Vietnam 1

November 14^th 1993

GOODMORNING VIETNAM!

Woke up quit early – had a cold shower – it’s extremely warm here – got dressed & went down to the post office. There were letters waiting for us. Then we brought them with us up to Queen’s café to read them while we had breakfast. We also wanted to know if we could rent a room there instead of the hotel – it would be a bit less expensive. They told us they didn’t have one but we were welcome to check the situation out later. Then we went sightseeing – found silk in Hang Gai Street & lots of Tintin t-shirts (this is old French colony – though Tintin is from Belgium). We walked over to Darling café to eat dinner with Marika & Kaj (from Finland) & when we were there the phone rang – it was for me!  ???? – It was the owner of Queen’s café – he told us they had a room for us from tomorrow. (Do I need to tell you that there wasn’t that many tourists in Hanoi in these days & that I might had been easy to spot being tall – 5’8) We laughed & celebrated the whole incident by drinking a few beers at the Tintin café. We tried the Halida beer (It’s a beer brewed with help from Danish technology HA-noi LI-cence DA-nmark – this is the Danish help to a 3rd world country)

November 15^th 1993

Today we moved – away from the karaoke bar – right into the laundry room at Queens. A bit damped – but it doesn’t matter – we’ll only be here while sleeping.

Then we found a bank to cash some travelers checks – we came before they had open & outside the front door was a couple of huge bags with money laying. So heavy that nobody could run away with them – we had a laugh over that. Later at Darling café we met a couple of “Aussie” guys who wanted to buy our very used South East Asia Lonely Planet book – they were going to China & needed a few tips & ideas. (We got plenty) They had to our luck plenty of info on Cambodia. Told them to meet us later. Then we walked down to the train station to buy some soft seat tickets to Hue. (There are so many ways of traveling here – Hard Seats – they’re hard wooden benches – Soft Seats – nice comfy seats - Hard Sleepers – I haven’t tried that & Soft Sleeper tried that 2 years later) Then we went shopping - silk inner sheets – t-shirts & silk for something nice to sew later.

Then we went over to Darling to wait for Chris & “Mel Gipson” (I never got to know his real name but he looked like Mel in a younger version) “Mel” had giardia & was extremely ill. But they got our book & all the info we’d written in the book explained. We also met a British couple Ann & James who also been in Phnom Penh & decided together with then all to go see “Uncle Ho” tomorrow.

November 16^th 1993

Got up early – had a shower & packed our belongings & left the cotton inner sheets & a few other things – incl. the extra back we had carried around for so long. Then we took a cyclo (it’s a bike taxi where a skinny man is pedaling through the traffic with you in a seat in the front) out to see the mausoleum where Ho Chi Minh is placed. 

We were to go in 2 by 2 – in this ice-cold room where this tiny little man is placed in a glass coffin – like Snow White. Awesome!

Out again we walked over to the Ho Chi Minh museum – it was so weird. A lot of loud music – loads of propaganda & huge mirrors reflecting guns & colored light in psychedelic shapes. Not a bit Vietnamese – bet the French had something to do with that.

A bit confused we got out & walked over to the G.P.O. to collect the last letters & then over to Darling to say goodbye to the others & home to Queens to get our backpacks & explain to the staff that they could keep our cotton sheets & shampoos & old socks. They were happy – so was I.

Took 2 cyclos down to the train station – my cyclo driver had a race with another driver who drove a guy (he might be German) – Now we are here in the train – the guy I sit next to got a puppy dog & I asked if he was going to eat it – No way he was – he loves it – I hope he means it. Everybody was nice & friendly & try to speak English.

Around 9:30am people start moving around – we had tried to sleep – it was a bit tough – (the seats are build for tiny little Vietnams & had a hole with bamboo net some where on my lower back – for someone small it must have been nice having it up around the shoulders). We were in Hue!

November 17^th 1993

The guys helped me out with my backpacks – I felt honored being tall & blondish. The “German” turned out to be Bruce from Canada & together we all walked up Le Loi Street to hotel Morin – an oranges painted hotel – huge & ragged. We got a dorm room with 4 beds & mosquitoes nets. NEAT!

Then we went sightseeing. It’s a lovely little town – very close to the old DMZ. (The Demilitarized Zone – where a lot of the fighting between the Americans & the communistic North Vietnam took place.) It was a line before the Americans moved in for the Republic of Vietnam (south) & the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (north) – but under the Vietnam War there was a lot of bombings & dumping Acid up here. (More on that later) 

We were starving & found 2 well-known restaurants (among Backpackers) – Banh Khoai Thuong Tu & Lac Thanh - over on the other side of the Perfume River in the old city. (I don’t know why it’s called that – it doesn’t smell of perfume at all) It’s a family of deaf & mute & miniature people.  (They’re not dwarfs – just never grown up to more than 3 1/2  feet) A lot of “interesting” things is happening up here in this area. The food was great - & happy we walked over to see the Purple Forbidden City where the Emperor used to live. It’s almost destroyed under the war & is now used for vegetable gardens but the walls remains. There are huge beautiful butterflies & dragonflies everywhere – hardly any birds. Walked over to the new city (where we live) & found a monastery with young monks – gave them 10000 Dongs & they showed us around. (1$ = 10,850 Dong)

Here are kids everywhere & they all ask you the same almost one long question: “Hello-how-are-you? Where-do-you-come-from? What’s-your-name? Can-I-have-a-pen?” They all collect pens!

