Mountains of Marble and a Dragon Bridge

Reluctantly we left Hoi An (old town) to explore the beaches of Da Nang. Da Nang was only about an hour away and the trip passed the fabulous Marble Mountain, which we also wanted to visit, so we decided on taking a taxi that would wait for us so we could stop and do some exploring.

Awesome move. Marble Mountain is a cluster of five mountains named after the elements and the main tourist one, Thuy (water), contained some jaw dropping caves full of Buddhist carvings and icons. Get your walking shoes on and allow a couple of hours to explore the multitude of caves, walking trails, temples and gardens scattered across this mountain. Huyen Khong cave was my favourite as the scene opens up before you on entry, hugely expansive and high with a beam of light coming down from a hole in the top to illuminate majestically the sculptures and temples within.

Just outside is a rest area before heading to the stairs of the highest peak of this mountain. Elizabeth still suffering with her broken toe and using my hiking stick as a cane attempted to get to the top. As the steps became endless, steeper and less defined she questioned her ability to make it and sent me off ahead to see how much further. I sneakily kept finding better viewing spots higher up, if she could just get that far, until finally I reached the top. The view was breathtaking so I hurried down to share the news, which spurred Elizabeth on to make it to the top. Well worth the effort!

The view from the top

Just a few words of warning, The lady selling the tickets for the elevator ride up tried to tack on an expensive map without telling us, but we had been forewarned, and she quickly retrieved it once we complained. Also the famous cave here is the Am Phu Cave and it costs money to get in and is not that good, very ostentatious and fake looking with bright lights done up for tourists. If you make it to Huyen Khong cave and only have limited time I would skip it.

Dragon Bridge

Finally we made it to Da Nang, after exploring for an hour longer than we told the taxi driver. It was a large city, and we are generally NOT big city people, but it did have a few attractions for us. The beach of course, which was walking distance from our hostel and where the water was always warm and the ocean full of people. SOOOOOO relaxing and many friendly people. Also the Dragon Bridge that crosses the Han River and is, surprise, surprise, constructed in the shape of a dragon. It was a long walk from the hostel but an impressive structure with some nice areas along the river. Apparently on Saturday and Sunday nights there is an impressive show of fire breathing and water blowing but we came mid week and were not prepared to wait that long.

Da Nang

Hue

So after a few days of swimming we packed up and headed for the Imperial City of Hue. The Imperial City is a walled palace within the larger city of Hue and is its most impressive attraction. Building started in 1804 when Nguyen Anh took control of Vietnam, proclaimed himself Emperor and started the Nguyen dynasty. It was heavily damaged during the Vietnam war with the US but is still a pleasant day out with plenty to see. Lots of beautiful carvings and paintings, partly restored buildings, gardens and lakes.

We spent a whole day there and left just as it was starting to rain. We wanted to do a dragon boat ride on the river but as it was getting late we tried to find transportation. We settled for one of the recommended taxis after a tuk tuk driver tried to charge us a small fortune. We were unlucky with him as well since my phone GPS told me he was driving us the long way around. I told him I knew what he was doing but he still went a bit out of the way and then took us to a dragon boat company that he knew. It was expensive and short but a pleasant ride nonetheless. Long story short, be careful here, it seemed a bit dodgier than most of Vietnam.

Time to move on to one of our longest journeys so far, an overnight train to Hanoi, followed by a long bus ride to Sapa and the highest mountain in Vietnam.

From funky monkeys to old world charm...

Our next stop was the seaside resort town of Nha Trang. Again surrounded by taxis and motorcycles on getting off the bus, I checked my trusty google maps and found we were walking distance to our hotel. So we shooed the hordes away and set off by foot to find the Happy Angel Hotel. On arrival at the hotel we found they were offering a cheap boat trip for the next day on a boat called the 'Funky Monkey'. It sounded interesting so we locked that in, thinking a nice relaxing boat ride would be fun.

