Vietnam 2000, Part 2

WEDNESDAY MAY 10

On Tuesday I saw something about there being a bus to Hoi Ann sometime in the afternoon. But it
was of a different bus company and so we stayed another day in Hue and planned to take the morning
bus on Thursday. I'm glad we stayed.

Hue is a great place. I loved it. The best thing was seeing all the zillions of cyclers all around
town, from little kids of 5 or six to grannies and granddads. It was a fantastic sight, one I'm
sure we'll never see in London. Naturally, we both spent the day cycling. 

The second best thing was the huge river that cut the city in two. It looked fantastically clean
despite the zillions of motorised boats. It's banks weren't walled either. It was a fantastic to
see the zillions of cyclists crossing the river. The next best thing was the huge market where you
could buy any fruit known to man, it seemed. Of course, we had to bargain hard for everything. 
Oh, there was also a citadel, the only one of it's kind that I'd seen in South East Asia thus far.
The entrance fee was a monstrous 5USD so I didn't go inside but saw quite a bit of it just cycling
around. 

Saw a (Northern European) tourist get totally ripped off at the entrance to the Citadel. He wanted
to buy a roll of film (Kodak 100 or 200, 36 exposure). "How much is it?". "60,000 dong" (14,000
dong = 1 USD). That was way too much. "What?". "60,000 dong". "70,000 dong?". Before the vender
could answer the tourist handed over 60,000 and had another 10,000 in his hand. "That's too much,
my friend, 60,000 is enough". And he walked away thinking he'd saved 10,000! "He pay too much", I
said. I'm sure he agreed though wouldn't admit it! I later bought 2 Kodak 400, 36 exposure, for
75,000. 

The one disappointing thing about Hue was that it's only mosque was no longer in use for prayers.
It was now solely a tourist attraction. The mosque was built by Indian Muslims in 1932 but they
all left after the Communists came to power after the American war. The mosque and adjacent houses
which belonged to the Indians were distributed to local Vietnamese by the government. Sad.  

THURSDAY MAY 11

We took the 8am bus to Hoi Ann. Arrived there in mid-afternoon. The bus took much longer than it
should have as it stopped off at a museum, a beach and a couple of restaurants. This was a very
annoying feature of these buses. Much as I hate to admit it we, like almost all the other
travelers, took a tour bus. In Vietnam it is the cheapest way. Local buses and trains are required
to charge foreigners up to 5 times the regular fare - the 80km or so journey that we did on Monday
from Lao Bao to Dong Ha cost 7.5USD each!

Hoi Ann is a beautiful little town, but it's probably a tad too touristy. The place is littered
with souvenir shops. But even the people who had nothing to sell you were very friendly.
(Actually, the people have been very friendly in every single place that I have been to with the
exception of Bangkok.) I also liked the compactness of the town - though we stayed on the
outskirts of town we were only 15 minutes walk away from the centre.

Spent the evening shooting some pool with a few locals and then with Melbourne. Lost to the locals
but beat Melbourne. Melbourne and I also beat the locals in doubles. I think this was the first
time that I'd played since London. Vietnam is very hot for pool.

FRIDAY MAY 12

It was generally a good day but with a notable exception - there was nowhere to pray Jum'a. 

In the morning we went to the ancient ruins of the Champa empire. The site became a religious
centre as early as the 4th century and was occupied until the 13th. Most of the temples were
dedicated to Cham kings associated with divinities, especially Shiva who was regarded as the
founder and protector of Cham's dynasties.  

The entrance fee was 10,000 dong for the locals but 50,000 for us. But it was well worth it, even
though most of the temples are completely destroyed and others lie in very sorry states,
especially following the American war.  

Came back to Hoi Ann in the afternoon. I was to leave that evening but Melbourne was to spend
another day so moved to another guesthouse. I spent my remaining time cycling around town. In the
middle of it, played this game (with Melbourne and a few locals) of trying to keep up a
shuttle-cock. It was really tiring and difficult, much easier with a ball I think! 

Parting from Melbourne, I took the 6:30pm overnight bus to Nha Trang. Had two seats to myself so
managed to get some sleep.

SATURDAY MAY 13

Arrived in Nha Trang just after 7am. Had a look at the big concrete jungle and took the 8am bus to
Dalat. I was only intending to visit Nha Trang for some snorkeling or scuba diving but en route I
was told that it's kind expensive there.

