Hanoi

We flew from Hue to Hanoi, which is the main city to book trips to Halong Bay and Sapa out of. A couple we met in Cambodia recommended a company called Ocean Tours that we booked both tours with, which for the most part was a good company- I had one qualm which I'll go over in my post about Sapa.

Anyways, they also have a hotel called Hanoi Star Hotel which we stayed at because we got a promotion with them when booking our package, and this hotel was good to stay at- no matter where you book- make sure you stay in the Old Quarter- this was recommended by a few people, and it's a neat area to stay in. Very busy streets all the time, and it changes at night with people cooking on all street corners and it's busy very late. It's central to most things- shopping, bookstores, the water puppet show. There's a lake nearby as well, which is a nice walk around in the evening. There are women doing group jazzercise around the lake which is pretty funny to see in the evening.

Beware that there are several scams going on in Vietnam, in particular revolving around Taxis. We used a company called Hanoi Taxi for the most part and they were fine- it's one of the recommended and also the one that places will call for you when you need one. Many taxis have rigged meters that will jump up in fare too fast, so be aware. Also, while in Halong, we heard of someone getting mugged by a driver of a taxi from the airport to Haiphong. The odd part of this is that he had booked a driver to take him from the airport to Haiphong, and when he was in the taxi the driver told him he would not accept US dollars and that he would have to go to an ATM to pull out Dong. So they stopped at an ATM, the guy was punching in info and before he knew it the driver had punched in the max amount (4 million dong- which is only about $240) and grabbed the money. He said he'd hold on to it for the guy. Since his bags were in the taxi, he wasn't sure what to do and so got back in (this was probably not the smartest move either) but the wierd part is that the driver still took him all the way to his location to be dropped off as if this was normal. The guy fought with him the whole way telling him to give the money back, and apparently got in a scuffle once they reached the destination and was able to grab about half the money back (again- not so smart). So strange, but that's what happened.

Also, while you are in Vietnam- try to coffee. It's so good. I don't drink normal coffee because it's too acidic or something and I don't like it- but I can see why people get addicted to Vietnamese coffee. (Thanks for the recommendation Kate- I'll be coming off this addiction for weeks- oh wait- I bought some to mail home!!) The flavor is smooth and very nice with some milk and sugar. Jim's not allowed to have it much since he pings off the walls if he does. And I have a hard time shooting a moving target. :)

You can purchase bamboo dishes here very cheap- I bought some rice bowl sets that are pretty cool looking. There are also tons of other things- Chaco's and North Face Bags are everywhere and cheap- neither of which I need- but if you're looking for that- here is good.

We went to the Museum of Ethnology which was interesting- a lot of information about the hill tribes of Vietnam. There are several- so be warned that it starts to blur together after a while. There was an interesting exhibit funded by the Catholic Church about the introduction and presence of Catholicism in Vietnam- it's funny how much of a huge thing that the exhibit made out of Christmas in the commercialized sense- it seemed more like an Ad campaign for the Catholics than an informational exhibit.

That's why it's called a "guide" not a "detailed, accurate, up-to-date description"

A brief note about the travel guide we are using- it's a Lonely Planet guide from 2007 for the Greater Mekong area- Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and parts of China. This book is not old- but it's got a lot of misinformation and a lot has changed since this was published. More than half the restaruants we went looking for in our time in Vietnam no longer exist, some of the accomodation is not up to par with the standard Lonely Planet recommendations, and the prices are grossly inaccurate- double and triple it all to get a more current price. I wouldn't blame Lonely Planet, it seems that Vietnam is particularly fickle and changes businesses like clothing, so it would be hard to keep up with anything here. Just realize that when you buy a guide for these areas, it's more of an outline rather than a detailed guide. Use TripAdvisor.com to check out places to stay. And I recommend calling ahead to businesses to see if they are still there before walking all the way to them.
Let's just say it's a good thing I've got comfortable walking shoes and that it wasn't too hot...

Hue

We had a couple days in Hue to wander around the city. We spent one afternoon going to the Imperial Enclosure and the Forbidden Purple City and wandering around the complex- most of the buildings were destroyed over the years, so there's really not a whole lot to see. Jim spent the afternoon trying to decide how many concubines he wants to have when he becomes king of some unknown land (more like planet in all likelihood.) :)

Then we went looking for the Citadel- which we found according to the map and what we were told- but it turns out that this is really just an area from what we can tell and was turned in to a university at some point. So there's not really anything to see from what we could find. So we walked a lot and then had dinner at a restaraunt that had traditional music playing while we ate- the food was okay and the music was entertaining.


