One one things

It was nice to start the morning on a quiet note - the whole day lay stretched ahead so we had plenty of time to lazily slurp some Pho Ga (chicken noodle soup) while making some rough plans for the day. The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum was an option but Uncle Ho’s body had been sent to Russia (or London?) for embalming so it didn’t seem quite the attraction it would otherwise be. Instead we decided to have a look at the Temple of Literature, then track back to the Old Quarter, get some lunch on the way and then stroll around the OQ using the Lonely Planet walking tour as a guide. The weather was on our side so we set off on foot - deciding it would give us more flexibility than a cyclo.

The Temple of Literature is out of the OQ and proceeding along Pho Hang Bong was a fascinating transition from the narrow streets, weather beaten walls, tunnel buildings and cyclos to a more modern era of digital billboards, designer shops and cars. It took about half an hour to get to the Temple of Literature - which again was not a temple at all. It’s more a shrine built to honour ancient academics - led of course by Confucius. It became Viet Nam’s first university in the 11th Century and walking in through the impressive gates (which asks visitors to dismount their horses before entering) it feels like a rare place amidst the chaos of Ha Noi in which academia could flourish. Greenery and small waterways line the quiet paths that lead to the main complex - we walked along the middle path, in its heyday reserved for the sole usage of the king. Whilst being a serene and beautiful place, it was also pretty commercialised with numerous tourists and a souvenir shop taking up much of one of the halls in the courtyard. The other hall was lined with stelae placed upon those revered tortoises - each listing the names and achievements of past scholars. The main temple was more of a traditional Mahayana temple with the usual wafting incense, various offerings, low entrance roofs - forcing you to bow, a lot of red, a lot of gold.

I liked the Temple of Literature but wished it was a bit less commercial. Our appetites dragged us out around mid day and we headed towards Pho Cam Chi - a specialised food street. I didn’t even realise when we got there bc it’s more a tiny alley rather than a road as you’d expect with most food streets in South East Asia. It wasn’t particularly busy so it was hard to choose a spot based on popularity among locals - but we settled on a place having glanced through a pretty extensive menu. Char grilled chicken, fried rice, fish braised in beer and morning glory was ordered. Washed down by Bia Halida. Fantastic stuff. Viet Namese food just kept getting better and better. The fish braised in beer was outstanding, as was the chicken though in somewhat marginal quantities. Morning Glory, of course, never fails to impress. Thoroughly satisfied (again) we ambled back towards the OQ as a few rain clouds gathered overhead.

Having tried the excellent LP walking tour of Katmandu in July I was very keen on doing the same in Ha Noi. It suggested we start at the Hoan Kiem lake in the Ngoc Son temple, crossing the iconic red Huc bridge. By this time the drizzle had increased and I was forced to wear my godawful bright yellow raincoat (trust arpico not to have my size in a decent colour). So looking like a hazard beacon, I took shelter in the temple - which wasn’t too impressive other than for the approach across the bridge and the lake itself. I got chatting with a couple of Viet Namese who judging by their cameras, accents and dress were probably based abroad and back home on holiday. Having seen off the rain we returned to the road, starting at Hang Dau’s array of shoe and sandal shops - fending off an army of umbrella sellers who had arrived like meroos following the rain. The first highlight was the fantastic memorial house. We would come across many of these in Hoi An but this was the only such place in Ha Noi. It was restored with the help of the French, preserving the old wood dominated Chinese influenced architecture. We spent quite a while exploring the place, admiring the ornately carved lattices, the little balcony overlooking the open courtyard and the elegant attendants dressed in the traditional Viet Namese Ao Dai. I marveled at how small and delicate everything was - from the furniture to the staircase.

