Category: Blog

War Remnants Museum

Day 100, Friday 13 April 2012, HMC

Wow, one hundred days on the road, and still enjoying it too!

All the remaining wedding guests were flying home today so some of us agreed to meet at the War Remnants Museum as it opened at 7.30 AM, a fifteen minute walk from both our hotels. The museum was interesting, I loved the names of some of the collections – obviously the Vietnamese side of the story is so different to what we have learned in the west.

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I really enjoyed the photograph collection, there was a very good exhibition by photojournalists from both sides who were killed during both the French and American wars, including Robert Capa who is one of my favourite photojournalists. This photo shows how dangerous it was (excuse the reflection !) This Japanese photographer survived the experience, though I neglected to note his name.

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As we were walking the exhibition we were invaded by a hundred or so Vietnamese school children, I must have said hello to each one at least twice, they were very friendly and their smiles were quite catching – especially in such a place as this.

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I enjoyed the museum, it was getting a bit crowded when we left, so it got harder to see and read the information – it was pretty biased, but not terribly so, and the section on Agent Orange and its effect on families even 40 years later was quite moving.

On the way back to the hotel I stopped for a filter coffee, Vietnamese style, then found out it was $3 – five times the price of a coffee in Da Nang, so was pretty pissed off. I wont go back there again thats for sure.

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In all the cities I have visited in Vietnam I have seen sculptures in parks, I really liked this piece, though there is no information about it.

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At lunch time we wandered over to the Rex Hotel to meet everybody else, Dan had been in to the hospital that morning and had some sort of chest infection, he was not moving from his bed, not a great way to end his wedding week. Those of us feeling up to it went and had a swim in the hotel pool, luxury ! and then I bade every one farewell and went back to my guest house so they could finish packing and head to the airport.

The view from the Rex, the modern business centre.

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And the contrast, Socialist Republic of Vietnam flag against the Sheraton hotel.

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I have arranged to share a room with Dan’s sister Leonie for a couple of days, when she returns to HMC from Hanoi on the 16th, so booked myself on a three day Mekong Delta tour starting tomorrow morning.

I haven’t had a good walk around the streets of HMC yet, but this show how narrow they are in the backpacker area.

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I had dinner in a local bar, got ripped off on expensive beer and watched half a game of rugby league – Dragons v Knights. I miss rugby league !

Goodbye to a bunch of very nice people, Dans mum – Jessie, bro – Russell, cousin Karen and friends, Hayley and Mark, Malcolm, Nolan, Debs and Keelan (apologies for spelling names wrong : )) It was great meeting you all and I really enjoyed hanging out with everyone. Many many thanks to Dan and Van for having me at the wedding, you are a great couple and it has been lovely to meet your families.
I also want to say a special thanks to Van for organising everything for us, the trips, the buses and hotels. All was great and so very much appreciated ! Van – you are a star !

Cu Chi tunnels

Day 99, Thursday 12, April, Ho Chi Minh City

Up early again as we had to be at the airport for 8.30 for our flight to Ho Chi Minh City (HMC), Dan and a few others were still really unwell so it was a quiet trip out to the airport where Van’s family met us to say good bye to their daughter.

The flight to HMC was a wee bit bumpy and the landing was pretty bad, I am going to try Jetstar for any further flights I think, depending on cost of course ! I spent the whole flight head down in the Lonely Planet and have pretty much come up with a plan of what I want to do, so now all I need to do is join in all the dots and maybe book a couple of flights. I have decided to fly on some of the longer or more complex legs, one to save time, but more because I think after five months on the road I will be over long bus rides and hassles associated with land border crossings.

Van had organised a bus to pick us up from the airport, take us to our various hotels and then on to the bamboo bike factory and the Cu Chi tunnels. Such awesome organisation ! most of the group were staying at the highly expensive (and luxurious) Rex hotel, but I found the Luan Vu, a decently priced guest house about a ten minute walk away in the backpacker zone. Van said the area was very dangerous and was horrified we were staying there, but it appears to be safe as houses, loads of westerners around, I have stayed in much much worse… We all checked and dropped bags and then back on the bus for the fifty or so km ride out to the bamboo bike factory.

