after leaving Hoi An the bus first stopped at Marble Mountain, a massive cave carved out the rock by several generations of Buddhist monks.. full of symbols and characters representing purgatory and hell in various stages, dripping stalactites covering all surfaces... a welcome cool haven from the ever increasing humidity outside. it was very dark in there, which they don't tell you as you enter, you can hear the bats overhead chatting away or doing whatever bats do..another 1/2 hour and a quick break at the north end of China Beach (My khe), the famous area of coastline where white sand stretches for 30km between the mountains.. this is the area where the US troops were sent 'R'n'R' (Relax and Recreation) during the war. it's a stunning piece of coastline with the mountains surrounding from the south and pure white sand (which rather strangely squeaks underfoot). there was a US TV series in the late 80's called 'China Beach', all about a army hospital based there.. must have missed that one! the beach is close to Danang, which we drive through as dusk fell, then off into the mountains.
wish we'd had more time to chill but the bus waits for no man. then we enjoyed an afternoon in Hue (h'way), the old Imperial City. halfway up the coast on the banks of the Perfume River. Hue has been through enough conflicts and troubles for a whole country, especially during the war when it's central location meant the North and South Vietnamese forces along with the US military and allies battled for control... culminating in the Tet Offensive in '68 which resulted in massacres of over 3000 civilians and sprawling street battles.. the VC actually gained control of hue for over a month raising their flag over the Citidel. during the bombardment over 40% of the city was destroyed and the scars still remain; this period bears rather scary resemblance to current conflict in Iraq & I'm curious to hear from Vietnamese about their views on current US (and British) foreign policy. Thankfully, the city does contain some very impressive sites, including the Royal Citadel (similar to the Forbidden City in Beijing). It was shame the intense midday heat, which was pushing 40 degrees again, made the sightseeing hard work... we sweated our way around on the back of motorbikes and made it back to bus just in time.
back on board and praying for sleep, we made ourselves cosy, little did we know the relatively empty bus would be boarded by 40 Vietnamese guys on their way to Hanoi! in short, no sleep, constant noise, swerving manic evil Knievel bus driver hooting his horn all night, we even had a close shave we a cow which woke the whole bus up!
arriving at dawn in Hanio & doing our best to keep our eyes open we found the hotel 'sunny' in the old quarter.. thought about crashing out but we pushed though and found some lovely breakfast with Tim's mum.. one of the original 'hole in the wall' pho cafes to which we returned during our 4 day stay here. the madam sits on a stool on the pavement, keeping her broth going and adding the simple, fresh ingredients. can safely say it's the best soup I ever tasted,
deciding early on not to make a day trip to either Halong Bay (the glorious caves and rock features on the coast) or Sapa (area in the mountains where the rice harvest is taking place) we looked forward to exploring the city. Hanoi is the oldest capital is Southeast Asia and the people living here come from all over Vietnam, the Old Quarter in particular is incredibly diverse, the French influence is most common, with shutters on windows and graceful arches on buildings. A more recent relaxation of the housing and social policy laws have opened up the streets to commerce and many of the once family owned businesses were sold, moved or taken over. There is a feeling of old and new values rubbing against each other here, with the established Confucian vales (modesty and consideration towards others) vying with the 'everyone for himself' mentality more common in Saigon. Where ever the city is going it's a great vibe and our favourite place thus far.
Bat Trang Ceramics village outside Hanoi
We were lucky to be invited by Bich to a local ceramics village called Bat Trang, about 30mins outside the city. here, traditional techniques are still in evidence and like the workshops we saw in the South, they have changed a great deal in the last decade. Bich gave us plenty of background, explaining how the large companies (such as Ikea) now take control of whole villages, paying the workers to produce only one or two products. the Vietnamese will happily do this as its a steady income and quick work. there are parallels in the city where you see row upon row of shops selling the same thing; be it toys, baskets, bags, sunglasses, fake designer clothes or anything else you can imagine. there is very little innovation taking place and Bich fears that if serious action is not taken in the 5 years the traditional crafts will die out. bear in mind she has been working hard on this problem since the early 90's and has faced continual struggle. the old village is a maze of narrow stone streets, tiny doorways and hidden workshops.. we felt truly privileged to see this first hand and met some amazing people, including the faces you see in the photos below. the small, narrow streets gave us some welcome shade from the midday sun as we ventured out just after a rainstorm, very refreshing!
Hanoi has character bursting from it's seams, the old quarter has the best qualities of Saigon and Hoi An.. I could live here., at least for a while. the city seems have have everything from fast to slow, rough to smooth.
our hotel is right in the middle of the soup with free internet access and some truly bizarre middle aged guests, there was one chap from the USA who had a whole family guiding him around town
.. instead we've been wandering the narrow streets, feasting on incredible cheap food and finally discovering the 'Bia Hanoi' which costs only 5p a glass.. a big lake marks one edge of the old quarter, here we find the elderly doing their morning TaiChi and playing badminton, to see a group of 80 year old's jumping around at 5am is truly wonderful. they have a real zest for life, at a time when people in the west are heading to nursing homes to watch daytime TV.
the cyclos are just as manic as Saigon but the drivers seem to have more skill here, deftly swerving to avoid scraping our legs with a knowing smile on their face. there are pavements, but they are filled with seats, cyclos and huge cooling pots so no hope of escape there. thankfully we had survived Saigon and had the feel for the traffic, which I think I'll miss when back in London.
i got some prescription sunglasses made for 10 pounds.. wow. wish i'd done that 2 weeks ago! there's a whole street where every shop sells glasses, right by the lake. you see tiny men hunched over cutting lathes creating their specs.
today we found the 'leather street' where they sit at sewing machines copying Versace and D&G bags - much to the tourist delight. i inquired about getting a leather custom satchel made, would e about $80 from some fine leather.. not bad...
many more amazing meals, not had the same dish twice.. one thing I have to try is the 'bbq pigeon' which looks and smells like chicken, imagine that in Trafalgar Square! women sit cooking all manner of meats on the street & massive pots steam down alleyways (which are often the hallways to homes, built narrow to avoid taxes). we found one area that reminded us Shoreditch, or at least the beginnings of such an area, with a few trendy clothing boutiques, inc a hiphop clothing store and dressed up young Vietnamese women trotting around in heels, which i found hilarious (this is NOT the city for heels, there's not an inch of level pavement anywhere) tomorrow afternoon we catch a flight back South before jumping on another bus to Cambodia.. will update from there next..
2 comments:
omg fella.....
luv the trip so far, looking forward to more interesting reading bro!
peace n carrots,
robbin
We stayed at Minh A Guesthouse in 2002 -- still miss that family!!
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