Trip to Binh Chau

While my teaching schedule hasn't changed I have changed the day I do my weekend planning from the Friday before to the Monday after. I did this because I found at Christmas and New Year, I felt much better on Saturday having not being able to go to work on Friday (because of holidays). Also I'm still thinking more like a child on Mondays, after spending 16 hours with them over the previous 2 days!

So, this change of tactic meant that I had 3 non-working days in a row between Christmas and New Year. I finally took the chance to do something I've been intending to do forever - take a ride to Binh Chau, a town about 70 kilometres away along the nearest highway to Mui Ne (where David and I spent the first few days of January last year).

The main reason for going to Binh Chau is to visit the hot water springs. I found from my road maps book and from Lonely Planet that there is also a coastal road via Long Hai though I couldn't be sure how far I would get. Also I've never driven this way before or anywhere far by myself - so it was a bit of an adventure.

The road turned out to be very easy to follow, and also much quieter than the highway was (on the way back to Vung Tau in the afternoon). I discovered that there are very many resorts - some of them stupendously opulent - in existence or being built along the road after Long Hai. I really enjoyed this part of the journey and almost didn't want it to end.

Binh Chau is quite spread-out for a small town. The road took me into a commercial part of the town and past the bus station, and then suddenly I was on the other side with no idea of where to go, especially as I'd passed a large intersection near the bus station. Anyway ... on I went eventually hitting highway 55 which continues up the coast to Phan Thiet and discovered a sign directly me to the springs.

From there I promptly got lost, winding up instead back in another part of Binh Chau town. So I had to ask directions from a garage, turn around and head up a road I had mistakenly ridden past. To happen upon a very large resort which is the springs complex. Here you can stay, dine, drink, boil eggs (in the really hot springs), wander around the gardens, play in the amusement park, have a massage, take a mud-bath, and bathe in the warm springs which have been turned into swimming pools. Not quite as natural as I was hoping for :(

However, it was a relaxing place to be. Being still a working day it was quiet. A few foreign and Vietnamese guests staying overnight plus some day visitors like me. I spent more than an hour in the water, using the waterfall as massage therapy and generally soaking up the minerals and the sun. There was absolutely no-one boiling eggs, and that section all looked rather dilapidated, though since coming back various people (my manager and colleague) have told me what fun it is. By the way, you cannot bring your own eggs to cook, or any other food for that matter. It has to be declared at the ticket check and left there for collection on your departure.

Coming back, I took the highway route which goes through Dat Do and Long Dien to Ba Ria. Much busier but just as straightforward as the coastal road. The landscape of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province is quite interesting in this area. We have Big and Small Mountains in Vung Tau surr0nded by dead flat land and waterways. Behind Ba Ria is another mountain but then flat open land across to Long Dien and Dat Do, yet the land between the coastal road and the highway (and the back drop to Long Hai) is filled with more mountains. From the flat land the roads rise gradually to low hills around Binh Chau. I'd really like to go exploring much more to get a better feel for the land and what is in it.

Christmas no. 2

The Christmas festivities for yours truly started, as last year, with the ILA Vung Tau party on 13 December. This year we went to the Palace Hotel, and enjoyed an extensive buffet dinner at tables set out around the swimming pool. The party continued well after the party, as people got into the singing mode already promoted by karaoke, and broke out Christmas song after song until past 11pm. God knows what the people in rooms overlooking the swimming pool thought was happening! Everyone enjoyed themselves immensely.

From that event, my Christmas shifted strongly to a focus on the children at the residential centres in Vung Tau. On the evening of 23 December I went to the children's party hosted by Belly's Bar on the waterfront near Front Beach. The children from "P" and "N" centres all came along, and greatly enjoyed the food and fun. And of course, they especially enjoyed Santa Claus' visit!

The next day they had a second party, this time courtesy of APER. I was an accidental invitee to this one, only knowing about it because I had taken Bi out for the morning to go to the beach and a ride around on the motorbike. Here you can see Phuc with the plane he received, and Dung comfortably sitting to eat his lunch!