Arrived in Dalat, set in beautiful mountain scenery, at about 3pm. Shared a room with a Canadian
(another from Montreal) who I met on the bus. After a short walk around town and some fruit buying
at the main market, we went to the "Crazy House". And it was crazy! It's very difficult to
describe the Crazy House but it, rather they, looked like much like connecting tree houses. But
even the bits that looked like trees are man-made.

Went to this fantastic vegetarian restaurant for dinner. The tofu, mushrooms, onions and
vegetables in a spicy sauce was absolutely fantastic! Montreal was also a vegetarian but had only
been for a about 8 months.

After dinner we went to shoot some pool. I lost 3-2. Before that we went to find the cost of
adventure tours around Dalat. They were all too expensive. This, coupled with the rainy mountain
weather, was enough  to send Montreal on the way to Saigon the next morning. I decided to the
spend the next day cycling come rain or shine. 

SUNDAY MAY 13

A while back I told you guys that, Inshallah, I'll be getting married next year and said that I'd
be asking you to look for someone suitable. Well, make sure you find somebody who's nuts about
mountain biking! OK, at least in to mountain biking or even has a mild interest in it! Man,
mountain biking is so much fun!

Despite the rain I spent most of the day biking in the mountains and countryside around Dalat. But
before starting I went back to that vegetarian restaurant. It wasn't as good this time around as
one of the vegetables in my dish looked like chicken! But I was to return there for a great
dinner.

The cycling didn't start off too well. Whilst cycling around Lake Xuan I stopped to take a picture
of Dalat from the other side. I took a bridge to a small Island in the like, going past these four
guys (late teens/early 20's) swimming by the bridge. On returning after taking the photo I found
them on the bridge. I started chatting with them and they were asking the familiar questions of
where I'm from and all that. Their English was very broken but I didn't think much of it at the
time - they were Vietnamese after all. 

The conversation moved to my brand new fake Nike sunglasses. I let them try one by one. They all
liked them but the fourth one a little too much. He wouldn't give it back and ran with them! I
tried to follow him on my bike but it was very grassy and I didn't get far. I asked the other
three to get my glasses back but they wouldn't. The other guy eventually came back but without my
glasses. He said that he'd left them by a tree on the Island. I told him to come with me to find
it. He wouldn't. I couldn't afford to take it beyond just sounding really pissed off as there were
four of them after all.  

And they were drunks! I smelt it in their breaths. Should've been able to tell from the way they
were stammering but I thought that was just because their English was very bad. They sped away in
their scooter while I was left to look for the glasses. Needless to say I didn't find them.

The incident really pissed me off. But only for a few minutes though. With everything these days,
I started looking at the positive side. I'd forgotten that it can be quite dangerous out here if
one wasn't careful. This was a very good reminder. I have been very open and trusting since
Bangkok. I wasn't gonna suddenly close up, no way, but I will be more careful.

Before hiring a cycle, I was tempted enough to try a motorbike. I told them that I’d never ridden
one before but they said to have a go anyway. So I did and crashed in to some flower pots! They
still wanted me rent it! I declined. Just before setting off on the mountain bike I witnessed a
motorcycle crash in the centre of town.

I first cycled around some villages, then up a mountain, then around the top of it. Man, going up
was so difficult but I managed to do it without having to push the bike up. Coming down was so
much fun! So exciting! I It gave such an adrenaline rush that I couldn't help but scream out
aloud!  

It rained for some part of the day and so the dirt tracks were impassable at times. It was very
muddy and once when going downhill I fell in to a mud hole. Got very mucky but washed some of it
at the lake of the drunken youth.

Even though it had both front and rear suspension, it wasn't much of a bike. And to prove it, on
the way to my guesthouse one of the joints in the chain came apart. I tried to fix it but it came
apart again after a while. I was prepared for the daunting task of walking all the way back, but
then, only a few metres on, I see a bicycle repair shop! What luck! It was the best day of
mountain biking I've ever had! 

Returned to the guesthouse just in time to pray Asr. After Maghrib went to that vegetarian
restaurant again. Great food! Also developed one of the many rolls of films that I'd accumulated.
The pictures can never be as good as the real thing!

In Thailand, trimming one's beard cost 1USD; in Laos it costs 35cents; but in Vietnam it's free!
Well, not quite but it was free for me. I got a really good trim but when I tried to pay, the
barber wouldn't accept my money. "It is for you". Fantastic!!!


PS: Soyful, what was the name and address of the Turkish guy you wanted me to include in the list?