When Robin took me on the motorbike ride last night, he drove to the market at the end of the street, then across to the lake, so I could tell everyone where to go for a walk in the morning.
Some of us were getting picked up at 9, so we met in the foyer to say goodbye.
Then, I stupidly announced that I was going to see the lake. Jen said she’d come with me. Everyone else was suddenly very busy…
But she was pretty good, apart from announcing very loudly that Vietnam should have a “CLEAN UP VIETNAM DAY.” I hoped that there was no one nearby who spoke English.
We dropped into the market first. Pigs trotters, anyone? You can see that Wanda was with us.
Poor things. They were so frightened.
After that, we wandered out to see the lake.
We spent the next hour or so just wandering around the streets and people watching.
Shopping. The woman in blue was incredibly picky about the fruit she was buying.
You can understand why people here buy their food fresh every single day.
Her hat looks toasty warm.
She matches the flowers. I thought she was selling them, but we came back later and she was gone. The flowers were still there, though.
We had the lake on our right and the people on our left.
Coconuts.
A picturesque old house. It must have been beautiful in its heyday.
This was where Robin got married, 20 years ago. There were 1,000 people at the wedding. In Vietnam, you invite EVERYONE.
Meet Lucky, the dog in pink. He’s 11 years old.
These free exercise stations are dotted all over Hanoi. Not a bad idea…
Every now and then we saw people fishing in the lake.
But it’s ok. These people were clearing out the litter.
These murals were outside a primary school. They’re a lot more wholesome than the pictures we saw in the primary school in North Korea!
This is the view from my 4th storey window while I’m waiting for my iPad to charge. We’ve seen so many bonsais and pot plants in Vietnam. The person who lives here is clearly nurturing these plants. I’m pretty sure I’d be doing the same thing if I was born here.
The restaurant across the street from my hotel is a Pho place with a Michelin Star. I thought it would be a good idea to eat here for my last meal on Vietnamese soil.
It was delicious. And only 50,000 Dong!
That’s $3.15 Australian…
I’m pressing Publish on this and then in 20 minutes I’ll be heading for the airport for my flight back to Saigon and then home. This will be the first time I’ve actually stayed totally up to date on a holiday’s blogging!
I’m looking forward to seeing Scout. Oh! And the kids, of course…
Dad Joke of the Day:
We tell actors to “break a leg” because every play needs a cast.
Remember when Megan and I were on the cruise to Alaska and I’d share the view each morning? This was this morning’s view outside my cabin door.
By the time I emerged ready for the day, we were parked outside the island we’d be exploring. The difference from yesterday is that this time, we’d be going inside. This whole thing is pretty much hollow.
We’re going to see Sung Sot Cave. It was discovered by a pair of Frenchmen in 1901.
Again, it was a steep climb to get where we were going. It looks like there’s a lot of people here, but apparently this is nothing. We got here as soon as it opened. Later in the day it’s mayhem.
I don’t know who’s thick enough to need this sign to keep them from plunging over the edge, but here we are.
There are 3 caves here. Robin, who’s been here about 400 times in his 20 years of being a tour guide, told us that they get progressively bigger.
The official version of this is that it’s a pointing finger, but it looked a lot like “cucumber and tomatoes “ to us.
The caves were huge. It was clear that the whole island was simply a hollow shell.
Wanda was with me.
The guides were using laser pointers to show various things. I’ve forgotten what most of them were, but this one is meant to be a dragon.
This one is a turtle, with Chinese people leaving money next to its head for luck.
Romeo and Juliette on the balcony.
It was a one way walk through the caves, with our tender moving around the island to pick us up at the other side. It took around 45 minutes from go to whoa.
And Robin was right. The last cave was HUGE.
John took this shot.
As we ate breakfast, the boat turned around to take us back to the bus.
I would happily come back here and spend more time with. It’s so beautiful.
All too soon, we were in the bus heading back to Hanoi.
There are 3 million children in Vietnam who are affected by Agent Orange. We stopped at a big shopping centre/coffee shop that employs people affected by it.
30 years ago an ex soldier opened up the coffee shop. There are now 4 centres across the country to help the children.
I bought some lotus tea. I thought it would go well with the weasel coffee I bought in Hoi Anh.
Lots of communist flags everywhere. This was a particularly striking colour combination.
I started taking shots from the bus window. It was a long drive.
Vietnamese houses are incredibly tall and skinny. Here’s a view of the house from the side…
And here it is from the front.
Rice paddies everywhere.
Suddenly the bus stopped. Robin had spotted a field with farmers in it, transplanting the little rice plants. Those of us who wanted a closer look walked over.
1 month ago they planted the seeds. Now they’re digging them up to replant in the big rice fields. 3 months later it is harvested. If they’re lucky and have good weather, they earn $800/year.
It’s mostly old people who plant the family rice field. The kids prefer to work in the factories. Sometimes a family will let a neighbour work their land, because the government will take back fields that aren’t being used.
Here are the tufts of rice plants, ready to be transplanted into the big fields.
One woman decided to make use of the pesky tourists by getting Maree and I to hold the bag for her.
Organic pesticides… ducks!
Then we were in the city.