That night I went out with Bao and one of his students. Firstly, we went to Ba Ria and ate a great goat curry. After that we journeyed to Phuoc Tinh, a fishing town close to Long Hai, which has a strong Catholic population, and an even stronger compulsion to string up all manner of Christmas lights and displays, especially nativity scenes. In Phuoc Tinh town we stopped off at one of the big churches and watched an all singing/all dancing presentation of the birth of Jesus and the visits of the angels and the wise men. The end of the show had a very large cast of players on stage, including tiny nuns and a very small Pope! I was also interviewed by BRT television station and was asked what were my impressions of Christmas in Vietnam. I answered about the similarities that I was seeing between communities that like to put up and visit Christmas light displays.

On Christmas morning I met up with Angie (fellow ILA and volunteer teacher) for coffee and then we went to visit our class at the centre to had out presents. Many big thanks to Killki, Chaska and Rumi who decided that they would like to donate their Christmas money from me, directly to the orphanage, instead of giving it to them. I made Angie cry when I told her this :( Here you can see the building blocks that the kids have given to the boys in the class and the modelling clay for the girls, plus the big jar of lollies!

After that Angie and I set out for Tommy's 1 where a group of 12 of us from ILA were scheduled to meet for Christmas lunch of roast turkey and vegetables. After all that it was time to take a rest in the time-honoured traditions of Christmas Day afternoon.

The Great Outdoors of Northern Vietnam!

Sa Pa
As I've noted elsewhere one of the big aims of my November holiday was to visit Sa Pa. I travelled up and back as the majority of western visitors do, by soft sleeper on the overnight train, and took a 3 day/2 night tour operating out of the very comfortable Sapa Summit Hotel. The tour involved a lot of walking with one night in the hotel and the other night as home-stay in a H'mong village.

I guess there is nothing remarkable about the tour I took. There is only so much to do in Sa Pa and thousands of visitors (domestic and international) come every year to do it, following much the same itinerary with only a few variations. However, events and staging were very well organised, even though at the beginning of each day the hotel reception looks like bedlam, with crowds of eager hikers and minority tribal women (always women, no men) waiting either as official guides or what became known as 'the travelling shop'!

The tribal people - women and girls - accompany you every step of the way, asking questions and warming you up for a purchase at the end of their journey. Having said that they are also extremely sure-footed on slippery muddy paths, even though they are wearing plastic sandals, and are ever-ready to lend a hand to prevent undignified falls. And just to let you know that the picture at the beginning of this entry records the only time in 3 days I saw the mountains. It came as a very big surprise to see how immense and close they are. The rest of the time they, and often us, were shrouded in mist.

Depending on the train you take from Ha Noi (there are 2-3 departures each night) you arrive at Lao Cai in the darkness of morning or at about 6am. From there it is an hour long bus trip almost straight up to reach Sa Pa and breakfast. If lucky the room is also ready to check into, but usually not. The tours start at 9am for a half-day visit to Cat Cat and Sin Chai villages, homes of the Black H'mong people. Along the path we visited homes to see how the people live as well as to observe weaving and dying of cloth. Much of the cloth is made from locally-grown, non-hallucogenic hemp and dyed using indigo plants also grown profusely as a crop in the area. We had an excellent young woman as our guide over the 3 days visit, with the most marvellous laugh and sense of humour. We returned to the hotel through the main market in Sa Pa, meeting our guide's aunt (I later also met her mother and her cousin here).

For the afternoon we were left to our own devices. By now the fog was getting close to a pea-souper and I was also learning that it was impossible to walk anywhere without the travelling shop joining in. I took refuge for cake and coffee at Baguette et Chocolat before returning to the hotel for dinner and a very comfortable sleep.

On the 2nd day of tours itineraries start to diverge depending on whether you are taking a second night in the hotel or a home-stay as I did. The morning involved walking down, down, down from Sa Pa into the Muong Hoa valley. At one point we had to take an alternative path because the main route was impassable. Just before lunch at Lao Chai village one iteration of the travelling shop departed, after gaining some sales from us (yes, from me! I bought a wall hanging).

