Momento of Memento?

Arriving at a country hotel in the middle of the night is always as interesting experience. Greeted by two yapping Chihuahua dogs was not the welcome that was expected and their jumping up and scratching my legs was not particularly welcome - I don't like Chihuahua dogs! A couple of men carried the bags off into the dark and we followed. It seemed there was no lighting of any note! We arrived at the room - no need to register or show our passports - and left to go to bed. It was about 11pm and that is well past the bedtime of most country-folk in Vietnam! the room was in a thatched cottage and had mud walls. There was mosquito netting over the bed...hmmm...better use it if it is there I suppose. There was an air-conditioner though, thank goodness for some modern conveniences. No television, no phone and apart from a desk with a small chair, not a lot else in the room. Off to bed...wondering what the view would be like in the morning.

After a good night's sleep, the sound of birdsong woke me up. Bright sunlight was shining under the door and I went to take a peak outside. We were in a lovely garden with fruit trees and a water wheel right outside the room. It looked wonderful and seemed to confirm a good decision to pick this place rather than a beach hotel in nearby Nha Trang which we had heard less than glowing reports about.

Attentive staff suddenly appeared ushering us towards a breakfast table under a thatched awning and overlooking the gardens. This was a nice place and had such a relaxing feel to it.

After a delightful breakfast, with a cup of the best Vietnamese coffee yet on the trip, we explored the gardens and discovered all sorts of different fruits growing. A mango fell off a tree right beside us and we spirited it off to our room to eat later!

Another train ride

All the sights in and around Hue seen, time to move on further south. This means another train ride but thankfully during the daytime and no need to climb under dubious blankets and sleep on even more dubious sheets! The trip from Hue to Nha Trang was about 9 hours.

The first part of the journey was a spectacular climb up mountains by the sea on the way to Danang -- this 50km section took over 2 hours but the snail-paced speed of the train was more than offset by the magnificent views.

Our fellow passenger was a local business man who seemed to be making the trip all the way from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh but we were not sure because we were unable to communicate verbally. He was a pleasant enough chap but did not seem to understand what the non-smoking signs in the compartment meant!

We ate train food on this leg and it was OK'ish I suppose. I was a little worried about food hygiene but it seemed OK. The ubiquitous cans of beer to wash it down were on hand. So far my use of beer as a prophylactic against a dodgy tummy seemed to be working well.

After Danang we went through mile after mile of very fertile farm land. There was some rice harvesting going on - all of it by hand! We also seemed to pass tens of cemeteries with hundreds if not thousands of graves/tombs - all brightly coloured. There were also tombs in groups of 5-10 in many paddy fields too.

The train arrived in Nha Trang just about on time - another impressive performance by Vietnam Railways. We were met by a pre-arranged taxi and headed off for our hotel in the opposite direction of most of our fellow travellers. They were heading off to the beach hotels while we were heading inland for what we hoped would be a lovely rural retreat...

Incensed in Hue

Ever wondered how incense/joss sticks are made? No? Me neither. I have though now seen them made by hand in Hue. First, get some bamboo sticks and dip them in some bright ink of your choosing and then dry them in the sun. Second get some ground sandalwood, cinnamon and a few other ingredients and mix them up until you get a brown gooey blob. Then, after several years of experience roll out this goo into a very long thin sausage and roll a bamboo stick into it, dry in the sun and there you go, an incense stick! Pack 20 together and then sell 5 packs at time for US$1! How do they make a living doing that?

Hue - an ex-Imperial City

Hue was the seat of the Vietnamese Emperors from the early 19th Century. Although The Vietnamese were 'subjugated' to Chinese rule for a 1,000 years they were allowed the odd Emperor or two. There was a Forbidden Palace, very much like the more famous one in Beijing, China, however, as American Forces in the Vietnam War decided to flatten nearly 90% of it, there is not so much to see now. Curiously for a Communist government, there is now a programme of restoration works going on. frankly, the money would probably be better spent on infrastructure projects! The Emperors seemed obsessed with the size and grandeur of their tombs. Some of them spent ages on the designs and trying to ensure that their graves were not robbed. Emperors in Vietnam were buried with jewels in their mouths amongst other things!