The Guinness Book of Records recognised this roadside art as the longest ceramic picture in the world. 11 kms.
Tonight is my last night in Vietnam. Tomorrow I have a late flight home.
But look at how I said goodbye to Hanoi…
Robin took me on a ride through the Hanoi traffic!
I snapped this photo directly outside our hotel in the centre of Hanoi this morning. Amazing.
We stopped at a pearl farm on the way to Halong Bay, and guess what I left in the loo again? Luckily Maree was the next one in and recognised Wanda hanging from the door.
I’ve decided to name her Wanda, because on this trip, she’s always wandering about…
We were given a quick tutorial about how they make the oysters produce pearls, how the pearls are graded and also how they grind down inferior pearls to make into face cream.
”Tomorrow is my birthday and I am 103!” said the fresh – faced girl doing the tour.
It may surprise you to know that I resisted buying anything in the shop. Yes, even this very fetching tiara.
The boat wasn’t ready for us when we arrived, so Robin dropped us off at an open-air market for an hour. It was interesting, especially on the lower level where the food and flowers were. It was full of colour and movement.
You had to keep your wits about you!
I didn’t see it, but John and Maree were walking around here a bit later on and saw a skinned dog carcass, ready to be bought.
They certainly love their flowers here.
After a while we emerged and walked around the streets nearby.
These stalls were fishmongers.
Most of the stalls had these bowls, with air being pumped in to try and keep the fish, snail, octopuses and shellfish alive. Poor little things.
Then a few minutes later we were horrified to see this woman descaling a fish while it was still alive……
I guess there are no animal rights in Vietnam yet.
Pearl farms are all over the place here. Many were damaged 6 months ago when the huge typhoon raged through. It was the biggest typhoon in 60 years. It bankrupted many people, because few people here buy insurance. These buildings are also empty after the typhoon. It must’ve been dreadful.
We had rose petals thrown on us as we boarded the boat. It was a replica of one of the steam boats that the French used when they were here.
My room was gorgeous. Then the ship lurched and we were off!
The legend of Halong Bay is that long ago, in the time before humans, a mother dragon and her babies decided to fly away and settle where there were no wars.
And if you fly here by helicopter, you look down and there is the one very big island and the other 1960 small islands so we’ll be sailing around the mother and the babies.
We are only here for one night, but I’m calling it now. It would be amazing to have 3 or 4 nights here, just gently cruising around. Even with the overcast weather we have, this place is spectacular.
Soon after lunch, we had the chance to go to one of the islands and climb to the top. Of course, I leaped into the boat and we were off!
However, when the boat got closer to the island, I started to have second thoughts. Look at how high that pagoda at the top is! It’s almost at a 90 degree angle! I wasn’t sure I could do this…
But then again, I wasn’t sure if I could do the Rim Walk at Kings Canyon or make it to the summit of Kosciusko, but I did them both. So I stopped doubting myself and set off.
Yes, it was steep. But there were so many people ahead of me that there were lots of pauses, so that made it easier. And before I knew it… well, almost…
… I was at the top.
Just to prove it!
Then, of course, we had to walk down again.
People on this tour have suggested that Wanda should be included in more photos, so here we are on our way back to the boat.
Our next excursion was to another pearl farm, but I chose to stay on the boat. I resisted temptation at a pearl farm once today… I didn’t need to push my luck anymore!
People were saying that this place must to incredibly beautiful with sunshine and blue skies, and they’re probably right. However, I just love my misty, mysterious looking glimpse of Halong Bay.
In a surprising move, I haven’t drunk any alcohol on this trip. Until now. Two for one during happy hour was too good a deal to pass up.
After dinner, the Aussies took over the dance floor on the top deck.
Nadine was able to synch her Spotify to the speaker and we let loose.
Today we were up bright and early to get to Train Street on time to see the train go through. I saw this propaganda poster celebrating 95 years of communism in Vietnam on the way and it was yet another echo of North Korea. Hanoi also has a statue of Lenin in the middle of the city.
On the first day of the trip, I asked Robin if we could go to Train Street. Most people on the bus hadn’t heard of it, but the rest of us were keen. And now here we were!
Train Street is one of the must-sees of Hanoi. You can see how narrow the street is, even before you factor in a train running down the middle of it. Cafės line the edges, and people come to sip a coffee and watch the train go by 2 inches from their noses.
Here’s where I had a run-in with Jen. On the way in, Robin said to us that he’d booked seats and tables for us at one of the cafės. “The owners have to pay rent, so it’s important that you buy a coffee or something. If you don’t want a coffee, just buy a bottle of water. Just something to help them out.”
Not a big ask. A coffee is only $2AUS. As you all know, I’m frugal, but a couple of dollars to pay for a spot 2 inches from a moving train is good value in anyone’s book.
But no. We had ordered our coffees and we were chatting, when a disturbance on our left caught our attention. Jen was loudly proclaiming, “But I don’t WANT anything!”
The coffee shop owner left her and went over to Robin, who came back with him and had a word to Jen, who ended up ordering a coffee. Once Robin and the owner had gone, she started grandstanding about how outrageous it all was.
She moved closer to me as she was complaining. “For Gods sake Jen, it’s $2,” I said. “ These people have to make a living.”
