Turns out Hanoi's flooding has considerably subsided. We had to get off the train a stop early when arriving tho as there was still flooding on the tracks and get a rail replacement bus service. That was an experience with all the pushy Vietnamese trying to get their suitcases on the bus before you in the pouring rain!
Hanoi is Vietnam's capital city. Its divided into 3 main quarters:
1. the old quarter which looks exactly the same as Phnom Phen - Cambodia's capital - but without the stinking rubbish
2. French Quarter - looks very colonial and quite posh
3. Ba Dinh District - with all the state buildings and memorials in it.
The first afternoon we looked around the Ba Dinh District. The most interesting section of which was the musoleum Ho Chi Minh's embalmed body is housed in (closed in November for re-embalming!). Behind that was his two houses he used to live in. To look like he was one of the people, he lived in a stilt house (but inside a compound). Was very cute looking.
Friday, 7 November 2008
Monday, 3 November 2008
Hue Citadel
This morning I took a look round the actual citidel. Most of the royal palaces have been ruined by the war against the French in 1945 when North Vietnam seperated from South Vietnam and became Communist and then the American War in the '60s. But it was quite interesting tp picture what the palaces would have looked like and the government have recieved funding from North Korea to rebuild sections of the palace.
They also had loads of photo displays up which showed how the court was held and it was strange to see that these really ancient traditions were still being upheld in the 1930s.
Nearly got done over by a moped driver this morning who claimed that we'd agreed a higher return price to the Citadel than we actually had. Amazing how you can have an argument with someone even though you don't speak a word of each other's language. I won of course! Although feel a bit guilty now as he probably has a family to feed.
Been really sunny, sticky and hot all the time we've been here but now just starting to rain.
At 3pm we leave Hue to get an overnight train to Hanoi, the capital city. Concerned as Hanoi is currently flooded under a metre and a half of water. This has been going on for a week and the water still hasn't drained so the city is quite inaccessible. Going to Halong Bay on Wednesday but when we return from there, I'm in Hanoi for a whole week when this tour finishes so not sure what to do about the situation yet!
They also had loads of photo displays up which showed how the court was held and it was strange to see that these really ancient traditions were still being upheld in the 1930s.
Nearly got done over by a moped driver this morning who claimed that we'd agreed a higher return price to the Citadel than we actually had. Amazing how you can have an argument with someone even though you don't speak a word of each other's language. I won of course! Although feel a bit guilty now as he probably has a family to feed.
Been really sunny, sticky and hot all the time we've been here but now just starting to rain.
At 3pm we leave Hue to get an overnight train to Hanoi, the capital city. Concerned as Hanoi is currently flooded under a metre and a half of water. This has been going on for a week and the water still hasn't drained so the city is quite inaccessible. Going to Halong Bay on Wednesday but when we return from there, I'm in Hanoi for a whole week when this tour finishes so not sure what to do about the situation yet!
Journey down the perfume river
The main attractions in Hue are the ruins of the old Vietnamese court. There's a citadel containing the forbidden city where only the monarchy could enter and then several tomb complexes and pagodas along the river that flows through the city - each dedicated to a former emperor.
I went on a boat trip all day Sunday which went down the perfume River - taking in all the tomb complexes on the way. The best thing about the whole trip was actually watching life on the river - barges going past transporting goods, gravel from pits along the river being transported up and down and people in thier traditional conical straw hats fishing.
Each of the tomb complexes were quite impressive. The Vietnamese Monarchy based themselves on the Chinese emperors so each complexe was like a mini terracota army-type tomb. One complexe had a huge lake in it and was like walking around park land.
I've learnt that the Vietnamese are alot more tourist savvy than the Cambodians and are willing to rip you off at every opportunity. When I booked on the trip, they told me lunch was included. When I got on the boat, they informed me this only meant rice and spicy fried cabbage - tasty!! If you wanted anythign else, nothing on the rest of the menu was under 70,000 VND ($4.50) per dish. Total rip off!! Grrrrr!!!
