LaosBokeoHouay XaiBan Houayxay Airport20°15’36” N 100°25’57” E
March 20, 2016 in Laos ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
I made it to Huay Xai through the Thai border. I stopped for two nights at Chiang Rai first, where I did not much other than the Saturday night walking street, and Laundry. To cross over to Laos, I first had to get to the right bus station. There are two bus stations in Chiang Rai, one (#1) is pretty much in the middle of town, and it's where the minivans will drop you off if you come from Chiang Mai or Pai. The direct bus from Chiang Rai to Huay Xai leaves from bus station #2. There is a local bus which departs from station #1, and goes to Chiang Khong. There you can catch a tuk tuk to the Thai border, do immigration, catch another bus that takes you across the "friendship bridge", and then, once you go through Lao immigration, another bus or tuk tuk will take you to the Bokeo bus station. I didn't do that. Instead, I caught a public taxi in thr form of an open truck, with wooden benches, for a few bahts, from station #1 to station #2. There, I took the local bus that takes you all the way from the bus station in Chiang Rai to the Bokeo bus station in Laos. They wait for you at every border crossing, and it was very cheap. At the border everything is quite intuitive as far as what to do and where to go. You just need to have your dollars ready to go. We paid an extra 1usd "overtime" fee because we crossed on a weekend day.
Once at the bus station in Bokeo, which irrespectively of how you cross will be your final destination, you need to catch a tuk tuk to town. We negotiated 12000 kip each for a group of 6 people.
Huay Xai is everything you would imagine for a border town. There are decent guesthouses and restaurants, but not much else. The views of the Mekong are quite impressive, with a number of colorful boats parked at the pier, and a pretty nice sunset. Many of the guesthouses and restaurants feature views that you would have to pay a lot for anywhere else in the world.
Before taking the slow boat to Luang Prabang, we (and by we I mean my newly found friend at the border, french Aurelie) did the amazing express gibbon experience.
We arrived the day before getting onto the slowboat, got our ticket from the pier before closing time (4pm) and secured a guest house meters away from the pier. The next day, we walked back in town for breakfast. We had found a place selling quite good omelettes with French baguettes and good coffee almost across the street from the Gibbon experience office. We didn't know yet that almost everywhere is Laos, contrary to Thailand, people know their bread and eggs.
We then headed, way too early in the morning (around 9), in the boat. We had to wait about 2 and half hours before we started moving, but granted, we got the best seats in the house. While we waited, we took turns getting a sandwich for lunch and snacks from the street stalls along the street that goes to the pier. The slow boat ride was definitely one of the highlights of my time in Laos.Read more
LaosLuang Prabang19°53’15” N 102°8’0” E
March 24, 2016 in Laos ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
The slow boat from Huay Xai leaves you a tuk tuk (or took took, as they like to call them here) distance from the city center. The price for the ride to town is fixed to 20k kip, and there is no room for negotiation. They drop you off at the point where the night market starts, which is literally in the middle of town. Our hostel was about three blocks away. The first night in LP consisted on visiting the ever so popular Utopia bar, followed up by a tuk tuk ride to a bowling alley. This is your nightime party routine in LP. Utopia has a very justified reputation. It sits by the river and it's very nicely put together. I didn't manage to try it, but my guess umis it'd probably be equally as enjoyable during the day, when the views can be appreciated better.
The second day, I spent it walking around the city. It had rained the night before which cleared out the smoke from field and trash burning, which has been haunting me since I did the north of Thailand. For once, the view was crisp, and the air felt clean. I went around the peninsula that forms in between the two rivers that flank the city (the Mekong and the Nam Kham and took millions of pictures of the mountains in the background and the rivers. Whereas the whole waterfront area is overwhelmed by guesthouses and high end hotels, they have made an effort to maintain the historical French facades of buildings. There are also many western-style coffee shops and restaurants in this area. It was nice for a change to see a bit of a more developed yet clean and slightly sophisticated side of SEA, but it clearly feels foreign. On my second night, I skipped Utopia and headed to the night market which beyond being a good option for souvenir shopping, offers good Lao style street food, but also quite decent crepes and the ever so yummy fruit shakes.