No, Frogdancer, that’s not the point,” she said. “The point is that I didn’t want a coffee.”
I decided to be blunt. We were all getting so tired of her.
No, YOU’RE missing the point,” I said. “ The point is that we’re renting the space in the front of his shop to see something we can’t see anywhere else. The rent we pay is $2 for a cup of coffee. If you don’t want to pay, you should never have left the bus.”
She took a tiny step back and began to justify herself when the train’s horn blared. Thank god! Everyone forgot everything else and we lifted our phones and waited for the train.
How incredible was that? It’s so dangerous and so exciting! We saw 2 trains, then we headed off to see one of the oldest universities in the world.
The Hanoi university was established in 1076 and, if it wasn’t for the royal family leaving Hanoi in 1802 and taking the uni with them, it would have been the oldest continuously operating uni in the world. That honour is for Bologna in Italy.
There are 2 small temples on the street outside, at the outer borders of the property. Even the king and queen, when they rode past, had to get off their horses and walk, to show respect for the knowledge within.
The first part of the uni is all original. Sadly, the back end of it was bombed to oblivion during the war, because it was very close to the train station.
Robin showing the university is on the 100,000 dong note. This is worth $6 in Australian dollars.
See the fishes at the top? These symbolise the normal students. They turn into dragons when they graduate.
And on we went to another courtyard. See the bonsai? They’re everywhere here.
Having a child go to university is still a source of pride for Vietnamese families, but it was even more rare back in the day. When a boy graduated – because girls weren’t allowed to go to school until 1910 – he had his name engraved here.
The dragons! Here are where the classrooms used to be.
Here’s Robin gesticulating wildly as he explains the symbolism of the sculpture. It’s about yin and yang… opposites helping each other. The turtle symbolises long life, while the crane is beauty. When there are floods, the turtle lets the crane rest on its back. When there is drought, the crane carries the turtle to water.
Confucius.
The doorways of most south-east Asian buildings are like this. It’s because humans know to step over, but spirit ghosts don’t, so they can’t enter the house.
Instead of a school bell they had a drum that beat at the end of every hour to signify the end of a period.
It’s so peaceful here, but in the background you can hear constant Horn beeping from the traffic .
The Clintons came to visit here in the year 2000 so they made sure they had this part finished so it looked decent .
This is a shrine honouring the headmaster of the university 700 years ago.
He taught the son of the king and then when the boy became king, he told him about corrupt ministers but the king didn’t listen and didn’t fire them. The headmaster resigned and went and opened up a school for the poor people. He’s like a second Confucius in Vietnam.
Then we were taken to see how Vietnam’s national art – lacquer – is done. It’s beautiful stuff, and unlike Chinese lacquer which has 3 layers, it has 10 layers. It takes 3 months to make an item from start to finish.
I couldn’t help it. This was the first thing I saw when I walked into the showroom and after 15 minutes of denial, it found a home in my suitcase.
Any parties that are held in the countryside , any man who doesn’t have a son has to sit with the women. There’s 52% boys in Vietnam.
After lunch, we were given an hour to walk around and see a bit of Hanoi and maybe do some shopping.
I walked up to the cathedral to orient myself, then set off. On the way I met John from the group. We walked and talked and got thoroughly lost. After a while I tried Google Maps, but it led us in the wrong direction. Finally I said to John, “Let’s get a rickshaw and head for the cathedral.”
I bargained him down on the price, saving us a whole $3, and within a few minutes we were back on familiar ground.
The WhatsApp group was full of people in the same predicament. Amazingly enough, we all arrived at the meeting place on time. Phew!
I’m not sure how fresh those undies would smell after being dried among all the exhaust fumes!
Pretty much all my life I’ve had short hair. A year ago, I decided to let it grow to see what it would be like.
Bloody awful, as it turns out. It was always in my face and driving me crazy. So while most of the group went to see Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum, I decided to find a hairdresser and get my hair cut.
In Hanoi, when a hairdresser washes your hair, you lie down. So much more comfortable than sitting in a chair and leaning back. I also received a scalp massage. Lovely!
And here I am, back to normal. Funnily enough, the first people I saw when I stepped out on the street were Robin, Maree and Tina. They were on their way to get a massage. They applauded when they saw me. 🤣
We took a flight mid-morning to Hanoi, so all of our morning was taken up by travel. Once we arrived, Robin was joyful. Hanoi is his hometown and his eyes were alight.
”I have crazy honeymoon tonight!” He’s had this running joke about how when he is away working, the postman looks after his wife.
Vietnam is a thin country. So are the houses.
Unfortunately, it is raining today. Not two seconds after I took this photo of the street where our restaurant was for lunch, a car clipped Peter, one of the guys in our group and knocked him onto a couple of bikes. He was livid. He got up, thumped the car and abused the driver. But being an English gentleman, he then apologised to us for using foul language.
Despite this, I really like Hanoi.
Before 1888, Hanoi was only 1 km square. Then the French came…
Now it’s 3,326 square kms. Two times bigger than London.
Before1954, men could have many wives, then the communists came in and banned it. Robin’s grandfathers both had 2 wives. It was very common.
