After 26 hours on a bus (it's not as bad as it sounds) we pulled up in Hanoi, Vietnam. A city where there are gazillion motorbikes going in a thousand different directions, but yet nobody crashed into each other. To make it even more impressive is you can cross the street without looking and be 85% confident that they will ride around you.
Another interesting thing about Hanoi is the shopping set up. Each street is dedicated to a particular thing, so there is an reg grundy street where you go if you've blown out your old jocks, a paint street, kids' toys to mention a few.
From Hanoi we arranged a one night, two day stay in Halong bay with our then new friends Ruth and Kieran who we meet on the bus to Hanoi.
Halong bay is beautiful. Aqua waters and mini mountains jotting out of the ocean. We had the option of swimming in a designated area, but it was more like been deep fried in oil from all the surrounding boats. One can only imagine what is must be like in peak season.
In the early evening we canoed through a little tunnel that opened up into a small lake which once might of been a volcano. It was pretty cool!
That night we slept on the boat before slowing meandering our way back to the wharf to get the mini bus back to Hanoi.
Next stop the hills and rice terraces of Sapa in the very north of the country.
We were to go "trekking" into a village and staying the night with a local family. It may have only just scraped in for trekking because it had been raining the previous night and the track was slippery.
I ungracefully slipped and proceeded to slid down the hill, past Ned and all in slow motion and all on my stomach!!! (Thanks for stopping me Ned!).
The rice terraces of Sapa are something else. Stunningly beautiful, but one has to wonder what made them think that digging terraces into the side of a mountain was a good idea! But it seems to work and word on the street is that's where the best rice is grown.
That night our group (maybe 8 of us) all stayed with a local family. A young buck who had tagged along to improve on his English and who aspired to become a guide decided that home brewed rice wine was a good idea.
Let me tell you, it tasted nothing short of revolting, a cross between metho and nail polish remover. The girls bailed early, but Ned and Jamie decided to accept the challenge. They went one for one until it was time for bed.
As soon as everyone was tucked up in bed, a mystery person was heard hurling up their rice wine. In the morning fingers were pointed and allegations directed at each other until it was concluded the young buck who throw down the challenge throw up his guts!!
He didn't make the trek out with us!!
We bid farewell to Hanoi and boarded the night bus headed for Hue. A smaller town that didn't seem to offer much, but it did have an Aussie pub that was showing the football granny.
This is where we spent the day. Ned and I decided we would lash out and have a $7 (this is an expensive meal in Vietnam) and have a parma for lunch.
The "parma" was not much bigger than a chicken nugget and came served with spag bol. For a pub run by an Australian guy....shame on him!
We did, however, have a win each on the sweep he was running so that was something.
One day was more that enough in Hue, so the next day we headed for Hoi An and what a delight this city is.
Known mostly for its custom made clothes shop, it had a sweet little river side dotted with cafe and gift shops and a market that sold the freshest of vegetable and the most delicious looking seafood.
After much looking around Ned and I finally decided on a tailors to get some clothes made. You simply google or troll the most recent magazines, choose what you like, choose the fabric and they whip it up ready for finally alterations all in 24 hours.
When I didn't find the material pattern I was after, they put me on the back of a motorbike and drove me to a fabric shop where the option were far greater!
Three days later we collected our final products. Three dresses for me, two winter coats, two shirts and a pair of jeans for Ned all for $150. Now the biggest challenge is to not put onto too many kilos between now and when we get home. This could be difficult with a week in Phuket with two of Ned's mates on the horizon...
We also caught up with friend of dad's (Greg) who now lives in Hoi An.
He and his Vietnamese friend Tuong spent the next three days showing us the sites.
We took a boat trip up the river, played pool at a beachside bar, ate frogs, scollops, BBQ pork ribs and drank far too many ba ba bas (333 beer)!
We rode the coastal roads and visited Marble mountain where shrines and statues are carved into the caves and rocks of one particular mountain.
From Hoi An we headed for the hills to a town called Dalat.
Our biggest dilemma while there was how to keep warm. Having spent the last couple of months living in summer attire we struggled to find something to keep us warm in the cooler climates of the mountains.
Our only reason for visiting Dalat was because someone had recommended the canyoning there.
We first learnt how to abseil and then we got to it, abseiling down cliffs, through waterfalls, jumping off cliffs into the water (I jumped off the 7m, Ned conquered his fear of heights and jumped off the 11m one) using the rapids as water slides and drifting with the current to the next point.
Awesome fun and I think that had we stayed longer we would of gone out a second time!!
We also found a restaurant that served delicious food, but even more delicious local red vino. The best bit was it cost $1 a glass!! No surprises that was the only place we ate at while in Dalat, plus the semi crazy lady that owned the restuarant provided plenty of entertainment for free (including a song for our farewell)!
After leaving the chill that was Dalat we were Saigon bound to what would be our final stop in Vietnam.
We took a tour to the Chu Chi tunnels where the Viet Cong hid from the Americans during the Vietnam war.
The shit that they invented and the tactics they used to trick the Americans were ingenious. Underground was equipped with a hospital, a weapons manufacturing area, kitchens as well as all the areas where they would sleep. A complete community living almost entirely underground.
After learning about the tunnels and strategies used by the Vietnamese, we made our way to the war museum and boy was this a no hold bars area.
The picture were more graphic than one could even imagine. Photos of soldiers carrying half a body that had been blown up by a bomb, photos of entire families killed by the Americans and the devastating effects of agent orange and napalm.
Photo after photo depicted how even now, some three generations later children are still born with the most unusual of deformities due to either their parents or grandparents been exposed to agent orange.
An interesting fact to read was that scientists and the medical profession believe that the chemical actually caused DNA mutations that continue to be inherited by the next generation.
When a class action by Vietnamese soldiers and their families took the company that produced agent orange to court, the case was thrown out. Not idea for a country that has no social system, no disability pension and not enough facilities to look after all those affected.
After that, all flights lead to Phuket. Hold on 'cause hings could get crazy!!
