Cambodia had about 1/2 the land area (180,000 sq km) and 1/7 the population (about 15 million people) of Vietnam (330,000 sq km and about 92 million people). Cambodia was also a very poor country with trash everywhere and any place looked much like any other, rural. Vietnam became cleaner the further away from the border we got, the cities were overflowing with technology, and the number of motos on the road was ridiculous. I believe the number of motos was the reason it took so long to travel the 200-300 kms to Ho Chi Minh City as the bus was chronically stuck in a mob of bikes unable to safely pass. Thank goodness there was air conditioning on the bus, otherwise I'm sure I would have sweat myself into a shriveled up bag of flesh.
We arrived in the downtown tourist centre of Ho Chi Minh City (District 1) around 3:30 am. I decided to simply wander around until a nice place caught my eye. After about 30 minutes I found myself in a private room with A/C and satellite TV, plus a private bathroom. At this point, though, I had been sitting for half a day and napping for a good deal of it, so I decided to check out the night life in Saigon. I ended up at a tourist bar with a nice pool table where I chatted up some locals and learned a bit about how things worked in Vietnam. I also learned that ANY Vietnamese woman talking to a foreigner in a bar was 95% likely to be a prostitute. After a few hours of pool I finally felt like sleep.
After a good sleep in I decided I really needed to sort out my plans for the next few days as time was starting to run short for the South East Asian portion of my trip. I wandered the streets and compared tour prices for a variety of sights of interest. In the end I decided on a day trip to the Mekong River Delta and a half day trip to the Cu Chi tunnels a little ways out of Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh City or HCMC) followed by a night bus to the South China Sea beach city of Nha Trang. With my next few days all planned out I spent the rest of the day walking around the many alleys sampling street food and people watching. As dusk set in I was heading for a restaurant I had wanted to try out when I hear someone yell my name. It was Kissa, a Norwegian girl I had met while bar-tending in Sihanoukville... small world! We ended up hanging out and sharing some of our travel stories and our future plans. Turns out she was interested in Nha Trang too... so we decided to make the journey together in a couple days. It's always nice to find a travel buddy.
The next day I was up early to catch the mini-bus out to the Mekong River Delta. The Mekong River Delta has been populated since at least the 4th century BCE by the Funan and Chenla empires. Before the Khmer Empire rose to dominance in the region around the 11 th century, it had settlements there known as Khmer Krom (meaning "lower Khmer" or "lower Cambodia"). During the 13th century Khmer kings allowed more and more Vietnamese to settle in the area until in the late 17th century, while the Khmer Empire was busy warring with Siam (Thailand) the Vietnamese took over the area. Since then the Vietnamese have had to deal with the French, other Vietnamese, the Americans, the Cambodians, and finally the Chinese in various conflicts around this region.
We rode the bus for about 2.5 hours until we reached the riverside town of My Tho. There we boarded our "cruise boat", an overrated junk, and headed down the Tien River past Dragon Island (Con Tan Long) on to Unicorn Island where we checked out a local apiary and sampled some of their products. We then walked up the island a bit to cruise back to the Tien River in "sampans", a kind of Vietnamese canoe, along banana tree lined narrow canals. Next we pulled up to yet another island, (I think one was called Phoenix Island or Con Phung), where we hopped a smaller boat and cruised up the Xep canal to Quoi Son Village to visit a handicraft workshop where they made coconut candies, edible rice paper products, and snake skin products. We then cruised back down the Xep canal to our big boat and cruised over to yet another island (I lost track of the island names at this point) where we had a traditional Vietnamese Mekong Delta lunch. After some digestion time we cruised to ANOTHER island (this one I think was called Tortoise Island or Con Quy) where we got to listen to some traditional Vietnamese music while tasting some of the many exotic fruits grown there.
