Vietnam: The second week

Hue

After leaving Hoi An, we headed north to the ancient capital of Hue. The drive took us through Da Nang, which has a strange mix of old and very new, with five star hotel complexes and swanky office buildings standing shoulder to shoulder with rickety old wooden shacks serving as shops, restaurants and homes for the local residents.

North of Da Nang, we travelled along the Hai Van Pass - a winding mountain road through dense forests, overlooking the natural harbours and rugged outcrops of rock on the coastline below (at least that was the view when we weren't enveloped in clouds), with small shrines (spirit houses) dotted along the roadside marking the places where people have died. Even with the overcast skies, the views were impressive.

After arriving at Hue, we had another motorbike tour, visiting the various temples, including the royal tombs on the banks of the Song Huong (Perfume River), around the city. The area was at the frontline of the battle between the north and south during the war and one of the views over the river is of the infamous Hamburger Hill. As well as seeing some of the historic sights, we went to a few local places to see demonstrations of the traditional farming methods of gathering and preparing rice (traditional, but still in use today) and a couple of handicraft stores; where they did, of course, try to sell their wares, but the items are very pretty and cost peanuts. It is a good job that I am restricted in luggage space, or I would have plenty of souviners to take back by now - not that a lack of luggage stopped Abby and Taz; new bags are also very cheap here...!

In the morning, we wandered around the city centre and saw the citadel, with it's forbidden purple city (which reminded me of the palaces in Beijing, not just in name, although it is not quite so grand). The city is much less busy than Saigon and the central part of Vietnam (in particular Hue and Hoi An) has been my favourite region of the country.

Halong Bay

My other highlight from Vietnam was the world heritage site of Halong Bay. From Hue, it is a 14 hour night train to Hanoi and then a three hour bus ride, but it is worth the trip.

Halong Bay, recently voted as one of the new seven wonders of the world, is spectacular, with three thousand limestone island jutting out of the waters of the South China Sea. The islands gave the city its name, as legend has it that they are the humps of a dragon that saved the inhabitants from their enemies and then encircled the bay to protect them from future attack. We took a cruise around the islands, where a morning sea-mist added an ethereal touch on the journey out, but on the return trip, the sun was shining.

Under the islands are caves, which were used in ancient times as store rooms and armouries during the wars against the Mongols. We walked through a couple of the caves, where the limestone roofs had mainly been worn smooth by the motion of the tides over the centuries as the islands were pushed up from the ocean, but the stalactites and grooves in the wall gave it an almost alien feel (although the rather gaudy multi-coloured lighting spoilt it a bit).

The less said about Halong City, the better, with its ugly buildings and tasteless food. Thankfully we had just one night here!

Hanoi

Situated on the Red River, Hanoi is one of the oldest cities in the region (1001 years old to be precise). Cosmopolitan and eclectic, with high end fashion stores nestled amongst the rows of local shops, and, like Saigon, the streets buzz with activity and motorbikes (yet despite the volume of traffic, I only saw one accident in the whole country). There is also no road rage, which I think is because there are no (discernible) rules of the road, so everybody *really* pays attention to where they are going. I prefer Hanoi to Saigon, as the old quarter retains a very Asian feel (even the new parts are unmistakably Asian) and it has more of distinctive personality, but the cities in Vietnam have generally been a bit disappointing (apart from the nightlife) and the other parts of the country are much more interesting.

During our stay in the capital, we went to see the water puppet show, which is unique to the region. I'm not quite sure exactly what was happening, despite having a programme, but it was a fun and unusual way to spend an afternoon. The following day was spent exploring the city on foot and in a tuk-tuk, looking at various monuments like the Temple of Literature, the one-pillar pagoda and Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. Luckily for us, Taz's map reading skills meant that we got to see a few extra ones that weren't on our planned itinerary!

Hanoi also saw the majority of the group that started the tour leave, with just five of those who started in Bangkok joining six new travellers for the rest of the trip. An early start on Saturday for the drive through the mountains into Lao meant that the farewell party took place on the penultimate evening. Buckets of vodka red bull really shouldn't be just £2, especially when there is also free beer being served.... Perhaps that has something to do with Stine biting the driver on the motorbike ride back to the hotel!

Vietnam is 1,000 miles from top to bottom and we virtually went the whole length, probably further with all the zig-zagging, so there has been a lot of travelling on buses and trains and we haven't stayed in one place for very long. There have been plenty of coughs, sniffles and sneezes in the group too, as the omnipresent air conditioning gives the group lots of opportunities to share germs!

The drive to the Lao border was a bit of a hair-raiser. The driver wasn't too keen on braking, so we hurtled along the snaking mountain roads, overtaking trucks on blind bends, dodging the cows that wander the roads and bouncing over the potholes. I'm sure that the most dangerous parts of the trip are these coach rides! Nevertheless, we made it and I have another country to discover......