Southeast Asia 2012

First, it’s super cool here. The people are very friendly and are happy to have you come and bring new revenue to their very poor existence. They have trained all the young children to shout “hello” and wave. It’s rather charming and does make you feel good.

This area is Ca Bei and is located right on the Mekong River about 160 km west of Saigon. It consists of small islands separated by canals made by the people to irrigate the land fed by the surrounding river. It’s very flat, as you might imagine a delta to be. The river flows with a strong current one way or the other depending on the tide.
The people survive because of the Mekong and it is the centre of their life. This is extremely fertile ground as Mekong continually provides rich deposits from its long route through China, Laos and Cambodia, producing plenty of fish, fruit and fresh vegetables. However and unfortunately, this particular area does not produce rice which means these folks have to trade to get this mainstay of their diet. We also learned the Vietnamese “owe” a great deal of rice to the Russians for helping them during the war with the US and this means that many people here go without. It’s extremely poor.

We went on a walk and a bike ride through the surrounding villages. A series of maze like paths, both paved and unpaved connect the residents. Crooked decaying bridges cross the canals and there are many small ferries to transport across the river. The landscape is surreal, like being in a Vietnam movie. Navigating the labyrinth of paths, one is witness to their day to day life. Mostly very modest wooden huts, swept clean daily.

Chickens, ducks and dogs running around the front garden, a canal or pond to irrigate their gardens, wash themselves and their clothes and of rows of pomelo, pineapple, jack fruit, passion fruit, rambutan and many other tropical fruits. For the most part a seemingly happy, hardworking, satisfied group.
A trip to town on our hotel’s boat to see the floating market was actually disappointing as this “floating market” is more like a bulk wholesale market. There are large boats filled with watermelons, pineapples and much more.

Some of the markets we read about actually will prepare you tea and a meal on their boat and sell to the individuals like us. I don’t think the hotel made a point of letting the guests know just what kind of market it was. It was mildly interesting.
Most interesting was the actual market of the village however.

This market was so colourful and educational.

This is not a tourist market at all and we were the only tourists there. Everyday this market is set up by it’s vendors to sell to the surprising large amount of people in the area. Everything is there for sale from food to hardware, but the food is fresh, colourful and widely interesting.
Being a vegetarian, I had a morbid fascination all the meat for sale. Good news is they eat everything so there is little waste and it makes for entertaining pics!

I couldn’t get enough. See for yourself and note the difference in the food that people think you need to eat to be healthy and the vegetarian food. I don’t know, but I think it’s obvious what’s better for you

Part of the tour was also a trip to a factory where they made rice paper - pretty skillful and coconut candy and a few other items.

Our Hotel – Mekong Lodge

We ended up wimping out- again - and chose a rather lush looking hotel over the cheaper versions. To our credit, this area is mostly serviced by day trips and expensive overnight boat trip from Saigon, so there was not much to choose from and our first choice (some rustic cabins right on the river) was already booked.

This hotel is, my Vietnamese standards, outrageously expensive - $75 "per person" per night. So we are paying just under $300 for 2 nights. This includes all meals (NO DRINKS), a tour of the village market, the floating market, a bike ride (which turned out to be a highlight). Unfortunately we’d already missed one of the meals included since we arrived late.

What we liked

Our room was fabulous, the resort was pretty nice, not over the top but nicely landscaped and our room was facing the Mekong at the far end of the hotel (so we had no neighbors) with huge big windows and a huge bathroom open to the outdoors.

It was very private and had a nice porch with a great view of the action on the Mekong.

The furniture was black lacquered bamboo and was very nice. The bed was comfy enough and at night they put up a mosquito net which I thought was super cool – like Casablanca or something like that The surroundings were lovely and we were greeted by a lizard when we arrived.