The whole journey was a little bit surreal as we wandered through a number of villages and communes which populated these islands. Afterwards, we all piled into the bus and most of us napped the ride home having been sapped of energy from the stifling 35+ degree humid heat of the day. Back in HCMC, after a nice loooong cold shower, I hit the streets again in search of something... interesting. Sure enough, something interesting found me. I was walking down this one street when I heard a girl screaming "Free shots! Free shots!". For a moment I was transported back to Sihanoukville where this was a common thing to hear, especially from one of my co-workers Tina, who we called "Free Shots Girl". No sooner had the thought passed through my mind when I felt someone jump on my back... it was Tina! She was passing through HCMC with her mother and little half sister on their way to Nha Trang where her mom ran a bar... small world! So we went for a drink and traded travel stories till they had to leave. That's OK, as I waved them off on their moto, I spotted Kissa across the street and joined her party for the rest of the night.
In the morning I was up early to catch the mini-bus to the Cu Chi tunnels. The tunnels of Cu Chi are an immense network of connecting underground tunnels located in the Cu Chi district of HCMC (Saigon), and are part of a much larger network of tunnels that underlie much of the country. The Cu Chi tunnels were the location of several military campaigns during the Vietnam War (called the American War by Vietnamese), and were the Viet Cong's base of operations for the Tet Offensive in 1968. The tunnels were used by Viet Cong guerrillas as hiding spots during combat, as well as serving as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches and living quarters for numerous guerrilla fighters. The tunnel systems were of great importance to the Viet Cong in their resistance to American forces, and helped achieve ultimate military success.
The area we got to see included several features worthy of note. First off we examined some Fox Holes and Spider Holes. These were camouflaged trap doors that had small holes dug out underneath for soldiers to hide out in. The entrances to these holes were tiny by North American standards. I'm sure many North Americans would have considerable trouble fitting through the openings, let alone staying in these confined spaces for any length of time. Sometimes they were used by soldiers and sometimes they were used as booby traps to kill American soldiers with hidden explosives. Next, we checked out a burnt out American tank which had happened across some strategically placed Vietnamese land mines. Many of these land mines were "home made" created from recycled unexploded US Army bombs that the Viet Cong dismantled for munitions supplies. We then had a peak at some of the many types of booby traps the Viet Cong ingeniously created from whatever they had at hand. I say ingenious, but all of these traps were down right devilish in their maiming efficacy.
The tour headed for a snack area next to where those of us who had the curiosity and money could shoot some military firearms. Having missed my chance in Siem Reap, I decided to fork out $5 US to pop off a few shots on an M-1 Carbine. Now, I've shot a number of firearms in my day, but the noise these weapons produce is literally ear-popping. I wandered onto the firing range without ear protection on and quickly had my palms to the side of my head. I can't imagine what it might have been like to have to fire such a weapon constantly FOR YEARS in a war. One's hearing was sure to go.
Next up were some of the Cu Chi tunnels proper. The day we were there was VERY busy with mobs of tour groups everywhere and cues forming on most exhibits. So our tour guide offered us a choice... wait for the "tourist tunnels" to open up for a looksie, or head for examples of "the real tunnels". We took an informal poll and headed for the real deal. Upon getting a peak at the entrance to the first tunnel, many of the tour group got cold feet... they were very small. That's OK, I volunteered to take point... I love spelunking! Finally, we sat in on a lecture given by a former combatant on some of the details of living in the Cu Chi tunnels during the war. I will spare you all my pedantic proclivities on a treatise about all of this, but I highly recommend those of you interested to further research the topic. Like... how do you cook food with fire and not have smoke rise above ground? How do you handle air circulation in a massive network of tunnels, some reaching 30m under the earth's surface? There are more interesting tid bits, but I'll leave that to you. The tour done we headed back to HCMC and I hunted down Kissa so we could coordinate our evening sleeper bus journey to Nha Trang. Once on the bus we ran into a couple of American sisters we had met in Sihanoukville... let the fun times begin!
We arrived in Nha Trang around 7 in the morning and decided to walk along the beach to the touristy hostel area. We were in paradise! A quick look into our guidebooks lead us to a sweet little hostel complex 5 minutes from the beach. We settled in and promptly made our way to the beach for some much needed sun-tanning and swimming.
