Del's blog

So back in Hanoi again...

Yesterday we headed out to Cuc Phuong where we checked out the Endangered Primate Rescue Center and also did some trail walking. There weren't many people around and we only stumbled across 2 people early in our walk heading back towards the start. Other than that it was just us. Which was rather interesting at times as the trail wasn't well marked (signs had faded or been destroyed), and logs had fallen on some sections which required climbing over etc.

Had an early dinner and went to bed by 8pm as we had to leave by 2:30 am to walk to the train station for a 3:10 am train. We were the only people getting on at the train station and it was rather worrying as the time got closer, as we would hear the train in the distance as no one had woken up yet to let us through. At the train stations in Vietnam you wait in like a waiting hall, and when the train is close to arriving they unlock the door and let you through (there are never multiple trains arriving/leaving at the same time). It was rather reassuring when at like 2 min to go some loud alarm went off to wake the station staff up. Then to add to confusion the dude for carriage 2 didn't open the door, so we had to hop on at carriage 1 and make our way down... where people were in our seats. It's sort of like a plane, if a seats free someone else might take it, as the person who actually has that seat might have already gotten off. Or in our case hadn't boarded yet. The people moved back to their seats and I had a nice 2 hour snooze back to Hanoi.

Walked around the Old Quarter today, checked out the temple on Hoan Kiem Lake and caught the water puppet show in the evening. Leaving seeing some of the other sights for when we return to Hanoi (again). I only really want to go out to the Ho Chi Minh Complex and the HHoa Lo Prison (aka Hanoi Hilton). Not to crash hot for the museums. We are going out for a half day tour with Hanoikids though. Hanoikids is a student club in Hanoi that offers free tours of the city. The group slogan is "Be more than a tourist”. Well be going out to Bat Trang with them so I'll do a write up post outing.

Other than that, it's off to Halong Bay tomorrow for the day/night then more train journeys north to Sapa.

Time for bed now...

So it's rainy season up north, but it's a bit odd. Hoi An totally rained every day (with some dry patches), Hue was hot, Hanoi isn't as cold as the locals say and it was pouring in Ninh Binh where we are now.

We left Hue on the overnighter last night. It was a bit late but it made it into Hanoi on time. There we backtracked south 2 hours on the train again to Ninh Binh. Found a place to stay near the station, had breakfast then rented some bicycles to cycle out to Tam Coc. The weather was pretty dismal this morning, and it rained most of it. In fact just as our boat ride at Tam Coc finished, the sky torrentially opened, and it totally poured. I think our cameras stayed reasonably dry.

Tomorrow we're heading to Cuc Phuong National Park for the day, then the following morning catching the 3:10am train north back to Hanoi.

As for the blog post title, woolen socks have a habit of not smelling... hence 3 day old socks... except by the end of our bike ride today I had boots fullish of water and wet socks. At least my feet still felt warm.

Limestone karsts

Getting rowed through caves

Totally raining

In 6 hours or so we'll be hopping on the train to Hanoi, though at the moment I'm pottering how to run the gauntlet of cyclo drivers and whatnot who would be more than happy for me to part with my money for a ride to the station.

Other than that we're at the half way point of our Vietnam adventures and have Ninh Binh, Hanoi, Halong Bay and Sapa left. Then it's onwards to Laos for me. Met some Aussies yesterday who have come across from Laos and they loved it. Said it's more laid back, people are friendly etc. And not so many people trying to rip you off (fearing taxi metre scams in Hanoi already lol...)

Just resting this morning, not much else to do... till next time... hopefully there is free internet in Ninh Binh...

So got into Hue mid morning today. Decided to catch the bus instead as we had already done a whole day out on bikes in Nha Trang and were not up for possibly another delayed train. Only bummer is the bus takes the tunnel instead of going over the Hai Van Pass.

So on our last day in Hoi An I hired a bicycle and pedaled out to the country side. Got slightly lost along the way turning right instead of left, but all was good in the end. As it's rainy season it was pretty much raining the whole way and the beach was gloomy with waves. Still it was a nice morning ride. In the afternoon has to visit the tailor to pick up some clothes. They look decent, so hopefully they hold up with wear and washing. Posted a bunch of stuff back home as well. Wasn't going to lug all the stuff we bought around for another 2 weeks.

Back to today though... not sure if I like Hue yet. I like the Imperial Citadel but the moto and cyclo drives here are just a little bit annoying as they like to follow you (same goes for shop people who follow you trying to grab your arm), Probably going to do a boat cruise tour/trip tomorrow to see some tombs and pagodas. Was thinking of doing it ourself but I really can't be bothered trying to find us a driver etc.