Dan and Malcolm want to build bicycles made from bamboo and have been working with a small meditation centre that has been making bamboo furniture. They are well on the way to design and have been testing out the manufacturing, the visit was for Malcolm to have a look and to discuss some design. However, Dan was still really crook and didn’t make it out with us.

The factory area is very rudimentary.

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Malcolm testing out one of the hmmocks. I havent seen a lot of hammocks in SE Asia until we got to South Vietnam where they are everywhere.

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The meditation centre made us a delicious vegetarian meal, lots of locally grown vegetables and a coconut to drink. that is tea by the way – not beer…

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It was all a bit much for this lad.

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We had a look around the gardens and the factory and then left to go to Cu Chi tunnels a couple of minutes up the road.

Cu Chi is district just outside of Saigon, (HMC) during the Vietnam (or American war, depending on where you come from) that was heavily it was a stronghold of the Viet Cong and was bombed by the US Airforce. The villages moved themselves underground and built a massive tunnel system – up to 200kms long, linking with other Viet Cong tunnels all over southern Vietnam. The tunnels were used to move troops and supplies around under the noses of the US military as well as being entire villages with hospitals, kitchens and living areas all built metres under the ground.

We arrived quite late so the tour was a wee bit rushed especially as there was an opportunity to fire weapons used in the war, and we really did not want to miss out on that ! Our guide through the site was really good, fantastic English and very funny, the best guide I have had in SE Asia by a long long way. He showed us a couple of the tunnels and they were tiny, I could not imagine living underground for years or moving around in things so small and so dark. The local woman were the guides for the tunnels, he called them ‘maps’ and each woman only knew a small section of the tunnels so that the whole system would not be compromised if one was captured or turned traitor. He led us into a clearing and asked us if we wanted to go down the tunnels, and then asked us to find the entrance, one of the guys was standing on the trap door, it was very well disguised. The entrance was tiny, and I am not sure i could have actually got myself into the tunnel at all once I was in the ground. Luckily these tunnels were not the ones us westerners got to experience, and we walked through a 30 metre section that had been enlarged to all us to move about. It was still pretty narrow, and quite dark at times…

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We then had a look at some of the horrific man traps the Viet Cong used (and I am sure the southern Vietnamese and Americans had similar). This was my favourite – or worst, not sure which, a rolling trap that gets you all the way down.

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A number of the traps were designed to only trap legs, but in some cases they would then put explosives underneath so that when someone tried to free you from the trap it exploded, this was not done often, but often enough to spread fear amongst the Americans, as they would never know.

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We then went an spent a vast amount of money (I spent $40 USD on 2 rounds) and fired Ak47s, it was short, loud and a lot of fun. The barrel ends were strapped down, to reduce the recoil and to prevent anyone accidently shooting someone else…

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Uncle Ho

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Then it was day over and back on the bus and back to the hotel. I was sharing a room with Malcolm and after showers etc we met Mark and Hayley and went to a local vegetarian restaurant for food and a beer or two, followed by another earlyish night.

Da Nang – failed planning day.

Day 98, Wednesday 11 April 2012, Da Nang.

I think this was the first day where nothing was planned to start at 7.30 am for days, though I was still up early and down for breakfast for 7.30. Quite a few people were sick with various ailments and I needed some time to start planning the next few weeks, so it was a slow day in the hotel for all.

As I have now committed to being in England for Mal’s run in mid-June I need to get around Vietnam, Laos and northern Thailand before heading to Sri Lanka. I will spend a few days there and then head to England around the first week of June to prepare.

I am so hopeless at planning, I spent the morning on the internet, reading my guide book and not making any useful decisions at all. I did download some music and write a few emails – avoidance, one of my specialities… I did email Chris and Trish who I met in Borneo, as they said to come visit them when I am in Vietnam, they live in Vung Tau a beach town an hour and a half from Saigon by ferry and they have now invited me to come and stay on the 19th which is very cool of them.

By this time it was mid-afternoon so I decided to go and procrastinate further over pizza and beer at Temple bar for a couple of hours, I made some progress in planning, but still have nothing concrete. The hard part is trying to fit all the things I want to see into a logical, and cost effective order to best make use of the 6 or 7 weeks I have left in SE Asia, it seems like a lot of time but there a lot of places to go.