What really stands out about Ha Noi is the little backstreets of the Old Quarter. The persistence of trade clustering is fascinating and exploring this was a real highlight of Viet Nam. The streets today retain the name of what was sold there - in some cases as far as 700 years ago. There are 50 or so such streets, ranging from Hang Gai (silk), Hang Trong (drums) to Hang Mam (pickled fish). We could only explore a handful of these but it was fantastic. Every single sense was tantalised as we walked through the spices street (which included traditional medicines such as sea horses and assorted reptiles), the blacksmiths street, the visually spectacular altar street and silk street and the eerie gravestone street. As we walked around wide eyed, the city moved along at its brisk pace - women carried vegetables balanced on their shoulders, old men played cards squatting on the pavement, a man watched us as he took a long drag from an opium pipe (now used for tobacco) and scooters buzzed by as commerce raged on. By now it was close to evening so we stopped for a coffee break and I had my first Viet Namese drip coffee. While waiting for the coffee to filter through the tiny metal filter placed over the cup, we discussed the rest of the day’s plan - which was just 4 hours before catching the night train to Sa Pa. The espresso sized coffee came with condensed milk on the side. I had a sip without the milk and it was hardcore - easily the strongest i’ve ever had. But with a teaspoon of condensed milk it was absolutely superb - nothing like i’ve had in the past. R had a dragon juice (the fruit) which was pretty decent and we continued along the remainder of the path - dropping by at Kinh Dao temple where two charming old ladies shared some green tea with us, before moving over to the neo-gothic St. Joseph’s church which was unfortunately closed.

We wound up the evening with a fantastic dinner at the family run Cha Ca La Vong - a restaurant that does only one dish - steamed and sizzling fish with noodles, assorted herbs and peanuts. All cooked at the table. Yet again, a fantastic meal. We headed back to Prince II to collect our backpacks before heading to Tamarind Cafe to relax before catching a taxi to the train station. The station was pretty full and it looked like the sleeper to Sa Pa was quite popular. We had booked soft sleepers and the cabin was excellent. The beds were comfortable, clean and roomy - I was pretty happy to be spending the next 9 hours here. A Viet Namese lady and a shady Aussie chap had the other two bunks but everyone was pretty tired and after a few minutes of gazing out at the fantastic city we were leaving behind, I dozed off to the rhythm of the train.

We woke up early the next morning, checked out of citygate and headed to Prince II to catch the van to the perfume pagoda - about 2 and a half hours from Ha Noi. The first 45mins or so was spent picking up the other travelers from various spots around Ha Noi. The traffic on a tuesday morning was pretty crazy and finally around 8.45 we were on our way out of the city. The entertainment till we got to the countryside was provided by a Malaysian Aussie called Adrian. The chap was in Ha Noi for 5 days and was clearly not used to this kind of travel and had pretty sketchy knowledge of the world around him. He sat behind me and for the entirety of the journey engaged in a chat with a jovial brit who lives in Japan. He said some spectacularly stupid things and asked even stupider questions - but by far my favourite piece of dialogue was as follows.

Adrian - So what’s it like in Birmingham?
Brit - Pretty crap really - i hate it.
Adrian - How come?
Brit - Lot of violence.
Adrian - I see. So a lot of militant activity then?
Brit - (Pause). Well, not really, no.

Wars in Birmingham aside, the drive became increasingly pretty. After leaving the city we shifted to smaller rural roads abreast of acres of golden and green paddy with the intermittent conical hat making an appearance. The farmers were drying paddy at every available sunny spot - the road included. In some places the entire road was covered in paddy being dried and tended to by farmers who deftly stepped out of the way of the vehicle and then returned to patiently smoothen the paddy after we passed. 2 hours later we slowed down by the slow moving river and came to a halt by a large number of metallic boats. From here we would be rowed for another hour in order to reach the perfume pagoda. Each boat was pretty small, narrow but long - leaving room for 4 passengers squatting over a mini-bench in two rows and one rower. It was completely open and the 11am sun was baking down. The conical hat sellers made a killing. We shared a boat with a young German couple. Despite the sun and the guilt of having an old lady row 4 able bodied young people, the boat ride was extremely pleasant. There were no engines within earshot, no chatter (we ensured Adrian’s boat had a good head start) - just the sound of a paddle stroking the water and a few bird and insect calls. My mind went back to the previous evening’s puppet show which placed so much emphasis on how rural life in Viet nam revolves around the river. We saw the duck farming, the little children dancing around delightedly in the water - the sun shimmering on the water cascading down their bodies as their laughter echoed on the surrounding hills. A bright red dragon fly hitched a ride with us as we passed a man rowing a tiny wooden boat with his hands, seemingly in search of lotus flowers. Another even more bizarre character stood by his boat in shoulder high water sheltered by a purple umbrella - seemingly doing nothing.

