Vietnam, Part 3

Central Vietnam
Da Nang to the Old City of Hoi An


OK folks, time is short and I'm already about 3 weeks behind our actual travels so this one is gonna be heavy on the pictures and light on words!  I'm adding links (highlighted text) if you would like to read more about any of the places mentioned (please do - these places are so special and worth learning more about, especially if you ever plan to visit Vietnam). As promised, I'll start first with a few photos from the museum and also from the very quirky Marble Mountains, just south of the city of Da Nang...

The travelers pose in front of an exquisite bronze sculpure of Tara at the Museum of Cham Sculpture

Amazingly detailed 13th Century stone dragons originally from Thap Mam (Binh Dinh Gallery)

The Marble Mountains, or "Five Elements Mountains" are named after the five elements Kim (metal), Thuy (water), Moc (wood), Hoa (fire) and Tho (earth). The area is know for its stone quarries and sculpture works. (Note photo above from Wikipedia - I didn't have one that showed the mountains from the air!) 

Climb many steps to reach the heights of the Marble Mountains and you can explore temples and pagodas perched on the steep hillsides and hidden altars complete with golden Buddhas hidden in dark caves, clouded by thick incense smoke. Pretty amazing. 


Hội An


Despite being the place where Stacey most likely picked up Dengue Fever (which I'll cover in the next installment!), Hoi An was by far our favorite place so far in Vietnam. It has it all: culture, history, entertainment, shopping, food, markets, crafts, used bookstores, funky riverside bars and even a beach, and all within a small and easy to explore area. We ended up staying there seven days, and could easily have stayed much longer. 

Exploring the Old Town of Hoi An, with its unique blend of architecture

For centuries, Hoi An was an important and colorful trading port with merchants visiting from all over Asia (and further afield). The 'old town' quarter of Hoi An is yet another of Vietnam's many World Heritage Sites, with architecture that dates as old as the 15th century and showing many of the different cultural influences including Vietnamese, China, Japan, and France.

Maritime trades continue to be an important part of life in Hoi An. These are fishing boats anchored in the Thu Bồn river that runs through the town. Note the "eyes" painted on the bow for good luck and to help the crew stay alert and avoid danger.

Hoi An has temples galore, and they are some of the most beautiful we've seen in Vietnam. This is the Trung Hoa Assembly Hall, established in 1741.

ca. 17th Century covered bridge built by Japanese merchants to connect two parts of the Old Town. The bridge doubles as a temple and has shrines to several deities within it. 

Hoi An is small and relatively quiet, easily explored on foot or by bicycle.

Two generations of Vietnam chatting on the streets of Hoi An

Hoi An is famous for its tailors who create quality custom-made clothing at a great price. Shops line every street, and it can be hard to choose one!  Ms. Lan at LAN No.9 came highly recommended and she didn't disappoint!

Handicrafts are sold on every street corner. These are pottery flutes in the shapes of animals.

Traditional music and dance presentation

The alleys of Hoi An are so much fun to explore, with streetside food stalls and vendors around every corner. Sitting down with the locals on the tiny plastic benches is a great way to experience the culture. We visited this sweet lady four times to enjoy her delicious banh bao va ("White Rose"), a dish that's renowned here.  She and her friends were highly amused that we returned so many times.

Cau Lau - a delicious Vietnamese vermicelli - was WIlliam's favourite food discovery in Hoi An. Very difficult to find a vegetarian version, though!

 

We also learned how to make some dishes ourselves with a great cooking class provided by Hien at Cafe 43.  This is also, in our opinion, one of Hoi An's best little restaurants and highly recommended.  Best food we'd had since arriving in Vietnam.

Hoi An is known for its beautiful silk lanterns. You can visit local shops to see them being made. Silk is stretched over collapsible bamboo frames that fold down quite small for easy shipping! Handy, eh?  Like the tailors, the choices are numerous and it's quite an adventure to look through the many styles that are available.

 At night, the city literally glows by the light of hundreds of colorful lanterns of all shapes and sizes hanging from the old buildings, bridges and treetops. It's quite a magical scene.

A short bicycle ride out of town takes you to An Bang beach, passing by numerous waterways and rice paddies.  With the spell that it weaves over your, it's easy so see why so many people come to Hoi An and how so many expats get lured into staying... 

Vietnam, part 2

Central Vietnam
Hue and Da Nang

Noon Gate at the Hue Citadel - the former 'Imperial City'

From Hanoi, we traveled south (via overnight train dubbed the "Reunification Express") into central Vietnam, a region of the country that promised some of the most amazing cultural sights.  We weren't disappointed. Our first stop was in Hue, the former capital of Vietnam under the Nguyen Dynasties who ruled from around the 17th to 19th centuries. During their reign, they built massive temples, imposing government complexes, beautiful palaces, spectator arenas and (to further commemorate their existence) spectacular tombs.  All of these are spread across the landscape around Hue, just waiting to be explored.

