The Vacation Part 3 - Hue

After Hoi An, we headed north to Hue - a town that is known for its architecture, its historic monuments, and for the role it and the surrounding area played during the Vietnam War (or the America war, as the Vietnamese call it.)

The day we arrived in Hue marked the fifth straight day of rain for our trip, and the weather was starting to frustrate us. Everything was still fun and beautiful, but we couldn't help but think how much more so it would have been if it had not been raining constantly. We asked one guy when it was going to stop raining, and he said, "March." Turns out that this is their rainy season. Bad planning on our part, I guess.

Essentially, we only had one full day in Hue, which meant that we had to make a choice of which touristy things to do. The Minnesota contingent really wanted to check out the DMZ and the Vinh Moc tunnels, which were a few hours outside of Hue. Bergie and I felt more like checking out the monuments and sights around Hue. So, we split up.

Bergie and I arranged to be driven around to the various sights of Hue on the backs of motorbikes, and we scooted all over checking out various tombs of Vietnamese emperors. The sites were impressive and all, but for me the scooting was what made it great. We spent the morning riding through rice paddies, villages, and along the bank of the Perfume river - parts that really could have only been explored via motorbike. It was truly amazing. The only downside was that, as I mentioned before, it was raining the entire time. So, our energy levels drained quickly. And four hours into our six hour tour, we decided to call it a day. We were completely soaked and needed to go back to the room to dry off and warm up. We hooked up with the others later that evening for dinner, and that was basically it for Hue and for Vietnam.

While we had a blast in Vietnam, and would highly recommend it to anyone, I'm pretty sure we were all ready to move on to Thailand, and hopefully away from the never-ending rain. Becca seemed especially done when we were walking down the street and yet another Tuk Tuk driver offered her a ride. (Tuk Tuks in Vietnam are little one passenger cabs driven by bicycle. They are everywhere, and the drivers are constantly hassling you to take a ride.) This unsuspecting little tuk tuk driver approached Becca and asked, "You want Tuk Tuk?" Becca's eyes bulged and her face turned red and she screamed, "NOOO! I DO NOT WANT TUK TUK!" Usually, they just keep asking, but this guy could tell that this gal was not to be messed with. Clearly scared, he just turned around and walked the other way.

Next stop - Thailand.

The Vacation Part 2 (Hoi An)

Hoi An is a small little touristy town near the coast of the South China Sea - about 30 minutes from Danang, and it was our next destination after Halong Bay. Unfortunately, it rained the entire time we were in Hoi An, (In fact, Hoi An marked the beginning of 10 straight days of rain) but even with the rain, we still had a blast. We highly recommend Hoi An to anyone - especially if you're looking for tailor-made clothing. 2-3 days is plenty, though.

Our plan for getting to Hoi An was to arrive in Hanoi around 6 PM, grab a bite to eat, and then grab a cab to the train station where we could take the overnight train to Hoi An. This plan seemed sound enough, and likely would have worked on any other night, but this night just happened to be the night of the big soccer match between Vietnam and Thailand. Vietnam won the match, and their favorite way to celebrate a big victory in soccer is to take to the streets and cruise around on the motorbikes waving flags, honking their horns and yelling. It was actually pretty cool to witness, but it also meant that no taxi would be able to drive through that mess.

The manager of the restaurant where we had dinner had a plan. He called up five of his friends and within minutes, Five Vietnamese on motorbikes showed up and were motioning for us to hop on their bikes. The plan was that we would each hop on the back of a bike with our backpacks on and these drivers would navigate through the mayhem to get us to our train on time. With my full pack, I barely fit on the back of my bike, but the craziest thing was that we had six people and only 5 bikes, so Clint and Jackie were forced to share a bike. They had Clint's big pack in front of the driver, Clint sat behind the driver, and Jackie wearing her huge pack sat in terror behind Clint. Seeing the fear in her eyes, Becca walked up to Jackie, looked her in the eyes, and said, "YOU CAN DO THIS!" And with that, we were off.

I can't really describe the ride in a way that would truly do it justice. It was terrifying as all hell, but it was als one of the most exhilirating experiences I've ever had. We were weaving in and out of traffic - almost crashing into cars and other motorbikes at every turn. It's pretty unfathomable - there doesn't seem to be any traffic laws. All cars and bikes and pedestrians are going in all directions at the same time. It seems like a recipe for disaster, but somehow it just works. Everyone just keeps moving forward, and nobody hits each other. It's nuts. We crossed through the heart of the revelers to get to the train. And we all got to the train station in time to catch our overnight ride to Hoi An.

It was Christmas Eve, and we spent it riding in a sleeper car for 13 hours. It was actually pretty comfortable as far as train rides go. The toilets were nasty as all hell - required some serious hovering skills for certain tasks, but it was a good experience. Clint still claims that the night train was the best sleep he got all trip. We arrived in Danang the next day, and from there we took a taxi to Hoi An.

