Name: Becky
Occupation: Student/Occassional Auxiliary Nurse/ABA Therapist/Serial traveller/owner of itchy feet
Home Towm: Bangor, North Wales
Current Location: Bangor
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| Thursday, August 20, 2009 |
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Hue, Vietnam avec sunburn
Apologies for the lack of updates, we've had a crazy couple of weeks and had very little time online. So, we're in another country, which is beautiful but sooooooooooo hot! Quite a shock to the system after the relative cool of the Laos highlands. Quick update on where we've been since my last post: Louang Phabang was beautiful, had a lovely few days there wandering about and going to swim in nice waterfalls. We really wanted to stay longer but decided we had to move on to Vientiane to get visas for Vietnam. To give ourselves extra time we got a night bus- good idea in principle- spend an extra day wherever you are, get on the bus, sleep, wake up in a new destination fresh from sleep and ready to explore. However, we didn't count on the driver thinking that playing horrible Lao pop at 3am was a good idea! I did manage to sleep (anyone surprised?!) but only after what felt like hours of feeling very sick as we did hundreds of hairpin bends up a mountain. And to make it worse, Vientiane wasn't even really worth going to! We got stuck there for a fews days waiting for visas but we could have seen everything worth seeing in a day, which was quite frustrating. From there we went to Vang Viang famous for tubing, drinking, and drink whilst tubing. For those that don't know, tubing involves floating down the river in a tractor inner tube, and here you have the added bonus of getting pulled in to bars intermittently to drink ridiculously cheap alcohol- a great way to spend an afternoon! After we'd had fun destroying our livers with nasty rice whiskey we dragged ourselves on to a bus and headed towards the border to the Plain of Jars which is what it says on the tin (or should that be jar?). There are three main sites around the area which are littered with big stone jars and non-one knows how they got there or what they are for! One day there was enough so the following morning we started what was to be an epic trip to Vietnam. We left the hotel at 6am on a tuktuk, got the bus at 6:30, crossed the border just before lunch, changed buses (no idea why) a few hours later, and at 5:40 pm arrived in Vinh, Vietnam. Here we were greeted by lots of people trying to sell us bus tickets, and managed to make out that there was a bus to Ha Noi leaving in 20 mins. It was then we got our first really taste of how much they try to rip you off here. The first quote we got was 200,000 dong ($10) and were told we could pay in dollars. We (Max, I and 3 guys we met on the bus) decided to check in the bus station first where we saw the price was 100,000 dong! So went to pay at the desk there, but the lady wouldn't take out dollars! By now we had about 10 mins before the bus went and about 50,000 dong between us! Being the sensible female of the group, I took $10 from everyone and legged it down the road, in the rain, to find somewhere to exchange, not easy when all the banks close at about 4! Managed to get a jewelers to change it for me, ran back and got there at 6 andwent to buy tickets at the counter, but the lady pointed me to the bus conductor, who whilst standing under the sign that gave prices told me in was 120,000 because we were white! We got a price we wanted in the end, and set off- to the otherside of the road- where we sat for another hour before actually moving on. The journey was fine but involved lots of getting pointed and stared at and having people saying things at us we didn't understand. And the guy behind us tried to make a move on Max while I was asleep on his shoulder! By the time we got to Ha Noi it was 2am and time for our 5th mode of transport- a taxi that tried to charge us 250,000 to the city centre! givenwhat we had just paid to travel for 7 hours we weren't happy with this, but amazing bartering got us a fair price. What was immediately obvious though is how aggressive people here can be. In Both Thailand and Laos people don't get angry- bartering is always done with smiles. But this guy got really cross with us and when we got to the city practically dragged us out of the car. And it wasn't because we were under paying as I check with the hotel in the morning how much we should pay to get to that bus station and it was about the same as we paid. Anyway, trying to get ripped off was made up for in that night's accommodation. The place our new friends had decided to stay was $30 for a room which was a little over our budget so we decided to take a nightwalk and try to find something cheaper. Our planned palce looked very shut so we carried on walking and a few meters later got called over by a guy offering us a room. The place was totally dark as he said the power had gone, so we were a bit dubious. He offered us a room for $20 as it was so late, which still sounded like alot, until he said their cheapest room should be $55, and the room he had wasn't the cheapest! And breakfast was included, and two bottles of cold water, and he sent us to the room with a glass of iced water each! The room, and the following sleep was worth every penny- there was a proper shower, not just a wet room, fluffy towels and bath robes, silk sheets on the bed, and free goodies i nthe bathroom! And the power came back on after about half an hour so we had aircon too! The best sleep so far, even if it wasn't for very long! The following couple of days were spent around the city which has crazy traffic but is otherwise quite nice. The most exciting thing we did was go to Ho Chi Minh- ex leader, been dead for 40 years, doesn't look too bad considering! From here we took a tour to Halong Bay which was amazing- totally worth the hype. However, most people seem to have realised this, so it's not a peaceful as it could have been. Just before we arrived I started having bad neck pains, but put it down to sleeping in a funny position on the bus to the Bay. From the dock we got a Junk boat which took us in the the islands and to 'Suprising cave' which was very nice, but my neck pains were getting worse and I was feeling sick as well. After the caves we took a kayak around the area, then went back to the boat for a swim. That night was spent on the boat and the following morning we were taken to Cat Ba island where we cycled to some more pretty caves, and then got taken to Monkey Island for lunch and to spend the next night. The afternoon was spent on the beach, not doing much as I still wasn't feeling right. The next day we got back on our Junk and started to go back to the port, stopping for a bit of swimming on the way. After swimming we were laying out on the deck to dry, and in less than an hour (at about 10:30 am) I managed to turn my thighs bright red. Despite all the time we've spent outside this was the first time either of us had burnt and combined with my neck and tummy pains, I realised that I was having a reaction to the doxycycline we're taking as antimalarials! But not until I'd had that day's dose! When we got back I looked up side effects (heartburn, headaches, increased skin photosensitivity) and was spotted doing so by a medical student, who confirmed what I thought and that it probably was Dengue Fever, which was my only other thought. I'm still not right, but feeling much better now I've stopped taking the doxy. We left Ha Noi that night on the night train, and have spent two days in Hue. Just walked about yesterday and went to the Imperial City which was nice, but was probably better before the Americans dropped bombs on it. And today went to the DMZ (demilitarized zone) which was the border between north and south Vietnam. Went to several firebases and points of interest, but the highlight was the Vinh Moc tunnels, built by locals to hide in during the bombings and to keep a supply line going to an island owned by the north which gave them control of the sea in the area. In the morning we're off again, a few hours south to Da Nang along a bit of railways that is meant to have amazing views, and then stright down to Hoi An where we're taking a trip to the tailors! I'm very excited! 1:58 PM Comment (0) ... PermaLink |