Robin was born in 1975. He said that there were many bunkers in Hanoi during the war, and people would have maybe 20 minutes warning to get to a bunker before the B52s would arrive. His parents met in one of those bunkers.
Our lunch was delicious. In Saigon the food has a Chinese influence and is sweeter than here. then after lunch we went to taste a Hanoi delicacy – Egg Coffee.
Egg coffee dates from 1954. Hanoi was so poor that there was little milk available for everyone. A coffee shop owner decided to try whisking up egg yolks and putting it in coffee in place of milk.
They drink it with ice in summer, but warm in winter. I was dubious as to whether I’d like it, because I don’t have milk in my coffee, but it was delicious.
Everywhere you go in Vietnam, there are people sitting outside of shops and chilling.
Here’s me with slightly scary eyes in another rickshaw. We went for a slow trot around the old section of town.
Echoes of North Korea and the Kim family, but of course this is Ho Chi Minh.
Everyone is glued to their phones… it doesn’t matter where you come from.
KFC in Hanoi. As Robin said, “ He look like Ho Chi Minh!”
All of a sudden, louder than the beeping traffic, was a huge sound of squealing and shouting. Schools sound the same the world over.
If the temperature goes below 6C then schools close for the day. The kids arrive by motorbike and it’s too cold for them. In Hanoi, for every 100 people, 6 own a car.
When we got to the hotel, we had a couple of hours to chill. Robin said, “ If I am a few minutes late, please wish me luck. I might have to chase away the postman!
Here’s the view from my hotel window.
Now, I know I posted about a woman called Jen and how I wasn’t exactly warming to her abrasive personality. I haven’t posted anything more about her because I felt like maybe I was the only one who felt that way. Everyone else seemed to chat away with her quite happily, so I began to wonder if I was just being a bit of a bitch.
Imagine my relief when today, over lunch, Jen left the table to go to the bathroom and people let loose. It’s NOT just me! She’s driving everyone crazy. I think we were all glad that we are all on the same page. We were all wondering if we were the awful ones.
Today was a driving day, with over 4 hours between Hoi An and Hue. Hue is like Vietnam’s Rome… the history village.
It was the capital of the country for a couple of hundred years from 1809 onwards, with the king’s weekday and weekend palaces here. During the war, however, the Pink Palace, which was the main palace, was bombed extensively by the Americans. It’ll take another 20 years for it to be restored.
We had a look at the undamaged weekend palace. But first, we stopped at a marble carving place.
Robin told us about the superstition surrounding the laughing Buddha. “If you want your child to be smart, you rub the Laughing Buddha’s head and then rub your child’s head. If you want your child to be rich, you rub the Laughing Buddha’s tummy and then rub your child’s tummy. If you want your child to be a tour guide, you rub the Laughing Buddha’s mouth…” and he grinned.
I have a tiny collection of religious figurines… weird for an atheist, I know, so I went hunting for a little Buddha. I found one made from tigers-eye. I forgot to snap a photo before she wrapped it up, sorry. I’ll show it to you when I get home.
We set off along the road to Danone and Hue. The sea is the South China Sea, though in Vietnam it’s called something else.
As we drove along, Robin regaled us with some interesting facts about astrology and relationships up in the mountains.
In the countryside, fortune tellers and astrology are very important. The fortune tellers are mainly men, which surprised me a bit. City people don’t pay it as much mind as the country people do.
When a new building is being built, the fortune teller will decide which day to start and which brick to lay first.
First day of the year, someone from the Rooster or Buffalo years should enter first for good luck. People line up a friend or neighbour born in the appropriate years to do this. Robin said, “People from every other year tend to stay at home on the first day of the year. They’re too scared they’ll give someone bad luck if they’re accidentally the first guest in their house!”
Dating someone? In the country, if your signs don’t match up, they try to break you up. In the cities, it isn’t taken seriously. Foreigners can only buy apartments in Vietnam, and only for 50 years. Sounds more like a lease to me…
Danang is the 3rd biggest city in Vietnam, with 1.3 million people. It has a casino, but only foreigners are allowed in. You have to show your passport. Eastern retirees prefer this city, while Westerners prefer Hoi An.
Danang was a huge US base during the war.
We were driving through the mountains when Robin mentioned the Love Market. Naturally, we were all intrigued by this. “It’s hard for boys and girls to meet each other in the mountains,” he said. “It’s not like in the city where you meet at a bar or club. There’s so much distance between villages. So on Saturdays, it’s a normal market during the day, but at night it becomes a place where families bring their sons and daughters to meet. It’s called the Love Market. If a girl and a boy talk and get to love each other, they get married.”
”Oh” he said. “ I forgot to say that before they get married, the boy has to kidnap the girl and keep her in his room for 3 days and feed her breakfast, lunch and dinner. If she eats all the food, she is saying yes. At the end of the 3 days, he has to let her go, whether she accepts or refuses him, it doesn’t matter. He has to let her go.”
This island with all of the houses on it is where Vietnam houses its lepers. There aren’t as many people suffering from leprosy as there have been in the past, but it still exists here.
