Vietnam - Hanoi to Danang/Hoi An to Saigon

Saturday, October 15, 2005

I woke up, packed a small backpack, and hopped in a taxi just outside of my apartment building to begin my adventure to and through Vietnam. The Bangkok sun was shining and the trip down the toll road took me past a handful of Bangkok’s innumerable temples, the world-renowned Bamrungrad hospital, and hundreds of skyscrapers, offices and apartment buildings. Other than the driver pumping the gas pedal, the 35-minute ride was quite smooth, putting me back only 260 baht ($6.50) and getting me to the airport earlier than I had planned. After only a short one-hour delay, Vietnam Airways was airborne, distributing hot face and hand wipes with tongs, and preparing for a fairly tasty airline meal.

We put down approximately 30 minutes late, making up time in the air, and two guys from the Prince I Hotel in Hanoi were waiting for me with a sign reading “SHELLY”. The ride to the hotel was nice, offering me my first live look at Vietnam. Immediately as we departed the airport, there were cows and conical hats working the fields. I could immediately tell I was no longer in Bangkok! There were tons of scooters zipping around, most definitely outnumbering any cars and trucks on the road.

We arrived at the hotel and they attempted to get me to switch to the Prince Hotel II just down the road, but I refused. They wanted more than the $14/night that I previously had been quoted and I wasn’t in the mood to check the place out. They asked me to wait and they’d prepare a room for me, apparently one had miraculously opened, and I decided to check my email while waiting. The two plus hours that I waited, enabled me to speak with a 64 year-old Vietnamese guy who has lived in France for the past 50 years, but comes to Hanoi often for business. We started chatting when he sat down to use the computer next to me and started laughing because I was typing like a maniac. We struck up a conversation and once he asked me where I was from and I told him the US, he immediately started talking politics. His brother, who is a doctor and a Bush supporter, lives in DC and he told him he wouldn't visit as long as Bush is President...common theme while traveling.

But, this guy is pretty funny and I'm learning all kinds of things about the area just by listening to him - always the best way to spend a vacation. That's part of the reason why I like traveling by myself; people are more apt to talk to you when you're by yourself, which can be good and bad, I guess! We were outside laughing at the tourists who are tooling around town in masses in front-rider wagons with a guy riding a bike behind them. I'll take a picture because it's a little difficult to put in words. They're sitting on seats in front of the bike while somebody is pedaling them around town. And there isn't just one of them, there are at least 15 at a time!

This city is FULL of traffic and everybody is beeping! They beep every time they approach another mode of transport. I landed and was picked up at the airport by the hotel. We didn't get one block away from Hanoi International and there was all sorts of livestock that I'm not familiar with...one of them was a pretty good leaper for the size of the beast and quick on his feet. A couple of guys were using a little teamwork with a bucket and two ropes, picking up water from a small stream and swinging it onto the field.

Hanoi is a maze of scooters, cars, trucks, bikes, livestock, wagons, and conical-hatted folk carrying fruit on poles with two baskets on each side. I haven't had any chance to go around town, that will have to wait until tomorrow, but I think tonight I'll check out the Puppet Show. I've heard it's a must-see and should be a good way to spend a Saturday night in Hanoi.


Well, I was just handed the key to the city...actually, my room, so I'm off to drop my bags and explore...more later!

Sunday, October 16, 2005

I got home from the Puppet Show last night and Andre, the Frenchmen who is also Vietnamese, was here at the hotel and asked if I wanted to have a beer, which consists of walking a few yards down the road to a street-side hangout with a couple of stacked kegs and small stools to sit on and use as tables. We were only there for a few minutes, having a Spanish-English conversation, when a French couple from our hotel stopped by to join us. The conversation turned French-English-Spanish, which was quite interesting.

Hanoi is way cool!!!! Today, I left my hotel at 8am after a breakfast of French bread, jam, cheese, and coffee (yes, they have bread here!!) and trekked around, walking at least 10 miles! The nice thing about Hanoi is that it's not too big (unlike Bangkok), so you can walk around and get lost, which I did today on several occasions, and find your way home without too much hassle. It's also very safe and I don't feel like I have to be plastered to my valuables in fear of having a moto fly by and tear them off my shoulders...always nice not to have THAT worry!


I went to Uncle Ho's, as he's known, mausoleum and the old guy was on vacation, getting embalmed somewhere. Apparently, he doesn't go to Moscow anymore, he's somewhere in Vietnam, but it's highly classified. Afterward, I set up my Halong Bay trip for tomorrow and my train tickets that will get me to HCMC on Friday morning. The schedule of the train actually worked better for me and I decided to skip Dalat because it would be too rushed and crazy getting the moto guys set up anyway in such short time. I'll end up spending three days in Hoi An where I keep hearing about the fabulous clothes they make! I think I might get myself an au doi to wear for Halloween...I'll be a Vietnamese woman for the October festivities.

