My Son : Evidence of Indian Culture in Vietnam

Day 11: 27 Dec 2005

The ruins of My Son are one of Vietnam's most ancient monuments. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was once the major religious centre of the ancient Champa Kingdom. My hotel managed to arrange a half day tour to My Son at US$4. Though a half day tour, the bus journey actually took 2hrs each way. The tour allow for a 2hrs at the ruins, which is enough for most tourist.

The temples rising out of the jungle reveal the influence Hinduism on the culture of the ancient Cham people. Relic such as Hindu linga and yoni are found at the site. Hindu image and ornaments are also intricately carved on the wall and pillars. The site are organized into an uninspired group name of A to H. Regrettably, there is little written description of the sights.

The ruins of My Son could be in a better condition. Most of the site are heavily damaged during the war. The best of the sculptures have also been moved to the Cham Museum in Danang. Nevertheless, My Son is well worth a visit. Apart from its historical importance it is located in a lovely settling.

Gastronomic Delight in Hoi An

Hoi An has good quantity and quality food. Every turn, nook and canny in the city yields a new restaurants or cafés.

I joined Jason and Kat for Christmas lunch shortly after we arrived in Hoi An from Hue. We have chosen a restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet in Tan Phu near the market. I ordered cao lau and fried wanton, which I am immensely satisfied. White rose, fried wanton and cao lau are Hoi An specialties. White rose is actually steam dumpling with shrimp. Fried wonton, unlike our local version, is wrapped with mixture of mince shrimp and crab meat. The real treat, in my opinion, is cao lau, which is served in almost every Hoi An restaurants. It's a thick and flat rice noodle, much like our hand-made noodles, with slices of pork, croutons, sprouts, greens and crispy rice paper in a light soup, which are enhanced with mint, anise, small chilis. It is both filing and flavourful.

For dinner, I checked out this nondescript restaurant along Phan Dinh Phung. The place is operated by an Australian lady. According to the sign board, she also served vegemite to homesick Aussie. A young Dutch joined me at the table because he doesn't want to dine alone. Neither do I.

The young Dutch is Ramco. He was an IT analyst in Amsterdam and recently quitted his job to travel the world. He has done China and was doing Southeast Asia before heading to Australia/New Zealand. We chatted through dinner, and thereafter headed to “Treat” in Tran Phu St. Treat is a well run bar with 2 pool tables. It seems to be very popular and packed with travelers.

Besides traditional Vietnamese fares, Hoi An also offers a stunning variety of foreign cuisines to satisfy the whim of every visitors. For lunch on the second day, I ordered burger in Hoi An Patisserie. The burger was done to perfection, with thick juicy beef patty, crisp fresh veggie, soft cheese sandwiched in between a nicely toasted sesame bud. Yummy.. This recommended café by Let's Go guide has a wide selection of pastry and gourmet sandwiches. I took my food and coffee on the terrace of the café overlooking Thu Bon River. It is a nice place to spend a lazy afternoon and draft a few posts.

By evening on the 2nd day in Hoi An, I finished my travel literature which I brought for the trip: Sarah Macdonald's “Holy Cow”. The book accounted her travel and adventure in India, and I had an urged to try Indian food. I was not disappointed for Hoi An boosted a popular India place “Omar's Restaurant” (14 Phan Dinh Phung). The curry was excellent. As the place was packed I was make to share the table with a young French student in her early 20s. Currently on her short Christmas break, she was interning in the Hanoi UN Office. She love India and have since visited 4 times. Apparently, she loves Indian food.

I have my lunch on the last day in Hoi An in Café Ly (22 Nguyen Hue), another recommended café by Let's Go guide. They served excellent local food and I tried their signature grilled pork in rice paper wrap. It was delicious.

By all account, it was not surprise why many travellers stayed longer in Hoi An. It has a nice World Heritage town, unhurried pace of life, and excellent food.

Tomb Raider in Hue

Day 8: 24 Dec 2005

The bus journey from Hanoi to Hue is a good 14hrs. Jason and Kat, the Kiwi couple who are in my tour in Sapa, are also in the same bus. They intended to spend a day in Ninh Binh before heading to Hoi An. I reckon I will meet up with them for Christmas in Hoi An. People are either heading north or south in Vietnam, and bound to meet up in major tourist towns.

