Up the coast and back again

Hello from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam!!!!! Since I last wrote in, I've traveled all the way up the coast of Vietnam to Hanoi, and today I flew back down to HCM (aka Saigon) to do it all over again....Vietnam, Part II!! Granted, I know for sure that my second trip up the country will be completely different than the first time up with Brad, so I'm extremely excited for the next couple of weeks. Ok, before we move ahead with future travel plans, let's recap the past couple of amazing days.

When I last left off, I was waxing fashionisto from Hoi An and the multitude of wonderful clothes I can't wait to wear (if and when they arrive at 122 Dogwood Lane - fingers crossed!) Hoi An was beautiful, so charming and quiet...Next stop was Hue, which is pretty much in the middle of Vietnam, and luckily only a 4 hour bus ride from Hoi An. I didn't really know much about Hue, and heard mixed things from various people, so I didn't really expect much going in. After the bus dropped us off and we found a guest house, Brad and I spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the city, eating pho (great Vietnamese noodle soup!), playing cards, just relaxing. Hue isn't the historical gem of a city like Hoi An is, so I didn't feel the need to make like a tourist and flock around. Anyway, after a great Indian meal, Brad & I booked a motorbike tour of Hue for the next day (we each ride behind a driver, so I didn't have to drive this time, luckily!). That evening we hung out with some Canadian girls who were on our bus ride - beer and cards (which seems to have been a recurring theme of the past 10 days).

Anyway, day 2 in Hue - we wake up to a dissapating torrential downpour, and we hope that it's the last of the rain for the day before we go on a motorbike . (hehehehehe) Brad and I grab our stuff for the day, and walk across the street to meet our bike guides. Let me first reiterate how much I love riding mopeds - I think Vietnam part II will have lots more bike rides to recount....SO - off we went to our first stop, Hue's Japanese Bridge, outside the city in the surrounding rice fields. (We could've easily taken a bus tour of these same sites, by the way, but it is much more fun to be on a bike zooming from place to place!) Driving through the country was amazing, yet again - rice paddies on either side, and the driver is weaving in between piles of hay (or grass, not sure). Fun times. After the Japanese bridge, we headed to a bunker hill used during the Vietnam War. So, we headed back onto the bikes and zoomed back out of the farms, through the city, and into the outskirts towards a big hill. We passed a cemetery on a hill along the way, which I felt lucky to see. Once we got to the top of the bunker hill, the view was pretty spectacular. A river cut through the mountains and curved right in front of us along its path. Our guide told us that in the distance was Hamburger Hill, which was a targeted site for the Americans during the War, and also a huge bloody cost to many lives along the way. The movie Apocalypse Now goes into more detail (which I will have to watch back in the states).
Moving on - the tour kicked into full gear as the rain started up again later in the morning. We went to a huge tomb site where a former king and his family were buried - very impressive grounds, huge column structures, large temples, etc. Very flashy, for its time. Then we headed to a pagoda which contained the car which, in 1950-something, a monk drove to HCM and then lit himself on fire to protest the mistreatment of Buddhist monks in Vietnam by the government. There's a picture of the monk sitting in the lotus position, on fire, and looking extremely at peace - as if only in that extreme, unthinkable pain could he escape the pain of reality.

Then it poured...I mean, poured - but we kept on going! Driving on a motorbike through the rainy streets of Hue was lots of fun...probably not the safest thing in the world, as the puddles started to accumulate into small pools of water, but it added to the excitement to the day! And, kudos to my driver for being able to see the road in front of him, and for getting me back alive. :-) All in all, it was another great day - the tour guides were excellent, and motorbiking around a city is the only way to really do it! Brad and I spent the rest of the day hanging out, playing cards, (the rain eventually stopped), and then we got ready to catch our 6pm bus to Hanoi. Hue was cool, (only because of the bike tour), but I think I'll be ok to skip Hue this time. Now that I think of it, that was my first full rainy day of the whole trip. Not too bad for 5 weeks of traveling, but I know there's more rain to come in the future!

