Southern ventures and beyond

We spent a couple days exploring as much of Ho Chi Minh that we could handle; this is really a huge and happening city. Of the many colorful (or perhaps totally insane) markets here we have visited the Ben Than market a few times. This is a massive indoor market selling absolutely anything you could bring to mind. Sections of the market are dedicated to, for example, the latest fashion jeans and shiny pumps, to raw meat and green tea, or to the colossal heap of fabric, marble, and wood trinkets. We wandered the streets filled with food vendors, cafes, and literally over a million motorbikes zooming around. We were also impressed by the cleanliness of the streets, the big green parks, and massive old growth trees around the city.


As tradition to our northern adventure, we decided to find a 125cc moto that would take us around the backroads of the Mekong delta and beyond. This time, however, there were no saddlebags, and our raybans weren't new anymore- they were badly duct-taped together. For the nine days we packed only the essentials into two small bags, one which rode between my legs and one which hung from Laurens shoulders. 60km of not-so-pleasant crowded industrial roads led us out of the City and into the snaking roads, rivers, and canals of the Mekong. The Mekong River originates high in the Tibetan plateau and flows 4500km to Vietnam in two main branches, where it then branches and spits out an infinite amount of small brown canals. This marshy landscape is responsible for producing Vietnams 'rice basket,' which yields more than enough rice for the nation's entire population. Besides endless rice paddies the delta is also home to fish farms and produces sugarcane, a variety of fruit, and heaps of coconut. 'Beautiful' does not capture the image of motorbiking through this landscape. We passed through scenic rice fields with sleepy agrarian villages and worked our way across the maze of waterways on dodgy wooden bridges and on the hysterical ferry system. To get on a ferry we paid anywhere between 10-35 cents and rode (jammed) our moto into a kind of cell block with often a couple hundred other motos and pedestrians, slammed knee to knee. We would wait in this cell for usually five to ten minutes- full of exhaust and cigarette smoke- until the chaos of battling to the front of the mob to try and earn your spot on the ferry (or else you wait for the next boat- common). The rusty ferry shuttles the hoards across the river in similar tight quarters, but sometimes with a breeze. As with many other ventures we take on, it was apparent that not many westerners take these local ferries. Streaking across a college campus doesn't attract half as many stares.

In one of the first towns we stopped in, My Tho, we hired a local boatman to show us some sights around the area. Besides boating deep into some of the canals, he took us to an island to enjoy fresh honey tea, pungent banana wine, and some exotic fruits. On a different island we went to a small factory producing coconut candy, one of our favorite candies here. Here we saw the warm coconut goop being stirred, chopped, wrapped... ect. Our first night was spent in nearby Ben Tre, a small island village with a pretty waterfront. We slept in a hotel run by the communist party, where we had to fill out more extensive papers that get sent to the government and the rooms were dingy.

A gorgeous day of driving brought us to Vinh Long, a bigger city, but with access to nice islands and "homestays" across the river. In search of a homestay, we shuttled over the river and rode down a single track muddy road that we thought would only lead us to a crate of chickens. After tentatively riding on we were surprised to find a place that took us in. 'Homestay' is used loosely here- what it actually means is a 'homey' guest house that you have to depend on for food and drinks because you are too stranded to go elsewhere. This particular place had nice lemon and orange orchards, and huts with tables overlooking the river.

The next day we headed out to the west coast of the delta, Rach Gia. The drive was a bit punishing due to the never-ending construction zones in which we were forced onto horrendously bumpy and muddy roads. For too many miles we banged around trying to hold onto our backpacks and keep ourselves from eating dirt. The government, in trying to gain popularity, has embarked on an immense construction project, revamping and building hundreds of roads, bridges, and buildings across the country. The bumpy drive proved well worth it, though, as we found a hotel room with a high balcony on which we could enjoy a few drinks and watch the buzzing of the river/ocean port until the sun went down. The next day we arranged to put us and our motorbike on one of the large hydrofoils that took us about 130 km offshore to Phu Quac island.
Phu Quac- Vietnam's largest island, at 48km long- was our paradise for four nights. The island has a couple main towns with ports and a scattering of small fishing villages. 70% of the island is national park. Phu Quac has amazing landscapes, combining heavily forested mountains that fall sharply down to incredibly beautiful palm lined, white sand beaches. We traveled the island via bumpy red dirt roads that lead from beach to village to mountains to beach... We stayed in a bungalow for four nights complete with hammock and idyllic waterfront. We also had a Kiwi neighbor who had lived in Vietnam with his Vietnamese wife for some time. He was a great source of inside knowledge (like the "mafia" that runs the island). We motored to a few different beaches with perfectly tranquil, turquoise waters. It was such a funny thing to see such beautiful beaches completely deserted; if this beach were somewhere else in the world it would be monopolized on and packed with people. We have found this has actually been kind of a pattern in Vietnam, so I will interrupt the dialogue of our ventures to explain something we've noticed over the last couple months...