On the last day in LP, I, very much unnecessarily, woke up around 5 am to go see the alm giving ceremony in the main street of LP (same as the night market). This ceremony consists of people offering food (most commonly sticky rice from a steamer and some snack or fruit) to the monks, at sunrise. A local lady coaxed me to buy some sticky rice, kneel down and offer it to the passing monks. Whereas it was a pleasant experience, and I'm happy to contribute with the monks, as I looked around me, it was all tourist like me who were doing the offering while all the locals were doing the selling. Not to mention that there were people standing in front of the monks to get the better "selfie" angle. I was a bit disappointed in the whole thing. It seems that once again, we (falangs) have managed to turn a beautiful meaningful tradition into one more sightseeing. I sat down at the street for the rest of the ceremony, taking pictures not of the monks but of the locals as they were starting to set up their tents for the day market. After that, a minivan picked us up from the hostel and we headed to the Kouang Xi waterfalls. This was hands down the highlight of my visit to LP. It's simply beautiful. And for a change, it really looks like the pictures you find online. I didn't swim. The water was too cold, for me anyways. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it. We did the climb all the way to the top for some majestic views of the mountains. Once back in LP, we climbed the stairs that go uo to mount phosi to watch the sunset, but it was too late by the time we found the right entrance and we didn't feel like paying the entrance fee. Instead, we crossed the street and crossed the bamboo bridge over the river, while observing local children playing soccer at the river bed and monks taking a swim almost fully dressed.Read more
LaosVientianeVang Vieng18°55’31” N 102°26’56” E
March 27, 2016 in Laos ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C
We arrived to Vang Vieng by minivan from Luang Prabang. There had been some attacks to tourist vans by rebel groups in this route in the past, and people's experiences with the winding bumpy roads were mixed. I didn't know what to expect. In the end, the drive was utterly pleasant. The road winds about between mountains, alternating between valleys full of rice fields and small villages, and mountain tops in the clouds. Very scenic. I even managed to do a bit of reading, listened to music and slept. It was a fast 4-5 hours trip.
The mini van dropped us off at a place that looked as if it was the middle of nowhere. But when I pulled out my map, it was basically behind the town's main street. We (btw, by we I mean my friend Ziga and I) walked around town, trying to get a good sunset view. The sun here gets lost rather early behind the huge mountains in the background of town. A very beautiful sight. We searched for a way across tbe river to the other side of town, and first found a bridge you need to pay to cross. We turned around, walked the opposite direction, and found a free crossing bamboo bridge in the heart of town. We went down to the river, had a drink at a small bar with floating seating, and dinner at a Bamboo tree restaurant. And that was our first, pretty good, day here.
Second day, after a good omelette with nice warm baguette to go with it, we rented mountain bikes and went for a ride. We first went to a small cave 5 minute ride from the main street, after crossing over the bridge. We went in the cave for about three minutes, and then climbed the top of the little mountain it's in. The view from uo there was well worth the climb. We then made our way to the beautiful blue lagoon and Tham pukham cave, about 5km from town. A pretty easy ride. On our way, a group of 5-6 year old kids wanted a picture for money, which, needless to say, we didn't do. They climbed on the back of my bike, and fooled around a bit until they got bored and left. We reached the lagoon at a good time of the day, when tourist were at a minimum (lunchtime?). We jumped off a tree into the refreshing and clear blue water. We then did the short, albeit steep and challenging, hike up to the cave entrance. The cave is well worth the effort. You can walk all the way to its end, which took us (barefoot) about 20 minutes. It's dark and cool, but you get a headlamp for 10k kips at the entrance. We then made our way back into town, riding on a road with many of the locals, especially many children coming back from school and the ever so abundant free roaming cows.
We then sat down for lunch, at a place where I could FINALLY find vegetarian (tofu) Laap; the typical Lao dish of meat (tofu) with fresh coriander, mint, onions and lime. It is as awesome as it sounds. To end the day on a high note, we got a full body Lao oil massage.
