Part 1: Philippines and Vietnam.

We started our trip briefly in the Philippines as an extended layover before going to Vietnam. There we stayed with some friends Keat met at a Frisbee tournament. We were mostly in Manila, which really doesn't have much for tourists unless you're going to shell out for some of the more expensive entertainment. In the end it was more about the company. I had a really great time with people who treated me like a close friend. We were taken around, entertained and treated generously; my second time receiving a prime example of Filipino hospitality. It was only 4 days or so before it was time to head to Vietnam though.

I had my doubts about Vietnam, wrongly so. There are many articles flying around the internet saying awful things about Vietnam, explaining why they only have a 5% tourist return rate. A lot of people complaining about how often they got ripped off and how tired they were of being tricked and treated like stupid foreigners. But hell, if you don't want to be treated like a cash cow, don't act like a cash cow. Truth is, most foreigners are stupid and lazy when they travel. It may be wrong that they try to overcharge you, but it's not hard to find out what proper prices should be and demand them. In the end, even we were overcharged a few times, mainly when we forgot to ask the price before eating, but even so it was only by a dollar or two. Vietnam was great, and we regretted not having more time there.

A friendly stranger.

We started with Hanoi, in the north. Still loaded with old French-style buildings, it's a beautiful city, but with an early start we were able to see most of what there is to see in a day. We couchsurfed at a place quite far from the center. A girl who works for a publishing company hosted us in her humble home. It was a small, basic room and she had to ask the landlord to borrow the next room so we could stay in hers. Unfortunately she was very busy so we hardly got to talk, but she went out of her way to make sure we were comfortable. Hanoi is crazy hot though, and my first night there I couldn’t sleep because of how hot it was. There was only a weak fan. When I finally fell asleep I was awoken an hour and a half later by roosters at 4:30 am. I gave up trying and just stayed up until we left at 7am. It took us almost 2 hours to get to the city center and the first thing we did there was go for some famous Vietnamese ice coffee. We ended up having about 3 or 4 coffees that day. If you buy it in a coffee shop it will run you about a dollar and a half but there are also small street stands (basically a little cart and some VERY small stools) that sell it for 50 cents, just as good. We explored temples, pagodas, street food and lakes, mostly on foot. In the evening we met another friend of Keat’s, a Vietnamese girl who went on exchange in Korea. She took us out for dinner and dessert and taught us a lot about the country. By the end of the first day I was more than pooped. Exhaustion, dehydration and lack of sleep were really killing me. I slept through the heat that night. There was an intense thunderstorm soon after we got back that helped cool things off a little.

The next day we set off to Cat Ba Island. Most tourists go to Ha Long Bay but Cat Ba is supposed to be much the same but less touristy. Well it was still quite touristy but still nice. We took a day tour that took us out to sea among the hundreds of limestone peaks poking out of the water. We swam in the ocean, chilled on the boat, kayaked with jellyfish, explored a cave, and “snorkeled” though that was a bit of a rip-off because they dropped us off on a random island (more like a rock with a little sand on one side) and there was nothing underwater but a couple fleeting fish. We also got to see dozens of floating houses. People, mainly fishing families, who lived in houses literally floating in the middle of the ocean.

The next day we head back to Hanoi to wait for a night bus to take us to Sa Pa in the far north. This small town in the mountains was one of my favorite of the trip. The night bus, however, wasn’t. This was my first time on a sleeping bus, but it seemed more like a regular bus that had been converted. The beds and the windows didn’t match so you couldn’t really see outside since the window was mostly covered by the top bed. I became claustrophobic because there was very little space above your head, on top of the bed being “Asian size” in length. I’m not saying I was claustrophobic in the sense that I was very uncomfortable, but in the sense that I was hyperventilating and panicking a little. You could not sit up, couldn’t see out the windows, and couldn’t stretch your legs. The beds were also for two people, luckily there were a few empty ones and I was able to quickly hop over to one after everyone had boarded. I had to close my eyes and imagine the space was bigger to get a grip. Somehow I eventually slept.

Upon arriving in Sa Pa we formed our first group of the trip with a mix of people from the bus. An epically bearded American, a French video editor, and a Chilean masseuse who was working in New Zealand. Together we got a 5 bed room that cost us 3$ each and rented motorbikes for 4$ a day. Once you step off the bus you will immediately be swarmed by Hmong people in traditional clothing who follow you until you make it to a hotel where they can’t go in. All the men are in the villages working so the women come to town to try to sell to foreigners or get them to go to homestays in their villages (and drink “happy water”). Many of them were very young (13-14 years) and already married. They were telling us we were very late for marriage! They had a surprisingly good level of English and could hold a conversation. One lady gave me a bracelet as a gift. They’re very nice, but very persistent as well to the point that you are forced to ask them to go away, otherwise they won’t. When one lady asked me to buy something from her I asked her if she had any earrings since I wanted a new piercing. She made me pinky promise I’d buy something from her and went to get some from her mother. They were all hoop earrings for girls so I didn’t buy anything but since I had pinky promised she wasn’t happy. After that every time we crossed paths (which was often since the town is only a few streets) she and her friend/daughter/relative would yell “you laya (liar) boy!” “laya laya pants on faya!” They take their pinky promises seriously! Anyway beyond that we did a lot of driving around the mountains to some breathtaking views and had some nice BBQ on the roadside. We saw a couple of waterfalls as well. For sunset we head out the other side of town into a valley of rice patties and more breathtaking views. We stopped to toss a Frisbee with some local children (well I was taking advantage of the situation to take pictures) and then settled in a coffee shop with the most amazing backdrop. It was hard to capture how epic the view was from there. Earlier that day my tripod got caught on something while riding and broke, making matters much more difficult. (I spent the rest of the trip without a tripod, which was hard, and sacrilegious by photographer’s standards, but at the same time liberating from weight and bulkiness.) Still, whether I got a good shot or not, I’m very happy I was there.

