girl with a rucksack--the asian leg

i thought hanoi had the greatest number of motorbikes per capita--that was nothing compared to ho chi minh city (as much as i'd like to say i only visited cities that begin with h in vietnam--i prefer the romance of calling it saigon--as do much of the locals

fortunately i was prepared-i've been in nam for a while now and after all i had my basic "crossing the street" training on the mean streets of hanoi!

we arrived in saigon in time for lunch after driving to danang airport and a very short flight (only enough time to go up before what seemed like immediately coming down)--we (minus corrie--who had spent the previous night wretching her guts out--every hour, fiona and karl who too were nursing hang overs) went for lunch at pho 2000--THE most famous noodle shop in saigon--the beef stew noodles are a must--as was had by bill clinton when he visited vietnam when he was president

simon had some "work" to do--official intrepid business at the office, so leeanne, michelle, doug and i went to the war remnants museum. it was pretty tragic and offered a completely different perspective than what we learned in school--the us perspective

i was particularly moved by a section dedicated to the war correspondents-this was the first time in which the rules of engagement changed for them-they were no longer only observers, some were also forced to be participants-a choice between documenting and defending themselves. i wrote down some names to research when i get back home

that night we had a night time cylco (bicycle pushing a chair with wheels) -tour of saigon--again, we each had a designated driver--boy do these men work--i later found out that most of the cylclo drivers actually live on their bikes--mr oh--was very fun and attentive--he was deft at maneuvering through the traffic and again i felt another amazing race moment--we went to the palace, notre dame cathedral (again the french influence--a smaller duplicate of nd in paris), the post office and the rex--the famous hotel that housed the foreign war correspondents

we had dinner at a bbq place in the night market--salad rolls, some really tasty beef skewers and the most amazing strawberry fruit shake i've ever had!

Day 2

up very early the next morning for a 730 departure for the cu chi tunnels in the outskirts of saigon--this was a series of tunnel networks totalling over 200km that the viet cong used to get around during the vietnam war--it stretched from saigon to the cambodian border--these tunnels were very small--we had the opportunity to go down into them--i only stuck my head in--tiny tunnel + tall girl = potential for disaster--so much was done underground--they had shelters and barbershops and kitchens etc--a regular village connected underground--crazy--you can definitely see how the us was outsmarted during this war.

we went to sozo for lunch --another restaurant dedicated to employing youth to get them off the street--got a taste of western food and peanut butter cookies--soooooooo good!

but, after 2 nights of not great sleep (between corrie being sick, and my sleep issues) and an early start i hit a wall--completely drained of energy and just, in the humble words of dylan mckay from 90210--"needed a place to crash man" i went back to the hotel to nap--and blew off my planned agenda of walking the city for the day--i felt a little guilty as we were leaving saigon the next day--but i was completely bagged--

managed to get it together for dinner --which was too bad--despite being at a nice restaurant --everything is bun--i had my 3rd bad meal of the trip--i ordered lemongrass chicken--EVERY time anyone has ordered lemongrass chicken--it has always been white meat and lovely--the time i do it--it's not only chicken parts--but undistinguishable chicken parts with bland, bland, bland noodles! even simon the vulture wouldn't eat it--"your meal really is shite isn't it?"

the most maddening thing--the restaurant in hanoi--the one like movenpick/marche--where i had one of my best meals was just next door--if only we had known ahead of time...

the next morning i was reunited with mr oh--who took me & my rucksack to the bus that was going to take us over the border--our first public bus...

i wish someone had been keeping track of all of the steps to all of the temples we've climbed on this trip. buddah must have been seriously into firm butts and thighs cause at marble mountain there were more steps--

after climbing in the sweltering heat we head to some of the marble shops to look at the wares--some of us make a few purchases and then we decide it's time to head back and have a pit stop at china beach on the way back--we ventured into one of the resorts but they tried to charge us to use the beach--despite not having any claims--while i was perfectly willing to pay the $10--the general consensus was to head back for lunch in hoi an--no bother

lunch at brothers based on h-con's recommendation was lovely and i once again had the cau lau--which i may just be getting addicted to

