A Touch of Paradise

We hired a car and driver to take us from Hue to Hoi An, which by bus is around four to five hours depending on the type of bus you choose. We were in Hoi An in 2.5 hours, although we did have to sacrifice a few tourist stops along the way.

Hoi An is an historic city protected by the Unesco World Heritage program. It is located on the coast of the South China Sea and it boasts a unique shopping district.

Because of the many tailors located in the city, you can order any type of clothing you want and within hours it will be ready. Many people have their suits made to measure and shipped home for around $40. We had planned to have some capris and shorts made here but suitcase limitations changed that idea - or is it that we are too lazy to search for the right material and then get measured and then go back for more measurements, etc?

We spent the day just wandering in the Old Town looking at the tailors and their silk shops. We especially liked the fact that the Old Town is car and motorcyle free, a wonderful feeling after dodging traffic in Hanoi and Hue for the past ten days.

There is an abundance of fine restaurants that cater to the many tourists that come to Hoi An. Many overlook the river and are a great place to sit and people watch.

I tried to concentrate my pictures on the people and activities of Hoi An rather than the city itself.

Visiting of the Tombs

Why do the Vietnamese people have such high steps when they are such small people? I climbed enough of them today to wonder!

We spent the day visiting some of the Emperors' tombs surrounding Hue and were blown away by the structures, especially the tomb of Khai Dinh. The blackened concrete of the complex was a striking contrast to the colourful interior of the tomb.












This tomb was started in 1920 and was completed in 1931, two years after the Emperor's death.

After this we visited the tomb of Minh Mang and found this one a little less impressive, even though it was more in harmony with nature (a guide's words, not mine). The strange part of this tomb was that the Emperor was never buried here and the 200 workers who built the tomb were beheaded to keep the secret.





Our final stop of the day was at the Thien Mu Pagoda, which was worth a short visit. Behind the main area of the sanctuary was an old Austin car that transported a Buddhist monk to Saigon where he burned himself to death to publicly protest the South Vietnamese policies in 1963.


The last stop of the day was at the Why Not Cafe for a cold Tiger beer. A cold beer is rare in Vietnam so when we find a place that serves them we are reluctant to leave - plus we had to do some shopping from the vendors who travel from cafe to cafe. Did I mention something about smaller backpacks earlier?

I think Fred has a complete new wardrobe by now, but not me....I don't think Vietnam knows there are sizes above eight!

Question of the day....what is the difference between a temple and a pagoda?

Hue

We spent yesterday touring the surrounding neighbourhoods, near our Hanoi hotel, picking up lots of souvenirs that we don't have room for. This is one of the major downfalls of taking small rolling backpacks

The sights on the streets still amaze me with all the activity and what I think is organized chaos. Obviously, it works for them.


Today we had a 6:00 am flight from Hanoi to the city of Hue, in central Vietnam. Hue is located very near the Vietnam War's (they call it the American war) demilitarized zone and it suffered considerable damage from bombs and street fighting. The city is in the process of rebuilding the Imperial Enclosure, which is where we spent most of the day.


The enclosure is huge and I know we didn't do it justice, but we did the best we could. Some of the structures are beautiful and others are the way they have been for years. The enclosure has a moat and ten ornate gates guarding a palace, temples, gardens and tombs. Its most prominent feature is a flag tower..





Hue is also famous for its blistering hot and dry season from May to August and I can attest to that - take a look at my new hat! When in Rome....


And it only cost me 20 000 Dong which is equal to $1.00!

I had the setting wrong on my camera so some of the pictures have a strange look to them, but they still show what I intended.

Tour of the Bay

Well rested after yesterday's break in the action, we hired a car and driver to take us to Halong Bay. Halong Bay is an Unesco World Heritage site and it was worth the four hour drive there and four hours back.

The bay has over 3000 limestone islands called karsts. The islands are uninhabited which makes them quiet and peaceful, except for the 800 tourist boats that cruise through them everyday.

The scene was chaotic when we arrived at the dock to find our boat. It had rained hard in the morning so the boats could not go out and all were given the okay to leave just when we arrived.

