Hue Day 2: Perfume River tour then HaNoi

[16/02/14]

Today was an early start as we were bing picked up at 8am for the boat tour as well as checking out of the hotel. They were lovely and store out bags and allowed us access to restrooms to shower if we wanted to, our flight was at 9:15pm so we had some time to spare. Once everything was sorted we headed out and followed our guide to the boat and then waited for the rest of the people to be collected and then loaded onto the boat. Once it was eventually full we headed down the river to go to the first stop An Hiên Garden house. This was just a Brit stop to show and explain the common architecture and reasoning behind the house layouts according to the 5 element theory (we call it Feng Shui, which technically isn't correct but meh). It did make some of the layouts make sense from the day before but the house was nothing special, there were some nice carvings though.

We then headed to the Thien Mu Pagoda, this is a Buddhist pagoda with about 70 resident monks. Not many locals come here to pray/meditate as with the culture change Buddhism became a very personal spirituality. The pagoda was nice, after some tall steps there was a large frontal courtyard with a tall engraved tower and some smaller towers with carvings, bells and tablets inside. From there you headed into the main complex from one of three doorways, the temple itself was really nice with the happy Buddha actually looking happy and the three Buddha statues behind him. There were some lovely gardens behind with more stone towers. We didn't have much time but what I did get to explore was nice.

We then headed to the Hon Chen temple, this is a small temple dedicated to the 'sacred mother of Vietnam'. It's a psychological nationalistic thing, strength in unity lessons. Granted it worked against genghis khan, so it can't be too bad. The temple was small but nice, the amount of insence was headache inducing though, there was a small Confucian temple next to it that was free if you didn't want to see the other temple. We then had a very basic lunch on the boat, rice, vege and a curried tofu as protein; they offered you extra food at a higher price if you wanted. From what I saw of the extra food, not worth it. Didn't get it.

We then headed to the tombs where we left the boat and changed to a bus. Minh Mang tomb was nice but not very spectacular, there were some lovely carvings and some nice mosaics but nothing amazing and eye catching. The size of the place though was the key, you go through multiple gates over multiple staircases to end up at the burial area. Yeah area, no one actually knows where the body is buried, everyone who dealt with it when it was interned was killed, ancient egyptian style. The radius of the area is roughly 43km so the area to look for it is huge and it was brought in underground so it'd be hard to find even if you got access to survey the site. 

Khai Dinh tomb was spectacular, it's got 127 steps to the very top and amazing carvings of dragons all over the stairs and pillars. The main tomb building is just covered in carvings my photos just don't do it justice. Inside the building is even more spectacular; the entire building is just covered in mosaics and the ceiling is painted with dragons writhing in clouds. In the middle of all of that is the tomb with a life size golden statue of the Emperor, I took a photo then realised that there was a 'no photo' sign; infront of where about 5 people were taking both flash photography (which was a terrible idea) and using various tablets. There was a small museum aspect with some household bits and bobs from the royal palace along with photographs. 

Tu Duc tomb was more recent and plainer, minimal carvings and mosaics. It's also called the tomb of philosophy as he used it as an escape (they tended to live in the complexes if finished before they died) from court happenings. I did notice some graffiti on the tomb itself at this site, it wasn't in a very good state of repair/restoration. There were however monkeys on the man made island as well as small steps and possibly a shrine, we weren't able to go over so it was from afar that I guessed. We got back pretty late so we rested and freshened up at the hotel, they gave us water and tea before we went to a local place and tried the local specials (which all include prawns, if you're vego and you don't eat seafood you're kinda screwed for many if the signature dishes) of Banh Beo (rice paste with dried prawn, shallots and a crisp piece of crackling served with soy sauce and Banh Khoai which is similar but steamed with pork in banana leaves. The lady who served us did us a deal with giving us half of each full meal so we could try them all. It wasn't very filling so we ducked into a corner store and grabbed a snack while we finished waiting for the transfer to arrive. We then flew to HaNoi and was met by a driver to check in at our hostel, same place we were when I started.

Hue Day 1: Citadel, hidden city and royal reasturants

After a lovely breakfast (it's a small buffet, there were pastries, I was happy) we headed out towards to citadel and hidden city. The citadel is in the other side of the river to us so it was about half an hours walk from the hotel. It appears very imposing initially with the large tower and flag, large concrete/brick walls appear black with age and pollution. Inside you're limited with access to the buildings within the first walls, they are still impressive and there is a large assembly area just inside. It made me think of medeval castles in England with the moat, small bridges and high walls. From there you enter into the hidden city (after buying a ticket), think forbidden city in Beijing style and then add a Vietnamese twist. There were halls and rooms everywhere, all red and yellow with ornate carvings and gardens. 

There was information about how the horse symbolism morphed into a dragon horse, which you see on many of the roofs and carvings. It's a mix of: horse, dragon, unicorn and goat (?) and I think it acts a sort of guardian and appeasement to the weather dragon. The main reason that the architecture is so similar to the Chinese forbidden city is that the emperor was ruling in his own right and it was recognised by China as such. Hence he could take the title emperor and build in the same designs. 