We stayed at a place called New Time Hotel and it was fantastic (probably made all the better by the less than okay places we have just stayed at while in Vietnam.) Mr. Duy who manages the hotel was very helpful, picked us up from the bus, made any arrangements that we needed. The room was big and clean and they even had fresh mangoes waiting in the room for us. :) And as I mentioned before- an elevator which was a plus. :)

We also took a day tour the next day and went to see some of the tombs of past kings, as well as a boat ride down the Perfume River- and we didn't know this- but the tour also went back to the Imperial Palace- so I'd recommend skipping this on your own and doing it with the tour. The tombs were pretty- the grounds are quite extensive. It's been raining a lot while we've been in Vietnam- but I don't mind- it keeps the temperature cool. But that's why most of our pictures look a little soggy...

A short note- I had a massage while in Hue, and it was at a hotel a few doors down from our hotel. I'm not sure if it's like this all over Vietnam, and the massage was fine itself- but it was an odd experience. There is not much covering while you are on the table like most people are used to, so I would say this is probably not the place to get a massage. And the woman I had talked so much- which for those of you who know me- I pretty much prefer to just go to sleep during my massage while I have the knots beat out of me. And the language barrier made it very difficult- she was either telling me she loves me or she's looking for a boyfriend that loves her since the last one I think beat her- I'm not sure- it gave me a headache. At least my calves felt better afterwards I guess.

My Nemesis

I am so tired of stairs.

I must have climbed more than 500 stairs alone at the Marble Mountains and my legs hurt today. But this is not the only place with stairs- they're everywhere! We arrived in Hue and I was SO excited to see an elevator in our hotel- it's the first one we've had on our trip!! And we've been anywhere from the first to the 5th floor so far.

If you plan to travel in Asia, be prepared to climb a LOT of stairs. It's at least the equivalent of an hour on a stairstepper machine each day. I should have calves of steel by now.

Danang

Well, first thing, when you arrive at the airport, it's a somewhat more difficult task to get a taxi in to town than you'd think. That's because this is the main airport for all those wanting to go to Hoi An, which is south of Danang, and thus taxi drivers will earn a higher fare for taking you there. So we had to negotiate a taxi into town at more than we should have payed, but at some points you don't feel like bargaining anymore. I tend to justify these moments with "Well, we would have payed this much more if we were in the States." Oh well.

So upon arrival at the hotel, the gal at the desk was very helpful, however we had already payed for a night online, and she didn't seem to understand what I was talking about, which eventually resulted in me finding a printer and internet to get the voucher email to show her. Our room was smaller here than anywhere we've stayed- and upon a closer inspection- not so clean either. I wrote the online agency and let them know that the expectations were not met, as well as I'll be notifying Lonely Planet as to the inaccuracies in their description. So when you are booking hotels in Vietnam- go with mid-range places and look them up on Trip Advisor. Oh yeah- the name of the hotel was Binh Duong.

(a follow up to when I started writing this- the booking agency has pulled the hotel from their site and will not use them anymore.)

Anyways, so we chose to go to Danang so that we could make our way out to the Marble Mountains to see this area. This was an interesting place to visit. We took a taxi to the mountains- it's about 12 kilometers from the city. There are 5 peaks that are clustered together, which used to be islands, when this area was surrounded in water. There are carvings of Buddha images done inside several caves throughout the area that are carved right out of the rock that is in the caves. They're quite impressive.

There are also several dozen marble carving shops along the way to the entrance to the site- each one claiming that their old grandfather is the one who carves each of the items in the shop. I don't know how much truth is behind this, but if you're looking to pic up a small marble buddha, or you know- that gigantic front yard lion guard you've always wanted to haul around with you- then this might be to your liking for a look.
When the taxi drops you off, you will be met by one of the women from these shops who will be very helpful, giving you a map and everything, but she'll want you to visit her shop afterwards- and low and behold- she was waiting with her sister on motorbikes at the exit to meet us. We turned down the motorbikes, and said we prefered to walk, which was a mistake as well since we were looking for a taxi and someone pointed us down the street- which we later realized was a ploy to get us to walk down the main shopping road. Oh well, so we end up at the shop that the helpful woman is at, we tell her we need to get a taxi, she says- my sister will call one for you, come inside while you wait- we say that's very nice and thank you but we are not going to buy anything- she says it's okay- just come look- we tell her again okay, but not buying anything. We get in the shop, and the showcase of items begins, everything you can imagine carved from marble, and my only thought it- I am not carrying anything that heavy for the next 2 weeks. So after many "No thank you's" and "Sorry" the taxi does show up, and we pile in and get the heck out of there.

We also went to the Cham Sculpture Museum which is the largest collection of it's kind anywhere.

We spent 2 days in Danang, you could do both the items we saw in one. We took a bus to Hue from here.