A day was spent was touring the former imperial sites including some of the grand tombs. The last Emperor to have a grand tomb was buried in the mid 1940's and by that time, the craftsmen were using concrete to create them. Subsequently most these tombs now need the most renovation!

It was a hot, hot day but I visited all the sites and endured the 'funny' comments from the guide what apparently spoke "Standard English" - he must have learned it in a non-standard place. He would go on and on about some particular topic and then after 10 minutes would say, "Forget it, move along". Needless to say, there were some giggles during the day.

The first Emperor to have a specially constructed tomb, created the best with really beautiful gardens. i can't imagine the man in the street back in the 1840's would have been so happy that so much was lavished on one dead man's burial!

I will not describe in detail all the tombs and if you are interested in learning more there are plenty of websites that can provide all the background.

Hot Springs - Pouring Rain

Some parts of Vietnam are blessed with hot springs and one such place was not far from Hue. Some negotiations with various hotel staff on the best rate for a driver were concluded satisfactorily and the driver headed off towards Thahn Tan Hot Springs, a 90 minute drive. Thahn Tan Hot Springs advertises itself as a place to cure all manner of ailments and sounded like a grand European Spa to compare with the great spas of Germany and France. Hmmm...one thing you learn while travelling in Vietnam is that anticipation is quite often better than the actual event. The weather looked increasingly bad and the rapidly deteriorating condition of the road (or should I say track?) started to cause a little bit of concern. Then, some 500 metres from the Spa, the road improved dramatically and the sense of anticipation increased accordingly!

The ticket buying process was a bit complicated - it seems, despite the rather ghoulish advertising pictures showing European types enjoying the spa, that not many foreigners frequented the place. Taking the top price ticket (about $6) we were led to the 'VIP' area of the Spa Resort. There was no one around other than staff, we had the place to ourselves it seemed. The pools and equipment looked a little, shall we say, quaint and a bit antiquated but it looked clean and tidy. A gate heralded the 'VIP' section and someone to escort us to the lockers. We decided to look around first before partaking of the health giving waters. In the event, the surrounding countryside was rather beautiful other than severely threatening dark gray clouds looming on the mountain tops. The walk had some surprises and another encounter with the 'as big as your hand spiders' just feet from the footpath. The more pleasant surprises included some deer and wild pigs (secure behind a big fence!)

The hot water that supplies the spa comes from deep underground and emerges at a constant 68 deg C - slightly hotter than domestic hot water in most of our homes. The spa owners had built a series of streams with little dams every 15 metres or so. As the water travels slowly down the man made stream, it cools. The coolest part of the stream was a pleasant 34 deg C and then as you gradually work your past 5 dams you end up in water at about 45 deg C which was plenty hot enough for me. There were other pools where you could swim in 40 deg C water and also have a hot jacuzzi type bath. After several hours of getting in and out of the 'healing waters' my skin did feel softer but I did not feel much else. Just after lunch, the heavens opened and the rain came pouring down and the sky flashed lightning - it was actually quite a refreshing way to cool off after having been poached in the 45 deg C water!

Hue - City of Emperors

After the overnight trip on the train the hotel in Hue was most welcome - especially a long hot shower! The hotel room was nice with a big window, but no view to speak of. The actual view was just 6" from the window.... a brick wall. It seems rooms with view in Vietnam are not so common(?)

It was hotter in Hue than Hanoi and it was quieter too. There were still scooters everywhere but the pace here seemed less frantic. After not very much sleep on the train, it was a quiet day just exploring immediate surroundings around the hotel. There were more people offering 'tourist' help here than Hanoi although there was still some communication difficulties which led to more sign language and pointing when it came to ordering food. The people seemed friendlier than in Hanoi, but there is still a sense of something lacking in the people. They go about their business efficiently and seem happy enough but maybe they too sense the 'Big Brother is watching" feeling too.

