Tuesday April 14th
Waking up early, we attended the dawn Tai Chi session on the upper deck. Jasmine, one of the cruise attendants, led the session, dressed in beautiful white silk pyjamas. Soft music tinkled in the background and that, and the stunning scenery, made it all seem a little surreal. There were 2 minor issues:
Firstly, I tended to do the opposite of what everyone else was doing. Jasmine stood in front of the small class and, instead of doing the mirror image of her movements, I was copying them anatomically - if she raised her left arm, I raised my left arm etc. Consequently, I moved the opposite way to everyone else, until being corrected.
Secondly, an American chap appeared with one of those new fangled camera gadgets - basically a lens on a stick which he whirled round, some brilliant technology later assembling the hundreds of images into 1 picture. Very clever but exceedingly annoying, as he neither asked permission to film us nor participated in the class. Even Jasmine looked a little irritated. We had seen someone else using the gadget on our bike trip the day before. R nicknamed them 'knob sticks' as that was what they looked like, a knob on a stick - however, I'm not entirely sure that that was his reasoning!
Feeling suitably calm, we headed to the dining room to run the gauntlet of breakfast. This time, I took some of my well-travelled GF bread with me (which fascinated Darwin) and had it with beans. It was perfect and just enough.
After breakfast, a small boat took us back to Cat Ba Island where a bus transported us to Trung Trang Cave. Trung Trang is one of the largest caves on the island and, provided you don't mind climbing a lot of steps, is well worth a visit. I'm not sure that our Australian friend with the knee replacement could have managed it! From the roadside entrance, we followed a paved jungle path before climbing the steps up the mountainside to reach the entrance. The views were spectacular.
Formed during the Palaeozoic Era, the cave was discovered in 1938. During the war between 1964-8, it was used as a secret radio base for Naval Command and was known at the time as 'Navy Cave'.
The path through the cave is about 300m long and passes through 3 main chambers. Its stalactites and stalagmites are illuminated by artificial lights - which are also responsible for the plant growth. The plants are also helped along by bat poop - leaf nosed bats used to live in the cave in great numbers, but they are sadly decreasing owing tourists like us. We wondered if it wouldn't be possible to section off one of the chambers solely for the bats.
Some stooping was involved to avoid hitting your head, and we had to crouch down and shuffle through some quite long sections. The ring patterns on the formations was fascinating. A lady cried 'Don't touch!' at me as I pointed out the patterns to R. I explained politely that pointing wasn't touching, and then had to bite my tongue as she used her hand to steady herself along the wall as we descended further. It turned out that she was married to 'knob stick' man!
The stalactite below is supposed to look like a dragon kissing the rock:
Unlike other caves we have visited, these were very warm and humid rather than cool. I'm not sure that they would be suitable for storing cheese like those in the Cheddar Gorge.
Emerging into the sunshine, we took the bus back to the quay and the water taxi back to Mon Cheri. Unbelievably, it was time for brunch! We tried to ignore it, but were forced into the dining room in order to pay our bar tab. It covered the princely amount of 1 cup of coffee for R, which he had before realising that the black Vietnamese coffee provided free with meals was much nicer. I didn't try it but it smelled nicely of vanilla. I dread to think what some people's bills came to - even with Happy Hour!
Whilst in the dining room, Darwin beetled up with a curry and a tofu dish that had been prepared specially to be GF. We were caught and before we knew it, we were sat down tucking in for, fortunately, the last time on board.
We gave Darwin a great review - it wasn't his fault that we're not used to eating our own body weight in food 3 times a day, and he and the chefs tried their very best to look after us. Had I enjoyed seeing Halong Bay? Without a doubt - the swimming and kayaking was something that I will remember for a very long time. Would we do a cruise again? Never in a million years. I know that some people love every minute - indeed, some were there not for the trips out/activities, but just to admire the scenery and eat and drink to their heart's content. It's just not our cup of tea. That, and I don't do very well with regimented timetables and too many people. Still, I think we may have got off lightly - one of the boats that sailed past us was belting out loud music and Karaoke - I still come out in a cold sweat just thinking about it. :O)
We killed the last few minutes on deck, while our cases were being removed, playing with the cards provided. I admired the carved wooden box that the deck was kept in and thought it might make a nice souvenir if we managed to find a similar one. We then disembarked and a water taxi took us to the port, where a Grab car took us to The Mango Hotel. Here, we checked in for the sleeper train and left our luggage, before heading out to explore.
Having a few hours to kill before our train to Hue, we Googled 'bronze souvenirs' and took a car to the recommended Craft Village. Unfortunately, Google let us down. The craft village was just the workshops where the statues are made and were not open to the public. We discovered this only after we tried to enter and were sent scuttling back out by some fierce sounding dogs. I like a souvenir as much as the next person, but I wasn't risking rabies shots! The sign outside gave the address of the showroom and, as it was quite near, we set off to look for it. Sadly, the showroom had nothing to interest us, so we took a car to the old quarter and pottered round the shops. Walking along the river there were dragonflies galore. By happy chance, we found a carved wooden box, like the one used to store the playing cards onboard, and bought both it and a new deck. I often pack some cards when we're travelling but had forgotten to add them to my list this time.