I've done alot of riding on the back of moped taxis here as motorbikes and bicycles are the main form of transport. You can get a ride on the back of a moped for about 50 pence one way- although its a pretty hairy experience as they seriously do not keep to any sort of traffic rule what-so-ever - including choosing a side of the road todrive on - so you're contiually driving at traffic coming the opporsite direction to you and then swerving away from it at the last minute!!
I went on a boat trip all day Sunday which went down the perfume River - taking in all the tomb complexes on the way. The best thing about the whole trip was actually watching life on the river - barges going past transporting goods, gravel from pits along the river being transported up and down and people in thier traditional conical straw hats fishing.
Each of the tomb complexes were quite impressive. The Vietnamese Monarchy based themselves on the Chinese emperors so each complexe was like a mini terracota army-type tomb. One complexe had a huge lake in it and was like walking around park land.
I've learnt that the Vietnamese are alot more tourist savvy than the Cambodians and are willing to rip you off at every opportunity. When I booked on the trip, they told me lunch was included. When I got on the boat, they informed me this only meant rice and spicy fried cabbage - tasty!! If you wanted anythign else, nothing on the rest of the menu was under 70,000 VND ($4.50) per dish. Total rip off!! Grrrrr!!!
I've done alot of riding on the back of moped taxis here as motorbikes and bicycles are the main form of transport. You can get a ride on the back of a moped for about 50 pence one way- although its a pretty hairy experience as they seriously do not keep to any sort of traffic rule what-so-ever - including choosing a side of the road todrive on - so you're contiually driving at traffic coming the opporsite direction to you and then swerving away from it at the last minute!!
Hoi An to Hue
Saturday morning was spent cycling down to the river front in Hue, sitting outside a cafe and reading my book (read the Kite Runner last week adn enjoyed it so much I'm now reading the follow up - can't remember authors name.)
Saturday afternoon we left Hoi An to travel to Hue - which is just south of the Demilitarized Zone (17th paralell which used to divide North and South Vietnam).
We travelled by bus - the scenery on the journey was spectacular as we travelled through a mountinous pass. Journey took about 4 hours and we stoppped at the beach briefly on the way.
Hue was the centre of the Vietnamese monarchy from 1803 to 1945 (when the Communists took over). The emperor decided to build his court here (moving it from Hanoi) as its well protected by all the mountains. Saturday night we just went out for dinner and then drinks at a bar called DMZ (they're never very creative with their bar names round here - say it as you see it!!)
Saturday afternoon we left Hoi An to travel to Hue - which is just south of the Demilitarized Zone (17th paralell which used to divide North and South Vietnam).
We travelled by bus - the scenery on the journey was spectacular as we travelled through a mountinous pass. Journey took about 4 hours and we stoppped at the beach briefly on the way.
Hue was the centre of the Vietnamese monarchy from 1803 to 1945 (when the Communists took over). The emperor decided to build his court here (moving it from Hanoi) as its well protected by all the mountains. Saturday night we just went out for dinner and then drinks at a bar called DMZ (they're never very creative with their bar names round here - say it as you see it!!)
Friday, 31 October 2008
Vietnam week 1
I haven't written on here for a while so lots of catching up.
Spent 3 days in Saigon visiting the sites to do with the Vietnam war - including the Cu Chi Tunnels where the Viet Cong hide out in the Mekong Delta. Facinating to see how they managed to live in such cramped, underground conditions for so many years. Also interesting to see the Vietnamese point of view about the war - blaming it on American Imperialism.
I also went to visit a couple of pagodas in the city. Vietnam has a strong Chinese infleunce in its religion and architecture and you could definately see that in the Jade Emperor Pagoda in the city which was really beautiful - dripping in wood work sculpture and efigies.
Had a couple fo good nights out in Saigon with my tour group. The first night we went to this night club called Apocolypse Now (whatever elese would it be called?!). Good club but was slightly disconcerting dancing away on a packed dance floor while two policemen stood guard, standing above the stage on two columns armed with guns!! Apparently to stop trouble - we weren't even supposed to be taking photos apparently. Quite a strange experience trying to relax and enjoy yourself with two armed policemen staring at you from above!!
