Ha Long Happiness

Yeah!!!  Ha Long Bay here I come….is what I said when I entered Vietnam.  Then I spoke with backpacker after backpacker, after backpacker who left Ha Long Bay disappointed.  What, you’re telling me that Ha Long Bay hasn’t been spared the aggressive touts, piles of garbage, pollution and the over abundance of package tour operators?  Well shit, I guess my vision of basking in the sun, enjoying some kayaking, camping, cold beer and peace and quiet would inevitably be ruined by the constant traffic of tour boats offering yet another cliché tour- Damn.
Ha, then I found out about Cat Ba Island, and I was sold!  Maybe I would get my kayaking after all and maybe I won’t have to take my life into my own hands because of dodgy equipment and run-down leaky boats.  With our spirits uplifted, we made our way to Cat Ba City, located on Cat Ba Island, in the middle of Ha Long Bay, a lengthy boat trip away from the over saturated Ha Long City!!  Once we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised- where were all the tourists?  Well, they were obviously on the ocean front strip but if you ventured up further you were greeted by a beautiful, authentic Vietnamese city.  Loved it!!

Check out the view from our hotel room.  A view like this anywhere in Canada would cost a premium, but here, $9!  Yeah!! :) 

So, our hotel was a little bizarre and special.  The building was right against a limestone ridge, the back wall being made up entirely of stone. Very cool, but they didn’t fair so well when it rained for 7 days straight prior to our arrival. We got the “only dry room” when we checked in!

One of the draws of Cat Ba Island was not only Ha Long Bay but all the spelunking that you could do around the island (thanks Chris Essay for reintroducing that word to my vocabulary!).  Note to self, wear shoes, not flip flops and remember a flashlight.

BATS!!!! I LOVE BATS!!!!

How cute!  Look at their adorable little feet! :D

One of the three beautiful beaches on the island. You’d float on your back with your eyes closed, and open them to the site of the limestone cliffs framing the blue sky!

A view from Hospital Cave. This small village was on the cusp of the National Park (I’ve never seen so much heavy machinery in a National Park, but oh well), and had a lot of agriculture lending to some pretty amazing scenery.

Where are all the tourists??  No one, just us, just how we like it! Imagine yourself kayaking around this scene… Not bad eh?

One of the floating villages we encountered while on our kayak tour through the bay.  Notice the lack of garbage.  Splendid!

A shot of the cliffs I had been waiting for months, if not years to see.  I am happy to report, they didn’t disappoint, they were just as beautiful as I imagined they would be.

Don’t fall!!!  (Does Dan look like he’s got a care in the world?)

Hey- a special shout out to the first traveling married couple we have met on our journey.  Happy Honeymoon Ross and Christina!

Our climbing and kayaking crew out for dinner and drinks after a successful day in the bay.  Another great bunch of people we’ve had the pleasure of meeting in Vietnam.

Our Tour Through the DMZzzzzzz

  When faced with the hard task of doing what you want or doing what your partner wants, sometimes not being supportive pays off.  I say that now, knowing that our decision to go to the DMZ (De-Militarized Zone) was the wrong one but hey, now I know.  After spending 12 hours on a bus, listening to not so interesting war history, we made it to the famed Vinh Moc Tunnels .  Since my Husband is a closet cave fanatic, the whole reason for our 12 hour excursion was to visit the tunnels but in the end, they weren’t as exciting as the Cu Chi tunnels outside of Saigon.  Maybe if you’re an extreme war history buff, a tour of the DMZ would entertain your intellectual side but for me it just served as a reminder that all the produce I eat is tainted with Agent Orange and that I absolutely loathe guided tours.  Here are the points of interest we visited…. 

OOOOH, AHHHH…this is the Rock Pile.  Yep, the Rock Pile.  Basically, it is a mountain top that American troops occupied during the war.  It was only accessible by helicopter, and was used as a lookout due to it’s great vantage point.  The most interesting part was seeing the before and after shots.  The before being lush and green, the after, completely void of any vegetation for miles in every direction, thanks to the extensive use of defoliants such as Agent Orange.  Nice.  I think we drove 3 hours to see this.

Then we stopped at a bridge that marked the beginning of the Ho Chi Minh Trail.  Wow…I will remember this moment for the rest of my life.  Another 2 1/2 hour drive to this sight.