I alighted from the bus with a headache and a slight fever that persist throughout the day in Hue. The hotel touts quickly besiege us as we alight from the bus in the middle of the town. I follow a one of them to a hotel close to the bus station as I intended to stay only a night in Hue. I checked into Phu An Hotel (42 Nguyen Tri Phuong St) at US$10 a night.

With the limited time in Hue, I also arranged a one day tour of the Citadel, the Imperial City and the Royal Tombs from the hotel. Though the tour included lunch and trip back by boat along the Perfume River, it never included the admission to all the attractions. At an average of 55,000D for each attraction, it is quite pricey. My group consisted mainly of American tourists. Interestingly, there is an Vietnamese-American family, whose mum is descended from one of the concubine of the Nguyen emperors. Hmm.. traveling with the royal?

TOMB OF MINH MANG
The guidebooks have stated that the Minh Mang’s tomb is possibly the finest of all the imperial tombs, and it might be true. In term of architectural poise and balance, and richness of decoration, it is pleasant and pleasing visually. In addition, it is sited among peaceful ponds, large courtyards and stone bridges over the ponds. The tomb proper is located on the mound surrounded by a circular wall and locked bronze door which prevent access.

TOMB OF KHAI DINH
At first glance, the Khai Dinh’s tomb seems a bit lack of greens as compared to Minh Mang’s. The tomb is the last of the imperial tomb to be built, it show a distinctly European architectural influence. The interior is richly decorated with ornate and colourful murals, French floor tiles and fragment of Chinese porcelain and Japanese glass. The alter house the statue of the emperor and his tomb is located 9m below the statue.

TOMB OF TU DUC
Though part of the tour, the group unanimously agreed to skip this site. Seem that nobody wanted to pay another 55,000D to visit another tomb.

THE IMPERIAL CITY

The Imperial City is modeled after the much larger Forbidden Palace in Beijing. It was huge compound within the Citadel and we spend more than 2 hours within the city wall. Beyond the Royal Gate is the Palace of Supreme Harmony, which house the emperor’s throne. From here, the emperor will receive ministers, mandarins and military officers during ceremonial occasions. North of the Palace of Supreme Harmony is the walled-in Purple Forbidden City, formerly the residence of the royal family. Tragically, the Forbidden City was destroyed during the Vietnam War. Most of the surviving buildings of interest are found on the southwestern side.

THIEN MU PAGODA
The last stop of the tour is Thien Mu Pagoda, a seven-storey pagoda that is built in the 16 century, overlooking the Perfume River. With the ground also house an active monastery. Interestingly, the monastery also house the car driven by the first monk who immolate himself publicly to protest against the South Vietnam government discrimination against Buddhists. It was reported that he drove the car from the monastery to Saigon in 1963, stopped at an intersection in the city centre, sat down in lotus position, and set himself on fire. Unbelievable..

The tour ended with a typical boat ride along the Perfume River. We were dropped off at the bank of the city centre and have to make our way back on our own in a light drizzle. Though not a far walk from most of our hotels, the tour should have ferried us back.

I retired early after a light dinner as was still pretty weak from the headache and fever in the morning. No Christmas dinner.

Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra's Christmas Concert

Day 6: 22 Dec 2005

The Opera House is a proud looking colonial building that is hard to miss. I am fortunate that the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra is playing the Christmas Concert during my last evening in Hanoi. I bought a stall seat ticket which cost 15,000 D. Quite cheap for a symphony concert.

The concert was attended by mainly expatiates and tourist audiences. I also bumped into Tim and Catherine who one on the same boat with me in Halong Bay. We swapped stories of our adventures since we parted in Halong Bay, during intermission over wine.


The programme line up for the evening includes:
1. Giya Kanchelli's "Mourned by the Wind" liturgy for viola and large orchestra
2. J. S. Bach's Concerto for Violin and Oboe
3. Igor Stravinsky's Petroushka
These are hardly pieces one expected for a Christmas concert.

The conductor is a Japanese guest conductor Tomoyuki Hirota. Though the orchestra is made up of Vietnamese musicians. Or at least I didn't see anyone that looked foreign to me. I am not too sure if it is due to national pride or practical funding reasons. The violinist for Bach's Concerto is a graduate from Vietnam's conservatory. She seems relatively young as the principle violinist but she played superbly.

To my untrained ears, I think that the orchestra has played averagely. I felt that the play is more technical than emotional. The Bach's Concerto is well-played but rather stiff. However, I admired them for attempting the rarely played Giya Kanchelli's pieces. Judging from the restless crowd, it does seems that the piece is an acquired taste. Overall, it is an enjoyable evening. Hope that Vietnam continues to support its orchestra as it grows economically.

