Hue

The Dreaded Night bus took 16hrs but wasn't too bad. Our pick up was very late as usual which meant that we were pretty much the last people on the bus which meant we got the back seat but the top bunk. The bus had a toilet on board which meant the back seat was three seats along side each other which we were to have to ourselves but that didn't last long. 

The bus crew included a drunk (he was meant to be of the very attentive stewards!) who tried to get into the spare seat in our bunk. He'd been bothering some other passengers on the bus and was sleeping on the floor until he realised there was a spare seat along side us. He tried several times to get up along side us but there was no way we were having it, we didn't want him to get sick all over us! He eventually fell asleep on the floor again but woke up and started bothering a passenger (Ben) who in the end actually left his seat to sleep on the floor in the other aisle until he realised there was a spare seat along side us. 

With Ben along side us and the danger of our steward joining us gone we could eventually get comfortable and managed to get a few hours sleep. Shane slept for a while and had chatted with Ben, maybe too much as in the early morning  Ben whilst asleep put his arm round him! Ben realised what he was doing however when his arm met Shanes beard and woke with a fright waking me in the process. Quite amusing!

During the 16hrs the bus only stopped once at about 10 the night before which meant by the time we got to Hue we were more than happy to disembark but it was hot! We arrived about 11 to the usual onslaught of tuk tuk drivers. For probably the first time we walked away from them all and headed to the KFC by the station to gather ourselves before heading to our hotel. 

Having checked the GPS we decided to walk to the hotel which wasn't far or at least it wasn't far according to Google Maps! I don't think they've any idea how to measure distance on this side of the world! We eventually got there, checked in and headed straight for the pool.

The reason we'd come to Hue was to see the DMZ (demilitarized zone) and the Phong Nha caves which were going to have to be seen by an organized tour which I'm not a fan of but sometimes you've no choice. I much prefer to work to my own timetable and I was reminded why on the first tour. 

We chose to do the caves first, these were a bit of a drive away, 4 hours to be exact so we were picked up very early at 6.30 with a takeaway breakfast courtesy of the hotel and off we went but we didn't get far. We were brought to the otherside of town and left at a restaurant to have breakfast, we could of had another hour in bed! We eventually set off in the minivan around 7.30 having picked up the last passenger, a rather irritating French woman who had to have her own set of instructions from the very rude tour guide at every turn. It wasn't that she didn't understand English, her English was perfect it was more a case of I'm special and should be addressed separately. Everything had to be repeated, I'm surprised the tour guide answered her he was so rude but he did but shouted even louder.

The drive while long wasn't bad, we'd a decent driver for a change but myself and Shane ended up sitting in the front seat somehow which wasn't all that comfortable so we were glad when we got there. First stop was lunch which was quite early but given our early start we were ok with this, little did we know it would be a long time before we ate again.

Once our guide had finished his lunch we were roared at to get back in the minivan, it didn't matter that some hadn't finished, he was finished and that was that. We all followed instructions for fear of being left behind he was so impatient with the exception of the French woman. She'd to use the ladies which she should have done while waiting for lunch she was told but he agreed to wait anyway. 

A short spin and half of us were hunted off the bus and told to wait. We were left at the boat station. The were two caves to see but with the distance to get here you can only see one and we'd chosen Phong Nha cave and the other half of the bus were off to see the other, Paradise cave. Paradise cave is a dry cave where as the Son river runs through Phong Nha and is seen by boat which we thought would be a bit different hence our choice. 

After about a 20 minute wait which we spent fending off touts selling their wares we boarded a long narrow boat. Shane and myself were the last to board which meant we got the front seats, great we thought until the French woman came and sat in mine, separating myself and Shane, very rude. I ended up half ways down the boat on my own very annoyed! 

The boat trip took about 30 minutes down the Son river with beautiful views of the mountains and plenty of buffalo in the river before we arrived at the mouth of the cave. They cut the engine here and two people, one front, one back paddle the boat through the cave.