A war cemetery, the majority are unknown soldiers, this really helped lighten the mood.

Finally, the tunnels we have driven for hours to come see.  Look how excited Dan is…isn’t he cute:)  Below is a picture of the Maternity Ward in the tunnel complex, over the 9 years the tunnels were in use, 17 babies were born.

In an effort to avoid shooting myself in the foot to speed things along, I got Dan to participate in a modelling shoot.  This is his best picture. He He.

  Hmmmm.. Another mistake was our decision to go on this 12 hour tour that was mostly spent driving right before we were to hop on a over night bus to Hanoi - another 12 hour bus ride.  OK, we have experienced bus rides that were close to 24 hours, so that was no biggie and we figured, why not get it all out of the way in one pop and torture ourselves that much more?  So, after a short 2 hour stop over in Hanoi, we jumped on a bus, then a boat, then another bus to take us to the island town of Cat Ba City on Cat Ba Island, in Ha Long Bay.  So, all in all, we spent no short of 30 hours sitting and waiting in transit.  To think, a year ago you couldn’t have gotten me a Greyhound to Vancouver to save my life, now I wouldn’t think twice about it.  I tried to document a routine bus trip in pictures and considering the length of our trip, I believe I was quite successful.

Oh packing, yet again…. The bane of our existence.   If I could pay someone to pack my things and ship them to my next destination, traveling would become so much easier.

Store our bags along with all the other backpackers doing the same thing as us.  Off to say goodbye to yet another group of great friends… Seriously, when will the goodbyes become easier?  Hey, I guess we could start hanging out with shitty people, now there’s an idea  :)

We have to wait at this random bus station in the middle of nowhere for how long?  Seriously- seriously??  This is the part I hate, I sit there and try to calculate the exact last moment I can wait to go to the washroom before I am in for the long haul.

Awe… This is us right at the beginning- 12 hours in and we’re not so happy.  Making friends on a bus ride is always a huge risk- they could talk for hours, and hours and hours. Luckily the friend who took this picture for us was awesome! Thanks Nguyen!

Dan doesn’t look too bad considering it’s midnight and we are now sitting at a bus stop cafeteria lit only with fluorescent bulbs.  It never fails that after 5 hours of trying to fall asleep you manage to ignore the uncomfortable seats and bumpy roads and drift off into a slumber only to be abruptly woken up moments later and carted off the bus for a midnight snack.  Lovely.

Heading North

  Vietnam has been a pleasant surprise.  If you would have asked me three weeks ago, I would have said that this country was my least favourite in SE Asia, but as of late I have found that it has moved up in the ranks.  At first we were taken aback by the cold and sometimes unfriendly vibe of the locals here but as we have moved our way up along the coast they have changed.  Maybe it’s us; maybe I wasn’t giving the people here a chance at the beginning after coming from uber-friendly Cambodia, or maybe it was just a matter of getting used to the cultural norms here but as our trip through Asia comes to a close, Vietnam has become one of my favourite destinations.  I have a theory… Vietnam is the 'Thailand' for our age group.  There hasn’t been a single stop where we haven’t met loads of fellow travellers and locals alike.  It is a refreshing change to meet people who we have a lot in common with and get the chance to deviate from the same old tedious conversations of the backpacker- "where have you been?  where are you going?  how long are you gone for?"…etc.  So, that being said, Dan and I have been travelling non-stop, exploring this beautiful country and meeting exciting and interesting people all along the way.

Our first stop after Jungle Beach was the famed city of Hoi An, known by EVERY traveller for its over abundance of cheap custom tailored clothes.  For this very reason, the once charming Old Quarter has become the regional hotspot for every other tourist vying for the best bargain in one of the hundreds of tailors' shops displaying the same clothing, street after street, after street.   Though the city is littered with package tour groups, it still has some great things to offer if you explore off the beaten track.

Ladies like these can be found all over the streets of Vietnam, selling fruit, drinks and various other local specialties.  Unfortunately, in a place like Hoi An they are just another money grab.  Snap a picture, pay some money.  We actually bought some bananas and chatted with them for a few minutes, so they were happy to let me take their photo for free.

