week twelve
more pics from vietnam up.
Nov 19th.
the vietnamese national history museum was closed until we'd planned to be on the road.. so we skipped over to the war remnants museum (formerly the museum of american atrocities). a massive collection of vietnam war photos immersed us in the horror of combat. an equally large collection of photos showed the effects of agent orange, napalm and other substances that affected innumerable civilians.
Nov 20th.
joined a tour to see two sites in the area around saigon. the first was a caodai temple (more like a compound) that houses a young religion/cult founded in the 1920s. the cult appointed the long deceased french poet victor hugo as "spiritual chief of the foreign missions of caodaism".
the second site was the infamous cu chi tunnels which were used by communist guerillas to fight the americans and south vietnamese. the tunnels were extremely effective in sneak attacks but were bombed to smitherenes after they caused enough casualties... parts of the 200km network have been reconstructed and we ventured in. tiny crawlspace, difficult to breath and really dirty.
Nov 21st.
day trip to the mekong delta. we see a boring floating market as well as the popping of rice which then forms the main ingredient in some home-style rice crispy squares. free snacks preceded a fried fish lunch which we're sure must have been from the dirty mekong.
arriving back in saigon, we're ready to move on and our overnight train to danang awaits.
Nov 22nd.
watched 4 hours of landscape go by as we arrive in danang in the afternoon. the train food is nasty so we relish our banana crisps bought at the mekong delta. a quick ride takes us to hoi an, a small town known for not much other than a beach and custom tailoring. if you tossed a stone half heartedly in any direction, you'd hit 3 different tailoring shops. they line the streets and the workers sometimes try to rope you in to their stores from across the street.. it's unfathomable.
Nov 23rd.
and so we oblige. i get a blue shirt done up and we head to the beach on rented bikes while they work on our stuff. the sea air is great.. the water is gorgeous and we get some sun. danielle has a chuckle with one of the old ladies selling snacks about her "ooh la la" painted toes...
Nov 24th.
a cab takes us to the marble mountains near danang on our way to the train station.
the mountains are aptly named as huge marble sculptures line the streets around the site. one after another, literally hundreds of marble carving souvenir shops are selling seemingly the exact same designs at "foreigner" prices.
the hike up the mountain is aided by a stone staircase completed entirely without a level if any measurement at all. and it shows. at the top, there are caves cut into the mountains that display the natural, colourful rock. after climbing a bit higher, we're afforded an incredible view of the south china sea and the never-ending beach streching across the horizon with the city of danang far below.
at the train station, the only available train is at 5:40 and its sleeper section was mostly sold out. we would be on the top bunks in a 3-level, 6-person cabin. no problem. and then we saw it. 6 feet in the air -- lateral with the fan on the celing, 2 high steps, a handle and a deft ass swing up.
the other 4 bunks were occupied by 7 people including 3 loud children. fighting back both laughter and tears, we climb in, and crawl into position, with me completely unable to sit up. leaning back on one elbow to eat our dinner of a cheese baguette, we surveyed our surroundings more intently with silent dread.
the bunks were a steel frame filled with a wooden slab and a thin straw thatched mat to hold that old crooked spine in shape. the fan provided no relief from the sweat that took us, but it did kill hundreds of bugs in its blades that were congregating in the flourescent light positioned at our midriffs.
if i hadn't been coughing due to a flu bug, rather, healthy like danielle, i may have slept for half of the 15-hour trip. as it stood, i have no idea how much sleep i had. i tossed and turned and it never provided any relief from the previous arrangement.
i stumbled of the train at ninh binh, more sick, exhausted and now, sore.
Nov 25th.
after checking in, we jump on the back of our umpteenth moto of the trip and headed out on a tour of the area around ninh binh. we were dropped off at a row boat that took us down a waterway set between huge rock bluffs and it made for a very peaceful afternoon.
the town children were amazingly friendly when they saw us riding by on the bikes. some waved from the roadside, and others yelled hello from the fields or their doorways.