hot, and a bit sunburnt (fiona's back was scarlet!) we headed back for some swim time before deciding to go out one last time on our bikes--we motored around the old town for a bit and then corrie, michelle, leeanne and i got off the beaten path and headed into the back roads. en route we encountered a bull which was about to charge, hundreds of white ducks resting by the river--which corrie decided to scare back into the water--for a good photo opp; as well as a dutch backpacker who wandered into the back roads looking for a cheap hotel (not gonna find it there) he wasn't wearing shoes and his feet were wrapped with tape--leeanne and michelle were trying to convince corrie to give him a ride on the back of the bike to find a hotel, perhaps if he was wearing shoes...

we headed back to meet up with the rest of the group for dinner--on the way past the tailor shops i had went in to get measured for an outfit i had spotted earlier in the day--it would be ready tomorrow

Day 3

another free day, so leeanne, michelle, fiona and i rented bicycles to go into the old town for a cookery course at morning glory restaurant--we got lost along the way and were a tad late-but no mind

we took a tour of the market and had an explanation of the key ingredients in a lot of vietnamese cooking--the herbs, spices, vegetables, seafood--what to look for, smells associated with it.

we then went back to the restaurant where our workstations were ready to go--it was set up like a high tech home ec class--overhead mirror and eveyrthing--we made fresh spring rolls, pancake with pork and shrimp, bbq chicken skewers, mango salad--we ate it along with clay pot fish, rapini (i think) and carrot cake for dessert--it was so good--if i may say so myself --they gave us a cookbook with all of the recipes and i am inspired to make some of it at home

the girls decided it was time to head to the beach--i felt i hadn't seen (aka: shopped) enough of hoi an and decided to hang out in the old town--found a few tailors and when all was said and done --including my order from the day before--i was to pick up 3 shirts, 4 skirts and 2 pairs of pants later that night--mostly linen--a very successful day i must say--i'll figure out how i'm going to manage to pack all of it later...

back to the hotel for a well deserved swim before meeting up with simon & the group for dinner--we went to morning glory's sister restaurant (the woman also owns another restaurant and a hotel) --any guesses as to what i had for dinner??? last chance at cau lau--i picked up my purchases after ordering--very happy with everything!

we headed to before & now a popular bar that plays a lot of brit pop for many, many drinks--tequila is just what you want to have the night before getting on a plane--most of us called it quits about 1am--but not the irish--fiona and karl didn't make it home until close to 4am--dancing on bars and on the back of strangers motorbikes--they put us all to shame--however fiona was feeling rough the next morning...

me, i felt fantastic...and yes, i rubbed it in

arrived in bangers early--so have a bit of time before last supper and early flight to hk to meet up with darryl tomorrow--yeah!

we headed out early for our bus ride through the mountains to hoi an--not very long and the weather was nice so we went the long route up the mountain so we could get a view from a look out point

we had to drive through danang and passed what i christened wedding alley as there were about a dozen weddings going on--simon asked the driver who informed him that today was a lucky day--good news for us!

the drive from danang to hoi an is pretty interesting--it's along the coast--the famous "china beach" where the us soldiers would go for a little "r & r" during the vietnam war-

-vietnam has a really long coastline and the laws have just recently opened up to allow foreigners to own land--there is a tremendous amount of development going on with big resorts in various stages of completion--i imagine in 5 years time it will be like cancun or other resort towns

we arrived at the hotel to a POOL! which was a welcomed site for our weary bones. after dropping off our bags we headed into the old town for lunch--by this point i was craving something other than noodles--especially after the bad dinner the night before so had a fabuous ham & cheese baguette--was feeling slightly guilty, until it came as it sure hit the spot

we wondered back through old town which is another unesco world heritage site--it is very picturesque and you can see the french colonial influences in the architecture--there are also over 200 tailor shops where they will custom make clothes

for the remainder of the afternoon, some decided to rent bicycles to take a ride to the beach--corrie and i opted for the more immediate option of heading to the pool--there was no way i was going to be riding any bike in that heat!

the pool & beer was fabulous

simon promised us dinner at a really nice restaurant (after last night's failure) we went to the cargo club and i had my very first CAU LAU which is a hoi an specialty--it's noodles mixed with croutons, bean sprouts and topped with broth- and you can only get this dish in hoi an as the main ingredient--that they cook the noodles and make the broth with is water that comes from a specific well in hoi an --the BA LE well--it was soooooooooooo good--

we wandered back through old town with many of the tailor shops still opened--we did a bit of window shopping deciding to come back the next day when we had some more time...