Despite the uncomfortable squatting bench (made to suit the squatting position that people in viet nam and many other south east asian countries adopt when relaxing) we didn’t feel the hour go by and soon we had reached our destination with an impatient Adrian pacing up and down on the shore, fanning himself furiously. We walked up the steps and were given a choice of an hour long hike to the peak or a quick cable car ride for 40,000 Dong. Most of us opted for a cable car to the top and walking back down - which turned out to be the way forward. The main pagoda was, it turned out, hardly a pagoda as we know it. It was a massive cave, the mouth of which was reached by climbing down 126 steps, with a huge stalagmite guarding the entrance. We spent the next hour or so exploring this fascinating place. Ancient Chinese scripture was carved into the rock, immortalising the monks who used the cave as a haven for meditation. Further inside, reached by more slippery steps, there were shrines with elaborately decorated shiny statues in a typical Mahayana buddhist style. I spent much of the time staring around me, mouth agape, trying to absorb it all in - the wafts of incense, the cool, still air and the echoes of ppl speaking in hushed voices interrupted by the odd drip of water from the roof of the cave. I spoke to a guy who said that the last time he came the place was full of Viet Namese pilgrims paying homage - thankfully it was quiet this morning with just a handful of ppl wandering around the cave.

All too soon it was time to leave and we set off on foot to descend back to base. On the way down we stopped at some of the other pagodas - one built into a smaller cave and another sprawling complex including a number of ornate mahayana shrine rooms, gentile gardens and ponds. Lunch followed at an open canteen style restaurant and despite its simple and large scale production, the food was superb. The Viet namese favourite - morning glory (water spinach) braised in garlic, became a firm favourite of mine as well. By the time we left the perfume pagoda it was almost 3pm and the boat ride back was even more pleasant as the sun and heat had eased somewhat. As ripples of water gently lapped our boat, I didn’t really want to get out of the river and get back into the minivan back to Ha Noi. The traffic as we approached Ha Noi was hectic - for several minutes we wouldn’t budge as mini-dramas unfolded on the street outside the window. Motorcycles squeezed through the narrowest of gaps, people shouted at one another through the handkerchiefs covering their mouths and one SUV was stuck in the middle of a narrow road - completely out of place. Suddenly the traffic eased after one junction and we shot through to the centre of the old quarter to reach Prince II. We were due to travel to Ha Long Bay the next morning so we went to the travel agent’s to tell them where to pick us up but as soon as we got there we ran into a set back.

Viet: “Sir we be try to contact you all day - where were you?”
me: “Was out of Ha noi, what’s wrong?”
Viet: “Sir there’s cyclone in Ha Long - can’t take the boat tomorrow - we reschedule”

Bad form. We have a quick discussion and decide to shift Ha Long by a couple of days to let the storm ease and head to Sa Pa instead. But we were too late to catch a night train so we would have to spend the next day in Ha Noi and head out to Sa Pa in the night.

Having settled our travel plans we wanted to try a different place for dinner and had an eye on a cha spot that was recommended by the LP. Cha is another Ha Noi favourite - and is basically flesh cooked on small grills on the street. Follow your nose they said. The place we tried was just outside the OQ and by the time we got there it was quite late and the best dishes had run out. Communication was near impossible and as we sat at the makeshift dining room on the pavement, we hoped for the best that we’d get what we ordered. Eventually we did get what we had asked for but quantity was a bit limited. Most of the staff was watching tv inside and one heavily pregnant girl counted the day’s proceeds in front of us. When we ordered some additional dishes they looked quite perplexed and stared for a good few seconds before going to the kitchen. It was only 9.30 or so, but clearly quite late by Viet Namese standards. We headed back to the OQ looking for dessert and spent about an hour getting lost in the process of looking for a cafe called baguette & chocolat. It was a heck of a lot harder getting orientated in the night, but the experience was fun in its own way. The OQ was bustling at night. While many of the markets were winding down for the day, the pavement bars were just kicking in. Bia was overflowing as little tables and squatting benches spilled on to the street as the chatter reached a crescendo. I could easily see the central OQ becoming like Khao San road in Bangkok or Thamel in Kathmandu. But for now - despite the number of white people walking around, the laundry spots, money exchange and travel agencies lining the streets - the Old Quarter of Ha Noi retains to an extent a more unique viet namese character and charm. Having traversed the OQ, east to west, we gave up and settled on a lovely spot called Cafe de Paris and R appeased her chocolate crepe craving. We got back to the hotel around 11 - exhausted. Luckily the next day would be quite chilled out - a chance to explore Ha Noi at leisure before taking the night train to Sa Pa.