After seeing all of the Confucian scholar record and wandering through painted halls I continued through and saw some people who had paid to dress in royal styled clothing and pose for pictures. It was the same style as other traditional clothing I had seen only in red and yellow with heavier embroidery and richer fabrics. I wandered through and found a garden with some lovely pagodas around nicely manicured topiary (they had made some of the hedges into turtles). This was all infront if a raised stone platform that had stair access; behind the garden was one of the inner walls then a small road and moat before an exit gate. I liked this bit around one of the pagodas there were a flock of swallows that were skimming over the grass picking up insects; as I walked past they would skim by me to grab any that I had disturbed. Reminded me of the park at home where the same thing would happen.

From there I explored the smaller temples, tombs and buildings of the inner or purple city. Most of these were built for the wives, concubines and the queen mother, some were smaller shrines for worship other were game rooms for enjoyment as well as many a pond - some with well trained fish - around them. There was a second garden that I found, this one bigger and housing more gardening styles. Many bonsai and smaller pagodas for sitting and relaxing. Unfortunately my camera had died quiet early on so i didn't get any pictures inside the hidden city. I would come back though and spend a day there just painting and sketching different scenes, just as I would in HoiAn.

When we had both finished our wanderings we found each other near the external entrance and headed out to find some lunch. We stopped at a street place nearby that is fairly famous thanks to lonely planet. They say the owner is deaf and uses basic sign language for your order, but I think it's more "I'm hard of hearing and I don't speak English, so I will communicate with you the best I can" either way the fresh beef rolls were good and well priced. We then continued to wander towards the main markets (wholesale again) nicola got some scarfs and we split half a kilo of mangasteins as snacks. We then headed back to the hotel via a corner store where I got an icecream and nicola got some credit and snacks. Our hotel had DVDs free to watch so we had a look and selected two before heading up. We watched iron man before getting ready for dinner, we were going to a reasturant that is run by a princess of a small country. Some of the food is served in the shape of other animals as well as royal style foods. 

Spring roll peacock, body was a hollowed out pineapple with carrot accents. 

Tomato doves with the cooked duck 

It was a good meal, you can order a banquet or individual dishes. We got the spring rolls, royal duck and steamed fish and lemongrass. The setting is lovely too, it's wasn't a busy night when we went although we were warned that is can get very busy so it is best to book just incase. 

HoiAn > Hue

After a decent sleep-in (ie 8am) we checked out of our hotel and got a car to DaNang train station. Where we were initially and hour early and the train then decided to be an hour and twenty minutes late, bare in mind that this is a three hour train ride we're talking about. So instead of getting to Hue at 3pm we got here at 4:30pm, and the weather had worsened to a drizzle. 

The train ride was lovely, if a little long. There were moments where the view just opened up and we were sidling along coastline looking out onto the ocean wih either a small inlet, beach or just straight forest all around. It was amazing at times just watching the view open up and seeing the ocean or seeing small villages or even decorated tombs along the side. 

The hotel we're staying in is called the Orchid Hotel, it's priced at about 3 stars but the service we've received has been closer to 5. They had welcome drinks and snacks for us and they replaced the computer tower in the room the moment we asked as the other wouldn't turn on. Oh and I forgot to mention it has a bath, which is just a wonderful thing at this stage of the trip.

We freshened up and headed out to meet one of Nicola's friends from high school, she's traveling with her boyfriend on a tour going the opposite direction to us. We had dinner at a place called Le's Garden, it's tacky and had terrible service. Their western menu was majorly overpriced, some of the burgers came out cold, one wasn't completely cooked (beef, granted but not ideal). I ordered from the Vietnamese menu and I got a decent serving size but it was nothing special. I wouldn't recommend it unless desperate. We then headed to a bar called Brown Eyes, this place is surprisingly just up the street and a busy hub of activity. The music was great, props to the dj he did a great job while we were there. There was a pool table with about three games over the few hours we were there. It was very loud but it was nice to dance for a bit. We then headed back aired out our coats (cause I love my new coat smelling like tobacoo). It was actually fairly cold tonight, I wore leggings under my pants. But my bed is comfy so I will finish here and sleep for tomorrow.

HoiAn Day 4: My Són ruins

Today was and early wake up for a bus that ended up be half an hour late. After an hours drive (~45km) out to the complex we headed in by foot and were given a quick chat about the overall My Són complex. It's an ancient complex, with the earliest buildings being from the 4th century, built by the Cham people of central Vietnam when the country was still mildly feudal and had three seperate kingdoms. The Cham were the controllers of trade as they held the middle ground of the rivers, they were first exposed to Islam by traders then Hinduism from India. Buddhism stuck in the north and some of the south but the entire complex built by successive kings were all worshiping Hindu gods, mostly Shiva though.