The Hue Arena, where Nguyen Emperors would stage fights between elephants and tigers.

Like so many other places in Vietnam, this is also an UNESCO World Heritage Site which is an indication of its tremendous importance. Regrettably, recent history hasn't been very good to the city or its monuments. Hue is located directly in the center of Vietnam, which was very close to the demilitarized zone during the Vietnam-America War. During the Tet Offensive, Hue was the site of intense fighting and massive bombing, and much of the city was in ruin by the time it was over. Despite this, an amazing array of buildings survived - and Vietnam is making every effort to protect (and restore, in at least some cases) what is left.

Riding a Dragon Boat down the Perfume River (Suong Huong) to see the Royal Tombs

Royal Tombs of Hue. 

Six royal tombs are scattered around the outskirts of Hue on both sides of the Perfume River. They are monuments to nine of the thirteen rulers of the Nguyen Dynasty. Most were designed by the intended occupant himself, and built during their lifetime.  At least one was used as a 'summer home' for the Imperial family. We visited the tombs of Minh Mang, Tu Duc and Khai Dinh.

While in Hue, we visited crafts shops where they made joss sticks (incense) for the temples.
Click here to watch a video of it being done.

From Hue, we continued on to the city of Da Nang.  This place is probably most famous among Americans as the location of "China Beach" (called My Khe beach by the Vietnamese) which was an R&R spot for American soldiers during the War (and later a television series with the same name). We did in fact go swimming at China Beach (the waves were really rough!) but the main reason for visiting Da Nang was actually to see the Marble Mountains and the Museum of Cham Sculpture, both of which were really terrific.

The Museum of Cham Sculpture is a must-see for anyone interested in the ancient civilizations of Vietnam.
NOTE: Photo from TripAdvisor, because I hadn't uploaded my Da Nang pics yet!

It takes a bit of extra effort (and time) to stop in Da Nang.  Many people just skip it, and I'm glad we didn't. The museum turned out to be especially important since we would be visiting actual Cham ruins later in our trip, and it really helped us put it all in context. They have an amazing collection of Cham sculpture at the museum, most of which was fortuitously collected prior to successive wars that resulted in massive destruction of the actual sites. If not for the pieces being collected, they would have been lost. Sensing a re-occurring theme here?

Next stop:  Hoi An and the ancient Cham ruins at My Son!

Vietnam, part 1

 

We're now well into our travels in Vietnam, so this is all retrospective storytelling to bring you up to speed.  We started in Hanoi, in northern Vietnam.  Between the many tourist scams  (yes, they got us with the fake bus scam but no biggie), the horrible traffic, and the general chaotic atmosphere of the town, it's safe to say that Hanoi gives a terrible(but strangely captivating) first impression.

 

The streets of Hanoi on a Friday night. And guess what, you have to cross that to get back to your hotel...on foot...with no crosswalk signals! No joke - this place is completely wild. Click here to see what it's like to cross the street in Hanoi.

But give it 24 hours, and allow yourself to get into the tempest rhythm of Hanoi, and you might find you like it after all (or at least can cope for a bit). We ended up staying in Hanoi about a week, much longer than initially expected I can assure you, which included a side trip to the magnificent Halong Bay and Cat Ba National Park. 

Here's just a few of the things we saw...

 

Hoan Kiem Lake, the "Lake of the Returned Sword".  This lake is the site of one of Vietnam's most important folk legends in which Emperor Le Loi, wielding a magical sword, successfully drives out Chinese invaders. Following his victory, he returns the sword to the Golden Turtle that lived in the lake and renames the lake accordingly. Turtles are considered lucky by many Asian cultures. The red bridge (Huc Bridge) in the photo goes to Jade Island on which the Ngoc Son Temple (Jade Mountain Temple) stands. It's an idyllic spot and quite a nice place to escape from the traffic and madness of the city.

 

A large bronze urn in the courtyard of the temple where visitors can burn paper offerings and incense.

 Indeed, giant turtles do actually live in Hoan Kiem Lake. The left photo shows an enormous taxidermy specimen on display. It's considered auspicious to see the living turtles, as they are pretty rare. To our amazement, we actually saw one (right photo). It drew quite a crowd to the banks of the lake.

One night, we enjoyed a Water Puppetry show at the Thang Long Theatre. This ancient art form is experiencing a resurgence of interest helped in part by increased domestic and international tourism. The puppeteers are hidden behind the stage, standing in waist-deep water. The performance is magical, with swirling dragons and fish, dancing fairies and colorful characters from Vietnam folk stories, accompanied by live music and singing. Really terrific.