Also, Hue is the place for the conical hats with the pictures/script you can see when holding the hat up to the light. I was going to buy one, but I don't think I'm prepared to lug it around for another 2 weeks... nor do I think my dad could get it home in one piece for me. Might just have to pick a conical hat up on my last night in Hanoi...

Anyways gotta go, rest time then dinner...

Hoi An is city on the central cost of Vietnam with and Old Town that is a UNESCO world heritage listed site. The town was a key shipping port in the 16th and 17thh centuries and the town has a very Chinese feel about it, especially with the old shops/homes.

In addition there are many tailors in this town, and the food here is paradise for anyone who loves eating (like myself!). We've been somewhat stuffing ourselves a little silly here as it tastes awesome and is cheap. The squid dishes here are the softest/tenderest squid I've ever tasted not to mention the herbs, spices and sauces used for flavouring. We've been mainly eating in the touristy area round the Old Town which does cost a bit more than local places down alleyways but either way it's still way cheaper than Australia.

In the Old Town you usually require a ticket to enter some of the old sites. Usually a ticket lets you view 5 different types of sites with around 15 to choose from. However as luck may have it today was the 10th anniversary of the Hoi An Old Town being declared a UNESCO site so it was free to visit any of them. So along our self guided walking tour we popped into all the ones we stumbled across.

It's a little late now - past midnight, so I'll post some pictures as usual then head off to bed. Gonna ride out to the beach and rice paddy fields tomorrow...

After wandering somewhat lost round some alleways, we found the local joint Bale Well... only 50,000 VND for all this food - Banh Xeo(Rice pan cake), Thit nuong(grilled pork), Ram cuon(spring rolls - though some are missing from the pic as I ate them), Nem nuong(grilled pork with sate)... That's less than $3 AUD!

Lemongrss and chilli squid

Can't remembr exactly, but it was like rice roll pork or something similar. You roll it yourself

Fish in banana leaf

Hoi An is near the water. At high tide, some of the streets flood, when there's a typhoon it's many times worse

At night when all the shops close, it looks like a deserted town. But there are still any people out an about elsewhere

In Hoi An. Train journey yesterday was epic to say the least. We were meant to leabe at 23:13 on 2/12, but soon after arrival it as announced the train was delayed till 03:00 3/12! So the majority of tourists (not many around 8) bunkered down in the station, Sleeping on plastic chairs is hard.. Then along the way the train became more behind as most of the track is single line, so there are passing points. First train at a point has to wait for the other train to pass.

Eventually got in Danang around 4pmish, 6 hours after the intended time. Asked some Brits if they wanted to share a cab down to Hoi An whichi they did, so we split the cost. Had to deal with yet another ruthless driver wanting more at the end. We only gave him what we originally on. Plus he'd driven round in circles trying to get u to stay at a place where he would get kickbacks instead of dropping us right where we wanted.

Anyways off I go, might go for a wander...

So we decided to give the island hopping trip a miss. Wasn't that up for snorkelling as I'm a little wheezy with the cold. Tracked down the guys after breakfast this morning to sort out our deal (we're getting them to drop us a the train station later tonight as well), came back for a 1hr snooze till 8:30am then headed out to meet our drivers.

Headed out along the coast road north stopping in at few fishing villages then on to Ban Ho falls which required a ride down some dirt roads and and decent walk through the forest to the falls. After that it was on to Monkey Island. Not one of the island hopping trip islands, this one was more one that the Vietnamese seem to go too. And it's got lots of monkeys. Don't really mind monkeys except when they stalk you for food (rabies!). Whilst walking this giant monkey came from no where and pinched one of ur drivers drinks (and it was in a closed bottle!). There was also this monkey and dog show thing, but it was a bit weird at times. The locals seemed to like it, but it was a bit cruel... - did yu know monkeys can be trained to ride bicycles?!? As much as that was totally weird it was kind of amusing, especially the monkey on the road style bike, which really did take to racing it around.

Anyways just resting now before heading out for dinner and buying snacks for the train trip to Danang.