There are 4-5 sections of buildings, labelled from A to K depending on the architect and time scale (king wise). Not many of the buildings are in good condition due to bombings from the war; from the way that the Cham built the towers I'm almost certain that all the towers would be standing and be structurally sound to this day if they had not been damaged. The Cham use double fired bricks, the bricks are fired first then the structures were built they then basically set the building on fire and fired the bricks again making them very dry (no mould/lichen) and making the structures incredibly stable using no mortar.

Some of the carvings were still in decent condition although many of the figures faces had been lost to erosion and damage. There are guards in every building group stopping people from walking/climbing on or near ruins, they just yell but they have a job to do. 

Our guide was good at passing on details about how the ceremonies would've taken place only for the audience of the king in the inner sanctuary. As well as the significance of some of the building types. 

It's a world heritage site so I'll include a link to its information page at the end.

I liked the site, what I didn't like were some of the people on the other tours. You don't walk in front of someone who is clearly taking a photo, stop and then take your own. Nor do you need to spend 10minutes trying to take a group shot or a selfie to the point where you can't actually see the site you're taking the picture at. Let alone people who just see the place a pile of rubble 'which probably would be like this anyway', which FYI I highly doubt that it would need any major restoration if a couple of bombs didn't go off in the middle of them. Does it come across that I don't like large tour groups even when I'm in one? It wasn't as bad as Cambodia granted but still annoying. 

After the hour return by bus we wandered and got some lunch at a place called Miss Ly's, bit pricy but the food was good. I still prefer street food, one I can see them making it and two it just tastes amazing and I've never felt I'll from it. You just go where the locals do, they know which places are good. Then just an afternoon of wandering and repacking of bags for our trip to Hue (hway, like Jose) tomorrow lunch time.

HoiAn Day 3: Final fittings & wanderings

A relaxed morning and breakfast found ourselves wandering around the old town looking at shops and some souvenirs. We went back to the book store and I got some art posters. We then wandered and looked at the Japanese covered bridge (requires an old town ticket) then wandered by the river, declining the quieter harassment of the local hawkers. We had lunch by the river made in front of us by an old Vietnamese woman, who seemed to appreciate the small gesture of politeness (if a person is older than you, you hand the money over with both hands) and saying thank you in Vietnamese. 

We continued our wanderings and found some pottery and some other small pieces before our final fittings. We had both had some minor alterations to a few of our pieces. Mine were all fine and she even agreed to have the collar on the vest pressed idea so it didn't gape. We agreed to come back at 5 to pick them all up. After that we headed to the shoe shop to take a look at the final products and we were both happy with the final results. You'll get one photo from me

I'm looking forward to breaking these in properly. All of the shoes are leather which for me means they will last at least 8yrs. After picking up all of our orders we decided to head out and try one of the local specialties call white rose (dumplings) it was nice but nothing amazing. We then wandered the markets while nicola looked for the little things to take home

HoiAn Day 2: Cooking School & fittings

An early start was required for this mornings cooking class. I got there early and managed to have a micro nap before we started with the market tour. The guide myself and some others had was very knowledgable and funny, he was willing to answer all of our questions and explained all the different ingredients and how to pick the freshest meat and seafood. 

Prawns: clear bodies, head inline, firm

Fish: clear eyes, no smell, flesh returns when pressed

Meat: 'wobbly' texture, meat is same colour when cut

After the market tour we got on a boat and went up river to the Red Bridge reasturant and cooking school. It was a nice ride, about an hour or so on the water. When we arrived we were treated to a complimentary drink (lime-tea punch: orange & like juice, tea, 7up and grenadine) and a tour of the herb garden. I knew some of the herbs and unfortunately I wasn't able to make notes on the many uses of each herb.

We then headed to a small pagoda and started our cooking lessons, our demonstrating chef was a lovely lady, good clear instructions and a good sense of humour. What we cooked today was

- Hoi An Pancake (rice water, prawn, pork and herbs)

- seafood salad, Vietnamese herbs in pinapple boat

- shrimp fresh rice paper rolls

- rice paper

- Vietnamese eggplant in hot pot

- tomato flowers & cucumber fan (decoration)

- peanut/fish and sweet & sour sauces

- steamed fish on vegetables (not demonstrated but tasty)

Our guide was really helpful and gave us an extra recipe booklet for the full day course which included 

- Pho 

- Lemongrass shrimp in banana leaves

- Claypot fish with fresh dill

- Grilled chicken and banana flower salad

Afterwards I headed back to the hotel and met Nicola before e headed to our first fitting. I am really happy with the way that the dresses, aoi dai and suit vest have turned out. There were some minor changes to make them slightly more fitted. And the shoes are fine with some minor changes to the fit. All of them will need softening when I get home, but I'm happy that all of these will last for many years. We just had a quiet night and a light dinner while I caught up on my blog posts

HoiAn Day 1: tailors and friends

[10.02.2014]

After a late wake up (feeling the fatigue from two straight active days) we headed out to find the tailors that were recommended by our hotel, on the way we were accosted by another Vietnamese woman who insisted that we come and visit her families shop and that it would be cheaper than the recommended one (the hotel gets a commission for referring on). We decided to play along and were pleasantly surprised when we each were looked after by an individual tailor and that the prices for the amount of things we were having made (several pieces in my case) were reasonable considering the fabrics and amount. We were there for about 1.5hrs talking designs and fabric choices. We were to have our first fitting the next afternoon. 

