A Little Vacation, Revisit to Hoian and Hue

Well I’m nearing my time to leave Vietnam again, so rather than sit still I decided to take my lovely girlfriend to somewhere for a week away. It was to hard to organize time outside of Vietnam so we decided to head somewhere in Vietnam. I wanted to revisit Hoian as I skipped over it while I was on my motorbike before and Sông wanted to head to the beach. So it was settled. We where heading to Hoian then Hue for a bit of R&R.

It was going to be a long track to get from Sa Pa to Hoian, first we had to catch a 8pm train from Lao Cai to Hanoi, this would arrive at 6am in Hanoi, then we purchased tickets in Hanoi to head to Hoian which left at 7pm and arrived at Dong Ha at 3pm, finally arriving at Hoian at 4pm. All up almost 3 days of travel, very smelly and tiring.

I knew exactly where to go to find a hotel, the city wasn’t very large and as I had driven the roads before I could remember the turns and way to get to the hotel.

That evening we went for a walk, it was nice to see something completely different but it was HOT, very HOT… even at night it was still well about 35oC. We walked around looking at all the shops, then ended up down by the river and habour for a bit of dinner.  The river was live with local music and performances and people singing and dancing. Along the river was also small beer hoi and noodle shops.

The next morning as promised we hired a motorbike and headed for the beach. It wasn’t to hard to find, just had to follow all the sun burned tourists on bicycles heading in 1 direction. We stopped in at a small shack out of the way and the lady gave us free parking and sun bathing provided we buy a drink. Was a lot cheaper than the main area, and we had a good stretch of beach to ourselves.

We spent the rest of the day swimming and relaxing in the hot sand. It was heaven…

The following day we decided to head the other way, I remember reading something about a place linked to Anchor near Hoian called “My Son” but I drove past it when I was on my trip and didn’t stop. So this time we would go and see this. It was about 40km out of Hoian, a good hours ride on the motorbike, the weather today was a melting 45oC.

My Son was 4 sites of rounded buildings from the same people that built Anchor Wat. The site was no where as grand, it was tiny infact. But it was never the less fun. It was a good 2 hours walking around the stones and old statues from the 8^th-12^th century.  It was a lot of fun having Sông with me as we played around in the ruins making fun with the statues and exploring every aspect of this historic place. It was extremely hot though, and it wasn’t doing either of us much good. The rest of the day we spent in the hotel in AC cooling down.

I had originally planned for us to head to Hue by bus on the 3^rd day, but I remembered the guys from easy rider I had talked to on my trip.  To me sitting on a bus for 4 hours and not seeing anything along one of the best coastal roads in the world sounds boring…. So I booked us both on a easy rider tour for 1 day from Hoian to Hue.

The next morning at 8am we were off, we each had a guide and a bike. All our gear was strapped to the back of the bikes.

We headed along the coast up along the beach road towards Hue, till we reached a place called Marble Mountain. So called as it was not only marble but all the shops and workshops around the town where master crafts men of marble art.

We climbed up the mountain into a old Buddhist monastery area, and then up the hill. The hill top was full of caves with shrines and carvings inside all devoted to Buddha. At the top of the hill was a amazing lookout where we could see the ocean.

We climbed down and into another cave. This cave had a grand hall with loads loads of statues and one large Buddha which was lit up by the light coming from the hole in the roof of the cave. It was very magical and looked very spiritual.

After climbing back down the mountain we headed back towards the bike. I was looking for 1 marble statue in particular to have a photo with. It was the lady featured on the top gear program and just before we got to the bike I found a smaller version of her.

Back on the bikes we reconnected with the AH1 HWY and started heading up the Hai Van pass. Last time I was here it was so cloudy I couldn’t see 2 meters infront of  me, today there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and we could see as far as the eye could see. It was amazing. We stopped at the top of the hill for a short break and to explore the old war bunkers. Sông and I went for al walk up the hill, there was so much I didn’t see last time purely because I couldn’t see them from the fog. This time we explorered the old bunkers and took some nice shots of the view point from the top of the Hai Van Pass.

Once we had spent a hour walking up and down the hill top we headed back to the bikes and continued onwards down the hill. We stopped at the view point to a town (same place I stopped when I was on my bike), but this time I had someone to take a photo with me and Sông as last time I was on my own.

We stopped on the island for some lunch, normally when Sông and I eat or are at a restaurant we play cards to pass the time and have some fun. When I took out the cards to play the motorcycle guides suddenly became all interested. Then when I told them we were playing a Vietnamese card game they all crowded around and joined in playing. 


It was a lot of fun when I started saying “Oi Zoi Oi” (Oh my god) when I was losing or someone put the wrong card down. They all laughed and loved it. Normally the game is played for money but if I would play for money I would loss all my money so we just play for fun.

After Lunch we headed back on the bikes and continued along the Hwy till we reached the other side of the next mountain pass then we turned off and took a smaller local road. The road took the long way around a large lake, which would then link up with the coastal road and take us in the back way of Hue.

