The Other Vietnam

About 10 days ago, we merry band of tourists headed out of Hanoi and I finally started to see the other side of Vietnam. Similarly to when I leave London and go to the coast or back to Oxford, or wherever, shaking off the city and being on more open roads/rails is a great feeling. As I've said before, Hanoi is a complex and wonderful city, but I was very ready to see something new.

Our first destination, Sapa, took us northwest up into the mountains on the Chinese border. To get there, we took the overnight train to Lao Cai and then transferred to Sapa at dawn. The train was quite the Communist immersion experience! There are no conventional 'platforms' to speak of at Hanoi station, but rather designated rails marked by signs akin to bus stop signs. To get to your train you, quite literally, walk across the tracks between you and your platform number. Everything is road level, and so bump bump bump went the wheels on the backpack (I cheat) and we found the carriage. On board the train, everything is 60s style wood-effect, and narrow; beds, corridors, doors, the lot. The train itself is however, not the most attention-grabbing aspect of the journey. When you board, before the train departs and to rouse you from your slumber, full, loud and 'energetic' Communist anthems are fed through the speakers. The patriotic buzz reverberates through closed carriage doors and is really quite an exciting atmosphere to be in, while the guards busily rush around before departure or waking you with coffee. The gentle rocking and cosy cubby-hole bed - 4 bunks to a compartment - made for a pretty comfortable nights sleep actually. And I genuinely don't think there's anything like being woken up at 0530 by Communist anthems.

The weather in Sapa on the first day was cold, wet and foggy. I secretly relished this change and it felt really good to wear shoes and socks and for it to be cold enough to snuggle into a duvet that night. The following day it cleared up a lot and after breakfast we commenced the first leg of our two-day 20km trek. Our route started off on gravelly paths, which were easy to tred and frequented by motorbikes and cars. The greatest inconvenience at this stage of the journey were the "hawkers" and perpetual sound of "you buy from me?" Making use of my long legs, I and the other tall people in our group strided on ahead at a quicker pace and not only did we lose the salespitch, we gained a dog! One of the towns-dogs (we later found out, when it was sent away) took a liking to us and kept heel for the first km or so. This made for an interesting cultural comparison. The westerners with whom I walked were endeared to the dog, and made all kinds of 'Lassy' references. Our local guide laughed at the dog keeping heel and declared that we could eat it for dinner. Incidentally, it's not just dog; the Vietnamese will eat anything.

A bit further on the gravel path continued in one direction, and we staggered down a slippy, muddy slope in the other. The first 12km of our trek took about 6 hours, including a stop for lunch, and crossed a number for different terrains including mud, rock, river, mountain paths (also muddy), fields and rice paddies. Because we were off the path and the pack weight affects your balance, a lot of the time was spent looking down at the ground ahead for footwells. When the ground for a bit sturdier or we paused to wait for stragglers, it always caught my breath to look up and see the magnificent, huge and almost mystical surroundings. Even though the weather was clearer than the previous day, a lot of mist hung around the higher altitudes and gave a quieter, calmer, more stoic intrigue to the view.

There is a little bit to this trekking lark that I've yet to mention. I've been wearing a lot of cami vests/singlets over here, and covering my shoulders, when necessary, with a pashmina. Because, however, I'd be walking with my rather weighty pack for a long time, I wanted a proper tshirt to cover my shoulders. I found one on a quick trip to the market the day before, and when I say that, I mean I found one in the market that came remotely close to fitting me. It was white (bad) and plastered across the front of it was the flag (bad) and slogan "Good Morning Vietnam". Oh yes indeedy! For two days I was rocking the retro-tourist with my hiking boots and socks, shorts, ridiculous tshirt and red-rimmed 50s style ray bans. I decided to play up the comedy factor.

Mot, Hai, Ba, VO!

We arrived that afternoon at our 'home-stay'; a sturdy wooden house, with outside (proper!) toilet and shower and a number of mats and blankets covered with mosquito nets on an attic level in the rafters for beds. We spent the afternoon playing (hairdresser, mainly) with the local village children and then bartering (which I am good at, but cannot do with children) for their wares. That night we "helped" prepare dinner and learnt how to make spring rolls. Mine were the best, and according to the local guide this meant I would make a good wife. According to our actual tour guide, this meant I made good spring rolls.

