September in Vietnam – Planes, Trains, and Rowboats, Hoi An, Ninh Binh

The last month has been a bit of a whirlwind. We usually try to spend at least 2 weeks in the same place. A month is more ideal. It allows us to unpack our suitcases and settle in and feel at home. It also allows us to get to know a place gradually, while avoiding the exhaustion of making a tourist run and attempting to see everything in a few days.  That, unfortunately, was not how the last month played out. After finishing the Ha Giang loop, we took a sleeper bus back to Hanoi. It was an interesting trip. We really enjoy traveling by the VIP sleeper buses as they have larger spaces, usb charging ports, personal climate control, and are just very comfortable. About an hour outside of Hanoi the driver stopped for a police checkpoint, spoke briefly with a police man through the door of the bus, then put the bus in park and exited. He was apparently then arrested, and someone else boarded the bus and pulled it into the police station, shut the engine off, and left.  We sat there in the dark with the other passengers, all of whom were Vietnamese, for almost an hour. Eventually, one by one, the other passengers exited the bus to look for a toilet or stretch their legs. Many of them sat on the cool asphalt and spoke with each other.  I got out to see if I could find someone who spoke English who could explain what was going on. Eventually, a young man ran up and said something to everyone, who then began collecting their luggage from under the bus. He pantomimed to me instructions to get our things and follow. A new bus had arrived, and had a few empty spaces and we were instructed by the newcomer to get on board. I helped a family stow their motorbike under the bus with the luggage and climbed aboard, and an hour later we were back in Hanoi.  The next day we took a bus to Cat Ba, and thankfully the driver didn’t seem to have any outstanding warrants and the trip was uneventful, and included a stop at the Vietnamese version of Buckee’s.

In Cat Ba we were joined by the German couple we had driven the Ha Giang loop with (L and K.) They arrived from Ha Long a day after we did.  In Cat Ba we rested and recovered from the 4 exhausting days on the Ha Giang loop. One of the days we spent exploring the beaches. One of the beaches was separated from the others by a cliff, and could only be accessed by walking through a fancy hotel.  

The hotel consisted of two buildings that were about a quarter mile apart, but connected by an impressive sky bridge.   As we were walking up to the main entrance we saw some workers exiting an exterior elevator, and figured we should explore the sky bridge. We got to the elevator before the doors closed and pushed one of the two buttons, and were let out about a minute later onto the bridge, which was completely abandoned, and so, apparently, was the rest of the resort. We walked along the sky bridge admiring the view of the beach and surrounding cliffs, and the beautiful flower boxes that were built on the outside of the bridge at railing height.  We eventually made our way to the other building and found a large glass door that opened into a fancy foyer, with a dozen elevators. We took one down to the main lobby, which was dark and empty. We were a bit worried at that point, but could see the beach through the windows and fortunately found the doors were unlocked. The grounds were immaculate, with a massive pool with water slides and dozens of deck chairs and umbrellas, but not a single person around. We walked passed tennis courts and a sand volleyball court, which had been built on the decking, and eventually came to a large outdoor disco bar, with blaring music and colorful up lighting.  There we saw a single bar tender who was preoccupied playing candy crush on his phone. The bar bordered the beach, which was empty, save for a couple rows of beach chairs and umbrellas. Since there was no security or staff or guests around we figured no one would mind if we used the chairs. We stayed there until after dark when the mosquitos came out. Since the beach was bordered by cliffs, the  only way to exit was back the way we had come, and fortunately, everything was still unlocked, and there was still no one to be seen. It had gotten dark, and as we looked up at the oddly empty resort hotel, somewhere on the 12th floor a single light came on. 

When we left Cat Ba, we took a bus to Ninh Binh, and L and K joined us.  The guest house we had booked ended up being one of the greatest places we’ve ever stayed, all thanks to the Hostess. The accommodations were good, but the hospitality of the hostess was incredible. When we arrived she had an aperitif prepared for us, with some cheese and fruit and mango smoothies. The next morning she made a three course breakfast, and gave us some suggestions on things to do. She also let us rent a motorbike from her for $4 for the day, and packed some snacks for us.  

The popular thing to do in Ninh Binh is the Trang An boat tour, which has several options where you can hire a boat to take you through an interconnected river system that spans dozens of miles and connects several cliff bound lakes in the Lying Dragon Mountains. The mountains themselves are a series of sheer cliffs that go almost straight up over 1000 feet, and create a wall that would be impassible, except for the rivers, which pass through the cliffs by means of an ancient submerged cave system.  The boats themselves are engineless, and are rowed the 15 some-odd miles by the tour guide, whom, in our case, was a sixty something year old woman.  h

She grabbed Kelli’s leg as we tried to board the boat, and waggled her finger back and forth, and then pointed to another boat. We were a bit confused as the man who took our tickets had directed us to board her boat. We looked back at the ticket-man, and he again pointed to her boat. Kelli took a step, and the lady again grabbed her leg and gestured for us to board a different boat. At that point the ticket man came over and spoke to her. She adopted a defeated look and allowed us to board. In hind sight I think she saw just how tall we were and did not want to paddle two giant westerners around, when the alternative would have been very petit Asian tourists. 

We felt bad for her and found some extra oars in the bottom of the boat and helped paddle most of the way.  

One of the interesting aspects of the Trang An boat tour, is that many of the rowers will paddle with their feet. I’m not sure if this is a traditional way to paddle, or if it’s just because they get tired of using their arms.  We saw some videos of the boat pilots paddling with their feet, and were interested to see if our pilot would. She didn’t. I asked her about it at one point, by miming paddling with my feet, and she laughed, put her feet on the oars, pushed once, then shook her head and then drew her finger across her neck. So I can only assume that it’s an executable offense…or something. 

The caves that we rowed through were lit by electric lighting, but had a history of housing people that went back over 60,000 years. The valleys that we emerged into from the caves each had a beautiful temple, complete with a boat landing and long rows of stone steps that went down into the tranquil waters. At many of the stops we were the only tourists there, and it was incredibly peaceful.  We even found some cats to pet at one point. 

After Ninh Binh, we took a sleeper train to Hoi An. When we got to the station, we were approached by a little girl who we learned was 9 years old. She asked if we would talk with her. She asked us all sorts of what seemed like scripted questions, and after a few minutes I took a look around the station, and saw that every single westerner there (and there were a couple dozen at least) had a similarly aged Vietnamese kid sitting and talking with them. Eventually our kid got bored with our conversation, or had asked all of the allotted questions and left, and was immediately replaced by another girl who introduced herself and explained that she had an school assignment to go to the train station to practice her English, and she explained that the other kids there were all in her class. 

Eventually the train came. We had booked two beds in a four person sleeper cabin, and were anxious about who we would be sharing the space with.  (Kelli had checked the manifest online, and to our dismay someone had booked the other two beds in our cabin.) But before the train even left the station the conductor came in and suggested that we might enjoy the ride more if we had the cabin to ourselves. (An assessment we definitely agreed with.)  He then asked us how much we might be willing to pay for such a scenario. We negotiated, and settled on 50,000 dong, or roughly $2, and got to enjoy the cabin alone for the next 14 hours. 

Hoi An is quite a wonderful city.  It’s a UNESCO world heritage site, and a vibrant tourist destination filled with yellow colonial buildings, brightly colored boats and strings of brilliant paper lanterns that criss cross the streets and decorate the alleys and buildings.  

Hoi An is famous for its tailors, and that was at the top of our reasons for visiting. I’ve never had a piece of tailored clothing in my life, and it was a fun experience to get measured, sit down with a catalogue and pick styles and then materials and patterns that I liked to have something unique made that fit me better than any other piece of clothing I’ve ever owned, and all for a bit less than I would pay for stock clothes back in the States. Kelli was super excited as well, as finding clothing in South East Asia that fits a 6’5 woman is absolutely impossible. She was able to have a dress, some shorts, and a very stylish pair of pants made.  I had two linen shirts and a pair of shorts made, and we paid about $150 for everything. 

Every night in Hoi An as the sun sets over the river town, the gondola boats emerge, each lit by colored lanterns and steered by a pilot with a single oar (similar to a Venetian gondolier.) The river turns into a dance of colorful lights as dozens of these lantern lit boats make their way up and down the Thu Bon river with their glowing hues of blue and red and green and gold.  Along the river banks old ladies sell floating paper lanterns for $1. They’ll light a candle for you and place it in the lantern and then hand you a long stick with a hook on the end that you can use to lower the lantern into the water where it will float and dance with the other water lanterns as the lazy gondolas go by.  

During one of our days in Hoi An we hired a tuk tuk to take us to the potter’s village. I’ve often wondered why merchants have historically clustered together with other similar merchants. Wouldn’t it make more sense to set up shop somewhere where there was less competition? In Los Angeles you have the garment district, and the flower district, etc. and here in Hoi An there is an entire village of potters. Maybe there is a good source of clay nearby that drew the potters to live in that area, or maybe they’re all distantly related to each other, one big family that has passed down their trade for hundreds of years. It was difficult to get much information with my limited Vietnamese.  I suppose the answer could be in the Pottery Museum on the edge of the village, which we probably should have visited. Instead, we wandered around the village, where we were invited to sit and play with some clay and a wheel. I’ve seen lots of videos of potters making things. They always make it look so effortless and elegant, and it turns out it’s really difficult.  

It was a lot of fun though, even if my clay just ended up all over my legs and up my elbows.  The lady who was instructing us told us that her parents, and her grandmother (who had lived to be 100) were also potters, and so was her husband, and her 4 and 8 year old daughters were notably quite good at it as well.  Little clay flutes shaped in the effigies of different animals could be found for sale all over Hoi An, as well as some beautiful pottery that came from the little village and had undoubtedly found it’s way into the homes of tourists from countries all over the world (though probably mostly Australia.) 

We really enjoyed our time in Vietnam. The people were so very kind and friendly, and the scenery is incredible. I imagine we will come back someday soon, for new tailored clothing if nothing else.

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