Third day started out with meeting friends we made in the slow boat to Luang Prabang. We hired a kayaking tour for 80k kip (about 8 USD) which took 5 of us 13 km upstream of the river that runs by Vang Vieng. We kayaked down slowly and easily in between jungle covered mountains, water buffaloes taking a swim and naked children playing in the water. The views are uncanny. We also stopped at two of the (party) bars intended for people tubbing down the river. We had lunch and a few beers, danced a bit and chilled out. We got on the kayaks again for about 3 more km, and landed back in the town. Very recommendable experience, and for the mildly active as me, preferred over slowly floating down the river (tubbing)Read more
VietnamThành Phố Hà NộiHoàn KiếmHoan Kiem Lake21°1’43” N 105°50’59” E
April 1, 2016 in Vietnam ⋅ 🌫 21 °C
So...Hanoi. I flew from chill Luang Prabang. Even the walk to board the plane was slow. I arrived to Hanoi's massive international, and after walking for a bit, got to customs. After handing over my visa papers I waited, and waited and waited. I saw how everyone else in my flight got their visa approved, I waited. I waited for an hour and a half, and finally, got my visa as well. Only God knows what happened. It worked out though, because I managed to catch a ride with a very nice Canadian guy, who I harrased a bit at the arrivals hall, in a desperate attempt to share the cost of the pricey ride to the city. We took Uber, and he didn't let me pay. Such a sweet guy; restored my good Karma with Canadians.
On our way to my hostel the uber driver almost hit a bike. It wasn't his fault. This happens all the time. THERE ARE SO MANY MOTORBIKES ON THE ROADS. AND THERE ARE NO RULES, WHATSOEVER. Everyone seems to be honking for no apparent reason,and red lights means nothing. People come from all directions in all imaginable means of transportation, simultaneously. The city itself is the most westernized I've been so far. It's super developed, with many many nice shopping and dining options. Feels very fast paced and busy.
As for sightseeing, first, I walked around the lake in Ho Hoan Kiem park. Many people seem to come out there to excersice in the morning. The work out routine of some Vietnamese older women, wearing wool sweaters for the ocassion, were very interesting to watch ;P
Later, I visited Ho Chi Min's complex, which includes a very nice park, the house where he lived (a small house indeed, as he felt that it wasn't fair for him to live in luxury while his people were struggling), where he worked, and hang out. And a very impressive mausoleum where, after abandoning all of your belongings outside and obeying the very strict guards around it, you can see late Ho Chi Min himself.
I then headed towards the army museum, and lastly, I went to Ho Lao prison. The latest remained from the time of French ruling over Vietnam. Here, they kept political priosioners and anyone who would attempt to rebel. Needless to say, it wasn't a happy place. It never ceases to amaze me the horrible things that we humans are capable of doing to each other. This prison was active until relatively recently (late 60') and was later used by Vietnamese themselves to imprision Americans during the Vietnam war. Gladly, that's past history for the peaceful (incredibly relentless) people of this country.
As for food, its a bit of a struggle for vegetarians to have local vietnamese food, especially from street stalls. The majority of typical popular dishes have some animal in it, most often pork. Nevertheless, I've had two of my top 3 dishes so far in SEA, here! The top three (as of today) are; Pad Thai from the ko phangan night market guy followed by Bun ney chay (rice noodles in a yummy broth and vegetable spring rolls), and bun dau (fried tofu and rice noodles in yummy broth), both from noodles&rolls in the old quarter in Hanoi.