Said goodbye to Hannah and 6 others on my tour on Friday 24th Oct as that was the day the Cambodia tour officicially ended. 7 of us have carried on through Vietnam so a smaller group.
On the Monday night we took an overnight train to Nha Trang, a beach resort in central Vietnam. We slept four to a cabin and the train had just been refurbished so was quite luxurious. I slept better that evening than I have done in most of the hotels we've stayed in!
We have 2 days in Nha Trang, which was really just a beach resort so itwas a bit of a let down when it poured it down with rain both days!! Spent most of the time getting massages and manicures in the beachside bars as there was no sunbathing.
I was releived to leave Nha Trang on an overnight train on Wednesday night as being at the beach when it rains is no fun, at home or in the middle of the Far East.
We've now had 3 days in a small town called Hoi An which is a former trading port just North of Da Nang so right on the old North/ South Vietnam divide.
The port was used in the 18th Century mainly to export to China and Japan so influenced quite alot by these two countries as Chinese and Japanese families settled here. The port dried up in the 19th Century as the river changed direction nad started to flow through Da Nang. So now its just a really cute, oldy worldy tourist attraction. The town survived bombing during the Vietnam War so looks like it might have done in the 18th Century. You can visit the old trading families houses and thier assembly rooms which was quite interesting.
Mainly, Hoi An is now a big tourist attraction. Its famous for its silk and there are tailors literally at every other shop selling you cheap, tailored clothing. The rain followed us up here on the first day, so I had a bit of a shop til you drop session and had two dresses fitted and made for me. One just cotton, the other satin. They cost $30 USD in total to make so I think that was really good value. Quality is really nice. The tailor even gave me a lift back to my hotel after my fitting as I was late for dinner. That was fun, riding on the back of a moped on these crazy streets!
Yesterday, our crazy Vietnamese tour leader (Thinh), took us on what was supposed to be a pleasant cycle ride through the countryside, taking in the paddy fileds and other sites. The bike ride actually turned out to be seriously traumatic!! We rode through the paay fileds, which were totally flooded out because of the high rainfall. For starters this made it really hard to cycle and VERY muddy. But it also meant that all the local wildlife such as rats and snakes were out swimming through our pathes. Saw a water snake slither right in front of me and a rat jumped straight at my wheels!! But the worst was to come!! We took a turning onto a paddy field and were cycling down until we came to a section that was so flooded, the water from a higher paddy field was flowing with a really strong current across our path and into the lower paddy field opposite, making a kind of waterfall. We decided to cycle through it and totally under estimated the strong current. As we were midway, Thinh suddenly shouted 'snake!!!' which freaked us out so much that the Irish guy, Connor, fell off his bike and got swept into the current - he managed to save himslef and his bike but his flip flops got swept away with the current. So he had no shoes to cycle home in!!
Next on this path were 3 very angry looking water buffalo bulls. Their horns were really long and sharp and they started grunting and flaring their nostrils at us. There was nowhere to run as there was only water all around us and these bulls in front of us. It was honestly one of the most scary moments of my life becuase there was just no escape from these animals. Luckily, they decided in the end they were mosre scared of us than we were of them and they swam into the paddy fields and off our path. I was still shaking a good couple of hours after we'd encountered them!!
Today is our final full day in Hoi An. Took a trip to see My Son this morning. Its an ancient temple complex with the same importance as Angkor Wat. The Champa Kingdom, a people from Indonesia who controlled Vietnam from 4th - 15th Century, built this complex. At the time they were Hindus. The Champa ancestors still exist today - they are called Cham, are Muslim and are a minority people who live in the Mekong Delta. We met them in Kampong Cham, Cambodia where they are well known for silk weaving.
The temples were really atmospheric as they were less touristy than Angkor Wat. The jungle still surrounds most fo them and we had to take a long drive and walk through the jungle to reach them. Up until the 1960s, there used to be more than 70 temples but the Americans bombed them during the Vietnam War as they believed the Viet Cong were hiding out in them. Only 20 are now left.