It's a surreal experience to float through the enormous caverns some of which are up to 40 meters high but you do feel like your on a tourist conveyor belt. You can only travel about 1500meters into the cave before caverns become too narrow for the boats which turn around quickly to bring you back towards the entrance where you can explore the formations by foot before emerging at the return boat station. While the size of the cave is quite impressive we were a bit disappointed when compared to surprising cave in Halong bay and really it probably wasn't worth the 4 hour trip with another 4 to get back. 

We waited patiently in the heat for the rest of the boat to head back. We were all assembled ready to go except for our guide and surprise surprise the French woman. I took the opportunity while waiting to reclaim my seat along side Shane only for the irritating woman to come sit directly in front of me when the boat got going completely blocking my view! I'd like to have thrown her overboard but I'm not as rude as she is! 

Having the French lady in front of us however allowed us to overhear a conversation she had with our guide which wasn't good. She was staying the night in the area to go and see Paradise cave the next day and wanted him to bring her to a good guest house and he agreed, so where did that leave us?!?! Waiting in the heat for over any hour is where!

When he finally came back for us he was not impressed to find that we weren't all ready and waiting exactly where he left us. Id gone to the toilet and emerged to him roaring across the car park at me to come on we were late, never mind that we were late because of him and his side line and just to annoy him I sauntered back.

Finally at about 4.30 we were on the road back or at least we thought we were. It turned out we were taking another detour which was in the complete opposite direction to drop someone off. After the drop off we were finally on our way and starving, remember we had lunch about 11.30 12 so we were expecting a dinner stop on the way back which never happened. We did stop once at a street food type vendor but no one but the guide fancied the egg and veg baguettes on offer so we soldier on and finally arrived back in Hue at 9.30 two and a half hours late! 

Needless to say having had such a day we were a bit nervous about the DMZ tour we'd booked for the following day so before we got any good we went to check that it wasn't with the same tour company. Thankfully it wasn't, we finally got our dinner before hitting the hay ready for another early start the next day.

We were picked up fairly promptly for a change and brought a stone's through away for our complimentary breakfast before the two hour drive to Dong Ha where we had a short stop before picking up our tour guide. Another hour and a half later and we finally reach our first stop the Rockpile which was exactly that. A pile of rocks used as a look out post during the war. After a brief stop for photos we were back on the bus and heading towards the Ho Chi Minh trail.  

We stopped for another 10 minutes at the Dakrong bridge and walked across to the marker of the Ho Chi Minh trail. Nothing remarkable but the bridge itself rebuild in 2001 is a piece of engineering. 

Next stop the the Khe Sanh US base, an uphill struggle for our ancient coach through some minority villages. The driver had to turn the aircon off to give more power to the engine so needless to say we were grateful when we finally arrived. 

Khe Sanh saw one of the bloodiest battles of the war killing over 10,000 Vietnamese and 500 American troops and was destroyed by the US when they abandoned the site. Today its a very remote peaceful place with a small museum some reconstructed bunkers, recovered weaponry and crashed planes and helicopters. After the war remnants museum in Ho Chi Minh we weren't all that impressed but it did explain a bit more about the tribal peoples contribution to the effort.

Back on the bus and we return to Dong Ha for lunch before heading to the Vinh Moc Tunnels, the reason I wanted to do this tour. 

I personally found the tunnels fascinating, to think that nearly 90 families lived in these tunnels for over 6 years rather than leave their village is amazing. There are 3 levels with the deepest being 27 meters deep with 12 different entranceses. The tunnels are just large enough to walk through although some are a little small where even I had to duck to get through and every so often there would be a chamber to the side of the tunnel which is where a family of four would sleep, an incredibly small space for four people.

The network of tunnels included a kitchen, several wells, and even a maternity ward where 17 babies were born dring the war. You might think these chambers would be larger than the sleeping areas but they weren't. After the war the village abandoned the tunnels and continue to live in the area above ground with many still alive today.