Exploring Hanoi

Day 6 - 7: 22 - 23 Dec 2005

I checked into Thu Giang Guesthouse which was recommended by “Let’s Go”. It is located down a small alley of Hang Bong. I then spend the next two days exploring the sights in Hanoi.

Old Quarter – The Old Quarter can be quite a daunting maze. The narrow streets are named after the produce that it sells or used to sell, each street specializing in the production and sale of one type if good. Some of this is still in evidence but generally the crafts and trades have given way hotels, cafes, restaurants and tourist shops. The quarter still maintain a fine balance between tourist trade and the old trade. It is hoped that this unique area will be conserved with the old trade living and working the area, and not to follow what Singapore did with its Chinatown of preserving only the façade. All in all, the Old Quarter is a good area to stay, eat and a good base to explore the city. I have enjoyed the breakfast of delicious pho in Trong Khach (63 Hang Thieu) not far from my hotel. I also find a lovely corner in the room upstairs of a stylish French café/bakery “Baguette & Chocolat” (11 Cha Ca), which I wrote this post.



Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Presidential Palace, Ho Chi Minh's Museum - Despite understanding the communism tradition of worshipping their leaders, I still find the displays and the attitude incomprehensible. The mausoleum and Ba Dinh Square area are clean, lawn are will trimmed, guards with well-pressed uniform are alert and quick to remind visitors to march in file, take off their caps, keep their hands by their sides, etc. The effort and resources spent to glorified the work of one man and the state propaganda is just too much for my cynical mind..

The Temple of Literature - the temple is a lot larger than I thought. Though built in 1070, it is still in pristine condition. I think ethic Chinese visitors shouldn't miss this temple. A lot of the history, culture and tradition depicted in the temple are what have been told to many young Chinese children.

Museum of Ethnology - A little out of the way, I took a motorbike taxi to the Museum of Ethnology and it is worth the visit. The modern museum has a large collection of artifacts, photographs and documents of the practices and rituals of the various ethnic groups. Chinese, being an ethnic group in Vietnam are also displayed. There is even a short documentary showing the practices of the ethnic Chinese Vietnamese during Tet (Chinese New Year). Most of the Chinese practices are similar, if not with little variation. I find it bizarre that my culture is place under the microscope of a museum. A group of Caucasian tourists crowded under the small TV screen with interest. I wonder what they are thinking.

Hiking in Sapa

Day 3 - 5: 19 - 21 Dec 2005

The overnight train journey from Hanoi to Lao Cai was uneventful. I shared the bunk with a Swiss couple and a Vietnamese who kept to themselves. The train arrived in Lao Cai at 5.30am and I was promptly picked up by the minibus operator who led me to a fully packed van.

The trip to Sapa took slightly more than an hour and we were all dropped off at Royal Hotel Sapa, which is both my accommodation and tour operator in Sapa.

Having some time to spare between breakfast and the hike, I took a short walk around the town and the market. As it was a weekday morning, there wasn't much tourist.

My guide, a H'mong lady in her early 20s introduced herself after I get back. The plan is to do a 3hrs hike that morning to Cat Cat and Sin Chai villages, and a 5hrs hike to Lau Chai village the 2nd day. Both trip will be a one way and minibus will pick us up on the way back.

I queried if there is a possibility to do a longer hike all the way to the lower Sapa valley in Su Pan. The H'mong guide advised that me that I have to join another group and stay in the village instead of hotel for the night. I agreed without hesitation.

My new group included Tan - Malaysian whom I met on the bus trip from Sapa. Jason & Kat - New Zealanders who are heading home after working 2 years in London. They are travelling Africa and Asia on the way back. Andre - German who resided in East Germany before the Wall came down. Young - a jovial art critic who bring laughter to both the villagers and us along the trip.

The leisurely hike through the villages is the highlight of the trip so far. The track took us through the rice fields and across the courtyard of the houses. We observed that the rural life is led in reasonable prosperity. There are TVs, VCD players and even satellite dishes in most households..

It is amazing to observe that the landscape has been engineered to suit man's needs. The rice terraces are built on an awesome scale. Steep slopes on the hills are craved out into level field to be flooded to grow rice.