The Sa Pa crowd.

Too much time in the north forced us to say goodbye to our bus friends and head back to Hanoi for the last time. We were to go to Hue overnight but the ticket we booked was cancelled and by the time we knew it was too late to book a new one. We were forced to stay another night in Hanoi and then head to Ninh Binh since all other buses to Hue were booked until the day after. I don’t have fond memories of Ninh Binh, though we did have a good evening with a couple of Austrians, an English and cheap Vietnamese Bia Hoi (Vietnam’s homemade draft beer sold everywhere, usually for 25 cents or less a glass). Ninh Binh is not so much a quiet town but a dead town. Few people, many closed businesses and nothing to see in town. Most people go there to see the surrounding area, which we got a glimpse of on the way there. An amazing river surrounded by steep peaks and an enormous cave I never saw. The plan was to go the next day since we arrived a bit late. Well a bowl of street noodles with river snails prevented that from happening. At 5 am the next day I was at my lowest point of the trip, barfing my brains out in the bathroom. Keat did go but was back early feeling sick himself as well. He didn’t have snails but still got food poisoning, though milder than me. We had to check out of the hotel by 12 so I spent the whole day on a hard wooden chair waiting for our night bus, when I tried to eat something it quickly found its way back out. Fortunately the sleeping bus was cool and (relatively) comfortable and allowed good rest. Keat was fully recovered upon our arrival in Hue but I wasn’t up to speed yet. We walked in the sun for about 3.5km to meet our next host but it felt eternal. I had to spend that day lying on the floor as well. It wasn’t until night time I finally ate again, though for another week most meals would make me feel nauseous if I got too full.

Our host in Hue, Phuong, is an awesome guy. We went to his girlfriend’s place and played charades on the rooftop until 3am while waiting watch the World Cup finale. Usually I’m not interested but it’s a different experience when you’re watching it on a projector in a parking lot in a foreign country surrounded by locals yelling unknown things to whatever team they were supporting. The next day we explored town on bicycles and then had some goodbye beers at night.

Video by Keat

Phuong, our host.

Our next stop was Hoi An. A beautiful town with a 30 min bicycle ride to an amazing beach. There were no more than 30 people at the beach (but the town was packed with toursits). Its sand was white and ocean clear, with mild waves. I suppose at 10 I would not have been thrilled since the waves aren’t strong enough to topple you, but the beach was beautiful and as vast as you could see. Hoi An itself is quite touristy but we had a couple great nights at a bar with an insane happy hour. A bucket at happy hour was only a dollar (and is enough booze for me) but you also get free unlimited rum cokes after buying a drink. It was more coke than rum but it gives you something to sip on without feeling the need to buy more booze. There was a pool table which is great for meeting people and having something to do, since I don’t dance.

After Hoi An we were out of time. We had to skip a few stops and head straight to Ho Chi Minh on a 24 hour bus ride. (With a stop in Nha Trang for an hour and a half.) By now I was very grateful for sleeping buses, though these were individual beds with enough space to sit up.

In HCMC we had our last host. A college student about my age, he warned me his room was hot and dirty. I said it’s fine, we aren’t picky travellers. Damn it was hot and dirty, but gave us a more local experience. He was very interested in showing us around, took us for some interesting food and snacks. We had quail eggs with the fermented chick inside, great finger food. We also met some friends of his at his university who were making bracelets and accessories to sell for charity. I took some group photos for them, which was fun and hilarious. Since he was busy for the day his friend showed us around, though his English was very limited, it was great that he did that for us. We went to the War Memorial Museum which, though lacking a bit in story, was interesting to see the Vietnam War outside of the American perspective. The Vietnamese were decimated; there were very graphic photos of people being blown apart by mines and grenades, villagers being tortured and questioned, and a lot of portraying Americans not at all like the heroes they picture themselves as in their textbooks. There was also a gallery of victims of Agent Orange who were born blind and/or horribly mutated even years after the war due to prolonged exposure by their parents. Some of the victims were in the museum lobby playing music for money. It left a lot to think about.

Kien, our host in HCMC

Our last night there we met with another one of Keat’s friends whom he met in a business class in Korea. He took us to the high-end part of town and treated us to a fancy Australian restaurant. We walked and chatted and he even gave us a ride back.

Sad and excited, it was time to leave Vietnam and enter the Kingdom of Cambodia.

By the way, here are a few photos in the Philippines.