HCM City
Saturday, 3 Feb 2007
I’m here now
I'm in HCM City now.  I arrived last night with all the usual problems: the flight from Bangkok was three hours late, the taxi from the airport got stuck in rush hour traffic and then took me to the wrong hotel.  When the driver refused to budge, I decided arguing was useless and just got out.  I knew I was pretty close to where I wanted to go.  In the end it all worked out: the folks from that hotel got me another taxi and in no time I was checked in, washed up and out looking for something to eat.

I spent today walking around HCM City reminding myself how friendly, and large, the place is.  I stopped several times for pho, the Vietnamese all-purpose/anytime noodle dish.  It comes in so many varieties I think I could eat it for every meal.

It’s evening now and I'm watching the progress of E's flights on the Internet to see if she will arrive on time.  I wrote to her before she left and set up a meeting place so I won't have to stand in the crowd outside waiting for her.  I’ll just read my Harry Potter book and wait.

Last night after I settled in, I went to a nearby bar, one that I had frequented during my previous visit, and to my great surprise the owner remembered me.  He and I had had several enjoyable conversations.  “Weren't you here just a few months ago?" he asked.  No, it was two years ago but I was flattered he remembered me.  We spent the next hour talking about the changes that have taken place in Vietnam since my last visit.  I had already seen how much new construction was going on and, as hard as it is to believe, how much more motorbike traffic there was.  

Speaking of being remembered, the desk clerk, a very pretty young woman, also remembered me.  I was standing at the desk with another fellow about my age.  I said something to him about recognizing the clerk from my previous visit.  He said something about how I might remember her but that she wouldn’t remember old guys like us.  Then she joined in with, “Oh, I remember him too.”  So there.

HCM City
Sunday, 4 Feb 2007
Night markets and motos
One of the things I love most about Southeast Asia is the night markets.  Darkness comes early near the equator and when the heat of the day is gone the locals will collect to shop, eat, drink and talk.  We visited several in HCM City - there is a well known one around the main market but I was looking for one frequented mainly by locals. 

One evening we had the doorman explain what I was looking for to a taxi driver.  We then hopped in and took off into the cool evening not knowing exactly where we were going.  After we were dropped off I worried it might have been a bad choice but we walked down one street and up another and found exactly what I was looking for. 

It was crowded with locals who were perusing the stalls loaded with clothing, shoes, jewelry and CDs.  Lines of light bulbs strung around the stall illuminated the street. A little farther down, after fighting through the packed streets, we saw a line of food stalls and few places to drink.  Having walked all day, and then wandering the tightly packed night market, what I really wanted was a place to sit where we could sip something cold and watch the locals wander past.

We had certainly found the right place: it was outdoors, had plastic chairs and tables and was packed with locals talking and drinking.  Even better the drink list was in English. E chose a drink called a Kamikaze which turned out to be green-colored and fairly potent.  Being the only westerners, we were the center of attention for a few minutes and then things went back to the way they were.  We sat, relaxing, for quite a while and had several of these strange, green drinks while reviewing the day's events.

Finally, we decided to head back to the hotel.  This is always the fun part.  As few people spoke English, we had to rely on sign language and the directions on the card from the hotel.  We got two motos and took off into the diminished evening traffic.  We tore up one street and down another.  Nothing, to me, is more exhilarating than to ride on the back of a motorcycle in the evening air with a few drinks in me.  It turned out E felt exactly the same.  Later she told me she loved the moto ride, so from then on we tried to skip taking taxis.

Hoi An
Wednesday, 7 Feb 2007
How we are getting on
As you know I usually travel alone  In fact, it’s been 15 years since I had a companion.  Much to my delight an easy and congenial balance has developed between E and me. Really, traveling with her is no work at all.  Actually, because there are another set of eyes looking out for motorcycles and other street hazards, it is easier.  It has been working so well we have started talking about taking another trip.

As you would expect a pattern developed: I'd get up a little earlier than she did so I tend to my emailing.  We usually meet about 7:30 for breakfast and then talk about what we wanted to do that day. 

Around 11:00 my stomach usually started complaining so we often had lunch by noon - before the restaurants got crowded. After some more walking/sightseeing, I like to take a little rest while she continued to sightsee.  We would then meet up about 4:30 (happy hour) and start the search for a place to have dinner. After more walking we would end up somewhere that I could get something cool to drink. 

All in all the evenings are when I appreciated E’s company most.  Traveling alone evenings can be the loneliest time and that is when I’m always searching for someone to talk to.

