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It’s coming into winter here in Vietnam and that means cool weather in the far north where we are now. It is the off-season for tourists in Ha Long City, which has many advantages but one of the disadvantages is the reduction of services because of less demand.

The day didn’t really come together as planned. We had hoped to spend a night on Cat Ba Island, which is a large island about an hour’s ferry ride from the terminal on the mainland. Cat Ba Island is a popular place to visit and has a large national Park. We caught a long taxi ride out to the ferry terminal only to find they only run a few times a day at this time of the year and the next one was booked out. It would mean arriving on Cat Ba Island in late afternoon, then looking for accommodation won’t leave much time for looking around. We decide to forgo Cat Ba Island and try for a short cruise around some of the islands. The taxis were a waste of money.

Because there are less tourists, competition between boats can be fierce and the constant haranguing by the spotters can be overwhelming. That’s the nature or tourism here. Our hotel owner helps by getting us a good deal on a friends boat.

For 4 hours we do a brief look around some of the near islands. Despite having high expectations of what we might see, I was still very impressed. The day is overcast and hazy unfortunately, taking away some of the luster of the extraordinary scenery we experienced.

The first stop is Dau Go island, which has a huge cave. Ha Long Bay islands are nearly pure limestone and rain, which is slightly acidic, can eat away or etch amazing shapes and effects on the outside, or eat away the interior to form caves. This island has the largest cave I’ve ever experienced. I’ve seen limestone caves before so wasn’t expecting to be overly impressed. I was. The shapes and structures inside were stunning. They’ve added coloured lighting to affect the mood of the place and this actually works I thing. It’s beautiful. The ceiling has to be about 40m up. The infrastructure for viewing this cave are impressive too. A lot of work has gone into the construction of stepped trails with hand railing, and lighting. None of this takes away from the natural wonder of this place.

From here we moved onto a small group of islands where we can get off and either canoe or get rowed around in a small bamboo boat. These little boats are rowed forward, which is unusual for us at home but not here. It requires a certain technique. Moored to this group of islands is a small community, complete with floating houses and a school. These are traditionally fisherman who have now found a way to tap into the tourism market. They’re doing very well. We get rowed around to a few caves.

There are about 10 people on our boat. Most are Vietnamese except for a couple from South America, Alex from Germany and me. Alex has taken a year away from his work as an occupational therapist with impaired children to travel. There is a twist though. He is doing his 12-months travel on a pushbike. He’s friends are excited about it but his parents think he’s crazy! From here he plans to ride through Laos and Cambodia, then perhaps Australia. There are a lot of mountainous roads ahead. ‘I love hills’ he says. I hope so!

Left Hanoi for a look at Ha Long Bay this morning. The 4-hour bus ride was possible one of the most uncomfortable I’ve ever endured. A combination of no leg room and rough roads was the problem. No Accommodation was pre organised so it was by luck that we found some economical hotel away from the tourist areas. A stroll along the esplanade at sundown was pretty impressive. Ha Long Bay is famous for it’s many limestone island projections and from Ha Long city on the mainland you can see them through the haze. Tourists flock here and there are all sorts of tours but strangely it is difficult to find a tourist information centre anywhere. People seem to organise things from Hanoi or I suspect certain hotels have travel agencies associated with them. Ours doesn’t but that’s ok.

We hire a bike through our hotel for 150000 dong per day – cheap! Ha Long city is spread out across two peninsulas that are connected by an impressive modern suspension bridge. We cross the bridge to see what’s in the other side and to look for some breakfast. We find a great little street-side eatery. This part of town doesn’t see too many tourists do I’m a bit of a novilty. And again my chop-stick skills are under severe scrutiny! I feel the pressure!

Ha Long Bay is a significant port city and has a busy fishing industry. We’re in the old part here and very Vietnamese. The off-shore views are impressive, despite the scenery being subdued by haze and an overcast sky. The many islands stand vertical in the water and there are hundreds of fishing boats moored just off shore. The wharves are busy. Also in the water are two huge cruise ships. Ha Long Bay filled with these upright limestone islands has become a very popular place for tourists. There are already many huge hotels here but there are many more to come by the amount of construction and development going on.

After lunch we go in the other direction for a look. There is a bridge connecting a small island. Oyster farms are exposed in the low tide. Riding around this island I become gob-smacked by the amount of development going on, including a golf course. Projects that are complete are very un Vietnamese. This would put the Gold Coast to shame.

It’s overcast and hazy now, bringing on the night prematurely. For dinner tonight we find a restaurant not far from our hotel that specialises in seafood. There are many plastic dishes outside at the entrance filled with water and live seafoods including oysters and other shellfish, octopus, fish and worms! The food is great. There ‘a a birthday party going on for a young girl. The kids are typically loud and naughty but hilarious to me. They could be kids anywhere. We get offered a bit of cake, which was a nice gesture by the birthday girl.

