Haskell Kent

(continued from Part II)

Friday – June 20, Halong Bay and Hue
Another gorgeous day and we motor out of Halong Bay, horrible bus ride back to Hanoi. Not much to report except that sunburn is horrendous and apparently Tom’s malaria medicine aggravates it further – funny in retrospect, not at the time. Quick lunch in Hanoi (fresh papaya salad, with duck jerky and liver), then cab to the airport and a flight to Hue. Slow day, and not a pic to show for it.

Saturday – June 21, Hue
Typical touristy wanderings in Hue, decent town, but not a lot going on. Most memorable part is the outrageous heat. Near unbearable, I notice that locals are smart enough to disappear for the worst of it. Ate a bowl of classic Bun Bo Hue (similar to Pho Bo but different noodle and other subtleties), to which I added too much chili paste, particularly for the heat.

And this leads me to the 2^nd highlight of the trip. After walking through the old city in Hue I start lobbying for naptime, but Tom rallies and convinces me to head out to the beach (about 15km away). We rent two motorbikes, after Tom’s misbehaves we scrap the second bike and Tom hops on the back of mine (he didn’t know how to ride anyway). Off to the beach. With some dumb luck we find our way but choose to drive past and explore, continuing down a long thin peninsula. On our right are rice paddies leading down to the bay spotted with classic Vietnamese fishing boats. On our left are hillsides covered in elaborate, colorful tombs/shrines. Apparently it’s a bit of a competition for families to create the most extravagant grave sites. Small villages along the way, then back into countryside for more rice paddies and shrines. Beautiful views everywhere we look.

At one point I spot a moto coming down the hill and decide to zip up into the tombs and see if we can find a good photo op. Riding along a 8 foot wide path/road until it T’s, we take a right and keep going for awhile. End up in minuscule village, all locals and children standing up and shouting “Hello!” as we ride by – it’s clear they don’t get many (any) tourists back in the middle of nowhere here. Another couple of turns and we dead end into a gorgeous empty beach, stunning views, beautiful weather (heat has subsided a bit by this time), perfect sand. We park the bike, get ready to jump in the water, but then hear the shrieks of 8 young kids who had followed us from the village. We get mobbed, kids laughing and doing tricks, we’re slightly confounded. Tom starts taking pics, showing them the results, then lets them take pics – all are entertained immensely.

Finally we decide to move on, not exactly the best place to go swimming what with all the attention. On our way back up the the main beach area (shouts of “Hello!” again) the bike starts acting funny and, sure enough, we run out of gas in the middle of nowhere. Tom curses me thoroughly. Pantomiming leads us to a small roadside stand where we find a liter plastic bottle full of yellow liquid and a 12 year old girl who has no idea how to communicate with us. Eventually we pull enough bills out of my wallet for her to snatch them up and fetch us change, and back to the bike we go. Of course neither of us has any idea how to actually fill up the tank or start the bike after it’s been run dry. After some fumbling and a (gestured) plea for help, a 50 year old woman comes off the porch that we “parked” in front of, pushes me aside, takes the gas, pops up the seat, fills the tank, buttons it all up and hops on the bike, adjusts choke, gives it a handful of kickstarts, and has the bike running like a charm. Awesome! We thank her profusely, hopefully she got the idea, and jump on and head for the beach. Take a swim, give Tom a quick moto lesson, then back to the hotel. Unbelievable day and completely unique experience, those are the sorts of things you just can’t plan.

That evening is a fun night out with a traveling companion Tom met in China (Richard), we ran across him earlier on a fluke. Meet up at the DMZ bar and play some pool and drink some Bia Hue Exports, end up watching the Euro Cup with a smattering of Europeans until 4am and shutting down the bar. Netherlands lost to Russia, Dutch fellow Jourk (which I still can’t pronounce) is properly devastated.

Sunday – June 22, Hue and Hoi An

Spend the morning sleeping in, packing up, eating Com Ga (chicken and rice) and then grabbing a bus to Hoi An, a tiny tourist town a few hours away. Nothing like a random bus stop somewhere to give you a cool pic.

Hoi An is very touristy, but damn if it isn’t nice despite that. Two motos try to scam us by taking us to the wrong hotel, Tom acts quick and snatches our money out of their shirt pocket, well played, we’ll call it even. Delicious dinner on the river, Cau Lau (hot pot, Hoi An specialty) and an Egg Pancake wrapped in Rice Paper. Call it an early night and recuperate.