One of the reasons that helped me decide to stay for more than a few days were, the local food specialties.  My favourite in particular was the Cao Lao, a cheap and refreshing change from the bland veggie, rice and Pho diet of South Vietnam.  The regional dish of thick rice flour noodles, crisp rice paper chips, pork ( for Dan), veggies and broth will make it into my recipe book when I get back home to Canada.  Tasty!

You are not a "real tourist" if you leave Hoi An without buying a suit and a lantern- another element that makes Hoi An special.  I am happy to say that we left without buying either but I didn’t complain about the red, orange and yellow lanterns that lit up the Old City at night.  Stunning.  The picture above is the skeletons of soon-to-become the paper lanterns sold at ever other shop in the area.

The most memorable part for me was sitting on our balcony, watching the storms roll in and contemplating the bizarre Asian architecture.  Such a tall skinny building can’t be all that safe in the event of a fire, can it?

Next, we made our way from Hoi An to the city of Danang, which was by far the friendliest city we have encountered in Vietnam so far.  We found ourselves a lovely, mellow place to stay that was outside of the city, had a view of Marble Mountain, we were steps from the beach and had communal dining, much like Jungle Beach.  Mr. Hoa, the owner of Hoa’s place was a great character and a refreshing change from the normal, everyday hotel owner and after a morning of chatting with him, we learned that after 17 years in business, the government had sold the ocean front land to a resort developer and was offering Mr. Hoa a measly 1 million VND ($50) per square meter for his prime location.  So sad.  So, if you have the chance to make it to Danang, check out Hoa’s Place before it becomes just another massive resort.

A nice shot of all of our friends around the table at dinner.  Great food, cold beer and good times.

Dan met these girls while we were at the Cham Museum in Danang city.  This was the first city we encountered in Vietnam where everyone waved, smiled and made an effort to speak to us and teach us Vietnamese.  It was a surprising change from the everyday norm that the average traveller experiences here in Vietnam.  Unfortunately, we find it is a given rather than an exception to encounter rude, sneaky, unhelpful people in the tourism industry here.  Rest assured, the everyday Vietnamese person is friendly and more than happy to have a laugh at your expense while you try to stumble through some basic Vietnamese phrases  :)

After hitting up the museum in Danang, we decided to stop at a local cafe to have a snack and use some Wifi.  The menu was only in Vietnamese, and after scanning it and not recognizing any dishes, we prepared to leave.  Then John came out, helped us through the menu and sat with us for hours chatting, teaching us some more Vietnamese and practising his English.  John was one of the greatest people we have met in Vietnam, he taught us a lot about his life and his country- so here is a special shout out to John.  Thank you so much for making our stop in Danang so memorable.  We hope to see you in Canada soon! 

OK, so- Vietnam apparently has one of the worst traffic accident mortality rates in the world, and we have seen why.  We have witnessed our fair share of motorbike accidents in the 5 weeks we have been in the country, luckily none have been fatal, though some of our fellow travellers haven't been spared the grisly sight.  One of the greatest pastimes is just observing the motorbike drivers and just how much they can pack on their bike.  This wasn’t the most impressive or largest item we have seen but it still blows my mind that you would even think to transport a refrigerator on the back of a bike.

The pics above were taken at Marble Mountain.  This was a series of 5 mountains that were at one time islands.  If anyone is in need of a massive, slightly tacky marble statue, let me know.  I can hook you up with something cheap  :)

After spending a few days in Danang, we headed to Hue (Hoo-Eh).  We had noticed over the past week or so that little kids liked to run around with dragon heads on, but we kinda just thought this was a Northern Vietnam thing.  Then we heard about a festival that was starting on the night we arrived.  The tradition brought from Chinese immigrants takes place once a year, on the new moon in August.  Local Tae Kwon Do academy dance troupes put together their best routines, dress in dragon costumes and dance to hand drums on the street.  The more you pay the dragons, the longer they stay.  Dragons are good luck here, so I imagine the kids take home quite the haul after three nights of dancing. 

 A street vendor selling dragon costumes, drums, masks and fans for the local children.  I want one!

It was amazing to see the traffic jams that sprung up all over the city during those three days.  No one got angry, they just watched and waited for the dragon team to move on.  I think I can safely say that this would never happen in Canada, very few have the patience or time of day to enjoy something like this.

This is a view of Hue from the roof of our hotel.  I love how all the building are smooshed together.  They don’t waste any space here.

