Hanoi and Ha Long bay

So there's been a bit of a break since the last post. After Saigon I flew to Danang then shared a taxi with two other solo travellers to Hoi An. Everyone on the flight was going to Hoi An I think. Its a very pretty town, ridiculously so in fact, it looks like a set from a Disney musical. There are lots of tailor shops there but the only thing I bought was a fake North Face bag to use as a day sack. I stayed at the Hop Yen hostel, which was $7 per person for a twin room, cheapest in town I think. I shared with a German fellow, who left the next day but paid for the room while I was out - thanks for that, you didn't leave any contact though! It rained constantly in Hoi An so I didn't make it to the beach.

I took a day trip from Hoi An to the My Son ruins, which are the remains of some Cham temples in the jungle. They weren't a patch on Angkor but it was good just to walk around in the jungle for a day. The most interesting thing was the several large pools which were actually in bomb craters. There is one temple which is in pretty good shape, the rest were in bits and under heavy restoration. I booked the trip through the hostel, I think pretty much every time I've booked a tour or bus here it has picked me up from the hostel and then drove around in circles for about an hour picking people up, I saw my hostel about three times in Hoi An. Surely it could be better organised. The souvenir shop at My Son was a treat - fridge magnets depicting Paris and Marseilles, nothing to do with Vietnam or the temples. There's a lot of that in Vietnam - rows of shops selling the same things, men trying to sell you books, always the same ones (photocopied versions of Mr Nice, Irvine Welsh, the same South East Asia Lonely Planet...). Speaking of fridge magnets, I've lost my Angkor magnets somewhere along the line, the folks at home will be disappointed.

It was a 3hr trip from Hoi An to Hue, some nice scenery as we went through the mountains. The bus takes you through a fairly long tunnel; The train actually goes over the top of the mountains which would have been spectacular but it would have meant a journey to Danang first and then getting a train, the bus won out as it was easier. One of the people I met at Danang airport was traveling north so I teamed up with her (I'm mentioning no names here), and together with two others we met on the bus, we decided to walk from the bus stop to the hostel we had looked up, and so avoid the taxi touts. Felt good to find the place in an unfamiliar city. It's turning out to be quite easy to meet people, and it feels a bit less stressful walking around trying to find a place to stay or eat. Not much going on in Hue I thought, we stayed in Hue Backpackers, which was very good for the price, good food too (I had a chicken burger for the first time ever, don't know why apart from I saw someone else's and it looked good). I was there three nights, and spent two evenings in the DMZ bar across the road as the beer was cheaper than the hostel. There is a great vegetarian restaurant by the river, can't remember the name. Vietnam is actually turning out to be quite easy to be a vegetarian, there is a tradition here among hte buddhists of having a few days each month when they don't eat meat (only the monks are truly vegetarian though.) The main part of Hue is a huge walled citadel with a smaller walled area inside it (the Forbidden City), I spent the best part of a day there but it wasn't that impressive to be honest. Its more interesting to read about the history, the place was bombed to bits by both the French and the Americans.

I spent a day with my travel buddy walking out to visit the Tomb of Du Doc, Hue is surrounded by tombs of all the past emperors. It was worth the three hour hike as the tomb area was well preserved, a nice lake, some temples, some statues of the emperors mandarins. The walk back to Hue was insane, rush hour, roads chocked with bikes but no pavements. Made it back alive somehow. Took an overnight bus from Hue to Hanoi, 14 hours, cost $10. Arrived about 7am and again walked to a hostel rather than take a taxi. I got ripped off in Saigon I think (paid three times what I should have done according to my friend who lives there, even though the meter was on), wherever possible I walk anyway, I never take a cab at home unless I'm with other people. The first hostel in Hanoi I stayed at was Central Backpackers, not far from the Hoan Kiem lake and by the St Joseph church. I arrived on Christmas day so it was nice to see a procession there, all Vietnamese bishops and nuns and so on. The Central Backpackers is a new place run by young Vietnamese so I thought I 'd give it a try. It was ok, room clean enough, and there was always people hanging out downstairs, a couple of guys had guitars so it was good to have a strum. On the downside, the free beer tasted off, there was no sink in the bathroom so people were spitting on the shower floor while brushing their teeth, and I got messed around on which bed I was sleeping in. Also, once in the evening I asked for a cup of tea, which they advertise as being free, the young man just sort of brushed me away, and sat down behind the reception desk and stared at me. So I started to feel a bit weird about the place. My friend had booked into the Little Hanoi on Hang Ga street, I went to check it out and it seemed a lot better. I booked my Ha Long bay tour there (that's the picture above). It was $45 for two days, one night on a boat. That was enough for me, to float around the amazing limestone karst islands, explore a cave, do a bit of kayaking. The cabins on the boat were ok, not as cramped as I expected, they even had their own bathroom with shower. 14 people stayed on the boat; some people got off at Cat Ba island for the night, they were going back to Hanoi the next day, I couldn't understand that as it meant no kayaking and very limited cruising time through the bay. The meals were included, but not drinks. It was 30,000 dong per bottle of Tiger, no other beer. Some cocktails or fruit juice would have been good, hardly anyone was drinking. I met some interesting people, Brazillians, Germans, Americans, and a Maori woman. (Just for the record it is 18,000 Dong to the dollar, so the beer cost a pound - still twice as much as in the street side bars). Ha Long bay was definitely worth it, it was my main reason for coming to Vietnam.

Yesterday I went to see the preserved corpse of Ho Chi Minh, the highly revered former President, it was a bit strange really, everyone sort of shuffles past staring at this waxy looking figure in a glass case. Cameras are not allowed (they get confiscated before entry and handed back afterwards), clothing must be respectable, and people were getting told off for having their hands in their pockets or talking. I also visited the Ho Chi Minh museum, lots of pictures and letters giving the life story of the man, I think it would be better to read a book first though. After that I went to the "Hanoi Hilton", or Hoa Loa prison, which was first used by the French to imprison the Vietnamese during colonial times, the conditions being horrific. There is a room with statues of Vietnamese prisoners in stocks, that was a bit spooky. Overall it was similar to the Tiger prison in the War Remnants Museum in HCMC, which had far more interesting stuff in it. The Hoa Loa was later used by the Viet Cong to imprison American POWs (mostly pilots, including Republican John McCain), the pictures show a deliberate contrast with the conditions endured by the Vietnamese prisoners - the Americans are shown eating Christmas dinner, receiving gifts from home and playing volleyball.

One day left in Hanoi before I go to Luang Prabang in Laos for New Years Eve. I'm flying again, which is not really in the spirit of backpacking, but I'd heard too many stories about 36 hour bus rides, people waiting hours for a driver to appear, drivers being drunk and so on. A 1 hour flight is just too tempting, although they are expensive - cost me 126 Euros.