One of the things I will do today is have a couple more pairs of travel pants made.  Hoi An is famous for it’s quick, cheap custom tailoring.  You can have just about anything made overnight.  I will loan them my favorite zip-off-legs travel pants and they will copy them for $12.  This trip I’m going to order two pairs and two pairs of shorts also using the same shop I bought them from last time.  E says she is thinking of having a Vietnamese dress/pants set made.  The women here look very elegant in them and I’m sure E will too.

The old part of Hoi An is all about tourism: fat, noisy westerners are everywhere, but it is fairly easy to walk a few minutes and be where the locals live.  Hoi An street are closed to cars traffic but that doesn’t stop the local motos from trying to run you down.  There are gift shops, cafes, Internet places and travel agents everywhere.  That said you can get great food here because of the competition between the restaurants. 

The two most interesting things we did yesterday was to take a boat ride around the bay that separates Hoi An from the islands and to visit a silk shop that was raising silk worms.  On the boat ride we saw a man herding his cattle in the water from one island to another.  The cows had their heads just above the water but seemed perfectly at ease.  The captain of the boat - we called him “Captain Smiles” for his happy demeanor – was great about getting close to things so we could take photos. 

The silk shop had a display with several large circular trays full of worms dining on mulberry leaves.  They also had a bamboo frame that they put the mature worm where they then wove their cocoons.  We both got one of the little yellow cocoon made by the worm trying in vain to turn into a moth.

Hoi An
Thursday, 08 Feb 2007
Bac Doug
E and I had a discussion before we left about the need for a cover story to help the locals understand our relationship. Since I have known her from childhood and had been a family friend for years being her “uncle” seemed the simplest. 

We also decided to use this only with the locals.  With westerners we simply told the truth - she was the daughter of my best friend but with Vietnamese it always turned out to be simpler to say I was her uncle.  Bac, by the way, means uncle in Vietnamese.  For example, they refer to Ho Chin Minh, the father of the country, as in Bac Ho – Uncle Ho.  So when I would say that I was Bac Doug, they would laugh and say, “Oh, you speak Vietnamese.” 

Today we walked over to one of the islands. We found three men repairing a small wooden boat using hand techniques that are thousands of years old.  They had a small spoon shaped drill which was driven by a kind of bow with a back and forth motion.  To anchor two pieces of wood first they drilled a hole.  Next a small wedge-shaped circular plug was hammered into the hole and a counter wedge is driven into the part of the original plug that sticks out the other side, locking it in place.  Old wooded barns and houses in the US were built with the same technique.

Then a young girl maybe 10 -12 years old stopped to talk to E.  She asked if I was her father, the usual misunderstanding. E said no, I was her uncle.  The girl then asked E if she had any brother or sisters.  They talked for a few more minutes about family while the girl continued to check me out.  Satisfied the girl then casually commented to E that she (E) had an “old uncle”. Thanks.

We decided to visit a quieter place for dinner last night, one across the bay.  We sat on the second floor where we had a great view of the busy waterfront on the other side.  Our waitress was very friendly and spent a lot of time chatting with us.  She wanted to know all the usual: where were we from, how old were we, was this our first trip and on and on. In passing she also told us she would like us to meet her children.  She said she lived just a few doors down.

Then she got down to business.  There was a young man sitting alone at the next table who apparently had been there before. She asked E if she wanted a boyfriend, meaning that guy.  She asked it loud enough for the guy to hear.  I said that E’s mother had told me, ”No boyfriends on the trip” although E was certainly old enough to make that decision for herself - I was just covering for her.  Anyway, that was the end of that subject and the poor guy made a hasty exit.

Then when we were getting ready to leave she made the offer to take us to her house again.  I couldn’t see any harm but knew it would end with her trying to sell us something – something I was willing to do to see the inside her house. 

The house was a single room with her daughter lying on a mat doing her home work.  I don’t believe she said more than five words to us.  Cleary she had been through this routine before.  Her son was out selling souvenirs the woman told us, to finance his education.

Then she got down to business: she got out a basket of little pendants.  After some discussion I bought one for 20,000 dong - a little more than a dollar and probably three times its value.  Really what could I do?  I knew what was expected of me before I set foot in the place. 

But the really odd thing - and something I didn’t even catch - was when she asked me (knowing I was single) if I wanted a wife with two kids – meaning, of course, her.  E. was the one that caught that and all the way back to the hotel teased me about it.  Did I want a wife and two kids? E asked over and over again.

We are off to visit the countryside and My Son later today.

Hoi An
Friday, 9 Feb 2007
My Son and silk weaving villages
We decided to take a trip outside Hoi An today so we arranged for a car and driver.  Our first stop was to visit the 12th century temples at My Son.  The temples themselves aren’t that remarkable.  It’s the walk to and from the entrance through the quiet, lush jungle that is.  Actually it looked more like a forest with several streams running across the path we walked.  Birds called from the trees and in the clearings we could see the mountains that surround the site.  It was lovely. We had arrived early and were on our way out as the tour buses started to arrive.