I also managed to negotiate a mani-pedi for 5USD. Not too shabby for a first day in Vietnam :)
Tomorrow I head over to Sapa.Read more
VietnamTỉnh Lào CaiLo Sui TongSuối Hu22°19’59” N 103°50’23” E
April 4, 2016 in Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
So, I decided to go to the perfume pagoda after my friends described it to me as a "mystic" experience. According to them, the way to the park where you can climb to the temple, was an amazing experience. Needless to say, my expectations were very high (classic mistake #1). I booked a tour, and for starters it took us 3 hours to get to the pier where you catch the boat to the pagoda. The bus was full of vietnamesses, me and a French girl. Naturally, the guide didn't feel the need to speak English to us, and just did Vietnamese the whole way. Ergo, we didn't know what was going in the whole way. The driver stopped in three places, for 20 minutes at a time, where there was nothing else for us to do but to shop for something. ANNOYING. When we finally got to the pier, we waited around a bit more for other tours to join us so we could fill in boats. Our boat rower was an (apparently) nice old lady who politely introduced herself, and was particularly interested in knowing about me. So far, so good. She rowed for two minutes across the pier, where we stopped for another 20 or so minutes, again, purely a shopping stop. When we finally started our way up the river to the park that houses the temple, it was nice. The water is quiet, and the scenery is beautiful. There are mountains in the backdrop and rice fields. Ducks swim by. And the locals which overfill boats all say hello to the "whities" boats. Once we got to the pier, i could immediately see what this visit would be about. It's full of shops, shops, shops, shops everywhere. We had a decent lunch, and then our group got separated into two; the people who had paid for the cable cart to take them to the top of the mountain, and us, the people who chose to walk up. A piece of advice here: if you absolutely want to see this place, which i strongly recommend against, pay and get the cable cart up. The hike is tiring yes. But that's not the worst part. The one hour super steep climb up is between two rows of shops, a sea of people going down, people on microphones advertising what they sell, people trying to grab you and lure you in to their shops. And it's hot, and humid, and at no point can you see what I'm sure would otherwise be a gorgeous view. You finally get to the temple, which is embedded in a impresssive gigantic cave. And no matter how you got up there, this is a sight worth going up there for. The temple is crowded with people worshiping and bringing in offerings. And its decorated with flowers and candles. People rub their money in the sacred water that drips down the caves columns for good luck. It is nice.
We row back to the minivans two hours late (and I'm certain I'll miss my next tour. Although this seems to not matter at all to our unhelpful guide) The way back is again pleasant. The views are beautiful.
We get close and our rower demands her tip (many many tired). We all gave her around a dollar, but this couple had ran out of change so they gave her what they had left. Boy, was she mad. And she wasn't having it. She demanded more money, if not from them, from the rest of us. And she refused to row us back to then pier until she got more money. Needless to say, a very tense moment. To be faur to the couple, we were never advised that we should carry change for tip, and we had already paid quite a bit for a very disappointing tour. In sum, I'm glad I got to experience the river and seen the pagoda. Was it worth the 25 USD I paid for the tour? Would I do it again? Probably not.Read more
VietnamThành Phố Hà NộiHiệp Phù21°5’2” N 105°57’23” E
April 4, 2016 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Sapa...how to describe it in words and pictures and make it justice? I can't think of a good way. You might just have to go there yourself. You see, Sapa is literally in the clouds. And when it clears out, the view is so mesmerizing that one can hardly look away to take a picture. Therefore, there are no pictures that will really reflect the majesty of the place. You might just have to go there yourself. And experience it. Experience the view, talk to the locals , trek through their villages and rice padies, stay at their homes, see how they live, share their food and their happy water, and come back, amazed at the beautiful world we live in.
I took a tour. Not a hardcore backpacker thing to do, I know, but I came across the best most compelling sales girl in all of Vietnam at Sinh cafe open tours. I don't exactly normally cave under pressure, but when I bought the tour for the perfume pagoda, she somehow managed to sell me tours to all the must-dos in North Vietnam in one sit; Sapa, Halong bay, and an open bus ticket to go South. If you saw my post on the perfume pagoda (a far from pleasant experience) you'll understand why I started my Sapa tour with very low expectations. In fact, I was late coming back from the pagoda and for a minute there I thought I would miss my bus to Sapa. Hectic start, but I managed to get picked up from the agency and delivered to the site where sleeper buses pick up passengers in Hanoi. Scepticism aside, I was one my way. The bus pick up site seems to be randomly situated in the city. The buses come half full, so I imagine that they start off from an actual proper bus station. I lined up for the first bus, around 10.30pm, but it filled up very quickly. I managed to secure a bed-seat on the second bus 10 minutes later. Some people had to wait for a third bus. I passed out and woke up 6 hours later to a bus sitting on a street that lines up a canal, full with people sleeping and with the AC off. The bus arrived to Sapa town around 4 am, but we were allowed to sleep in the bus until 6. Needless to say, the air was very stuffed in the bus, and I was happy to get off it and into the cool air. As soon as ypu get off the bus, many locals show up trying to secure homestays and trekking tours from the arriving tourists. I eventually got picked up by a taxi driver who had mine and other peoples names written on a sketchy piece of paper. We were taken to a hotel where we could drop off our bags, have breakfast, and meet our guide for the rest of the trip. So far, so good.