We start with a visit to Hoa La Prison Museum. Hoa La prison was built by the French to discipline the masses.
Temple of Literature

First thing to do is to go to visit Uncle Ho (Ho Chi Minh). Close off time is 11am but I’m sure the visit will be slow process.
After breakfast on the way, we get the location and follow the arrows to the end of the line. On this day there is a huge line of people, both tourists and locals. It’s quite a process to get to the mausoleum and it’s all very serious. No cameras or bags allowed so you have to leave them in storage. You line up and slowly work your way through while tv screens show footage of the American War. There are white uniformed guards everywhere making sure nobody steps out of line. Caps and sunglasses off, sensible dress including nothing short of trousers for men, no hands in pockets and no overt lightheartedness! The mausoleum is a fairly brutal piece of architecture as these things usually are, but there is beautiful polished marble everywhere. You wind your way up the stairs and around, constantly under the glare of guards, on a plastic red floor cover. Finally you enter the space in the mausoleum where Hi Chi Minh lies. He’s is in a glass sided crypt. The lighting is weak so it’s quite dark but the air conditioning is turned up so it is overly cool. The line moves continuously around three sides of the crypt. He’s looking very pale as you would expect. He has been dead and preserved for 44 years. He even looks plastic or wax like. Still…there he is.

MORE TO COME!

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
Ho Chi Minh stilt house and presidential palace
Vietnam military history museum
MORE TO WRITE

Visited Ho Chi Minh today but he wasn’t taking any visitors.

The first thing to do when you arrive in the old French Quarter of Hanoi is to walk around Hoan Kiem Lake. It’s a small lake in centre of town that features in Vietnamese myth and is popular today for visitors and locals to relax or exercise. All ages are doing all sorts of things to wash away life’s grinds and slow the aging process. Badminton is popular but so is dancing, tai chi and jogging.

After lunch the aim is to visit Uncle Ho (Ho Chi Minh). Ho Ch Minh is the founder of the new united communist Viet Nam and is revered by many. In died in 1969, six years short of victory in the American War and seeing his dream of a united communist Vietnam come to fruition. He has been immortalised, thanks to the magic of embalming, and to this day lies in state in his own mausoleum here in Hanoi. It is possible to visit him. He is open for visitation on most days from 8-11am, except on Mondays and Fridays. That’s how I would do it too! To visit Uncle Ho is a popular pass tin for tourists and locals. On this day there was a continuous line of Peoria streaming through the mausoleum to view the body. It’s quite a process to get to the mausoleum. No cameras or bags allowed so you have to leave them in storage. You line up and slowly work your way through while tv screens show footage of the American War. It’s all very serious. There are white uniformed guards everywhere making sure nobody steps out of line. Caps and sunglasses off, sensible dress including nothing short of trousers for men, no hands in pockets and no overt lightheartedness! The mausoleum is a fairly brutal piece of architecture as these things usually are, but there is polished marble everywhere. You wind your way up the stairs and around, constantly under the glare of guards.

MORE TO COME!!

I had a last wander around beautiful Luang Prabang buying momentos before catching my flight to Hanoi. I bought my ticket on the Vietnam Airlines website but my flight turns out to be with Laos Airlines. The two are connected somehow. And the plane is the same make as the one that crashed in bad weather recently. Not helping was some gossip circulating amongst the locals in Luang Prabang that the weather wasn’t the problem!

The flight was fine, just one hour, and I arrive in Hanoi just before 6pm.

I visited Big Brother House today. This is the invention of an American publisher, Sasha, who sold up is businesses back in America to set up a publishing house in Laos. He was initially thought mad because “people don’t read in Laos”. There was a desperate need for entertaining books to get Laos reading. Prior to this there were just cumbersome text books in Lao language. Sasha engaged local writers and illustrators to start producing readable books in Lao language for all ages. He aimed to make literacy fun. There were many people in the villages who had no idea of even knowing how to physically read a book, how to start at the beginning or even know how to turn a page.

Www.bigbrothermouse.com

I also visited the Royal Palace Museum. It was built in 1904 by the French as a residence for King Sisavang Vong and his family. It’s right on the river so that official visitors could step off their river journeys and into the palace. The building is a mix of French architecture with Lao motifs. It’s beautiful. The royals were eventually exiled at the end of the war and the locals believe the building is haunted by the spirits of the royal family.

The government has preserved the old palace and turned it into a museum. It’s interesting that this Marxist communist government do this considering it is the system they fought hard to destroy. It’s beautifully preserved and the stories of past royalty are explained. On display in one of the rooms are gifts given to the royal family over their time. One of the gifts is a boomerang labelled as donated by Australian Aborigines from Queensland. During the French occupation the royal system was maintained but only as a puppet of the French colonialists.

