Erin and Justin

To see photos, please go to new site (sadly, iWeb is sick and isn't uploading any more for me!) http://s136.photobucket.com/albums/q164/erinfearn/SE%20Asia/Hoi%20An/?start=all

Creating a modest wardrobe for the UK would have been a plan endorsed by many in our position, however 45kg of clothes and footwear demonstrated runaway bloated compulsion. Were it not for the taiphoon threatening our very lives (and forclosing all shops), we would surely have died........of over-consumption.

We arrived in Hoi An early afternoon on the 25th of October, having taken a sleeper train from Hanoi. We shared a carriage with an Australian couple, Ken and Lou, who had been in Vietnam for 4 days and were ready to return home. They loved to travel but seemed to find Vietnamese culture a little challenging. Ken had a contraversial sense of humor which Lou thought was great. I cringed with his punning around the Vietnamese currency, the "Dong". It was nice to be reacquainted with some unmistakeable Australians.

Upon embarking the train we taxied to a hotel where we found An, Pieter and Maria. This confirmed our residence. The hotel was a bargain, it had big, comfortable (actually luxurious for us) rooms, a pool, bicycle hire, and buffet breafast (which meant that you could, and we did, order an unlimited number of banana and chocolate pancakes), all included in the $12 fee. The hotel was in partnership with a tailor, and soon after arrival they whisked us off there on motorcycles, to consolidate business.

Tailors and, to a lesser extent, cobblers line the streets of Hoi An. Shopfronts are unmissable, though sweatshops invisible. You can order many outfits in the morning and they will be ready by the evening. The above mentioned 45kg consisted of 14 pairs of shoes, 16 shirts/tops, 8 jackets/coats, 4 suits, 13 pants/shorts, and 6 skirts. We were happy with pretty much everything, except for 1 pair of shoes. I thought they'd be awesome....they were dreadful. I had intended to photograph the shoes, but I forgot, the oversight attributable to the shame I carry as their designer - when I look at them I am reminded of all my failures.

Peeling back the tailors and cobblers, Hoi An has a thriving artistic community, which many days could be devoted to exploring. It is so very inexpensive, we would love to buy some of the traditional and modern work. Next time. This time we bought some smaller scale works as gifts.

On two occassions we cycled to the beach. The first time we chose to swim, although the water was quite rough and brown. The second time we were with An, Pieter and Maria and it was rougher and browner. We walked along the beach for a half hour and saw huge uprooted trees, chicken corpses and a McDonald's sandal, probably residue from the hurricane a couple of weeks prior. I don't recall seeing any McDonald's restaurant in Vietnam, but maybe this is how it begins....as rubbish washed up on shore! (I don't why I just had a go at Maccas, I just needed to).

On that walk, Erin sunburned the lower half of her legs, so as they appeared as if she had painted them red. She was probably hoping for a tan, but gave herself 1st degree burns. Given how thorough the burn, it's hard to imagine it was an accident.

Erin's Birthday, 27/10:
Erin turned 28. At breakfast, An, Pieter and Maria had made a card for her. We then departed to attend a cooking class. We started at the markets where we investigated the produce. Like other food markets we've seen, a store consists of a crouching woman surrounded by stuff, most of which is unknown to us. The markets backed onto water where a boat was waiting to take us to the restaurant, where we would be told and then instantly forget how to cook famous Vietnamese dishes.

The restaurant was a beautiful open space that blended into garden. Our instructor was a funny man, the more obviously prescribed his jokes, the more we laughed. The first dish we were taught was fresh spring roles - you know the ones with vermicelli, corriander, mint, prawn (or tofu), etc, wrapped in rice paper. (We were actually taught how to make the rice paper). We also learn't an eggplant hotpot dish and a Vietnamese savory pancake, which saw a bit of higher than necessary aerial flipping resulting in malformation. We ended with instruction for food decoration - a cucumber palm frond, a tomato skin rose, and a tomato flesh lotus flower. I really believed that after ruining all the dishes, I would find redemption here. However, I could only harness the skill to prepare what looked like a compost heap. Erin appeared to demonstrate greater apptitude, but she was probably given assistance as it was her birthday.