We leave tomorrow afternoon on a 5 hour bus drive to Hue.
Spent 3 days in Saigon visiting the sites to do with the Vietnam war - including the Cu Chi Tunnels where the Viet Cong hide out in the Mekong Delta. Facinating to see how they managed to live in such cramped, underground conditions for so many years. Also interesting to see the Vietnamese point of view about the war - blaming it on American Imperialism.
I also went to visit a couple of pagodas in the city. Vietnam has a strong Chinese infleunce in its religion and architecture and you could definately see that in the Jade Emperor Pagoda in the city which was really beautiful - dripping in wood work sculpture and efigies.
Had a couple fo good nights out in Saigon with my tour group. The first night we went to this night club called Apocolypse Now (whatever elese would it be called?!). Good club but was slightly disconcerting dancing away on a packed dance floor while two policemen stood guard, standing above the stage on two columns armed with guns!! Apparently to stop trouble - we weren't even supposed to be taking photos apparently. Quite a strange experience trying to relax and enjoy yourself with two armed policemen staring at you from above!!
Said goodbye to Hannah and 6 others on my tour on Friday 24th Oct as that was the day the Cambodia tour officicially ended. 7 of us have carried on through Vietnam so a smaller group.
On the Monday night we took an overnight train to Nha Trang, a beach resort in central Vietnam. We slept four to a cabin and the train had just been refurbished so was quite luxurious. I slept better that evening than I have done in most of the hotels we've stayed in!
We have 2 days in Nha Trang, which was really just a beach resort so itwas a bit of a let down when it poured it down with rain both days!! Spent most of the time getting massages and manicures in the beachside bars as there was no sunbathing.
I was releived to leave Nha Trang on an overnight train on Wednesday night as being at the beach when it rains is no fun, at home or in the middle of the Far East.
We've now had 3 days in a small town called Hoi An which is a former trading port just North of Da Nang so right on the old North/ South Vietnam divide.
The port was used in the 18th Century mainly to export to China and Japan so influenced quite alot by these two countries as Chinese and Japanese families settled here. The port dried up in the 19th Century as the river changed direction nad started to flow through Da Nang. So now its just a really cute, oldy worldy tourist attraction. The town survived bombing during the Vietnam War so looks like it might have done in the 18th Century. You can visit the old trading families houses and thier assembly rooms which was quite interesting.
Mainly, Hoi An is now a big tourist attraction. Its famous for its silk and there are tailors literally at every other shop selling you cheap, tailored clothing. The rain followed us up here on the first day, so I had a bit of a shop til you drop session and had two dresses fitted and made for me. One just cotton, the other satin. They cost $30 USD in total to make so I think that was really good value. Quality is really nice. The tailor even gave me a lift back to my hotel after my fitting as I was late for dinner. That was fun, riding on the back of a moped on these crazy streets!
Yesterday, our crazy Vietnamese tour leader (Thinh), took us on what was supposed to be a pleasant cycle ride through the countryside, taking in the paddy fileds and other sites. The bike ride actually turned out to be seriously traumatic!! We rode through the paay fileds, which were totally flooded out because of the high rainfall. For starters this made it really hard to cycle and VERY muddy. But it also meant that all the local wildlife such as rats and snakes were out swimming through our pathes. Saw a water snake slither right in front of me and a rat jumped straight at my wheels!! But the worst was to come!! We took a turning onto a paddy field and were cycling down until we came to a section that was so flooded, the water from a higher paddy field was flowing with a really strong current across our path and into the lower paddy field opposite, making a kind of waterfall. We decided to cycle through it and totally under estimated the strong current. As we were midway, Thinh suddenly shouted 'snake!!!' which freaked us out so much that the Irish guy, Connor, fell off his bike and got swept into the current - he managed to save himslef and his bike but his flip flops got swept away with the current. So he had no shoes to cycle home in!!
