Vietnamese New Year, or TET

Preparations are in full swing everywhere. Their equivalent of our Christmas tree is a peach or mandarin tree, covered in fruits, which they take home and decorate. We have seen some hilarious sights with giant trees in pots, or even two, being carried through thick traffic on the back of motorbikes. There are brightly coloured decorations on sale, some of which are designed to be burned, together with artificial banknotes, as offerings to the Buddha. We’ve seen these little burning ceremonies in some unlikely places – outside shops, by the river, even yesterday on a small boat. No Health and Safety concerns here! Incense sticks are burning everywhere too, sometimes even overpowering the motorbike fumes.

It’s the Year of the Cat here, but not as much seems to be made of the animal as for Chinese New Year. The Year of the Rabbit celebrations will be in full swing when we get back to Singapore later next week.

Hoi An

The taxi drive from Da Nang to Hoi An, along the coast, was quite surreal. First we passed China Beach, where US troops used to go for R&R in the American (not Vietnam here) war. Then there was a long stretch of spanking new developments, resort after resort two with major golf courses, one ‘owned’ by Colin Montgomerie and one by Greg Norman....huge billboards everywhere saying ‘Great White Shark spotted in Da Nang’. There were armies of Vietnamese workers in hard hats returning to the building sites after lunch. I couldn’t help wondering who on earth would come there on holiday and whether there was the local infrastructure – water, sanitation etc, to cope with such huge developments. Also, this coast is subject to annual typhoons. We later found out that the money behind these projects is Korean and Chinese.

Hoi An itself is a beautiful town with World Heritage status. It was a major trading port for 4 centuries till the Thu Bon river silted up in the nineteenth century. Many Chinese and Japanese traders settled here and have left their mark in the Old Town, which has a huge number of well-preserved old houses, assembly halls and temples. By agreement on both sides, Ho An escaped damage in the American War.

It did take me a while though to fall for the charm of Hoi An, because the tourist boom here has got rather out of control, especially in the hundreds (no exaggeration) of tailors’ shops touting for business, wanting to make suits, shirts, dresses, coats, blouses etc with a 24 hour turnaround. In addition there are shoe shops, shops selling all manner of silk goods (scarves, cushions, lanterns, table runners...) and the usual souvenir shops. Although I like shopping, this really is too much. You are constantly accosted with ‘you buy something madame, you come in my shop, I give you good discount’ etc etc. It’s almost impossible to browse, because as soon as you show any interest a salesperson will start taking out dozens of samples and wanting you to try them.

So, our first afternoon and evening was a little overwhelming, but the next day we were hardened to it and concentrated on visiting the wonderful old buildings on a long walking tour which took us several fascinating hours. During the walk we visited one of the most lively produce markets I have ever seen – live animals, mountains of vegetables and herbs, noodles, rice, pancakes. The sights, smells and sounds were intoxicating.

As a break from all this, we took a lovely peaceful river cruise in the late afternoon, just the two of us and a very friendly boatman who took us down to the mouth of the river to see fishing boats, fishermen casting their nets, and a series of enormous fishing nets stretched out to dry on bamboo poles.

An upside of the tourist boom in Hoi An is that there are some wonderful restaurants here – although you’d be pushed to eat badly anywhere in Vietnam. We’ve tried to make sure we eat the local specialities wherever we are, and haven’t been disappointed. Local beers are an amazing price, about 12p. It’s all freshly brewed, tastes like decent lager and goes down very well. Vietnam is not a place to drink wine though – wine is expensive and not good. They have their own local wines from Dalat, and some uninspiring imports, mainly from France. Last night after dinner we found a wine bar run by Aussies, with decent Australian wine – lovely, and a taste of things to come in a week or so.

Hue to Da Nang by train

The train is called The Reunification Express, and travels between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. There wasn’t much ‘express’ about it, but the journey was lovely, especially nearing Da Nang when the train hugs the rugged coastline, passes through a series of tunnels (each one supervised by a man with a flag at each end) and gives some spectacular views up and down the coast. In both Hue and Da Nang, the train line seems to pass through peoples’ back yards, so you get great views of washing lines, ducks and chickens, motorbikes (often stored inside the house), and rice flour pancakes spread out to dry on wooden racks.

