The morning broke sunny in Ha Long Bay, and it was nice to get some rays and see the turquoise water that is pictured in every postcard of Ha Long Bay. Unfortunately the water is very dirty-- we could see sewage and trash floating around, so we didn't go for a swim. We took a row boat through a small cave into a lagoon, where we saw people feeding monkeys on the face of the cliffs. Our boat cruised back to Ha Long City and we got on the bus to head back to Hanoi. En route back to the city, we saw several motorbikes with whole pigs on the back (even one with two pigs!)
That evening we took a sleeper train to the city of Hue (prounounced You - Ehh.) According to Yo, our tour leader, a private company leases one first class car on the train and upgrades each of the cabins. Our tickets were for this privately upgraded car. We walked down the train to check out the regular first class rooms. In Anna's words "they looked like jail cells." The beds on the sleeper train were rock hard, but that was no surprise to us -- every bed we have slept on (even in very nice hotels) has been firm. I started to notice a pattern of seeing Vietnamese "beds" that were simply wooden with a bamboo mat, so I asked Yo about it, and she confirmed that the Vietnamese do sleep on hard beds or on the floor.
We arrived in Hue around 8 am and were enveloped in a wave of heat and humidity. After checking in at the hotel, we took a Dragon Boat down the Perfume River. We saw other tourists on Dragon Boats and lots of Vietnamese in long, narrow boats transporting dirt or other goods down the river. We were let off the boat at Thien Moo Pagoda, the largest and most important one in Hue. The Pagoda had a tower, several sculptures, temples, and beautiful landscaping with plenty of flowers and Bonsai trees. After visiting the Pagoda, we ventured into the Citadel, which was incredibly ornate. It was interesting hearing from our guide about the different reasons for the layout, architecture, and building materials used. Our final stop for the day was at the Tomb of Ming, where Ming's body is supposedly buried somewhere in a field, but the exact location is unknown. Despite the stifling heat, I encountered a group of Vietnamese tourists wearing long pants, sweatshirts, and jackets. The Vietnamese have a tradition of painting the bottoms of the trees white. They say for the New Year, they give the trees "new clothes." We just missed the New Year holiday but there are still signs everywhere declaring "Chuc Mung Nam Moi" (Happy New Year.)
That evening we relaxed in our gorgeous hotel, complete with bamboo furniture and a bathroom made almost entirely of granite. The last two hotels we've stayed in have been very luxurious and both had pools. Every Vietnamese hotel requires that the key be put in a slot by the door in order for the electricity to work, so you can't charge your camera battery or leave the air conditioning on unless you are actually in the room. They have a multitude of amenities in the room, including a hair dryer, but not a single hotel room has had a clock in it.
The next day we drove via bus over Hi Voun Pass and saw beautiful views of the mountains and the ocean below. We were supposed to stop at the nicest white sand beach in Vietnam for a swim, but the government had the road closed for some reason, so we continued on to China Beach. We stopped for a brief swim and then continued driving South through Da Nang, crossed the Cannam Bridge, and arrived at our hotel in Hoi An. Along the way we passed several fields that at first glance appear to be graveyards, but really the "graves" are concrete building facades.
Hoi An has been my favorite destination so far. Despite the stifling heat and humidity, the city has a calming charm compared to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. There is a section of Hoi An that is closed off to cars, and because it is mostly shops and restaurants geared toward tourists, draws little motorbike traffic. Hoi An is known for its custom tailoring, so the first thing we did when we got there was head out to the tailor's shop. They have tons of books of pictures of every clothing item you could want. You choose a style you like, and tell them what you want changed or how you want it to look different. You pick a fabric, they measure you, and then you return the next day for a fitting. Ally chose a formal evening gown in deep emerald green, and I decided to have a lightweight cotton coat (similar to a trench coat, but different styling) made for myself. The custom made coat fits like a glove and only cost $60. After the tailor shop, we headed to a shoe shop to have custom leather boots made. Ally and I each got a pair of camel colored leather slouch boots with buckles for $110, and they fit perfectly. We also visited a spa for massages ($15 for 70 minutes including hot stone therapy), Ally got a facial ($12), and I got my hair colored ($15).
