Loving Vietnam, Pho Sure!

I've put off writing this post for quite a long time, and now I'm dreading even getting started! We're currently in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, sheltering from torrential rain in stead of swimming at the beach. To be honest the beach was full of rubbish anyway.

So that I don't bore you all to death, or use your entire lunch break reading this, I'm splitting this update into two parts. This post will cover central Vietnam, and next time I'll write about Ho Chi Minh City (where we were met by Shaun's brother Tony), the Mekong, and our trip through Cambodia so far.

At the end of my last post we were in Phong Nha Ke Bang national park, about to set off on a 12km jungle trek. In 2009 a British expedition discovered the worlds largest cave in Phong Nha, and our guide for the day was a porter on that expedition (this time I'm sure he was grateful not to be carrying a 45kg pack for a week!). We weren't visiting the largest cave, as that costs $3000US pp to visit, and more than a day to get to!

Our hike was in the 'Abandoned Valley' where we visited two caves, Dark Cave and E Cave. The jungle was pretty dense, at least in terms of my limited jungle experience. What we didn't expect were the swarms of butterflies everywhere. I've never seen anything like it! It's the kind of swarm of flies that I'm not adverse to walking amongst!

The butterflies liked Shaun's shoes...

The dark cave was, as you might expect, dark. We walked/scrambled 700m inside the cave, and then turned our head lights off. You couldn't see your own hand in front of your face. 

We walked on for another hour, dodging poison ivy, until we got to E cave, where our porters had gone ahead and prepared an amazing bbq lunch. We had a selection of grilled tofu and pork, plus rice and freshly picked leaves from the jungle to wrap into rice paper rolls. We also had sand flies, lots and lots of sand flies. They weren't on the menu, but we undoubtedly ate a few. 

Lord of the flies...

After our jungle feast, we strapped on life jackets and climbed into the crystal clear cold water of E cave (and I mean 17 degrees celcius compared to an outside air temperature of at least 35), for a guided swim. It was definitely a creepy experience swimming in a pitch black cave, especially when we turned our lights off and floated in pitch blackness for a while. Our guide entertained himself by getting us to try to guess which way was back out! Lucky we weren't all relying on my navigation! 

A hot coffee soon helped thaw my numbed toes, and then we were on our way, away from the flies, and walking for another couple of hours back towards a cold beer and our ride back to our Homestay. All in all, a great day.

Outside Phong Nha

From Phong Nha we took a train down to the imperial city of Hue. We spent a day exploring the old citadel, which was home to the emperors of Vietnam from 1802 until 1945 when the last emperor, who was very unpopular for being too closely associated with the French, abdicated.

The site is very impressive, but unfortunately sustained significant damage during the Vietnam war.

The architecture style here, to me, is reminiscent of Chinese style, where as soon as we got to Cambodia I noticed that the style seems a lot more similar to what I expect to see in Thailand.

Hue Imperial Palace 

Pretty stoked with my ice cream! And also the air conditioning... Sweet sweet air conditioning.

After Hue we headed to the popular city of Hoi An. We decided to make something interesting of the travel day, and booked a bus that stopped at a couple of points of interest along the way. We visited a Japanese covered bridge, a beautiful beach, Hi Vung Pass - a strategic vantage point near the old border between north and south Vietnam where a lot of fighting took place, and marble mountain - a big limestone outcrop with temples built on it. 

Everyone we have spoken to about Vietnam has always spoken enthusiastically about Hoi An, and we can see why! The city is far smaller and more relaxed than the hectic cities of Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh, and the streets of the old town are closed to motorbikes, which means you can cross the street without a having a death wish! On one side of the old town you have the river, and a few km's away in the other direction you have a couple of nice beaches. The old town has several ancient houses that you can see inside, as well as one of only two Japanese covered bridges in Vietnam (the other we saw on the way to Hoi An).

Did I mention that it was hot in Hoi An? So, so hot. Being constantly sweaty is another theme of this trip!

Shaun enjoying a baguette along the river front.

Top: Burning offerings on the side of the road for their ancestors; Bottom: strolling through the city at night.

Japanese covered bridge

200 year old Vietnamese house

The streets of the old town are also lined with beautiful coloured lanterns, hanging from shop fronts and trees. We happened to be in town for the full moon, when the locals hold a festival. All the lights of the old town are switched off, and everything is lit by lanterns. The riverfront was bustling, with locals and tourists alike buying candles to float down the river for good luck. I doubted whether anyone would fish them all back out again, and with enough rubbish in the water already I declined to join in.

