Our first day was spent wandering a gigantic cave in the bay, a favorite attraction of many tour groups which resulted in the experience being again somewhat busy and clammy, (by this point we were all starting to get used to the sweatiness of VN). We then all got into kayaks and were permitted to make our own voyage from island to island, one only had to keep an eye out for large boats travelling through the straights that stop for no-one (much like the moped traffic in Hanoi). Back on the boat that evening, a large banquet of local specialities was prepared for us, and after some unsuccessful squid fishing all seventeen of us had a few drinks and indulged in some rather dated karaoke into the early hours. Freya and Jen’s rendition of the Spice Girls: ‘Wannabe’ being a particular hit with the multi-national passengers and crew.
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Cheeky monkey! |
The following morning, despite us all feeling rather groggy, we got on another mini bus on Cat Ba Island (the largest island in the bay), which took us to a national park, where we went on a three hour jungle trek to a viewing point on top of a peak. We ascended the steep narrow paths trying to avoid other tourists making their way back down., yet when we reached the top we were greeted with some astounding views of the island and beyond. The only issue was that we soon had to make our way back down the crowded pathways, avoiding tourists coming up! Thankfully the aircon of the bus was waiting for us when we reached the bottom and we were soon brought to Cat Ba Town where we would spend that evening. After unloading our bags we got on yet another boat and were taken to ‘Monkey Island’, the name for which will soon be explained. The isle itself is very small, but contains a white beach and rocky foothills where we hiked to attain impressive views of the bay. The Island is the only one in Northen Vietnam to hold a population of small monkeys, and despite their size, they are very imposing perfecting a death stare that would rival my mothers angry look! The monkeys are also thieves stealing anything people leave on the tables and we soon experienced this first hand, when several of the rogues ambushed us on the island bar. Thankfully they only snatched a can of coke and quickly climbed to the rafters above us and guzzled it greedily! That same night back at Cat Ba Town we headed out with tour mates: South Africans Juan and David to a floating bar. However at 11pm the streetlights in the town were all switched off due to Vietnamese curfews, so we took our cue to head to bed!
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Vietnamese fisherman in Halong Bay. |
On the final day of our Halong Bay tour, our boat picked us up and took us back through the network of green islands to the mainland where a bus was waiting for us to take us back to Hanoi. When we arrived back in the city, we did not have too much time to spare because we needed to catch a sleeper bus that same evening which was to take us south to Hue, the old imperial capital of Vietnam. Due to us being the last people to board the coach there were a distinct lack of seats. As a result I was placed in the midst of a sizable native family, whilst Dave, Freya and Jen were put next to the bus toilet. So whilst they had to contend with some rather horrid smells wafting through the coach at night, I had to contend with a rather fat Vietnamese two year old clambering in my vicinity and screaming into the early hours. I believe it a matter of personal preference who drew the shorter straws, but thankfully I eventually drifted off and we arrived in Hue at 8am.
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Entrance to The Imperial Palace, Hue. |
Compared with Hanoi, Hue is much smaller, a tad quieter and more manageable. Ninety percent of the city was destroyed during the Vietnam War, however most of the city has been rebuilt with a Mediterranean feel and the historic sites have been almost all restored brick for brick. One such site is The Citadel which we wandered on our first day. The Citadels walls enclose a space some 10km² with the Imperial Palace centered within. Dave and myself wandered the site for close to an hour and soon found ourselves lost in one of the sites huge courtyards. As we tried to find our way back to the tourist trail we stumbled on scars of the Vietnam War the still remain: walls strewn with bullet holes and small bunkers that still contain hospital stretchers, a stark reminder that the war ended less than four decades ago!
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A Dragon Boat |
The following day we all got on a Dragon Boat! The name is more impressive than their appearance: Dragon Boats are small wooden boats, equipped with 'chug chug' motors and are decorated with comic dragon heads on their helms. We took the boat ride down the Perfume River to ‘the tombs’ (a collection of very extravagant mausoleums from the Nguyen Dynasty). After one hours journey down river, our captain ploughed the boat into the river shore, pointed in the vague direction of the tombs and told us to be back within the hour or he would leave without us! Setting off through the countryside on red sand roads we passed Thieu Tri Tomb which was under renovation and soon made it to the tomb of Tu Duc, the grandest in Hue. Seeming as large and even grander than the entire citadel, it came as no surprise at all that the construction of Tu Duc’s tomb sparked a coup. (The emperors luxurious tastes in death reflected those in life: he had over one hundred wives!) After whizzing around in the hour given too us we quickly headed back to the river shore where to our relief and surprise our Dragon Boat was still waiting for us.