That evening we were all invited around to Van’s parents house for a meal as this was to be Van’s last night in Vietnam for three months as her and Dan go to Australia. It was a lovely meal and a nice time with the two families. After a couple of hours we left Dan and Van to say there farewells and went back to the hotel.

Finally, a reason to plan – The Coast Path Walkway run

Malcolm Law is one of my New Zealand running trail running buddies and has done a couple of big charity runs in NZ in recent times – in fact he is wee legend as well as a top bloke.

Mal and his equally mad English friend Tom Bland have committed to run England’s South West Coast Walkway  – 1014 Kilometres – in just 14 days to raise money for mental health awareness in both New Zealand and Great Britain.

Before  I left NZ I kind of vaguely hinted to Mal that if I was in the UK in June, when the run takes place then I would come along and run a day or two – if I had the fitness, and support Tom and him, in a small way on their quest.

A few days ago I received an email from Vicki a mutual friend of Mal and mine saying that Mal’s wife had just gotten her exam timetable and had an exam in NZ during the first week Mal was running – and if I was in the area would I be able to be Mal’s support crew/driver/photographer/FB updater etc etc for the first week of the run.  Would I ever  !

I am not sure I am up to this, lots of responsibility in supporting ultra-ultra marathoners, but Mal is such a cool guy and doing such a good thing I could never say no, in fact I was quit honoured to be asked –  plus I know it will be a whole load of fun too.

Please check out their website and support it, read what the guys are up to and why – 1000km is a hell of a long way and will be HUGE challenge for them, or anyone else, so this undertaking is not to be taken lightly.

http://www.coastpathrun.co.uk/

So – finally I have a plan – well at least an objective… I will be in England for mid-June,  not yet entirely sure of the details and what will happen in-between, but I know where I will be in two months and sorry England – I am not praying for a 30 degree summer….

Now I just need to come up with
A)     A plan for the next few days/weeks in SE Asia
B)      Some fitness so I can pretend to be athletic when I get to the UK and run at least a couple of clicks – not that this means giving up beer, I may have to stop eating….

I am sure there will be a lot more on this as the next couple of months disappear.

Last day in Da Nang

Day 98, Wednesday 11 April, Da Nang

Today was a rest day, really tired after a few bad nights sleep, some busy days and far too many nights spent over a glass or three – not that I have had any huge nights, just many small ones in a row. I was also still a bit sore from playing football – amazing how the fitness goes so quickly. A number of the others have been suffering from minor head colds and travellers belly so there was not a lot happening in the group either.

I also need to plan what I am going to do when everyone goes home and I am back on my own, as well as plan my medium term travel as I have made a decision to get to the UK for early June and support my running buddy Mal Law on his 1000km 14 day charity run along England’s south coast.

So, after breakfast with the crew in the hotel restaurant I wandered back up to my room and spent a few hours trying to conjure up a travel plan from thin air, reply to a bunch of overdue emails, edit photos and do blog posts. None of which were done successfully  I had so much trouble focusing – too many days away from work I think, and to be honest, focusing was never a strong point (Jana – if you read this  – please ignore, I have been drinking, I will make a wonderful employee should you place me in a role !).

After a few hours of dedicated procrastination I went down to the lobby to say goodbye to Dan’s sister Leonie, who was heading off to Hanoi and I finally moved myself and my laptop to Temple Bar and had a cheese feast pizza (I so miss cheese) and a few beers for lunch, and continued my online procrastination until my laptop battery ran out.

Tonight was the last day in Da Nang for all of us, including Dan and Van, with Van leaving her family to go to Australia with Dan for a few months. Van’s family had invited us all around for dinner and some went in a taxi and I got to ride for the last time with Dan on the back of the bike as it was also being returned to Van’s house.

I will miss the bike riding – I do not have the confidence to ride in the insanity of a Vietnamese city myself but being on the back is a blast. It is such a great way to travel, though highly dangerous – one of Dan’s friends, Debs, spent some time in the orthopaedic ward of one of the Da Nang hospitals as part of a work program – a huge number of their patients are the result of motorbike accidents – we saw a (probably fatal) accident on the wedding day between a small truck and a bike.