Our next stop was at a silk weaving village.  The driver just dropped us off on the main street and pointed in several directions.  We got out not sure where to go but the first building we looked into - really more of a shed - was full of automated looms weaving plain white silk.  The noise, the click clack of the machinery, was deafening.  There were men and women tending the machines and some even had their children with them.  Everyone was very friendly and waved us in to look around and take pictures.

The first few places we looked at seemed to be small, family run factories.  Back a few streets, past a line of bamboo poles drying recently dyed silk, we found the real factories.  Some places had very modern looking equipment tended by just a couple of workers while others had lines of machines stretching at least half a football field.  I took a bunch of pictures and then we headed back to Hoi An.  

Da Nang
Saturday, 10 Feb 2007
A day of mix ups
We spent the day in Da Nang.  It was one weird day, all the way around. First, we needed to get to the bus station.  We hired a couple of moto drivers that were waiting in front of the hotel but instead of taking us to the bus station TO Da Nang, they took us to the bus station IN Da Nang. 

I was in kind of a dreamy mood when we left and wasn’t thinking much about how far we were going.  When I realized that we had been riding way too long, I had them stop.  Despite the fact that we were in the middle of nowhere a small crowd collected.  It became clear that there was a misunderstanding – whether deliberate or accidental made no difference now.  We were so far along that we might as well just continue on to Da Nang.  E liked riding motos, right?

In Da Nang we walked and walked: it is a huge city.  Men kept making vulgar kissing noises when they saw E which pissed me off more than it bothered her.  In fact, the women were as taken by E as were the men.  (Hey, what about me?)  But we did manage to see several interesting temples, a few street markets and then had lunch at a place I knew from my previous visit. 

On the way back we had trouble finding the correct bus.  Finally, we asked a taxi driver for help.  He took us to a regular city bus stop.  I was confused: I thought we should be at the bus station but, as we were trying to straighten it out, the bus to Hoi An appeared.  We barely had time to pay the taxi driver and jump on.  Now that we were rolling along, I didn’t want to get off and start looking again, the conductor grossly overcharged us. 

I fumed about this all the way back to Hoi An and then devised a plan to get our money back.  When we finally arrived at the station I took a bunch of photos of the bus, the driver and especially of the clerk who over charged us.  He, I think, was kind of flattered that I was shooting his pictures.  Little did he know what I had in mind.

After everyone had left I confronted him: I showed him my digital camera and told him I had his picture.  I told him that I knew he had overcharged us and that if he didn’t give me our money back I was going to the police.

He argued with me for awhile, playing dumb, but I just kept warning him and taking more pictures of him.  He was getting nervous now and was covering up his face.  Finally, the bus driver came over and, after a little discussion with clerk, I got our money back.  It was just one small victory but one that felt great. 

Now it’s the end of the day and time for happy hour and then dinner.  We leave Monday by train from Da Nang up to Hue.  More about that later.

Hue
Monday, 12 Feb 2007
The train ride
We had the hotel in Hoi An make our train reservation for the trip from Da Nang to Hue.  It is reputed to be one of the loveliest stretches of track in Vietnam.  I had taken that train on my previous trip, but coming the other way from Hue.  Because we were traveling so close to Tet there was immediately a problem securing a place.  The hotel clerk worked quite hard to get us tickets.

When we arrived the station was packed and then a mad rush to get to the correct car.  Much to our surprise it was a sleeping car.  When we found the correct compartment there were four men lying on the four bunks and they showed no sight of making room for us.  Not knowing what else to do, I tossed my pack on one of the bunks and show its occupant my ticket.  He, in turn, got his out too.  They both had the same compartment and bunk numbers on them. 

I left E standing in the aisle while I went looking for help.  It was mass confusion.  All the compartments were full, there were people standing in the aisles and even some lying on the floor in the space between the cars.  No one spoke any English.  Finally I found an official who I showed our tickets to.  He then took us to a different compartment which had even more people in it.  We stood there for a few minutes until another official moved us back to the original compartment. 

As the train pulled out we were still being shuffled back and forth.  After a couple of more moves we decided to just stay in the second compartment.  At least it wasn’t full of surly men and the occupants had actually made space for us.  E and I looked at each other.  There were 10 other people in this tiny compartment: two babies, three adolescent girls and five adults. 

We struck out bags in the corner of the lower berth and E headed for the aisle where she took a place by the open window.  She stayed there for most of the three-hour trip enjoying the scenery but being constantly joslted by people making their way up and down the aisle.  I split my time between the window and the compartment.  I found the girls could play paper, scissors and stone, so I amused myself, and them, with a game whenever I got bored.