The last king in Vietnam abdicated in 1945. He is buried 500m from the Eiffel Tower in Paris. When he got married, he promised his wife that she would be his only wife.
He didn’t exactly keep that promise, having 13 wives in total. His last wife was french.
Still, that was positively restrained when you consider that the average number of wives the kings had was around 100.
Every night, the king was presented with a table with all the wives names and he’d select which women he wanted to sleep with that night. Eunuchs grew rich with the bribes the wives gave them to put their names forward. It was important to give the king a child. When he died, the wives who were childless were buried alive with him.
One king was famous for sleeping with 6 wives on the one night and getting 5 of them pregnant. He ended up having 165 children.
When the kin selected the lucky ladies, they would be brought to him, wrapped naked in blankets “ like spring rolls,” said Robin. “ So they couldn’t bring weapon to kill the king.”
I’ve been cropping out the litter left everywhere, but this is how much of the space looks. It’s a shame, because this place is so beautiful, but you see evidence of human plastics and paper just about everywhere.
After lunch, we went for a boat ride on the Perfumed River. So named because back in the day, there were many apricot trees upriver, and when the fruit fell into the water, the river was scented.
There was a shop on the boat. Immediately, all the women snapped into gear. After yesterday’s effort, I wasn’t going to buy anything, but when I saw that fridge magnets were $2:40 AUS, I bought one.
I’m only human.
A 400 year old Buddhist temple. This was built on the site of a Muslim temple that had been there for hundreds of years before.
This reminded me of when Helen and I went to the temple in Beijing and lit some incense.
We only had about 5 minutes here, but it was beautiful.
Happy Buddha.
Vietnam has small shops and markets everywhere.
Our next stop was the second palace. The king had a weekday palace in the east ( near the rising sun) and a weekend palace in the west that when he dies becomes where his tomb is.
When the king dies, he is cremated and then 4 bodyguards take his body behind a big door and bury it there. Straight after they emerge, they’re killed, so no one will ever know where the king lies.
The entrance to see the king is long, so that when people finally meet him, or more usually, the upper ministers, they are already hot and tired and at a disadvantage.
The chocopie offering is a nice touch.
This used to be the king’s bedroom.
You’d have to be careful going up and down this set of stairs!
This is the part of the river that flows through the palace, so if they were ever under attack, they’d still have water. It’s also how goods were delivered before trucks.
And finally … the door. I wonder if it was weird to spend your weekends there as the king, knowing that one day you’ll be hidden behind here, or if it brought comfort.
It must’ve been lovely to spend time here. It’s so calm and beautiful.
Then it was time for a rickshaw ride through the old citadel. This was an optional extra. It cost something like 250,000 dong, which sounds like a hellava lot but is only $15.
Those guys worked hard for that $15.
We stopped once for a look at the top of the citadel. The rest of the time we stayed in the rickshaws as the traffic swirled closely around us. The drivers here have nerves of steel.
It was interesting to be in the thick of it, but sometimes the exhaust fumes were a bit strong.
We were dropped off at the Romance Hotel, where we were booked for the night. I walked in and started laughing… look at the size of the bed! I put my iPad on it for scale.
You could have an orgy here with no worries whatsoever.
Totally wasted on me, however! Dad Joke of the day:
Never iron a four-leaf clover. You don’t want to press your luck.
Today was a rainy day. There were a couple of optional excursions on offer in the morning, but Robin decided that we’d all be too miserable in the rain, so we had a lazy morning before heading into the regularly scheduled program.
We went to a veggie farm and cooking school. It was great!
With some time to spare this morning, I went for a walk after breakfast. Even though it was Sunday morning, the traffic was brisk. You took your life in your hands every time you crossed the road.
Lots of lane ways.
Then before I knew it, we were off to the farm! We sat at a table for a delicious ‘welcome drink’ and John said, “Hey, look what’s under the tabletop.”
How lovely.
We were given farmers shirts to put on over our clothes, along with the Vietnamese hats, then out into the field we went!
No space is wasted. Here, they’ve mixed in a flower crop- gladioli- with lettuce.
Whenever a Vietnamese family has a baby, the government gives 100square metres of ground. Half of the population are farmers, so this is very important to them. The trouble is, the pieces of land are scattered all around. So this series of garden beds are owned by many different families, all looking after their own plots of land.
These plots are on the literal outskirts of Hoi An. We walked along while our farmer picked handfuls of different herbs and passed them along so we could smell them.
This is what a peanut crop looks like!
Here’s me, hoeing the ground so that our farmer could plant some spinach plants. It’s me, I promise.
If you zoom in, you’ll be able to see the yoke that the buckets are suspended from.
After this, it was time for the cooking class. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to doing this, probably because I never really enjoyed all the cooking classes I ran during my thermomix days. But it was a lot of fun.
There I am, 6th from the left, ready to start making my savoury pancake. The scariest thing about it was that we had to flip them over after a couple of minutes. Not with a spatula, like regular people do. Oh no… we had to flip it up in the air from the pan and then catch it.
I was so sure I wouldn’t be able to do it. But I was wrong.
LOOK AT THIS!
Sometimes I surprise myself.
Also, I don’t think I’ve ever had a more flattering photo of myself.