I had pizza for lunch and was very excited about finally get real pizza...not the Bangkok fare with large chunks of only-God-and-the-chef-knows-what! Things here are WAAAAAY cheap...I didn't think you could beat Thailand, but Vietnam has. The dong is 15,000 to 1, so you can only imagine. It's possible to get something here for less than a penny! I've become a pro at crossing the street...it's somewhat of a skill in these parts! You just walk WITHOUT stopping and the insane traffic of a zillion motos watch out for you and guess your next move. If you try to stop or run, you may get hit, but the tourists catch on quick and seem to adapt with no problems.


I made it to the Hanoi Hilton, which was on my list of things to do. It was pretty interesting. It's right in the middle of Hanoi and pretty much focuses on the atrocities committed when the French imprisoned the Vietnamese, but makes the stay of the Americans during the "American War" seem like it was a stay at the Hilton! The guys played games, cooked meals wearing huge smiles, and had a gay old time. I didn't realize that John McCain was one of the downed pilots who was a "guest" at the prison. They had his flight uniform and mug shot. They also had pictures of the Paris Agreement, ending the war and the ceremony where the guys were sent back to the States from the prison. I'll have to look into the real story. I don't know much about the place, other than the title and today's trip.

Well, after having a beer at a rooftop restaurant overlooking Hoan Kiem Lake, I'm uploading some photos. I filled up my camera and had to download the pictures on my chip.

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Right now, I'm hanging out in Hoi An, which is in Central Vietnam. I left Hanoi last night at 10:30pm on a train bound for Danang. I was in a cabin with three other people (a Vietnamese girl and a couple from Berkeley, CA - the first Americans I've met! Actually, I met a woman from MI, also) and we were all occupying beds in two bunks...very comfy, actually! The train ride was lovely, especially the part from Hue to Danang. Check out a map to see where I've been and am going. The train goes right along the South China Sea, coupled with that you see the Vietnamese countryside, rice paddies and graveyards from the deaths during the "American War." The views are amazing!

We arrived here in Danang at 12:30pm and I hopped on a scooter to drive by China Beach (the real one that the TV show is based on in the States and the American soldiers used to use for R-n-R and we also cruised through the Non Nuoc Hamlet, referred to as Dogpatch by the GIs from the comic Lil’ Abner, near the Marble Mountains, these huge cliffs with tons of marble in them, hence the name.

Yesterday was spent in Halong Bay where I met a group of really cool people. I was pretty sad to leave Hanoi...not enough time there and a lot of good people. Hoi An is a quaint (if you can call a town with motorcys beeping constantly "quaint"?!) and was used as a shipping port for Vietnam dating back to the Spanish conquistadores days. Apparently, Chinese, Japanese, American, and all kinds of other ships used to use this port. It's also very picturesque, so I've filled up my camera again. This computer is also from the days of the conquistadores, so I'll wait to upload the pictures until later.

My scooter driver was very nice. I was chatting with him, his English was excellent, and I asked him about the war. As it turns out, he fought for the South (against the Communist North) because he's from South Vietnam, so he said it was his duty. I asked him what happened when the war ended (ie. his team lost) and he said he was sent to a "re-education camp" for two years. He said it was a pretty rough prison, but he's happy with where the country is now.

Since 1990 when Vietnam began allowing Americans and outsiders in, he's been allowed to travel freely in the country. Before that time, the gov't checked up on his occasionally, interviewing neighbors, etc., to make sure his "re-education" stuck. He was always given a thumbs up, but before leaving Danang to go to another city in Vietnam, he used to have to get forms signed by the authorities. He's pretty happy that he doesn't have to do that anymore and things are moving along in his country.

Tourism has been great since 1990 when it began to be allowed. He said it was a little scary talking about it with me because he couldn't prior to 1990 and since, he just hasn't. He laughed and said he was a bit surprised he was sharing this information with me. I guess I asked and nobody else has, most likely. Either that or we struck up some kind of bond in the 45 minutes from the train station to Hoi An! It's really quite amazing to be here and experience all of this first-hand. It's eerie, at times, and sad. So much death and destruction took place in the very piece of earth I'm occupying.

In Hanoi, it was a little easier to stay away from the constant harassment of sales people, but here in Hoi An, where it's the ONLY industry (silk, ceramic, and other types of factories are the bizz, so everybody is trying to constantly sell you) and it can get tiresome and it's 6:45pm and I just arrived at 2pm today! There are 200 tailors in this small village and people are constantly saying, “Where you from?” which serves as an opportunity to get you attention so they can ask you, “Want to come to my shop?” Tomorrow will be spent maybe lounging in a nice cafe near the river, relaxing and reading. I could take a trip to My Lai, the site of the horrific massacre by the Americans on the villagers, but I don't think I can handle it. They massacred, raped and pillaged unarmed women and children in that town and it's now part of various tours - sad and sick, really.

Enough of that deep, dark, and depressing stuff! Vietnam really is amazing and a fantastic place to visit and see. I'm excited to see Kelly and run around Saigon -- they call it that here because we're across the DMZ and in the South, so it's Saigon again. In the North, it's referred to as Ho Chi Minh City, the "official" name.

