My Son

We finally arrived into Hoi An just after 17:00, and decided that instead of taking a much needed shower we would just head into town, tour a little, eat dinner, and have a few drinks at one of the many cafes that are mentioned in the guide books. We’ll post all of our Hoi An stories tomorrow, as we also took an afternoon after My Son and it fully deserves a separate post.

My Son is a series of ancient temples that were built as a religious center during the Cham dynasty sometime between the 4th and 13th centuries. It had been rediscovered by the French in the 1890’s, and they had spent countless years documenting all of the buildings and relics along with doing some restoration work. Over 80% of the site was destroyed during the Vietnam War from American bombing runs, as the Viet Cong were using these temples as ammunition dumps. The amount of damage and bomb craters that show after 30 years is amazing.

We got up early and were pleased that the weather looks like it was going to be perfect. A nice day that wasn’t too hot and mostly blue skies, apparently the last two days ranged from tropical storm to 38 degrees (100 Fahrenheit) with over 90% humidity.

When we arrived at My Son our guide directed us over to a seating area so we could watch traditional dance of the natives. There were about 4 other people waiting for this show, so we sat and waited hoping it would be a quick dance routine. When more and more tourists arrived and suddenly the group was pushing 40 people we asked our guide if we could leave now so as to see the sights while there weren’t groups of people milling around the sites. He didn’t seem to like that idea, “Wait and enjoy that dance, it is very good. If you don’t like the music then we can go.”

We gave it maybe 3 minutes before we got up, still intent to view at least some of the sights ahead of this throng of tourists. There were a few other people that had this same idea, but the dancing went on for an additional 10 minutes so this jump really helped one to fully appreciate the beauty of the sight.

It is a wonderful site that really only takes about two hours to walk around and see everything. The Italians and Japanese are doing a lot to work on rebuilding some of the temples that were destroyed in the war, so in the next few years even more temples should be there for people to enjoy.

Train to Da Nang.

Ok, it's been a few days since our last update, but here is the update that should have followed our previous post.

Ah, to look forward to an 16 hour train ride instead of a quick and easy flight. Well, at least this way we know that we won’t be turned around if the storm is still bad, and in the morning before we arrive at 11:30 we will get a chance to see some of the countryside.

Sounds nice and quaint and hopefully is something that we will thoroughly enjoy. The room is a bit of a shock when we see it; four beds in a 6’x7’ room, prisoners have it better then this. Seriously. And there are all these Vietnamese that keep walking up and down the hallway peering into every room in a way that gives you an uneasy feeling. We talk to a couple from Lisbon, Portugal down just a few rooms from us and we decide that someone will always need to keep watch during the night, especially when groups travel to the bar or dining car.

But they do actually go through the train before they leave and get the riffraff off, and one does travel in peace with few worries. We end up sharing a room with a couple from Australia, and once settled we head down to said dining car. We also brought some French Baguettes and a bottle of wine to the dining car, which seemed to bother them slightly. When we offered to buy some pho or some beers to make the woman waiting on our table absolutely refused to sell anything to us.

So around 21:00 we settle into bed and hope to get a fairly good nights’ sleep, the train rocks and skips and abruptly slows a lot more then one would expect, but eventually we drift of to sleep. I awake around 03:00 and notice that we are not moving, and awaking again an hour later we still aren’t moving. Arise around 05:30 with the sun as the shades don’t shade much, and start to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Most people on the train are going to Hue which arrives at 08:30, we and a few other couples are going to De Nang, getting in at 11:30. The sightseeing is amazing, everywhere is flooding and wind damage from the typhoon that went through in the night. People are all out moving tree limbs and cleaning. We start to see where they are hacking fallen branches just to clear the tracks, and at one point we cross as small causeway that you can tell has been quickly reinforced to cope with the flood waters. Yes, that felt safe.

But again, the sights are breathtaking and it is nice to see the countryside. So 08:30 comes and goes without stopping at Hue and we begin to wonder how much further. Apparently none of the workers on the train speak English (we decide that it is because the train is still government run) and it is hard to figure out exactly where we are en-route to our destination. All we know is that we are 3 hours past Hue, and then another 40+ minutes in a car from Da Nang to Hoi An.

The train finally pulls into Hue at 14:00, just a little off schedule. Apparently the rumor is that they stopped to let the storm go through and, judging by the sights, we figure that was a good thing.

After Hue, the skies really open up. And by that I mean blue skies, breathtaking, and now the train is running along the coast. Wow, just amazing, and that this point we are thinking the train was worth it.

Yes, then we get into Da Nang early, considering, at only 16:00. This put us into Hoi An just after 17:00, plenty of time to sight see this evening before we head of to see My Son tomorrow….

And, although we feel bad that we are now a few days behind, we will post stories from each day individually so that they don't overwhelm....

- Few comments left out by Mark

As Mark stated in the earlier post, the bar car woman was not impressed us or should I say Mark,for bringing in wine, so the next day when we showed up, she still wasn't impressed. We had a couple of beers and met fellow travelers from Australia, also sitting and enjoying the sites of Vietnam, when the same lady came over and tried to shoo us out of the bar car. We ordered lunch and shortly thereafter she attempted to get rid of us again. Like any good tourist, we played dumb. This was lunch time for the crew, and they did not want anyone besides the workers to be in the car, even though the signs state that lunch was from 11:30 until 2pm. Reminds me of East Germany all over again. A man than comes over to the Aussies and instructs them to sit with us. With an empty table, the crew place food on the table as a deterrent for any future sales. Well, it worked. A young couple came in and then realized all tables were occupied and immediately went back to their car. We were the only paying people in the bar car.