After lunch of course we were joined by a new shop for the - now-flat - walk to Ta Van village which we reached at about 3pm. This was our home for the night. The house we stayed in was very large, because it had been extended or purpose-built to accommodate both the family and tourists. Morality is important in the tribal villages, to the extent that men and women must stay in separate dormitories (though in our case we were all male; joined at our accommodation by a married couple). Our dormitory was on the second floor: it really was just a succession of mattresses, pillow and blankets on the floor with mosquito nets. It was also extremely comfortable and warm on a night when outside temperatures fell quite a bit. Ta Van village accommodates Black H'mong and Red Dzao people. Each group keeps to its own traditions and cultures but also co-exist well.

The third day briefly promised clear weather but we set out again in a slight fog, climbing again to a waterfall before making our way back down to the river and lunch. From there we climbed back up hill to meet the bus for the trip back to the hotel, a shower, dinner and the return to Lao Cai for the overnight train.

Tam Coc
Before leaving Vung Tau a less certain aim I had was to travel to Ninh Binh and visit Tam Coc and Cuc Phuong national park. One of the interesting things since making this trip and telling people about it is that they all ask if I went to the nearby city of Phat Diem to see the cathedral. I knew about it and considered it, but clearly we have different concepts of what is most notable or attractive to visit!

Every hotel in Ha Noi is a travel agent as well, and they advertise tours of fixed duration to all of the popular destinations in the vicinity. The tour to Tam Coc and Hoa Lu Citadel is one day, as is the tour to Cuc Phuong but I knew that I wanted to go to all, and I didn't want to have to come back to Ha Noi in the middle of it. So I arranged instead to use the tour bus as a means of getting to Ninh Binh (as it turned out did some other people on the bus). In the end this also meant the opportunity to take the usual rushed visit to Hoa Lu Citadel along the way. (In fact I would have been better to plan to stay in Ninh Binh an extra night and go to Hoa Lu and Phat Diem under my own steam. As well as visit a few of the other scenic places near Tam Coc. You live and learn!)

Anyway ... we got dropped off in Ninh Binh and as the other people had already organised a hotel I followed them to check it out and ended up staying there as well. Another great place that I recommend to everyone - Ngoc Anh Hotel - along with the manager Luc. They organised a bicycle for me to rent for the afternoon, gave me a map and directions, plus a recommendation for where to eat lunch in Tam Coc (though I couldn't find the place) and off I went.

The ride was easy, and Ninh Binh people are very friendly and easy-going too. On the other hand the travel guides warn - and I had read on Elsbeth's blog, too - that there are a few tricks for persuading travellers on the river to part with their money (so I was prepared for this, thanks!).

Tam Coc is described as an inland Ha Long Bay. This is because, not just the river side but the entire region stretching way back up towards Ha Noi as well as further south from Ninh Binh, is impaled by rugged karst limestone rock formations. Many are quarried for building material and so sadly but inevitably it is possible to see how the landscape is changing at a rapid unnatural pace. The journey takes you some kilometres upstream from Tam Coc village passing through three caves. It is very peaceful, especially to start out later in the afternoon when the larger tours are already returning. The river is hemmed in by towering peaks and cliffs, scaled by mountain goats. It is reminiscent of the river-side scenery in Guilin, but on a smaller scale.

After returning to Tam Coc village I hoped to visit Bich Dong cave pagoda a couple of kilometres further out. It was another pleasant ride to reach the area, but unfortunately I was too late in the day to be able to make the journey up and back down the hill in daylight.

Cuc Phuong national park
I also decided along the way that I would visit Cuc Phuong national park (this link is to the park website). This is about 45km away from Ninh Binh so the bicycle was out of the question, and I wasn't certain enough of my map-reading and language skills to make a solo motorbike trip, so Luc arranged a driver/guide for me. He also recommended taking a less direct route, which is what we did.

The road took us south on the highway first and then inland past farms. Along the way we saw fields of passionfruit vines, pineapples and sugar cane. The driver also explained that there are two varieties of pineapple in Vietnam, the sweeter yellow ones and the Chinese ones which are more sour and whiter in colour (like the only pineapples that we used to see grow in Australia). Then we started to climb up into the hills, several times passing a group of cyclists on a supported tour.

