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Resisting the urge to shop in Hoi An

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Hoi An makes you want to buy stuff.  The town is famous for tailors who make bespoke clothing.  People travel to this ancient spot halfway down Vietnam’s coast, from around the world to have clothes and shoes made to order.  ha4The style and fabric can be chosen, and they will be made according to measurement.  Tailors generally take 48hr to prepare clothes, and require two fittings.  Shoes, also created to the customer’s wishes, take a day.

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Same same but different

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The phrase “same same” is commonplace in Southeast Asia.
“I’m 33.  How old are you?”

“Ah, same same.”

“Fresh spring rolls cost 20,000 dong.  How much are fried spring rolls?”

“Same same.”

But “same same” can also mean “sort of the same, but not exactly”.  For example:
“I like these flip flops, but I can’t find them in size 39.”
“Here.  Same same. ” (handing me the right size, but in a different color)
“But those are different.”
“Same same, but different.”

That’s a bit how Hanoi is.  It’s like so many other southeastern Asian cities.  There are temples, and markets, a river, and colonial buildings.  It is crowded and full of scooters, but has an occasional European feel, as a result of French colonization.  Great cafes are interspersed between street food stalls. hanoi5

Scooters and DUNKIN DONUTS
Scooters and DUNKIN DONUTS

hanoi4

What makes it a bit different are the many memorials and museums that commemorate Vietnamese history and recent struggles.  For instance, the Hoa Lo prison presents information about Vietnamese oppression under French rule. hanoi2 Vietnam was a French colony for about a century, until the mid 1950s.  During that time, dissidents were imprisoned and sometimes executed at Hoa Lo prison.  The prison turned museum also has a section about the Vietnam war (or, the American War, as it’s called over here), with such exhibits as John McCain’s flight suit from when he was a POW.

McCain's flight suit
McCain’s flight suit

While there was a blatant feeling of propaganda, it was interesting to hear about the war from a different perspective.

Photos at a mass wedding.
Photos at a mass wedding.

We didn’t spend a lot of time in Hanoi, but the general impression was, “same same….but different.”

See Where to Run in Hanoi

Beer of Choice: Hanoi (you guessed it, another lager)

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Paul and Casey’s bogus journey

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We’re writing this post to elucidate on the comical nature of traveling in Asia.  What follows is an account of our preposterous attempt to journey From Bokeo National Park in northwestern Laos to Hanoi, Vietnam in one shot.

Saturday

9:00– Hike through the jungle.  Muddy but mostly downhill.

Our guide chopped down bamboo and made a flute while leading us.
Our guide chopped down bamboo and made a flute while leading us.
11:00– Ride in the back of a truck along very hilly, muddy mountain roads.b5
12:30– Get dropped in the “town” of Ban Donchii.  Have lunch.  We’re told there’s a bus to Luang Namtha (our destination for the night) sometime between 2pm and 3pm.
13:30– Begin waiting on side of road for bus
14:03– Bus drives by.  I signal for it to stop.  The driver gets very excited, smiles widely and frantically waves hello.  Then drives past.

14:04– Nearby shop owner tells us we need to signal for the bus to stop.  Grr.  We ask if there are any more buses.  He doesn’t know.  I ask if he can call and find out.  He says “no”, then moves to the other side of street and watches us.

Two very impressed Tuckers, after the bus drove past.
Two very impressed Tuckers, after the bus drove past.
14:15– We decide if there isn’t another bus in an hour we are going to hitchhike.

14:35– Another bus.  Paul runs in front of it to make it stop.  Hallelujah!  We board the bus and the only other passenger is a 68 year old Aussie guy named Murray, who is really interesting to talk to.  We see 4 accidents along the way.  An hour into the ride, roosters begin crowing and I realize the boxes next to me have animals in them.

Feathers are just discernible sticking out of this box.
Feathers are just discernible sticking out of this box.
16:45– Toilet break on the side of the road.  No bushes to cover my bright white exposed bottom.  I think I blind a few motorists.

16:50– Arrive in Luang Namtha (really?! Why the toilet break then?) and take a tuk tuk to town.  Buy bus tickets to get to Vietnam border tomorrow, but unable to get much information about buses from border to Hanoi.  Find a guesthouse and have first hot shower in days.

View of Luang Namtha from the tuk tuk
View of Luang Namtha from the tuk tuk
Sunday

7:00– Tuk tuk to bus station.  Board minibus to Dien Bien Phu, across the border in Vietnam.  There’s a French girl on board, but she isn’t going all the way to Vietnam.  The rest are locals.  No one speaks English.  No apparent roosters this time.