Monday – June 23, Hoi An

Hoi An is known for it’s tailoring, so why not, let’s get a custom suit made. We head to A Dong Silk and go through the motions, I get a sharp, dark gray, pinstriped suit made, slim fitting to say the least. The fitting and fabric choice takes awhile and is surprisingly fun. Temp is ridiculous still, we wander and grab Banh Mi (vietnamese sandwich consisting of baguette with pate, cucumber, mayo, meats, onions) and Nuoc Mia (fresh squeezed sugar cane on ice, delicious!) We catch a ride to the beach and just veg out for the afternoon, nice and relaxing.

Back to A Dong for another fitting, then we meet up with same Rich that we met in Hue, he had followed us to Hoi An a day later, as well as a future classmate of Tom’s who just happened to be in the same town at the same time, go figure. Tour a few bars around town over the course of the evening, gradually people slip away. In the end Rich and I head to some out of town site that provides a good time, I lose my sandals in the process and hitch a ride on the back of a bicycle back to my hotel.

Tuesday – June 24, Off To Ho Chi Min City (Saigon)

Next day is rough going for both of us. We slack off, get another fitting at A Dong, and take a very leisurely lunch. Pick up our suits and veg out for the rest of the day, napping, browsing the web, reading, playing pool, etc. Finally catch a cab to the airport and fly down to Saigon for our last leg. Cab to a tiny hotel/guest house, step out for a quick dinner and back to bed.

Wednesday – June 25, Saigon

Good day of sight seeing and “learning”. Haven’t done too much of that elsewhere, so it felt good to fill out some Vietnamese history. Walk through a bustling market, grab some street food, take a breather from a passing rain shower in a coffee shop. We finally hit up the Reunification Palace, hideously ugly exterior but I enjoyed the interior quite a lot – preserved almost exactly as the day when the North Vietnamese busted in and took over (1975?). On and off rain produces some amazing clouds and fun pics.

Afterwards off to the War Remnants Museum, a gory and one-sided account of the Vietnam War’s (or American War’s) horrors and after-effects. Very solid photography exhibit sucks me in for a good while, the rest is hit and miss. Finally we take off, walk by some other architectural highlights and then find the roof bar of the Majestic Hotel. Eight floors up in a five star hotel, beers cost an exorbitant 4 bucks each, those are USA prices! But we’re early enough that we get a 2 for 1 deal (we’re the only people up there) and we recharge our batteries for awhile and admire a superb view of the river and city. A quick and terrifying motorbike ride (Saigon is an order of magnitude crazier than anywhere else) gets us home where we relax, then back out to dinner. Later that night we met a local friend of Tom’s, unfortunately my health was rapidly declining. We spend a little time on a 5^th floor balcony/bar, would have been great if I were feeling better. I bail and go back to bed, Tom heads out to watch the latest 1am Euro match with friends.

Thursday – June 26, Saigon and Cu Chi Tunnels

Well I’m in Saigon, I almost have to go to the Cu Chi Tunnels, a classic network of tunnels that the Vietnamese resistance created during the war, hundreds of kilometers in length. Tour is mildly interesting, huge group of people, and pretty poor guide, lots of wasted time and efforts to part us from our money, but it’s all worth it once you crawl through the actual tunnels. Remarkable, they are really quite tiny (go figure), lots of ups and downs and twists. Don’t go in if you’re claustrophobic! Tom bailed as he had seen them before, but back home we meet up, wander around, and partake in the guilty pleasure of KFC (delicious I must admit). Then more wandering before my health takes a turn for the worse and sends me running for home and that miracle drug Imodium. That evening Tom meets with local friends again, and yet again I have to pass on the fun, a real shame as I haven’t gotten a good taste of Saigon culture yet.

Friday – June 27, Last Day in Vietnam!

The end is nigh. We wake up late, check out, and ditch our bags. Spend the morning touring the Chinese section of town, the Cholon District, snapping pics and just wandering. Saw a Vietnamese mosque, walked into my first Pagoda all trip (amazing that I made it this long). Found a spice market and then the industrial part of town. Good lunch, then a bike ride back to the Opera House and a coffee shop on the back side. We veg out for an hour or two and finally part ways, Tom to the hotel then airport, me to kill more time until my midnight flight.

I head off to the history museum to pass the time. Have a good walk around town, lounge in a park for many hours snapping pics and watching people. Surf the web a bit and buy a dry piece of bread and a bottle of water to bring my Dong total to zero, perfect. Then ride to the airport and a mere 36 hours of travel to get back to Boston! There’s a lot of my drool on a seat in the Tokyo airport, what can you do, I had an 8 hour layover! In the end I made it home in one piece, solid trip.

And that’s it folks, a much larger selection of photos are up at my picasa page. Hope you enjoyed the story!

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