It is amazing- for better and for worse- how defined of a tourist track there is here. We are impressed at how many tourists come here and how little they sometimes see. Westerners come here on a couple-week whirlwind trip and see just the "spots"... Hanoi, Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang, Saigon. And the problem is that tourists often don't even see these areas properly. Tours and guides are extremely common- rarely people venture out on their own. Furthermore, these tours often do an incredibly poor job at giving you a proper experience. One problem is that the tours all take you to the same places which are heavily fabricated and designed to fit what they think westerners will want (remember our colorful fluorescent lights in the Halong Bay cave?). Also, guides get commission for taking you to these certain areas- so they are all in partnership taking you to hoaxy places rather than the deserted, beautiful spot just 5km away. Vietnam has an incredibly clear line between local and tourist. For example, in Saigon, we can walk down one street lined with pricey gifts and souvenirs and restaurants and cafe's neatly designed for tourists, selling meals for $3-6. The next street will be full of street vendors, food carts, and local restaurants: a light blue, high ceiling room with small, colorful plastic chairs and tables, and on top of the tables a platter containing chopsticks, toilet paper (napkin), soy sauce, hot sauce, and toothpicks (essential for picking out hunks of meat from your teeth). We don't see too many tourists in the local spots. We realize that every country has tourism and the effects of tourism, but we've noticed that the impact has been stronger here than any other country we've seen or known about. In short, by traveling deluxe and by tour in Vietnam, many people have a serious disconnect with what this country is all about- much more than in other countries.


There is one other (somewhat dangerous) generalization that we will blog about here that deals with this issue of tourism and the impact it has had on the people. The entrance of wealthy tourism into a large population of poor Vietnamese people has had some bad effects, and again, more than in other nations we've experienced. We've noticed that Vietnamese people have taken huge advantage of this tourism and gotten fierce to rip off tourists. In a touristy area, it is so rare to have an interaction with Vietnamese people that is not centered around them trying to get our money. And in the places off the tourist track we have found that people are incredibly wonderful and absolutely genuine- they care so much about meeting us and taking care of us, never charging a penny more than something is worth. The more touristy the area, the nastier it gets... and it can get nasty. In a local market of the Mekong Delta we could buy a clump of 15 big bananas for 15 cents, in Nha Trang they want $2 for those same bananas. There is an important distinction that should be made. We do feel that the Vietnamese people, more than other nations' peoples, have largely exaggerated this cut-throat, money-ripping problem. However, this is tricky because it is us, the tourists, that are causing this problem. We couldn't rightly blame Vietnamese people because it our own infliction. And moreover, while Lauren and I feel so privileged and happy to see the backroads of this country, we cringe when thinking about the fact that we could be encouraging the sort of tourism in these pristine areas that has such bad effects. While it would be great to have people seeing the beautiful, local areas of the country, might that lead to an erosion of the original beauty? Lastly, it's important to keep in mind that this is a huge generalization and I don't mean to sound pessimistic. Even in big cities we have still met wonderful people and, in general, the Vietnamese are colorful and interesting to get to know. The men especially are quite a goofy and erratic group.