Then it was back down the path to the buggies waiting to take us to either the hotel or to the Old Town to shop.
Without an exception, the men went back to the hotel. The women all went shopping. It was raining, so I had my Antarctica rain jacket on. Robin went with us to the markets, and kindly took me to the shop where I wanted to go.
Yes, I decided that I couldn’t live without that beautiful embroidered artwork of the Hoi A street. It’s coming home to The Best House in Melbourne.
After that exercise, there was no way I was buying anything else. I wandered around alone, just looking, until I bumped into Maree and Tina from our group.
Look! The terminators have arrived… and they look fabulous!
We were in a clothes shop and Tina wanted to buy her adult son a t- shirt. She noticed a young couple in the shop and asked the man if he’d mind trying on the T-shirt, as he was around the same size as her son. He agreed. once he had it on, Tina asks, “Do you mind if I hug you, just to see if it feels right ?”
His girlfriend thought that was hilarious. Him? Not so much…
We headed in here for a couple of G&Ts while it rained.
I felt sorry for this lady, still making her sweet potato fritters in the pouring rain.
I bought another souvenir on the way back to the hotel. Coffee that has been ground from coffee beans shat from weasels. Can’t wait to spring this one on Georgia!
Before dinner, we went to a dance/acrobatic show called the Bamboo Circus. The core strength of these acrobats has to be seen to be believed.
We have a big day tomorrow, so it’ll be an early start. We leave magical Hoi An and we’re heading further north.
I can see myself coming back here one day. It’s a lovely place.
Dad Joke of the day:
The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered.
Today was was an early start as we had a 9AM flight to get to Hoi An. This is a place with a quaint history. Hundreds of years ago, when ships were run by wind power, this became a place where Japanese and Chinese businessmen could meet, buy and sell and do all that good stuff. The name Hoi An means ‘ two streets.’ One called Chinese street, the other Japanese street
After a while, two things happened. Diplomatic relations between Japan and China got better, so they could deal directly with each other and they didn’t need neutral territory anymore. And the steam ships were invented. Hoi An’s harbour wasn’t big enough to accommodate them. The place fell into disuse.
In the 1980’s, before Vietnam opened to the world, a Polish guy saw Hoi An and realised that Vietnam had a goldmine here. He advised the government to slap heritage protection on the buildings and open it up for tourists.
Everyone who comes here is glad they listened. This place is a gem.
We wandered through in the late afternoon, had dinner here and then I went for a much-needed massage.
Here is Hoi An:
Taken from the balcony of Hoi An’s oldest house, built in 1790. The same family still lives there and sells embroidery. The pink building is the Japanese bridge.
It’s like a Little Venice.
Lanterns everywhere.
We saw many marigolds with red ribbons tied around them. This is done when you really want something to happen and you make a wish.
Remember last year when I was on the top of the mountain in Whistler, looking at the spectacular view and then this song came on? How funny to be reminded of it in such a different place!
During the day, only pedestrians and cyclists can use the streets. Occasionally, you’ll see a motorbike, but that’s only permitted for the people who live here.
Argh! Here is where I left my heart…
It’s a shop where they produce art by embroidering silk threads. I saw a magnificent piece.
It’s the one on the easel. They want $2,700 for it, UNFRAMED.
Yikes.
When you’re walking and you hear someone saying “Beepbeepbeep,” behind you, get out of their way!
This place is stunning. I already know I’d come back here in a heartbeat. The best tailors in Vietnam are here, so if you want clothes made, this is the place. The massages aren’t bad, either. A full 1 hour body massage with hot stones and aromatherapy for twenty Australian dollars?
Amazing.
Dad Joke of the Day:
I wanted to make sure that my daughter would be good at catchingbutterflies and fish.
On the way out of town, we passed by the courthouse and there were many bridal parties getting ready to go in and do the deed.
“Ahhh, many stupid men…” said Robin sadly.
Homelessness in Vietnam is handled differently. Vans with a doctor and police inside drive around.
Old people get taken to a government nursing home.
Kids get taken back home, while drug addicted people get taken to rehab.
Today we’re going to the Mekong Delta, the best area for farming in Vietnam.
“Very rich country, said Robin. “ They get 3 crops a year instead of one. They also have lucky weather. Very few typhoons. The people in the Mekong Delta drink a lot. They enjoy life. The farmers up north, if they earn $10 they spend $1 and save for the bad times. The farmers in the middle, if they earn $10 they save $4. The farmers in the Mekong? They earn $10, they spend $11. They enjoy life.”
A weirdly interesting thing we learned is that in the northern parts of Vietnam, it’s the custom to bury people TWICE. When Robin was 9 years old, he remembers all his family getting into a truck in the middle of the night and going to dig up his grandmother coffin. They dug up her bones, washed them with rice wine and then rearranged them back in place.
We passed by many rice fields with tombs in them. These are old tombs. Fifty years ago, laws were passed preventing families from putting grandpa out in his rice paddy when he died.
We hopped into a motor boat and traveled up the river to see a coconut family- and learn how they harvest coconut for just about everything. This was a chance to shop. People were selling everything from coconut lollies to salad servers. There were clothes and paintings and ice creams.