Hmm, the Funky Monkey lived up to its name. On a relatively small flat boat with probably too many people we set off on our day of adventure. They were one crazy crew who I think drank more than most of the passengers, but that did not detract from the fun and mayhem that ensued. Some of the highlights included:

The crew

• Swimming and snorkelling near the boat and the recommended way in was by jumping high off the side of the boat. The crew set up a makeshift free-floating bar and had an unlimited 'happy hour' with a mystery cocktail concoction. You did though need to be able to swim to the bar to get the drink.
• Much singing from the crew and a concert with the 'funky monkey boy band'. Not sure about their musical abilities but that was part of the charm. They were fully inclusive of the passengers, finding a variety of people from different countries to sing a national song. Unfortunately with Elizabeth's broken toe as an excuse I became the Australian representative and was forced to sing a rendition of Waltzing Matilda.
• Lunch was brilliant - they turned the wooden bench seats into one humungous table and kept bringing out food until we were bursting.
• A relaxing visit to the beautiful beach at Tranh with many options for activities, or just sit and watch the scenery like we did.

Lunch is served

Geronimo!

The Funky Monkey Boy Band

All in all that was the most memorable thing we did at Nha Trang as we continued our whirlwind tour of Vietnam the next day to the old town Hoi An. The name confused me most of the time I was there. I kept questioning whether it was 'Hoi' an old town or 'Hoi An' old town. I was assured it was the latter (but never convinced).

Thu Bon River in Hoi An

Travel was by overnight sleeper bus because Hoi An was a good 9 hours plus away. So after about 9 hours as we were sleeping restlessly and uncomfortably in our baby capsules the driver pulled up to the curb and just started yelling at us to get out. No 15 minute gentle warning, no sidle up to the curb with a gentle nudge on your shoulder, just 'get out. GET OUT NOW!' . Drowsily we pulled ourselves together and dragged ourselves out of the bus to be greeted by the customary horde of shuttle vehicles and their shouting owners. We shrugged them off, again found we were walking distance (thanks google) and set off for our family hotel.

Hoi An

The historic district of Hoi An (old town) is a World Heritage Site and an exquisite example of a South East Asian trading port complete with well preserved 15th century architecture and a variety of activities showcasing its history and culture. We fell in love with this little area and wandered its streets for hours, both day and night for two days. At night the lights came alive on the streets and on the water adding a completely different dimension and mood.

One of the many well preserved old homes

What also made it especially inviting was the fact that between the hours of 8 to 11am and 3 to 9:30pm, motorized vehicles were banned in the old town. This meant you could walk around without the fear of imminent death so prevalent generally on roads (and footpaths) in Vietnam. In the morning at about 10:55 the peace would be destroyed by motorcycles and the like tearing around like normal, marking the time to go home for lunch and have a nap before returning at 3pm. I would suggest they make the vehicle-free period 24/7, but even limited, it was a nice change.

We came away thinking that this would be a nice little haven for regular trips and our host told us of one couple from New Zealand who come and stay for a month every year.

Traditional dancing show

Buy your fruit and practise your haggling

Banks of Thu Bon River

Dragon on the bank of the
Thu Bon River

The Lanterns are all on at night

   

Bonus video if you made it this far. Me being forced to sing Waltzing Matilda.

Dalat with a tinge of Europe

On our way to Dalat we came across a new type of bus, one that we were to find is the preferred mode of bus transport throughout Vietnam, the sleeper bus. As its name implies it comes filled with little capsules, generally three rows across and double storey, like the baby seats in cars just much bigger (but not big enough). Problem was that they would use these during the day and even for some trips that were only two hours long. You had to take your shoes off to travel on them and they got mad if you argued about that as it was not easy for Elizabeth to take off her shoes with a broken toe. The capsules were not quite long enough to stretch out but you get used to them. Weird way to travel.

Anyway, back to Dalat. Dalat was like being transported instantaneously to Europe. Being high in altitude and inland it has a cool climate without the oppressive humidity we had come to accept. First time we had been cool (even cold) since entering South East Asia. Dalat was full of rolling landscapes, beautiful scenery, fruit and coffee fields and flower gardens. We wanted to make the most of the 3 nghts we decided to allow ourself here and tracked down a good tourist shop. We booked a city tour and a country tour for successive days. 

They were wonderful tours that filled a full two days with sights and adventure. Some of the highlights of the city tour include:

The cable car trip to the Thien Vien Truc Lam Monastery as well as the monastery itself. Beautiful views from the cable car and passing over a pine forest. We went to Bao Dai's extravagant summer palace, saw a very long reclining Buddha and visited the Datanla waterfall. The waterfall was down a very steep slippery path, and despite the attempt, Elizabeth was unable to make it with her broken toe. So I took lots of photos and video. We also went to the fabulous Flower Forest, like a botanical gardens, but more visually extensive with fake giraffes, silver dolphins, sorcerers apprentice like brooms holding buckets and more.

