Exploring Central Vietnam

Trip Start Feb 03, 2007

Trip End May 01, 2007

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Flag of Vietnam Hoi An and Hue, Vietnam
Thursday, February 8, 2007

Hoi An Day 1 ~ experienced train ride in Vietnam

train from hcm to danang

train - soft sleeper bunk

train - corridor

meal on train

after a 17.5 hr train ride from HCM, i finally arrived in Da Nang. the train ride wasn't as nice as expected, maybe bcos the previous long train rides i had were in india and they were nicer - not as noisy, no smoking allowed and of cos, william was with me then. i shared the 4-bed (2 double-decker) cabin with a vietnamese family - parents, 2 sons and 1 auntie. but din talk much with them as only the father knew english and being a family, they are rather occupied with taking care and watching their sons.

train - vietnamese kid

the view fm the train was nice though - paddy fields, lakes and villages..

more scenery from train

view from train

and it was fun watching the many cute kids on the train. i felt rather envious of all the family bliss i saw.

streets of hoi an -

streets of hoi an

hoi an - alleys

hoi an - chinese assembly hall

hoi an - riverside

cloth mkt in hoi an

fm Da Nang, i took a hired car to Hoi An, a UNESCO world heritage site. the streets of the old town within Hoi An are very charming with narrow cobbled walkways, alleys and lots of shops selling very colorful goods such as paintings, tailored clothes, ornaments, lanterns, antiques and etc. due to its history as a major trading town where japanese and chinese merchants settled, there are various chinese assembly halls and a japanese bridge cum temple in town. to me, its a pity that traffic is allowed within the old town (comprising 3 streets) as otherwise, the old town will be even more charming.

guesthouse in hoi an - living area

guesthouse in hoi an - courtyard

guesthouse in hoi an - my room

chose to stay in a guesthouse that is one of the 200-year old merchant houses within Hoi An. it was different from the usual guesthouse as the family lives in the house and the house itself was charming with chinese antiques, furnitures and fixtures carvings. thou it was also a lil scary at night with the altars and lanterns.

Hoi An Day 2 ~ attended a cooking class!
signed up for a 1/2 day cooking class with the red bridge cooking school (see http://www.elephantguide.com/redbridge/school.htm), which started with a tour of the local markets.

local market

fruits & veg

sticky rice cakes for the new yr

chickens

ducks

the mkt tour wasn't that insightful for me since i already knew most of the tropical fruits & veg. the guide also showed us the various knives and kitchen equipment used in vietnamese cooking, i bot 3 items for about S$7, hopefully i'll put them into good use back home.

cooking class - chef

cooking class - hands-on

we then took a short boat ride to the cooking school, which was also a restaurant. learnt how to cook 4 dishes, including hoi an pancake, fresh rice paper, eggplant in claypot, squid salad in half-a-pineapple. also learnt how to make a rose out of tomato and the vietnamese hand fan carved from cucumber.

cooking class - hoi an pancake

cooking class - fresh rice paper

cooking class - veg carvings

we had for lunch whatever we cooked! the dishes were quite simple to cook and i was more mesmerised by the beautiful setting of the cooking school. it was just beside the thu bon river overlooking some fishing nets and the small red bridge and bamboo plants made the whole setting very lovely.

red bridge cooking sch

view from cooking sch

fisherman

Hoi An Day 3 ~ cycling and r&r with ania

excursion to beach with ania

cua dai beach

cycling to the beach & village roads

lunch with ania at the red bridge cooking sch

met ania in the morning to go cycling to cua dai beach. cos both of us were rather tired from the noise and pollution. ania is a jovial 25 year-old polish student (doing her masters in psychology) who's traveling to China, Vietnam and Cambodia. met her at the cooking class the previous day. i experienced the joys of riding a mtn bike again as i've been riding a road bike in sg (and that's not very often nowadays too). the last time i rode a mtn bike was during my cycling trip in nepal. even thou the rented bike looks cheap and the roads are not very good, the ride is surprisingly rather smooth. cua dai beach was about 4km away from town. the beach is so-so but it was a nice break from town. enjoyed chatting with ania. as far as i remember, i think she's the first polish person i've met. it was interesting to discuss our perspectives on relationships (she has a viet boyfriend who lives in poland) and other world views. i'd say she's definitely a traveler rather than tourist, as she's not merely into sightseeing but is curious and asks lots of qns about the local cultures and ways of life.
in the evening, we met linh and nhung, my 2 new-found vietnamese friends who had returned to their hometowns in hoi an for tet, the viet new year. they brought us to a romantic spot, beside the vegetable fields. unfortunately, we arrived a lil late and could not catch the full glory of the sunset.

seafood dinner at the beach

with lovely company

cute photographer

after which, we went on motorbikes to the seafood restaurant located right on the beach, and feasted on crabs, squids, mussels/ cockles and fish porridge. but i enjoyed the company even more!