Our group of 12 people was lucky enough to be assigned to "Su" for our local guide. She's not Vietnamese but belongs to one of the three locak etnicities: the monk people. She's 27 years old, and has a 1 year old baby girl and a 3 year old baby boy. Like most of the local women in this area of Vietnam, she's the bread maker of her family. She works as a tour guide, and in the field while her husband takes care of their children and their home. Women in this area choose their husbands, around the age of 17, and are free to marry whoever they choose to from any of the surrounding villages.
On the fist day, Su took us for a half a day 5km hike into Cat cat town. Cat Cat is the closest village to Sapa town. Here, we got to meet some of the locals, watch them work the marijuana plants to get threads that after a lot of handling become fabrics that they dye in Indigo blue, a dye obtained from the local plants. We watched some of the locals dance, and saw a small waterfall. We were also slightly harrased by children, elders and young women alike to buy local products like scarfs, small purses, bracelets, and the like. I am happy to inform that I didn't cave on day 1. The rest of day 1 was off. I didn't do much other than go bargain for some north face knockoff jackets. I bought 2 for 15 USD each. We spent the night at the grandview hotel in a very decent room.
Next day we got breakfast at the hotel, and started our first day of trekking towards the southern villages. On this day, we started our trek with Su and about 10 more locals. They were all very friendly, asking where we were from, our names, ages, about our families etc. And in return thet volunteered information about their lifestyles. They helped us through the not so challenging trek, holding our hands whenever we needed it. Expectedly, as we got to their village, about 10km into our trek they asked us to buy something. I was more than willing to tip my nice personal guide, but she wasn't having it, so she gave me a very good price on a purse (which I suspect is not even made locally or by hand, but more likely brought from China). Oh well.
We stopped for lunch, and then continued our trek towards our home stay. In the way through the mountains, the views of the rice fields are mesmerizing. The rice is still not gorwing, as it is only planted in late April/May, and harvested in September-December. If you can choose, the best time to visit Sapa is in July, when the rice is in full bloom and the fields are covered in bright green. We went up and down the hills, getting peaks of the very high mountains on the background which were covered by clouds most of the time. We crossed bamboo bridges, jumped rocks to cross creeks, watched the locals working in the fields, or selling water to the bypassers. We visited one of the local primary public schools. We chewed on sugar cane (yummy and refreshing) and tried boiled bamboo (not so great). We saw baby duck, baby pigs, puppies, buffaloes and butterflies, and were offered marijuana.
We spent the night at a local family's home. The house had a seating area outside where we were welcomed with hot tea. The inside of the house consists of a big room where mom, dad, grandpa, four babies and two teenagers sleep. A western bathroom and hot shower (a real luxury here). And a kitchen area. The upper floor has about 15 matresses distributed on the floor, covered with mosquitoe nets for tourist to spend the night in. We helped cook, ate dinner with them (tofu, rice and cabbage for me, and the most yummy lemongrass veggie springrolls), and helped them with dishes. We player cards, had a few beers and went to sleep. In total, we trekked for about 20km.
The next day, after our host cooked us banana pancakes with local honey and coffee for breakfast, Su picked us up. But we didn't start our day trek until we all had one or two shots of happy water (rice wine-guaranteed to warm you up). Su gave us the choice of going "the long way" which we happily took as it meant less tourists, and less locals trying to sell us goods. She trekked carrying her 1 year old baby girl on her back the entire time.
