Hotch potch.

I was going to write a blog about showers in South East Asia. Given the variety and diversity, from the superheated steam blast that blows you away like a fire hydrant to the limp squib barely able to wet the floor let alone your body you would think I were able to rant on ad infintum. All I really want to do though is to describe my showering experience this morning in Dong Hoi. Dong Hoi is on the coast east of Phoung Nga by about 50km (the width of Vietnam at this point). Thanh and I had come here to meet Vicky and Ernie off the flight from Hanoi. They had flown because the 2 day drive would have crippled Ernie. Anyway we spent a very relaxing day on the beach at Dong Hoi in a very pleasant backpacker hostel that offended Mr Thanhs sense of propriety. Ernie and I fished to our hearts content. This brings me to the shower. I had been fishing early in the morning and had been absolutely soaked in a rain storm. I went to our room for a shower, to clean up and warm up. A word about showers in Vietnam:- They vary a lot. Some are instantaneous gas and supply hot water with gusto. Some are electric and are a little sullen. They give up thier labours with little good grace. They usually have to be cajoled into some kind of begrudging submission and even then the water is tepid. Well my morning shower at Beachside Backpackers, Dong Hoi was not tepid. The shower had to be cajoaled. First it was a good idea to turn the electric heater on , a point niether of my roommates had noticed. Anyway heater turned on I applied the tap. You would have to say at this time that the wter pressure was sverely depleted to the point of less than dribbles. But the water was wondefully warm. Held at point blank range you could apply a gloriously warm caress to the entire surface of your body. The sensation was excuisite. I wetted down my entire torso in a state of sensual bliss. Then I soaped off only to anticipate the delight to come when once again I repeated the showers caress. The whole experience was wonderful.

Our departure to Phoung Nga from Dong Hoi must have frustrated the hell out of mr Thanh. We dithered and delayed for an inordinate amount of time. I was  trying to have a cup of restorative coffee while at the same time booking flights on Vietjet from Danang to Saigon and packing my bag. The booking kept timing out and the packing became frought with all kinds of complications. In the end we managed to head out for breakfast at 9:30 with Thanh concerned we would miss out. We didn't but it was close.

It is two days since I started this post. We have been in Phoung Nga for 2 days now. We have been to the Phoung Nga Cave and the Paradise Cave. Phoung Nga is lovely and low impact. Stunning formations seen from the luxury of a boat or gentle stroll through the columns, stalactites and stalagmites. Very pretty and quite spectacular. The Paradise cave is also spectacular, beautiful and stunning. The access however is challenging for an old man. 585 meters straight up to the entrance and some 300 straight down once inside. The cave itself goes on for some kilometer   or so and the formations are good. The entrance is gained through a series of ramps some steepish and some the same steepness a cow would make going up a hill. The exit is stairs, hundreds of them. Not so good on old knees.

Today we are off to Hue and then Hoian. The journey has been great and the memories entertaining. Especially when Ernie ran out of petrol on his hired 110cc tiddler!

Burning miles

We arrived back in Hanoi at about 4pm. Tired and elated from the previous days efforts. Ba Be is truely a wonderfully peaceful place. One could chill there for quite some time. There are a lot more homestays than before but the effect does not intrude too much. I did not actually see much more foriegners than  were in my homestay but for glimpses of profiles on distant varandahs and balconies.

I had arranged to spend that night at my dear friends Ms Le and Mr Vuong place. I was picked up by Vuong on his motorbike and had a truely exciting ride through rush hour Hanoi to his home in the suburbs some 12km from town. They live in a beautiful new house in a lovely area surrounded by what we call market gardens and huge banana paddocks. The area has a very rural feel overlaid with a new town feel. I had a lovely meal (hotpot) with the family, Le, Vuong, his mother and Le's brother. The meal was lovely and I enjoyed chatting with Vuong and Le with the stirling help of my trusty translator on my Tablet.

This was the first night I have slept on a Vietnamese bed. No mattress but simply boards covered by a rush mat. Despite my reservations about hard surfaces I had a very goodnights sleep and woke in the morning feeling refreshed and not at all stiff. We fired up the bikes and rode into town for some breakfast and coffee (Bun bo Hue and sweet coffee Vietnamese style). Leaving Le and Vuong to go to work I sauntered over to the Highlands Coffee for some cold coffeeand cake and a good read while I waited for Mr Thanh to finish servicing his car.

I met Thanh at the 3B Hotel and we set off for Dong Hoi some 500km south. We used the Ho Chi Minh highway (trail) rather than Highway 1. It was fanulous to reacquaint myself with this road that carries so much history for me. We passed the spot where I was forced off the road into a resteraunt and we passed by the range of Kharst limestone mountains that remind you so much of dragons teeth. We actually made it to Tam Ky which took me 2 days to ride to llast year. It is a very quiet small town in the middle of nowhere notable.... I think. We had a meal that could not be beat and have now returned to our hotel where Thanh is already pressing zeds. Tomorrow we go to Dong Hoi via Phoung Nga Kebang national park.   

There are no photos yet as my tablet had a flat battery and photos came from my phone I will try to upload them later.

Things are beginning to go crazy

We are now at Ba Be. This is the sixth day of our journey. Time is beginning to slip away. The last 2 days in Hanoi were spent going to the Temple of Literature. And wondering around the old quarter. I bought a new poncho in the big market. Every night we ended up at the Irish Wolfhound with all its attractions.

Vicky and I saw a Turtle in Hoan Kiem Lake. We saw it three times! At one spot it came so close to the surface with its head out of water we could see shell and all. Our friend  Nancy from the 3 B Hotel told us she has been therefor 10 years and has never seen one! Apparently it is very lucky. So we are blessed.The last night at the"Irish Dog" was very similar to the first. Hail fellow well met., a sense of camoraderie and belonging..Very  nice.