I hadn't really worked out what the attraction of the park was for me. The highlight really turned out to be the Endangered Primate Rescue Centre. This is home to many species of gibbons, macaques and lemurs, some of which whose low surviving numbers put them in the highly endangered category. The centre's aims are to provide a refuge for these animals, encourage breeding and eventually to reintroduce them to the wild. My guide to the centre and for hiking in the park after lunch has worked there for over 13 years. He is a forestry conservator by education, but his passions are hiking and bird-watching, as well as building a pictorial record of flora and fauna in the park.

One of the other significant places to visit inside Cuc Phuong national park is the Cave of Prehistoric Man, just a short uphill walk and then a very interesting and dark climb/clamber up ladders and rocks inside. The cave was rediscovered in 1966 when human graves and tools were found dating back 7500 years.

The final part of a 1-day visit to the park is a hike, partly on a trail but often over very sharp limestone rocks, to the 1000-year old Big Tree. I'm glad to have made the hike, and it was the first time my driver had been there, but I sort of wondered what the fuss was, really!

Museums: Hue and the DMZ

My visit to Hue was sort of a last-ditch decision when I found I couldn't get a plane to Pleiku at the time I had intended to travel there. I took the overnight train again - Reunification Express - but found it to be a bit less plush (relative terms here!) than the train to Lao Cai/Sapa. Still comfortable enough, though I don't think I would like to go end to end of the country without a break.

The Citadel
My objective in Hue was to visit the Citadel and Imperial Palace, as these were the main "unseen" sites from my previous visit here. During the trip south bad weather from China caught up with us and I arrived in Hue to almost constant rain. I also discovered that I had left my cap somewhere (Ninh Binh? Hanoi?). The very friendly and helpful hotel staff (I do recommend this place: Tran Ly Hotel on Le Loi Street) told me it had been raining for a few days already!

Eventually (after breakfast and a walk around the nearby streets) I decided I would just have to get out there anyway. So I bought a lightweight poncho and set off walking across the Trang Tien bridge over the Perfume River. First stop was the market for lunch and a cap!

The Citadel covers a very large area. Inside it are the Imperial Enclosure (comparable to the Forbidden City in Beijing) which contained the emperor's residence and the main imperial government buildings, and then inside that is the Forbidden Purple City, which was for the personal use of the emperor. At that point most comparisons with Beijing's Forbidden City complex have to end. Firstly, because the whole Citadel complex suffered drastic damage during the French and American Wars. Secondly, the complex in Hue has much more of a park feel to it. There are models which show the extent to which the Citadel and its enclosures were actually built up, but the use of the moat around the Citadel, the relative space that seems apparent between buildings, and the lakes and parks inside the Imperial Enclosure make a lighter atmosphere. Maybe it's really just a consequence of the first point ...

Much of my afternoon here was spent trudging around in the rain, with the camera getting progressively damper and damper to the point it almost stopped working altogether! Because I was a shutterbug yet again!

The main features of the outer perimeter of the Citadel are the 10km long walls, the outer moat, and the Flag Tower, seen here from the Ngo Mon Gate, which is the principal entrance to the Imperial Enclosure. The walls of the Imperial Enclosure are surrounded by an inner moat.

Walking through the Ngo Mon Gate you approach Thai Hoa Palace across a large pond. Behind this are the Halls of the Mandarins which have been restored, and beyond them (behind a broken down wall) was the Forbidden Purple City, now almost entirely destroyed.

From here I went on to the To Mieu Temple complex, which has also been restored. Here there are statues or pictures of the Nguyen Dynasty Emperors as well as a set of heavy, decorated bronze urns, intended to symbolise the power and stability of the Nguyen throne (although this was effectively distintegrated after 1883 and the death of Tu Duc). The buildings here were peaceful, beautifully decorated and restored, and only a few visitors. This generally is the situation in the whole Citadel because the tours make very cursory and rushed visits. So if you come to Hue - take your time!

Dien Tho Residence is one of the few other largely intact buildings (also under restoration). Around now the rain was falling again but the pavilions and walkways offered shelter as well as a close-up view of where the Queen Mothers lived and received visitors.