Anyways... back to paradise. Phu Quac tanned our skin and morals as we lounged around eating fresh fruit and grilled fish. We also took a day-long snorkeling trip on a boat that toured us lazily around the small islands and floating villages south of Phu Quac. We loaded back onto the hydrofoil with our motobike and shipped back to Rach Gia, and then set off for the Mekong Delta's capital, Can Tho. This was a big city with a nice waterfront, full of women vending grilled corn and jumbo coconut-sesame crackers. The next morning we drove 8km to the Delta's largest 'floating market.' We hired a man with a small wooden boat to show us this eye-opening scene, which took place on a large river branch. Several hundred boats stuffed full of produce, ranging in size from five to seventy-five feet, swarmed around like ants buying and selling. Larger boats bore a long mast upwards, skewered with the different products they were selling. After the market, we began the long journey all the way back to Saigon.

We've had the last couple days to further explore and enjoy this massive city. One of the most significant things we did was go to the War Remnants Museum. This was an incredibly well-done exhibit, and certainly one of the most emotional we've ever seen. There are hundreds of vivid and honest pictures taken from the front line, and the museum captures the narrative and sentiment of the war extraordinarily well. There is also an extensive array of machinery used during the war, including planes, tanks, helicopters, bombs, weaponry...ect. A section on the use of Agent Orange included photographs of the terrifying mutative effects (including fetuses in bottles). Throughout the museum were narratives from soldiers, civilians, and reporters which helped to convey the brutality of the war.

Our last couple nights have been spent drinking Bia Hoi under thunder storms and befriending locals through meals and dominos. Tonight we are headed for the airport to return home- both a sad and exciting time. Stay tuned for a heap of photos to come in the next couple days.

J & L

Mountains and beaches

After a well-spent 5 days in Hoi An we have continued down south. Our first stop along the way was Nha Trang. We took a 12 hour, overnight "sleeper bus" from Hoi An to Na Trang and arrived just in time to watch the sun rise over the ocean. Because it was a Sunday the beaches were buzzing at 5:30 am with locals. It was amazing to watch hundreds of people up and going so early. There were badmitten games going on, tai chi, hacky sack, joggers, and swimmers. Na Trang is known for its nice beaches. It's possible to rent a lawn chair and cabana for the day and get up only to cool off in the water. Venders walk up and down the beach selling fresh fruit, lobster, donuts, and sunglasses. What more could one really want? We got the opportunity to tag along with a dive boat and do some snorkling. It was by far some of the best coral we've seen. While in the water we heard two huge bangs that seemed to shake us. We asked our guide what they were and he explained that a ways out local fishermen practice dynamite fishing. It is very common in the area and one of the reasons there are few larger fish to be seen.


From Na Trang we headed up to the mountain town of Dalat. Dalat is often compared to spring time in the Swiss Alps and is the number one town for Vietnamese honeymooners. Suprisingly, it actually lived up to its reputation and proved to be some of the most beautiful landscape we've seen. Because of the temperate climate, it is perfect for agriculture and especially the flower industry. The hills surrounding Dalat are white with greenhouses, each growing a specific flower. With these flowers women make huge flower shields and baskets which are used locally as well as sent to other cities in Vietnam. These shields are especially popular at weddings. We rented a motobike to explore the land further and got the opportunity to visit a traditional silk factory. There were thousands of silk worms, and women worked each cacoon into a single thread, which got coiled and later made into thicker strands for weaving. One silk worm makes a thin, single strand of silk about 800 meters long.

Dalat also has a gondola that you can ride over the town and into the hills to a temple. It offered us amazing views of the area and really completed that Alps feel. One of the best parts about Dalat was the night time activity. In the evening the streets fill with venders. Women carry a wooden pole over their shoulder, each end of the pole with a huge basket filled with anything from bananas to hot pots of broth. After carrying this hard pole on their shoulder, often loaded with 50lbs or more, over a long distance, they pick a spot, set up some miniture plastic chairs (which are everywhere and definatly our most used means for sitting) and start selling. These women were everywhere in Dalat. Specitalities included Banh Bao (rice flour dumplings filled with meats, eggs, and vegetables) and Sua (fresh made soy milk that comes in a variety of flavors including chocolate/peanut). It was easy to be stuffed by the end of the evening for about one dollar without ever having to look at a menu or go inside a cafe.