As we were in the dining car, our roommate came over explaining that he awoke to find the cabin steward, apparently hungry, trying to get into our cashews that we purchased prior to our trip. She was disappointed to find out that we had not opened the jar of cashews yet, looked at our roommate, and left. I had him point out which cabin steward it was, and left it with her when we arrived in De Nang. I had a new best friend.

Lastly, Mark mentioned earlier that our cabins were quite small, and they certainly were. The cabins had four bunks and a little table, and a garbage can that I assume was white at one time. It was quite small for four people but when we had our fifth guest, I drew the line, granted he was small, but still a mouse is still a mouse. He stayed with us for a short time, before the odor of lunch lured him away, never to be seen again.

Aside from that, we were happy that we ended up taking the train. We were able to enjoy the scenery, and meet some wonderful people from around the world. Definitely recommend it to anyone thinking of going to Vietnam.

Flight to Da Nang.

Ok, so apparently this is typhoon season for Vietnam. We probably should have known that as we had been told that last week no tours were going on in Halong Bay, and that as the season progresses these storms move down the country.

So, this morning we get up bright and early at 04:30, and head off to the airport. At the airport the news program is showing satellite photos of storms and the paper we grab on the plane talks about the typhoon and how they are trying to warn all the fishing boats. Ok, I wonder if that is up north? The paper mentions cities but none of them do we recognise.

This storm picture shows the typhoon hitting directly in central Vietnam, where we are going, Da Nang, Hue, My Son, Hoi An....

Forty-five minutes into the hour long flight they announce that the weather is too bad and that the plane is returning to Hanoi, so now we are back at our hotel waiting for our travel agent so we can go over all of our options. Based on these typhoon weather reports we are thinking that we will skip visiting the middle of the country.

Update - We will be taking the train from Hanoi to Da Nang tonight, it will be an overnight ride getting us into Da Nang around 11:00. From there we will skip the whole tour of Hue and instead head straight to Hoi An. So we lose a day in Hue, but gain another day to see Hanoi and we get to take an overnight train in Vietnam. It all works out...

Last Day in Hanoi

Ah, so after the beauty and relaxing atmosphere of Halong bay, we are back in Hanoi for one day before flying down to DaNang and heading over to Hue.

We come in last night, call to verify our wine order, and then head out for dinner at one of the many street stalls. We pick a restaurant that has to be good because it is full of Vietnamese, and we order goat and rabbit. Dinner was excellent, it was a little off putting when you pick up a piece of meat and it it still covered in skin with hair, but we are getting better at just trying it and being amazed at how good it really is. What is odd is that we've adapted to the pricing in Vietnam so quickly that we complain that the place is too expensive when it totals out to just under 9.00 USD.

After that we wandered and stopped at an area that had a lot of small chairs facing the street, a la Paris, and we figured why not sit for a beer? I'll tell you why not, you'll never want to leave. Excellent beer poured straight from a spigot welded into the bottom of an old keg at a price of only 2,000 dong per mug. That's just under $0.16. We sat and talked and watched the crowds until they finally kicked everyone away around 23:30. Apparently they are supposed to close at 22:00, and there were a few police scares where the women selling fruit from those baskets would tear down the street in a full out sprint. The are afraid of the police because if they are selling after hours they will lose their basket and goods, so they run. It's quite fun to watch, but at the same time shocking the first time you see it because the beer garden owners get everyone up and scoot all the chairs into the store and get ready to close their doors.

Today we awoke to rain, but wandered the city anyway, it is still full of beauty and it's really fun to watch all the mopeds fly around with everyone covered in ponchos. The rain eventually let up, we went back to the restaurant that we were at the other night to pick up our wine and we ate another absolutely perfect meal there, again for far less then it should cost. Honestly, it is that good, we've already recommended it to people we have met. Remember this when you get here, La Restaurant at 25 Ly Quoc Street, it is beyond worth it...

Halong Bay

We leave Hanoi first thing Sunday morning heading over to Halong Bay where we are going to spend one night on a tourist junk. It’s about a three hour drive from Hanoi, and we are the last tourists picked up, so we are crammed in the back of the van which makes for a longer ride. When we finally pull into the port and get off the van we are just overwhelmed by the amount of tourists, thousands of people waiting to board the hundreds of boats in the harbor. We just look at each other and I’m sure that Tina is thinking the same thing as me - yeah our luck has run out, we’ll end up with tons of pictures with all these boats and other tourists, damn. Well, then we got even more news, our names we not on any list they had and they just kept asking everyone “What boat? What is the name of the boat you are on?” Well, we and one other girl had no idea, and nowhere on our paperwork is there any information, so they shuffle us back to the van to what appears to be an incredibly unhappy driver.

He drives us down to another spot with a small pier, drops our stuff off and drives away. Ah, this is the overnight location, much better. Nobody around, we end up on a tour with only 4 other groups, a total of 10 people. Very nice, and when they head out into the bay they take us further out where we can get beautiful photos of just the rock outcroppings and hardly any other tourists boats. Yep, the world still loves us.

It’s a little too hazy to get the postcard photos we dreamed about, but still absolutely stunning. Touring around, the little islands, the small floating fishing villages, the kids that paddle up trying to sell shells, everything is perfect. Crab for dinner, we take a bottle of wine and hike up one of the islands to watch the sunset, and finish the evening talking to the other guests about all of their travels through Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.