There was also a crocodile leather section. Robin told a story which was my undoing.
“My Chinese customers like to buy crocodile wallets. When you eat crocodile, a lot goes in but not much comes out. They hope a crocodile wallet will do the same thing with money!”
I need a new wallet, as the one I bought in Sth Africa back in 2014 is looking a bit shabby. So here it is:
I saw Robin and told him that his story made me buy a wallet. He laughed and said, “It did the same thing to me!! I just bought one for my father- in – law!”
Snake rice wine – probably just as awful-tasting as the snake soju we tried in Pyongyang.
I realised when we were on the boat that I left my precious Antarctica Pee bottle, otherwise known as my water bottle, on a shelf in the ladies loo on the dock. How could I have done anything so stupid???
I love that bottle. It’s been on the ice in Antarctica, walking down the streets of London and Dublin, driven on 2 Australian road trips and been on the Ghan. I’ve lost it 3 times before… once in London in a shop, when a lady raced after me with it. Once in Tullamarine airport, where I walked back 20 minutes to retrieve it from the hook behind a toilet door, and once in Kangaroo Island.
There was no point in getting upset. I was on a riverboat heading away from the dock.
I knew this day would happen one day. I didn’t realise that today would be it.
After we finished shopping at the coconut place, we headed off for a 10 minute TukTuk ride around the village. That was fun.
I liked the bits of iron.
We ended up stopping at a chocolate cafe, where we tried various Vietnamese fruits and we were also treated to a musical show.
The Vietnamese instrument called the Dan-bau only has one string. If you squint, you can see it.
After this, we went out to a tiny dock on a canal behind the cafe, where we were spread out over 4 boats. Of course, I sat in the front of our boat, so I had a perfect view.
This trip down the canal leading onto the river was lovely. The bamboo trees were like a tunnel and it was so peaceful. I hadn’t given this part of the day’s itinerary much thought, but it was an unexpected highlight.
Lunch was a treat!
The first course was Elephant Fish spring rolls. So named because the fish is the shape of an elephant’s ear.
They were made for us at the table. So fresh and delicious! Vicky couldn’t believe how good they were, with the fish and fresh vegetables.
They also brought a globe to the table that looked like it could maybe be bread. She cut into it and it turned out to be lined with cheese. It was ok, but a couple of people at my table loved it and went back for thirds.
There were around 7 courses and they were all fresh and delicious.
We’re certainly getting well fed on this trip. When our boat hit the dock back where we’d started that morning, I was first off and went racing to the ladies loo. As I rounded the door, I had my fingers crossed.
And look! My fabulous Antarctica Pee Bottle was still on the high shelf where I’d left it. I was so happy!
After this rapturous reunion, we drove off to a bamboo factory.
This was interesting. They also made silk garments as well as bamboo and they showed how they unravel the silk worms cocoons.
I bought something for Georgia here. I hope she likes it.
Just before dinner, we were gathering in the hotel foyer when something a little unpleasant happened. You know how sometimes you get a bad vibe about someone and you instinctively back away? I’d got the vibe from day1 from a woman called Jen. Ex- police and a real know-it-all. Within 10 minutes I decided that I’d steer clear of her as much as possible in such a small group.
I was chatting with someone and I looked up to see her leaning towards Robin, pointing her finger at him as if she was telling him off. Naturally, I moved closer to hear what was going on.
It turns out that the alcohol the hotel stocked didn’t have an extensive enough selection for her. “Just having one red and one white wine isn’t good enough. Where is the Baileys? Where are the cocktails? This is supposed to be a 4 star establishment.”
Robin tried to say something and she steamrolled right over him. “ We’re the clientele. You should stock what the clientele wants! It’s not good enough!”
Now, how this was any of Robin’s fault, I have no idea, but he was copping it. I walked over and quietly said, “Hey Jen, why don’t you just put it on the feedback form?”
”I certainly WILL,” she said. Robin grabbed the opportunity to say that the next hotel has a bar right beside the pool. Jen said, “When I was in Bali, they had a bar IN the pool. You could swim up, sit on a stool and have your drink right there.” She wriggled her shoulders suggestively.
What a wanker! Those pools are a dime a dozen in Bali. She was talking as if it was an exotic rarity. After that talk, I don’t think she likes me much either. She and a couple of other women were looking for spots at dinner. They rejected one table, moved towards ours when she saw me and suddenly announced, “This table is fine,” and made a beeline away. I chuckled.
I enjoyed what happened next very much. The waitress was at the other table and Robin came over and said to the girl, “ At this table we have a Queen here,” indicating Jen. She lapped it up, the waitress bowed and smiled, while I sat there thinking, ‘People will always come back at you if you’re nasty.’
Everyone else seems lovely, so she shouldn’t be too hard to avoid…
So here I am, after my first full day in Vietnam, using my free hour before dinner to start this post. The group I’m travelling with all seem nice, and the funny thing that were all solo travellers! Robin, our guide, said that he’s never had 17 guests with 17 rooms before. Most are Aussies, with a couple of English and a stray New Zealander.