 Less enjoyable, but no less important, was a visit to Hoa Lo Prison a.k.a. "Hanoi Hilton" as sarcastically named by United States POW's during the Vietnam War. The prison was built by French Colonialists during their Colonial reign over Vietnam, where it was used to house Viet revolutionaries. Later, it would house captured U.S. pilots including Senator and former Presidential Candidate John McCain. 

Remnants of the Vietnam-U.S. War are everywhere, and sometimes you just stumble across them. This is the remains of a B-52 shot down over Hanoi. It crash landed in a lake, then parts were hauled up for display. We came across it by accident while walking down a street.

The Temple of Literature, built in 1070, was devoted to the study of Confucianism and is considered Vietnam's first 'university'. The complex covers many acres and includes temples, garden pools, courtyards, and grand halls lined with ancient stone markers that document the accomplishments of former graduates.

 This austere Communist-style monument is Ho_Chi_Minh_Mausoleum. In his will, Ho Chi Minh stated his wish to be cremated and to have his ashes scattered in the hills of north, central, and southern Vietnam. He said that he preferred cremation because it would be "more hygienic than burial and would also save land for agricultural purposes". The mausoleum was built in spite of his wishes. We were unable to see Vietnam's esteemed leader because he was in Russia for his annual spa treatment. The monument and surrounding parade grounds are solemn with a very serious atmosphere.. For many Vietnamese, this is a place of pilgrimage and reverence.

Here I am in front of the One Pillar Pagoda, a Buddhist temple that was originally built by Emperor Lý Thái Tông, who ruled from 1028 to 1054. It's actually located in the Botanic Gardens not far from Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum, as well as a museum in his honor. The temple is built of wood on a single stone pillar about 6 feet  in diameter, and it is designed to resemble a lotus blossom, which is a Buddhist symbol of purity, since a lotus blossoms in a muddy pond. In 1954, the French Union forces destroyed the pagoda before withdrawing from Vietnam after the First Indochina War.  It was later rebuilt.

While having a coffee, we watched this group of ladies doing Tai Chi in front of the Quan Thanh Temple near the West Lake of Hanoi. The West Lake area, although not far from the Old Quarter of Hanoi, feels like a different place altogether with beautiful tree-lined streets facing he peaceful lakefront. Temples and Pagodas like this one dot the region and all are fun to explore.

We took a 3-day side trip to see Halong Bay, one of many UNESCO World Heritage Sites we are slated to see on this trip. No doubt this will be one of the 'best'. Words can't really describe this place, it's simply too beautiful. In many ways, it reminded me of New Zealand's Doubtful and Milford Sounds, though with a decidedly tropical flavor. The mountains here seem to rise out of the sea reaching straight into the sky, and are covered in cloaks of green foliage. Hidden within the hills are massive caves( and other wonders. The Bay itself is overrun with tourist boats designed to resemble Chinese junks. The sheer majesty of the place enables you to forget their presence, and the way the landscape towers over the enormous boats actually helps provide scale.

An entire community of people live in floating villages in Halong Bay. An industrious people, they exist completely 'off the grid', using generators in limited fashion for electricity, fishing for food (and income), raising fish in farms, and providing services and selling goods to tourists. Women use these tiny boats to expertly maneuver themselves in position to surround incoming tour boats, then yell up to the passengers offering to sell everything from bottled water to Oreo cookies.

Halong Bay is beautiful in any weather. Rain and fog only make the place look more mysterious.

 We spent one night on Cat Ba Island were we enjoyed this beautiful sunset.

As I write this, we are in Hoi An (in central Vietnam) and have been on the road for over a month.  Spirits are high, though (not surprisingly) we have found Vietnam to be more difficult to travel in than Malaysia. The language barriers are greater, and costs are higher than expected.  For instance, if you want to deviate from the main tourist routes, costs increase considerably.  It can be difficult to get to more remote places, such as the interior national parks and ethnic villages. So, we're having to be quite judicious in our forward planning. The hotels in Vietnam are very nice - much nicer than similarly priced one in Malaysia - so that's a nice surprise. Food has been a challenge, particularly sticking to a vegetarian diet. We are eating a lot of 'spinach in garlic sauce' with white rice (brown rice not so big here).  Vietnam does coffee and French bread exceedingly well, a bit too well in fact for our waistlines. Have to watch that.  Oh, and our backpacks are WAY too heavy. It can be sooooo tempting to just take cabs to our hotels from the bus stations, especially in the heat, but we haven't given in yet. Sounds like a typical backpacker trip, eh?

Next post will be about Hue, the old Imperial Capital of Vietnam!