The food was excellent and the tours were also.
The manager personally gave our tours and provided insight into the life on the Mekong Delta and we really got around to places none of the day tours would ever get to. This area has little tourism except for the hotel, so it’s not as spoiled as some of the others and is still “real” if we can call it that.
The lunch and dinners were excellent, great flavors, they took care of us being veggies and there was lots food, even for us piggies.. We did a cooking class which was lame, but interesting enough and we learned how to make those fancy carrot garnishes! (which I have no patience for)

What we didn’t like.

The food though was good, breakfast was disappointing. Our little hotel in Hanoi did a way better job. They are super cheap on the fruit and yet it’s all around us. They could be buying it from the locals and it should be plentiful. We were only allowed to choose 1 item off the breakfast menu and you got one bun. It felt like rations when every other place we have been is help yourself or order as much as you like. At this price, I expect a lot. There was only the 2 bottles of complimentary water daily in our room. No water offered otherwise. Nothing offered t you during day. No snacks, no fruit, no tea, no coffee..NO WATER…There are no stores to speak of anywhere.
There is this continual pressure that drinks are extra. A clip board is on your table at each meal and is marked as you order. Prices are high. No coffee and tea facilities in the room.
Desert is fruit and tiny amounts of it. We got 3 slices of pomelo for desert on the first night, so we had to split the last piece! (It’s like a grapefruit and very common here, liking falling on the ground common) The music they play in the dining room is horrible!! I think the staff chose it. It’s like Vietnamese disco and it’s on at 5am when I get up till we leave after dinner. The music is just wrong and they just don’t really get it.
But if I was to come to the area again, there would be no other options as nothing is as nice as this. The staffs really do try very hard and are very nice. I wouldn’t complain if they weren’t charging so much. But I don’t think it’s worth spending more than 2 nights. After you have done your tours, there is little else – no pool or anything. I like experiencing the Mekong, but it’s a noisy highway too, so those seeking peace will be disappointed.

Getting Here

We left Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City less than 24 hours after arriving. Though no doubt, the city is interesting, it felt bland to us after Hanoi. The streets were wider, the traffic (lots of it) more organized, the people dressed better, even the street carts actually had street carts as opposed to a metal barrel with some hot coals in Hanoi. Saigon was akin to the Beverly Hills version of Hanoi; not as raw and edgy, and to us, less interesting. It also happens to be one of the very few cities you cannot run in. No central park, no good place to run. I did Google “running in HCMC” and runners from around the world concurred, this is the one place you cannot run. All, including me, were most dismayed.
Our hotel was nicer too, but the whole thing lacked the heart we felt in Hanoi and so there was no reason to stay. We decided we would head to the Mekong Delta as soon as possible. We would take public transit. This turned out to be deeper education into the life here for the Vietnamese and was long, hot, irritating, but very interesting.

The bus runs every hour from Saigon’s Mien Tay bus station to Ca Bei, but, as luck would have it, we missed the 11:10 bus by 2 min. Thinking we were on that bus, we sat for an hour on an almost empty bus as it filled up for the next scheduled run.. So that was boring. Interestingly vendor continually came on the bus to sell their wares, mainly baguettes, but water, soft drinks and lots of other stuff too. The vendors paraded one after another for the entire hour. Then as the bus finally started moving, 3 more got on the bus for a last ditch effort at selling stuff.
Weird thing is they were actually selling the stuff to these people even though the opportunity was there well in advance. Then we had to let these guys off and then we drove about 2 blocks and the driver let more vendors on? They stayed on the bus for a couple of blocks and sold stuff and then got off. Then we stopped at a sandwich place on the side of the road and waited while everyone ordered a sandwich! This took some time as people kept deciding last minute to order more when we thought we were leaving. Finally we hit the road – Ian and I a little irritated
The landscape changed quickly outside of Saigon as we headed to the delta and there were some nice rice paddies and lots of small towns along the way and interesting sights as we changed to far more jungle than city. Then our bus had a mechanical problem!

