se-asia sojourn

The town of  Ninh Binh itself is nothing short of nothing. Lying on the Ho Chi Minh Highway (the buisiest in Vietnam) it wasn’t pretty on the eye. The town is not what we went there for though, the sorrounding area is simply amazing, imagine limestone karst surounded by rice paddies and you’re nearly there.

Our first stop was at Mua Cave, the cave itself was nothing spectacular, the real treat was at the top of an exhausting 500 step climb to a simple altar to the goddess of mercy, and trust us after the climb a goddess of mercy was completely fitting.

After the easier (but still hard) descent we jumped on our scooter and headed off to Tam Coc. After paying a small fee we got a woman to row us through the winding river sorrounded by amazing limestone karsts, the views were nothing short of magical.

Otherwise known as the Demilitarised Zone, the DMZ was ‘formed’ in 1954 at Geneva under colaberation between Ho Chi Minh’s government and the French. This resulted in a creation of a demilitarised zone at the Ben Hai River. After the South cancelled nationwide elections in 1956 (because they were going to lose) the North and South became seperate states and the DMZ became the border. As the war tore on, the Demilitarised Zone ironically became one of the most militarised zones in the world and played host to some of the bloodiest battles seen in Vietnam. Since 1975 over 5000 people have been killed and maimed by unexploded mines and bombs, and the province still has the highest casualty rate in Vietnam today.

After some investigation, we found a knowledgable guide to take us on a tour with two other travelers. Our guide Mr. Trung was an ARVN ( Army of the Republic of Vietnam/ South Vietnamese Army) veteran and a wealth of  information, after being concquored by the North he and many of his comrades were sent to ‘re-education’ camps (prison), some for only a year and some for up to 10 years. He was sentenced for 3 years, but his stint was cut short after 2 years as he became sick from eating potatoes grown in agent orange infected soil (a punishment inflicted by the North Vietnamese on the ARVN soldiers) and malaria.

Much of the DMZ is barren, most military objects have been either moved to museums or foraged by desperate locals (who pick up the bombs and other objects to sell). Mr Trung showed us around though and knew a few spots the tour buses don’t go, possibly because they don’t want any of their customers to loose a leg in the process. After traipsing  through the jungle for 2kms he started pointing out left over bombs.

However the most  startling was when he crouched infront of an UNDETONATED bomb and with his hands centermeters from the white head, starts explaining the bomb would exploed if detanated, while we all stood there thinking “wow, i really shouldn’t be standing a meter away from an undetonated explosive.”

After our close brush with explosives we were shown old army bunkers, the Ben Hai River and a few bits and pieces along the way.

By far the most interesting part of the day of our visit was the Vinh Moc Tunnels. In 1966 the USA began a massive aerial bombardment of the area just north of the DMZ, the villagers living in Vinh Moc found themselves living in arguably the most heavily bombed part of the current world. In order to survive the villagers went underground and up to 600 people lived in the underground town for up to 5 years, with 17 children being born during the time period.

After a few days turned into a slightly longer than expected stay in the gorgeous Hoi An we hopped on a bus for 4 or so hours full of expectation and excietment for what lonely planet decribes Hue as “Palaces and pagodas, tombs and temples, culture and cuisine, history and heartbreak”. Now we’re not going out and calling the lonely planet writers liers or idiots, sure there is a long history of fancy imperial cuisine so that ticks the cuisine box. There is history and hearbreak entwined in a sorrowful chapter of Vietnams past that Hue and the sorrounding DMZ were a focal point, so again a box is ticked. But when all is said and done the place is pretty dull and unexciting.

After arriving and settling into a guesthouse we got out and about to explore the citadel, in which a large chunk of its population of 340 or so thousand residants reside within its 2 meter thick and 10km long walls. The walls were built in 1804 and mostly withstood the bombing during the war in the 60s. The most recognisable feature being the huge flag tower standing 37 meters high (the highest in Vietnam), which flew the Viet Cong flag defiently for 3 and a half weeks in 1968 before Hue was recaptured by American troops.

Located within the citadel is the Imperial Enclosure, which boasts its own 6 meter high and 2.5km long walls. Within the walls was once the emperor’s residence and other state buildings, however they didn’t withstand American bombings as well as the citadel walls did and only 20 of the 148 buildings survived.

Located in the very center of the Emperial Enclosure was the intruiging Forbidden Purple City, again sorrounded by walls becoming a sort of citadel within a citadel within a citadel. It was once an area for the sole personal use of the emperor. However after the Americans had their way all that’s remaining is… absolutely nothing besides a few holes in the ground.

The rest of the compound was quite nice, consisting of restored residences of long gone emperors surrounded by lakes and emaculate gardens.

We took a day trip from Hoi An to My Son, a group of temples constructed between the 4th and 14th century by the Kingdom of Champa. Many people have likened the temples to Angkor Wat, but in our opinion it is nothing like it. After seeing Angkor Wat and some of the surrounding temples and wats in Siem Reap, Cambodia – nothing can compare! My Son is on a much smaller scale and sadly was a target for bombing during the Vietnam War, so many of the ruins of My Son are just that – ruined and flattened to the ground and only 20 of the 58 temples now still stand, surrounded by bomb craters. We rose at 4am to be the first ones to My Son -  with no other people in sight we were free to explore at our own pace and with the backdrop of the misty mountains it made for an amazing morning.