They recommended a shoe place that would do us a good deal. So we headed over there and had a chat to the ladies and I decided to have three pairs made (ballet flats, closed toe wedge and a wedge sling back) all from the leathers and heels of our choice. Nicola had a pair of shoes remade and her leather bag as well. Again a fitting the next afternoon to make sure everything was right.

We then headed back to the hotel and rested for a bit as we were meeting one of Nicola's friends from KOTO here for dinner. After a quick bike ride to the reasturant (two pillions is an interesting experience) called Seedlings we were seating upstairs on the balcony. Now at this point I must point out that the winds had picked up and it was actually cold, I'm glad I had my scarf and jacket on for dinner. We ate and talked about experiences in hospitality and what we had observed while we had been traveling (the ridiculously picky customers that don't realise that it's a family reasturant and not a 5 star establishment). Turns out that this guy had had a small issue with starting his new job as the manager for the resort was on annual leave and needed to be there to approve the contract so he was in a state of limbo between jobs as he had wound up his work at KOTO, but it did mean that he got to spend time with his family. 

After dinner Nicola and I wandered the markets, we got a few pieces of jewelry (some earrings for me and skull/happy Buddha beads for Nicola). We then headed back over the bridge and had a wander and we found a book shop that also sold fabric movie poster art made by artists (art Nuevo, minimalist ect). There were a few studio ghibli ones that I really liked and I will consider buying as well as there being a trilogy of back to the future posters that I think one person in particular will love. We then headed back to the hotel and had an early night, hence the delay in this post.

DaLat Day 3: Canyoning > Hoi An

An early start for canyoning, we left the hotel with our guides and picked up another three visitors, two English and another sydney-sider. We headed up the motorway to the mountains and where the river starts to run. 

We trekked down a small path before stopping practicing abseiling techniques. One of the few times I've been told to jump higher while abseiling, normally I get told off for jumping. From there we continued down to the river and had our first waterslide over a small drop, head first. Dear god that water was cold, sorry 'refreshing'. From there we climbed up to an abseil point of about 8m and walked/jumped down then walked back up to meet the rest of the group. We then headed to another this one 15m with a shear face landing in water.

We crossed the river and headed through for about 20min crossing the river here and there before ending up at one point where we free swim/float through to another small drop, this one where you go feet first. We all went down that a few times, it's very disorientating underwater when it's swirling and bubbly and going up your nose at decent speed. From there we then walked to the waterfall; this was our final abseil for the day. The whole thing was probably 10-15m high (I might be wrong but it felt high) and we start our decent from near the middle of the falls. You have to inch your way down as its incredibly slippery, in some cases I just went with the small slides I was feeling. The water at that pressure and speed stings against your legs I was almost at the final 4m (where you free fall) when I hit a patch algae and slipped and landed against the rocks, most of the impact was taken by my left knee (which I found to have already bruised once I was out of the river). Thankfully our guide had given us tips on how to get back to standing so I managed to get back up and get to the 4m mark then free fall. I managed to push off the rocks enough to clear the worst of the water wash from the waterfall. After climbing out and inspecting my knee we watched as the last of our group did the decent then we had lunch on the rocks by the waterfall, and watched a pair of older men do the decent after us. 

Once lunch had been finished (a small feast, might I add) we headed over to the final spot where there are two free jumping levels 7m or 11m. Nicola jumped the 11m twice while my knee was starting to ache and the blisters from yesterday were stinging so I declined to jump. We headed back early as we had to shower and catch our flight. But the people were lovely and they took care of us. I will have some photos, as (the only guy) the other Australian had photos of most of us taken by the guides on his camera. 

After showering and doing the final arranging of our bags we headed out to the airport and got our flight (on an ATR72). We were picked up and driven to our hostel, checked in. Our hostess was very helpful in suggesting good tailors (one has been known to refund if work is not good enough). We then headed out and explored the old quarter and found some street Cao lâo (pork, noodles, vege - only found in Hoi An). Then headed back for an early night.

DaLat Day 2: Trekking Lang Bian Mountain

Today was a 9am start with our guide and driver. We headed straight out to the base of the mountain and started walking up via the farming areas avoiding the main road that heads up to one of the peaks in the area (very touristy and you can go up there by jeep, but eh). It was already quite warm and the path was relatively visible if you decided to try this by yourself. We headed through a coffee plantation then into the base of the pine forest. The climb was fairly steep in parts, I took it slow so that I was able to finish each small section. You've finished this bit when you've rounded the top and come to the road. Head up the road to the right and you'll need to pay for path access, the more people the cheaper. 