Finally at 3pm we arrived at Ca Bei and again were swarmed by motor bike taxis. Whole experience was longer than planned. We found our own way to the pier and the hotel boat driver was there but made us wait for another couple. Meantime another guy tried to sell us on a trip to the hotel (10 – 15 min), for 150,000 dongs.
The town was poor, but a bustle of activity.

This is a small but main town in the area and there is lots going on, including a pick up and drop off for tourists. Eventually off we went to the lodge which was a sight for sore eyes after all of that.

Hanoi – Immersing into the Vietnamese Culture

Cat Ba to Hanoi

We took a different Hydrofoil back from Cat Ba to Haiphong – not as nice, but at 150,000 dong it was 50,000 less than the original one we took over. Getting off the boat, we were accosted by taxi drivers Asked what the fare was to the bus station, they wanted 100,000. We ignored them and kept walking to ask a shop owner where the station was. It turned out to be 2 ½ blocks down from the ferry pier…It’s a serious drag that you can’t trust the taxi drivers at all. It shakes up your trust in your fellow man, which makes travelling much more difficult.

The bus ride was very bumpy. Cost was 65,000 dong, around $3. It was interesting to watch the landscape change we approached Hanoi. A little longer than we thought it would be just over 2 hours. When we arrived at the bus station our entire bus was rushed by about 15 cab drivers. They literally pushed themselves into everyone’s face, grabbing our bags and touching us, saying yes, yes, I will take you, yes, were do you go. For a moment I lost Ian and felt very venerable as they ganged up around me. We had no idea where we were in the city and didn’t want to ask them, but had little choice. We showed the address and asked how much. They said 200,000. We said 80,000 but they were all together and said no way. That was the price for a motor bike. We tried hard to get them to 100,000, but they refused and we finally agreed on 130,000 which was, as we expected 30,000 too much. In our $ we only paid 1.50 more, but it’s just so irritating.

The ride to our hotel was at least ½ hour though and so interesting the winding streets with many shops open to the street. We got our first sense of the insane traffic. Most people drive scooters and they pile everything on them. We have seen them packed with hay, stereos, strawberries, chairs, boxes of all sizes, bags of goods, chickens, a tree, children, adults, you name it. All piled on one small bike. It’s a quite a skill.

Impressions of the City

You can feel the heart beat of this city when you are in it. There is a real charm, hard to explain, but more so than the places we have visited in China and Cat Ba and now we have been to Saigon, our preference is Hanoi. It's crazy, chaotic but a charm resonates from it's alleys and people.

Driving in Hanoi

There are few rules. It’s sort of a go with the flow. If you want to cross the street you step out and start walking the traffic flows around you like you are a rock. Drivers in the far right lane, just slip over and cross front of 4 lanes of cars bikes and motor bikes to turn left - no problem. It works and they have way less gridlock than we do. But you have to drive and walk with a certain amount of aggression, or you won’t get anywhere. It’s actually a great system. Parking is on any pavement or sidewalk, be you a car or a motor bike.

I should mention there are 100’s on the road at any given moment. So it’s sort of an organized chaos. We kind of liked it.

Street Vendors

Street Vendors are the pulse of the city. They sell everything from anywhere. Shops are open store fronts for the most part. Wares spill out on the side walk.
Like shops may be bunched together in their defined specialty such as: shoes, bags, clothes, wires, hoses, motorbike repair, upholstery, fabrics, threads. Particularly in the old town area, each street was originally named after what was being produced on that street. In between these shops on any available sidewalk or street corner are more vendors. These guys set up shop with their pots and dishes and cooking facilities right where they are. Metal pots filled with hot coals and stones for cooking noodles, barbequing, or stir frying. Lots of Pho their main dish of hot beef and noodle soup, barbeque, everything you can imagine. If not set up on a street side, there will be the mobile vendors carrying baskets of baguettes or donuts, fruit or what have you for sale and also bike vendors. Bikes are ridden around stocked full of wares – tea sets, clothes, New Year’s celebration decorations. Groups of Vietnamese sit on plastic stools together eating and drinking tea and enjoying their street food on the street. These people are the arteries that keep the city flowing. This was evident in Hanoi, but not as pronounced in Saigon. In Saigon people had real vendor carts.
They are big on custom suits too!