The second day trek was filled with laughter and fun as more than one of us slipped, stuck our feet in mud, stepped on Buffalo poop, or literally just felt into a small pond of muddy water. It was a more challenging trek but also a so much more rewarding me that day one. We really went out of the beaten paths, climbed rocks to see waterfalls, a local opium farm (shhhh), local burial sites, rice paddies, the homes of some locals, and the mountains. At the end of our 10km trek we had lunch (ramen noodle soup) and got picked up by a van that took us back to Sapa town. Here again we got harrased by locals wanting to sell their goods. I caved a bit here and got a very pretty scarf.
When back in Sapa, many of my newly found friends and I went for a stroll through lovely Sapa town where we got a non impressive full body massage (a relaxing way of killing time nevertheless), got dinner at the hotel and dessert at a local coffee shop. Around 8.30pm we were picked up by a local taxi which dropped us off at the Sapa bus terminal. We were initially a bit confused about which bus would take us back to Hanoi, but after the punk who works at the bus station finally put down his phone and talked to us, we got it figured out. We took a last beer on a bar across the street from the bus terminal, boarded the sleeper overnight bus, and passed out until we were back in Hanoi.
We were dropped off at 4am a little ways away from the city center, which is utterly inconvenient, but after walking for about 20 minutes we managed to get to the fifth floor of the central backpackers hostel where there was a sort of camp going on; people sleeping in the lounge's couches, and puffs, and even the floor were waiting for breakfast places to open up. Around 6.30 am we went for breakfast and I parted way to get picked up for my next adventure: Halong bay. All in all, Sapa was amazing. So far, the highlight of my visit to beautiful Vietnam.Read more
VietnamThành Phố Hải PhòngHang GaiHòn Nẻ Môi20°51’35” N 106°58’59” E
April 7, 2016 in Vietnam ⋅ 🌧 4 °C
Halong literally means the dragon's landing. A city and a bay with the same name sit on the northwest of Vietnam. Halong bay is fed by the China sea, and it's composed of thousands of islands of different sizes. Vietnamese people like to think that the bay homes 1969 islands, because this is the year when Ho Chi Min died. But in actuallity, the real number is a mistery, but estimates using satellite images proposed that there are more than 2000 islands. The story goes that Halong bay was formed by two dragons sent by the gods to help Vietnamese people defeat the invading enemy. These dragons fragmented the land by spitting fire and breaking it into many islands, to prevent the enemy from passing through. Halong bay is currently considered one of nature's wonders of the world. And it is indeed beautiful.
Currently, many travel agencies offer tours on cruise ships which take you around the bay. I took a two day one night cruise, sleeping on the boat. There is also the option of sleeping in Cat Ba, one of the biggest islands with permanent inhabitants in it. Cat Ba also offers trekking, and hiking through its national park.
A group of about 10 of us was picked up from Hanoi and driven up to the pier (about 5 hours). After we recovered one of our passengers which had been left behind by our very rude driver in one of his pit stops, we got on the boat and started our jouney, accompanied by our guide "Key" an overly friendly anticommunist vietnamese. We sailed into the bay for about 30 minutes while we had lunch. We then stopped, checked into our shared rooms, and were allowed to kayak around for 30 minutes. The kayaking was definitely the highlight of my Halong bay visit. The water is amazingly peaceful, and swaying around the green islands while taking in the majestic views in solitude was utterly relaxing. People jumped into the water from multiple ships after kayaking. I definitely didn't.
At night we were surrounded by ten other ships, you can hear the music and laughter coming from some of them but all in all, halong bay is misty and quiet at night.
We went to Cat Ba island's Trung Trang caves. This cave system is unique because it's still being shaped by the sea. The caves are 11 to 700 thousand years old, and they served as refuge and hospital to the locals during the Vietnam war. The trail is paved and the cave is illuminated, making it a very breezy visit. The only challenging part is that some of the passageways are very low and you have to make your way literally squating down.