Back at the Mango Hotel, R had a beer and we wondered whether we should have had something to eat before our journey. The sleeper train was scheduled for 7:45pm and would arrive at Hue at 9:15 the following morning. I had a few GF snacks in my rucksack which I hoped would be enough to keep me going.
Eventually, a member of staff led us through the hotel to the railway station behind and across the tracks to our waiting train.
We were berths 1 and 2 in Carriage 6. R had assumed when he booked that we would have the little room to ourselves. When we arrived, however, berths 3 and 4 were already occupied by a young couple. R made it blatantly obvious that he hadn't expected them to be there and kept apologising to me. I wasn't at all phased, Sam and Charlene seemed like a nice couple, and they had been allocated the top bunks so we wouldn't have to do any climbing up and down. As Sam pointed out - we would probably be the best of friends by the following morning ........ or the worst of enemies! :O)
Snacks and drinks were provided, there was a loo and wash basin just next to our carriage, and our berth mates were lovely and quiet - they seemed happy to play on their phones for the duration. I had only been on a sleeper train once before in Thailand. I loved it then and I loved it again now. We managed to view 'Train Street' from the train's perspective, I read my book, ate a few snacks and then R and I played gin rummy with our new deck of cards. Finally, with the motion of the train rocking us, I had a brilliant night's sleep.
Waking quite early, I did a bit of sock knitting while watching the sun rise over the mist. Then, we quietly got our stuff together, ready for our stop. Sam and Charlene were carrying on to Da Nang, so continued to sleep. Eventually, a guard knocked on the door and informed us that the train would stop in Hue in 5 minutes. We collected our bags, said a quiet goodbye, and thank you for being such lovely travelling companions, and stepped out into Hue (pronounced Hway), my favourite city of our holiday.
Taxi drivers immediately started pestering us. Despite being Grab cars, if they can get you to agree to a ride without using the Grab App, the fare is much more expensive. I could understand their eagerness, but got a bit cross when they started standing far too close and reading R's phone over his shoulder. R could have been doing anything - talking to our girls on Whats App, online banking etc. and it seemed a gross invasion of privacy. We walked further away but they followed us closely, trying to take the phone from R to see where we wanted to go. Eventually, R had to tell them quite firmly that we weren't interested, and we then used the App to call a car to our hotel.
At The Indochine Hotel, we were again greeted with welcome drinks and given a map showing recommended places to visit. The staff were lovely and helpful. Our suite was very nice too, with a balcony overlooking a sweet model village and a comfortable bed. The Vietnamese seem strangers to a bathroom wall and the tub sat at one end of the bedroom. Luckily, the loo and shower were in separate cubicles.
Being a little peckish (after the cruise, I never thought I would be hungry again!), we used the Happy Cow App and set off into the sunshine in search of brunch. The An Nhi restaurant (meaning Scent of the Motherland) provided us with spring rolls, aubergine with ginger and fried tofu with mushrooms. R loved the mushrooms but I found them a tad chewy. I had another mango smoothie and R another frogspawn juice!
Afterwards, we crossed the Perfume River and headed for the Imperial City. How the river got its name is debatable. Some claim that it derives from the orchard flowers that cover the waterway in the autumn, giving off a delightful aroma. Others, that the name originated from the nice scent that arose when locals poured herbed water into the river during a festival.
The Imperial City is a UNESCO World Heritage site spanning 520 hectares. Serving as the political and cultural heart of Vietnam from 1802-1945, it is fortified with massive walls and moats. The American (Vietnam) War caused a lot of damage to it and few of the significant buildings survived. They are slowly being restored. Entering through an impressive main gate, the vast grounds contain palaces, temples and pavilions. The Forbidden Purple City was once the Emperor's private quarters.
We fed the fish, listened to music and walked around the Emperor's Palace. It was lovely but very hot and humid. Stopping for some iced tea, we admired the lily ponds, stone lanterns, and bonsai trees. Also, the typical Vietnamese conical hats being used as lightshades in the cafe!
Banana blossom salad, vegetable curry and soy 'chicken' noodles hit the spot nicely. I had a fabulous ginger tea, and R plumped for another beer. We shared a scoop of chocolate ice-cream for dessert.
The staff at the hotel had marked 3 streets on our little map as being good for souvenirs. After eating our fill, we set off to explore them. The traffic here was much quieter than in Hanoi and the roads far easier to cross. We found a stall selling hand carved wooden items and took a fancy to a Vietnamese dragon. Thinking we might find a bronze version elsewhere, we left it at that point, but changed our mind and returned the following night to buy it. We also bought bamboo noodle bowls for the girls, a carved incense box and a fan to move the humid air around!