Day 2

was another free day without any planned activities so we decided we all wanted to go to marble mountain--about midway between hoi an and danang--the best and most economical way to get there--rent motorbikes--this time however we were driving them ourselves! i must admit i was a little hesitant--not because i thought i wouldn't be able to drive it--but please keep in mind the previous hanoi exposure to motorbikes--this made driving in ireland (and you've all heard my stories) seem like a playmobile track! i was worried about everyone else--passing etc--but simon assured us it was a very straight route with minimal turns and was just like an electric bike-i didn't want to miss out--so after choosing our bikes--i chose the least intimidating most mopedy looking one and after putting on the helmut and a brief test out on the street infront of our hotel we set off--i was a bit nervous at first but once i got the hand of the acceleration (right hand) and brake (left hand) it was all good in the hood and quite an enjoyable ride. i even felt confident enough at one point to shoot some video (don't worry mom--it was completely safe)--

karl and corrie were old pros and led the way with all of us following the way to marble mountain...to be continued...

i have to say that limited access to technology is a pain in keeping up to date with this blog--i am currently in cambodia writing about something that happened in another country, almost 2 weeks ago--fortunately i've kept a written journal as well--this however is my last night in cambodia--we have a long drive back to bangkok tomorrow, our last group dinner and then on to hk (more on all of that later)

i'm not sure whether i'll be able to access this website in china--i hear facebook is out--so this may be the last entry for a while....

when we last left our heroine she was boarding a night train on a rainy night en route to hue. simon said that if the night train chiang mai was 100% the night train to hue would be 50%--i think he was generous with his percentages

we were split among 2 berths--the artheys and the irish in one--the canadians and simon in the other--we hung out in great britain/ireland playing cards until well after midnight after a failed attempt at teaching them how to play euchre--guess it's a north american thing??? retired to our cabins to freeze the night away- all in all it was an ok journey

with only a day to spend in hue we were right into it as soon as we arrived--enough time for breaky and a shower and then we had to meet tam our guide for our tour of hue. outside the hotel we were greeted by a row of motorbikes & drivers--it was so funny--as we walked out of the hotel, each of the drivers "chose" one of us--my driver mr guy was a cute yet distinguished looking little man with a pencil thin moustache-he gave me my helmut and i climbed on the back of the motorbike--we then took off -2 by 2 -a row of 8 motorbikes buzzing down the street--beeping away--en route to the citadel, imperial enclosure and the forbidden purple city--mr tam gave us the tour and is so very animated when he speaks--makes for some great video

we then drove through the countryside through the backroads, past rice paddies and temples. we saw the bunkers that the us used during the "american war" as it is called here as well as a collisium where tigers and elephants used to fight--the elephant was revered by the king and he wanted to guarantee that the elephant would win--so he would declaw and practically starve the tiger--we saw the pens where the tigers were kept--probably 4 x 4 and tam pointed out the claw marks on the wall--crazy

we had lunch at a convent, and then more driving through the countryside went to see incense getting made and then onto a covered bridge where an old woman told our fortunes-

funny/awkward moment--the first time we stop and i got off the bike--mr guy reached for me--i was a little confused as i thought he was going to give me a hug--turns out he was just helping to take off my helmut off--each time i got off the bike he did that--i had a little chuckle each time...

after a full day on the bikes we wandered around the town for a bit before heading to dinner (which was only the second meal i didn't enjoy)

the next morning was on to hoi an...

keys sticking--apologize in advance for typos

the ride from halong bay to hanoi was only about 4 hours and we arrived about noon

hanoi is very busy and there is a constant hum of motorbikes and horns--seriously, you have never seen so many motorbikes!