As I promised Soumontha last night, I returned to help with another English lesson tonight. Andreas, my co teacher, was a no-show, perhaps still hungover from the amazing hospitality forwarded us by Soumontha and his friends. Or perhaps he was frightened off by potential marriage proposal by one of Soumontha’s beautiful young guests! They were both drunk and playful. There were two novice monks in the class tonight. I’m so intrigued by these kids. They seem so mature and humble for their age (perhaps with the exception of the one I sprung smoking behind a stupa the other night). There were some clowns in the class but all were attentive and wanted to learn, particularly the two novice monks. They sat up the front. My part of the lesson was to help with pronounciation while Soumontha translated and explained the grammar. Soumontha has grand plans to expand the school, what with I’m not sure. He doesn’t get paid for this and the running costs of the school rely on some money from the parents and donations from visitors. I’m going to send him teaching aids and books from Australia. This has been a priceless experience for me. You can’t help avoid being completely humbled by these people.

Soumontha comes from a poor rural family. He has one brother and two sisters. Fortunately for him, he and his brother could get a good education and board at the Buddhist temple school in Luang Prabang. The school literally adopts young boys from rural areas and provide a fantastic opportunity for education and spiritual guidance. Unfortunately for his sisters, they remain at home and without education.

Ok, where do I start!

Last night at the hotel a met a young German guy. Andreas has been travelling for two years. He picked up a small flyer from the tourism bureau asking for English speakers to donate some time to an English school. He explained this to me and I was keen to help. The small map showed the school located near the airport, which is walking distance from hotel so off we go. English classes are in addition to their normal schooling so they start at 5.30pm. By that time we were well lost and asking for directions that didn’t help. A tuk tuk driver rings the number on the flyer and we finally get there around 6pm. The school is run by Soumontha Panyasouk at his home. He volunteers his time because he loves teaching. He is on extended sick leave from his job as a graphic designer with an ingenious little publishing house here in town started by an American. That’s another story. Soumontha suffers migraines daily since turning 17 and his eyesight has deteriorated. He is 26 and married with a mischievous 3-year old daughter.

Andreas and I have fun with the kids. First class of children are young and beginners of English. The second hour is given to an intermediate class.

After classes, Soumontha invites us to some dinner. He has friends staying so we all sit around a cooking pot and start eating and drinking Lao beer. There are piles of fresh fish, vegetables, noodles and tofu, around the cooking pot that are constantly tossed into the pot while we are taking food out. The door was wide open and friends just wander in and join the feast. And the beer was kept flowing, too efficiently by Soumontha’s wife. Our glasses seemed endless. One of Soumontha’s friends joining us was a shy young man who was in the temple school with Soumontha. Soumontha was his teacher. They did 5 years together there. I wondered about the friendships that are made in their time at the temple school. You see the novice monks wandering around town in pairs or threes, often arm-in-arm and obviously closely bonded. And now I see this bond beautifully continues beyond life in the temples. These binds would last a life time I suspect, bonded in friendship and spirituality.

It’s 12am before Andreas and I walk back to our hotel. We are going back again tonight.

In the morning I visit temple caves. The Pak Ou caves are about 25km upstream from Luang Prabang, taking about an hour by slow long boat. The current in the Mekong is quite strong despite the river being reduced by the beginning of the dry season. As the river level drops, fertile banks become exposed and ripe for farming. Local villages make good use of this opportunity and you can see cropping right along the edge of the river. The lower water levels also expose rocks and other hazards. The river is wide but not so deep.

The caves are large natural limestone caves that are accessible from the river. These spaces have been turned into places of worship. The Tham Ting cave is full of standing Buddha statues. The standing Buddhas are particular to Luang Prabang I understand. There is another cave further up via stairs. It’s even bigger and lightless at its deepest point. It too has an impressive collection of Buddha statues.

On the return journey we stop briefly at a village that produces rice whiskey. The whiskey is potent and you could fuel rockets with it I’m sure. To add some spiritual potency to the whiskey they bottle it with powerful creatures like scorpions and snakes. This gives it added vitality apparently.

Had a lazy morning walking around the city. Spent time just watching the activity on the Mekong river. It’s Sunday and a few things are closed but the river is as busy as ever. Ferries carry bikes, cars and horses across to the other side. Tourists are catching long boats up and down the river. It’s alive with humanity.

After lunch I climbed the summit of Phu Si. It’s in the centre of town via many steps and as well as providing spectacular views of the city, it is of deep significance to Buddhism. The top is splattered with statues, temples and icons of the Buddhism faith. It’s a popular place to visit at sunset but today is overcast as a result of a destructive typhoon off the coast of Vietnam. Here I have a priceless moment with a young student monk. The poor monks are constantly harassed by tourists wanting to take their photo. They are dressed in the most striking orange robes and easily stand out in a crowd. The students are so young and I wonder how they feel about all the public attention. A bunch of tourists leave and I have a quite time to have a chat. He speaks English well and likes to practice. Perfect. I like to speak it. Novice Oun is 15 years of age and he wants to train to become a monk. They aren’t encouraged to speak other languages so his English is a secret. He taught himself. He comes from a village in northern Laos. He asks me where I am from and I explain Australia. He stays ‘Queensland?’ and I’m surprised. He has a Lao friend in Queensland. He is a shy young man with a beautiful temperament and is obviously in a state of mind that is very special. Where he is mentally, I want to be but doubt if I will ever get there. Despite my material wealth, I am very jealous of him.