Kissa and I decided that aside from lounging on the beach and checking out the night life, we would do a day tour to some of the nearby islands. After researching what was in our price ranges, we chose to do the "Monkey Island Tour". The Monkey Island tour consisted of a short bus ride and a boat ride to visit a couple islands and the Ninh Van peninsula at Suoi Hoa Lan. Once on the boat we motored towards our first destination which was Hon Thi Island where we got to check out a couple of Ostrich and Deer farms. The Ostriches you could only feed over the fence as they could be unpredictable. But the Deer were friendly enough that you could walk right into the paddock and feed them and pet them.
Back on the boat we went and off towards Sui Hoa Lan on the Ninh Van peninsula. Here we were informed that we could have some free exploration time before lunch was served. Our choices: hang out on the beach, watch an animal show, or hike up the nearby valley to check out the waterfalls. Seeing as I had just spent a day on the beach in Nha Trang, I elected to check out how disturbing the animal show was before doing the steep 3 km hike up the valley in 35+ degree humid heat. The hike was well worth the sweat and the dip in a jungle waterfall pool with no one else around was exquisite.
After lunch on the beach and some more boat time, we finally got to our destination of Monkey Island. The island was a bit of an animal exploitation show with a trained monkey performance and trained dogs performance. After the monkey show, my friend Kissa and I elected to skip the dog show and race some go-karts instead before wandering around the grounds where hundreds of little monkeys ran free stealing food from tourists. Some of those monkeys can get fierce as we witnessed at least two monkey fights break out over food scraps. Nevertheless, the island was yet another slice of paradise.
Back in Nha Trang we took in some more night life before calling it a day. In the late morning I said my fare wells, packed my bags, and grabbed a cab to the train station for my journey north to Hanoi. It was a pleasant 22 hour train ride in a sleeper car. I met a nice Japanese and Vietnamese couple who fed me along the way and exchanged travel stories with me. The train afforded me a nice view of the Vietnamese countryside as I went from the 30+ degree heat of the south to the 15 degree chill of the north.
It was in Hanoi where I noticed a marked difference in the attitudes of South Vietnamese and North Vietnamese people. In the south people were always friendly, helpful, and willing to negotiate a "good for you, good for me" price. Rip-offs were rare. About 10 minutes into my stay in Hanoi and I got ripped off by a moto driver who took off with my change for the ride after dropping me at my hostel. I was lucky to avoid further rip-offs and scams, but as you will read, many other travelers I met weren't so lucky. At least the hostel was friendly and cheap ($3/night) and they were able to hook me up with a well priced 3 day-2 night trip to Ha Long Bay as well as a sleeper bus into Laos. With my next 4 days planned and sorted out, I did my usual "get to know the city" wander. After getting lost in numerous street markets and dodging motos and cabs for awhile I happened across the local backpacker party hostel. I decided to pop in for a drink and see what might happen. Sure enough, 20 minutes later I ran into the American sisters from Saigon and Nha Trang. We hung out and danced a bit before I called it an early night in preparation for my Ha Long Bay Journey.
After checking out of the hostel I was picked up out front by a mini-bus packed to overflowing with travelers and gear. It was a couple hours to Ha Long City and the boat docks, so some of us chatted and compared notes. As it turned out some people paid up to $180 US for the exact same tour I had paid $55 US for. The disgruntlement begins. Once at the docks we filled out some forms and piled onto the Chinese "junk" that would be our home and ride for the next couple of days in this UNESCO world heritage site.
The name Ha Long is derived from the Sino-Vietnamese, meaning "descending dragon". According to local legend, when the Vietnamese people had just started to develop into a country, they had to fight against invaders. To assist the Vietnamese in defending their country, the gods sent a family of dragons as protectors. This family of dragons began spitting out jewels and jade. These jewels turned into the islands and islets dotting the bay, linking together to form a great wall against the invaders. Under magical influence, numerous rock mountains abruptly appeared on the sea, ahead of invaders' ships; the forward ships struck the rocks and each other. After winning the battle, the dragons were interested in some peaceful sightseeing of the Earthly realm, and then decided to live in this bay. Archaeologists have determined that pre-historic peoples have lived in the area since as far back as 18,000 BC with the Soi Nhu culture. This and the many succeeding cultures have generated a plethora of tales to explain away the various names of the 2,000-3,000 limestone karst islands and islets that dot the bay.