After the tunnels we made our way back to Hue via Dong Ha with one quick stop at the Troung Son cemetery, a very sobering place. Thousands of headstones most with the inscription 'martyr' to represent the remains recovered along the Ho Chi Minh trail. The Vietnamese didn't wear dog tags so most of the fallen went unidentified with many never found at all

After a long day we arrived back in Hue on time which meant a quick shower and off to watch the football. 

We'd a nice lie in the next morning before yet another bus ride to Hoi An where we planned to take it easy for a few days.

Halong Bay

Ha Long Bay
Having seen the odd picture and heard very little about this place I was eager to see it but it became a must do after seeing more of it on the Top Gear special. We booked a two day, one night trip meaning leave early morning to get to the pier, board the boat for lunch whilst cruising out to the bay for a visit to 'Surprising cave', kayaking then dinner, drinks and squid fishing as we anchor in the 'sleeping bay'. In the morning then a visit to the Pearl Farm, a cooking class before lunch and then cruise back to the pier for the bus back to Hanoi.

Picked up at the hotel, we get on the bus and as we head out of Hanoi, our tour guide 'Tony' introduced himself giving us a brief history of his credentials and reiterating the itinery. We then all had to introduce ourselves and where we're from if you could understand everyone, not too bad this time, some English, Thai, Scottish and Aussie's. after this the dreaded question came; "does anyone have any special dietary requirements?" After a brief silence and a prompt from Geri, I piped up with the sad fact that I do not eat seafood! This statement was met with a general response of shock and amusement, thankfully my bravery seemed to prompt a Scottish girl to advise that she did not "eat anything with a face" which took the heat off me.

With a little anxiety as to what kind of boat we were about to board for the next 24hrs after hearing many nightmare stories we arrived at the pier and thankfully our Imperial Cruise Junk boat looked pretty good and we were very happy with our cabin equipped with ensuite, air con and a decent double bed. It was quite misty as we cruised out which did impair the view somewhat but you could get a real sense of the dramatic scenery we were approaching. Lunch was good food, primarily seafood and plenty of it with the staff looking after me with an 'alternative' dish of an omelette which kept me happy.

When we reached the bay with 'Surprising cave' we became aware from the sheer volume of similar boats out here just how many people take this trip and evidently how much money was being made by the entrepreneurial people running these tours. The climb to the cave entrance from the tiny dock was considerable but as we climbed we were rewarded with some stunning views of the islands dotted around the bay with the mist starting to lift. This cave is the largest cave open to the public in Ha Long and it is massive with very impressive formations throughout resembling various shapes of animals, people and objects some very obvious and others becoming clearer after being suggested by the ever energetic 'Tony the tiger'. The caves have been adapted with paths and not very strategically placed lighting but it really was a curious place given its height up from sea level and enormous dimensions within the tiny island that housed it. I'll let some photos give you a much better idea of this.

Returning to the boat we cruised to a nearby floating village which is where we picked up our kayaks.  Having been told the direction we could and couldn't go we headed off taking a little time to settle into a rhythm as we had already tried the tandem bicycle this was our first foray into tandem kayaking. Given our lack of experience we opted to leave the camera and passports in the relative safety of the boat. We covered a reasonable distance taking any opportunity to paddle into any little cave openings on the water, a little scary at times but good fun. We even out ran any unspoken attempt by our fellow kayakers feeling the need to race us. On our cruise to the "the sleeping bay" we encountered numerous entrepreneurial ladies rowing between boats with a veritable floating supermarket with beer, wine, and "western snacks" without advertising them, you know the tubes with flavoured chopped and cooked spuds in them. Those ladies must work bloody hard though and were obviously so natural with manoeuvring these well laden boats around with ease.

Time for a hot shower and a beer before dinner, again plenty of good food and a plate of chicken nuggets for 'the child' which kept me quite happy really!