From there follow the path through and down into the valley, it was blessedly cool there, you then start to work your way up to the summit of Bidoup Ban, 2,287m high. The steps are very steep in the final 400m so be wary of catching your foot on the wood reinforced steps. Once up the top there is a wonderfully cool breeze but no shade. The top is completely exposed and we found it to be covered in rubbish. You can camp overnight and do the whole route in 2 days or go further than we did. 

We then headed back into and out of the valley and then headed to the top of Lang Bian where we had a picnic lunch and rested. From there we headed down to the touristy aspect where their used to be an American base up there. We saw some people parachuting and gliding around us, which would be fun but also terrifying. We then headed down the mountain via a small trail, which is full of rubbish in the beginning. The rest of the trail is fairly simple but be careful of the pine needles as they can be very slippery and cause you to loose your balance/footing. You also need to dodge the horse poo along the way, the locals have horses for tourists to ride and take photos with (some are painted to look like zebras). 

We came across, what our guide called, a Mekong mimosa. It looks like a wattle tree but the leaves are the wrong shape; we also saw some beautiful orchids on our way I think they might be from the Cimbidium family. Overall an amazing trip, wear proper socks otherwise you'll be like me blistered and sore (ended up finishing the hike in my socks, it was less painful then my shoes). 

We got back and cleaned up then had street food for dinner. We headed out and came across a place that was serving a duck noodle dish called Miên Viet. It was amazing, tastier than what we could've found by the lake. Then sleep before canyoning tomorrow

DaLat Day 1: Countryside Tour

So for our first full day in DaLat we decided to go on a countryside tour, one of the guys who runs our hostel was our tour guide. We started early at 8:30, and headed first to the flower village. 

DaLat is known all over the country for its flowers, the altitude, soil and weather makes it prime rose, lilly and gerbera country. The hills where we went were just covered in basic green houses all full of different flowers. Lilies are popular for Tet, and are priced based on number and quality of blooms. There was a very deep purple lilly in bloom when we got there. Of the roses they only grow three main colours; red, white and yellow. Take a very simple guess as to why that is. The gerbera's are in every colour under the sun as they are at home. Even the dandelion's that grow by the sides are used to make tea.

From there we headed out towards one of the main coffee plantations. They use weasels out here as well; if you're not sure what I'm referring to it was first known in Indonesia where a man found that if his weasel ate the whole coffee been its stomach would digest the first layer and the bean would pass through whole which could then be dried, further processed and roasted. They make two main types of coffee here weasel arabica sour and robusta (strong but bitter) as well as some types of mocha blend. Coffee is traditionally served with condensed milk and as I've heard from many people over breakfast 'Vietnamese coffee is really strong'. 

We then made a quick detour to see a silk weaving factory, watching the woman (employed because only women have the patience for it, according to the owner) fist soak the cocoons in hot water to strengthen the fibers, then connecting one of the threads to the weaving machine and watching it spin. I feel bad for the bugs, I had silk worms as pets but we let ours hatch one evening on the front porch and fly off. Although I have heard that there is a way to collect the silk and not killthem. 

We then headed to Elephant Waterfall, this is a small waterfall with a trail that leads to the bottom as well as to a small tunnel that leads underneath the waterfall. It was lovely and cool as we climbed down and the mist from the falls was really refreshing when the wind was in the right direction.

At the top of the waterfall is a Buddhist temple with a giant Happy Buddha statue out the back. I'm not kidding this thing was huge, it looked both happy or like it was in incredible pain depending on your angle. I preferred the inner part of the temple although the led lights on some of the statues kind of ruined the ambience of the place.

Lunch was at a local place and they set out a spread like our dinner the other night; rice, pho, different chicken and pork dishes, spring rolls and vege. So filling and tasty. From there we headed to a cricket farms and tried some deep fried crickets. They aren't too bad, the legs are liable to get stuck in your teeth though.

After a longish drive back to the main city of DaLat, we stopped at the 'Crazy house'. It's not what you first think, as like me you possibly thought "mental asylum?" No it's a gaudy-meets-sesame street man made tree house. It's designed and run by Ms Dang Viet Nga to quote her 

Since the end of the last century till now, nature and the environment have been too much destroyed; and human beings have taken the consequences of what they have done. For this reason, as a Vietnamese architect, I would like to bring people back to nature to be more friendly with it, to love it; not just to make full use of it, then destroy it as people in many places of the world including Viet Nam have been doing. - from the official website

It's nuts and you feel like a kid again climbing through the staircases and looking into rooms. Unfortunately some of the rooms that we should have been able to look at had just been booked by guests so they had closed the doors. There is a kangaroo room, there's a wooden kangaroo near the door but it's freaky as there a lights in its eyes, even sillier is that they're red. Everyone knows that it's drop bears who have red eyes. I had fun climbing around and seeing how the spaces were designed to mimic natural systems. It would be a bad place to try and explore while tipsy/drunk as some if the paths are quite high up and the rails only come up to my knees.