Hue

We arrived in Hue yesterday and were once again welcomed so warmly (with fresh orange drink and watermelon), this time at Orchid Hotel, where we were again given an upgraded room and briefed by a lovely Vietnamese lady with the best English we have experienced so far in the country. All the rooms are really comfortable and have supplies of fruit, water, a computer, DVD player and internet access.

Hue was the capital of the Nguyen emperors from 1802 until 1945 and is now a World Heritage site because it contains significant relics of pre-communist Vietnam including a vast Citadel with the Imperial City where the emperors lived and worked. It took about 4 hours of our day to look round the temples, palaces, halls, pavilions, theatre, gates, grounds and the Forbidden Purple City. Unfortunately, due to heavy bombing during the French and American wars, much of the place is in poor state, although serious attempts are being made to restore parts to its former glory. Certainly, there’s enough there to recapture something of what life must been like during the time of the emperors.

Last night we found an Aussie bar (DMZ) and a Vietnamese-French restaurant, the latter almost exclusively populated with white, middle aged, western tourists but the food was worth it. The cost of living in Vietnam is ridiculously cheap, our 8 small courses for two and bottle of French wine cost £17.

Earlier in the evening, having gone out for a stroll along the Perfume River to see the dragon boats, then over one of the bridges, we were pestered for so long by a cyclo (like a rickshaw cycle) that we eventually agreed to a ride – it’s worrying when they cut across the traffic but everyone seems to avoid them, so we survived. Today we did see our first minor road accident, which is amazing it’s taken so long in Hanoi and here, considering the volume of traffic, especially motor cycles. This time, a guy with a wide load didn’t leave sufficient space to pass a female motorbike rider and she came off, then he lost his load. What could have been ugly was not, as the guy immediately went over to apologise and make sure the girl was okay.

This afternoon, having had pancakes and drinks for lunch for the princely sum of £5, we wandered off through the back streets in the rain, right outside simple dwellings where we could see their modest living spaces, to find a working pagoda. We then accepted a ride in our own private dragon boat along the canal and across the river to near our hotel. The boat’s lady owner did attempt to sell all sorts of silk clothes to Mary but since she had already chosen a couple of blouses last night to be made to measure, we declined the friendly offers.

Hue is relatively quiet compared with Hanoi and the people have been lovely, even the attempts to sell their wares, always asking where we are from and when we tell them, the response is nearly always “good football”. We then have some friendly banter about the relative merits of Liverpool and Manchester United!

Tomorrow, we set off on what is supposed to be a special (partially coastal) train journey to Danang, then on by bus or taxi to Hoi An.

Hanoi and Halong Bay

So far we are loving Vietnam - Hanoi is a riot of activity, movement, honking horns, commerce....'bustling' hardly begins to describe it and we have become adept now at crossing the road through a forest of mopeds and cars. Thanks Stu and Vic for the advice to set off, look determined and keep going!

The old quarter, where we are staying, is incredible. All the pavement space is taken up with parked motorbikes, street restaurants (a loose term to describe a gaggle of child-size plastic chairs and tables around a selection of cooking pots), stalls selling everything under the sun, and even manufacturing. The noise is indescribable, but amazingly the traffic does move. The pollution is bad though, and many locals wear face masks.

We visited Ho Chi Min's ('Uncle Ho') grandiose mausoleum, the 'one pillar pagoda', the temple of the Arts (like a mini version of the Forbidden City), and the Water Puppet show. It's hard to describe this - basically the puppet show takes place on water, including processions, fiery dragons etc, and all are operated from behind screens by puppeteers who are also thigh deep in water. Different......

We've been a bit taken by surprise by the cool temperatures here, such a contrast from steamy Singapore where we spent our first day. It's about 10 degrees, so we're wearing all the 'warm' clothes we brought at the same time.

We've just come back from a 24 hr trip to Halong Bay, which is a World Heritage site a four hour drive East of Hanoi. We cruised on Red Dragon Junk - a lovely boat with comfortable bedrooms and excellent food. There were just 8 guests on board - one Dutch/French couple, one Dutch/American, one Aussie/English and us - so our Welsh/English combination fitted in well with the mixed marriages. I was really pleased to have the chance for a good chat in French to Elisabeth, who felt more comfortable in French and Dutch than in English.