Full of culture and cuisine, history and architecture, a lively town surrounded by rice paddies and countryside; Hoi An was a picture perfect relaxing time for us. Not even our arrival to the northern winter monsoon could dampen our spirits!

Hoi An was declared a Unesco World Heritage town in 1999 and a section of Hoi An is named the ‘Old Town’ where the mustard yellow French architecture and old houses remain in good condition. The streets are tree lined, with hanging Chinese lanterns and lots of cafes and beautiful restaurants where we dined every day, including the elegant Mango Rooms.  

In the Old Town there are many old houses and attractions, including the Japanese Covered Bridge, temples and museums. We were lucky enough to catch a performance of traditional Vietnamese music, dancing and singing.  

We signed up for the full day Deluxe Cooking Class with Red Bridge, one of the leading restaurants and culinary schools in the area. We were taken to organic farms and markets to buy our own produce, took a boat trip to the class and cooked the night away before indulging in our  creations for a late dinner. It was a fantastic day!

We left from Saigon in a mini bus for the 7 hour drive down to Rach Gia to find it wasn’t the lovely coastal town we pictured, it was instead a port town with no other travelers in sight! Getting off the bus we were accosted by touts for motorbike taxis and hotels, who obviously didn’t see many travelers passing through and leapt at the chance to make a sale!

As the ferrys had finished for the day, we settled into Rach Gia for an evening. There wasn’t very much there – it’s just a port town made wealthy from smuggling and fishing, given its location on the Gulf of Thailand. However, we had our first experience of the locals finding tourists hilarious and off the beaten track - all the local children would rush up to us yelling “Hello! Hello!” and giggling and clapping. It’s very sweet but quite strange at the same time!

 The next morning, we made our way onto the ferry. We got the cheapest smallest boat it seemed, instead of making our way with all the other travellers, we sat with the locals up on deck reading our LP excited for the white sandy beaches and island paradise it promised. We passed many fishing boats along the 2 1/2 hour smooth journey.

Phu Quoc loomed on the horizon…

After finding accomodation (not an easy task at all, although we were luckier than others who had to sleep on the floor of shops because everything was booked out) we quickly made our way to Long Beach, a stunning white sandy beach with clear blue water.

Phu Quoc is a massive 50km long and 90% of the island is a national park. The roads are not sealed and are instead red dirt (with lots of bumps and pot holes along the way! We ended up puncturing a tire!). We spent 2 days exploring on scooter, finding deserted beaches and driving along beautiful backroads in the jungle. The entire island is fringed with palm trees and we saw all the locals living and working (their primary source of income is farming and fishing).

On one of the northern most remote stretches of beach, we were followed by two gorgeous children, eager to practise their english and spend time with us. They said “Hello! What’s your name?” They sat down with us in the sand, giggling away in Vietnamese when they saw our Lonely Planet guide and phrasebook. They loved the pictures and in our stumbled Vietnamese we learnt they were brother and sister, their ages (6 and 9) and that they attended school.It was such an amazing moment because as a traveller you always want to get off the “beaten path” and have interactions with the local people. We couldn’t have had this experience in Saigon or Hanoi for instance! It was a novelty for them to have us there and they were very curious and happy to see us.

Duong Dong is the town centre and we wandered around the markets, a pearl farm, the lighthouse and popped by a fish sauce factory (which consisted of a large garage with drums full of the potent liquid).

On our last day we went on a fishing and snorkelling cruise to the An Thoi Islands, off the southern tip of Phu Quoc. True to our adventurous spirit in trying (weird) local cuisine, we tried some (raw) sea urchin.

Even better was the beautiful coral life we saw when snorkelling and the stunning beaches.

We can’t tell you enough how much we loved our time in Saigon! The number one thing on our minds was to get our fill of Pho.

Other culinary delights we have been obsessed about are Vietnamese spring rolls and ca phe sua da, lethally strong Vietnamese coffee, combined with condensed milk and ice. We’ve tried the Banh Mi, but after trying a terrible one at the bus station which was more grissle than meat, we haven’t been able to face them again! We also went out for a few drinks with a group of Aussie’s we met, which turned out to be a great night!

After we’d had our fill of wonderful Vietnamese cuisine, the War Remnants Museum (which was formerly called the Museum of Chinese and American War Crimes) was on the top of our list in Saigon. It documents the Vietnam War in great detail and though the photos were quite shocking, we left with a greater understanding of the war and sadness for what the Vietnamese people had been through.

Another important sight to see was the Reunification Palace, the sight where the South Vietnamese fell to the North Vietnamese in 1975 during the war. 

We took a cyclo (it resembles a bicycle with a seat in front, from which the passenger is cycled around by the person at the back)  from our guesthouse. It was almost a relief to let our cyclo’s wheel us around the busy and daunting traffic and sit back and enjoy the ride!

 Next stop, Phu Quoc Island!