On the way to Van’s we stopped at a pharmacy so Dan could grab some throat lozenges and i wanted to see if they could supply some sleeping pills, I have been using Zopiclone off and on  for years for insomnia – (more off than on – I have used 25 since November…) or some Tamazapan, but they didn’t have any of those, but they did sell me 10 valium for $4 NZ, so I at least have something to help sleep.

Dinner with Van’s family was wonderful, the food was just outstanding and Van’s family were very welcoming and lovely and obviously distraught that they are losing a daughter overseas – though I am sure not for ever as Vietnam is a wonderful place and Dan and Van  will be back here to live sooner rather than later.

It was a good night!

I will be back to Da Nang soon enough, a few kick around with Vans Bro Luc and some snooker and beer with her bro-in-law Win. Cannot wait.

Hue

Days 96 and 97, Monday and Tuesday, 09/10 April 2012, Hue

Dan and Van had organised a bus for two days to take us all up for an overnight trip to Hue. We left pretty much on time at 8.00 and took the coast road through the “hill of clouds”.

We stopped close to the top, at a big rock that has great views over the bay and is obviously a magnet for tourists and the associated hawkers. There are two hawker woman almost fighting over the right to sell bangles on the bus, it was verging on comical, they were still at it as we were driving off.P1110760

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The drive to Hue took about three hours and was a mix of stunningly beautiful countryside and nerve wracked clenching of seat arms as we passed trucks and watched oncoming vehicles also overtaking and heading straight for us. I am sure that on more than one occasion the top .001 mm of paint on the buses mirror was left on the mirror of an oncoming vehicle ! We did pass some lovely villages and as we passed Long Co we asked if we could stop “somewhere nice for coffee”, meaning a beach or local cafe. The driver took that literally and we stopped at a resort ! not the same. I am going to go back to Long Co when I return to Da Nang in a couple of weeks as I make my way up Vietnam once all the wedding guests have gone back to NZ and Australia.1110764

We got to the Ideal Hotel in Hue about lunch time and after checking in most of us met for lunch at an Italian restaurant over the road, though I had chicken cashew and rice this is one of my favourite SE Asian dishes for lunch. It was good too, though the smiley face did not improve a very average cappuccino.P1110771

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After lunch we all did our own thing and I wandered off on my own – nice to have some space, I am too used to looking at things on my own ! I have posted separately about the Citadel. Though I found this great spirit house in a tree (even after seeing hundreds I still love them!) .

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And this guy who had a bit of fun trying to get this into the traffic.

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Though I have to really experience the thrill of motorbikes as Hue and Da Nang are supposed to be nothing compared to Hanoi and HMC, it was still pretty crazy and very noisy. With Hue being a massive tourist town – there were a lot of hawkers everywhere, especially cyclos and motorbike touts, however, nothing is far and I like to walk – so I did.

After the Citadel we all reconvened in Russell’s room on the top floor of the hotel for a wee gin and tonic or three before heading out to a street stall for dinner. The stall was typical of street food all over Asia, dishes washed nearby in cold water (often not that clean) and wiped on the same old cloth, the tables are a wee big grubby, are very low and the chairs lower, the floor is filthy with cigarette butts and egg shells – but the food was delicious and fresh and cheap. Some of the others who had not been here as long as me were a bit hesitant, but I have seen it all before and never been sick from the food. Though my chicken noodle dish still had some pork in it…

We stopped for an “Italian” wine after at little Italy and I went exhausted to bed.

I am going to need a holiday from holidaying soon as I am tired and my back and legs are sore from playing football – i am feeling worn out !

We all reconvened around 7.00 am for breakfast in the hotel, which was huge and very nice and then shot over the road for a real Vietnamese coffee which I am getting quite used to. It is a short shot of coffee in a small glass with condensed milk. Very strong and sweet.

After breakfast I had a wee like down as I am still tired and then left the hotel at 8.30 for a walk around for a couple of hours, it was stinking hot !