For our first full day in Hoi An, Ally and I chose to do a bicycle day trip with a guide. We were the only two people in our group that wanted to do it, so we ended up getting a private tour (1/2 day tour, bikes, and lunch for $15 each.) This tour is, thus far, the most rewarding and culturally enriching experience I've had here. The guide took us around to a few different places in Hoi An, including the shop where "White Roses" are made by a single family with six daughters that supplies the entire city. A "White Rose" is a type of dumpling with seafood filling. The dumpling is folded out and the filling comes through in the middle, so it resembles a flower shape. We got to ride through the countryside and see areas that tourists don't normally visit, including government-built houses for poor families, rice paddies, prawn breeding ponds, fishing villages, and a pagoda. I noticed as we were riding through the countryside that everyone (literally, everyone) had their doors and windows wide open. Our guide, Ngen, said that people in those areas have strong ties to the community and there is little, if any, crime. At times the path we were biking on was only 1 ft. wide, with bicycle and motorbike traffic in both directions.
We stopped in a tiny village where the ceramic artists in Hoi An live. I was suprised when a woman sat down at the potters wheel to give us a demonstration, and her daughter stood next to the wheel and spun it with her foot! They make so much pottery there and they don't have electric potters wheels. In another workshop across the path, a woman was kneading clay on a bench while at the same time kicking the wheel with her foot for another woman making tea pots on the wheel. Ally and I each took a turn at making a pot and our efforts turned out quite dreadful - I guess I forgot everything I learned in my high school ceramics class :) Next stop was lunch at Ngen's home, where he, his wife, and his wife's family live. We did not get to meet his wife, but his mother in law cooked a delicious meal for us, including noodles, bok choy, a yummy soup with tofu and a variety of vegetables, and two different kinds of fake meat. So much food! But the best part was being able to sit down with Ngen and ask him all sorts of questions about his life, family, education, and the Vietnamese culture. He studied at a language school and now runs a travel agency. He explained that his house floods every year, and last year they had a record flood -- we could see the stains on the wall of the house where the flood waters had reached. They have a huge armoire in the main room (ground level) which he explained they hang by rope from the upper floors during the flood, because it's too heavy to move. His wife's family makes fishing nets to earn their income.
The food served at Ngen's house was probably the best I've had here, and Ally and I haven't had too much difficulty sticking to our no meat/no fish diet. The most popular Vietnamese dish is noodle soup. And of course the Vietnamese love their seafood! Pringles are quite popular here, but they have different flavors such as Seaweed and Fried Shrimp. There is an abundance of fresh fruit everywhere, and a typical restaurant menu includes at least 10 different freshly-squeezed juices... I've become quite fond of fresh squeezed lime juice! I really enjoy their Dragonfruit, which is round and bright pink on the outside, and white with tiny black seeds on the inside (similar texture to kiwi fruit, but a milder flavor.) Many restaurants carry a "Western" menu that contains typical foods like French Fries, Lamb Chops and Steaks, and an abundance of pasta dishes.
Today we went to see the Cu Chi tunnels. These tunnels were dug in multiple levels underground by the Vietnamese people during the Vietnam War. They were inhabited by 10,000 men and women over 30 years. The Cu Chi tunnels hold great historical significance for the Vietnamese as they were the source of surivival and guerilla warfare victories (people lived in these tunnels for years, avoiding bombs dropped by American forces.) The tunnels are tiny -- Americans could definitely NOT fit inside! Only the two smallest girls in our group were able to squeeze inside. The Viets also set up a multitude of booby traps design to drive stakes into the body of the unlucky person who stepped into one, but at the same time, the Vietnamese soldiers had to remember where all the booby traps were so they wouldn't get caught themselves. They have narrow channels going up to the surface for venting air and cooking steam, and they used pepper at the surface of the tunnels and vents to put off dogs the Americans used to detect them. It was very interesting to see how the Vietnamese used the Americans' own weapons against them or for their benefit, such as taking bomb shells and reforming them into pipes for the tunnels dwellers. They even used the American steel to make the stakes for their booby traps. There was a small section of tunnel that has been expanded so tourists can crawl through it. It was very narrow (my shoulders kept bumping the sides) and we had to walk completely bent over.
This evening we took a cyclo tour of the city (you ride in a seat, someone else bikes.) We visited the massive French-built post office and had many more near-death experiences in traffic. The traffic in Ho Chi Minh City is even crazier than in Hanoi -- there are ten million people in the city and six million motorbikes! Tomorrow we fly from Ho Chi Minh City to Siem Reap!
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