HONEY BUNNY BAKERY AND OTHER END NOTES

Had to take a photo of this bakery!















A miscellany of bits of info and thoughts for my last blog – thanks for reading and hope it inspires you to visit Vietnam – a pretty amazing country.  You don’t have to use the Explore way of travelling, but it has certainly been an experience!

WEDDING CUSTOMS

We saw lots of couples/girls having their photos taken in their wedding finery – lots taken around various beauty spots prior to the wedding and then displayed at the wedding!

 

There were 450 guests at our guide’s wedding and that was a small one!!  We saw a row of huge specially built venues in one seaside town for such occasions – big business.   The guests don’t bring presents, but envelopes with money in them.  You record who gives what and then give the same amount to them when they marry.  As our guide said – invite lots of already married friends!

A COMMUNIST COUNTRY

As we saw the evidence of a country poised between 3rd and 1st world in so many ways, it was hard to see how communism exists alongside the headlong flight to consumerism.  Everyone has phones, most houses even in the remote hill villages have satellite dishes, zillions of motorbikes have replaced the now outmoded bicycle and posh shops jostle amongst the street stalls in every city.  But the ubiquitous flags (out for New Year) are there because the Party tells you to put them out, in Hanoi the loudspeakers drone on for half an hour every morning and evening (can’t imagine anyone listens to them) and the Government is totally communist.  But another guide said that voting is just a ritual when you put a cross against 3 photos on the sheet – no idea who they are or what they represent – and that anyone can say what they like – as long as its not too loud or prolonged.  Hmmm?  Another source within the group said that loud dissenters are imprisoned and tortured.

Life changed for the better, they said, when collectivism was abolished a while ago and now anyone can buy their own land and build a house (everyones dream) and you can see them following the West headlong into capitalism – not sure what happens when people get fed up with communist rule.  Education, education, education is the aim everywhere and the schools and colleges are bursting at the seams.

BIRDS

Horrible to see the lovely singing birds in tiny cages in the markets and none left in the wild – a twitchers nightmare.

GREAT TRIP

Final thoughts – fantastic fresh food, experiences, scenery, villagers, paddy fields, history, headlong race into the first world (for Vietnam – Cambodia moving at a much slower pace), no stomach bugs, avoided souvenir shopping, Chinese New Year flowers and celebrations, reminders of man’s inhumanity to man, smiling faces – and managed to escape the bikes without getting mown down every time we crossed the road.

2 DAY TREK – EVER MORE REMOTE (ie basic)

From Sapa (already 5000’ up) we took a bus for half an hour and got turfed out with our back packs + 3 trek helpers, who cooked our meals, made up the beds at the homestay and helped us up the muddy, slippery slopes and along the tightrope divisions between terraced rice paddies.  2 or 3 got a boot full of mud and one fell off completely and jumped in feet first to 2 feet of water – luckily we escaped with just muddy shoes and overtrousers. 





Balancing on the edge of the paddy terrace






These are some of the views on the way – a much poorer region than the previous trek, where they had 3 rice crops a year and worked hard all the time.  Here it was higher up, more isolated and only 1 crop a year – our guide thought they should use the fallow fields for other crops, but it seems they can’t be bothered – they are used to a very basic standard of living and I guess will only change as the world catches up with them and they realise they have to work to catch up with the world. 




The villages we passed through over the 2 days are occupied by various ethnic groups – named according to the main colour of their clothes eg White, Black, Red – all very colourful and many of the ladies weave their own particular patterns and then sell various items to tourists.  One of the villages had been recently built by local people for a small community of isolated mountain people who had been brought down and given land.  Some of the older generation refused to leave their old way of life but they were getting a lot of diseases and problems from the inter-breeding.  Most of these villagers have been getting “married” at 11 or 12 and then having kids a couple of years later with 10 or 11 kids not uncommon – the more the merrier for working in the fields. 



There is an edict in the country that families should be restricted to 2children and this is enforced on Government employees, who may lose their jobs if they go over the limit.  But outside of that people pretty much make up their own minds and it is not enforced at all in the mountain regions.  One of our guides said he would not want more than 2 anyway for economic reasons – so in the end it seems economics sorts out the size of family the world over – very hard to control and the consequences hard to determine – eg China is now panicking because not enough youngsters to support the ageing population.

We passed this school on a Saturday and the kids had all come in to receive bags full of clothes/shoes/goodies that had been put together by a school in Saigon, as a New Year gift to the poorer village.  It is one of the highlights of the kids year and they were all queuing up and then excitedly opening the bags.  Was a bit difficult to say “Oh, that’s what we do in the UK for Romanian orphans”, as we had a Romanian lady in our group!  And ashamed to say to my US and Aussie readers that we collect in our local shop and elsewhere for food banks for people in the UK who can’t afford food – we really do have needy families under our caring Conservative Government.