We immensely enjoyed our trip through South/Central Vietnam, but were now faced with the daunting prospect of a long-distance bus trip from Hue, through the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone), north to Hanoi. Not since Laos have we faced such an odyssey, but at the end of the road, picturesque Ha Long Bay awaited our arrival...

Our Hidden Paradise

Picture this…
You're chest deep in inky black water, studded with glowing lights of the phosphorescent plankton that mimic the vast starlit sky above you.  The air is still warm but the water has cooled slightly, a refreshing and invigorating change after a long day of enjoying the hot, hot heat. When the occasional shooting star streaks across the sky, you are overwhelmed with the beauty of the world as you float on your back, weightless.  It is almost too much to handle, too much to take in… Where do you look, when there is just so much beauty around you?  This is my life out here and moments like these are what make travelling so addicting.  All you want to do is search for the next beautiful moment, or idea or person that crosses your path.
This moment in particular made me think of when I first saw The Beach, you know, the movie with Leonardo DiCaprio. It helped to nurture my travel dreams and made me long for an escape like the one he experienced in the movie.  Since then, I have been to Bangkok, and I imagine that the overwhelming growth since the movie was released lends to the huge disappointment that I encountered upon arriving to the city.  Where was the seedy under belly of Bangkok, the unknown, the adventure?  Eventually we made our way to the famed island of Koh Phi Phi, the setting of The Beach.  We were actually going to the beach that made the whole movie what it was, an adventure in paradise.  Once we arrived I couldn’t leave fast enough.  Is it safe to say that Koh Phi Phi is one of the most overrated, tourist-saturated spots in Thailand? Possibly.  Now don’t get me wrong, I didn’t aspire to find the SE Asia that Richard encountered in the movie but I won’t lie, I have thought of it from time to time.  Is it still possible to get so completely lost in travel?  To fall so deeply in love with a place or a moment that you continually look to top it, to re-create the rush and the childlike awe of the unknown?
Then we happened to meet some fellow travellers that sent rave reviews our way about a certain destination called Jungle Beach.  The general consensus was “Go, just go”.  So, even though it was slightly out of our budget, we went and were not disappointed.  Our two days easily turned into four and if budget wasn’t an option, I don’t know if we would have left.  Dan and I had the pleasure of meeting some fantastic travellers and hopefully, life-long friends.  Then I had a thought, is this my Beach?  Have I found the hidden paradise I have been looking for?  I think the answer is yes.  It meets most of my criteria.  It is still relatively unknown and most visitors find their way here via word of mouth or by accident (there is also a hand-drawn map on the wall, though not doodled by Daffy).  The scenery and beach are the most beautiful in Vietnam, the food is bloody brilliant and the communal eating arrangements only lend to the overall vibe here at Jungle Beach.  Yes, it does lack the endless fields of marijuana that got the movie characters in heaps of trouble, but that is easily remedied if that’s your flavour, and the unrefined feel of the place only lends to its appeal.  I loved Jungle Beach, its soft white sand, cool evening swims, huge black starry nights made all the more enjoyable with the light of a beach bonfire, a Saigon Red and some great company.  I love my life :)

A snap of Dan and I after a morning hike up to the ‘waterfalls’.  Hmmm, what had so much promise ended up being a stagnant, rubbish filled pool of water.  Oh well, it made for some good exercise which is much needed at this point. Jungle Beach is the backdrop, and how stunning it is!

A view from the water during our afternoon swim.  Ah, it's hard being me :)

Oh yeah, doesn’t this shot just make you wanna travel?  Jealous anyone? :)

I love it!!  This place gave me the jump start I needed to finish Vietnam.  We also left with some great inspiration for possible job opportunities in the future.  This is what travel is about- open your mind to new experiences and you will gain knowledge you never anticipated.

 Shameless plug, although being so close to the surf it didn't leave a lasting impression.

Just when you're getting a little bit hungry, an afternoon fruit plate arrives on the beach to hit the spot.  Simple luxuries.

Awe, our friends… we miss you all.  This was always the part of the day I looked forward to the most.  Sharing a love of  music, food and travel is a great way to enjoy an evening with friends.

Bonfire on the beach, made all the more chill with some star gazing and a late night dip in the Ocean.  An all-around great evening.

Our Asian poses- Nice.  Except for ‘Some Guy’ beside me- where were you on that?