I ran into Dan and Van and we looked at some women doing traditional needlecraft work before I wandered off again and walked over one of the bridges across the Perfume River, hmm didn’t smell like anything I would wear !P1110854

There were a few of these women carrying heavy loads from the market, across the river to their various eating establishments. They have a rolling gait from the weight of the loads.

I took a walk through the main market and found the fruit and vege and then meat and fish section by the river. A lot of the fish were still kicking in the bowls, they were that fresh ! In Vietnam (I guess all SE Asia) not much of a beast gets wasted, this woman was selling the bits of a pig you would not see in NZ, intestines, liver and a pile of wobbly, gooey fat….

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I took a stroll up one of the tributaries of the Perfume River and only a few metres up the side street I was away from the hustle and bustle of shopping, tourists and hawkers. It was a pleasant stroll up a leafy river side street and a got a few picture of people washing clothes and dishes and collecting shell fish in the river. I didn’t take a photos of the woman weeing in the river just on the side of where the shell fish gatherers were : )

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It was at this point that my camera battery died and i found my spare was flat ! the spare spare was back in the hotel and mostly flat and the charger was still in Da Nang. I headed back to the hotel, picked up an Adidas running shirt for $6 so I can now send my dying but favourite favourite running shirt back to NZ – the 2XU shirt I got as a spot prize in some event and have almost worn out, I have never found that model shirt ever, damnit. I found this old Colt 45 in a shop near the hotel.

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We left Kevin and Philip in Hue as they were off to Hanoi and on to more travels. I am hoping to catch up with them later in the year as they live in London.

After lunch we all piled back into the bus and went out to Tu Duc Tomb, a burial site for the emperor Tu Duc, constructed between 1847 and 1870. The site is not particularly old when compared to Bagan in Myanmar and Angkor in Cambodia, but I was looking forward to seeing more of the Viet style architecture, which is quite heavily influenced by the Chinese style – in my uninformed opinion of course ! I had enough battery life between my three dead batteries

A step outside the comfort zone !

Ok, not really, but a different form of travel for me.

I have booked myself on a tour !!! Now I have done it I am having uncomfortable thoughts about the other people on the tour, fingers crossed they are not all morons 🙂

I am going to do a three day and two night Mekong Delta tour, it just seems to be way less complex than trying to get around on my own, though I am sure once out there I would be fine. I have read that the organised tours can actually be cheaper than solo travel in this next of the woods and at 60NZD for the whole thing (boats, buses, food and bed) it would be hard to beat.  I am sure I will also get lots of opportunity to financially assist many vendors on the way.

I can see myself mocking tour bus tourists in other places, so will expect to see some looks of disdain from other backpackers as we pass through various towns on the way.

I have also started fleshing out a plan that will see me arrive in the UK in early June, via Sri Lanka.  So I have about 6-7 weeks to do Vietnam, Laos and Nth Thailand. Will have that all detailed soon and will update the Plan Page.

I hope to catch up with blog posts today !

Ba Na (na na na ) Hills

Day 95, Sunday 08 April 2012, Da Nang

Up early again for a group trip with some of Vans family to Ba Na Hills, just out of Da Nang. We took the hire car with a few of us inside and four motorcycles, I got to ride in the car ! Dan and Malcolm with Dan’s bro Russell in the background.

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Ba Na Hills is a weird place ! I am not entirely sure of its history, but the original site was started by the French in 1919 as a 200 bed hotel. This all fell apart before the war in the 60’s and now it is owned by the Vietnamese government who are investing huge amounts of money into making it a major tourist attraction. However, it is not the type of tourist attraction I would go to!

The cool bit is the cable car ride up to the 1290 metre(i think) point, it is supposedly the longest cable car in the world and it is pretty cool riding up into and then out of the clouds, the view of the forest and rivers was lovely.

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From there you get a second cable car up another couple of hundred meters to this bizarre mass of construction, building a family fun park, Vietnamese style of course.

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There was a walk up to a pagoda, but it was all too new and modern for my tastes, though I did like the goddess of mercy statue.

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We had a walk around the fun park and then caught the 4d movie, which turned out to really only be 3d as bits of it were not working. After catching the cable car back to the top of the first car we stopped for ‘temporary lunch’ and then walked up to the big Buddha and to find the wine cave – the main mission. 1110744

Dan and Van had been here a year ago and had found a wine bar in an old cave that the French had used as a wine cellar, it was quite cool up here (lovely !), however it was all being renovated and was closed – which was a major disappointment…

There was a nice pagoda here with a very cool bonsai garden complete with miniature pagodas, bridges and people.