After Dalat we headed back to the beach to a town called Mui Ne. Known for its surfable waves and endless sand dunes Mui Ne has become somewhat of a resort town. We found ourselves at a nice guesthouse with a pool and ocean views. We spent our days relaxing on the beach and diving through (and gettimg plummeted by) enormous waves. We also made our way to the Red sand dunes where we spent hours running up and down the largely deserted, beautiful rolling dunes, only returning to our guest house to enjoy a sunset beer.

From Mui Ne we shuttled to the famous southern destination: the former Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City. This city, similar in certain ways to Hanoi, seems like a exciting place. After exploring here for a bit we will explore the Mekong Delta on a moto.

J & L

And then there was rain...

Since our last uptdate we said our farewells to Hanoi and the north and have been making our way down the coast. Another overnight sleeper train brought us to Dong Hoi, a less touristy costal town with a river running through it. During dinner one night we noticed a table of vietnamese men toasting over and over and we decided to join in for one, and then another, and another, and another.... We were in over our heads. No matter how hard we resisted the men forced beer in our glasses and we then had to go bottoms up everytime. Through heavy drinking and gesturing, hand-shaking, and paper-napkin drawing the men communicated peace between our nations. In an attempt to express peace, one man said to me: "I love you i want to kiss you!"

From Dong Hoi we traveled down to Hue, a city full of art and architecture. We arrived to pouring rain and were told we could not go to our area of choice as it was knee deep in water. After the rain let up, we spent the next couple days biking around to historical sights. We visited many important and beautiful citadels and temples, as well as war sights and memorials. Over half of the people from Hue live within a Citadel, built next to the river. Part of an interior citadel was ruined during the war but efforts are being made to rebuild the beauitful walls.

A short bus ride from Hue took us to Hoi An. Hoi An has become a rather touristy town due to its beautiful and ancient buildings. It has also become a huge market place and it is hard to go half a block without seeing beautiful lanterns for sale or being asked if you would like a tailor made suit. It's hard to pass up the option of getting clothes of your liking made to measure, especially seeing as every block has at least a dozen different tailor shops. We arrived in Hoi An to rain, which continued for 3 days. During this time the river, which splits the town, flooded the riverside roads and some cafes. Though some streets had at least a foot of water, everyday business did not stop. We got used to dragging our pedals through the river-filled streets as we biked from place to place. To be cliche, think about the rain, rain, and more rain in Forest Gump scene. Big and heavy rain drops, hard windy rain, or sheets of water coming from the sky. The center of Hoi Ann is known as Old Town which in which only primitive traffic is allowed. The streets here are lined with beautiful old yellow buildings with dark wooden buttressing as well as colorful fabrics and foods. On the fourth day the rain was gone and we scootered up the coast- along the 30km long white sands of China Beach- to Marble mountain. This was a beautiful outcroped mountain of craggy limestone, marble, and jungle. We ventured through various caves and passageways, arriving at temples, pagodas, and shrines. At the base of marble mountain are dozens upon dozens of hand-carved marble shops selling hundreds of beautifully carved items in every shape, size, and color. We were able to empty our wallets here quite easily. Another day and a half were easily spent swimming in the waves and soaking up the sun on Cau Dai beach just outside of Hoi An. Under the palms of the beach were women selling cold beer, coconuts, and anything else you could possible want during a day at the beach.

Having spent many days in Hoi An, we decided it was time to move further town the coast to a beach town, Na Trang. We took a 12 hour overnight "sleeper" bus. (Each person was given a skinny bed that nearly fully reclined and a blanket for the journey.) We arrived to rain (of course) but can tell this town should be interesting.

Travels up north

With a set of saddle bags, three maps, and a new 4$ pair of rayban sunglasses we set off on our Honda motobike to explore the less beaten trails of the north. We opted for a little more engine and upgrated to a 125cc; think scooter, not motorcycle. And for those who were worried, yes, we wore helmets as it is a national law, enforced by fines and confiscation of one's bike for two months. For the first 100km we suffered through the pollution and gritty roads that surround Hanoi until we reached the beautiful mountain roads we set off for. We stopped for a night 180km directly north in Bac Kan, and the next day rode a bit shorter to Ba Be Naitonal Park. Bypassing the expensive and obnoxious tours, we hired a local to putter us around Ba Be lake in his skinney boat. Surrounding us were stilt villages, caves, and untamed jungles that are denser and deeper than what you could ever imagine. Our third day we drove steeper mountain roads through small agrarian villages and gorgeous scenery, arriving in our northern most destination, Cao Bang. We explored Cao Bang's War memorial, backroads, and markets. The next day was another spectacular drive, southeast, to Lang Son. This town was set among tall, jungly limestone mountains- one of which we almost got lost in walking through a seemingly neverending cave. Finally, on the fifth day we made our way back to Hanoi on more industrial roads to complete our 700km scooter journey.