On the coast

Fishing village

Rice paddies

Just crossed a river

Ban Ho Falls

Monkeys

So we arrived into Nha Trang early this morning on the SE4 from Saigon. Leaving Saigon we had another taxi meter scam on our way to train station. Spotted early on, a angryish (well half) debating convo negotiated it down to a more acceptable rate. No way in hell I was going to pay the equivalent of about $9 AUD for a 3KM journey that should've been around $2-3 AUD. Though when we paid and hopped out I told the dude not to rip people of... karma comes back... lol. Dad reckons I'm too harsh. But I figure if they wanna scam us, then I should be able to equally give it back. Saw a few tourists in Saigon too taking the same approach especially when one store quotes 3 times the amount that the one around the corner for the same thing.

Anyways back to Nha Trang, had a wander and some food in the morning then headed back to the hotel to sleep for a few hours. I've got a mild cold (again!!!) and every now and then I feel just a little bit sick. Cold air-con on train probably didn't help.

So once we woke up, we headed out planning to visit the Po Nagar Cham Towers and Thap Ba Hot Spring Center. Was planning on pedal powering it out, but in the end got two guys to ride us out. Good choice, as I don't think I would've made it there and back... not with the cold making my head funny.

Hot Spring Center was good fun. Mud baths, mineral baths and a 38 degree heated pool. And is it wrong to say I shared a mud bath with my dad? The choice was 100,00 VND each for public/communal cold mud, or 200,000 VND each for a private bath with warm mud. We chose the latter option.

After that got dropped of at the Sailing Club for lunch. Bit more expensive than usual, but location was nice and makes you feel you're really on holidays. Then after lunch had a stroll which was where the subject of this post comes into play. I spotted the lobster ladies! And we decided even though we'd just eaten lunch we had to have a lobster. There were crabs and shellfish too, but they were already cooked and were being kept warm so not sure how fresh they really were. But the lobsters were still alive, so we picked a medium sized one and the lady cooked it for us on the beach, and they put out some tarp for us to sit on. It was like a travelling restaurant really.

Not sure what were going to do tomorrow. Toying with a island trip but the weather is pretty gloomy here at the moment – overcast, cloudy with patches of rain. Might find those guys instead tomorrow to do some touring out to Ban Ho Falls, a fishing village and monkey island instead.

Leaving on the the night train tomorrow night for Danang, so it's a rather whirlwind stay here in Nha Trang.

And as usual, some pics:

Train from Saigon to Nha Trang

On the top bunk,,, money wallets are so unflattering...

Mmm mud

Food

Bet you wish you were here... (eating dinner right now here)

Our lobster getting toasted

Me, the lobster and the lobster lady

Feeling some gadget and technology love right now. Just used Skype from my EeePC to ring the 8000 Reverse service (1800 Reverse in Australia) to reverse charge a call back to Westpac to sort out stuff with the stolen credit card, as mums card got cancelled as well but she was having issues talking to Westpac.

I couldn't seem to free call the 1800 reverse number for Australia from Skype even though the Skype site says it should be free, so I dialled the United States one (which I know for sure is free from Skype), then connected the call to Aus. Line was pretty crappy, but we got by. Can't really complain seeing that I was using free-wifi, free voip and call collecting.

Deciding whether we really need an emergency replacement card. Mastercard can arrange a emergency one for free, but thinking it might be all okay.

Anyways it's train time tonight as we're heading up to Nha Trang. Till next time...

Yep maybe even a video too if my Vimeo upload worked... think my comp is running an old version of Flash so I can't actually see the video uploaded...

And yep Saigon beers for 10,000 dong (bit less than 60 cents) a bottle... score! Tastes pretty good too. Though as with any place in SE Asia, being a tourist pretty much means a two tier cost system. E.g.first beer of evening turned out to be 20,000 dong a bottle but at the dinner place it was only 10,000! Thinks we will have to check the cost of beer before siting down on small stools now...

Oh and the cost of fresh fruit is always a hard one... obviously bargaining for food is a debatable one, and I've often worked on the theory that if I get to eat tropical fruit for way less than the cost in Australia then it can't be too bad either way. Though this evening showed that food itself can be negotiated. On the way back from Cu Chi today the guide bought 1KG of bananas at 6,000 dong/KG. So it was amusing in the evening, when we were looking at fruit before dinner but didn't really want to buy it till after eating. Curiously asking a couple of stores the price, we then continued walking except they wanted to bargain. Mangosteen for 20,000 dong/KG! And yes mum it does taste very nice... mmm we've bought like 2KG in 2 days

Anyways gotta sleep, so here's the pics and vid:

Cu Chi (not sure what I was trying to do with the finger pose though?)

Let's drink a beer:

Dinner:

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