After a night in Singapore with the sibling and an amusing drive with a cab driver who introduced himself as a “fellow ceylonese” and proclaimed, much to my delight, that Singapore has “too much order and not enough character”, we made the final flight to Ha noi on SQ. The nervous energy quietly built up as our first aerial glimpses of the country were, unsurprisingly, checkered green. Immigration took longer for us given the privileges of the LK passport - the officer had obviously never seen one before and kept flipping it over as if expecting it to turn luminous green. “It was issued in New Delhi” I ventured, and he nodded his head. Despite having a pre-issued visa that cost us a ridiculous LKR 20k (we could only find one travel agent willing to sort out a viet namese visa for us), I was concerned that we may not get our full request of 2 weeks stay. After what felt like an eternity the immigration officer reached for a stamp and thumped it hard on my passport and on the immigration form - I nervously flipped through it till I got to the visa page “permitted to stay till 07/10/08 - 16 days”.

The bags turned up soon enough and I opened the doors passed customs to a sea of faces and placards with a mixture of Western and oriental names. Amidst this there was one board with an old Portugese name - I walked up, smiled and waved and the face hiding behind the placard lit up, “citygate? you come!” He tried to persuade us to change our money at the hotel but the rate at the airport money exchange counter looked somewhat attractive based on the forex info received on the welcome to Viet Nam text on my mobile. I changed US$340 and became an instant millionaire. The teller counted out hundreds of thousands of Dong and I ended up with 5.5 Million VND - not too shoddy. We had arranged to spend our first night at a hotel right at the gate of the old city - the Old Quarter. The drive to Citygate was not particularly inspiring - it was hot and the outskirts of Ha noi were more concrete oriented than the picturesque countryside we would encounter later.

An hour or so later the vehicle came to a halt on a narrow lane and the driver showed us the old white arch, grinned and said “citygate!” The actual hotel was hidden amongst a cluster of little shops selling nicknaks and eats. The entrance housing a makeshift reception was narrow and long and it led to a lift - the pride of citygate hotel. After a quick wash we went out in search of our first Viet namese meal. There were two immediate challenges. The roads in the Old Quarter are really a maze - and it took a few minutes to figure out possible routes. Once we had a basic idea it was time to cross roads. Even though it was 2.30pm, hardly rush hour, crossing roads for the first time felt like a mission in itself. As soon as we tried to step out, motorbikes, cycles, scooters came charging at us from the left, the right and diagonally. After yet another eternity, we finally just stepped out and slowly walked, stopping, starting again, stopping - and as the bikes whizzed by, we got to the other end. The Lonely Planet map of the OQ was pretty good and we eventually found our bearings and made our way along Dao Duy Tu Hang Chinh towards the centre of the old part of town.

We decided to eat at Little Ha Noi I (Viet Nam’s copyright laws are somewhat akin to Sri Lanka and restaurant names are not immune - there’s a Little Ha Noi II just down the same lane). One of the specialties here is the Catfish nem - a type of Viet Namese spring roll. It turned out to be a DIY meal with the rice paper, fish and greens provided separately along with the requisite sauces. It was superb. The classic fish sauce, Nuoc Mam, coloured with floating chopped fresh red chili, would become a staple sidekick with most meals. By the time lunch was done with the sun had eased a bit so we decided to make the best of this half day by getting some administrative tasks out of the way. The first thing to sort out was the boat for Ha Long Bay. Thorn Tree provided some insights into the process and we had been forewarned that you really get what you pay for in Ha Long. We had highlighted Columbus travels and Handspan - and went with Columbus based on price and the really nice ppl who worked there. Their best option was priced at US$ 125 and the lowest price at Handspan was also US$ 125. This included overnight in the boat, 3 meals, transport to and from Ha Long, sea kayaking, cave exploration and swimming. This would easily be our priciest investment for the entire trip - but it felt like a sensible option.

Pleased with the afternoon efforts we headed towards the main lake in the OQ - Hoan Kiem lake. Soon as we stepped on to the road a woman came along with two baskets of fruits balanced on a pole placed across her shoulder. She came beside R and promptly placed the pole on her shoulder followed by the famous conical hat she was wearing on to R’s head. Our protests were mingled with laughter - and she said “no money - take picture. It ok.” I hesitantly snapped a quick one and she promptly began packing a small plastic bag of her fruits. Our protests were no longer mingled with laughter, despite the cleverness of her tactics. “40,000 dong” she said, the equivalent of about US$ 2.50 for a banana and a mango. We firmly said no and headed off towards the lake. The roads felt somewhat more familiar now, helped significantly by the map. The plan was to catch a performance of the water puppet theatre - a Ha Noi institution, and then grab a bite for dinner. Outside the water puppet theatre there were lots of tourist buses and we struggled to get tickets until a last minute cancellation opened up two seats for us which turned out to be excellent.