People

It’s easy to think the people are all scammers, but this would be so far from the truth. Our hotel, the Golden Sun Lakeview was a good example. The desk staff was amazingly helpful and very sweet. When you are on the road or sidewalk you are an obstacle, but if you get to talk to the people, they are kind, caring very social and family oriented. Walking around the lake in the evening you will see couples, young and hold, holding hands or sitting. Young people gather in groups to sing together – this was lovely to watch. Unlike the Chinese, the Vietnamese get up very early and begin there day gathering for a meal of Pho and/or exercising in groups around the lake. I saw many groups of women with their boom boxes doing aerobics or tai chi together in groups of 5 to 50. It was very interesting and fun to watch. One group brought their own weights and other equipment and were doing work outs together. Another group of ladies all in a row giving each other back massages. It was communal and community driven.

Food

There is a wide range of gastronomic choice in Hanoi flavored with influence from Chinese, Vietnamese and French. The influence e provides many choices. Food stalls are a source of very inexpensive food. There are small inexpensive cafés everywhere and lots of 2nd story restaurants and bars looking out into the streets. We had 2 great meals which by Hanoi standards were exorbitantly expensive, but for us were a bargain.
Our favorite meal was had at Madam Hein, a fairly well know restaurant with the foreigner crowd, but well put together by a well known (to Hanoi anyway) Vietnamese chef.

We ordered 4 dishes. One that came with 4 completely differently prepared veggies, some veggies and noodles and 2 different rice noodle rolls, one steamed and one fresh. All were amazing served with house made sauces and rice too. Between us we had 3 beers and the total was $33. We were stuffed after that.

The other meal was at a well reviewed Indian food restaurant called Namaste. In Vancouver there are many choice for Indian, but non like this. The menu was extensive and lots of veggie options for us. We had 3 of their lassie drinks and the total was about $18 or $19. Keep in mind, this is high end.

Even the fancy Melia Hotel that we popped into to use the toilet while checking out the museums only charged $15 per person for high tea ...a $55 option in Vancouver. So food is cheap and there are many many options in Hanoi.
Sights
We did many of the common tourist spots. The Ho Chi Minh memorial was pretty bizarre. Against his wishes, Uncle Ho, as he is fondly called, was embalmed and is open to the public for viewing. The rules are strict – no hands in pockets, no hats, no skin showing, no photography, no laughing or snickering. Stone faced official guards in starched white uniforms stand watch and make sure NON of the rules are broken.

Even the lineup is strictly regulated - single file and don’t stop! You may not stop and stare at the sarcophagus, only walk by in polite respect. It’s pretty freaky to see the body of this very famous and most revered man lit in a windowed coffin. We also saw where he lived and worked. It’s plain to see the love the people have to Ho Chi Ming. There were folks bringing flowers and showing their respect all these many years later. Over all a very interesting and worthwhile exhibit for us.
Another very interesting museum was the Old Hanoi prison, which has a violent and torturous past.

With it's own set of silly rules, but not really imposed..

The Vietnamese were kept here in horrendous conditions and treated with such cruelty, it’s a wonder they even speak to the French today.

This is also were the American’s who were captured were kept, including John McCain. But you can see the American’s were very well fed and taken care of. A stark contrast to how the Vietnamese were treated. Yet another compliment to the kind spirit of the people.
We briefly saw the Women’s Museum as it was closing and learned of the critical role women have played both in the daily life of the Vietnamese and also how they were vital in revolution. There is great respect for the women here. Something the North Americans could improve on. The museum is well worth going through. Even Ian, who originally complained there was no “Man Museum” ended up finding it very interesting.
The best part about Hanoi though is just walking the streets, eating dinner, watching the people as they begin, carry on and end their days. How they eat, get around, socialize. Just that is pretty great.