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Inner Sanctum of Tu Duc. |
The next day we had a four hour coach journey south to Hoi An, a city that was largely untouched by the war. So as a result, very old beautiful oriental homes remain alongside the Mediterranean style introduced by the French. It was here that we had an R & R of sorts: the weather was for the most part perfect, so by day we sunbathed by the sea or by the pool ( yes, our hostel had a pool) and by night we indulged in the very cheap delicious cuisine! ‘The Blue Dragon’ resturant served up by far some of the best food any of had tasted since coming travelling and put us in very good humour for the late nights that followed. However the frequent late night drinking sessions in Hoi An did not mix well with our daily mode of transport: cycling. Myself and several other locals on mopeds unfortunately discovered this when I made my way back from the beach in the baking heat after consuming a large meal in an attempt to soak up the poison that remained in my belly from the night before. I don’t think I need to elaborate any further on what would be a rather messy account of the unfortunate event!
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Guatama Buddah. |
I would like to say we left Hoi An and arrived in Nha Trang refreshed, but after another sleepless night on the sleeper coach, we got in at 6am and hostel room wasn’t ready till 2pm so we ate some breakfast and fell asleep on the beach. It was not till mid afternoon that we returned to the hostel and being a little sunburnt we decided to have a siesta before meeting several friends we met in northern Vietnam for drinks later that evening. The following day which was our final in Nha Trang we decided to see the one of local of sites of interest: Long Son Pagoda. The area contains a large temple full of golden relics, and above it, up many flights of steps on the hilltop sits a giant white Buddah, known as Guatama Buddah. Upon reaching the top we were greeted by beggers or locals trying to sell crap, so we quickly made our way inside the Buddah statue. Inside the statue, we lit incense and had the time to admire the old religious frescos that decorate the walls. That same evening we had our final sleeper coach journey south to Ho Chi Minh City, formally known as Saigon.
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Slipping into a tunnel entrance. |
We got into our hostel at 7am the following morning again lacking sleep, so it was amazing to know fresh bed were waiting for us! After having a good snooze, we all got up refreshed and explored the city. Now HCM is very different to Hanoi, firstly it has somewhat more of a commercial western feel, unlike its northern communist counterpart. This in turn seems to have affected the attitude of its people living in HCM, seeming to warm to tourists much more than the people of Hanoi. The cityscape itself is somewhat different too: whilst HCM looks modern and developed, buildings in Hanoi range from modern to old grey dingy flats. We worked our way to the War Remnants Museum, and spent most of the afternoon there. Dedicated to the Vietnam War, the galleries of weapons, torture implements and horrific photos made it a harrowing experience. Continuing on a similar theme, today we headed on a tour of the Cu Chi Tunnels, a vast network of underground passages north of HCM, that were used by the Viet Cong during the war. Before we explored the area, we were sat in front of a very dated, propaganda video, describing the USA as monstrous tyrants who massacred countless innocents. We were then led by a tour guide around the jungle footpaths being allowed down one of the escape shoots and then through a 140 metre stretch of tunnel. The tunnel itself was arched in shape but roughly 3½ ft tall and at its widest 2½ ft wide. Most of it was thankfully lit, but occasionally I had to utilise my camera to light up certain stretches because bulbs had gone. Coming out the other end after nearly ten minutes underground, most people had broken a sweat, but as a result had a new respect of sorts for the Vietnamese guerrilla fighters who spent sixteen years of their lives fighting in the Cu Chi Tunnels.
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Inside the Cu Chi Tunnels. |
We leave for Bangkok tomorrow evening and I can’t quite believe that my travels will soon be coming to an end. The past months have flown by, especially these past two and a half weeks here in Vietnam. Despite the few downs, there have been twice as many highs, especially that of Dave and Freya coming out to spend time with Jen and myself for a few weeks. It will be great to spend one more week with them in Thailand before they jet off home back to the UK! Vietnam as a country is so very different from any other I have ever personally encountered and given the chance it would have been great to spend slightly longer here and see more of this diverse proud land. I can only hope that Thailand: our final destination will continue to surprise me the way Vietnam has!
I hope you are all in good health and enjoying the remainder of the British summer! From catching the Olympics from time to time it seems like the weather is pretty fine!
Much Love Andy x
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