The Reclining Buddha

Flower Park

The country tour was even better, warming up with a visit to a flower farm and a village of a local minority group. There was a cricket farm, the insect not the sport, where crunchy crickets with sauce were offered. We politely declined as unsure of its status for us vegetarians. Research later revealed this is a bit of a grey area for us. They are more environmentally friendly as a protein source than even vegetables, less animals are killed as harvesting fruit and veg inadverdently kills small species and some science said they have no pain receptors. So still on the fence about that one.

We came across a huge fantastically smiling very happy Buddha and saw, felt and heard the brilliantly wide Elephant waterfall. Sat, relaxed and contemplated the cares of the world with a weasel coffee in an expansive coffee plantation and finished the day marveling at the Dr Seuss type architecture of the amazing Crazy House. Sure wish my grandson Sam was with us for that one, we could have wandered around aimlessly for hours :-)

Yep Dalat was certainly a special kind of Oasis in Vietnam with something for everyone and a little touch of Europe.

Elephant Waterfall, flower farm and smiling Buddha

Time for some Weasel Coffee

Crazy House

More Crazy House

Bye, bye, beautiful Dalat

Ho Chi Minh City and a pot of Weasel coffee

Elizabeth spent the rest of her time in Cambodia recovering from her toe misadventure, until the date arrived on our visa that allowed us to enter Vietnam. We bought our bus tickets and high tailed it out of there. It was a long trip taking all day, needing to go through Phnom Penh, before heading into Vietnam. Elizabeth was taking it very carefully with my hiking pole now doubing as a walking stick. The last section crossing into Vietnam went very slowly with many many trucks passing us coming the other way filled with people. We did not find out why but I suppose the assumption is that they go into Vietnam to work and come back at the end of the day. The number of trucks and people was endless.

Independence Palace and the Ben Thanh Market

So we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnam was going to be rushed: we wanted to traverse it from South to North in under a month and see the best spots. We did not want to do it by plane, so it was going to be a challenge, but then challenge is my middle name (well, it should have been anyway). Our initial thought was city tours; t ahey were really cheap and included everything such as water, lunch and entry tickets. After settling in to our hotel we found a travel agency just around the corner and booked a tour for the next day.

The morning took us around some main sites of the city - palaces, pagodas and the like - and finished at a coffee shop where I got my first taste of weasel coffee. Apparently the weasel eats the coffee beans but is unable to digest them and its stomach juices do some magic that adds extra flavour to them. Nature takes its course and then some lucky fella gets to collect the beans, which are dried and used to make coffee for me to drink. Surprisingly yummy, if you do not think about it too much. Tasted a bit sweet with a hint of chocolate and very strong.

Then was lunch and we got our first taste of a full-on Vietnamese meal. Starting with a hearty vegetarian Pho (noodles) and fried spring rolls through to stir fry and rice. We were packed solid and all vegetarian and gluten free. Luckily for me they use rice paper for the spring rolls and, especially in the south, most soy sauces do not include wheat. Then back in the van for the several hours to the Cu Chi Tunnels.

Spikes under the grass

The 121km of criss crossing interconnected tunnels were a thorn in the side of the US during the Vietnam War. Complemented by many ingenious booby traps inside and around tunnel entrances they were basically impossible to shut down, despite several campaigns to do so. They formed a veritable underground city including hospitals, weapons storage and planning areas. Seeing the different types of booby traps was chilling and you could imagine the pain and suffering they would inflict.

Elizabeth in the tunnel

Since Elizabeth was injured I made the sacrifice and disappeared under a secret entrance only to re-emerge moments later wth a 'ta da'. We were then given the option to walk along several sections of tunnel. Elizabeth was weary of missing out and decided to persevere and impressed our guide by making it through two sections of 10m tunnels so small you had to crouch waddle through them. We decided against shooting guns for fun and ate some baked cassava (tapioca) bread instead. This was the staple meal during wartime, which as it was not nutritionally complete contributed to the small size and short lifespan of the Viet Cong.

Eating cassava bread

Back at Ho Chi Minh City we found a lovely Indian restaurant for dinner as we prepared to jump  on a bus again to continue our discovery of Vietnam. No time to kick back and relax just yet...