My Vietnam Launch – Hoi An – 2018 Backpacking
Hello my beloved followers. This blog has numerous photos so I hope you enjoy the colour & surprises of the popular and endeared Hoi An & in getting there. Thank you for reading my travel blogs and heartfelt thanks in supporting a goal I thought I would never achieve and in reaching this my 53rd blog. There’s still lots more to come just on this extensive Vietnam tour travelling on my own and when I join up with a super human Chung later, there will be things very few travellers get to see & experience. Stay tuned.
From my last blog I spent quite some time going over the DMZ and the Vietnam War in all its horrors, the tenacity & resilience of the Vietnamese on both sides and what it cost in human life, ongoing medical and mental hardships, devastation of families, heritage sites, cities, villages, etc and the ongoing environmental issues from chemicals of Agent Orange and the like plus the unknown secret locations of unexploded mines and bombs and other ammunition. It is such a huge volume to understand in all its complexities. A song that is very poignant is an Australian ‘war anthem’ & should have been included in my last blog of the DMZ is “I Was Only 19 (A Walk in the Light Green)” by an Aussie band, Redgum. You seriously must take a full listen on Spotify or similar … puts chills in your spine stuff and shows brilliantly the war tragedies of those involved.
With the Hue (Whey) visit completed, my Holiday Hotel Diamond manager, Miss Anna, booked a ‘limousine van’ to take me to Hoi-An (some 3hrs drive) in style, in lieu of a crowded bus considering my drama adventure getting to Hue (10hrs in a sleeper bus with virtually no sleep). The van picked me up at 8am and it was much like the Mercedes 9-seater we had for the DMZ tour that broke down due to a broken fan belt. Fingers crossed this van will get us there with no dramas. We are packed solid and I found myself in the 2nd back row of seats, luckily against the window, albeit totally trapped.
Bloody hell!!!! Not far out of the city the driver with devil horns coming from his forehead had us all holding on for dear life!! He had a love affair with the accelerator and every time we hit a bump, my head would hit the roof of the van. Fellow travellers were yelling at him to slow down and take care but all we got in feedback .. “not enough time”. I have had some wild trips in Cambodia and Vietnam before, but this was serious stuff.
Thankfully we achieved some relief just some 15mins out from Hue where we stopped at a favourite stop of many, being the Thanh Toan local market where, apart from the wonderful market there is a historical bridge, Thanh Toan Tiled Roofed Bridge built in 1776. Sadly, you only need about 15mins to view everything here, so it’s without delay we are back onto the F1 bus!
We pulled over at Hai Van Scenic Viewpoint along the Hai Van Pass (20klms of steep road from Da Nang) some 80klms from Hue which seemed to take just 20mins of MAD driving. Hai Van means ‘Sea Clouds’ on National Route 1 where this pass is noted as separating the 2 seasonal climates of Vietnam. This viewpoint is a major tourist attraction where numerous buses pull up and the throng of tourists traverse the busy road and scour the landscape & climb all through the brick & concrete war bunkers & even stand on the viewing platform like the man on the concrete disc looking out to sea. This outlook was the prime viewpoint for naval surveillance during the Vietnam War. It was the highest point within this vast region and was detrimental in keeping this secured by the Viet Cong until it was eventually taken by Sth Vietnamese, US forces & their allies. Our stopover was so quick we all nearly missed the van and despite voicing our outrage at the driver’s lack of safe driving at the time when boarding it never reached his brain in reality. Hold on; here we go again!!!
Just down the road we again have a stopover just South of Da Nang city called the Marble Mountains (photos above) where there is a cluster of 5 marble & limestone hills with numerous caves carved into them. Each hill is named after the 5 elements; the largest is Water, then Wood, Metal, Fire & Earth. The hills have a 100m elevation. The Water (Thuy Son is the most popular & has sacred pagodas, caves, old trees & lots & lots of steps. These Marble Mountains also provided a hiding place for the Viet Cong where Phan Hiep successfully led a battalion against a US airbase nearby. He later became a national hero & was renamed Phan Hahn Son. Soon after, he became involved in protecting the Cambodian people from the Khemer Rouge after the fall of the Saigon Government (now, Ho Chi Minh). To see most of this unique location you need about 1.5hrs & we will definitely not get this amount of time. To make it worse, we had further to walk as we were forced to park some 500m away in a parking lot, such is the tourist demand on this pocket of area.
