masterwordsmith-unplugged

Many thought I was out of my mind when I declared that I would visit Vietnam on my own. "Take a tour" was the standard response but me being the adventurous type, decided that I would, like what I had done on many holidays, do a free-and-easy kind of holiday on my own with a friend. Being the fussier one, she left it to me all the arrangements and to plan our itinerary.

Of all my vacations, I think I spent the most time planning for the Vietnam getaway. I spent a month reading about the history from as far back as the 11th century - the more I read, the more fascinated I became and the higher my expectations. Even when I went on a six-week trip around 11 European countries years ago, I don't think I read up as much. But of course, the difference is the availability of the internet now.

After visiting many websites, I finally booked a room at a downtown hotel (can't remember the name and cannot locate my moleskin where I recorded my journal entries) @ 40USD per night x two nights. During the flight, I had made friends with a Vietnamese gentleman sitting beside me. A postgrad student at Universiti Malaya, he agreed to help us to get to town and said that we could either take a cab and pay 70USD or the public bus and pay 7RM. Of course we did the latter although I must say it was quite cold waiting in the open for the bus to come. The temperature was 16 degrees.

I hauled my haversack into the bus and sat at the back. Eeeeeew! I could not believe what I saw. The man sitting next to me was carrying a plastic bag filled with fat succulent SCORPIONS! When I asked him what they were for, he gesticulated and implied it was for dinner *faint*.

By the time we reached the main bus station, we said goodbye to our Vietnamese Samaritan whose girlfriend was already there waiting for him . She arranged for us to take a cab to our hotel. I thought it was odd that the cab driver had never heard of the hotel and did not know the name of the road. Since I had done my homework, I showed him a detailed map which I had sourced from the internet.

The patient cab driver manoeuvred his way in and out of the tricky streets of Hanoi and when he reached a certain point, he started weaving through backlanes in nail-biting suspense. He even stalled the car at a few places. got out and shifted the motorcycles and bicycles that were in his way. Suddenly, he stopped and asked us to get out.

Hmm how can it be? It was supposed to be a 4-star hotel that had just been refurbished. We got out of the cab, paid him and walked down the dark back alley with hearts that were pounding with fear.

Well, it was the correct hotel but nothing like the photos we saw online. I felt so cheated. When the receptionist asked us to follow her, I got the shock of my life when she entered the smallest elevator I had ever seen. Thank God our room was on the third floor for I was at the brink of vomiting from claustrophobia. Another shock awaited me when she opened the door to the room. Again, it was nothing like the online pics.

After dumping our bags, I consulted my Lonely Planet and figured that the best way would be to leave for Halong Bay the next day to get away from that overpriced hotel. We left the hotel and looked for tour operators and found one at12, Hang Manh Street (I still have the brochure). Happily we booked a tour to Halong Bay and the receptionist assured us that everything we saw in the beautiful glossy brochure was real so we paid 65USD for three day-two nights at Halong Bay with breakfast and dinner, transportation and also hotel. We thought we had recouped our losses since we had paid 40USD for the hotel room per night.

Then we went for dinner and got ripped off again. During my 6-week tour of Europe, I only got ripped off ONCE in Rome when I dined with my travelling mates - a Canadian girl, two boys from LA, a Mexican girl, a guy from New York, a Japanese girl and my colleague A.W. But in Vietnam, *sigh* I got ripped off like three times. Anyway, it was a five-course dinner in a fancy restaurant and I thought it was 25USD for two persons as the menu said that the portions were for two and I stupidly thought the price was also for two until the bill came. Anyway, it was a lovely meal. For starters, we had cocktail prawn salad followed by sauteed pumpkin leaves and then huge tiger prawns deep fried in rice crackers. Next was pho and dessert was some kind of coconut tart.

Feeling very stuffed, we made our way back and after washing up, promptly fell asleep without adjusting our watches to local time. I set the alarm to Malaysian time so you can imagine what happened - we woke up at the wrong time and when we went down for breakfast, all were still asleep at 5a.m. Anyway, much later, we did go down at the right time after I got an earful from my girlfriend!

The drive to Halong Bay was long and bumpy. When we reached the pier, we made friends with other backpackers including a girl doing her masters at UCLA, a German guy who cycled around China and a few other French and British backpackers.



The cruise around Halong Bay is simply marvellous and I wrote some of my best romantic poems there most effortlessly. One of the natural wonders of the world and a UNESCO Heritage Site, Halong Bay is truly a remarkable destination. Over 3 000 islands protrude from the sea with red sailed junks. The feel of the cool gentle breeze caressing my cheek as I sat on the open deck with the other backpackers exchanging travelogue notes is unforgettable.