This trip was special for us due to the lack of tourist development in the North. In the areas we have traveled so far, Vietnam and it's people have picked up on the influx of Westerners- for better and worse. Vietnamese aren't hostile towards tourists, but will often go to great lenghts to get their money. Our relationship with vietnamese people so far have often been based a bit more around haggling, money, and tourism (though there have been exceptions). However, as we escaped tourism up north we were allowed to have much more meaningful relationships with the Vietnamese people and the land.

In Cao Bang, we were adopted by a guy our age. He told us he wanted to take us out for a drink and talk to us, explaining that we were the first foreigners he had ever seen in Cao Bang. He seemed honored that we went out with him, and as hard as i tried to shove my money at the cashier, he would not have it. He explained that in Vietnam, if we are invited for a drink, we do not pay. On our way to Lang Son we stopped at a familys house/restaraunt for a royal lunch. It was clear that this family had never had foreigners in their place before, and they treated us with extreme care and curiousity. As we consumed our soup, coffee, and bread, they hovered and giggled. Again, they refused my tip, charging the bare minimum for the food. And the entire family stood, smiling and waving as we departed on Moss (our moto). These were the type of interactions which were common on our trip north, and completely invaluable.

The land up north is said to be the most beautiful in Vietnam and we could see why. I will omit the impossibe task of describing the scene verbally and try to get out pictures asap. It was clear, though, that motoring eye level at 25mph was the best way to see the landscape.

Things we learned:
1. Every school-aged kid will jump and yell hello as you pass by
2. Smile at people and you will recieve one twice as big
3. When in doubt, always get off the bike, look around, talk to people, and your bound to have an interesting experience

J + L

Trains Motobikes Bia Hoi

One of the best parts about Vietnam is the potential to take the train to pretty much all major destinations. We recently took the train from Hanoi to Sapa, a mountain town in Northwest Vietnam. It is a 9 hour overnight ride to Sapa. You choose between hard seat, soft seat, hard sleeper or soft sleeper, each increasing in price by a few US dollars. We opted for the "hard sleeper" option. Hard sleeper means 6 people per cabin and a small cushion. Not bad really and we got beautiful views of the country in the morning before we arrived in Sapa.

Sapa was a refreshing change from the warm, humid climate of Hanoi. This provience has a few different "ethnic minorties," such as the H'moung people and the Red Zao people. Of the four days that we were there we rented motorbikes for two whole days at 5$/day. This allowed us to travel all around the countryside to differnet villages and meet the various people. One day we were led into a small village of Red Zao people by a younger girl, who also showed us her home and family- it was quite a privledge. While the home was a primitive structure we were impressed by the size of it and by the large halogen light inside. Motoring around also gave us great views of the land: endless rice fields, terraced agriculture, small wooden shacks, and dozens of animals we didn't know existed. Roads were generally good except for a few comic instances. I am not sure that a 100cc moped is built to trugde through two feet of mud (which we almost spilled head first into), cross rivers, or off-road on large bumpy boulders.

After another pleasant sleeper train we've been back exploring Hanoi for the last couple days. We are growing to appreciate the chaos and hustle of this city and have been able to take advantage of it's opportunities. We went to a silly but impressive water puppet show, in which seven puppeteers skillfully control hoards of colorful puppets to depict pastoral scenes and ledgends (in green murky water). Today we visited the prison which held our beloved John McCain. We read all about the horrendous conditions in which the vietnamese prisoners were subject to by French colonialists, compared to the luxeries and comforts that American pilots received while detained. Also recently we discovered the wondorus Bia Hoi. This is a home brewed beer, light in color, free of any preservatives, and sold on the streets out of a keg for twenty cents/large glass. Not that we would want to, but i've heard one can drink themselves under the table for less than two dollars. NICE!!!!