The road was one I had not taken when I passed the area, so it was really nice to see. We stopped a lot for photos, the view and weather was great.

Sông and myself were having a great trip, we stopped on a bridge and could see a small fishing village below. We had a few photos together on the bikes. It was great fun. The remaining day was fairly uneventful we drove into Hue and I directed the driver to the hotel, again we stayed at the hotel I used when I was last in Hue. The lady at reception remembered me as I fixed there network last time I was in Hue.

The Easy Rider Tour was a really nice way to see the road between Hue and Hoian. It is much more expansive than the bus, but it gives a lot more to the day and you get to see a lot of things that you would otherwise miss out on if you take the bus.

The first day in Hue, we rented a motorbike and I took Sông for a walk around the old imperial palace, she was very impressed with the palace and it was fun knowing all the information and me playing tour guide. Normally it’s the other way around ;)

We wondered about the palace all day, seeing the smaller buildings. 

The following day we rented a motorbike and this time I took my lovely girlfriend for a tour around to see the outlying temples and imperial buildings around Hue. It was a very hot day so being on the bike was nice as it cooled us down a lot with the build in air-condition ;)

We visited the tomb of a old Vietnamese emperor first, the same tomb I visited before. It was decorated with ceramic pieces all over it. 

Outside was stone warriors and horses which were to protect the emperor in the afterlife, it was really nice to be back in this place and see it again.

Following this we headed to another tomb, this one was harder to remember how to get to. But with a bit of luck we managed to find it in, we walked around the large area and old buildings for some time.

We headed up the back of the tomb area and to some ruins with a large tree growing over it. Great place to get out of the hot sun and have some funny photos ;)

The next day we spent time shopping and walking around the center of Hue, it was raining so we didn’t go and see much, but the weather did stop for a hour or so and we headed to a park with loads of pine trees for a bit of a walk. There was a wall with loads of bullet holes in it. It was quiet a sight to see. It was just standing out on its own in this park.

The next day we boarded a train back to Hanoi, so not much happened.

Back in Hanoi we made ready for a bit of lite entertainment that night. We were lucky to be heading to the MTV EXIT concert in Hanoi, Sapa Ochau had been given a few extra tickets. That night we headed to see loads of great music and bands from all around the world. The concert was a charity event to provide information and to try and generate awareness about human trafficking, and to try and stop it. The last band to play was Simple Plan. It was a blast.

My time was drawing to a close in Vietnam, in 2 days I would fly out. The last few days all I wanted to do was spend as much time as possible with Sông.

That’s all from Vietnam,

Till Next Time, HAVE FUN.

Steffen.

                      

Life in the remote north Vietnam

Its been some time now since I have travelled to a new country but it doesn’t mean I haven’t seen bucket loads of new things. This blog post is more like a bunch of short stories rather than 1 large one.

In between each trip I spent my time helping out new friends in Sapa and doing a bit of web design for Sapa O’Chau (who you would remember from my previous post).  But the main of my time was spent enjoying my time with my lovely girlfriend Sông.

Learning  2 cultures, 2 languages and 2 people.

The first thing you get to know after staying in the remote north for more than 2 days is that the locals do NOT think themselves Vietnamese. They are Hmong, and very proud of that. As such they have there own language which is centuries old, there own rules and cultures and way of life. The Vietnamese then impose there rules over the top as the country they live in.

So learning to speak hmong, and Vietnamese is quite hard. I want to learn hmong so I can understand the locals and friends when they talk and also talk to Sông’s family, but I need to learn Vietnamese as it’s the universal in the country.

2 Days after "pinching"

Anyways I was sick after returning from Bali, fever and other things, so my girlfriend and her best friend decided I need a traditional healing method (after being sick for 2 weeks….), so as one held me to the bed (these girls are stronger than they look), the other proceeded to pinch me on the neck creating long lines of bruises.  It only hurt for about 10 min but the marks were immediate. About 2 days later I was healthy again no more fever or problems… the marks were also a sign for everyone in the village and town to see I was sick and seemed to keep people away. Definitely noticeable.

Learning to ride a motorbike.

The motorbike rental in Sa Pa is nice and cheap for locals I think we paid 2-3$ a day for the rental (excluding petrol). Sông asked a few times if I could teach her how to ride the motorbike, and I was more than compliant. 

We packed a lunch and headed to remote roads where no cars or other bikes were and would practice. The views in the north Vietnam are always amazing but some of the roads we traveled are untouched by tourists simply due to there remoteness.

After lunch I would take back over driving and we would take the local’s trails and see where they ended up. More often than not it would be a dead end at a locals house but some times we were lucky and it would loop back to a main road.  

We followed a small trail from “ta phin” (a small Red Dao village) and it was very tricky on the bike but it was amazing views.  At times Sông had to get off and walk as the rubble was so slippry or the hill was to steep for the both of on the bike to climb. Especially when on the one side of the trail was a steep drop on the hill and the trail was only ½ meter wide if that.

I haven’t seen my sister in years…

Sông little nephews.

