles".




Took a taxi that evening to the station and boarded the sleeper to Nhong Kai. Only upper berths available and had difficulty sleeping, worried about turning over and ending up in the aisle. Met an American guy on the train, Jonny, from Montana, and we travelled into the capital, Vientianne and onwards to Viang Vieng together. Border crossing into Laos was painless, no queues, tuc tuc into Vietianne, then a 4 hour VIP bus ride, $7 each. They must have realised we were not real VIP's and allocated a different bus, no aircon or waitress service but the windows did open. Here is Jonny at the half way house with the bus and a bridge we crossed on the way here.







Checked into a guesthouse with a balcony overlooking the river, double bed, hot shower, $4. And dinner of 1/2 a BBQ chicken, sticky rice and a litre of Lao beer, $3. Even a pensioner can live well here.

Welcome to Bangkok

I took this picture of the street where I was staying on 14th...Love Lane, in Georgetown, just like home (where the horses are) and the buildings are in a similar state of repair. At night the street was frequented by some ladies of the night. Well I say ladies but they were certainly not that and I don't think they were even female, scary!



Also got to use my mossie net for the first time. There was one in my room and we fought a battle of wills as I struggled to hang the net from the overhead reading light before it got me... I won. This was the view from my window, corrugated iron comes in a variety of degrees of rust.



Caught the ferry back from Penang in the morning to Butterworth, desparately hot and 5km to the nearest aircon, so I went there, to Pacific shopping plaza, parted with none of my Ringits but at least I was cool until the train left for Bangkok at 3pm. Another eventful trip, the journey is from 3pm to 10.45 the following morning so the seats are arraged like this during the day....



But the numbering is a bit odd. They convert to an upper and lower bunk for sleeping (2 people) but during the day they let day travellers on between stations on the route and everyone has a ticket with a seat allocation. So there can be a total of 6 people trying to occupy the 4 seats. Possession is 9/10ths of the law, don't move once you have your seat! (Not sure I explained that too well)

A major disaster along the way, the camera I borrowed from Helen has stopped working and needs to go back to Nikon. Bugger. Don't think I can manage with just the camera in my phone so I will have to buy one for this trip.

Almost another disaster coming in to Bangkok this morning. I thought the two kids at the side of the line were just waving until a rock they threw hit my window. This was the result.



Fortunately it was double glazed and only the outer skin was broken but the train crew were not impressed. I like to think the aim was not good enough to target the "farang's" window but welcome to Bangkok indeed.

Spent the day trying to get the camera fixed and trying to find the best deal if I do buy one tomorrow. Will have local help as Miss Tussanee (more later) is taking me sight seeing tomorrow before my train out in the evening. Have decided to change plan because I need to stop somewhere for a few days and chill out. The advice is head to Laos, so I am changing my route and going to take the sleeper to Nan Koi, cross to Vientianne and then to Luang Prabang to hole up for a a while. The advice is all on from "the man in seat 61" again. Thank you.

Chickened out of the real budget accommodation on Khao San Road, 300 Baht, (about 10 dollars), but a real cell. Didn't think Tussanee's hotel at 2,400 Baht was in the spirit of the trip so settled for the Atlanta, 600 baht, with aircon, warm shower and Lonely Planet recommended.

Hope to have some better photos to post if I get sorted but can anyone tell me what this tree is with the most wonderful scent? Hope the phone's camera picks it up OK.

Leaving on a jet plane

Finally left Heathrow 2 hours late and arrived Singapore with very little time to catch the train...but just made it.
This is what Heathrow looks like at 10.30 at night when you are on the last flight out, never seen it like this before.




No sleep on the plane and very little on the train to Kuala Lumpur. The benefit is I am so tired I can now fall asleep at will and even when it is inconvenient, I was last off the train at Butterworth. This was my little cubby hole on the sleeper.



The train journey through the day was entertaining but I wished there had been someone with me to help with all of the flower names. Was wondering what was shaking the palm trees and saw several groups (collective noun?) of monkeys, beautiful birds I couldn't identify either, so some internet research is called for to report more fully.

Took the ferry from the station to Georgetown on Penang, booked into my first budget hotel and have a real bed in an air conditioned room to look forward to tonight. Very Chinese round here and the New Year celebrations have just finished so the hotel offered me a special rate. Right!

Decided I have too many clothes for this heat (over 30deg C today) plan to ditch both pairs of trousers and get my knees out. That will frighten the natives!

This is Penang from the ferry.