Hoi An is also famous for their clothes tailors, with hundreds of them in the town. Shaun & I took the opportunity to get a few items made. It was quite a simple and fun process, but I guess the proof will be how long the clothes hold together once we start wearing them!

I also want to add that we have had absolutely fantastic food throughout Vietnam, with each place having a few of its own unique dishes. I could probably write a post dedicated just to all the food we ate, but I wouldn't put you through that! Perhaps we should have got some stretchy pants made! 

Clockwise from Top Left: coconut ice cream with pineapple, white rose dumplings, ice creams, Bahn Xeo (to be wrapped in rice paper with salad) and crispy wontons with vege topping (at the back).

Looking towards the Japanese bridge

Lanterns at the night market

In Hoi An old town

After four days in Hoi An, we climbed aboard our first ever sleeper bus to head to the beach town Nha Trang. It was a 11 hour journey, and despite the short reclined 'beds', we both got more sleep than we anticipated. The only flaw in our plan was arriving at 5.30am and not being able to check in to our hotel until 2pm. Let's just say that I was less than impressed. We spent the next two days chilling on the beach, incredulous at the number of Russian tourists. Particularly the fat hairy old men with hot wives.

Before and after shot... 6am beach struggles v. 6pm cocktails.

From Nha Trang, we headed south to Ho Chi Minh City, but I will leave that for another time, as I'm sure you don't want to be here all day!

Sending love to our family back home. xx

Good Morning Vietnam!

We've been in Vietnam for 11 days now and have already seen, done, eaten, and sweated so much!!

The flight from Rome was a bit of a slog, over 17 hours all up including a stop in Doha, with not much sleep. We arrived into Hanoi late in the afternoon and, due to sheer bad luck I think, ended up waiting over 1 1/2 hours to get our visas! Our hotel transfer driver was still waiting for us, so all is well that ends well!

We spent three days in hot and hectic Hanoi. We stayed in the Old Quarter, which is jam packed with people on mopeds and little shops selling all kinds of things, all arranged street by street (we stayed on the street selling golden trinkets related to worship). Hanoi is not the most pedestrian friendly of places, as the footpath is blocked either by parked scooters or people sitting and eating, selling, or socialising. Life is truly lived on the streets here! Crossing the road is another issue entirely, and for fresh faced tourists either requires nerves of steel or a death wish!

Hot and hectic Hanoi!

Not sure I'd want to be an electrician here!

In Hanoi we did a lot of eating. The main dishes that Hanoi is famous for is Pho Bo (beef noodle soup) and Bun Cha, which is little pork patties served in a delicious sauce with lots of rice noodles and fresh herbs to eat with it. Coincidentally, these are Shaun and my favourite Vietnamese dishes that we grew to love at our local restaurant in London. The herbs here are incredible and take these dishes to the next level! So many fresh flavours, some I'd never tasted before! We also ate at a few street stalls - they don't look particularly hygienic, but the food was delicious and we haven't got sick yet (apparently the trick is to avoid places washing dishes in buckets- indicating no running water)!

Our foodie adventures in Hanoi included a lovely evening catching up with my Aunty and Uncle (who also happen to be on holiday in Vietnam) where we tasted bun cha and the famous egg coffee, and also doing a street food tour with a couple of friendly local students, where we had different types of spring rolls, banana flower salad, and egg pancake with pork and prawns wrapped in rice paper rolls. I also tried lotus seed milk!

Clockwise from top left:

Sticky rice topped with fat, pork, and crispy onions... I was only luke-warm on this one but Shaun loved it. Trying a famous Vietnamese baguette. Trying a typical summertime dessert of jelly and beans served with ice. Trying not to melt into my pho. Still the best of all the egg coffees I've tried. Having dinner with some local students.

We also went to the Women's Museum, Water Puppet Theatre, Temple of Literature, and to the outside of Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, which we found out is closed on a Monday!

Trying the baskets on for size - the local women walking around selling produce from these day in day out must be SO strong!

Add captionThe Water Puppet Theather. It was really cleverly done, but just a shame that we were too tired to enjoy it fully (and may have nodded off...)

Temple of Literature 

Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum 

We then went to Halong Bay to do a two night cruise on a junk boat. The boat was definitely not junky, it was actually really lovely!! There was a lovely big dining room where we ate more food than we've possibly ever eaten before, and the cabins were like lovely little hotel rooms (with ensuites and air conditioning)! There was also a nice area on the top deck with a bar, and where we did Tai Chi at 6.15am!