Nov 19th.
the vietnamese national history museum was closed until we'd planned to be on the road.. so we skipped over to the war remnants museum (formerly the museum of american atrocities). a massive collection of vietnam war photos immersed us in the horror of combat. an equally large collection of photos showed the effects of agent orange, napalm and other substances that affected innumerable civilians.
Nov 20th.
joined a tour to see two sites in the area around saigon. the first was a caodai temple (more like a compound) that houses a young religion/cult founded in the 1920s. the cult appointed the long deceased french poet victor hugo as "spiritual chief of the foreign missions of caodaism".
the second site was the infamous cu chi tunnels which were used by communist guerillas to fight the americans and south vietnamese. the tunnels were extremely effective in sneak attacks but were bombed to smitherenes after they caused enough casualties... parts of the 200km network have been reconstructed and we ventured in. tiny crawlspace, difficult to breath and really dirty.
Nov 21st.
day trip to the mekong delta. we see a boring floating market as well as the popping of rice which then forms the main ingredient in some home-style rice crispy squares. free snacks preceded a fried fish lunch which we're sure must have been from the dirty mekong.
arriving back in saigon, we're ready to move on and our overnight train to danang awaits.
Nov 22nd.
watched 4 hours of landscape go by as we arrive in danang in the afternoon. the train food is nasty so we relish our banana crisps bought at the mekong delta. a quick ride takes us to hoi an, a small town known for not much other than a beach and custom tailoring. if you tossed a stone half heartedly in any direction, you'd hit 3 different tailoring shops. they line the streets and the workers sometimes try to rope you in to their stores from across the street.. it's unfathomable.
Nov 23rd.
and so we oblige. i get a blue shirt done up and we head to the beach on rented bikes while they work on our stuff. the sea air is great.. the water is gorgeous and we get some sun. danielle has a chuckle with one of the old ladies selling snacks about her "ooh la la" painted toes...
Nov 24th.
a cab takes us to the marble mountains near danang on our way to the train station.
the mountains are aptly named as huge marble sculptures line the streets around the site. one after another, literally hundreds of marble carving souvenir shops are selling seemingly the exact same designs at "foreigner" prices.
the hike up the mountain is aided by a stone staircase completed entirely without a level if any measurement at all. and it shows. at the top, there are caves cut into the mountains that display the natural, colourful rock. after climbing a bit higher, we're afforded an incredible view of the south china sea and the never-ending beach streching across the horizon with the city of danang far below.
at the train station, the only available train is at 5:40 and its sleeper section was mostly sold out. we would be on the top bunks in a 3-level, 6-person cabin. no problem. and then we saw it. 6 feet in the air -- lateral with the fan on the celing, 2 high steps, a handle and a deft ass swing up.
the other 4 bunks were occupied by 7 people including 3 loud children. fighting back both laughter and tears, we climb in, and crawl into position, with me completely unable to sit up. leaning back on one elbow to eat our dinner of a cheese baguette, we surveyed our surroundings more intently with silent dread.
the bunks were a steel frame filled with a wooden slab and a thin straw thatched mat to hold that old crooked spine in shape. the fan provided no relief from the sweat that took us, but it did kill hundreds of bugs in its blades that were congregating in the flourescent light positioned at our midriffs.
if i hadn't been coughing due to a flu bug, rather, healthy like danielle, i may have slept for half of the 15-hour trip. as it stood, i have no idea how much sleep i had. i tossed and turned and it never provided any relief from the previous arrangement.
i stumbled of the train at ninh binh, more sick, exhausted and now, sore.
Nov 25th.
after checking in, we jump on the back of our umpteenth moto of the trip and headed out on a tour of the area around ninh binh. we were dropped off at a row boat that took us down a waterway set between huge rock bluffs and it made for a very peaceful afternoon.
the town children were amazingly friendly when they saw us riding by on the bikes. some waved from the roadside, and others yelled hello from the fields or their doorways.
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