See What Tim Is Doing: Vietnam Part 2 – Hoi An, Hanoi and Halong Bay (15

So I wrote this whole entry but while cleaning up my laptop I deleted the word document and now I have to write it from memory, so like a few of the last entries, it will be more of a summary of the places.

Jordie and I left Nha Trang and headed north to Hoi An, a city known for its tailors that can make anything from a photo. This was about all we knew about Hoi An was that it was close to Da Nang, a city that housed a major air base used by both the South Vietnamese and United States air forces during the Vietnam War, and close to China Beach, a surf spot that soldiers used on their R&R. Hoi An is recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, so from that you can gather the city has some charm, a charm that is different to the rest of Vietnam; slower pace then everywhere else, cleaner, and even the buildings were completely different with an impressive French Colonial look.

We arrived and checked into a guesthouse recommended by someone we met and it was perfect, $5 a night for a room with aircon, bathroom and double bed, accommodation in Vietnam was proving to be the best value for money. Not wasting any time we went for a wander and quickly got lost, but it was no worry as the city moves at a slow, relaxed place and everyone is smiling. The first day we just chilled, ate some amazing soup, drank Vietnamise coffee and just relaxed.

Over the next six days (we stayed a little longer then expected, as it was an amazing town) we were pretty busy, but a good busy.

We got some clothes and shoes made which turned out amazing. For US$114 I had a pair of leather dress shoes and a pair of casual canvas shoes made custom to my feet, a big woolen duffle jacket, pair of chino pants, pair of chino shorts and a shirt made all custom fit. The quality was good and the gear looked good, so from now on I think I may fly there every new season and get clothes made! Its cheaper and better! Not only are the tailors good, but the markets themselves were good fun to wander through and buy some bits and bobs. Everything from souvenir t-shirts to home wares, through to weird and wonderful looking vegetables and meats of all kinds. The smell would sometimes get a little overpowering, but it was still a fun way to kill a couple of free hours.

We ate a lot, and at a variety of places over the week. We had one regular restaurant on the river we visited every day for a snack of fresh spring rolls, Vietnamese coffee and a good hour or so of people watching. We ate in the markets too, which was interesting but cheap and delicious. Normally we’d be sat on tiny plastic chair at a table with local Vietnamese people, given a bowl with some noodle soup and some mystery meat and then given a tea or coffee of some sort. A lot of people avoid eating at these kinds of stalls due to hygiene worries etc, but it is well worth doing and you won’t get sick, well we didn’t. But it was just a good experience sitting with the locals, watching the way they go their day-to-day lives, interacting with them as well (although many in these markets speak limited English).

We did get recommended one restaurant there which had no menu, you sat and they brought out the one thing they made, which to this day I still do not know how to explain, except for amazing.

They brought out several plates, one with rice paper wraps, one with lettuce and cucumber, another with cabbage(?) and pineapple pieces, one with spring rolls, one with chicken and prok bbq skewers and then a bowl of sauce. Once everything is out on the table, one of the staff show you how its done. They grab a two rice paper sheets, put some lettuce and cucumber, then the cabbage like mix, then a spring roll, then a skewers, wrap it up and dip it into the sauce. Sounds weird and not to appetizing? Wrong, its frickon amazing! So amazing that we ended up eating there the last three nights in a row. The food was amazing, they kept bringing it till you were about to pop, good bear and to top it of the staff there were so friendly and they remembered you when you came back. An amazing dinner with a few beers only set you back less then $5.

Every night along the river-front they put out plastic chairs where you could go sit with locals or tourists and enjoy cold beers for less then $1, which was always a good way to wind down after a big day. Jordie and I frequented the river side quite a lot, but who wouldn’t, cheap beers, amazing location and fun people!

Besides eating, shopping and observing the day to day life of the locals, we got on a motorbike and did some exploring in the quest for waves. As the waves in Mui Ne were good, unfortunately the conditions for getting some good photos for the article weren’t, so we were hoping that we could find some waves to go with the bluebird days we were having.

Day one we got a bike and rode to the nearest beach, which was no more then a 5-10 minute ride away. This beach was beautiful, but flat as a tack. So we ventured further north to try and find China Beach where the soliders used to surf. We turned down a little sandy road off the main road and hit the beach, which was littered in Vietnamese fishing boats (which are like an oversized woven basket), white sand and crystal clear waters (some of the clearest I have ever seen), it was like paradise, only not many waves.

Jodie still went in for a paddle and got a few waves, but nothing outstanding. A little bummed, we were about to leave when a few local kids (maybe 6-8 years old) came over and didn’t speak a word of English, but within 2 minutes Jordie had them out in the water giving them a surfing lesson. Even though the language barrier was there, this didn’t stop the kids having an awesome time and the smiles and laughter on their face said it all. And to top it of, we got some amazing snaps of the kids on the board, in the water, having fun, so it turned out to be pretty good in the end. Oh and to top it off after their free surf lesson, they asked us for money. So to take photos of them and give them a surfing lesson, it cost us about $3 haha.

Day two was better then the first. Even more amazing conditions then the previous day, but this time there were some waves, nothing massive, but enough to get some good shots in.

That was the best day we had surfing easily, but even though the other days exploring were still great. One day we even drove to Da Nang (about 30km north of Hoi An which was good fun on one little motor bike, two people, board and gear) to search for more waves, but nothing much going on, except we saw some old airbase buildings and some old hangers, and on the beach near where we went in the water there was an old bunker right on the sand. No waves definitely didn’t mean no fun.

So our time in Hoi An eventually ended, although we weren’t too keen on leaving as we fell in love with the place, but it was time to move on as we had to head north as the date of our flights were fast approaching. So from Hoi An we headed straight north to Hanoi.

To eb completely honest, I don’t really have much to write about Hanoi, it’s not that it was bad, we just didn’t do much. It was a bit of a relaxing time. The city itself is pretty cool, with a nice big lake in the middle, some crazy shopping and a massive indoor market that was too overwhelming to explore.

There were a few highlights though to Hanoi, the lads we met on the bus brought a Vietnamese shuttlecock, which is like a spring with some plastic and some feathers on the end and you kick it around like a hacky sack. We took it one afternoon to the park and four of us started kicking it around (very badly) and within 20 minutes our four had grown close to 14, with locals coming in a joining us and helping us keep it up in the air. We played for ages and it was a good laugh, although we couldn’t really talk to each other we all laughed and played and had a good time.

We did have a nice messy night out one night which was unplanned but turned out to be good crack. We tagged along with a hostel pub crawl and got pretty messy and met some good people and had a laugh. Jordie and I also went to a fund raising gig for an English guy who came off his bike in Bangkok and is now paralyzed and to make matters worse he had no insurance, so they were raising money for him to pay for hospital bills etc. It was a good night, loads of ex-pats there (didn’t know there were so many in Hanoi) good music, drinks, food and a good time. And an interesting motorbike ride there and home, with me, Jordie and the driver all crammed onto on motorbike that could barely fit two people!

I did take a trip out to Halong Bay though, which was amazing and well worth it. Ha Long Bay has an area of around 1,553 km², including 1,960 islets, most of which are limestone, which makes it a pretty amazing sight to see.

We did a two day cruise which literally involved getting on a boat, chilling out on the top of the boat, taking in the breathtaking scenery, kayaking around the limestone peaks and then enjoying a few cold beers as the sun went down over the water. It was pretty special!

After the cruise though it was back to Hanoi for a day, then headed to Bangkok. Thailand, my last country before I head home!