Halong Bay was misty and looked really spooky and ethereal as we cruised amongst huge limestone 'karsts' - like island hills sticking out of the water. We stopped at a beach and visited a cave inside one, dry and warm, and then went kayaking (which we weren't much good at....Dave and Pam will appreciate that!). The 'guide' just set off with no instruction at all so we just had to follow! Dinner was very convivial with the group last night.

Today we visited a floating fishing and pearling village, being taken there in a type of punt, steered by a lovely Vietnamese lady wearing the traditional straw hat - we had to wear them too of course. There were about 50 floating dwellings in the village - the people live by very traditional means (fishing, obviously) and sell to merchants who sail out to meet them and bring them vegetables, fruit and rice.

Talking of food - it's been excellent. Lots of fresh herbs, flavours of chilli and lime, plenty of noodles and rice, seafood, chicken, pork and beef. The food is similar in a way to Chinese, but much lighter and less greasy. We have yet to see an overweight Vietnamese, but they seem to be eating all the time!

When we returned just now to our hotel in Hanoi, we found we'd been upgraded to what feels like the honeymoon suite - with a little internal balcony and the most ornate bathroom complete with multi-function shower.

Tomorrow afternoon we leave for Hue by plane - there's an ancient citadel to explore there. Before that - we're braving the Hanoi streets again to find some of the local beer at 12p for a half pint, drunk by the side of the road.

Singapore – first experience of Southeast Asia

We’ve now had our first 24 hours in SE Asia and been suitably impressed by our initial experience of Singapore, having arrived yesterday morning after a 15 hour Singapore Airlines flight from Manchester via Munich – I have to say the service on board was excellent and I enjoyed 2 films (Social Network about the original development of Facebook by Mark Zuckerberg and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, the sequel to Wall Street again starring Michael Douglas as Gordon Gecko now out of prison, based around the time of the 2008 banking crisis.)

We spent around 7 hours in Singapore City, admiring the futuristic architecture, most remarkably represented by the Marina Resort Casino consisting of 3 tall blocks with a boat shape straddling the top of all three. The Singapore Cricket Club conjured up British Colonial times with its stuffy looking ambience and “members only” rule. We walked along Boat Quay where there are numerous river front restaurants (including bizarrely The Manchester United Cafe) and where you run the gauntlet of waiters trying to entice you with offers of Happy Hour beers. We eventually settled for one offering small snacks of dim sum.

The ubiquitous tour bus ride round the city followed as we attempted to ward off the increasing jet lag followed by the essential visit to Raffles for the original Singapore Sling (invented in 1915). I have to say the hotel still has an amazing elegant style – we vowed to stay there one day.

After another snack in an open air courtyard, with tiredness now beginning to overwhelm us, we hired a taxi back to our hotel for what turned out to be an interesting ride viewing the now illuminated skyline. The driver explained that taxi drivers must be Singaporean and must “sell” the country to tourists, which he certainly did with an interesting commentary all the way.

Incredibly, we managed to sleep for 12 hours, which successfully overcame our jet lag in one go. This morning we walked around the area close to the hotel, with markets stocked up for Chinese New Year on 2^nd/3^rd Feb (The year of the Rabbit), numerous shops of all descriptions, a large park with 20km running and cycle track alongside the coast on reclaimed land. The view along the coast consisted of at least 100 container ships, tankers etc, presumably waiting to load up in the huge Singapore Port.

We also discovered an impressive Sri Lankan temple in a backstreet that a local driver didn’t know was there and tried to direct us miles away! Award for the most boring photo seen being taken so far, an escalator leading to a walkway over the road – imagine showing that to your friends.

We’re now in Hanoi, Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, and first experience of this remarkable country. The taxi ride from the airport to the old town was like wacky races but our driver was very calm. At over 30,000 dong to the pound, we’re already dong millionaires several times over. The people have been so welcoming, we’ve never been treated so well when arriving at a hotel.