Unfortunately on the first day we had absolutely torrential rain. I wasn't too bothered though and thought that the clouds and mist gave the landscape a kind of ethereal quality.

After a five course lunch of all kinds of Vietnamese delicacies, we went to visit Surprise cave, which indeed lived up to its name! The main chamber is ginormous, and although paved and full of artificial lighting, the large stalactites and stalagmites are certainly impressive.

After a short swim on Titop Island (the stairs to the top of the island were closed due to the weather), we went back to the boat to enjoy happy hour and a seven course meal!

Rainy Halong Bay

Surprise Cave!

Tai Chi on the top deck and a cooking demonstration.

The next day the sun was out and we enjoyed a day cruising amongst the islands, visiting another cave (this time with flash lights), and also swimming and kayaking.

Middle left is at an oyster/pearl farm

Luon "Cave", where we saw golden monkeys.

Halong Bay sunset

Halong Bay really is incredibly beautiful, but sadly, we saw a lot of rubbish in the water. There were a few different theories as to where this came from- the floating fishing villages, being washed in from the rivers, or from tourist boats - probably a combination of all three. The staff on our boat were telling us that apparently the government pays for a few boats to come out every so often to collect some of the rubbish, but they said it was a half hearted effort. With Halong Bay tourism being one of the biggest income sources for the government, It seems so counterintuitive, as cleaning it up (and preventing further littering) would benefit the environment, locals, and also keep tourists coming back.

After Halong Bay we headed to Mai Chau Valley in North West Vietnam. We stayed at a lovely little hotel (recommended to us by my uncle & aunt) and we were treated to a bike tour around the local rice fields and villages by our host Mr Zuum. We even saw his mum!

The people in the area are mostly White Thai (the name apparently had something to do with the colour of the cloth used to make the traditional women's skirts). The rice fields in the area are just for the consumption by the families in the villages, each given a 300 sq m allocation. Corn and peanuts are also grown in the drier parts. Quite a few of the houses are built on stilts, traditionally built this way in other regions to keep the houses above water, but in this area the area under the house was used to keep animals (like pigs and chickens), and these days as bike storage! The town of Mai Chau has established a small tourist village with lots of these stilt houses offering homestays, and a big market with lots of trinkets, clothes, shawls and blankets. I even saw them weaving the colourful fabric for the shawls/scarves on a loom.

Cycling around Mai Chau

The next day we hired a guide and went to Phu Luong National Park where we walked (in stifling heat) through the jungle, past small villages and rice fields, and even stopped in at a local family home and had green tea and rice wine with a group of kids (the parents were out harvesting the rice, it was Saturday). The houses are pretty simple with one big room where everyone sleeps, and a kitchen with an open fire for cooking (although also had a gas cooker). Funnily enough, there was also a pretty retro looking TV, and there were phones and tablets plugged in on charge!

We stopped for lunch at another local house/shop and got to sample the sticky rice that we saw being dried back down the hill. Apparently it is cooked by wrapping it in banana leaf and putting inside bamboo and then burning the outside of the bamboo. It was a beautiful red/purple colour and had a wonderful nutty flavour. We then went for a drive to admire the views of the lush forest and mountains of the park, and also stopped in at a chopstick factory!

Bamboo chopstick factory!

We are now in the town on Ninh Binh - we caught the public bus from Mai Chau, which wasn't too bad, except for being exceptionally hot and with loud Vietnamese music the whole way!

Today we visited the Trang An caves. We got on a small boat with two others (domestic tourists), and a Vietnamese lady (who must have been in her 60's) who was rowing us. It was super hot, even for 8.30am, and we all helped to paddle the boat, it seemed only fair! We paddled down the river and through about seven caves in total, some so low that we had to sit in the bottom of the boat and duck our heads! The scenery was beautiful, we were surrounded by tall limestone hills and cliffs covered in lush green jungle. We stopped at a couple of places and walked to see small temples. I've never been so sweaty in all my life!

We're off to Phong Nah Kebang National Park tomorrow, it too has a large network of caves, including the largest cave in the world (which apparently costs US$3000 to visit)! We're going to do a guided 12km trek through the jungle to see two of the popular caves in the park (obviously not the big one!) including a swim and bbq lunch. 

Until next time!

Catherine & Shaun