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I think I may be eating too much chicken !

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We did find this very cool air filled course, that was set up for a corporate team building event, so we asked the guys if we could have a few turns and raced each other over the course, much to a few peoples hilarity…

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Van’s cheeky wee niece.

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The cloud closed in making for a spooky ride back down the hill.

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A quick stop at the hotel and I was back in the car with Luc heading off to watch his team play 7 a side football. When we got to the ground it turned out his team only had six players so I was very reluctantly roped in to play – in sandals…. it was not my finest sporting hour I will say but I had fun, though trying to kick a ball in loose sandals is not easy. I have no idea if we won or lost or what the score was, though it did seem rather irrelevant.

Unlike a game in NZ there was no swifty beer after the game, or even any hand shake, most of the guys silently left the pitch and walked to their car or motorbike and left, a wee bit odd !

Luc dropped me back at the hotel and i had a shower and a warm lager and then went down to the lobby to suss the plan for a feed for the night. There seemed to be a few options so I elected to go with Dan to meet his mate Matt for one beer and then off to the market for street food with some of the others followed by an early night as I was knackered.

As is the norm with the group we all left a bit later than planned and by the time Dan I settled in for a beer with Matt the market had closed. We had two beers and went back to the hotel on the bike (Dan was driving) and picked up a few of the others and met up with Van and one of her friends for an awesome chicken noodle dish and fresh fruit drink at one of the road side eateries in town – and I mean roadside !

After eating we went to find some other friends of Dans at the Bamboo Bar, they were not there but we stopped for one more beer and I got to watch some of the Arsenal v Man City game on TV. From there we went to another bar to watch a live band – Filipino cover band, and I watched the rest of the football (1-0 to Arsenal!) and the band. One of the backing singers had the shortest shorty shorts I have ever seen !!! We sunk a few whisky and cokes and then back on the motorbikes for a stupid (though short) ride back to the hotel, which was all locked up when we arrived just before 1.00 AM. So much for my one beer and an early night ! But a heck of a lot of fun – and no we were not that drunk for riding in Vietnam…

Hoi An

Day 94, Saturday 07 April 2012, Da Nang / Hoi An

Got up far too early considering the amount of whisky I drank, was eating breakfast at 8.00 and got asked if I wanted to go to Hoi An, like right now…. so very quick scoff, very quick shower and off in a cab to Hoi An for a few hours.

It was wickedly hot and I was wickedly dehydrated and maybe not in the mood, but I was disappointed by Hoi An. It is just too touristy, all the nice buildings in the old town house tourist shops or restaurants, there is nothing authentic left.

My Other big issue with Hoi An, and I am going to have an issue with this in Vietnam, unless today I was just overly sensitive – but I am over motorbikes, the constant honking of horns, the riding everywhere in all directions, sometimes it is fun, and I know it is the way, but Hoi An is largely a pedestrian town and being honked at every 10 seconds was just a big pain in the ass…

Of course I took a bunch of photos, but of the bits I liked…. so some alley ways, I did like the alleys, out of the sun and a little bit cooler than the streets.P1110661

I liked the bicycles, many of which were found in alleys.

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Some of the buildings were pretty cool

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The Japanese bridge was OK in daylight.

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and I liked some of the detail – especially the incense holders.

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But most of the people were trying to sell you something and the constant call of “you wanna boat, one hour, cheap price” or “you wanna motorbike” or “you wanna trishaw” and “come into my shop, buy something” – just did my head in.

I did like this woman rowing her canoe, but she was ferrying a tourist over the river – so I culled him…

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So Hoi An – ya let me down, you are cute, but you sell yourself like a cheap hooker – disappointed.

After Hoi An I slobbed for a while in the hotel and then went and ate a pizza at the bar up the road on my own as I had no idea what everyone else was up to, which wasn’t much at all apparently. Later on a bunch of us sat in the hotel lobby over a G and T and watched some of the wedding video.