Our first stop in the foggy and chilly bay was the Thien Cung grotto. Legend has it, that a beautiful young lady named Mây (cloud), caught the eye of the Dragon Prince and he fell in love with her. They were betrothed, and their wedding lasted seven days and seven nights in the very centre of the grotto. In honour of the wedding, small dragons flew about through the stalactites and stalagmites, elephants danced together happily, snakes twined themselves around trees and two stone lions danced with their manes flowing in the wind. A large elephant, smartly dressed, waited for the bride and the groom. The genies of the south and north stars also came to attend the banquet, and the atmosphere was definitely animated and lively. All these scenes have been seemingly fossilized in the grotto. In the centre are four large pillars supporting the "roof of heaven.” From the base to the top, many strange images seem to live in the stone: birds, fish, flowers and even scenes of human life. On the north wall of the grotto a group of fairies seem to dance and sing in honour of the wedding. Under the immeasurably high roof, stalactites make a natural stone curtain. Somewhere there is the sound of a drum beating, but it is actually just the noise made by the wind blowing through stone.
Our next stop on our trip through the misty islands was a floating fishing village where our ornery guide tried to sell us an over-priced canoe ride into a cave made famous by a James Bond movie. Most of us declined and waited for the next stop which was our free kayak rental (many of the group who paid more than I did, did not have this portion of the tour included in their price... tensions rose between guides and travelers). I hopped in a kayak with a fellow I met on the junk and we promptly paddled back to the over-priced cave to have a looksie for free. It was quite amazing paddling amongst the islands here, given the opportunity I think I would return and do a week long paddle.
Another hour of cruising the islands brought us to Cat Ba Island. Here half of our group went ashore to spend a night in a hotel, while the other half were shown their rooms on board. I remained on board. Those who left were replaced by another group of travelers who had spent the previous night on the island. This is when I met Dave, David, Oscar, and Emerson. Dave and Emerson were Canadians from Vancouver, so we got along right quick. David and Oscar were from Sweden and a fun couple of guys. It was Dave's birthday that day, so we celebrated as best we could amongst the grumpy guides and boat staff. Before turning in for the night Oscar and I decided to go for a swim in the bioluminecent waters. No sooner had we jumped in than the boat staff started freaking out at us with threats of imprisonment if we didn't immediately get out of the water... sheesh, lighten up guys!
In the morning the group was once again split after we packed our stuff and got ushered onto another mini-bus to take us across Cat Ba island. Along the way we stopped at Cat Ba National Park where those of us who didn't mind the drizzling rain trekked up a muddy track to one of the many mountains to a viewpoint. The viewpoint was completely immersed in a fog bank, so we got a good look at the inside of a cloud before returning to the bus and heading to our hotel. Once there, I turned in early as I wasn't feeling the best... plus it was wet and chilly.
The next day was an uneventful boat and bus ride back to Hanoi where I checked back into the hostel I had stayed in previously. Once settled in I roamed the streets in search of a book store to trade up some reading materials for the long bus ride ahead. With that sorted I commenced my evening prowl... and wouldn't you know... I ran into Dave, David, Emerson, and Oscar! So we shared a meal and headed to a backpacker hostel with a free pool table and TV room. We hung out there until it was time to call it a night and went our merry ways with plans for a breakfast meet up in the morning.
My last day in Hanoi (and consequently Vietnam) was the first warm day I experienced there with temperatures creeping above 20 degrees. After meeting Dave and subsequently missing the group breaky, I hit up an internet cafe to catch up on some blogging and call mom and dad. With all my loose ends tied up I grabbed my gear and got picked up by a mini-bus heading for the main bus terminal. On the mini-bus who should I meet!? Dave, David, and Oscar! They were all headed into Laos as well... sweet! Travel buddies! Once on the sleeper bus we all settled in for the long ride into Laos (13 hours for me and around 24 hours for them as I was getting off elsewhere to check out some stuff). Goodbye Vietnam! As amazing as you were, I would still rather spend more time in Cambodia. Look out Laos... here I come!
loved the pics:). now i have seen it all. how much more can you bring in picsilation(dont know if i spelled it right)form.
ReplyDeleteall for now,tspikes.