We were left on our own to scour the steps and find our way around the numerous walkways and caves with a pre-determined time limit & to return to the van in haste. Sure ….. what could go wrong? No-one was keen to walk in a group so we all did our own thing. It was a place similar to a carnival or a landscape maze, where you had no idea where you were & in what direction was taken. The outside heat & humidity was becoming intense and even though we were close to the ocean there wasn’t a breeze. The only relief you were given was when you were inside the caves. I was thinking at the time how unpleasant it maybe in the van if each of us were being affected by this climate & in need of a shower .. LOL!!!. Venturing through the caves there were several clumps of miniature bats and when you came to the main ‘atrium’ cave & looked up they were well in view. A few screams from a few girls almost had a ‘Batman’ movie effect.
I was concentrating on my time, so I used a fair part of my time trying to find the exit & wondering whether to turn right or left. Of course, I found myself on the other side of the hill (confirmed later after much walking). Eventually I found the bus however, we are missing several travellers. After an eternity, some of us were forced to walk back up into the hill and seek them out. Luckily, we managed to find them in different locations of two exits. They were waiting for the van to pick them up. This always happens when communication fails. Visitors must remember the Marble Mountain is a complete maze, so have your wits about you, keep your water bottle handy & be prepared for steps & elevation walking; but it is a place not to be missed. One could never take enough photos of this special place.
Finally, we are all on board & holding onto our dear lives again for another 50mins or so to the ancient city of Hoi An. Looking out the side window the area seemed rather flat & uninspiring with normal landscape & the odd glances of rivers flowing & before long we were in a typical city of general traffic and large town shops. I was quite lucky where the van let us off (doing the Pope thing by kissing the footpath as I survived this van nightmare) as Google Maps had me at the cross street of Thai Phien & Tran Cao Van Streets to where my Dream City Hotel was located; a very new 2-star hotel but worth more stars as it has a pool & dining facility in Tran Cao Van Street and only $25US/ nite with brekky.
The Hoi An, Ancient Town (main tourist area for night viewing & daytime strolling) is located nearby in Phurong Minh An, a kilometre away from my hotel. This UNESCO area (1999) is a must-see tourist location full of colourful lanterns in the streets with numerous shops, bars, restaurants & cafes. It’s so peaceful & most of this area is closed to traffic thankfully & everyone is so accommodating in being gracious & human. The Ancient Town is a well-preserved port from the 15th to the 19th century on the Northern bank of the Thu Bon River which seriously floods at times. The town is a mixture of architecture from its trading influences with Chinese, Japanese & Portuguese traders. The architecture is quite mixed and the joined buildings for full blocks is quite unique. The careful eye shows no building in this area is no more than 2 storeys in height and with more scrutiny to the research shows this area comes under very strict maintenance and redevelopment guidelines to keep this heritage and culture totally protected. At the Western end of the town area, a few short streets away is an ancient Japanese bridge with a pagoda on it, dating from the 18th century. It’s 60ft rainbow shape spans a small canal but you can see its value in providing this very necessary link during those trading times.
I spent considerable time walking the ancient streets and attending the numerous bars & cafés mainly due to the atmosphere during the day; outside of this area is the typical hustle & bustle of city living so I was not into that at all. At night, it draws you there again as it really lights up (literally with the colourful lanterns) & bright lights that matches the atmosphere, yet remains quite calming even with the added tourist volume. It is hard not to enjoy this environment of present & past ‘colliding’. I found a great spot to watch Australia play Denmark in the World Cup (1-1) so that was another reason to enjoy the night. Have I mentioned how great the food and beer I found here; domestic & international food beer and too much to undertake a full tasting, unless you were here for a month, at least? The food aromas in the air is also a wonderful treat to the senses, so it is hard to select a preference for your meal. All places are well patronised and everyone is either smiling, talking or laughing. Very unique when you stand back & take everything in. I trust the ancients are looking down enjoying how this area is treasured by so many world travellers.
Most hotels have in-house tourist centres to promote the region’s services and attractions & my hotel was no exception and had tourist pamphlets to view and two caught my eye. One was the ‘My Son’ ½ day tour (226,000 Dong) where you could view very old temples from 800AD to 1200AD located in a sacred hilly area & the other one was a Heaven & Earth ½ day 9klm cycling tour (550,000 Dong) on the outskirts of Hoi An city. I jumped at booking these but more of these tours later for I had more walking to do on the Southern part of the river, opposite to the Ancient Town area to find a shady spot & catch up with my journal and fathom what my next travelling steps may be.