R was flagging slightly at this point so, after a stop for another drink, we headed back to the hotel. Here we played 'hunt the light', trying to work out which turned off the main bedroom light from the myriad of switches by the bed!
Thursday April 16th
Woken abruptly by R shouting 'Are you awake?' down my ear. Followed by a 5 minute tirade about how he had a mouth like a dry sock, had downed our 1 bottle of water during the night and then, not wanting to wake me up fiddling with the numerous light switches, had gone to the loo using the torch setting on his phone - there's a mental image for you! He then spent the next 10 minutes flicking light switches on and off trying to work them out. The strobing effect woke me up completely and I got up to retrieve the spare water bottle from the rucksack, handing it to him with a sarcastic comment about having always loved a sound and light show in the morning!
Breakfast was good, with a separate gluten free section. I got so overly excited at the prospect of GF waffles, that it wasn't until I'd tucked in that I realised that they weren't vegan. They were lovely! :O)
I also got a bit lost in the dining room. The food was arranged on 3 sides of a square, the 4th being part of the kitchen. Having noticed the jug of soya milk at one corner of the square, I filled my tea cup at the opposite corner and then tried to cut through to the soya milk along the back, thereby finding myself in the kitchen area. A lovely member of staff was forced to rescue a perplexed looking English woman, who was turning in circles whilst clutching a cup of tea and emitting high squeaking noises. I did offer to help with the washing up whilst I was back there!
Tu Duc Tomb was the first destination of the day. A beautiful, royal mausoleum, the final resting place of Emperor Tu Duc, with serene landscapes reflecting the Emperor's poetic sensibilities, a lake, pavilion and theatre.
Breadfruit:
We fed the fish again!
I don't know if these women always dress like this, if they were employed to look graceful, or were part of a photoshoot:
I enjoyed spotting the paw prints embedded in a floor tile:
After cooling down with another iced tea in a shaded cafe, we walked back to the Incense Village that we had passed through on the way.
Bamboo used to make the incense sticks formed a colourful display:
A lady gave us a quick demonstration of incense making. A bamboo stick is rolled in a combination of sawdust, glue and cinnamon. Then, using a paddle, it is spread out evenly along the stick and rolled in more cinnamon. She then allowed me to have a turn. It was good fun but mine was distinctly uneven - R said it showed great enthusiasm! Other scents were available, including lemongrass. patchouli, fennel, jasmine and sandalwood. My stick was packed separately as it still needed to dry. We bought more incense for the girls, along with a couple of windchimes.
Leaving the incense village, we headed on to the Thien Mu Pagoda, a 7 storey temple that sits on top of Ha Khe Hill, overlooking Perfume River.
Then it was back to the hotel for a swim to cool down. I took a photo of the Bird of Paradise plant in Reception just because my mum had a plastic version of one when I was a child. The first time R came to visit, he accidentally knocked it over and was mortified until he realised that it wasn't real!
The water in the pool was beautifully warm and, after doing my usual lengths, we ordered fries and mango juice and lay in the shade for a while.
Suitably refreshed, we headed for Dong Ba market. The rolling thunder added to the frenetic nature, and a light but warm rain began to fall. I needed the loo, so we left and popped into a local Coop Mart. Here, for the princely sum of 62p, I bought a chopper with a crinkle cut edge, which again reminded me of my mum. I can still see her using it to chop cabbage in a pan. I made a Massaman curry yesterday for dinner and it included some very fancily cut carrots!
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| Durian for sale: |
We then took a dragon boat ride on the river. Initially, it was just the 2 of us, but halfway along we picked up more passengers. My favourite bit wasn't the posh bit of the city, but rather the downstream part which wound past people's houses and gardens. Women were doing their washing and preparing dinner, whilst the men fished. I was so enchanted by the sight of 3 children happily washing each other's hair in the river that I forgot to take a picture.
The simple, corrugated iron shacks, optimistically decorated with lanterns, touched my heart.
After disembarking, we returned to the same restaurant as on the previous night and enjoyed a supper of green mango salad, tofu with lemongrass and chill and soya 'chicken' fried rice. There may have been more ginger tea, beer and chocolate ice-cream too!
After eating, we returned to the shop with the wooden carvings that we had explored on the previous evening and bought the carved wooden dragon. It was relatively cheap anyway but I do normally love a good haggle. As we left, R enquired why I hadn't negotiated the price. I explained that it was the thought of those humble riverside shacks that had stopped me.
The dragon (named Hugh, after the the spelling of the city name) now sits among my collection of Snake plants. We saw them growing everywhere in Vietnam, so I thought they would make him feel at home!
Vietnam part 4 will follow shortly.
Toodle pip for now. x