Next on this path were 3 very angry looking water buffalo bulls. Their horns were really long and sharp and they started grunting and flaring their nostrils at us. There was nowhere to run as there was only water all around us and these bulls in front of us. It was honestly one of the most scary moments of my life becuase there was just no escape from these animals. Luckily, they decided in the end they were mosre scared of us than we were of them and they swam into the paddy fields and off our path. I was still shaking a good couple of hours after we'd encountered them!!
Today is our final full day in Hoi An. Took a trip to see My Son this morning. Its an ancient temple complex with the same importance as Angkor Wat. The Champa Kingdom, a people from Indonesia who controlled Vietnam from 4th - 15th Century, built this complex. At the time they were Hindus. The Champa ancestors still exist today - they are called Cham, are Muslim and are a minority people who live in the Mekong Delta. We met them in Kampong Cham, Cambodia where they are well known for silk weaving.
The temples were really atmospheric as they were less touristy than Angkor Wat. The jungle still surrounds most fo them and we had to take a long drive and walk through the jungle to reach them. Up until the 1960s, there used to be more than 70 temples but the Americans bombed them during the Vietnam War as they believed the Viet Cong were hiding out in them. Only 20 are now left.
We leave tomorrow afternoon on a 5 hour bus drive to Hue.
Friday, 24 October 2008
Saigon Day 2
Visited Ho Chi Minh Museum, Reunification Palace and Jade Emperor Pagoda. Can't write anything else � pc h� wierd Vietnamese setting on it so I'm not making sense!! Ưill fill in when I have better computer access.
Thursday, 23 October 2008
Journey from Cambodia to Vietnam
Travelled from Cambodian capital city to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (better known as Saigon) today.
It was a long bus journey of 8 hours. We left at 6am this morning. There was an almighty thunder storm at our hotel last night - a lightning bolt his the houses opposite!! So no one got much sleep aside from the early start.
We had to cross the Mekong River on a ferry as part of the journey but passed through the border just by getting on and off the bus as it travelled through.
We are staying in Quarter 1 in Saigon right near the backpacking district. My first impressions of the place is that its quite modern and cleaner than Cambodia. Plus everyone wears helmets when riding their motorbikes even if they still all drive like lunatics!! The women even have personalised bike helmets that look like horse riding hats - we have a shop that sells them next to our hotel.
Had a quiet afternoon. Just ate noodle soup at a local cafe. I've got quite addicted to noodle soup since I've been out here. They make ot with stok, fresh meat which they instantly boil in the stock, beansprouts and rice noodles. Its so tasty, cheap and filling. Mine cost me 1 pound today including drink.
Currency they use here is dong and there's 27,500 to 1 pound. So I have lots of notes!! They use US dollars for bigger purchases.
I'm in Saigon for another 3 days after this so hope to do alot of sight seeing and see lots of stuff to do with the Vietnam war.
It was a long bus journey of 8 hours. We left at 6am this morning. There was an almighty thunder storm at our hotel last night - a lightning bolt his the houses opposite!! So no one got much sleep aside from the early start.
We had to cross the Mekong River on a ferry as part of the journey but passed through the border just by getting on and off the bus as it travelled through.
We are staying in Quarter 1 in Saigon right near the backpacking district. My first impressions of the place is that its quite modern and cleaner than Cambodia. Plus everyone wears helmets when riding their motorbikes even if they still all drive like lunatics!! The women even have personalised bike helmets that look like horse riding hats - we have a shop that sells them next to our hotel.
Had a quiet afternoon. Just ate noodle soup at a local cafe. I've got quite addicted to noodle soup since I've been out here. They make ot with stok, fresh meat which they instantly boil in the stock, beansprouts and rice noodles. Its so tasty, cheap and filling. Mine cost me 1 pound today including drink.
Currency they use here is dong and there's 27,500 to 1 pound. So I have lots of notes!! They use US dollars for bigger purchases.
I'm in Saigon for another 3 days after this so hope to do alot of sight seeing and see lots of stuff to do with the Vietnam war.
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