Where we stayed

We had great difficulty finding an available hotel from the online booking sites. We figure it was because we were heading on Sat night and weekends are busier. We lucked out however after many tries with the Golden Sun Lakeview. This was a small hotel like most we have encountered, about 15 ft wide and 7 to 8 floors high. We had booked a deluxe room for $50 a night. A deluxe room has a window whereas a superior has none. Our room, # 701 (we read some reviews that this particular room was noisy because it was close to the breakfast room, but we didn’t have any complaints), had a balcony ,a view of our street and the city.

Some rooms would have a good view of the lake. The bonus of this nice little hotel is the breakfast room on the 7th floor.
The staff at this hotel made all the difference - amazingly helpful and anxious to fill us in on the good and the bad of Hanoi. They had a list of museums, a map, restaurants that were recommended by their guest and did I say they were super nice! I would have to give them credit to making us feel welcome in Hanoi. When our cab drove up, they all As a comparison, our hotel in Saigon (Asian Ruby 2) was very similar in look, but we didn’t feel the same welcome and though the finishing’s were actually a bit better (granite in the bathroom and nicer floors). Our little room in the Golden Sun Lakeview had a fresh flower, free snacks, complimentary water, fridge and mini bar with very little in it. The breakfast was excellent. There was menu with different egg options made fresh for you, a fabulous selection of fruit, yogurt, fresh breads, cheese (well not really cheese those cow triangle things –but a valiant effort) Fresh juices, coffee and tea.
When we checked out, all the staff made sure to say good bye and the front desk girl grabbed my and thanked us for coming. We’d definitely stay there again if we were in Hanoi.
PS. I am trying to upload a couple of videos. One of the traffic which you have to see as a picture cannot do it justice. Also one of the people doing their exercises in the park

Cat Ba Island:
At first I didn’t really like Cat Ba. I was expecting this sort of pristine beautiful place, but like many places in the world, it has been spoiled by cheap tacky tourism. To which, agreeably, we are part of the problem.
Cat Ba Bay, as you approach it from the Hydrofoil, is a collection of tall, somewhat ugly hotels in a row (like row housing) along the main street.

Approaching Cat Ba

The place is run down, sort of like a Coney Island 70- years later kind of thing. The once colourful iron fencing around the ocean is peeling and the rust is winning the battle. Paving stones pop out of the ground, the usual garbage we have become familiar with, many motorbikes and lots of tiny open vestibules selling everything – cigarettes, water, pearls, something to eat. Hotels, one after another, each one looking relatively the same. The harbour likely at one time was beautiful, but today the centre piece is crumbling pier, with old hydrofoils and boats pulling up surrounded by 20 or more very old “floating restaurants” with peeling paint, broken boards and faded signs.

After 27 hours of travel, we thought we’d treat ourselves to a good breakfast in a cozy warm café before trying to find our hotel. No such thing! Everyone’s doors, like everywhere else we have been are wide open. None of the places we checked out were, in my opinion, pleasant. They were cold and tacky with padded aluminum chairs or plastic, cheap and tacky. There are plenty of warnings of unscrupulous folks in Northern Vietnam tourist areas and Cat Ba is one of them. Proprietors stealing from guests, misleading in the price. It's easy to get mixed up because there money is so different. The apparently even try to pass of counterfeit money and we found these dongs scattered on the street. They were just paper money

Be cautious with the change you receive

We picked a place that had been both recommended and also warned about in our book. (apparently they have even been scamming TripAdvisor!) - “The Bay View”. I asked to check a room. It was big open tiled floor with a bed and an open tiled bathroom, with no separate shower – just a tiled room. Nothing cozy or warm about it, great view of the harbour though it was a very reasonable $15 a night. I couldn’t’ do it.
We decided we needed coffee and breakfast before we made any decisions, so we sat in the freezing café and tried to warm up. They kept opening the doors I was closing, the TV was playing a Vietnamese sword fighting movie, while the proprietors stood watching and smoked. Not exactly a nice relaxing breakfast.