We were all very excited to check out Hoi An. It is a really cute town with a great vibe, good restaurants, and hundreds of tailors where you can get custom made clothes for next to nothing. Before we could check it out, though, we needed to check into our hotel. We had reservations at the Greenfield. As soon as we walked in, you could see all three of the girls faces turn sour. The place had a weird musty smell, and the rooms weren't super clean. Clint and Jackie's room actually had some strange goo that was dripping from the ceiling. We all agreed that the hotel was nasty, so we decided to just go out and find a new place.

After looking around a bit, we stumbled upon the Vietnam Village resort. From first glance, the place looked great (to me), so we took it. After a while though, we began to notice that something was a bit off with this hotel. It turns out that the hotel was designed to be set within a mock functioning Vietnamese village. Guests could leave their hotel rooms and go down into the mock village to watch mock villagers do their mock thing. The problem was that clearly the hotel never really took off, and the mock village that had be created for the guests to visit was completely abandoned save for the two water buffalo that wandered the grounds. We asked some locals about it, and they said that the hotel initially pumped a lot of money into creating this village environment. They hired all sorts of people to be villagers. And then they came to the sad realization that travelers to Hoi An don't want to live in a Vietnamese village. They want to stay in a hotel.

Of course, we were staying in the Vietnamese Village, but because the whole operation wasn't really functioning, we felt more like we were staying in a dead hotel. It was sort of creepy and sad everywhere you looked. And while the room that Bergie and I had was decent, the others had less luck. Becca couldn't sleep in her room because she could swear that she could feel the mold spores filling her lungs. And Clint and Jackie eventually had to switch hotels because some sort of animal peed on their pillow. (Yes - PEED!!)

Aside from the lodging debacle, Hoi An was otherwise fantastic. The place seems to built entirely for tourism, but that didn't really diminish it. The buildings are neat. The place is colorful. It's just a fun place to wander. We all went to the tailors and got clothes made. We ate at some fantastic restaurants - stuffing ourselves on Pho, spring rolls, and steam boats (a spicy Vietnamese soup that is delicious). And we just walked all over town checking things out.

The tailor experience is especially funny. Every store you walk into, they immediately give you the hard sell. "You want suit? You want jacket? I make. High quality. You want Armani? No problem. I make. Same same, but different." Of course, I had never had a suit of my own, so I definitely wanted one. I picked out my fabric for the suit, the jacket lining, and the shirts, and then they began fitting me.

Juggy and I were getting fitted at the same time, which prompted them to compare us. They said, "He very tall and thin." Then they patted me on the stomach and simply said, "Happy Buddha." Now, the first time that happened it was funny. But that proceeded to happen several more times in Vietnam. Random Vietnamese would point at me or reach out and pat my stomach and say, "Happy Buddha." Now, I know I could stand to lose some weight, but damn - did they really need to walk right up to me and say, "You're fat?" At one point a random guy walked up to me and said "Happy Buddha," and I just pointed to him and replied, "Short, skinny jerk!" I doubt he understood me, but it made me feel better.

Our suits and clothes were ready the next day, and they actually looked pretty good for clothes that were created in less than 24 hours. We did have to go back several times for alterations, but after it was all said and done, we all walked away with some pretty nice stuff for a fraction of the price we'd pay in the States. Unfortunately for me, though, I somehow misplaced my garment bag with my suit somewhere in Bangkok. So even after all that, I still don't have my own suit. WEAK!

After three days of playing around in the tailor shops, we were done with Hoi An. Our final Vietnamese destination was next - Hue. (To be continued)

The Vacation - Part 1 (Hanoi and Halong Bay)

Bergie and I just finished the vacation of our lives (thus far) - 24 days, 2 countries, 7 cities, 12 different modes of transportation, and a ton of great memories. In Vietnam, we visited Hanoi, Halong Bay, Cat Ba Island, Hoi An, and Hue. In Thailand we went to Ko Samui, Bangkok, and Chiang Mai. It was truly amazing. Over the next several blog entries, I'll try to describe the trip.

The trip began on December 22, in Hanoi, Vietnam, where we met up with our Minnesota travel buddies, Clint, Jackie, Juggy, and Becca, to begin our Southeast Asian adventure. Hanoi provided an excellent introduction to the craziness we would encounter on the trip. This town is nuts. The streets are jam packed with cars, pedicabs, and countless mopeds. There are no crosswalks. And there are very few traffic lights. So, to cross the street, you just have to take a deep breath, put yourself in front of oncoming traffic, and slowly move across the road - scary as hell at first, but the system works, the traffic avoids you, and eventually you get across the street.