we went for lunch at a little hole in the wall place called Kinh Do Cafe where Catherine Deneuve would go for her morning coffee during the filming of indochine--it was very modest

after lunch the group split up as michelle was suffering from a terrible tooth ache and had to go to the dentist--i kept having visions alias--with the asian dentist/torturer/extractor--i think i was helpful in calming her fears

Doug & I went down to walk around the lake and do a bit of "wandering"--as best you can--you see all of the stores/restaurants--whatever they are spill out onto the sidewalk --and if they don't--it's because it is reserved for motorbike parking--leaving you no choice but to walk on the road

when crossing the street in hanoi you really are taking your life into your own hands--treva jokes about how i have a tendency to just walk out on to the street without looking, expecting traffic to stop--little did i realize that i was actually training for street crossing in vietnam--there are no traffic lights, no rules of the road, motor bikes, cyclos, and even some cars are everywhere and come from all directions paying no attention to what side they should be driving on

the onus seems to be on the drivers to avoid hitting one another-and the pedestrians-that's something to get used to when hundreds of bikes are coming at you--simon taught us the key is to step out onto the street--you can try and wait for a lull--but chances are you're going to be waiting a long time--and stick to a set path--look straight ahead to your intended point--do not deviate and most important--keep the same pace--do not speed up or slow down--it takes a lot not to want to run as the bikes come whizzing by you beeping away from all directions--i took some pictures and some video of this, but it's really something you need to experience first hand to get the full effect...

it's a pretty dirty city as evidenced by our black feet--but it's much more pleasing to the eye than bangkok. you can definitely see the french influences in the architecture.

we had coffee at highland coffee--a cafe overlooking a central "roundabout" which was fun watching everyone navigate their way crossing the street. we then split up and i wandered through the old quarter for the rest of the afternoon taking in the sights and the sounds of this interesting city

we met up that night for a water puppetry show--and by most descriptions (save for simon's) , i have to say i was looking forward to it--yeah, that lasted about 5 minutes--i guess i had an much grander. more romantic and etheral image of what it was going to be--instead it was reminiscient of a punch and judy show at the local carnival--not to mention a man with a big head directly infront of me and another woman who insisted on holding her digital camera up the entire time--filming the whole thing (really can't understand why) fortunately i had my journal with me and started catching up on my entries

after the show we met up with simon who just kind of smirked as i said i was bored out of my tree --some of the others shared my opinion--but there were one or 2 who enjoyed it

we had a nice dinner and then went for a Bia hoi (draft street beer) sitting on tiny plastic chairs in the street

Day 2

We met up with mr dat for a tour of the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum (yeah, another dead guy on display)--paying respect to uncle ho is something they take very seriously--you must be covered, no bags, photos, no talking as you are filed two by two --i had my hands in my pockets as i walked by and the guard had me put my hands by my side--all this for a guy who wanted to be buried! The mausoleum is closed from september - december so ho can go to moscow for maintenance (some say mme toussaud has the contract!)

michelle had to return to the dentist today--so the canadians ventured to the temple of literature--it was dedicated to confucius in 1070 and later became a university--it is a very well preserved example of 11th c vietnamese architecture and is one of the world's oldest universities still around.

next i headed to st joseph's cathedral --not as extravagent as the cathedrals in europe but was a welcomed change after temples and pagoda's--had ice cream at a cafe in the park by the lake--couldn't decide if it was more like paris or central park

more wandering through the old quarter and then went for a fab dinner at Quan Am Ngan (a lonely planet "our pick") which would be the vietnamese equivalent to movenpick--what they brought me after i ordered was completely different than what i thought --and was disappointed for a brief moment--until i tasted it--one of the most amazing melding of flavours in a salad i have ever had--so fresh and the beef had a ginger flavour to it--sooo good, it made me happy

ps--turns out michelle had to have a root canal--all went well--no marathon man/alias moments...

Day 3--overcast

no planned activities today, so we organized a van to take us out to the ethnology museum in the outskirts of town

dropped off in old town for lunch and wandered around the old town before we met to catch our night train to hue...