UP ON HIGH + SLEEPING AROUND

Today (15th Feb) we learn that the whole of Beck Head is on a generator after the storms damaged the pole in our paddock and cut the electric (along with much of South Cumbria) to BH.  Sterling work by Phil and Joan and the electric company and then various neighbours removing fallen trees by the bridge have kept the community with light and heat – well done to you all!  (Back on after a day or so)


We arrived at Sa Pa in the northern mountains of Vietnam, approaching the Chinese border, in typical Scottish/Lakes weather – mist right down and very cold.  We took the overnight train from Hanoi and, hurray, it was an upgraded version of the previous ones – clean carriages, sheets, lamps and general harmony.  On the way back it was a bit more compact,  but free beer/drinks and nibbles.  However, it was pretty similar to the clackety-clack of those bone-shaker roller coaster rides – see below for sleeping around.



We wandered around the little town of Sapa with tourist restaurants, trekking clothing shops (all North Face, as in Nepal – oh yeah!), local brightly dressed women pestering for sales (don’t ask to look at anything – they will track you for hours afterwards as we discovered later on our trek – see these 3 – someone cracked eventually after 2 hrs and bought a pair of their badly made and fitting black trousers – she will regret it once back in the light of day in the UK!)

in the cold clammy afternoon gloom. 

Found an excellent local restaurant via TripAdvisor with a lovely fire and they filled a metal bowl with embers and placed it by our table – lovely.



Only saw mist for the first day there, but on our return from the 2 day trek (see later blog) the skies cleared, even though mist remained in valleys, and we had a great day walking up to the local peak and being the object of interest to all the weekending Vietnamese – they are big on tourism too!  Even the streets seemed to come to life with a bit of sunshine – so glad we managed to see the fantastic mountain scenery.



SLEEPING AROUND

A few of you have asked how we can sleep in trains/boats/communal rooms/planes/noisy city hotels/hard beds – have lost count now, but 28 nights, with very few 2 nighters.  I sleep pretty well anywhere as long as I am warm – a recent night in the homestay in remote village was testing!!  Really cold with very basic facilities ie toilet/shower down a ladder from the communal sleeping area in the roof, across a yard with a gulley,  but had a sleeping bag provided - so with my liner, fleece hat, 2 layers on legs and 3 layers of top + all important ear plugs (discovered disposable wax ones - excellent) I was OK.  Camping is a good training ground!


Toilet/shower – don’t touch the electrics hanging off the wall in line with the shower

Others with not so well attuned kit were not OK!!  Even Graham had little to drink, so that he did not need to attempt the ladder in the dark and lasted until 7am!! 

Boat was fine - luxurious and trains variable but noisy - again ear plugs can help.  Graham has more difficulty but catches up on the bus rides.  We both take time out every so often and just chill in a hotel bedroom instead of dashing around. 

But it will be nice to be back in our own bed -  zzzzzzz!

HANOI, HILL TRIBES AND HOMESTAY

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After a day in Hanoi visiting some of the sights, including an hour with the Water Puppet Show – see Here for some better photos than mine and some background if anyone is interested.  An hour was enough – the music is fine but the Vietnamese singing (squawking if I’m being unkind) is a bit wearing on the ears.

We also went to see Ho Chi Minh – in the flesh still after nearly 50 years – a bit creepy - and sad, as he wanted his ashes scattered around the whole of his beloved Vietnam, which he never saw united, despite his best efforts

If you are interested in how they do it - see BBC article here

Wikipedia - The embalmed body of Ho Chi Minh is preserved in the cooled, central hall of the mausoleum, which is protected by a military honor guard. The body lies in a glass case with dim lights. The mausoleum is closed occasionally while work is done to restore and preserve the body but is normally open daily from 09:00 to 12:00 to the public. Lines of visitors, including visiting foreign dignitaries, pay their respects at the mausoleum every day.
Rules regarding dress and behavior are strictly enforced by staff and guards. Legs must be covered (no shorts or miniskirts). Visitors must be silent, and walk in two lines. Hands must not be in pockets, nor arms crossed. Smoking, drinking, eating, photography, and video taping are also not permitted anywhere inside the mausoleum

His simple house and gardens were interesting too – think he got a bad press in the West.

HOMESTAY

Onward by bus for 4 hrs to small White Thai (local ethnic people) village, Mai Chau and stayed in one of the local houses on stilts that are a feature of the area.  They have been welcoming tourists to their homes for around 10 years and it is a pretty established stop on the trail – but not yet overrun to make it tacky.  We had the best food so far, for 2 days - masses of different dishes produced from the family small kitchen – we all sat downstairs under the main room where the 12 of us slept in a row under our mosquito nets.  G and I had a double - Cosy!