Hoi An Day 4 ~ visited my son, ruins of the champa kingdom

my son - postcard pix

my son

my son - ruins of the champa kingdom

my son - symbol for worship

went on a 1/2 day tour to my son, which is another world heritage site. due to the bombing during the viet war, not much is left of the temples. i guess i'm not the type to appreciate such historical places and temples, but i do appreciate the preservation of historical sites as the past has contributed to the present (hmm.. am not trying to be philosophical here..).
i'm sunburnt and down with a cold today, so rested as much as i can in the guesthouse.

dinner with takako

in the evening, i had dinner with takako, whom i met earlier during the my son tour. she's a lawyer posted to the hanoi branch of her jap firm for 1 year and she has successfully learnt how to speak vietnamese. she's the first solo asian traveler that i've met so far. the other lone travelers are all caucasians. we had dinner at the very lovely hai's cafe. its somewhat like one of the restaurants along rochestor park, very tranquil and lovely environment. we chatted about various things and found out more about each other's country.
this is really the 1st time that i'm traveling on my own (apart from a few days in myanmar and china respectively some years ago), and i'm really pleasantly surprised that its so easy to meet and hang out with fellow travelers.

Hue Day 1 ~ arrived in Hue

scenery on bus from hoi an to hue

more scenery on bus from hoi an to hue

lang co beach

arrived in Hue, the capital of Vietnam in the 19th century. the bus ride to Hue was quite scenic, passing by the central highlands, hai van pass (at 1000+m) and lang co beach.
found this fabulous hotel which has a computer and internet access in the room! and which has 2 double beds, cable tv, air-con, fan, bathtub and even a balcony. and all these for just US$12/nt. the staff are really friendly and i'd highly recommend this hotel: binh duonh 3 located at 4/34 nguyen tri phuong tel: 054830145. recuperated in the hotel rm for the rest of day as i'm down with full-blown cold.

Hue Day 2 ~ checked out the ancient imperial city

hue - forbidden purple city

hue - forbidden purple city 2

hue - citadel

hue - citadel 2

rented a bike and cycled around town and the citadel (comprising imperial city and forbidden purple palace). even the river in Hue has a very lovely sounding name - perfume river. the area around the ancient has more trees and gardens than other cities of Vietnam.
did some opportunistic shopping today (so far, i've hardly bought any souvenirs in Vietnam) - bought fishermen pants, some postcards to send to friends, and 2 paintings from a seller who approached me when i was having lunch. according to him, some proceeds of the paintings will go to the street kids, of cos i dunno how true that is.

banh beo - a hue specialty dish

some photos of vietnam

Hue Day 3 ~ visited the demilitarisation zone (DMZ)

the DMZ is the stretch of land (10km wide) along the ben hai river that separates north and south Vietnam from 1956 to 1976. North Vietnam comprised the communist soldiers and supporters whereas South Vietnam comprised non-communists. was expecting to see barren ground/ soils and desolation. but the heavily bombed areas are thankfully, now reforested with coffee and acacia.
we visited various sites but the highlight of the trip was the vinh moc tunnels (some 2000m long), which was dug by the villagers living in the northern part of the DMZ when they were attacked by the americans (who were supporting the non-communist south). and where the villagers lived for 6 years. during those 6 years, a total of 17 babies were born in the tunnels. the tunnels were very well-preserved and we got to go into it for about 700m. it was really claustrophobic and i can imagine myself going crazy if i were to live there for even a few hrs. it was also ironical that jus outside the tunnels were really beautiful beaches.

vinh moc tunnel - layout

inside vinh moc tunnel

well inside vinh moc tunnel

maternity rm inside vinh moc tunnel

beach outside vinh moc tunnel

the scenery on the 3 hr bus ride to the DMZ area was v nice. along the way, we also stopped at a minority village comprising laos people as the border of laos was only about 20km away.