Week 45 - Y2 (Jan 7th to Jan 13th)
Sun., Jan. 7: I got down to reception at around 9am, and managed to join a city minibus tour at the very last minute. The first stop was the Killing Fields just outside of the city. These are the fields where the Khmer Rouge took their prisoners and bludgeoned them to death, then dumped them in mass graves. You can see the graves, and there's a monument that has thousands of skulls stacked up and organized by age and sex-- these are the skulls that were recovered from the mass graves. It is absolutely horrifying to think that all of this could happen. The next stop was the Russian Market, where I managed to replace my dying Pumas (destroyed from the hike in Chiang Mai) as well as pick up some really cheap pirated DVDs. My final stop for the day was S-21. This was a high school that had been turned into a prison/interrogation centre by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. You can see some of the horrifying torture devices that were used, as well as heartwrenching photos of the things that took place there. Only 7 people survived from that detention centre. I was holding back tears for the whole time. How does a country begin to recover from something like this? What amazes me about Cambodia is how beautiful it is, and how devastating it is at the same time. The people are charming and sweet and intelligent, but they are so poor, and their government is still so corrupt. I wonder how this country will change in the following years. After the tour, I walked to the National Museum, which is small, but has some beautiful Khmer art. There, I ran into a British woman that I had met in Angkor Wat, and coincidentally every day up there! Small world . . . I had dinner along the river again-- more begging children. There was a 14 year old girl who was particulary sweet and friendly, and it breaks my heart that this is the reality of her life. While walking past some of the riverfront restaurants, I saw the same British woman again! We thought it was so strange that we were running into each other yet again, so we decided to have a few drinks together. Turns out that she lives and works in Toronto . . . it's funny the people that you meet travelling!
Mon., Jan. 8: Another early morning-- I booked a bus to Ho Chi Minh City today. Same thing-- we were picked up at the guesthouse, and taken to another guesthouse where we would board the bus. The bus turned out to be horrible-- it was an old smelly death trap with fold-out seats, and it was overfull with foreigners. The roads on the Cambodian side were awful, and we went bumping along to the border for 4 hours. I ended up sitting beside a Scottish girl, Emily, who was also travelling alone. When we got to the border, we stopped for lunch, and then all of us were told to walk across the border, where we would board a Vietnamese bus that was waiting for us. The border seemed quite lax, but a little shady-- none of us really knew what was going on there. On the other side, at first there wasn't a bus waiting, and we were all getting kind of concerned, but finally a man came up and took us to our bus. The Vietnamese roads were way better, and the bus was in much better condition too. It dropped us off right in the backpacker district of Ho Chi Minh. Emily and I decided to see if we could find a double room to cut down costs, and we ended up finding a really nice place for $6 each-- hot showers, air-con, cable television, spotlessly clean! So far, I'm pretty impressed with Ho Chi Minh. After we had booked our bus/train tickets out/ booked our tours, we walked to an area of the city that has a lot of cafes and bars. Ho Chi Minh traffic is insane! Everybody is on a motorbike, and they all just kind of drive in every direction at all times. To cross the street, you just kind of have to walk into the traffic, and walk slowly so that everyone can see you and dodge you. It's terrifying at first. There is no way in hell that I'll be taking a moto taxi here. We ended up finding this great little cafe, with good coffee and nice treats as well. Vietnam has a really obvious French influence, and it's lovely so far. One thing that isn't lovely-- the giant street rats that we kept on seeing on the walk back to our hotel.
Tues., Jan. 9: I woke up extra early today because I had to do some research on the internet about accomodation in Hoi An, my next stop. Hoi An is very small, but very popular, and apparently it can be difficult to get rooms around this time of year. Vietnam is not as cheap as I had expected! Most of the rooms were $15-20. That said, a $15 room gets you aircon, hot water, towels, swimming pools, balconies, and so on; so I guess I'm getting a lot more for my money. When Emily got up, we had a leisurely breakfast and then went to the travel agent to pick up my train ticket-- I had paid for, and was planning on taking the overnight train to Hoi An tonight. So imagine my surprise when we get to the travel agent, and she tells me that the train is full! Why couldn't she have checked that last night when I booked it? So my options were to take a bus the following morning with a 12 hour stopover in Nha Trang; or to pay $13 extra and fly tomorrow. Neither were exactly ideal-- since I had just booked my Hoi An accomodation, I couldn't lose a day in Nha Trang, and when you're travelling, $13 extra dollars is kind of a lot. But what could I do? So I booked the flight, and Emily and I went back to our hotel and booked another night in our room. When all of this was finally sorted, Emily and I proceeded on foot to the War Remnants museum. Neither of us had really known much about the Vietnam War (and actually even after the museum, I'm not sure I really understand what happened anyway), but the pictures were horrifying. There was a lot of documentation about the ecological effects and the health effects of the chemical bombs that the Americans were using. Pretty awful stuff. Next, we walked to the Reunification Palace, which was the home and office of the Sout Vietnam president, and it was here that US tanks rushed into at the beginning of the war. In the basement, you can see the hideout, and the "wartime" bedroom, and lots of old radio equipment, plus a few bullet holes in the walls. However, it kind of amazes me that the building is still in very good shape, and the 4 floors above the basement are perfectly intact-- you never would have guessed that there was a massive war in this city 30 odd years ago. We then walked to the Ben Thanh Market, braving the crazy traffic all the while. The market was huge and stuffy-- I'm sure there were lots of bargains to be had, but a) my backpack is getting really full and b) I just don't have the patience anymore! We didn't stay too long . . . We walked to the Dong Khoi area, where we were last night, and found a jazz bar to have dinner in. Unfortunately the band wasn't going to start til 9pm, so we didn't get to hear any of the music. I was talking to the waiter a little though, and he told me that that was the first jazz club in Ho Chi Minh-- it's only been open for 2 years! We were both pretty tired after all that walking around all day, so we ended up just going back to the hotel and watching some tv, and then going to bed. I've been having a little bit of trouble with my left foot-- I somehow managed to injure my big toe during the hike in Chiang Mai, and I've been trying to keep the cut clean and dry, but it's so difficult while travelling! I think it might be a little infected . . .