From here I skirted around the walls and along the streets of the Imperial Enclosure to make my way past Truong San Residence (in ruins but praised in 1844 by Emperor Thieu Tri for its gardens as one of the top 20 beautiful spots in Hue). Then past some administrative buildings from Bao Dai's era, and the Thai To Mieu temple complex which provides a counterpoint to To Mieu.

The next day I revisited the outside of the Imperial Enclosure making my way from a gate on the eastern side, around to the five cannons near Quang Duc gate, representing the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire and earth. From here I made the 7km trek to Thien Mu Pagoda (yes, on foot!)


Thien Mu
David and I came here in 1999. It is an iconic site for the Vietnamese, and features in many idyllic paintings, poetry and songs. It also has political significance for demonstrations against the South Vietnamese government of Ngo Dinh Diem. From here the Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc set out in 1963 on his journey to Saigon and his death by self-immolation in protest against the treatment of Buddhists by the government.

There was much more to the pagoda than I remembered. Perhaps that is an accident of having visited the first time as part of a tour on the Perfume River to visit the Royal Tombs. I elected to return to Hue by boat, but the hotel staff were still amazed that I had walked so far!


De-Militarised Zone (DMZ)
On my last full day in Hue, I took a tour to the de-militarised zone. The itinerary promised a huge number of sites, but given that we also had long distances to cover from Hue up to Dong Ha then further north to Vinh Moc, then back to Dong Ha and up the Truong Son mountains to Khe Sanh combat base, I knew not to expect too much. The main thing for me was to visit the Vinh Moc tunnels. These are different to the tunnels at Cu Chi because their use was as much civilian as military.

Vinh Moc village came under constant and heavy bombardment from the Americans and the south from 1966. Many villagers left, but some remained with the encouragement of the Viet Cong. For about 4 years daily life moved underground. 17 babies were born in the delivery room in the tunnels, and families lived, cooked, ate, washed and slept here.

The other main visit of the tour was to Khe Sanh Combat Base. One of the other Australians on the tour joked that many visitors must come because of the Cold Chisel song, maybe expecting to see some links to the band or Jimmy Barnes. Here we were given an excellent commentary about the base and its history by the director of the base museum. This is the principal feature - evidence of the massive air field that was built here is almost extinguished, except for one thing. The outline remains distinct because nothing will grow on it.

Museums: Hanoi

I arrived back in Vietnam (Ha Noi) in the evening of 10 November. The next morning I met up with Ellyn and Elsbeth (former colleagues at ILA Vietnam in Vung Tau) for brunch. Then Elsbeth and I went to the Ha Noi Museum of Fine Arts, conveniently located just across the road! Elsbeth's mission was to visit as many museums and cultural places in Ha Noi as possible before she left Vietnam to return to Minnesota later in the month. This museum was also part history, because it charted art, ceramics and sculpture in Vietnam from the earliest times. Some of the most impressive works I saw were modern, socialist-era pieces using traditional lacquer-ware techniques. The colours were used brilliantly to give life to the pictures.

Museums were really the recurring theme of my visit to Ha Noi, apart from walking many times around Ho Hoan Kiem (Returned Sword Lake). I tried mainly to visit places that I hadn't seen before, but in this time I revisited Van Mieu (Temple of Literature) as well as Ngoc Son Temple on the island in Ho Hoan Kiem. Van Mieu seemed very different to the first time I visited with David in 1999. This is partly because of a new, though traditional-looking, complex added behind the main Khue Van Pavilion, to record the contributions made by some of the most significant kings to the creation of the university.

At the Museum of the Vietnamese Revolution and again at Hoa Lo Prison museum I got some great insights into the long nationalistic struggle of the Vietnamese to gain independence. This journey started almost at the same time that France gained it's stranglehold in Indochina, and so (at the Museum of the Vietnamese Revolution) includes the resistance of some of the nationalist emperors, as well as the long list of revolutionary heroes throughout the 20th century. I ran out of time (because Hanoian museums have very early closing times and shoo everyone out at least 15 minutes prior to that!) so was still only part way through the struggle for reunification.