Dinner was rather amusing. The hotel helped give instructions for the restaurant and off we went and pleased that the meter was running too. All was going well until we got into the old city and then every turn was further and further from where we should have been going. Frantic hand gestures and concerned voices expressing we should be going right not left went unheeded by the driver. After 5 minutes, we were dropped off at the restaurant that we wanted to go to the next night! Seems the tourists giving instructions were wrong and had indeed asked to be taken to the tomorrow restaurant a day early! Oh no, I was feeling a tad under-dressed in my shorts and t-shirt when I saw the other diners in much more appropriate attire for the grand surroundings. No-one seemed to mind and we went ahead with the 9-course set menu.

All Aboard the Non-sleeper Sleeper

Anticipation can sometimes be way above the reality and I did not dare get my hopes up about the overnight train from Hanoi to Hue (600+km to the south) even though a First Class soft sleeper ticket was in my hand. I was right not to get my hopes up.
Arriving at the station in the first taxi ride of the trip, I was though pleasantly surprised at how organised everything was prior to getting on the train. The government certainly know how to keep people employed in Vietnam as there were at least 3 people checking/punching my ticket before I even got aboard the train. I loaded up with bottles of water for the 11 hour trip not really knowing what to expect on board. The steps up into the carriage were perilously steep and someone I thought was a member of the multitude of staff kindly helped me on with my bag and even checked my ticket for the right berth number. He took all of about 20 seconds to do this and then put out his hand and said, "$5" - not even a please. Some choice words sprang to mind and I sent him packing, well nearly, he held a grudgingly given $1 bill in his 'helpful' fist - probably muttering obscenities under his breath just as I was doing under mine! This little incident did though make me fail to really look at my surroundings...Oh dear...if this was First Class I was only delighted in knowing that it had to be better than the other classes on the train. My fellow travellers in the 4 berth compartment had faces just as long as mine. We stowed bags, sat on the bottom berths and looked at each other - all of us knowing it would be a long night. The air-conditioning could not be controlled in the compartment and it was like a fresh day in the Arctic tundra. We gestured to our 'cabin girl' who was patrolling outside, you guessed it, checking tickets, with the international gesture of trembling and clutching hands to sides of arms, generally shaking and going , "brrrrrr" a lot. Minutes later the cold air blast stopped and then the rest of the night it was unbearably hot in the compartment!
It was not all negative, there were sheets, pillows and blankets..something to be happy about until one of my cabin mates said, "do you think these are clean?" The rest of night was spent dealing with phantom itches and wondering if the crawling feeling on my skin was little critters or the fact that it was so hot in the compartment. If there is something they can do well in Vietnam though, it is running trains on time. at precisely 11:00pm the train slowly pulled out of Hanoi station on it's 2 day journey to Ho Chi Minh City. After about 30minutes of some small talk, my cabin mates started crawling into their bunks. Lights out. Try as I might, I could not get to sleep in my First Class Soft Sleeper bed, the train was really rocking and rolling along the narrow gauge track and the driver just loved using his brakes whenever he had the chance. Finally I drifted off into a fitful sleep and then....... the door of the compartment opened, the lights came on and I felt someone tickling my right foot! It was the 'cabin girl' waking me up to tell me my stop was approaching. I mumbled something not very appropriate, knowing my stop was at least 7 hours away when she realised she had made a mistake, she needed to wake up a guy in the next set of bunks!!! The four of us grumbled and groaned and tried, but failed, to get back to sleep. Oh well, at least we got to watch the sun rise over the spectacular countryside. There were people working in the emerald green paddy fields from before 6:00am. The train trundled it's way towards Hue with the beautiful countryside passing by making up for the disappointing lack of sleep. I later found out that the average speed of the train from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh is 48km/hour (about 30mph!)
We approached Hue station on time - not bad Vietnam Railways!