The trip to Ba Be from Hanoi was fun. We stopped for coffee, lunch and files and files of digital camera shots on the way. Our homestay at Ba Be is nestled on the side of a steep mountain amongst a plethora of other homestays. Ours has a spectacular view of the lake as we are so high. The serenity is inspiring, so peaceful so calm.

I went for a walk down to the river below us. I was sitting on the bank surveying a scene of absolute tranquility, across from me ther were some very pretty cows grazing in a lazy afternoon way, up river a couple were industriously cleaning a long boat for the next days tourists and down river a couple were lazily paddling a couple of kayaks up river as if thecurrent was not there.  Fantastic.  While walking back to the homestay my tablet which I had been using as a camera turned into a facebook messenger machine. There I was in the middle of a paddock next to the river talking directly to a bloke in Australia! In Vietnam the telephone /mobilesystem is incredible so now is the internet!

This is Ba Be

A beautiful day dawned. The view was shrouded in low morning cloud. This lifted in a magical way when the sun blazed releasing the view to turn up the panoramic volume. I sat on my balcony overlooking everything taking in the serenity and responding to an email from my tenant. She told me the fan in the composting toilet had failed and the house was stinking. Thanks to the world wide web I was able to get it fixed while sitting there. It's no wonder really there are telephone towers everywhere. You can be in the back of beyond with the only access out being a river that out competes the one in Apocalypse Now.

Our program for the day was to go on a boat across the lake. It is actually three lakes all joined up, that is why it is called BaBe. Bameaning 3 and Be meaning lake. Easy really. The reality is quite breathtaking. Jungle clad mountains rise from all sides. The faces of the cliffs are all multicoloured limestone. We motored across the 3 lakes and went into the river at the other end. I cannot tell if were North South East or West as my internal compass was not functioning. The river provided scene of family and community with little groups of houses lining the banks intermitently. We were still in a deep gorge surrounded by towering limestone cliffs. After some while we came to cave where the river goes right through a mountain. Here we got out of the boat and walked around the cave. It was very impressive, bats chattering above, ancient stalactites and stalagmites stained green with algae and huge columns. In the centre of the cave above us was an enormous hole that receeded into darkness. One wonders on the mysteries hidden there. Back into the boat we returned down the river until we almost got to the lake. We then went up a different branch for a couple of kilometers until we reached a village with a substantial landing stage. There were resteraunts here catering to the tourist and it was where we were to have lunch. Before this though we walked along a good footpath for about 15 minutes to a large waterfall complete with raging cateracts. It was very beautiful, surrounded by jungle and deafening with the roar of the falls. Walking back to the village we passed buffalo and goats. The goats were far more friendly than the buffalo who seemed suspicious and very wary. Lunch was as usual very tasty and good. Watered down with a beer Ha Noi it met all needs. Back to the boat we went into the lake for a little fishing. No luck here we motored across the lake to a  very small island where we had a lovely swim. The water was fantastic not too cold to shiver and not to hot to be oppressive. Finally we motored back to our start point and a really good day drew to a close. 

Today we went to the citadel

A slow and stately awakening after a big night. I always say avoid a big drinking night with an Irishman and I keep ignoring my own advice. Liam was very entertaining and kept up his patter all night. We laughed all night long. My sides now hurt and there are a few torn stomach muscles. Another great night.

I have not been to the citadel before  so I was very interested. At first the layout is a bit confusing, not helped by several busloads of very excited graduating students. They were full of vim and vigour and were being organised by several young men who were organising groups into photogenic scenes, forming letters and patterns that make good overhead shots.

The citadel itself is replete with history and archeology. It was first built in the 11th century. Since that time it has several iterations with successive emporers rebuilding thier palaces. When the french took over they flattened the place and built thier headquarters on top of the ruins. So now the area is made up of impressive french colonial architeture. These old buildings now hold artifacts and displays from the older times. There is an  enormous turtle carved from a huge lump of blue sapphire. It was impressive. 

For me I was very impressed with the archeology. The Vietnamese have done the digging with thier usual thouroughness. It is still going on and there are substantial areas surrounded by corro where sqatting workers worry at sunken artifacts with brushes and trowels.

At the rear of the complex in a very understated building, single story and very ordinary was the Hanoi Headquarters of the Vietnamese Army and government during the American War. Here you can take pictures of the politburo table with name tags that renew memories of the time. Le Duc Tho and Ngo van Giap are two of my heros from that time and there are the seats they occupied when it was all happening. There is two offices for Giap and the other general that managed the war ( I can't remember his name at the moment). Under this building was a huge complex that basically repeated the building 9 meters above. There are blast doors made of steel and manhole covers that may conceal further tunnels. The whole effect is evocative and I wondered around in quite a state.

Overall I would have to give the citadel a big tick of approval for tourism. I was suprised to find out it does not even rate a mention in the Lonely Planet! Bad choice chaps. It is definitely very helpful to understand the ancient history of Hanoi and to an extent even the whole of the country. I was struck by the realisation that the citadel and palaces were first built at the same time as the city and temples of Angkor. I wonder about the relationship between the empires of the Kmers and the Vietnamese Han.

We caught a cab back to the old quarter and had a Bun Cha lunch at my favorite resteraunt. I learnt a few more things about managing age while travelling. I think we probably pushed Ernie a bit hard so we needed to give him time to recouperate. Lesson.. only one activity per day. When the client wants the loo don't let him climb 5 flights of stairs to find it.

In the evening we ate at a street resteraunt, I had roast pigeon complete with head and beak. The evening was concluded with a visit to the Irish Wolfhound. Another great night was had.