Wed., Jan. 10: Early this morning, Emily left for a Mekong Delta tour. She has a lot more time to travel than I do (apparently everyone here does, makes me jealous!), so she's going to take her time in Vietnam. As for me, I found myself wide awake at 7am for the second morning in a row, so I got up and lazed around a little bit before packing and checking out. In the afternoon, I took a taxi (ie the brother of the woman who owns the hotel we stayed at) to the airport for my flight to Danang, which is the closest city to Hoi An. The flight took about 1 hour. I was surprised to see how many people were on the plane. Loads of foreigner families as well. Weird that Southeast Asia seems to be turning into a vacation spot for families . . . In Danang, my hotel provided free pickup from the airport. They set me up in my room, which is absolutely gorgeous! It's a 3-4 star hotel for $15 a night, which is kind of unbelievable to me. I have 2 huge beds, hot water, a bathtub even, aircon, cable tv, mini bar, access to a swimming pool, beauty treatments and free breakfast. This is absolute luxury in comparison to everything in Thailand. I guess, with Vietnam, you pay a little bit more, but you get SO much more for your money. After settling in, I took a quick walk around the town, which is really small, but quite lovely. Lots of tall narrow houses in pastelish colours. It kind of looks like the best of European and Asian architecture all thrown together.
Thurs., Jan. 11: My first stop today was to the tailor-- Hoi An is famous for its more than 200 tailors, who can make absolutely anything for a very low price, and within one day. Amazing! I brought in my favourite pair of jeans to get an exact copy made, and I also got fitted for a dress. Today I visited Hoi An Old Town, which is really just the same town that I walked through last night, but buying an "Old Town" ticket allows you to visit some of the homes-turned-museums in the town. First I had an awesome crepe and mango juice at a little cafe facing the river. This town is beautiful! Cafes and beautiful old houses, long river boats (essentially canoes)-- I could definitely stay here for a very long time and be happy. Most of the "museums" in Old Town are really just family owned houses that the families have opened up to the public. Usually they'll give the visitors a little tour. Here's what I saw: Quan Cong Temple, Tran Family Chapel (my tour was given by a teenage Tran who was lovely!) and the Cantonese Assembly Hall, which had some beautiful ceramic sculptures. Then I walked on the bridge to the other side of the river, and explored the neighbourhood of houses for awhile. I came across a boat workshop, wood carving workshops and more. I had lunch at another riverfront restaurant. My waiter reccomended some Hoi An specialities for me-- fried wontons, covered in tomato and minced pork, and white roses, tiny rice dumplings stuffed with shrimp. They were both fantastic. After lunch, I took a quick look at the Japanese Covered Bridge and the Folk Museum, then headed to the Handicraft Workshop for a traditional music performance. There were some really cool instruments- some zithers, a lap harp, and one that I really don't how to describe, but it was cool. We were allowed to watch the artisans making their crafts, so I watched wood carvers, mat weavers, lantern makers, silversmiths, and so on. The most impressive was the mat weaving-- it takes so so long to make any progress at all! Hoi An is pretty amazing for shopping-- in addition to all of the tailors, and the beautiful handicrafts, you can even have custom made shoes done up in a day! This place is heaven . . . I spent the afternoon shopping for me and for friends and family. I'm definitly going to need a new backpack. It's a good thing that I'm on the last leg of my trip! I heade back to the hotel for a little break, and then headed back out into town, to the Tam Tam Cafe, which is a popular cafe with expats, and has a huge terrace, plus a pool table and good happy hour prices. So far, Vietnam is definitly my favourite of the three countries I've been to on this trip. In fact, I could easily live here, and be quite content . . . it's like Korea except better! I'll definitly be sad to go.