Overall, Halong bay is beautiful, and definitely worth paying the overpriced tours (you share rooms, get ramen noodles for breakfast, and have to overpay for even your water, and morning coffees separately for about 50 USD).
My only major criticism goes to the Vietnamese people here (and maybe also to a few irresponsible tourists). Kayaking through the bay the pools of oil from the ships are immediately visible. And there is not a clean place in the water. There are so many bottles, shoes, boxes, pieces of styrofoam, left over fishing gear, and just general crap floating around. I saw how the boats, we were told there are around 400 of them in the bay- 300 of which are allowed overnight stays-, emptied their waters and disposed of the left overs from cooking right into the bay where people were swimming. I'm positive that if Vietnamese don't take a stand to protect their distinctive national scenic landscape, it will soon loose its appeal, hindering their significant income from tourism. Most importantly, this disregard for conservation is a threat to the unique wildlife found here, some of which is already endangered (like the Cat Ba Langur monkeys). It is heartbreaking.Read more
VietnamHuế16°28’12” N 107°35’48” E
April 9, 2016 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
Whereas I really liked Hanoi, I was happy to leave for the South. People in Hanoi appear to be fed up with tourists. They are loud and rude, and a bit dishonest. When I finally managed to get my open bus ticket and secured a bed in the night bus to Hue, the driver very unsurprisingly forced us to say farewell to Hanoi by playing very loud vietnamese music until midnight. He woke us up at 5am in the same manner. Lovely.
We arrived to Hue after 12 hours. I stepped off the bus and after sorting through the bags, got mine, and set off to find a coffee shop. I found a very nice one (on thu wheels) where I could get me a yummy Vietnamese coffee and an omellete. Life is good again.
I booked me a bed in a dorm in Hue Happy homestay, and went over to the bus station to book my trip to Hoi An for the next day. The owner of Happy homestay allowed me to check in early and welcomed me with fresh fruit, tea and a map. I dropped off my bag and set towards the Citadel.
As I strolled by the river I got asked by a group of 5 children aged 8-9 years old if they could interview me for a school project. They asked me about my job and my shopping habits. It was for their English class. They were very sweet.
After that, one of the motorcycle taxi guys tried to convince me that the citadel was closed, and that I should instead go with him to visit the pagoda. By now I know better than to trust taxi drivers of any kind in Vetnam, so I continued my way. I crossed over the bridge, and turned left towards the citadel.
The citadel includes the imperial and the forbidden cities. It was build between 1803 and 1833, and it was home to the last emperors of the mandarin Nguyen dinasty. They ruled from here until Vietnam was invaded by France. Many of the buildings within this walled city were severely damaged during the Vietnman war. However, much effort has been put towards their restoration and the conservation of historical documents and artefacts. The main building, where crowning and other important ceremonies were celebrated, was completely restored to reflect the unique architecture and decoration of the time.
Many exhibits around the compound show pictures of the last emperors. Some of them were only 10 years old when they started reigning. Another exhibit shows official documents signed and modified by the emperors, ruling over different aspects of societal life at the time (like the increase of rice prices or the hiring of new employees for local schools). There is also a museum which exhibits recovered artifacts.
Following my visit to the citadel, I walked around looking for a place to eat lunch. Inadevertedly, I wounded up in one of the lonely planet recommended restaurants where for 45000 dong, I had me a typical Hue dish: you roll spring rolls with vegetables and tofu, and a decadent peanut sauce.
After lunch I headed over to the Dong Ba market. In a very cluttered space, with narrow passages and merchandise up to the ceiling, you can find here anything ranging from shoes and apparel to dry squid, to cleaning products. It's a huge market selling anything imaginable in bulk.
In the afternoon I went to Tree Coffee. A highly rated coffee shop in trip advisor. In the way, I got stopped by yet another group of English enthusiasts. This time, teenagers. They took turns asking me questions about my country, and explained to me the nitty gritties of making Banh gai, a sweet bean and sticky rice dessert typical of Hue, as an example of their culture.