The overnight bus from Hue to Hanoi is 14 hours - on a coach bus. Brad & I were determined not to give in and buy an additional ticket for a "sleeper bus", or even hop on a plane to Hanoi (which the Canadian girls did), since we prepaid for all of our bus trips up the country, so we found some nice meds to knock us out for the majority of the trip (thank you Gravol!). The drugs worked for me, and I was pretty well rested (compared to when I arrived in Hoi An after the overnight trip from Nha Trang, during which I probably got only 1/2 hour sleep!). Vietnam is actually a pretty large country - narrow, but very long. It was about a 2 hour flight today from Hanoi (north) to HCM (south), if that gives you the scope in size. So - GREG - that's why I had to take a 14 hour bus trip, there's really no other stops along the way between Hue and Hanoi to stop at.

What an amazingly nice surprise Hanoi was! If you combine the modernity and fast paced congestion of HCM with the old charm and beauty of Hoi An, you get Hanoi! (Brad was keen to mention that Hoi An is also an anagram of Hanoi.) We arrived in the morning at about 9am, found a guest house, and then went out to see the city. There is a very apparent French feel to the city - there are 2 main central parts, the old quarter, and the more modern Parisian-looking part, where the opera house is located and lots of high fashion stores are going in (Burberry, etc) There's a big lake in between the two areas, so we got our bearings throughout the morning. Hanoi's old quarter is great: narrow streets clogged with motorbikes (organized chaos, of course), old French-inspired buildings with balconies overlooking the streets - store after store, and street vendors all along the streets. That, of course makes walking down the street an adventure in and of itself - everyone's trying to sell you whatever they can, so you start to think of new and interesting ways to say no to fresh pineapples, flip flops, and motorbike rides. We found some pretty amazing little streets with lots of cafes and restaurants, so later that day (after a well-needed nap), we headed back out for some food, drink, and live jazz. I know that I'll be back in Hanoi during part II, so I wasn't worried about seeing everything this time. Great day in Hanoi, a perfect day to walk around and soak it all in. There's a much more uniform look to Hanoi compared to HCM--which seems to be a hodgepodge of architecture, history, and overbuilding. Hanoi, on the other hand, is historic looking, yet clean, and getting more modern without losing its past.

We woke up this morning, and I caught a taxi to the airport with Brad (who was, coincidentally, picking up his father from the airport who has flown out from LA to join him as they go to Halong Bay & Sapa in Vietnam and then on to Myannmar/Burma for a week). The flight down to HCM was easy, and now I'm sitting in the same hostel I met Brad in on May 6th when I first got to Vietnam! I meet up with Zack late tonight when he gets in, and we'll go out and see HCM tomorrow. Phew. I had the best time with Brad the past couple of weeks - it's such a great surprise when you meet someone whose personality so easily meshes with your own. It felt like we've been best friends for a long time, but I guess that's how it is out here in backpacker world...fast friends, lifelong memories (of which we made lots traveling through Vietnam together). He is a great new friend - good times. AND - I'm very excited to go with Zack on my part II Vietnam experience. I'll talk it over with Zack, but I think that we'll do: HCM, Dalat (via bus), then do the Easy Rider motorbike tour through countryside along the Ho Chi Minh trail to Hoi An, then head on up to Hanoi so we can go to Halong Bay and Sapa, before heading over to Laos.

5 weeks done: So, I realized that this is the start of my 6th week on this trip. Wow - the first 5 weeks have been so packed full of experiences, it's felt like 5 months!!! This is the midpoint of my SE Asia trip (10 weeks total here, then 10 weeks in India & Nepal). I couldn't be happier out here - Vietnam is a spectacular country, and I am excited for what will come next. It's super easy to get around this country, and I think after 5 weeks I'm starting to understand the rhythm and pace that goes along with being a traveler. Backpacker life suits me - I haven't shaven in 6 weeks, so I have a kick-ass beard at the moment. Please don't tell Mama Eda though, that'll upset her. :-)

OK - I think that's it for now, it's 3pm here, and I'm going to walk around for a bit and explore the town on my own for a few hours. I love you guys lots - thanks for keeping up with my travels!!! I'll write again in a couple of days after I've explored all there is to see in Saigon!!!

Lots of love always!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!