Our last stop was DaLat's Old train station. It used to service 84km of rack tracks due to the local landscape. It was abandoned during the Vietnam war and then the track was mostly dismantled to assis with rebuilding the north south railway. They have a 7km stretch of track that tourists can use toget to a neighbouring town. It's a nice bit of architecture but nothing spectacular unless you're into old steam trains. 

We then headed back to the hostel and figured out what we were doing for the next 1.5days. Tomorrow we will go for a long trek to the highest point in Vietnam and the following morning we're going canyoning.

After going for a walk around the lake - which I should mention I spotted two older scout leaders as we were walking, I saluted and got a smile and a salute back - we had dinner at a place called chocolate cafe. It's nice and the service is decent. Back to sleep to rest for a busy day

Saigon Day 5: Ben Thay Markets

After breakfast we packed up and checked out. This place is nice and stores our bags until our taxi arrives as well as allowing us to wait there and use the amenities. 

We grabbed a cab and headed out to the Ben Thay markets, these are more wholesale markets and aren't filled with tourists like the other markets around town. You can bargain better there too. I got a few things for my parents and Nicola was looking for some beads. 

We then headed back to Saigon square and Nicola grabbed a few things while I looked around and dodged stall holders. We said good bye to some of the students at KOTO and got a smoothie before heading back to the hotel to cool down and rest before our flight to Da Lat. 

Da lat is comparatively cold to Saigon, we landed and it was 20 Celsius rather than closer to 30. Exploring tomorrow

Saigon Day 4: Jade Emperor Pagoda, History Museum and tasty food

Today was a late start but we managed to change our return flights so we get home 6 days earlier. 

Since it was around midday and we had just found a Chatime we found a park and ate our lunch in the shade under a bandstand. We then headed to the Jade Emperor pagoda, initially you might be concerned as when you walk up there are people selling live fish and turtles (hatchlings to teens). Calm the pagoda is a turtle sanctuary and you buy them to then release them into the ponds inside. They get fed well by all the visitors and appear to be happy, the was one big turtle that I'd guess to be about 70cm long (nose to tail), he seemed grumpy and tired.

Inside there is a thick haze of incense throughout the entire building. There are beautiful carved wood trims and statues, the air is full of people praying and waving their incense and red candles. The statues in the main altars had incredible detailing and were covered in rich cloths and flowers. I'm pretty sure that the facial hair on them was human or something similar, it didn't look like wool. I felt it would be rude to take pictures while people were praying but I will say that there is a lot of golden colours around and so much incense. It's the smell I will associate with Vietnam now. 

From there we walked to the history museum a few blocks away. This reminded me a little of the British museum, with it's layout and systematic ordering of artifacts. The museum follows the earliest pre-history artifacts to the modern day period. 

Some of the early finds look almost Aztec/Babylonian/Khmer in their stylings and carvings. The detail is amazing considering the tools of the time. The carvings and finds become more refined and detailed as the centuries add on. There was a mummy found in district 5, turns out she (60yo) was an aristocrat as her preservation used a red tinged embalming fluid and she was dressed in high quality clothing. Nicola said she had heard of a similar mummy being found somewhere in china from around the same period. 

Interestingly the couple who had put together the collection under the French government in Saigon then bequeathed it to the government upon their death. They had an entire section for the different ethnic groups of the country, it was interesting how they had gone through and gathered information on all of them to be able to group them by language. They had some Polynesian based groups, so the examples of culture looked familiar. 

We wandered home via a market, nothing special to report there. But we did go via an amazing mochi place called 'Mochi Sweets' they have plenty of flavours but I got green tea and Sakura blossom while Nicola got mango mouse (there's a cream version as well). I've only eaten the green tea one so far and it was wonderful. I'm very happy that I bought them. Once we got back to the unification square Nicola wanted to check out a place that she had seen, my impressions of it would be that it wouldn't look out of place in Paddington. It's a shop selling clothes and accessories with a cafe/bar upstairs, bit pricy but the glasses are decently sized, they also bring around glasses of iced water after awhile. I think it was called L'Usine, it's near the opera house. 

Dinner was at an obscure place that Nicola found while she was here earlier, it's a small place designed by a local architect to serve food like his grandmother used to cook. Its called  Cuc Gach Quán, 92 Thanch Thi, Thanh. There is no menu, you turn up and are seated and they serve enough food for the number of people eating, it's 70,000d a head. The meal changes every night but my god was it good. 

It was wonderfully laid out, we had sauces, rice, small bowl of Pho, steamed okra (which isn't too bad, but it needs soy sauce), pan fried bean sprouts and baby spring onions, pork bits on the bone (bit spicy) and an odd dish that I can only describe as a kind of spiced pork meatloaf wrapped in a skin if tofu and cooked, the sauce over it was tomato based so my initial association was to my mums meatloaf (she uses a tomato chutney on top to stop it from drying out). Desert was, what nicola called a wax apple, I thought it was capsicum at first glance but it's nice but the taste and texture are familiar but I can't place it. You also had glasses of never ending chilled green tea, I would definitely go back here. It's a lovely place and you can eat till your hearts content or your plates are empty. Fair warning though the guy who will seat you doesn't speak a word of English. 