The show itself was a fascinating glimpse into Viet Namese culture - encapsulating traditional viet namese life which we would encounter repeatedly in the our travels over the next two weeks. The show consists of puppets expertly wielded over water from behind a veil. This was also our first taste of classical viet namese music including the fantastic Dan Bau - a single string wind instrument, and an assortment of viet namese violins, flutes and guitars. The folk tales and depictions of village life including duck farming, agriculture and religious ceremonies went on for just over one delightful hour. The classical theme didn’t rule out the use of special effects though - the dragons that exhaled fire were a fantastic exhibition. Thoroughly satisfied and even more excited about the prospects of exploring this country, we left the building and had a lovely walk around the lake. Ha Noi was getting ready to wind down for the night with people jogging, doing tai chi or just ambling around the perimetre of the lake, chatting or contemplating in silence.

We headed back towards town looking for a night market on Don Xuan road. This provided us with a taste of Ha noi that we’d get to really savour on the third day - walking through the specialised street markets - each a concentration of a particular product. We eventually ended up at an improvised food market near Bach Ma temple. The place was packed and utterly chaotic. We just stood aside figuring out whether we need to speak to someone first because it certainly didn’t seem like there were menus or anything of the sort. Eventually we ventured out of the collection of motorbikes and stepped up towards the jam packed tiny tables and even tinier chairs where about 50 viet namese were munching away. Soon someone came up and thrust a menu into my hand and pointed to a couple of chairs next to two diners. We asked if we could sit closer to the fan. The young boy looked confused and then shook his head. “No. Different” We were puzzled but then figured that the table near the fan is owned by a different proprietor. The menu looked good so we sat down. R ordered her first Pho Bo (beef noodle soup) and I tried the eel braised with mushrooms washed down by Bia Ha Noi (4.2% alcohol - less than my cough syrup). It was superb. And the atmosphere really helped a lot - there was so much chatter, people came and went, xe oms (motorbike taxis) revved, orders were shouted, bia bottles clashed as we dined amongst Ha nois best. It was a great way to end a fantastic night that really encapsulated Ha noi - ordered chaos, great food, great atmosphere - i was sure our Singaporean cab driver would have approved. On the way back to citygate we came across an interesting looking hotel called Prince II Hotel. We had a look at the rooms - fantastic quality plus a desktop with free internet to boot. We checked the price, $20 a night, breakfast included. Pretty damn good value for money so we booked for the next night and also booked a transport to the perfume pagoda the next morning. After all this the tiredness set in. We had just been in Ha noi for about 9 hours but we had done so much. At citygate we flopped into bed - a pretty auspicious start to what would be a fantastic journey.

Back in Colombo after an exhilarating 2 weeks in Viet Nam. It’s been a while since I took some time out of the country and South East Asia has long been on my exploration list. The preceding months were pretty hectic at work so R did most of the planning and I didn’t really have time to get excited about the whole thing. The Lonely Planet (LP) for Viet Nam is pretty decent so we had a rough idea of how we wanted to spend 15 days - but most of the planning took place on the final few days of browsing Thorn Tree and other internet traveler forums for up to the minute tips and information. Two weeks felt like too short a time to see the whole country so we decided to stick to the North and Central parts. Saigon and the Maekong Delta would have to wait for a combined trip with Cambodia some other time.

The basic plan was something like this.

Arrive in Hanoi - 2 nights
Halong Bay - 1 night
Sapa - 1 night (plus 2 nights on overnight sleeper trains from and to Hanoi)
Ninh Binh - 1 night (plus overnight sleeper to Hue)
Hue - 2 nights
Hoi An - 2 nights
Danang - 1 night

We didn’t make any bookings which left us with the flexibility of adding a couple of nights here and there in places that caught our fancy or completely changing things based on information on the ground. The day before departure we called up a spot that sounded inviting as per the LP description - they sounded nice on the phone so we had a room for the first night plus an airport pick up. That was all we needed. Backpacks packed, right foot forward - to Viet Nam.