The Far East, part 2

supertramper (50)in #travel • 8 years ago

Advice 2: ALWAYS take a waterproof pouch with you, nomatter how hot or dry the place might be.

So, I was still in Luang Prabang, and needed a way to get over to Vietnam. My new friends and I checked out if we could fly to Hanoi instead of taking another hellish busride. We talked to a few people about flying and aparently a plane went down only a week before, so we ended up talking the bus. I was thinking well it should be safer. However the bus ride was a repitition of the last bus ride in Laos. Only difference this time was that it lasted for fricking 27 hours. Crammed up and uncomfortable I was trying to sleep to make the time go faster. This was nearly impossible. I was waking up every time the bus took a turn, and again thought we were heading off the mountain side. An English guy had some sleeping pills and I got one. Did it help? Not for more than half an hour at the most, or at least that is how it felt. We finally got to the border and the roads started to get gradually better.

The border.

VIETNAM
We arrived safely in Hanoi and went straight for a beer. I generally do not like huge cities so I decided I would get out of Hanoi ASAP. The day after we arrived I spontaniously jumped on a bus heading for Ha Long Bay. Known for having been the scenery of one of the old James Bond films. I met up with some of the people I already met in Laos and had a blast on the boat we stayed on for 3 days. Definitely something I would recommend.

Back on shore I found a bus going south. I agreed to meet up with one of my new friends in the "next" town. Next stop was Hue. In Hue we did some proper touristy sightseeing. We checked out the royal palace, and even went a bit outside of Hue to have a look at the tunnels that the "Vietcong" used during the Vietnam war. It was around Hue that the border between the north and south was during the war. When we got to the tunnels there was this tiny guy that did not speak a word of any language, merely making sounds. This guy showed us the tunnels nevertheless, and if we understood his finger language correctly he was actually born in those tunnels. The photo might look a bit odd since I am smiling, but I gave him money for his guiding.

The next stop was Hoi An. A tiny little old town that was hit by bad weather while we were there. The river almost flooded into the streets and huge trees lay flat the day after. This was one of the times my waterproof pouch kept my money dry. According to other travellers a little restaurant on east side of the river has the best Cao Lau in Vietnam. It is a dish with pork crackling, and it was delicious! Definitely a must eat if you venture to these parts.

Next stop was Nha Trang. On the way down Vietnam the buses I took had declined seats so it was easy enough to relax, and the roads were far better than in Laos. Nha Trang has a beach stretching for many kilometres and very few people on the beach. We walked around in Nha Trang, bought silly souvenirs and drank beer. I am a sucker for history so I had to check out the local temple from a bygone era.

Ho Chi Minh City is a place I most likely would never visit again. It is just way to big for my liking. I did not stay long because I wanted to see Cambodia before I left south east Asia. For those who think the world is perfect and take peace for granted I would like to show you a photo of a photo that I saw in a war museum in Vietnam.

CAMBODIA
On the bus from Ho Chi Minh city I met another English guy. He was also in a bit of a rush to get back to Bangkok for his flight. We made a bit of a tour in Phnom Penh including the prisons, the killing fields and the "local" gun range. In the hostel we managen to get a shower and a few joints and by the time we jumped on the bus we were floating on clouds. Pretty lucky because the bus had beds and we were on the lowest ones which had NO windows. It was like lying in a coffin.

Layers on top of layers with skulls, memorial for the dead.

Siem Reap must be one of the most interesting places on the planet. The complexes of ruins are neverending in this area. A must see just like the pyramids or Machu Picchu. I can not descibe the ruins of Angkor Wat enough, you just have to experience them yourself. We also went to a town on the lake Tonle Sap. Ate some dried snake, drank some beers and smoked some local herbs out on the lake. It was magical.