We cruised around the bay to contemplate the amazing and stunningly beautiful and spectacular limestone islets including Dinh Huong Island, Ga Choi island, Dog island and of course Thien Cung Cave, which is one of the most beautiful caves in Halong Bay.

By the time we reached the pier, we had to take another van to town and then we had another shock. The hotel was not the one in the brochure!!! Anyway, we had become quite numb by all the surprises that this time, we took it in our stride and made the best of what we could. Sadly, I lost all my pics when my computer crashed last year and I did not back up the photos so I have none to show you in this post except for a few taken from the internet.

I reckon the best part of Halong Bay town is the friendly folks and cheap beer! Our evenings were spent largely on the promenade, something like Gurney Drive, drinking along the sidewalk and watching people walk by.

The food on the island was nothing much to scream about but the staff were certainly eager to please. The next morning, we made our way to Cat Ba National Park together with a couple of French backpackers. I did not know that the hike would be so steep. Since I had my spinal injury from a hiking accident in 2002, I was petrified and extremely cautious when hiking up and down. In fact, the guide had to help me all the way and needless to say, I was the last in the group. If he had not pulled me up the rocky ridges, I would have set up home in the hills of Cat Ba National Park. Somehow, I was just frozen with fear that I might fall and get another injury. When the whole hike was over, I gave the guide a big tip and went back to the hotel with a splitting headache and fever. As usual, I cannot take overexposure to the sun but it was exhilarating - the view from the top - awesome!

After two nights, we made our way to Hanoi and checked into Blue Sky Hotel which was recommended by our other backpacker friends and it only cost us 8USD per person per night (ensuite!!) including breakfast. The pretty and friendly receptionist there arranged for our trip to Hue, the ancient capital of Vietnam the next day and even got us the train ticket there and flight back. I was quite shocked at the train cubicles which were small and cramped. On either side are bunks in three levels. Unfortunately, mine was the centre bunk and I had a bad attack of claustrophobia until i could not breathe and had to stand outside for the greater part of the journey. Serves us right for making the bookings much too late and as such, we could only get air tickets from Hue to Hanoi. Still, it was a good experience for me.

Now Hue is really something else. Hue is located in Thua Thien prefecture and is in the central part of Vietnam. Located 660 km from Hanoi and 1080 km from Saigon, Hue has always been considered the fulcrum of Vietnam's two rice baskets, the Red river delta and the Mekong delta. Hue became the name of Vietnam's most well known ancient capital because of the local mispronunciation of the word Hoá in Thuân Hoá.

Most of the people in Hue speak French so I had a great time trying to converse and trying to comprehend what they were saying to me. Very rich in culture, Hue also has fine restaurants and interesting pubs. In the day, we visited the old palace and many tombs of the kings which are so huge and beautiful!!

After another three days in Hue, we finally ended up in Hanoi again and stayed in the French quarter with just about enough time to tour the area before we flew home. Frankly, of the three places, I love Halong Bay for its scenery and Hue for its culture and cuisine. Hanoi - hmmm not too bad for the history but the whole area is far too congested, noisy and crazy for my liking - such a sharp contrast from Halong Bay and Hue indeed. Honking seems to be a national past time and it begins as early as 5.30a.m. Crossing the road is akin to a fear factor activitiy and you have to visit Hanoi to understand what I mean! The best part is the artists' area - somewhat like the one in Bohemian Montmartre area in Paris near the Sacre Coeur. It was only in Hue that I saw pretty ao dai clad damsels cycling in the most unusual way reminiscent of Penang in the 1960's.

We visited the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, One Pillar Pagoda, walked around West Lake, went to the Literature Temple Quoc Tu Giam, Museum of Ethnology and of course the old quarters and a couple of other places which I cannot recall. What amazes me is how well organized are the roads and shops. Business activity is so regimented e.g. each street specializes in one activity e.g. hardware or clothing or shoes etc. Squatting by the roadside on the short stools and slurping pho as the winter wind blew at my face was truly unforgettable.

The ten days I spent there were most unusual, restful and eye-opening. In my heart, I realized that Vietnamese are intelligent, well-organized, a cohesive social unit and would probably overtake Malaysia one day in many areas. Often times, I look back to those happy, restful times I had in Hanoi, Hue and Halong Bay and I will surely go back one day....not just to relive those memorable moments but to make more unforgettable memories...