The crowded, noisy car quickly got on both our nerves.  We were used to a little more personal space but we figured we could put up with most anything for three hours.  There was a lot of distraction: there was the little boy who peed on the floor, lots of spilled food that made the floor slippery and the constant shoving of passengers.  That said, everyone was very friendly, offering us food, a place to sit, pointing out interesting things to look at and making room for E at the window.

At the end of three hours we were exhausted.  Luckily the hotel had offered to pick us up.  After checking in we both washed up and changed our clothes.  After a few drinks and dinner we could see it for the great adventure it had been.

Hue
Wednesday, 14 Feb 2007
Three tombs and a temple
We had been using motos to get around Hue.  While Hoi An was small enough to walk, in Hue we needed some help.  We go to know several of the drivers, so when we decided we wanted to visit some of the tombs outside Hue, we already knew who were the most knowledgeable and best.

E had a list of the places she wanted to visit and we circled them on a map.  Then we went to negotiate with the drive we liked best.  He had a few suggestions of his own.  After agreeing on a price he got another driver and off we went.

After zipping out to the first tomb (Khai Pinh) and walking around, we headed to a Buddhist monastery, Nam Giao (Temple of Heaven). This was the driver’s suggestion and it was a good one.  We walked around and ended up in the back of the temple where several young monks were getting ready for morning prayers.  This gave us a chance to see them in an informal setting and to talk a bit to them.

Then they excused themselves and walked to the temple altar.   There were three monks and they started chanting and ring bells and gongs.  The ceremony was viewed by about 20 other lucky tourists.  Most just sat and observed.  I walked around quietly to view and photograph the ceremony from several angles.

After that we visited two more tombs, Tu Duc and Dong Khanh, before returning to Hue for lunch.

HCM City
Friday, 16 Feb 2007
Tet Eve
Tet, of course, is the Vietnamese New Year and for most of our trip we could see the preparations.  There were various ceremonies that we saw performed in front of stores and shops.  These usually involved a table of offering - food and flowers - some of which were burned at the end of the ceremony.  There was also a lot of cleaning and repainting going on in the shops, homes and temples.  Also in the streets we saw various plants and trees for sale and often saw people carrying them home strapped to the back of their motos. 

Then there were the decorations. No place seemed to have more than downtown HCM City.  The main shopping street was completely taken over by displays.  In the evening the street was closed and filled with bands and performing groups.  The most interesting were the dragon dancers. 

They had a long cloth dragon held aloft on poles by a team of men who were followed by a group of drummers.  The whole entourage would stop every now and then and perform a set of intricate, and athletic, maneuvers that made the dragon look like it was flying around.  People would circle around and watch the exhibition.  I couldn’t resist taking as many pictures as I could, caught up in the excitement myself.

HCM City
Saturday, 17 Feb 2007
My last day in HCM City
This morning after my breakfast was delivered the hotel manager came around with a tray of wine glasses and gave one to each of the guests.  He wished us each a Happy New Year as he put the glass down.  It was a very dry red wine.  When he had finished this he returned and handed each of us a little red envelope.  “Luck money,” he said.  He handed it to me with both hands and a slight nod of his head.  Inside the envelope was a crisp, new 10,000 Dong note - around 60 cents.

So that is how my trip to Vietnam ended - with luck money.

E left the hotel at 3:00 am to catch her 6:00 flight home.  I will leave around 9:00 to catch my flight back to Bangkok.

Bangkok
Sunday, 18 Feb 2007
A doctor and a barber
What did I do today?  I went to the hospital and then to the barber.

I didn’t mention it but I burned my leg on the exhaust of a motorcycle when I was in Hue.  I have been treating it with ointment that E gave me but is has slowly been getting worse.  I fear it has become infected.

Today, I was out walking and passed a hospital named ‘The Bangkok Christian Hospital.’  That sounded like a hopeful name so I decided to give them a try.  I started at the information desk and was quickly checked in.  I then saw a doctor who had a nurse clean and dress the burn.  I was given a course of antibacterial tablets and sent out the door in about 45 minutes.  The price: less than $50.  They even gave me receipt in English for my insurance company.

Happy with the outcome, I decided to get a hair cut - I was getting a little shaggy.  All the places around my hotel are questionable haircut/massage parlors, so I took the sky train out to the Tesco (the local Walmart) where I got a really great cut for 300B - about $8.

That and a little wandering around consumed the rest of the day.  As I’m running out of time I’m trying to get all the little stuff done today so I can do some more sightseeing tomorrow, my last day.

Ah, how quickly a trip comes to an end.

Ann Arbor, Michigan
April 2007

Read more of my travelogues

Send your comments to: