Monday November 6th

We got up early to see Cindy and John on their way and enjoyed a lazy day otherwise. It did give us the chance to get laundry done and buy tickets for the next weeks travel, including flights to Ho Chi Minh City and on to Phu Quoc island.

As a change from the usual diet of Vietnamese food we tried out the local Indian restaurant and mighty fine it was. The owner appeared to be at least part Indian but whoever does the cooking has the knack!

Other that that there is little to report. Hue is a very easy place to spend time in being small, friendly but touristed enough to have English as a workable language to get around.

Sunday November 5th

John and Cindy's last day with us before departing to Ho Chi Minh City and on to Japan for a few days. We decided to take the widely advertized boat tour today on the "Perfume River", it takes in several historic sights and gives you a good view of local life on the river. While there is some fishing the main local activity seems to be dredging for sand or gravel from the river floor. This is done by dropping a big scoop which is guided by one man while others haul it back on board with a manual winch mechanism. Loaded boats appear to have about 3 inches (7cm) clearance above the water but luckily the river flows lazily and nothing much makes a wake.

First stop is Thien Mu Pagoda, whose tower is said to symbolize Vietnam. It lies on the river bank and is built with 7 concentric levels. It was a center of anti-government agitation at one time but monks seem to inhabit it peacefully now and a lot of renovation is going on behind the tower.

Next up we cruised down to the tomb of Tu Doc. He was the longest lived of the Nguyen emporers and lived in the height of luxury, although he gradually lost power to the French during his reign. He also built the fanciest tomb and did so while he was alive so he could enjoy his creation. There are pictures here.

After lunch on board the boat we headed south for a while to two other tombs, those of Khai Dinh and Minh Mang. We chose just to go to the latter to enjoy some more time... the former while impressive dates from the 1920's an has a mix of oriental and western elements. Minh Mang was more significant in history for the way he consolidated the power of the dynasty after his father (Gia Long) had won the country in war. His tomb is a very traditional arrangement of buildings and water.

After our dose of history we cruised in relaxed fashion back down the river. Then for a complete contrast we visited the market which even late in the day was still bustling and had plenty of people willing to sell us whatever we might (or looked like we might!) be interested in. Then we enjoyed another relaxing evening spending very little on good food.

Saturday November 4th

We split the group today with Tracy joining John and Cindy on a day trip to Hoi An, a historic town down the coast. Tim was tired of vehicular travel and elected to spend time walking around some of the historic sites nearer to town. I'll get Tracy to add something about Hoi An later.

In the evening we once again found ourselves one of the local restaurants to dine at. Eating your fill in Vietnam will not set you back too much cash, our usual bill for a big meal with a couple of beers or smoothies came to less than $5 (maybe 2 pounds 50).

Friday November 3rd

We awoke as we crossed the Ben Hai River, which once divided north from south and were soon in Hue (not before we were served Vietnamese Pot Noodle/ Ramen Noodle for breakfast). This city was the old imperial capital from 1802 when the Nguyens took control of the whole country (not a bad idea moving to the center in a country with two traditional seats of power at either end) until the last emporer abdicated in favor of Ho Chi Minh in 1945. There are still a lot of historic buildings in the vicinity, though the place took a pounding from bombs and fighting within the city.

After getting off the train we were dropped by taxi at a convenient hotel (Binh Minh) and it was pleasant enough to warrant staying. Our first act was to head down to the river to get a snack and suss out the lie of the land, then we found a cyclo tour for Tracy while we walked a short distance to the citadel. The old city has a fairly complete city wall (I dont know how much was rebuilt) with a moat, once inside you can pass through the old citadel gates to the emperors abode. Once again the place began with an appropriate arrangement of gates, ponds and bridges, with buildings to commemorate ancestors and mandarins. Once the whole central section was the "Forbidden Purple City" where the emperor kept wives and concubines, but that was pretty much destroyed with a few ruined buildings and a lot of wide open space. The citadel walls are complete and the gates are still beautiful, and a number of the compounds within that housed family members are complete and nicely renovated so it was well worth a few hours wandering the extensive grounds.

Tourism complete for the day we retired to a good local restaurant to sample some of the local delights. With the imperial legacy (some were fussy eaters) there is a history of novel cuisine in the city and we were not disappointed. Much less Chinese influence here, and subtle flavors.

Thursday November 2nd

Next morning the weather was clearer and Tracy got up for sunrise... unfortunately a big lump of limestone was in the way and she had to make do with some nicely lit photos. Once underway we cruised a different route in, stopping for a walk through an enormous cave with impressive stalagtites and stalagmites. This cave was used as a hospital in the war: at one time local fishermen would live in the caves as even a Typhoon would not cause much swell deep in the Bay. Now the caves are protected for the tourists (it is a world heritage site) and the fishermen make do with floating villages among the islands.

Sadly we only had 24 hours on the boat and were soon back aboard the bus, arriving with time in Hanoi to grab food and head to the station. Our cabin turned out to be better than anticipated... not so hard and with enough space to sleep comfortably enough. Exactly the same as the trains in Zimbabwe and South Africa for anyone who's been there. We were not booked together but soon swapped with a Dutch couple and the four of us shared with Hung, a local guy on his first train trip (he travels for business but usually by car) who spoke good English. After teaching him "Pass the Pigs" and seeing him win the first game we were joined by another local woman getting on at an intervening station and pretty much all hit the sack.

Even tropical islands have internet now

No break in service as there is plenty of internet here now (and being a weekend it's noisy with local kids playing online games: at 25c and hour a lot of people can afford it). We are in a deliberately low tech resort (think hammocks and waving palms rather than TV's and nightclubs) but the beer is cold and the food is tasty. And town is close by.

We have signed up to dive tomorrow and Monday which will take us north and south on Phu Quoc, a hilly, forested tropical island where modern life and tourism is not exactly overwhelming the traditional pursuits of fishing for squid and fish. The night sea view is a myriad of little lights as each boat tries to attract a host of squid which are then cleaned and dried on the shore.

Possible Interlude

Today we head off to Phu Quoc, Vietnam's biggest island in the SW off Cambodia. It is still relatively undeveloped so we are not sure of internet access (our 2 year old tour book says it's very sparse but change is happening rapidly here). If you don't get an update till the 15th Nov it's not because we have disappeared!

"American War"

With us now in the center of the country and near the old north-south border I thought I'd mention how the way the war seems always to be refered to as the "American War". Without going into the history (Wikipedia can do that for you) the conflict simmered from 1945 to 1975 with involvement of the North, South and France. While the US involvement propped up the Southern regime for many years after they orchestrated the overthrow of the increasingly unpopular anti-communist strongman Ngo Dinh Diem in 1963, the major casualties were Northern and Southern soldiers with vast numbers of Northern and many southern civilians. Maybe it's just easier to reunify if "civil war" is not mentioned or maybe there was a deliberate policy to Americanize the conflict after the North won?

Wednesday November 1st

We had booked a luxury trip to Halong Bay so we were picked up early morning by a classy air conditioned van for the 3.5 hour ride east. This is one of nature's more impressive creations... 3000 limestone islands just off the east coast in the Bay of Tonkin (see here for pictures and details and good old Wikipedia for the quick version.

We boarded a nice boat (16 rooms so not crowded) and cruised out for about 7 miles passing countless of the islands and being well fed en route. There was time for sunbathing on the top deck before we docked at one island for sunset. Those who chose had the chance to climb to the island's peak for a different perspective while Tracy made use of the bathlike water temperatures (the whole limestone system is not deep).

Back on board the good food continued and once again the top deck was great, this time for viewing the stars (though there was a near full moon to contend with). Our overnight harbor was full of boats although there was hardly crowding in the extensive waters. I can only imaging what the place will look like if Vietnam continues to become a popular tourist venue as this is it's prime natural site.

Frogger

Thought I would take a moment to describe how to cross the road in these parts. In Hanoi, and to a lesser degree in Ho Chi Minh, there are actually some proper crossings with green men for pedestrians to go. On the whole the traffic stops so these make life easy (actually the police have a reputation for being strict here so people tend to obey the traffic laws). However anywhere else it's a different story, whether there is a crossing marked on the road or not. Here you have to compete for the road with countless motorbikes, cyclists, cyclos, people pushing carts and a few cars, buses and trucks. You soon learn that the way to cross a seemingly endless stream of traffic is to pick a time when the road is marginally less packed and set off. Walk at a slow even pace and the motorbikes will get around you. First time you try it it fries the nerves but after a while you resign yourself to your fate and just cross.

Of course with crutches you have no choice but to move slowly. I wish I had a video of one crossing Tracy made ahead of me... it appeared that she just disappeared in a solid mass of moving traffic without she or the traffic missing a beat. Maybe it is the Buddhist influence but after a while just relaxing and going with the flow seems to be the best policy.

Tuesday 31st October

We got up pretty early as our hotel was hardly an oasis of calm with a lot of noise up the open central stair from the reception area where the guys working there seemed to hang with their friends from early morning to late evening. We had quickly learned that the best policy was to get out as soon as possible before they tried to sell you tours so we walked towards the old city and found a coffee shop en route. The French influence means an interesting breakfast fusion of strong coffee and french bread with rice porridge and noodle soup.

Hanoi old city is a warren of streets with one type of shop clustered together (a legacy of the days where one guild would control one street). So you'll pass a street of shoe stores, one of chinese medicine, another or motorbike parts. Instead of a trip to Home Depot/ B and Q (I hope you are impressed that this site is bilingual in US and UK English) you can go down to a long street with every conceivable DIY need. A good way to run things I guess, lots of competition. I suspect that the mobile phone street may not be as traditional and would not have once had a guild (though the Terry Pratchett readers among you might disagree, imagining a guild with small boxes containing messenger pigeons or similar).

The fact that Vietnam is a communist country and Hanoi the capital of the most strongly communist part should not make anybody think that it is not a bastion of free enterprise. Commerce is everything here and most people have something to sell. Many stores, especially in tourist areas will be restaurant/ grocery/ bar/ travel agent; whatever sells. However the Vietnamese say that the Chinese are even more business orientated - traditionally the Chinese here were business people and Chinese goods flood over into the north of the country. Makes you feel right at home really when everthing you see is made in China!

First off we did a little tourism past the government buildings and the army museum (lots of old US weaponry they captured or northern armaments that helped win key battles. Then we changed tack and went to The Temple of Literature which has been a seat of learning for mandarins for over 1000 years and is now laid out in a typical pattern of gates, ponds, bridges and buildings. They have stellae (memorial stones) carved with the accomplishments of students going back centuries... beats a piece of paper with some Latin on it.

Then John and Cindy took off to buy a trip to Halong Bay while we looked unsuccessfully for a place to get Tracy an x-ray. Tracy now took a cyclo ride and saw some of the city while Tim walked through the most beautiful (and most touristed) part of town around Hoan Kiem Lake and through a market on a winding narrow street. We caught up with John and Cindy and set off for the Railway station for tickets out of town, again sending Tracy ahead by moto to stake out the station bar. $22 each bought us "hard sleeper" tickets as the "soft sleepers" were all booked and we had fun imagining what we had let ourselves in for.

Next we regrouped at a nearby bar, then John and Tim scouted for food while the girls hung out at expat haunt the "Relax Bar". We found few good options but they got an invite to the party being held for those on the Vietnam equivalent of the Hash House Harriers trip we took in Cambodia (trips were arranged in neighboring countries both before and after the Chiang Mai event). $15 each bought us a buffet, free beer and a decent party band so a good night was had by all.

Monday 30th October

Another travel day. Another lazy morning though hanging out with our crowd of 6 for the last time. With Willy heading to China and Don going home (sucks to be you Don) the rest of us said our goodbyes and hit a taxi (here the main transport are either tuk-tuks - not like Cambdia, these have more of a three wheeled chariot setup pulled by the front half of the ubiquitous scooter and only fit 2 in comfort - or taxis - small trucks fitted with a cover and bench seating) for the airport.

The journey was long (with no direct Chiang Mai to Hanoi flight we had a big detour through Bangkok) and with a delay we were nervous about our connection (you book each leg individually on Air Asia). However the Bangkok-Hanoi leg was also delayed and we made it without a hitch.

Our hotel in Hanoi booked last minute for a late night arrival was not the best but at least we got a room one floor up for Tracy (no elevator/ lift here). We were able to wander up to the city's West Lake where Tracy, Cindy and John ate the local soup of meat, veg, noodles and broth sitting on the side of the road on tiny plastic chairs. The non meat eater declined to investigate the street food but we all enjoyed a local bar nearby with a view of the lake till closing time.

Sunday 29th October

More of the same really. A lazy morning followed by a trip to the stadium to pick up a bus, this time for a longer journey to a farming area. The numbers were much reduced today, clearly our early night was not copied by many of the participants!

This run was faster (with only 100 if that we soon spread out) and much hotter but gave us some good views of a pagoda, farming and local life. We were shadowed by an ambulance which stayed on a road we cris-crossed... apparently there may be snakes.

Tracy took the option B today, stay at home for a good massage and lazy day. Meanwhile Tim was trying to stay cool and run. The water check half way was not a minute too soon. This time we did not have a long run in to the final venue, we turned a corner and there was the oasis of food drink and buses right ahead. A large number of local children had gathered to watch what these strange people were doing and Tim and Don entertained them with an impromtu juggling act (always a winner in malawi with the kids and it works here too).

Without Tracy we decided to again have an early night, but we did have the added attraction of an impressive night market that had sprung up on the streets right around where we were staying. It's a pity we had eaten and had no need for crafts (more to carry!) as it was impressive.

Ho Chi Minh City/ Saigon

We avoided the floods and arrived here safe and sound. The main news is that Tracy is back on her feet having got an x-ray and Orthopedic consultation here. The city is bigger and crazier than Hanoi and the weather is HOT. Not surprising as we're near sea level, well inland and well south.

Latest News

Once more an update interlude. We are leaving Hue in the middle of the country and not a minute too soon. It's been great but the rain has come down for over 12 hours and the water is now knee deep on the road outside our hotel. The rest of the city is better but it's sill crazy. We are assured our plane will leave though.

We're going to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) tonight and hope to get Tracy back on 2 feet with the requisite x-ray. Then it's off to the beach on an island in the very SW of the country. More updates depending on email access.

Saturday 28th October

With our adventurous (well for us in the last few years anyway) tourism suspended for a few days some of you might like to wait till I get on to Tuesday 31st and we resume normal tourist activities. The next few days we run, party and rest in approximately that order. If you'd like to know about the historic city of Chiang Mai check here. Interestingly the rise of this northern power contributed to the decline of the Angkor empire.

Time for some real running at last after a number of days (at least for me). There was a choice of about 20 different running options (from short and sweet to long and hilly) set up by different hash groups, and all has a longer and shorter options. All our crowd picked to do a run set by the Bangkok hash as we know one of their number who lives out east of us when he's in the US. You could not sign up beforehand so we all arrived early at the stadium and staked places on the right bus, even though we had quite a wait and only a short ride to a lakeside park.

The run took us through a lot of scrub and jungle but the shade was a merciful relief from the beating sun. Lots of climbing too. For a while the 200 plus people kept running to a minimum as we were on narrow trails but eventually the crowd thinned out and we could run/ walk/ jog as we liked. Nice views of the lake from a ridge we ascended but the final 2 mile (3km) on the lake shore road to the area where they'd set up the beer and food was very tough and hot. The beer, water and food was plentiful though and the setting on the lakeshore beautiful so we forgave the organizers.

After dark we tried out a local custom setting loose a paper "balloon" with a burner attached below (basically a tiny hot air ballon). It disappeared high in the sky and did go out before starting to fall... so hopefully we did not add to the local smog and deforestation.

The evening was better organized with less wait for food, though the wine line was long. We didn't party too hard though (must be old age) and soon hit the bus home.

Friday 27th October

We had entertained some idea of tourism today as the festivities were not to begin until the evening, but it seemed easier to relax in the morning before heading over to the main hotel to register our stragglers and meet up with other friends flying in from assorted points in the US. Here we discovered that one of the venues bidding for the next World Interhash was putting on a beer and snacks event in the afternoon right at the hotel so Tim went back to pick up Tracy (taking the relaxing to the max after all the crutching).

We all enjoyed the party hosted by Malaysia. It is big business having 6000 people heading your way and a lot of money is put into winning, but this group (sponsored by a big resort) really pulled out the stops. In the end the next event will be in Perth Australia, however, so we'll likely make it en route from New Zealand.

Once the snacks and beer were winding down Tracy and I boarded a bus for the stadium hosting the first night proper, where they had space for a huge swathe of beer carts, food stands and tables and chairs. Things stayed fairly well organized once you got past the food queues nearer the entrance and we finally spent the eveing chatting with a selection of New Zealanders, Auusies and Canadians.