When we got home – we had gotten a roommate! Graeme [Graham] from New Zealand he was a good sport & ready to go out & eat & drink some Huda beer (another joined adventure between Denmark & Vietnam beer) We all booked a trip up to the DMZ for tomorrow & ate at the hotel restaurant – cause the rain had started.

November 18^th 1993

It was pitch dark when we got up & dressed & walked over to the Lac Thanh restaurant at 06:00 to catch the bus – Vietnamese people got other time tables than we do – cause the bus didn’t show up until 07:30 & we could head north. First we drove up to Khe Sanh where some really bloody battles had taken place – now it was a huge area with red dust & hardly any vegetation – the land can’t be used – cause there are still un-exploded shells in the grounds & people up here are constantly digging for metal pieces they can sell - & they offer you “dog tags” & rusty old Zippo lighters with inscriptions like: “I’m sure I’ll go to heaven cause I’d spend my life in hell” & other joyful memories on. It was also here the Americans dumped agent Orange / white etc. to make the rain forest die so they could see where the Vi! et Congs were hiding – The rain forest never came back – only little bushes & tiny little trees - & the farmers use their soil for plants & their children gets deceases & are born with deformities – it’s heart breaking!

 Then we drove over to see the sad remains of a bridge – Hien Luong Bridge - which was bombed like any other bridge was up here in these days & then we drove up north east to the Vinh Moc tunnels – On the way the dirt road was blocked by a bamboo stick & some local “Mafia Boss” had decided to demand 20000 dong for us to pay before our bus could pas – NOWAY! We jumped out of the bus & jumped over the poor bamboo stick & decided to walk the last kilometers – the bus driver would try to find another route. Our tour wasn’t that pleasant – we had to walk trough a village & we had the entire village children running after us. (They might have been sons & daughters of the bamboo stick man) They we nasty & rude & spitted at us & screamed – No pens here monster kids! O!  At the tunnels Annemette – Bruce & Graeme went under ground – I stayed up talking sign language with some more normal looking & acting children – we had great fun! And they deserved the pens they got!

I watched the great South China Sea  & enjoyed that I didn’t have to live my life in the tunnels – like the poor people who use to live in the village Vinh Moc did after digging these tunnels for 18 month .1200 persons lived under ground while the war was taken place just about them. The adults would go out fishing & get other food from outsiders by bike or boat.

Then we left the Ocean & drove over to the Lao border. We saw another battlefield on the way & the holes in the ground was full of boot soles & belt buckles.

Then we finally drove back to Hue – (I don’t know if one becomes a better person seeing all these terrible things – but I learns to appreciate the life I got home where I live.) We had to drink the whole day down with a beer when we got back to Morin Hotel.

November 19^th 1993

Left Hue & Graeme in the early morning hours – Bruce – Annemette & I had rented a car with a driver & his wife – to take us over the Mountains down to Hoi An. It’s a wonderful day – the sun is shinning – the skies are clear blue & the view is stunning. Up at the mountain pass it was misty & wet & we saw some busses with flat tires. But down here just north of Hoi An we can see the endless beaches. We ate at a restaurant owned by a family – with a very business minded daughter. For some reason it’s always the women who works & they work hard. Just outside Danang we too had a flat tire – enjoyed the suburbia area while we got a new one on. A after an hour we were on the road again. Said goodbye to the car owners in the yard of hotel Hoi An it’s a nice big hotel with an extra small house full of small dorm rooms. ! We got a 3 bed - room for 9$

November 20^th 1993

We spend the day at the beach – rented bikes & drove down to an endless & totally empty “bounty beach” – small boats & huts & a bluish green ocean. Bruce needed some time away from us & rented a moped to go check the Marble Mountains out. After our sun bathing we walked home with our bikes & sat in the garden & drank a beer when Brucieboy came back – he has had a very exhausting tour – couldn’t start the darn bike – it took a while before he realized he had to turn the key. (He’s a good laugh & we love him – he’s like a puppy dog)

We met some girls who lives next door – they are Karen (from Canada) – Fiona (from Scotland) – Beatrice (from Switzerland) & Ulrike (from Sweden) Bruce is the only guy -!!!

We all went out to eat – seafood – yummy!

November 21^st 1993

We had breakfast in a super restaurant  - then the rain surprised us – we had wanted to go sightseeing – instead we went down to the local market – where a bunch of giggling girls convinced us – they wanted to sew us a traditional Vietnamese woman everyday out fit. Okay – (I could always use it to sleep in it looks like a night outfit) – I wanted a black suit & Annemette a black pants & a lilac top. We could pick it up later. We were on our way “home” but met Karen & Fiona on the way & brought them back to the market – where they also wanted to have something made. Karen drew a dress – she really wanted them to do.

Then we ate at a restaurant where a nephew was visiting from Atlanta /Georgia – he had been boat refugee when he was 12 – It was interesting to listen to him. Then we left & found an art gallery & bought some hand painted silk ties & then it was time to pick up our clothes – for some reason I got a suit exactly like Annemette’s – well - I’ll never use it anyway so – it didn’t matter.

Home at the Dorm house we sat & talked outside – I met a guy (from Scotland) who couldn’t get a room  - cause there wasn’t any left – but I asked him if he minded to share a room with 2 girls – Oddly  – he didn’t  & he moved into Bea’s & Ulrika’s room – they had an extra bed & should now pay less for the room . We all went out to eat seafood - & had a great time.

Tomorrow we’re going to Nha Trang in a minibus.