Many places claimed to be recommended by Lonely Planet!

we were not convinced

After our pancakes (the only thing on the breakfast menu they were still serving, I checked about 5 hotels that were all similar versions of this. We decided to walk to the Sunrise Resort, which we knew was very expensive, but that was starting to be no problem!
After a 10 minute walk around the corner from the hustle and bustle is a private little cove with a white sand beach and a beautiful little hotel. This bay looks out to the ocean with the odd majestic kask poking out. It was a world away from the main area of Cat Ba.

Private Beach at the Sunrise Resort and our hotel

We asked to see a room and were shown a suite on the 3rd floor that perfect. Now this was regularly $165 a night, but they had and autumn special on for $192 for 2 nights, including 2 breakfasts and 1 dinner for 2. We decided since we had saved so much money on the trip down, we were worth it. Later we really justified it because the dinner and breakfasts, though were nothing to special, were no doubt the finest on the island and the dining room was by far the nicest on the island. We were actually very happy to splurge.

Pics of the hotel and view of our room

Cat Ba ended up being a very interesting and beautiful place to visit. We rented a motor bike for $5 for the entire day and cruised around. Out of the main town, along the coast and in the through the hills valleys is a beautiful island reminiscent of Kauai, well not quite a stunning as Kauai’s north, but equally as beautiful in some areas. There is tons of fish farming going on and regular agricultural farming life in the countryside. It’s a very big Island.

Our motor bike trip

The highlight of our motorbike tour was visiting the Hospital Cave. This is an amazing story of what the Vietnamese and Chinese did during the American War. The bombing was so horrendous and the amount of injured was overwhelming. The American’s even bombed the hospitals. The ingenious Vietnamese and Chinese built a hospital inside a huge cave on Cat Ba. There were over 200 people living, working and recovering there for years. We paid the $1 entry fee and the extra $ per person so a total of $4 to have the guide give us a tour. We were the only ones and it was eerie going into the cave and getting the details of what it was. There was a total of 3 levels to the cave which included operating rooms, a kitchen, dining rooms, meeting rooms, a theatre and swimming pool for exercise.

Hospital Cave

Our guide was hilarious and he had us try on the uniforms.

Love a man in a uniform!

Inside the cave


The following day we did a tour with a company called Slow or Slo Pony. They too were really great. A couple of English kids were running the place on a practicum from school actually and they were honest and easy to deal with . They took us out on a boat into Halong Bay where we kayaked and had lunch Here we got a close up view of the life of the fisherman.

They live in houses tied together in little bays as a community. They have their children there, pets and live and work in these little homes with their fish farms attached and also go out fishing during the day. It’s in real insight into how they live. We found this incredibly interesting. Many waved to us as we kayaked by.

2 nights and 2 days on Cat Ba and we were ready to head to Hanoi and plan where to go next. We were dying for a little sunshine and think we may abandoned our plans to see the north and visit the Mekong Delta instead. It’s 30 degrees and sweltering down there!

After a long 22 hour night train ride from Shanghai to Guilin and an hour and 1/2 bus ride from Guilin to Yangshou we were treated with a very touristy, but extremely picturesque town, full of incredible wonders. We booked a relatively new hotel 10 min outside of the busy and noisy town and were thrilled with our choice. For $30 a night, this hotel was perfect. The owner Jerry and his staff were very attentive, the attention to detail was impressive. It's still a Chinese hotel, run by a few well meaning folks, so a few things could be improved. But it's location in a gorgeous valley and their efforts to go above and beyond were all appreciated by us.

View from our hotel room

Our room

Cozy with a great balcony and view - unique hand made fixtures throughout

Fireplace at Phoenix Pagoda Hotel lounge in Yangshuo