We had heaps of fun preparing food, and we were so glad that we didn't have to eat our efforts. We moved into the dining area where we were served well made versions of our taught dishes as well as others. Following the meal a surprise birthday cake was brought out and the whole retaurant sang happy birthday to Erin, probably to get a piece of cake. During the singing, Erin smiled a lot and her face matched her sunburnt legs. The cake had the whitest fluffiest cream with blue writing wishing Erin a happy birthday. She really liked it.

On the boat ride home it rained, making it all the more beautiful. Back at the hotel we had a massage each, followed by a facial for Erin and a shave for me. We both agreed that the masseuses should not have long nails and should have rudimentary training. Erin described her facial as equally sadistic, when I saw her gimacing I intervened asking them to be merciful. Once again there was room for humour.

We then continued celebrating with afternoon to evening drinks of cheap sparkling wine with Maria, Pieter and An, and later with hotel staff. Dinner proved only an accompaniment - french fries. And that was just about Erin's Birthday. She says it was great day, I think so too.

A final interesting annecdote from Hoi An was Erin's choice to get hair removed from her legs and eyebrows with the use of cotton thread wielded by a overly zealous beautician - please see the film.

We left Hoi An feeling overloaded with a fraction of it. I think our families would love it here and we would love to travel through Hoi An again with them.

On to Laos.

We intended to stay in Sapa for 2, maybe 3 days, but we stayed for 4.

In Sapa we found a cool climate, mountainsides covered in rice paddy terraces, colourful hill tribes, and some beautiful people from local villages. We met lots of wonderful people, but will likely only maintain contact with La, Ah and Mi.

We caught the overnight train there, and as we were eating breakfast on the morning we arrived, Vee came up to us and said he was on his way to meet up with Ann and Peter! So we took the day to chill out and explore – we walked to Cat Cat village and a nearby waterfall – and then we had dinner with the others. The next day was their last day in Sapa, and we all went for a guided tour with our guide, 16-year-old Black H’mong girl, La, to Lao Chai village where her family live, and to the 2 villages beyond, where Black H’mong and Dai people live. La has wonderful English language skills and an email address. So we’re going to stay in touch.

Luckily we had had our 5 flights of stairs in Saigon, followed by 4 in Hanoi, 5 on Cat Ba Island, and another 5 back in Hanoi, as in Sapa, we had – about a thousand stairs to walk up to get to our room. That might be a bit of an exaggeration. How many stairs in 10-12 flights? It was huge anyway, and usually we needed to stop for a moment and take breath or two on our way up. And we went up and down 2 or 3 times each day! AND, in between we went for big mountain walks that often meant hiking up steep paths – thank goodness we don’t smoke anymore!

It was so nice to wake up to misty mountains and rice terraces. It felt like we could just stop.

However, one “Hello? You buy from me?” can turn into many “Hello? You buy from me?” and then become “Hello? You buy from me? Why you buy from her, you no buy from me? You buy from me? Hello?”

And then you find yourself unable to buy the thing you want without buying things that you don’t want. And then you find yourself unable to buy the things that you want and ONLY able to buy things you don’t want! ☺ …and then you find your wallet empty and your bag heavy and more “you buy from me” songs each time you step outside!

Mi was the first person we bought from. Ah was the last.

So, new boundaries set(!?) and new things to post home ☺

See photos at http://web.mac.com/erinfearn/iWeb/SE%20Asia/Sapa.html

and hear Ah's song at http://web.mac.com/erinfearn/iWeb/SE%20Asia/Ah%27s%20Song.html

Upon returning to our hotel in Hanoi, we checked in for another night, and then met up with Jason and Emma, about to fly back to Australia, and Keith and Caroline, who we will definitely keep in touch with! They’re opening a restaurant in Melbourne (Keith already has one, and now he’s opening one with Caroline!).

After watching the ease of ordering dinner with native Vietnamese speakers (Caroline and Keith), we wished that we’d had them along to buy Sapa train tickets!

We were really glad to meet those two, and see them again before they went to Hong Kong.

We were also really glad that we had a chance to see Jay and Em again before they went home! And we finished our trip together with a Water Puppets show!

See photos at http://web.mac.com/erinfearn/iWeb/SE%20Asia/Hanoi.html

This trip to Halong Bay really made us feel like we were on holiday!