Low & behold, I was writing my journal & gazing frequently out onto the lovely, lazy river next to me & looking up towards the bridge crossing I took some hundred metres away, when I saw a familiar sight. A man & a woman (blonde hair also stands out in Vietnam) and both with a distinctive walk walking away from me. I packed my daypack immediately & took off. I was correct! It was Hughie & his wife, Donna who I had met at M’Pai Bay on Koh Rong Island out from Sihanoukville in Cambodia many weeks ago. They lived in Sydney at the time & were seasoned world travellers who loved a beer & a chat & I was definitely into that. They were so surprised to see me & couldn’t believe we would meet up again in a totally different country & city. They had left Sihanoukville, travelling South to the Vietnam border & venturing North whereas I detoured to Siem Reap via Phnom Penh & then to Hanoi, travelling South. You can review my Cambodian travels by scrolling down on my website or from this blog … https://bhlifestyles.travel.blog
After departing M’Pai Bay & the island trip they accidentally met up with me again at Sihanoukville at my beloved Big Easy Backpackers Tavern & stayed at the same hotel as I, at the time. Go figure!! We had a great night before they headed of South the next morning. It was a treasured good-bye. Meeting up again in another country deserved many a beer & lots of chats and it was much like the ‘Aussie Pub Crawl’ (going from pub to pub and never knowing when to quit … LOL!!!) to which we did and when walking back to our respective hotels we found ourselves walking the same street, only to find theirs was totally opposite to mine & their balcony overlooked into my room. Bloody stalkers!! How freaky is this, being a small world is an understatement. As the years passed, Hugh & Donna sold their Sydney Bondi home & moved to a Northern NSW village … & I eventually moved to the coastal paradise of Yamba which is some 30mins away from them. A bloody small world now!! With COVID, recent huge floods & their travelling has prevented from us catching up again for the time being but it will happen … over a beer or two or more of course. Hughie has had major health issues of late, but they are both overseas enjoying travelling again.
Hugh & Donna extended their Hoi An stay due to the welcoming and extra special environment and so did I, but we had different settings to achieve like our respective tours, but we met up every afternoon & night & tried all types of retail & home-brewed beer. I couldn’t keep up with Hugh’s consumption though & truthfully it was not safe to do so, if you get my drift. I think our cheapest beer was $0.75AUD a schooner so you could get drunk very cheaply.
The next day I met the bus to take me on the World Cultural Heritage site ‘My Son’ tour of ancient Hindu temples. We head West South West for about 1hr 15mins (49klm) to a large open area of nature’s land with a few modern entrance buildings to gain access to directed touring via large tour buggies. Once out of the buggies we were left to wander the various & numerous temple sites but stay within the confines of the cultivated area (ex- Vietnam land mines, etc). The temples were amazing in preservation standards but your eye always caught the massive number of craters from bombs during the war. Sometimes there were craters within craters. So much damage and these sites were supposed to be protected from war scenarios but I believe the Vietnamese blame the Americans for the damage & it would be hard to dismiss this. It is recorded the temple builders for this site also went to Angkor Wat & Cambodia to build those temples. The first temple here was set around the 4th century and restored after a destructive fire a century or so later. This religious area was heavily occupied with villagers & worshippers from the 4th to the 14th century. My Son incorporates some 70 temples from around 7th to 13th century so it is a massive World Heritage Cultural site.
With world & Vietnam funding they are restoring on a grand scale but the experts can’t quite match the technology of the ancients in brick making. The new bricks at the commencement of restoring were lasting only 2yrs or so, whereas the ancient’s bricks allowed water to seep through the bricks with minuscule holes. When the temple walls were completed, they would set fires against the walls which would set the plant-based resin, they then coated the walls with a special sap. Over time, the experts are getting closer to replicating the ancient’s standards but in 2018 it was costing about $4USD each to make & lay. The ancient bricks look like they are laser cut, such is the thin line accuracy of the joins. How could they achieve such accuracy? It takes a while to seek out every temple & to see the remaining foundation structures, so there is no time to waste. Thank God for the buggies to help with the expanse of the ground to cover. I couldn’t wait to tell Hugh & Donna of today’s venture & the magnificent craftsmanship of the temples. In returning back to the city I was flashing my memory back to this area of magnificence and applied my imagination on how the ‘city of temples’ may have well operated in complete harmony with so many residents and markets.