Saigon Day 3: Markets

Today was a later start and we wandered up to see if the ticketing office was open (it wasn't, it should be open tomorrow according to the security guard). We then wandered and had a look around to find what's called 'DVD street' lots of pirated movies, some new release available as well as box sets on the cheap. It was fairly quite as Tet winds down, the flower street has been dismantled and cars can now drive through. It's a bit sad not seeing the area decorated but thankfully with Tet winding down more shops are opening for business.

We had lunch at ciao cafe again, they do decent Pho bo but its not as good as the dish I had in HaNoi. But the strawberry smoothie was decent. Afterwards I headed back for a nap, it was hot and I felt a bit off. Nicola did some more exploring and found a book store, which I might look into. 

When she came back eventually we decided to head out to Nha Hang Ngon, about 15min walk away. It's a nice restaurant that has specialty dishes from all over the country. It was quite busy when we got there but we only had to wait 5-10min to get a seat but the food was delicious, I had the steamed rice and chicken wings in garlic and nicola had Pho. We shared deserts (they come in small bowls) of black sticky rice and glutenous rice cakes in ginger syrup with coconut milk. The food was lovely and filling, the staff were helpful with suggestions. Granted we waited for 5-10min but it was essentially the end of Tet so it can excused.

Saigon Day 2: Cu Chi tunnels

Today started early-ish with the tour pick up at 8:30, Nicola didn't join me as she has already seen the tunnels.

It was an hour trip on the bus before the first stop, we had to stop off at a disabled crafts workshop and gift shop, the work they made was exquisite but too higher a price for me, not did I have any way of carrying it home or for the rest of the trip.

From there we headed to Cu Chi, were we start off by watching a nice little propaganda video about the area, afterwards our guide explained using a map how there were several different sets of tunnels, one for each village. This meant that you could only enter your own tunnels as booby traps were common to stop US troops if they found tunnel entrances. The current maps they so have are only guess work as no one really knows exactly where each set of tunnels go. Even the old men who lived and fought in them cannot say exactly where they lead.

From the map we went around the area with our guide pointing out different aspects of the tunnels, he showed us one of the hidden entrances that they have found and myself and another in our group had a go at going in and out as the Viet kong did. I fit relatively well but I'm a bit too tall for it to be 'comfortable'.

He then showed us the booby traps that the locals repurposed for fighting; like spike traps and other variations all designed to maim and allow snipers to locate enemy patrols. They were pretty nasty as most had barbed ends so you couldn't remove them without causing more damage. Ingenuity seems to have been what won this battle rather than size. 

He also showed us the uniforms that were worn along with how they hid their tracks (wear your sandals backwards) and made their sandals (old truck tyre and leather, lasts for decades supposedly) then we got to crawl through some of the tunnels that had been cleared of mines and other traps, they had been widened slightly but I was able to get through fairly easily, folded over double. It was nice and cool underground, the soil is mostly hard clay so the ground had compacted and was very stable and even smelt quite nice. I wouldn't want to live down there as is, but it wasn't as bad as I had thought. 

When we came up after 35m we headed to an underground hospital set up (more dug into the ground than under). We were told that they had one good doctor and 24 nurses, then some of us headed through anther series of tunnels that came out in a meeting room as from there more tunnels that lead to a kitchen. All of there were fairly short distances but the heat from the coals when we came into the kitchen was horrid. It's like opening the door when it's a heat wave.

Some of the workers in the centre then gave us some food that the fighters would've eaten daily which was soaked tapioca root, which you dip in a mix of sugar and crushed peanuts and pan dang tea (which is really nice). From there he explained that to hide the kitchens smoke they ran multiple bamboo pipes 10m away from the kitchen to disperse the smoke as well as cooking in the morning when it was foggy. Oxygen holes were built on the same idea only they are on a 45 degree angle to prevent rain water and to maximise oxygen capture. 

We then headed out to the shooting range where you have the choice of shooting an AK47, M16, or M60 (Rambo style). I split 10 bullets for an AK47 with one of the guys from my hotel and yes I have video of me shooting. I got very close to the targets but didn't quite hit any, which for having never fired a gun i think is pretty decent. The muzzle of the gun is fixed but the butt of the gun is free, there was a surprisingly small amount of recoil from the AK, I had expected it to be more. We also saw how they make the rice paper for spring rolls, they make rice water then they get cooked almost like crêpes then dried on bamboo mats. I napped on the bus ride home then checked to see when my enrollment started once I was back at the hotel. Nicola and I then went for a walk to find the main ticketing office for Vietnam airlines to see if we could move our return flights so we come home earlier, and have more time before uni starts. Unfortunately they were closed for Tet so we will try again tomorrow. On our way back we dropped into a little French bakery (Tous les jours?) and grabbed some amazing chicken sandwiches (lovely baguettes and filling) and I grabbed a croissant as I knew I would be hungry afterwards. We then headed back to the hotel and relaxed and watched movies on HBO in the main area as planned what we were going to do for the next three days.