The food that evening was the best Vietnamese food I've had - and it was all made in a giant wok cradled over a small fire in the kitchen. The rice wine, was not so good. This rice wine was different to the jazz bar rice wine; white, 30% alcohol, brewed at home and stored in water bottles, tasted like cheap tequila and was to be taken as a shot after the Vietnamese countdown mot, hai, ba VO! or one, two three, GO! It's evil. And it's also rude to refuse - so I got quite drunk. Fearing the trek the next day and my inability to keep down more than 6 shots, I hit the double-figures mark and sneakily changed my rice wine bottle for a bottle for water and shot water for the rest of the night! Thank god. The rest of my group carried on however, and I felt awfully superior the next morning when I didn't have a hangover, or a vomit story to share. 5 litres of rice wine had been consumed by 8 people. Ouchie. In the drunken revelry however, a big honour was bestowed on us. The lady of the house went upstairs and brought down with her some traditional H'Mong (the tribe) women's clothing for I and another girl to wear for the evening. Our tour guide said that in 10 years she had done that once before.

My superior attitude knocked back by my stupid tshirt, we started the 8km day 2 leg of the trek. This time we were trekking through bamboo forests on the side of the mountain. The footing was even more difficult than the previous day as it had rained overnight and mud slid away under foot. Roots and rocks were comfortable to stand on, but scarce. It wasn't flat either, we walked up and down very steep ground, almost carving out a path through the bamboo as we went. When we reached the end of the forest our reward was a 40ft waterfall, which we were right at the top of and could see coming together from different rivers. Two women helped me a lot on this part of the walk, and on one occasion when the ground gave way beneath my boot, saved my life by preventing me sliding down a mountainside slope with only bamboo trees to catch me. When I asked the guide the going tip rate for saving my life he replied "two dollar each".

5* Scenery

We took the overnight train back to Hanoi and then directly transferred to Halong Bay in time to have lunch on the boat. The last time I visited Halong Bay I paid $40 for 3days/2nights had had a cheery, cheap, but perfectly nice boat. The boat we were on this time cost $3,000 to hire for 24 hours. Needless to say, it was a very nice boat. I spent most of my time in a kayak or diving from the top deck, but when I'd stopped acting like a child I did appreciate the luxury power shower and the sandstone & glass bathroom, and had I not have been feeling quite so energetic, I might also have switched on the 30" plasma in my bedroom. I preferred to look at the rocks.

Halong Bay felt quite different this time. I imagine that part of this comes from having been there before, but on my first visit it was overcast and misty and the islands had an esoteric air to them. This time it was perfect sunshine and the islands stood proud and glorious in the middle of the crystal ocean. I preferred the more interesting misty bay, but was still taken aback by it and felt quite sad leaving this time knowing I wouldn't be coming back in 3 weeks time.

After a shellfish lunch on the boat (can you see where this is going?) we traveled back to Hanoi where I introduced the group to Fanny ice cream fondue and then we headed for another overnight train to Hue (pronounced "hway"). This train was not so fun. It was much older, a grey/blue colour, there was no music, the sheets were torn and stained and there were hitchhiker cockroaches running about. None of this I minded one bit. I unwrapped my trusty sleeping bag liner so I didn't have to lie on the sheet, wrapped my pashmina around the pillow and pushed the cockroaches far from my mind. We passed the first few hours playing "who wants to be a millionaire" (I am stupid) and then settled in for another cosy train sleep. I was disappointed. The age of the train meant that it was very rocky and jerky and I did not feel well. The journey lasted 13 hours and for almost the entire duration I regretted those bloody clams. Travel low point.

Arriving in Hue I spent the day in bed sleeping, sulking and running to the (thankfully) 3* hotel bathroom. That day I learned that I act like a sulky 2 year old when I am missing out on something fun, and also, that if you order room service in the Asia Hotel in Hue the waiter comes to your bedside to take your order. Not awkward at all.

The resting and sulking did pay off because the next morning I hopped on a rickshaw after ravenously consuming half the breakfast buffet and headed off to the Hue Citadel. The Citadel was the fortress and palace for the king, his queen, wives, concubines and family while Hue was the capital city of Vietnam. They relocated the capital city further south so that it would be further away from China and thus, harder to take control of than Hanoi. I learnt a lot about concubines and attitudes to women that made me depressed and very angry - but to save a rant and end on a happier note, I rode an elephant through the Hue Citadel! It was AWESOME!