The next day, I walked to the nearby office of Heaven & Earth in plenty of time (despise being late) .. am I too early, or am I at the wrong address? Not a good feeling at all. From an opened door two young effervescent Vietnamese ladies bounded out & then out came the bicycles. Whew!! We were all greeted individually & asked our names and backgrounds & if we had ridden a bike before. We all said yes, but we were waiting for two more people who eventually arrived. Our crew now comprised of a NZ married couple in their mid-60s, Justine & her younger brother, Mark (Melbourne but Justine now lives in Singapore). Mark had a disability, being hit by a car when he was 4 and despite a trial solo ride, he was found to be unsuitable for the ride. Without hesitation, one of the lady guides returned with a tandem bike & this worked wonderfully with her in charge of the tandem and I was so happy for Mark to join us. It was pure relief for Justine too.
We had such a ball!!! … riding through the wilderness trails, rice fields & reaching various village islands in this river delta. We stopped a few kilometres away at a river clearing and timber structure (shed- like) & greeted by non-English speaking boat builders with a few boats being built. It was left to us to fathom the intricate skill in forming these types of vessels due to the language barrier. The timber was of good quality but I couldn’t find out the species used & being a carpenter (Builder & Project Manager) I was more focused in this construction more than the others so it wasn’t long before I was hurried along by my crew.
A little further on we come to another river edge clearing with a few shanty sheds where we were met by a boisterous, yet diminutive older Vietnamese lady hurrying us up to the river edge & landing. The lady demanded us to wear the life jackets and she was very keen to show us how to paddle a basket boat (a round shallow table bowl more like it). The basket boats are made from a specific reed, dried & then coated with layers of a special sap to seal it from the water. Watching the old lady do the paddling was amazing and in such control .. it looked so easy, even though the paddling was not a normal rowing pattern. Seeing the NZ couple & Justine partake in this venture was hilarious, to say the least but yet again, I won the trophy!!! The ‘old’ lady couldn’t wait to get me into the basket!!!! The short video taken says it all, let alone the photos. She was really playing to the audience with her suggestive moves, language & ‘foreplay’ .. seriously, she was a shocker!!! The laughter from the audience was deafening. I couldn’t wait to get back to solid Earth. Yes, my ‘paddling’ wasn’t the best either … OK? Apart from this lady, the basket boat is an experience to treasure. How unique and what a way the Vietnamese thought of travelling this way. I felt sorry for Mark not being able to partake in this adventure but he enjoyed Justine getting a try at it.
Just up the river a bit we come to what is known as the floating bridge. I can call it other things of course once you took in all the aspects of this unique crossing. “You want us to cross this on a bike?” We took our photos and I was thankful I was able to get one with our fantastic guides. The crew continued the banter of the lady & the basket boat and at times at my expense, such was the show she played on me. We all took our single crossing and prayed we all will survive, to which we did. If this doesn’t get the heart & adrenaline fear flowing, I don’t know what will! It was truly an obstacle course to cross it. Reaching the other side & being the last person of course, making sure women & children go first … LOL!!!; I realised I had left my day backpack on the other side. Shit!!! I have to cross the floating bridge twice more now. I didn’t plan for this added adventure.
It was not a good feeling to do this again, but I survived the trip over & my daypack was still there, yay! Venturing back was a bit more difficult as my crew were eagerly & cheekily cheering me on and it was a real test to maintain the balance & to keep to a smooth speed & not take in the laughter of the jeers coming across the river. Trust me, it takes real concentration & a touch of bike skill. Can’t believe Mark & the young guide was able to complete this part of the journey on the tandem. On reaching the shore, I was gobsmacked Mark’s sister, Justine thought of me & took the photos of myself crossing the bridge for the third time. She was so special on this tour with her kindness and duty of caring to Mark. Thank you, Justine for the photos to treasure. We took some timely group photos and a few hits of the water bottle before heading off again on this tiny island.
On this bike tour we saw the real village life of different house structures and shanty’s, very tiny streets (lanes) taking in the advice this small island gets completely flooded almost annually by the overflowing of rains upstream of The Thu Bon River in the rainy season, as this region is much like a delta before the ocean (East Vietnam Sea) comes into play. We ventured through large rice fields and saw many a water buffalo grazing unfenced & unhindered to us boisterous cyclists.