See photos at http://web.mac.com/erinfearn/iWeb/SE%20Asia/Halong%20Bay.html

Even though part of the sell from the hotel man was that we would spend one night on the island (with Keith and Caroline) and one night on the boat (when they went back to Hanoi), and even though it was not so, and we parted ways on the first afternoon, we had an excellent time.

And we arranged to have dinner with Keith and Caroline upon our return to Hanoi.

The boat ride was amazing. And we swam in the ocean for the first time since we left Sydney. We hiked, we kayaked, we visited caves, and we made friends with other people on the tour!

It was just heavenly, on the roof of the boat, cruising through the limestone cliffs around us, passing small fishing boats, junkets, and floating villages.

The hike was at a steady pace, all straight up (actually climbing at some points), and was in the middle of the day in the sweltering heat. The trip up was exhausting, and we needed (well, Erin needed) a little rest (without any shade) before climbing the tower at the top of the mountain. Climbing down was far easier ☺ and the cool well-water poured over our heads (free of charge!) by a kind little man at the bottom was well appreciated.

Kayaking was excellent fun, and we decided that we want to buy one (when we return to living in a warm climate!). We kayaked with the group to a sandy beach and swam there for a bit before kayaking back to the boat, and heading back to the hotel.

During the trip we made particular friends with Peter and Ann (from Belgium) and Vee (British), who were also going to Sapa upon their return from Halong Bay, and who had also decided against the organised tour.

We flew from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, arriving at around midnight. We tried phoning a couple of guest houses recommended in the Lonely Planet, but of the 5 we called, two didn’t answer and three had no vacancies. We decided to go with a spruiker who was trying to find guesthouse customers at the airport. Given our poor luck, with the enticement of free breakfast, free internet and free (hour-long) ride from the airport, and encouragement/reassurance from another Australian couple, Keith and Caroline – Keith had stayed there before and booked specifically – we took our luggage and climbed in the car.

When we arrived at a hotel that was not the hotel that Keith had stayed at and booked a room in, we had conversations with the driver and hotel owners in the street for about half an hour. The hotel owner apparently owned 5 hotels in the district, and these two (we were outside two, side by side) had vacancies, where the one Keith thought he was booking had no vacancies. We agreed to stay the night, as it was too late to find somewhere else. Before we took our bags upstairs (4 storeys of stairs!) Keith and Caroline worked out that if they were going to go to Halong Bay, and spend time in Hanoi before they flew to Hong Kong, they had better go the next day (or by this stage, in about 6 hours), so we decided to go to. We negotiated to pay $50 for a 3-day/2-night tour – much more than we would have paid at any other time of the day – then went inside.

As we walked into the building with the hotel owner, he asked what our plans were. We told him that we planned to go to Sapa, then get the train down to Hoi An, before heading west into Laos. Within moments he had booklets out, and was writing prices on a piece of paper, and seemed insistent upon having us commit to a guided 3-day tour to Sapa for $250, a flight to Hoi An for $130, and a $50 bus ride from there into Laos. In addition to the $100 for the Halong Bay tour (as the $50 was each – not together), that brought us to $530. We told him it was too late, and we would have to think about it. He tried to entice us with a free night of accommodation if we bought all that (very kind, being that it was already 2:30am, and at 7:00am we would leave to go to Halong Bay). We told him we could talk in the morning, and went upstairs to repack, as we were able to leave our luggage at the hotel during our Halong Bay tour. Of course, by the time we reached our room – 4 flights of stairs - we decided that we would commit only to the Halong Bay tour.

We figured that since we had spent so much time in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), we had better go do something, so we booked a day tour to see Cao Dai Temple and Cu Chi Tunnels.

See photos at http://web.mac.com/erinfearn/iWeb/SE%20Asia/Saigon%20Day%20Tour.html

On the way we stopped at a workshop where victims of Agent Orange make extraordinary artworks, using crushed eggshell(!) amongst other materials.

Cao Dai (meaning high tower or palace) is a religious sect that was formed as a strategy to unify people, and comprises a mixture of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, with much smaller elements of Christianity and Islam thrown in. The temple is brightly coloured, and bears the symbol of the divine eye. Followers dress in yellow, red, blue or white robes, depending upon their status.

Visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels was a strange experience, painting an heroic picture of the Vietnamese soldiers who were awarded medals for killing the most Americans. The strategies they utilised were indeed ingenious, and in truth they had few options. Around the site of the tunnels, bomb craters can still be seen, and walking through the dense jungle makes it hard to imagine the area barren and bare, following the release of American defoliation chemicals. The tunnels were tiny – “Vietnamese size” – and were complex systems with ventilation shafts running through the 3 depth levels, with internal water wells, links to the river, and traps for American soldiers, should they penetrate the tunnels. American soldiers built a base over the top of one of the tunnels, and suspected each other when they found their own, dead in the base.

We went through part of the tunnel system. We went down some steps, then crawled along for a bit, then down some more steps… getting to the second depth caused some anxiety, and required concentration to avoid panic. Getting out of the tunnel was relieving – it’s unbelievable that people lived down there.

As we were leaving, we were offered the opportunity to empty a round in an M16 or AK47 for a small charge. We thanked them for the opportunity and declined the offer.

Our bus ride from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to Saigon, Vietnam, cost us $3.50 each. We were swamped with people trying to sell us drinks and fruit and sunglasses each time we stopped.

See photos at http://web.mac.com/erinfearn/iWeb/SE%20Asia/Journey%20to%20Saigon.html

As could have been expected, we ran out of petrol before we reached the border, and after we crossed the border we could see that Vietnam was far better off. The bus we climbed into in Vietnam was new, and had a friendly, English-speaking tour guide riding in it with us. The roads were sealed, kids looked cleaner, healthier, and cared-for.

Vietnam, like Cambodia, has seen much war and poverty. However, where Cambodia’s destruction was caused by civil war, Vietnam has been the victim of invasion. By China, France, and the USA. And where Chinese and French occupations have been oppressive, the United States offered cold murder and destruction.

We attributed that history to our reception in the streets of Saigon. We did not hear calls of “Hello!” like we heard from the children of Cambodia. We received stares without smiles. People would nod to us only in response to our own, and although we met many friendly people in our first days in Vietnam, we felt much distrust both from and toward others. We experienced more blatant lies from drivers, and we were taken advantage of all over again! Charged 10 times the going rate for a shoe shine –and then the little bugger didn’t want to hand over the change! When we insisted that we would go and get change if he didn’t have it, a young man, about 20 or 21 years old, came over, spoke harshly to the kid, gave us our change. When we smiled and thanked him, he did not smile, he stared coldly then walked away with the scared-looking kid keeping up, alongside him. What an introduction!

Then we hired cyclo drivers to take us for a coffee, and then to see the city: a temple – where there were turtles; the Reunification Palace – a palace with a “Gambling Room” upstairs, and a basement full of tunnels and rooms like “the War Room”; and the War Remnants Museum – that museum was pretty full on: it used to be called The Museum of Chinese and American War Crimes, but changed its name in the interests of tourism. On the walls were gruesome photographs of war – families begging for their lives, American soldiers posing with corpses, and victims of Agent Orange. Outside the museum giant bombs and tanks were displayed.

See photos at http://web.mac.com/erinfearn/iWeb/SE%20Asia/Saigon%20City.html

After spending 5 hours with our drivers (during which time we shouted them coffees and cold drinks), and paying them the agreed amount – 200,000VND each (which was about 2&1/2 times the reasonable rate), they asked us for more money, in fact they asked us for another 100,000! We told them we didn’t think that that was very fair. They left, making it clear that they were unhappy with the situation, and we entered another massage room at the Blind Association, feeling stressed and irritated by the constant scamming.

The massages were no good either.

Our sense of security returned however, upon spending our first night in our flash hotel, that had a balcony and a bath, and was as clean, but far nicer than any place we have stayed, and cost us $8 per night. Then our comfort was secured the next night, when we met some friendly English students in the park, who go there to speak to foreigners and practise their English. We stayed and talked to them for 4 hours, and they were really lovely people.

We spent our time in Saigon resting more than anything, in our deluxe room. We slept, we slept in, and our time of many stairs began, with this hotel requiring us to climb 5 storeys to our room.