Saigon Day 1

For our first full day in Saigon (I'll switch between saying Ho Chi Minh and Saigon depending on who I've talked to that day). Started earlier for me and I went and had breakfast, they serve fruit as well as a choice of 'hot' breakfast options, all with a medium sized baguette. I just had the bread and peanut butter today along with some tea, the bread was nice and tasted fresh and crusty on top. The one good thing the French left behind in Vietnam was their baking skills, no one complains about that.

We then headed out to the War Remnants museum, Nicola had been there before so she waited while I wandered around. There were recovered US planes and tanks around the outside, I hadn't realised how big some of them were or how much ordinance they could carry. The museum it's self is very anti-US but with good reason, the Vietnamese essentially won the war and as such they get to write the history. The section on war journalists reminded me of a book I have that's set during the war and follows the daughters of a war photographer as they live in Vietnam, I think in Saigon. It's called white ghost girls, by Alice Greenway. 

We then walked to KOTO for lunch, KOTO is an organisation that takes disadvantaged and homeless youth and trains them in hospitality and English. It allows them to find a career with an internationally recognised qualification, one of the men had been given a placement in a Hoi Ann resort. The atmosphere was lovely and the food was very good. 

I headed back to the hotel as I needed a nap, the heat was getting to me a bit, Nicola wandered for a bit and then returned as well. 

We headed out to Ngoc's home and helped her prepare dinner, we shredded a cooked chicken (head and feet still attached) mixed it with some shredded cabbage and a sauce of fish sauce, pepper and sugar (?) and had that along with some fried Tet cake. Tet cakes are mostly sticky rice and these ones have a mix of pork, red bean and dates in the middle; they then boil them and Ngoc prefers to then pan fry them, it does change the taste a little bit but it's tasty either way.

Afterwards we ate some huge mandarins and headed out to the flower garden. It's in a local park with planted displays for the new year along with loads of larger bonsai and precious stone displays. There was a stage with some performers but we didn't stay long as it was quite loud. There were plenty of people around and lots of kids getting onto rides in very nice red clothing. We then headed back to the hotel and freshened up, it's been fairly warm here, high 20's to low 30's centigrade. Tomorrow we head to the Chu Chi tunnels for some exploring

Last day in Cambodia

Our last day in Siem Riep started early for me as I got up to watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat again. It was a bit cloudy so the colours weren't as good as before, I explored the parts of the temple I missed the first time through then headed quickly to Bayon before all the people turned up. Someone was flying a quadcopter over parts of it with a camera, I found it amusing but it was quite noisy.

I still prefer the Bayon carvings to Angkor Wat's, there are more and they're in better condition comparatively. Also large parts of the Angkor were cordoned off as there was a German restoration team working. I wandered out of the Bayon complex and passed through some of the smaller areas within Angkor Thom; like The elephant and leper terrace which had some lovely carvings 

After that I heard back to the hostel. Had a late breakfast, then Nicola and I went and found a local geocash site before heading to the airport for our flight Ho Chi Minh. The hotel we're staying at is really nice, we're in a dorm room again but it's all girls this time and breakfast is complimentary. But we decided after we had dinner to meet some of Nicola's friends from KOTO and go to the flower street as part the Tet festival which ends tomorrow. One of the girls, Ngoc (Nee-ow) invited us to her home for dinner tomorrow (monday) and to the beach on Tuesday. It was a good evening we saw all the different displays, it reminded me of the exhibition hall at the Royal Easter show in Sydney. And ate sweet pancakes (coconut, sesame seeds and sugar sheets) which were really tasty. Nicola and I had dinner in Cafe Ciao, it was busy but the waiters were friendly and helpful. Catching up on sleep and blog posts is now my main priority.

Angkor Day 4: Beang Meala, Rolous group & Floating villiage

An early start for a 2hr drive to Beang Meala, this is a remote mountain temple that has been badly damaged and partially reclaimed by the forest.

It was absolutely amazing, we got there early and had an individual guide so she took us all over the complex, which meant that we were climbing over collapsed roof stones, through windows/doors and over rooftops with some areas having boardwalks or planks to walk over. Multiple doorways and windows had roots growing over them which made for some great photos. We were almost finished as a few coach loads of Chinese tourists starting filing through and the basic tour. Some of the stairs were so steep you wondered about your footing but they are sturdy. I wish I has a gopro on myself so you could see first hand what I mean.

From there we started to long drive back to Siem Reip via the Rolous group. These temples weren't in the best of condition we saw Preah Ko (which was mostly rubble with the towers standing) and Bakong which was in much better condition, it's a very tall building and the stairs aren't in the good a condition as well as being quite steep. 

The floating village was all right. It's nothing spectacular and I'm pretty sure it's a bit if a scam when they try and get you to buy food for the local school. It was at the end of a long day so a quick dinner and an early night was called for