It was pretty cold in the hills so we were glad we had all our thermals with us – I kept mine on for 2 full days and nights.  The treks (walks really) around the surrounding area was fascinating – the extensive paddy fields were so well organised with their irrigation and rotation of little fields. 

And many houses (mostly on stilts and mostly very substantial and maintained) had all their veg set out neatly with bamboo used for fences, posts, tables, roofing, water channels and many more uses.  The food was so good as it is completely fresh, they shop twice a day or use their own produce – with chickens, ducks, pigs, cows as well.  Here are just some of the sights from the walks – hard work for the villagers but an old way of life that we have lost, being in touch with the land.






Satellite dishes on most houses

Waterwheel helping the irrigation



Wreathes on the ancestors graves - a big way of their religion is honoring the ancestors - whether rooms in your house or separate buildings in the village or just tombstones in the fields - they are everywhere in Vietnam










Old and new ways of ploughing - still not particularly quick

HA LONG BAY HIGHLIGHT

(Last blog for a few days as off from a day in Hanoi to mountain villages and walking and then a few days trekking - not much time and not worth taking netbook with us)

The overnight stay on the boat and sail around Ha Long Bay proved to be as good as anticipated – with the added bonus of an upgraded boat.  If the Guide was happy, then so would we be – especially after another overnight train trip, which we are now getting used to – a bit! 

Here I am snuggled up in my sleeping bag liner on my top bunk!






A bit different to the boat which had a lovely room with sliding glass doors and great bathroom – the best room we have had on any boat – ferries and cruises we usually go for the inside cabin as we are rarely in them.  Nice top deck with bar and loungers and great food for the 3 meals we had on board.  Far too short a stay!



The limestone pinnacle scenery is stunning and just like the photos and documentaries – but a grey and misty day, so didn’t get the turquoise seas – apparently it is like this a lot of the time.  We went out on kayaks and the tender to various caves, beaches and under limestone bat tunnels




Only downside was us – tourists!  To cater for the huge demand there are dozens and dozens of boats – some smaller, some bigger, than ours and all leaving from the same harbour in a lunchtime rush for the overnighters and an early morning rush for the day trippers.  Consequently, the harbour is now a concrete jungle of hotels and apartments – another coastline ruined (as was the beach area further south at Nha Trang, which is now a Russian mecca) and being ruined like the Algarve and the rest of the Med, Egypt’s Red Sea, Florida Keys and all the other beauty spots around the world that we all travel to – only to find we are way behind the hordes who have already found and built their concrete empires there. 

And unfortunately, as with many of the poorer Caribbean islands, the locals villagers and local tourists are way behind in terms of conserving the pristine beauty of what they have (Western areas are belatedly cleaning up their acts pollution wise, but the concrete is there to stay) – plastic bags and rubbish floats gently past the boat, detracting somewhat from the beauty of the pinnacles.   But we are not much better at home - we pick up at least 2 bags of rubbish from the lane to the school and stables near us a couple of times a year, and looking at the state of our motorway and other verges, there are still plenty of people just chucking their rubbish out of the window.

But still a highlight of the trip and a bit of luxurious living and quiet time after the frantic cities.

BACK ON THE TOURIST TRAIL–BY BIKE

A couple of bitty posts (all posted at same time as been on train and junk for 2 nights so no chance for wifi) to fill my time and now back to the serious stuff of seeing Vietnam. 

We took a boat over the river at Hoi An and biked around a country village among the paddy fields and river, stopping a various local houses (not tourist set ups) to see them at work and how they lived

Hoi An’s attractive river front with fishing and tourist boats and the one we took.

Riding along the river and through the paddy fields













Making noodles – squeeze rice, keeping husks for animals or fuel, cook into flat pancake on griddle, cut pancake into strips either by hand or machine (or dry in sun to make wrapping for spring rolls)






Not picking rice yet but redistributing crowded plants to empty areas or giving to your neighbours.












Egrets everywhere we go – lots of different types that eat the snails and other bugs that harm the rice.

This was the back room of one house – cooking and washing in outhouse – note toothbrushes above blue bin.  Washing up outside outhouse




Weaving traditional mattresses, from bamboo, that are still used in rural areas – these samples were on sale for tourists as well but they make 2 mattresses a day for a few dollars as their main source of income.






This 87 year old was still making coracles from bamboo weaving, then spreads with water bullalo manure, lets it dry and then covers with resin.  His children have not followed his tradition and are in the city – an age old problem for losing the ancient skills.  The young are all attracted to the towns – but is it any different to Cumbria kids who have to move to London or the cities for the jobs?  Just a few generations difference as 3rd world chases 1st world – hopefully the artisans will survive enough until the next generations discover what they have lost – our own country crafts have had their own nostalgic revival eventually.   But when you have no income, cities are very attractive.