We later stop in a very unassuming house where reed mat weaving was undertaken by a very frail looking 90yr old village woman & her grandson on bare concrete pavement out front. Hard to imagine how they can do this nearly every day. She had been doing mats since she was 13yrs old & now she is almost blind, her grandson sets the colour batches in front of her & she feeds the right colours into the mat’s edge & the Grandson feeds the rest of the reed through & compresses them to form the mat. The old lady knows the patterns by heart & uses the correct colours required. It saddened me to know they have to make plenty of mats for a buyer who sells them at tourist rates in the city where they can’t spend the time required taking them to the city for the most profit. They can’t afford the time & still make mats in the set volumes. It was hard to walk away & not share in buying a mat, but was able to donate a bit of Viet Dong for them, although one could never carry enough money.
Travelling to the other side of the island, we were met by a large boat, and here we discarded our bikes where the tour group organisers will pick them up soon after. We all climbed aboard and headed back to the city of Hoi An along the river for some 35mins where we all provided hugs and safe travels to all our crew and to the guides a very special thanks when embarking. The half day tour ran from approx. 8am-2.30pm so that was very good value. I was able to catch up with Hughie & Donna a little later for more beer & food & talked about a great day we respectively all had which lasted well into the night of course.
The next day I was left to wander the markets and ancient townscape where I was extremely lucky to briefly bump into Justine & Mark again with some high-quality personal gifts purchased. They are heading off the next day, along with Hugh & Donna too, so that left me to return to solo travelling again. It was fantastic to see Justine & Mark’s smiling faces again & knowing they are enjoying their time together. There is much to peruse and purchase in this ancient township area, from tailored clothing, jewellery, timber carvings such as this bike, leather goods and so much more. Being a backpacker & with no income currently, it was hard to walk away from some of the goods here, but I must remain strong. Always thinking of loved ones back home, my youngest grandchild turned 9yrs old this day so that was a wonderful face call to make & to talk with my daughter too on all things that were happening. Children just grow up so fast.
I had a few days still to go in Hoi An and trust me, it was not hard to do. There’re always things to see & experience. I obviously missed out on several tourist sites being focused on mainly the ancient town, but I’m not totally saddened on this. One day, I scored a Grab scooter (22,000 Dong = $1.30AUD) for some 5klms run to An Bang Beach. Had some lunch & beer at The Shore Club (very popular) in between sun bathing (Vitamin D intake) on the sandy beachfront looking at the tiny bay waves (much bigger waves in Australia). It was a really peaceful and relaxing time, finally able to stretch out on the very hot therapeutic sand in my boardshorts and learn to swim again. Lol!! What I didn’t expect was that to get a return trip/ scooter or cab return to Hoi An was like winning the lottery. It was some hours before I could have a ride confirmed. I was almost on the verge of doing the 5klm walk back along the highway to my hotel when my request was answered, albeit by a dearer taxi cab $5AUD (80,000Dong). Apparently, it is wise to book your return trip with a time to avoid being stranded. I talked to my daughter & son-in-law on face time for ages before going out for dinner & a few beers to say cheerio Hoi An … it’s been a blast!!! … for now, I’m off to another main location Quy Nhon.
I’ll end this blog here, so stay safe, happy & hopefully enjoy the photos and kick this ongoing COVID-19 & the more-vile vaccines back into history. Stay tuned for my next blog on my travels to Quy Nhon where there are a few surprises and wonderful super humans. A point to note; is that I’m continuing a new self-development journey by reading my 2nd book of Eckhart Tolle .. A New Earth. Everyone must read this book. Truly remarkable. My life summary as written by Neil Diamond in my life song of “I Am .. I Said” is “Did you ever read about a frog who dreamed of bein’ a king and then became one, well except for the names and a few other changes, if you talk about me, the story is the same one”. Another line in this song is “I’m not a man that likes to swear; but I’ve never cared for the sound of being alone”.
Communication … Communication … Talk to each other.
I always look forward to seeing the feedback so don’t be afraid to comment. My next blog/s will be more of the amazing Vietnam experiences and quite a few were life changing, & not just for me.
Live life to the most and a quote that I truly love is from Eckhart Tolle ..
“If I am not the hero of my life … who in the hell could be?”
BH Life Travels 