J + L

p.s. Molly and Jon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ha Long Bay

For the past few days Jay and I have been in Ha Long Bay, northeast of Hanoi. We signed onto a tour because we were told it is the easiest and best way to see the bay. Though the tour did allow us to see some things we wouldn't have on our own (beautiful caves that have been spoiled by dreadful blue and green flourescent lighting) it was a typical gringo tour and we were happy to part with the group once we made it to Cat Ba Island, the largest and one of the few inhabited islands in the bay. As Lonely Planet describes it, Cat Ba resembles Jarassic Park, with dense green bush and steep rock cliffs. Because of this there is little agriculture. The main source of income for the locals is fishing. Most of these people have established floating villages throughout the bay, some even with primary schools and places to eat. As a result of the loads of tourism, the bay is polluted with trash and waste water from the tourist boats.

Ha Long Bay is famous largely due it's thousands of spectacular limestone cliffs that tower hundreds of feet out of the water. It is a place of true beauty that cannot be described properly; hopefully we can send some pictures out... After we abandoned our tour we rented a motorbike and cruised along the coast through small villiages and rice patties. We ended up at the public car ferry, primarily used by locals. The ferry looked like a very retired and rusted-over Washington state ferry. Our bike broke down on the way back to town, or so we thought. Turns out you cannot ride on half a tank of gas and our bike quit on us. A local guy came to see what was wrong and immediatly told a woman on a bike something, and she was off to get us petrol. We were told to sit in this man's house with him and his wife and child for a while, soon becoming an attraction to all those who were passing. Finally a water bottle filled with petrol showed up and our bike immediatly started up.

Cat Ba also has some great white sand beaches with clean and warm waters in relax in. The evenings were especially wonderful: at 6pm it became dark and the temperatures cooled. Groups of women came to the waterfront with tables and chairs to sell beer and calamari- a relaxing drink before dinner. To top it off, every evening christmas lights would turn on all over town and around the harbor where we sat.

The following day Jay and I found a guy who started a climbing company on the island. His company takes people all over the bay to do all sorts of climbing, especially deep water soloing. The first day he befriended us and took us on a 5 minute moto ride to a wall right in the middle of a village. He has been setting up a few routes on this wall with some friends. I decided watching was best as the easiest climb was around 5.12b- this is ridiculously hard.

The next day we arranged a boat through his company, SloPony, and went out with another couple to go deep water soloing. We took a wooden junk about 25 minutes into the bay. From there we jumped on a "basket boat"-a small, leaky wooden and tar row boat with a local guy who rowed us to the wall. The basic idea of deep water soloing is that you climb up the huge limestone cliffs and instead of falling onto a rope you fall into the water. The kicker is that how ever high you want to climb, you have to jump down. It was a little hard to get used to, but it was a thrilling and an amazing time. The wall we went to had a huge variety of climbs so we all got to do as much as we could. It is really quite safe as the water is deep and the walls are overhung so there is nothing to hit. Though landing wrong from 45 feet could leave you in some pain. It was quite the experience and definitely opened up a new world to climbing.

Thats all for now. We were waiting out a huge thunderstorm in Hanoi. Tonight we grab an overnight train to the mountainous Northwest part of Vietnam in a village called Sapa. More will follow then and hopefully some pictures when we get a better computer.

J & L

We made it

After 24 hours of traveling we arrived to the Old Quarter of Hanoi in Northern Vietnam. We were led to the overflow house for a certain guest house. Our room was the size of a double mattress, and our bed was certainly smaller than two sets of shoulders. Lauren woke me in the middle of the night asking if she should turn around and put her head by my feet. "Why, are you cramped?" i ask. She explained to me that the left half side of her body was angled up the tile wall. "It's just for a night," I offer.

Walking up and down the streets of Hanoi today has given Lauren and I the realization that we have embarked on a fairly adventurous and humbling trip. We stumble around the streets, surrounded by toads and king cobras, colorful vegetables and raw meat sitting on the sidewalks, and roughly five hundred million billion motorbikes that are constantly honking and veering centimeters from our bodies. We should be able to provide some good stories in the future. Hope you all are well

J & L