That first night we crossed the street a few times for fun, grabbed dinner, and went to bed. The Minnesota crew had been traveling for more than 24 hours straight, and they urgently needed some rest. Plus, early the next day we would begin our 3-day adventure in Halong Bay.

We booked a 3-day, 2-night Halong Bay Junk Cruise, Kayaking and Cat-Ba Island adventure through Handspan Adventure Travel (Highly Recommended). A junk is a boat - it sort of looks like a pirate ship, but they are essentially small cruise boats that are used to take people like us around Halong Bay. Ours was called the Aloha Junk, and it was fantastic. The rooms were comfy and the food was great.

Halong Bay's beauty is difficult to describe - I've seen no other place like it. So, I'll include a bunch of pics. Essentially, it is a large bay that has a ton of steep limestone karsts scattered all over the place. It's stunningly beautiful - an absolute must see if you ever visit Vietnam. According to legend, the islands were created by jewels that fell from the mouths of dragons who were defending the bay from potential Chinese invasion. (Take that China). I guess it actually has something to do with shifting tectonic plates, but I like the dragon theory better.

Our Junk trip was great. Day one essentially involved transporting us to the Junk and feeding us a fantastic seafood dinner. On the second day, we went visited a small fishing village, where we all jumped in these tiny row boats and were rowed around the village by some local girls. It was pretty amazing to realize that these families lived in these tiny shacks floating on the water. Apparently, a boat from the village regularly goes to the mainland for supplies, but the vast majority of the villagers spend their entire lives living and working on the water.

After the tour of the fishing village, we went kayaking - a definite highlight of the trip for me. Seeing Halong Bay from the junk was great, but getting in the water and paddling ourselves around was truly amazing.

After Kayaking, it was time to transfer off the Junk to Cat-ba island - the biggest, and only settled island in Halong Bay. We were spending one night in a hotel on the island. We had no idea until we arrived just how nice our hotel was going to be. It was all sorts of fancy - huge rooms, right on the beach, with an amazing view from every room. The girls immediately took advantage of the hotel spa and the guys started drinking. We sort of tied one on that night, as we knew the following night was going to be a bit less luxurious (an overnight train from Hanoi to Danang).

The next day, we decided to rent motorbikes and tour the island. It was funny how different renting an automobile in Vietnam is from the States. At home, they'd want your license, and they'd have you sign some sort of waiver. In Vietnam, they take your money and hand over the keys.

I had trouble immediately. I started my motorbike, put it in gear, and proceeded to drive it into a curb and crash. Juggy, Clint, and Bergie all enjoyed that a little too much. Luckily, I wasn't hurt. I did jack my motorbike up a bit, but we quickly got it fixed, and we were off on our tour. Unfortunately, 10 minutes into our ride, I had another problem - this time I had a flat tire.

Our guidebook had warned us about this sort of thing. It said that we should beware of motorbike scams - that they will rent you a bike that will break down, and then someone will come by out of the blue to "help you," only to completely rip you off. So, when a Vietnamese man came out of nowhere to help me, I was very skeptical. He began motioning me to follow him. He kept pointing at my tire and then pointing at someplace far off in the distance, and he was trying to get me to go with him. I was skeptical, though, because he was directing me to go away from the direction of my hotel - the direction I wanted to go. But, against my better judgment, I followed him. The man guided me through a small town. As I pushed my bike down the street, the villagers would yell something at the man, he'd point at my tire and yell back, and then they'd all nod at me and point in the direction I was heading as if to say, "Yep - just keep going." I felt like they were all in on the scam, but I kept going. Eventually we reached the end of the town, and at the top of a hill, we came to a house with a sign that had an old tire on it and some Vietnamese writing that I can only assume said "Fully Licensed Tire Repair Shop."

This little mishap actually turned out to be pretty cool. While the tire repairman (and about 10 of his friends) attempted to repair my tire, a group of 15 or so school children came up to us and started practicing their English. The girls were especially fond of Juggy - one of them told him she loved him, to which he responded "No you don't." (Why won't you accept love, Juggy?) One of the boys was laying it on pretty thick with Bergie, too. His pick-up line was, "Mother, father, farmer." I'm sure if she wasn't already married, that line just might have worked.

The tire repair was proving quite the challenge, so as we waited, one of the mechanics brought out a papaya for us to eat. That act pretty much confirmed for me that we were not being scammed - that these people were genuinely being helpful. In fact, that's basically what we found throughout Vietnam. The guidebook had us scared that the Vietnamese would try to screw us every chance they got, but we never saw that. The Vietnamese were nothing but friendly and helpful. (Thailand, however - that's another story).

Eventually they fixed my tire. Apparently, I had run over a nail. With everything fixed, we drove back, returned the bikes, hopped on a ferry, and returned to Hanoi so we could begin the next leg of our adventure - Hoi An.