Following dinner we were invited to try squid fishing, now maybe it's just me but if you have seen half the same movies there's a mental image creeping into my mind of me falling backwards into the dark water desperately trying to pull a squid off my face! Most people obviously with either similar mental images or just knew the real story gave it a miss and went onto the top deck for a few beers and to chill out in the glow of all the other cruise boats anchored in 'the sleeping bay'.
It transpired however that my supposed premonition of squid fishing and the reality differ considerably. On hearing calm celebration we looked down to see that by shining a light on the water, using a short hand line that they did indeed catch a squid. The poor victim on the line must have been cursing how easily he was duped by the whole "ooh, look at the shiny light" thing but was not any bigger than my open hand in its entirety and this was the norm! Back to a few more beers and exchanging travellers tales with fellow passengers, some Spanish, German, Australian, Canadian, and a Thai family.

Our boat was quiet in comparison to some of the other boats presumably floating parties but it was nice just to enjoy the location. Unfortunately or conveniently depending on your mood at the time, our boat ran dry of the cheaper beers possibly due to the fact that everyone was drinking it or because the imported beers were more 'cost effective". Everybody suddenly seemed to remember the floating supermarket lady and sure enough it was not long till we heard a low call from the darkness. This lady was not not using a light of any kind and seemed to have ninja like stealth as none of us heard her approach.

Having suggested whiskey might be a good way to go, (yeah.....yeah.....shut up!) I enquired and was unfortunately declined, but she did have wine. I asked how much she put it in a net on a twenty foot pole and handed it all the way up to me! Funnily enough it was a red wine, everybody wanted white! I hold the red out for net whilst asking about white and how much, well as I was talking to her she was already in action responding as the net appeared at my hand with a bottle of white wine! Not thinking this through I am now holding a bottle of red and a bottle of white and the net is gone, this caused terrific amusement among everyone because the lady had no clue why we were slightly baffled and then to realise in my situation that in any case, nobody here has a damned corkscrew!

In hysterics everyone around me incapable of speech for the same reasons left me to deal with this situation of landing two glass bottles into a boat fifteen feet below me! The poor lady still with no more of a clue as to what we were saying as we did when she said something reacted quickly believing we needed to know how much. This was in the form of the net appearing at my hand with 200,000 Vietnamese dong in it! I don't know exactly how or why I took the money out and didn't just put the bottles in but as soon as I took the money the net was back in the boat. Deciding between fits of laughter on a new approach, I requested beer. At last we're moving forward, before I took the beer out of the net I put the wine and money back in there so that it just back to a straightforward transaction; I have beer, she wants money. Thankfully that long story finished amicably, us with beer and her with the money although the laughter continued till bed time. Thankfully a comfortable nights sleep too.

Breakfast was at 7:30am and led us to the Pearl Farm of Ha Long, where they grow and harvest oysters for the obvious reward of the pearls. It was interesting to learn about the process and also interesting to see again first hand just how the human race can intervene in an age long natural cycle to, not mass produce as such, more like play the hand your given in terms of making a living and surviving in a specific type of environment.

We were all awaiting our included "Vietnamese cooking class" on the top deck when the staff started to come up with trays including a covered bowl, rice paper and a wet towel! 'Tony the Tiger' then appeared announcing the class on his way. As he stood in front of the table he explained how "today you will learn to make spring rolls as he uncovered the bowl which contained all the ingredients for vegetable spring rolls all pre prepared and mixed finely in the bowl. He took a sheet of rice paper, laid it on the damp towel, took a spoon of the mix and placed in neatly on the paper. Yes we were learning the "ancient lost cooking technique of rolling pre prepared vegetables in rice paper. Well it's a good job at least everyone rolled two because, funny coincidence we're having spring rolls for lunch. As we dined in our culinary expertise we cruised from the bay back to the harbour for our bus back to Hanoi.

Ha long Bay is genuinely a spectacular place on earth to visit but to anyone who has on their lists of "must do" I would urge you do it soon. Between the worsening rubbish pollution caused mainly by ignorant tourists and the expansions daily to take yet more of them there it will not remain so naturally spectacular for long! Ha Long meaning "Descending Dragon" really