One morning Sông suggested that we go see here sister who married a man from a village far away (arranged marriage) and had to move away to live with him. She had not seen her in a long time.  Her grand mother also lived there. So one morning we packed a lunch and 5 kilo’s of candy for the kids. I left my camera at home as I didn’t want to be the tourist brought to a family occasion, looking back I should have brought it but at the time I decided not. We drove over the mountain onto on of the best mountain roads ever. It was so high up and loads of corners  (it wasn’t going to be the last time I drove it).

After a few hours driving we ended up at her sisters house. It was long before the entire village’s children had heard that someone foreign was in town with candy and the house was full of kids. The village was apparently all the same family all coming from the 1 grand parents, and we met the grand father. After a small lunch we went to meet the grand mother. Sadly it was so long since she had seen Sông she didn’t know who she was. Her grandmother was also very old so Sông wasn’t surprised, and took it with a laugh. It was a very good day’s trip and that evening we headed back towards Sa Pa waving goodbye to her nephews who had candy in his mouth.

Lets go to Sin Ho markets?

Another motorbike trip, this one was to take us to Sin Ho markets. A flower Hmong area near the Laos/China Boarder, it was going to take us 2 days to drive there.  The town of Sa Pa had not seen rain in weeks and the water tanks were empty for 2 days. This ment no showers, no toilets, no washing… nothing. Apparently its not uncommon, but after the 2^nd day I said lets go somewhere so we hired a motorbike, told the lady not to expect us back for 5 days and we just drove.

We headed down the same mountain pass towards Sôngs sisters but then we took a small road and did a detour though some villages. 

We entered several large towns, one thing I was amazed at in Vietnam was the main towns all have 3 lane motorways going through the town and grand statues. But no people with cars or bikes… then when you get 1km out of town it turns into dirt and rubble again?? Why not just build 1 lane and use the rest to fix up the roads linking the towns…  It did make for some time to test the new bike I had just hired. It has only done 200km when we left Sa Pa so I needed to “work it in” hitting 80km a hour on a 125cc screaming though a small town was fun.

That night we stayed in the province capital, the military buildings and all the government buildings definitely had grand place in the town and were very easy to spot.  

The next morning we headed up the hill along a small road, it started to climb and didn’t stop for 70km, it went up then down a bit then up up… we passed the clouds and kept going. When the road turned into rubble and the houses turned into shacks I knew we were getting close. 

We arrived in a cloud hazed town of Sin Ho and after checking in we headed on the bike out of town to explore before it started to rain and we had to head back.

The next morning we were both up early to go and see the markets. The town had Black Dao and Flower Hmong living near by and they had all swarmed to the town for the market day.  Everything from yarn for weaving, VCD movies of songs, and meat and Veg of every type was on offer. The Black Dao were almost the same as Red Dao but they had a black scarf as a hat rather than red. The Flower hmong were dressed in every array of colors under the sun and patterns.

Outside the markets were all the men of the wives inside. They were all lines up on there motorbikes waiting for there wives to come back and head home.

In the square was 3 cars and a queue of people. Today also happened to be driving school day. People were learning how to drive and park cars in the local square. Very funny to see the 3 cars dancing around in the same pattern in the square very very very very slowly.

We headed back to SaPa early as Sôngs family had a visit from the local shaman and were told that tomorrow no one is to leave the house or travel as something bad would happen. So we raced back to SaPa and arrived at night. The next day we spent the day at Sông other sister (Pan) and her husbands house listening to music and I helped Mr Do install some “free” software on his computer.

A Family visit

I had not yet been to Sôngs family house, but one free morning we headed to the markets bought loads of fresh meat and vegies and then headed down the valley on the motorbike. The house was a very beautiful traditional house, built by Sôngs father, next door was her brothers house. Little chickens and pigs ran all around it was a real farm house. Her brothers children where hold from morning school and were very happy to see us as it meant only 1 thing CANDY. We went for a small walk around the family house and then down the hill to a place where we could over look the entire village and valley.

I gave my camera to Sôngs niece to have a play and take some photos. She was instantly paparazzi taking loads of photos of her brother, her feet and the clouds.  

The pictures she took came out really well.

Sôngs little nephew took a interest in my empty can of Coke rolling it down the hill 20 times before it got so dinged up that it couldn’t roll any more. Then it was turned into a soccer ball.

After some lunch we were both put to work around the farm house. I took a liking to working the corn mill. When the first basket was finished I was so happy and tired, then mama (Sôngs mum) came with another and another… 

The kids who had been at school returned and  we all watched some funny movies.

The next day we took a ride around the valley to see people planting rice, the planting season had just started and the town of Sapa was empty.
Everyone had gone home to there villages to help with the planting. We stops off at some friends and got a taste of what the planting was like. If someone is slow or not watching the others they get some mud fligged at them. A bit of fun to keep the work interesting. They work from sun up to sun down.

That’s all for now, im sitting on a train writing while we head to Hoi An  for a week away together before I move onwards away from Vietnam, time to make some happy memories that will last us both till I return.

Till next time, remember HAVE FUN!

Steffen.