We spent a night with a family in the village. Dinner was deliciously prepared by the family. We spent the evening around a basin of hot charcoal watching Vietnamese version of "Who want to be a millionaire". We reckon that it must be 7 C outside.

The family slept on the ground floor while we slept in the attic on the 2nd level. Bed consist of 2" mattresses spread across the a floor. Blankets, pillow, blankets sheet were provided. It was bare but adequate.

To think that I have given up my room in Royal Hotel, with comfortable queen size bed with electric bracket, attached bathroom, and a view of the valley, to share the attic of a wooden house with 5 other smelly backpacker must be insane. But I will gladly choose to do Sapa this way again.


We were picked up by a van for the return journey to Royal Hotel after lunch on the 2nd day. A refreshing shower, followed by warm dinner, before the van bring us to the train station for the overnight journey to Hanoi.

I bided my new found friends farewell as I am travelling on an earlier train. I am quite bless that I have good company for my trip so far.

Water Puppet Theater

Day 3: 19 Dec 2005

With time to spare before the 9.30pm train to Lao Cai, I made my way through the old quarter to Water Puppet Theater with intention of catching the performance. The 2nd class seat cost 20,000D. I managed to purchased it just in time for the 5.15pm show.

The puppets moved and danced in a shallow pool of murky water and are accompanied by the voices and instruments of a group of musicians. The puppet show the Vietnamese culture and act out Vietnam's history and mythology.

The 45min show was fabulously performed. The only regret was that in my rush to avoid late entry, I forgot to take the English programme sheet which will help me to appreciate the show performed entirely Vietnamese.

Cruising Halong Bay

Day 2 - 3: 18 - 19 Dec 2005

The tour mini-bus picked me up at 8am. Our guide Ksinh, a lady in her early 20s spoke a very strong accent English. We make a half an hour break at a tourist shop. This provide me a chance to get acquaintance with my fellow travellers.

Martin, a Chilean engineer working in New Zealand is taking a couple of months break to contemplate his career as an engineer. The couple Tim & Catherine who live in London is touring Vietnam, enroute to Australia.

We found that all of us have booked the 2 days tour instead of the extended 3 days and we paid almost the same price for the trip. Incidentally we also found that we have the same breakfast: complementary bragute and coffee from our hotel.

The Bai Chay Tourist Wharf in Halong City is very touristy and abuzz with tourists and boats lined up along the wharf. We board the Phrong Tin 12 which were to be the boat we tour, eat and sleep during our stay on the bay. The boat is actually nicer that the many dive liveonboard in Malaysia and Thailand. The bunk is roomy and even come with an attached bathroom.



Halong Bay is overwhelmingly beautiful as the guidebooks have described. We sailed in between hundreds of rocks protruding out of the waters. While some rocks rise slightly above the water level, others jumped straight into the sky. The rocks that tower in the distance form a panoramic range of faded mountains.

Our first stop is Sung Sot (Cave of Surprises). The three chambers, connected by a network of stairs, is a lot bigger than I thought. Walkway connect the chambers that contain stalagmites. One of it is shaped like a willy as described in Lonely Planet.

Thereafter, we sailed to an island for a picturesque view of the bay. The lookout is located on top of the hill with long and steep flight of stairs leading to it. The 20min climb was tiring but worth the view.

Martin, Tim, Catherine and I've signed up for kayaking as part of our tour. We were put on another boat and sailed out to another part of the bay. When the four of us are lower into our two kayaks. I realised that we are not issued with life jackets. Nonetheless we paddled through a cave of an island emerged in a secluded lagoon. It was very quiet and peaceful. When we paddled out of the lagoon. It was dark and none of us can recongised our boat from the numerous brown boats anchored there or remember the name of the boats we departed from. After paddling to and fro between the boats. We found our boat signaling to us.

Our adventure didn't stop just there. The four of us found ourselves swimming in the water of the bay next. Catherine reckon that it is about 19 C.

The next morning we bided farewell to Ian, Binh and Ha, whom we got to know during lunch and dinner. They took the 3 days tour of the bay and were dropped off in Cat Ba Island for a hike.

Thereafter, the boat made it way back to Halong City. We finally reached Hanoi at 4pm.

Over and all, the tour was well worth it. The 2 day trip was also a good timing without feeling of a drag in the end. However, the tour can be improved if we're provided with maps or information packs. My only complaint is the guide did not provide any information about the various rocks and islands we passed. The only briefing she did in Sung Sot was in strong accented English which we barely understand.