Hanoi to Hue -Hanoi to Cat Bato- Hoi An (via TIME MACHINE)

Hanoi to Cat Ba to Hanoi to Hue to Hoi An (via TIME MACHINE)

Hanoi: overwhelming and underwhelming.  We mastered crossing the street while being swarmed by speedy motos (though perhaps not our fear of crossing the street) ate a doner kebab banh mi: simultaneously worried about getting sick- the man was touching piles of dirty dongs and rubbing my baguette- while completely enjoying the pork meat and pickled veggies, went to Viet Climb bouldering gym and met some local climbers (very cool!), walked a lot and saw things I hadn’t seen before: a roasted dog’s head with canines bared in a glass display case, 2 pig carcasses cut lengthwise laid over the lap of a motorbike driver, lots of people selling food on the sidewalk and unceremoniously picking at their feet and or nose- yes, lots of clipping of toes, massaging of feet, cleaning of toenails- a man sitting on a motobike and having his baby light his cigarette… okay I didn’t see that (thankfully) but our bunkmate did.  The food was generally okay but nothing to rave about (surprisingly)- there was msg in practically everything.

Trying to speak even basic words in Vietnamese is difficult as we were completely unfamiliar with the tones and can’t hear the differences very well.

Cat Ba: rather than a crap tour we decided to head to Ha Long Bay vis-a-vis a tiny, grungy island called Cat Ba which we now lovely refer to as Rat Bug, Rat Ba, and Cat Bug.  We walked the 2-3 kms to the terminal south of the OQ- we caught the red Hoang Long bus that offers the 190,000 VND bus bus boat bus option- bus to Haiphong, bus to the far away pier, “speed” (haha) boat to the island, bus to the main drag of Cat Ba.  They have a couple different departure times per day and the 1120am got us into Cat Ba around 430pm or so.

Things to Avoid: women selling boom boom, rm 502 at Phu Thanh Hotel (baby cockroach infestation- shudder!)  MSG or mijuan, Noble House Restaurant, rats,  the “hello friend, where you going today” guy, the massage guy, restaurant by the cave- forget the name but they had the prices listed out front, then brought us menus with the prices crossed out and raised 30% and then when the bill came it was double that (lame) and motobike accidents (yes, I did.)   Oh yes, also try to avoid feeling sorry for yourself/being overly paranoid/ generalizing about a whole country of people just because some of the people you meet are trying to get something (ie money) out of you…lots of complaining about being a walking ATM or other such miseries.  Get some common sense and suck it up.

Things to Do For Sure: Deep Water Solo with Slo Pony or get a fisherman boat to take you, if you know how to climb already rent gear and climb independently at Lien Minh (Butterfly) Valley- get a pass from SP and you can also have the family that owns the land there make you a stellar lunch.  Climb at Moody/Tiger Beaches (did my first lead climb out on Tiger Beach: Little Red Scooter Gang 5.10a!)  eat at Mr Zoom’s, the massage guy, take a walk to the 3-4 beaches on the S.E. side, moto around the island (but do not get in an accident as in “things to avoid” above.)

Loved Cat Ba Island for the wonderful friends we made there (Mathias and Verena from Berlin, Anna from Melbourne, Alex and Stephanie from Seattle, and Claire) and for the amazing scenery, climbing, and outdoor activities and good/not so good adventures.  Unfortunately we didn’t stay as long as we would have liked due to our cockroach infestation and both of us getting sick (Ronen flu, Me stomach)  So back to Hanoi it was to recuperate from Cat Ba Fever.   We caught the last boat bus to Haiphong central (150,000) and from there walked to the local bus terminal to catch the bus to Hanoi (65,000.)

Hanoi: again.  Rest, DVDs, Kindle, sleep, Azithromycin…ah azithromycin!  Knocked that fever right out the park before it even got going and was better within a day!  Who says we are abusing antibiotics?

In Transit from Hanoi to Hue:  Walked to the train station and took the overnight Livitrans train (54 USD + hostel commission) to Hue.  Ugh.  The sheets were kinda gross but the blankets were so disgusting.  Mine looked like it had blood on it so I switched with the bunk across from me but ended up with one that had boogers and other crusty stuff.  THANK GOD FOR SILK SLEEP SACKS!  I pointed out to the attendant that one bunk was covered something that could either be dried up worms or fried noodle crackers and he just came in and threw another sheet on top.  Other than the creepy crawlies I felt being in my bunk and the horribly bumpy ride on the “soft sleeper” (misnomer) it was a fairly uneventful ride and we arrived 13 hours later in Hue.

HUE: I loved Hue.  Even though I met incredible people, saw amazing scenery and did my first Deep Water Solo and Lead climbs in Cat Ba (I will never forget that place) Hue is where I began to really deeply appreciate and attach to Vietnam.  Perhaps it’s a timing thing and it took some time to loosen up enough to connect or maybe because Hue reminded me so much of New Orleans but truly it is a lovely city.  The food is so good- I had many of the local Hue specialties and rode an old crappy bike with a basket around town and thoroughly enjoyed myself.  Sport 2 was an okay enough guesthouse with the typical dirty sheets and broken furniture but whatevs.

HOI AN:  Hoi An is a very magical place…especially for the tummy.  Wow.  The food is gorgeous, fresh, tasty, wonderful, creative.  1st: Ba Le Well in the Old Quarter: they bring out a huge platter of salad and herbs, plate of Ban Xeos, pork and pork meatball kebabs, fried spring rolls, rice paper, and this soy bean chili dipping sauce.  Then you wrap everything in the rice paper and dip and munch away.  2nd: Dingo Deli: Aussie owned deli on the way to the beach with really delicious, well done Western food, a shop and wine for sale.  I felt like a rube in awe looking at basic cheeses in the deli case- I guess I hadn’t seen cheese in a long time!  3rd: Green Bamboo Cooking School: Van is amazing and so were the ban xeos, spring rolls, papaya salad, and turmeric fish bbqed in banana leaves we made.  4th: mountain berries- they look like mangosteen…sour and so tasty  5th:  Market, near the entrance near the boat dock there’s this woman sitting in front of big silver pots of hot food… inside the pots are these magical porridges of different sweet, ginger, and/or coconutty beans or rices that she will pour into little bowls for you- it was so good!  6th: Banh Mi Phuong (I think that’s the name- I forget) on the opposite end of the covered market… best sandwiches yet.  7th: Market  8th: Cao Lau, white rose, wonton dumplings…

Also, loved biking around, seeing the sea (though kinda brown and tumultuous), meeting friendly locals, the Old Quarter, motobiking to DaNang to visit the Chocolate Mountains, iced coffees (the best!)

Did not like: the bugs crawling on the walls of our guesthouse that looked eerily like bed bug larvaes, the constant never-letting-up rain, the slight flooding after so much rain, the cockroaches that swam out of the flooding into the restaurant we were sitting at, deciding to leave Vietnam early to escape the rain, not trying all the incredible street food and restaurants.  Booooo.

I definitely feel like I have unfinished business in Hoi An and in the south of Vietnam.  We were really hoping to get to Mui Ne, Dalat, Saigon and possibly Phu Quoc.  However, after a week + of constant wetness with no sun in sight (at least for another week or two) we decided to head to DaNang and catch a flight to Hanoi and then another flight to Luang Prabang in Laos… yes! We are weaklings.  But we will be back!

DaNang: Chocolate Mountains-trippy and beautiful.  Bread of Life Bakery is an incredible bakery and cafe/restaurant and project for the deaf, staffed by the deaf.  Incredible folks and damn food food!