Mr. Mui, the owner of tree coffee, improvised me an egg coffee...something I had been wanting to try in Hanoi, where it is a specialty, but didn't get the chance to. It consists of black coffee with condensed milk at the bottom, and wiped egg whites at the top. It is sweet and creamy, and decadent. So good! Mr. Mui sat down with me while I had my coffee and we talked about Hue, his life and my life.
On my way back to the hostel, I stopped at a local restaurant and had a shrimp and vegetable fried pancake, another specialty of Hue cooking. Again, the friendly hostess at the restaurant made conversation, and was very kind.
Hue was intended to be a pit stop on my way to Hoi An. A place where I could do laundry and sleep in a bed after nights of sleeper buses and boats. I regret not having time to stay here for longer. The locals are beyond friendly; a great break from the displeasing people I came by in the North. I'm excited about the South of Vietnam. I can't wait to see more of this kind and agreeable, full of good food and nice people, Vietnam that I can easily fall in love with.Read more
VietnamTỉnh Quảng NamHoi An15°52’38” N 108°20’22” E
April 15, 2016 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 37 °C
Coconut lassi, lychee coconut strawberry cake, passion fruit cheesecake, wild rose, bhan mi, and so much more....
VietnamTỉnh Lâm ĐồngKhu Chi Lăng11°57’15” N 108°27’47” E
April 16, 2016 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 35 °C
Da Lat is a vibrant city with a very lively night market that remains quite traditional, and is still mostly meant to supply the locals. One can find very few souvenir stands, which I take as a good sign. As any self respecting night market, there is lots of street food offers. I tried sweet potatoe bread and a grilled snack which is a hybrid between a pizza and a burrito, but Vietnamese style.
The city revolves around a lake. By the lake there is a high end golf course and a sort of flower botanical garden. Da Lat is also home to a prominent University with extensive campus.
As for night life, Da Lat offers the unique "100 roof" bar. This bar is literally a maze inside. I was happy to be in the company of people with a better sense of orientation than mine. Otherwise I would have never found my way out.
To go see Da Lat's attractions in the short time I had available, I hired a tour for 25 USD. First, they took us to a flower farm. Da Lat is known for its specialized crops. Unlike the rest of the country, which mostly lives off of rice crops, Da Lat does flowers, silk and coffee.
Flowers are hand wrapped individually. The women who do this job, get paid 10 dollars a day.
Coffee crops are more or less all over the mountains. We went to a typical house of a family from the Kha people. Kha are 1 of the 53 minorities in Vietnam, with Vietnamese being 86% of the population. Kha people have their own spoken language, although their lifestyle didn't seem so different to me from the lifestyle of monk people in the north. As is the case for most of Vietnam, Kha people function as a matriarchal society in which women own the coffee plantation, and chose their husbands.
I also didn't know that Vietnam is the second largest world producer of coffee, after Brasil and before Colombia. Coffee stays in small pots in the kha people's homes until it is 2 years old. Then it is transferred to the fields where after a few years, it is hand picked from November to January. Vietnamese grow three coffee varieties: Robusta, Arabica and Mocha, in ascending quality.
Old coffee trees are used for low quality silk production. Higher quality silk is extracted from
Silk worms, while the worm itself is sent to the night markets to be eaten. People working at rhe silk farms get paid 15 dollars a day and there is no age minimum to start working.
Da Lat is also home to weasel Coffee, aka coffee from beans pooped by civets, considered the best coffee in the world. Civets (aka Lawaki) are fed the red beans of all the varieties separately to make Lawaki Arabica, robusta and moka respectively, during the coffee harvest months. They consume aprox 200 g coffee beans per day. I paid 60000 dong for a cup of lawaki moka coffee (3 USD). And I have to say, I don't know what all the fuzz is about. Maybe I'm missing something, but the quality of that coffee is nothing special. And, the production of this coffee supports the horrible exploitation of civets, which live in cages way too small for them.
We also visited a cricket farm and exotic animals farms, where everything is raised to be eaten. I did not like this part of the tour much at all.
Finally, we went to the big happy buddah temple and the elephant waterfalls. Both beautiful sightseeing.Read more