We were on a private tour but we did not expect our own boat! There were the two of us, along with our guide, with five people to take care of our needs.








Once on board we were served a huge lunch of crab, shrimp, octopus, fish and squid, all cooked in a true Vietnamese style.


We spent most of the four hour cruise on the upper deck of the boat watching the scenery and boat activity.








We made one stop at two caves that were discovered in 1993. We found this cave to be special because it was almost raining inside due to the recent rainfall outside. The government has done a tremendous job building the walkways inside and out and they were not slippery!

Getting to the caves was an adventure as it seemed all 800 boats were trying to dock at the same unloading area at the same time. After the captain dropped us off he had to move away from the dock so others could do the same. It appeared that there were only inches between the boats, but our captain knew what he was doing, even if he did look to be fifteen years old.


We were back in the car by 4:00 and home by 8:00. The drive to Halong was bad enough in the daylight, but coming back at night was "troublesome". The thousands of motorcyles seem to drive without lights and are everywhere on the road.

Our tour guide and crew were great, the boat wasn't the newest or best on the bay, but the day was something to remember.

A Day of Rest

After travelling overnight from Sapa to Hanoi, we are sort of listless today and have been taking it easy, plus it is pouring out - our first day of rain. We arrived in Hanoi at 4:30 am and weren't able to get into our room at our chosen hotel until 10:30.

The staff was very accomodating and put us up in their Spa Room for three hours. We were able to shower and change clothes, but they needed the room at 7:30 so we were homeless once again.

We took this time to try to book a tour to Halong Bay. Just what we needed at 7:30 - a 6 km walk! We couldn't even find the travel centre and ended up booking right at the hotel.

Our room is everything we needed today, especially after last night's train ride. The train was a different one than we took to Sapa and that was evident right away. I don' t have a lot to say about the train ride other than I'm so glad it is over!

This hotel is like a five star hotel back home and I am loving it! Nothing like being pampered when you are tired. Room service at its best!

People of Sapa Area

More pictures from our trek yesterday and around Sapa town.















Well, maybe not a person!

Wow!!!

What an amazing day.....the power of a smile!

We didn't want to take the normal tourist bus to see the villages of Ma Cha and Ta Phin so we decided to pay two motorbike drivers to take us from Sapa to the village of Ma Cha where we would walk from there to Ta Phin.

Problems? Yes, of course! Fred skillfully negotiated a lower price on the cycle ride and the drivers skillfully dropped us off in the middle of nowhere with about 4 kms left to walk to Ma Cha.

What a stroke of luck, as we met three fantastic ladies from the Red Dzao tribe and they "sorta" tagged along with us with the before mentioned great smiles! They took us on trails beside rice, corn and indigo fields and we were constantly amazed at what was ahead of us.





They helped us take shortcuts through other mountain villages, they fed us a lunch of cucumbers when we took a break and later they invited us into their homes.


My favourite, the water buffalo, were plentiful and we were warned a few times that some of them were not agreeable to picture taking.


Ta Phin was our final destination and we were told constantly that it was just over the next mountain. That was no lie as we are sure we walked at least 10 kms to get to the village. It was constant up and down through valleys and over hills.

This was the real Vietnam we were looking for. No tourist stops and very few foreigners.

On arriving in Ta Phin, we were encouraged by them to enter their homes to see where they lived and to meet their families. We could only visit two homes as the third was "just over the next mountain" at least 20 minutes away.


Our legs didn't give out like yesterday and we are so glad as we wouldn't have wanted to miss this experience for anything.

We wanted to offer them a monetary gift, but had been told by a guide yesterday that it is more respectful to buy rather than give. So does anyone need a Red Dzao shoulder bag? We have two, plus a table mat. Fred negotiated a better price for three items we didn't need. But...the information we gained was worth more than any items we bought.


Now for the ride back! We knew we couldn't walk the 14 kms back to Sapa so before we realized it we were offered a ride on their families' motorbikes - at a cost, of course.


I let Fred ride with the young son and he is still drinking wine to get over the speedy trip. I, on the other hand, told one of the ladies that I am a chicken and she warned her husband. Nice slow ride for me!

The day could not have been better. Sometimes you just have to let things happen.