Our bus mates checking Paul out.
Our bus mates checking Paul out.
7:30– Depart bus station
7:31– 1st stop- gas station.  Buses and taxis never seem to think ahead and fuel up before departing.
8:03– Bus door breaks, but is soon fixed.  Drive through many poor mountain villages with children playing in the road.
Only 10 miles from China at one pointb7
10:30– Stop for food.  We just have coffee, but others have noodle soup and boiled duck.  Worryingly the drivers have whisky.
11:10– Switch drivers.  New driver is a maniac on these windy mountain roads. After seeing all the cars that went off the road yesterday, this is unsettling.b9
13:00– We eat sandwiches that we brought with us.
13:42 – A rooster crows.  I was wrong.  There are animals hidden on this 22 person bus.

14:30– Second driver tries to ask where we are going.  When I say “Hanoi” he gives me a strange look then makes some phone calls.

Hammer and sickle flag in Communist Laos
Hammer and sickle flag in Communist Laos
15:35– Arrive at Laos immigration.  Refuse to pay the bribe. They hold our passports while I yell at them.  They threaten to keep us here.  Pay stupid fee at bad exchange rate.

16:10– Vietnam immigration goes smoothly.  No bribes.

Immediately after crossing into Vietnam, we see rice paddies in all directions.
Immediately after crossing into Vietnam, we see rice paddies in all directions.
17:40– There’s only 4 of us (and a rooster in a bag) left.  Arrive at tiny station in Dien Bien Phu.  Sidenote: this is where the Vietnamese defeated the French.  Bus driver points at an SUV and says “Hanoi”.  We don’t know if this guy is driving us to Hanoi or transporting us elsewhere, or if we have to pay.  The four of us cram in the back seat and get driven down the road to a big bus station.
17:50– Men grab our bags and throw them on a bus labeled “Hanoi”.  We ask what time the bus leaves. They point to 6:00 on their watches.
17:53– We have about $6 in Vietnamese dong and need to pay for bus. We ask where the ATM is.  The men herd me into a cab which drives me to an ATM, where I guess a random amount and withdraw it, because I don’t quite know the conversion yet, nor do I know what the bus costs.
17:59– Taxi races me back to bus station, we board, and are ushered to our seats on a sleeper bus.

18:00– Bus departs as we are climbing into our seats.  We are really hoping it stops soon, as we need food and a bathroom.

Sunset over a rice paddy in Vietnam.
Sunset over a rice paddy in Vietnam.
19:30– Pee break in the bushes
20:30– “Rambo: First Blood” starts playing, with all voices dubbed by the same female.  Stallone isn’t quite as intimidating when he sounds like an Asian woman.

More and more people continue to get on the bus and are sitting on the floor.

It's a dark photo, but notice all the people crammed on the aisle floor.
It’s a dark photo, but notice all the people crammed on the aisle floor.

22:30– Stop for food.  Sit at a table with 4 Vietnamese guys.  We are given unknown food (broth, raw veggies, unknown meat, eggs?), and we all eat from a communal pot.  Pretty sure we will get sick from this.  Other foreigners don’t eat.

The meal we shared with strangers at a bus stop
The meal we shared with strangers at a bus stop

23:00– Bus departs.  Now at double capacity.  Sleep until Hanoi.

Monday

6:55– Arrive in Hanoi.  Huge city.  Taxi to hotel, as no other options.

Good morning Paul! Did you sleep well?
Good morning Paul! Did you sleep well?

7:30- Arrive at hotel.  Destination reached.

The Funky Gibbon Experience

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Do the Funky Gibbon!

I have a fairly substantial interest in gibbons for several reasons.
1. I did research in Taiwan on parasites that affect them.
2. How can you not like them?  The way they swing around is hysterical.
3. Last but not least, my maiden name (now my middle name) is Gibbons.

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Don’t go chasing waterfalls

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Luang Prabang is a pretty little town on the Mekong.  Teak houses, leftovers from the time Laos was a French colony, line the streets.waterfall1

The drive here, one of the few daytime buses we have taken, was utterly stunning.  I’ve never seen anything comparable before.  Tall, missile shaped mountains protrude from valleys that are cut in half by rivers.

As the bus wound its way along mountain roads, every passenger was staring for hours in wonder out the windows at the breathtaking emerald landscape.

Unfortunately, all our pictures of the bus ride are through a dusty bus window, so this is another photo of the Mekong running along Luang Prabang.
Unfortunately, all our pictures of the bus ride are through a dusty bus window, so this is another photo of the Mekong running along Luang Prabang.

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COPE-ing in Vientiane

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Laos is the most heavily bombed country in the world, per capita.  During the Vietnam war, 580,000 bombing missions were conducted over Laos, which means a bombing mission every 8 minutes for 9 years.

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