After being driven to the airport by my limo driver – I knew I paid too much for this trip – the 3 Melbournians spotted each other at the airport. We had breakfast in the lounge together, but split up on the plane. Thank goodness, because I swear I slept for most of the 7 hour flight, even though it was during the day. I think that after the time I’ve had with my parents, my body was releasing a lot of tension…
Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon has been a part of Vietnam for 360 years. The older people call it Saigon, which I’ll probably do here because our guide calls it that, so I’m used to hearing it. Saigon means ‘Land of the cotton tree.’ It’s the biggest city here, with 10 million people.
Hanoi has been a part of Vietnam for 4,000 years. Robin was very proud of this, as he’s from Hanoi. After my trips to Central Australia and Arnhem Land, where I was looking at art and hearing stories of the 100,000+ year civilisation, it didn’t feel as impressive…
There are 9 million people in Hanoi. This sounds like a lot until you hear that there are 100 million people who live in Vietnam, and the population grows by a million a year. 20% are middle class, while 70% are poor.
Saigon is richer than the north.
In some places, Vietnam is only 57 kms wide!
Anyone born before the end of the war in 1975 is classed as an old person. Yikes!
The first day was an early start to drive to see the Vietnam Cong tunnels. I was looking forward to this, as there’s a lot about the Vietnam War that I don’t really know about.
Along the way there were a couple of things I saw that really brought home that I was back in Asia. I’ve been to Bali (twice), Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, China and North Korea, but I haven’t been back since 2018. You forget what Asia’s like.
Motorbikes everywhere.When a car costs four times the average yearly wage, people tend to gravitate towards the humble motorcycle. There are 7 million of then in Saigon alone!
Fresh meat, anyone?
Look at how she’s carrying this huge flower arrangement!
The Vietnam Cong tunnels were very interesting.
When they were going to split Vietnam into two countries, they gave it around 3 months so people could move where they wanted to live; under the communists in the north or the capitalists in the south. 1.1M people moved from the North as opposed to 300,000 the other way. The numbers may have been more even, buy Ho Chi Minh called for people to stay where they were, in the heart of the enemy. Of course, this worked really well as the war went on.
This is me about to go down into a tunnel. Quite a few people from the tour elected not to go down, but hey. I’ll probably only be here once, so I’m doing it!
In the south, particularly around Saigon, the Communists dug bunkers, then connected tunnels to them. You had to be thin to fight and live in the tunnels! The westerners were mostly too fat to go in after them, so they brought in soldiers from the Philippines and trained them to do this.
1968 US joined the fight when the communists bombed their embassy.
There were around 200 kms of tunnels. 2,000 people at a time lived underground.
Hospitals, kitchens etc. They’d live underground during the day and come up to stretch their legs at night. When you see what they were prepared to do, it’s no wonder they won.
I was second in line, behind a woman called Maree. I was scared that I’d move too fast while being doubled over in the dark and end up tripping and planting my face in her behind. Not really the way to introduce yourself to the group. Thankfully, it didn’t happen, so both our dignities remain intact.
Here is how the tunnels worked. The levels were 3, 6 and 8 metres deep, complete with bamboo spike traps and an escape route into the river.
At first, the US soldiers caught detect where the kitchens were by the smoke, so they’d drop a bomb on it. Then the Vietnam Cong soldiers started to dig tunnels for the chimneys and put filters in, so that when the smoke escaped, it was far less likely to be seen.
Imagine being a soldier, walking along, looking around at the trees for any ambushes…
Bamboo spikes for the unwary. It must have been awful. You’d never have a second to relax your guard when on patrol.
We saw many traps, but this one was the worst. If someone kicked the door down, this trap would fly down from the ceiling and get whoever was standing there. It has a hinge, so even if the top part was stopped, the bottom part would still be moving and then, “No more cucumber and tomatoes…” said Robin.
Going down into the tunnel. It had lights along the way, but it must’ve been very dark and claustrophobic for the soldiers.
People don’t like to buy homes near rubber farms because the trees are poisonous. People who work there die 3 – 5 years earlier than usual.
For lunch, we went to an organic farm and cooking school nearby.
The meal was exquisite. Well, except for the banana spring rolls for dessert. How anyone can like bananas is beyond me.
I saw these dog gate ornaments just as Robin was saying, “yes, we do eat dog.”
The Presidential Palace, built in the 60’s after the old one was bombed. See the coverings over the windows? They’re representing bamboo.
So many bonsai’s throughout the city.
See? Bamboo.
Here are the tanks that crashed through the gates of the palace and ended the war.
I saw this and had to take the photo. So pretty.
Always a gift shop.
This is from the top balcony of the Palace.
I was heading to the toilets before the bus was going when I bumped into this girl having a photoshoot. To be honest, we spent far too much time here, and at the post office.
The post office was built in the 1800’s by the French. The only thing that changed is the picture of Ho Chi Minh that smiles benevolently down.
Outside the post office, I saw this building being engulfed by the ones around it, but standing its ground.
l only took 2 pictures at the War Museum. This one, of course, is famous.
This was nearby. Beauty made from something so terrible.
We had an hour here and it wasn’t enough time. Allow a couple of hours to move through. It was terribly moving.
And finally, I caught this pair from the bus window- Mum filing her nails while her kid is on