Fri., Jan. 12: I joined a bus tour to My Son today. My Son consists of several ancient Cham ruins about 35km outside of Hoi An. The Cham civilization originated in Indonesia, and these ruins date back from the 4th to 9th century. The Cham people were also responsible for a lot of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, which was from about the 9th to 13th century. So I got to see the predecessor to Angkor Wat. First 4 people including myself were picked up from my hotel: an American girl and her mom( she's travelling for a year by herself, but her mother is currently visiting her) and a British guy who has an interest in jazz. We were transferred to a travel agent, where we boarded a much larger bus filled with other tourists, surprisingly mostly families. So far, Vietnam is packed with families. It took us about 40 minutes to get to My Son. From there, we got out, got into little minivans to take us 2km up the mountain, and then finally we were there! All of this bus transferring and what not took almost 2 hours. We were given a brief tour by a very young and cute Vietnamese guy, and then we were given free reign. The ruins were lovely. They were like a less decorated smaller version of Angkor Wat, except the vegetation was lusher, and there was grass growing out of the sides of the buildings. We met down at the gate, where we boarded the bus again. The bus dropped us at a pier, as we were going to take a boat back to Hoi An. Unfortunately, it had started to rain by this point (only the second time it's rained on my whole trip!), so the boat trip was made not so fun by that. There was lunch on the boat, but it ended up being fried rice with some kind of nut sprinkled on top, so I didn't eat it. This is actually the first time I've encountered nuts on my whole trip-- it seems that Southeast Asian food is not nearly as full of peanuts as I had imagined. After the boat trip, I went to the tailor for my final fitting, picked up my new made-for-me shoes, bought some woodwork, bought 10 CDs for about $6, and lounged around in a great little cafe, sampling another Hoi An culinary special-- cao lau, thick flat noodles with pork and croutons in a salty broth. I really like Vietnamese food so far, although it seems a little heavy on the frying. One thing that kind of annoyed me today-- the streets are not paved very well, and so walking around in the rain meant that all of my clothes got really muddy. I had to change 3 times. This is supposed to be dry season, so I can only imagine how sloppy it must get in wet season. I'm also kind of sick of being practically chased down the street by vendors or moto taxi drivers or restauranteurs who want my business; but at least they're kind of sweet and charming about it. Every time I've bought something, the salesperson has taken some time out to chat with me, and wish me luck in my travels. I leave for Hue tomorrow morning, and I'll be sad to leave Hoi An! So far, this is my favourite place that I've been to.
Sat., Jan. 13: I got up early this morning to catch a bus to Hue. The bus drove for about half an hour, and made a quick stopoff at the Marble Mountains. These are 5 small mountains made of natural marble (although they're starting to have to import marble, because people keep on using it to make stuff!). They look really eery, because everything else around them is flat. In the caves and nooks and crannies of these mountains, there are Buddhist carvings, statues and inscriptions. I stepped inside the mouth of one of the caves, but there's no lighting inside, so you can't really go in without a guide and a flashlight. The rest of the bus trip was gorgeous. We were driving through these beautiful mountains overlooking the coast and miles of rice paddies. Everything was lush and green, and it was kind of foggy with low clouds clinging to the tops of the mountains. Best bus ride yet. As soon as I got off the bus in Hue, I was swarmed (same as usual!) with recruiters for different guesthouses. Coincidentally, the first one who handed me a business card was actually the one that I was going to go to first anyway, so I let him walk me over to the hotel. Another nice room, definitely cheaper than Ho Chi Minh and Hoi An, which is good, but still with tv, hot shower, free internet, the works. After I settled in, I walked about 15 minutes to the other side of the river to visit the Citadel. This was an entire city with walls and moats, and within the citadel, there was a forbidden city only for the royals (same idea as the Forbidden City in Beijing). A lot of the citadel was destroyed during the war, and actually you can see some of the bullet holes in the walls and carvings. Some of the buildings are perfectly intact however, so there's a really nice contrast going on. Something funny about transportation in Vietnam-- you really have 2 choices; either a moto taxi, or there's this thing called the remorque-kang, which is a bicycle with a kind of cart for sitting in at the front of it. It looks absolutely ridiculous! Remorque-kangs are everywhere in Hue, and I couldn't walk 2 meters without being offered a tour via remorque-kang. On my way back, I stopped at the Mandarin Cafe, which is popular with backpackers, although I can't really see why. It's little more than a hole in the wall, and the food wasn't that good. But the waitresses were really cool. They were hanging out in front of the restaurant playing the Asian version of hacky sack. Unfortunately, I seem to have caught a cold and I've been sniffling and sneezing my way through this whole day. Hopefully I can fight it for just one more week!
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