Thursday, October 20, 2005

My last day in Hoi An, I'm heading back to Danang to hop on the 1:00 p.m. train heading south to HCMC to meet up with Kelly O'Connell from my old Dorothy Avenue neighborhood. I checked out of the Huy Hoang I Hotel will my list of things to do (and you know I have a list!!) in HCMC - visit the Cu Chi tunnels, the War Museum, the US Embassy, and the Presidential Palace, among a few others. 

I've read the entire Lonely Planet Vietnam travel book at least twice (and it's a huge book!), highlighting important areas, etc., making sure that I haven't missed any details and have taken pictures out of the train window at the DMZ and areas along the way touched by the war (which basically amounts to EVERY area). I can't get over how this country was at war for 30 years straight, amazing and unbelievable to me.

In addition to the travel book, which is PACKED with historical information and is really a fantastic history text, I've been reading a book on the war that I got from our library at school. It's amazing to read the history and see and witness first-hand some of the things mentioned. It can get pretty emotional at times really...when I think about what went on here and the feelings of the people on all sides. For example, it rains here EVERYDAY and it's a torrential/monsoon rain, which only lasts for 15 minutes or so and then the sun comes out, but I can't imagine the soldiers out in the elements on a daily basis for one or two years, at times. It really makes me think that Bubba from Saipan was out of his mind to sign on for another tour. Good Lord!


I'll be in HCMC tomorrow (Friday) at 5:30am. The sun comes up around here at 5am and goes down around 6pm, so I'm glad I'll be arriving at daybreak. I don't like arriving in a new city when it's dark. This country is EXTREMELY safe. The people are warm and friendly and my entire experience here has been a positive one. I wish my dad was here. We're alike in our interests and we could share some amazing conversations about the things I'm witnessing and learning here.

I bought the Viet Nam News - it's a newspaper and was quite interesting to peruse. They compared the hurricane that hit the coast here with Katrina and talked about how they evacuated 200,000 people and only 4 people died. Katrina really made the US gov't look bad globally. It was an interesting comparison. You don't get an oppressive feel here at all. There are various religions being practiced and it seems "free" to me, but I'm only a traveler and not aware of everything.

Dad’s Email: It should be fun hooking up with Kelly; amazing to think of the changes that have taken place in the past 30 yrs. If I would have told someone in the 70s that my daughter would one day travel to Vietnam and meet a friend from White Bear while on vacation they would have had me committed. Nice to realize that positive changes do occur. As to the rain and the things the soldiers had to endure. One major problem they had was that their feet were always wet and would actually begin to rot as a result. The condition was called Jungle Rot. Not a very pleasant thought. Thanks for the safety update. Makes for a little more piece of mind. Love and miss you! Daad

Friday, October 21

I can't imagine having Jungle Rot! I'm in need of a shower after the 16 hour train ride from Danang (left yesterday at 12:30pm) to Saigon, arriving this morning at 4:30am - an hour early - and it was still dark, so I sat in the people-filled train station for an hour or so until sun up. Needless to say, I'm not feeling fresh as a daisy, but at least I'm not suffering from Jungle Rot!

The city is alive and buzzing! Scooters everywhere, of course. I guess it wouldn't be Vietnam unless you had a thousand of those things zipping up and down the streets! The guide we had on the Halong Bay trip said there was 1 scooter for every 2 people per capita and I believe it!

I'm traipsing around a four-square block to find a guest house...it's only 7:30am on Friday, so I can be picky and look around. I also only brought a "regular" sized backpack with a few clothes in it, so I don't mind walking around with it and looking. I've peeked into a couple of places and am deciding whether I should spend $6/night for a room with a fan in an okay-clean place or splurge and spend a whopping $15...hmm. It's funny because this entire week, everything but my flight out here, has cost me less than $250. That includes my train ticket down the entire coast, the trip to Halong Bay, food, lodging, everything. Not bad. So now that I'm down to two more days, I could splurge...we'll see what I find.

Saturday, October 22

Well, yesterday was a blast! I checked into the Cam Minihotel that Kelly referred me to and met up with her and her boyfriend at a quaint, little restaurant next door for lunch. We headed out on her scooter to see the Cu Chi Tunnels and were completely drenched in a major downpour both on the way out and back! It was pretty hilarious! The tunnels were fascinating and a very worthwhile trip. We stopped at my guesthouse and I quickly showered and we met up with a couple of their friends for dinner and drinks.

Today, I relaxed while Kelly worked and met them for dinner later in the evening. I did manage to hop on a cylco around HCMC, checking out the US Embassy where the shoot-out took place during the war. It was a bit humorous because the cyclo driver must have thought I needed to visit the embassy because he flagged down a guard and the guard had me get out of the cyclo, walk over to the entrance, and read the visiting hours. I laughed and said thank you, figuring they misunderstood that I just wanted to see the place, not go inside for a visit. Kelly had to work today, but I met them for dinner near my guesthouse. None of us felt like going out, as we overdid it the night before so we just relaxed and I got a good night’s sleep.

Sunday, October 23

I’m heading back to Bangkok this morning. I woke up early, had some breakfast, checked my internet, and hopped on a motorcy to the airport. I was both excited to get back to Bangkok and sad because I’ll miss Vietnam. It was a great trip! I met some nice people, learned a lot about history, and had fun doing it!