At Hoa Lo Prison the focus is three-fold: firstly, on the demolition and up-rooting of the community that lived here at the time the French decided this was the perfect location for the prison; secondly, on its use as a political prison; and thirdly, on its history as the Hanoi Hilton, housing American prisoners of war. Through visiting both these museums I started to recognise how many streets are named after revolutionary heroes - men and women.

One afternoon, I walked from the old quarter across to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum area. It was too late and the wrong day to go and pay my respects to Uncle Ho, but I did get the chance to look through the Ho Chi Minh Museum which has a great mix of exhibits combining Ho Chi Minh's personal/political history with the development of socialist Vietnam. Again, the closing-time wardens pounced just as I got through all the exhibits. Supposedly no cameras are allowed here (s0 I checked mine in) but I saw it happening all the time so took a couple of surreptitious shots on the phone-cam . Walking back I took a quick geek at the One Pillar Pagoda (I remember David's extreme disappointment the first time we visited - he expected so much more, and found an oversized bird-box!), and the Flag Tower in the old Ha Noi Citadel.

The other museum I visited was the Vietnamese Museum of Ethnology. This required a taxi ride because it's some distance away from the city. It was very interesting to come here after going to Sa Pa and it helped me to get a much more expansive idea of the different minority groups in the Vietnamese population. The museum has good indoor and outdoor exhibits. For once I agree with LP - it shouldn't be missed.

Museums: Cambodia

One of the recurring things I did on my holiday was to visit museums. David would have been extremely bored if he'd been compelled to come with me!

I've already written about Tuol Sleng, a place outstanding and memorable for non-conventional reasons. While in Phnom Penh I also visited the National Museum of Cambodia, and Royal Palace compound, including the Silver Pagoda, and Wat Phnom.

The National Museum focusses on the architecture and archaeological history of Cambodia. It includes some of the best examples of Angkorian sculpture, which has been removed from the Siem Reap temples and palaces for safe-keeping. The building itself is made up of a number of pavilions with a peaceful garden courtyard. Generally a quiet and restful place although there was a very large group of Korean students visiting while I was there.

This was my first post-lunch stop on my second - dry - day in Cambodia. In the morning I had taken a tuktuk to Wat Phnom and then started walking through Phnom Penh, basing my route on the walking tour in Lonely Planet. This is easy to do - if rather hot - because Phnom Penh is small geographically. I tried checking out the central market Psar Thmei but much of it was closed for renovations and what there was to see was exceedingly bland. I also found the architecture vastly over-rated, given the guidebook descriptions of it as resembling "a Babylonian ziggurat". Say what?! I think the alternative description of "a concrete custard pie" is much more like it!!

Wat Phnom is the hill-top pagoda from which the city traces it's origins. There has been a pagoda here since the 1300s, although like so much of Cambodia's religious heritage, it suffered badly during the Khmer Rouge government. It's still a community focal point, with many visitors in the park around the hill, hawkers, stalls and many beggars, especially children.

After the National Museum I still had time to tour the Royal Palace compound. This is the official residence of the king so not everything can be visited, but I had the chance to venture inside the Throne Hall and the Silver Pagoda. Photography is not allowed inside either, so the pictorial record is reduced to postcards bought from a disabled street vendor. Printed and copied so many times much of the vibrancy of the colours has been washed out . However, there is still plenty of colour to see of and from the exteriors. The Throne Hall central spire is topped by a most unusual sight, a face. I have no idea if it is a religious or royal representation. Maybe both?



In Siem Reap, aside from the massive museum that is the whole Angkorian collection, I visited the workshop/school of Les Chantiers Ecoles. The school teaches impoverished young people the techniques of carving wood and stone, as well as teaching deaf people silk painting, and a group of young men how to make silver-plated objects. The products are very high-end in quality - with prices to match - but the principle is also to return a fair-value to the craftsmen and to bringing more teenagers into the training program.

During the 2nd day of my journeys to the Angkor Wat temples we also stopped in at the Cambodia Land Mines Museum. The museum was established by Aki Ra, a DIY but expert de-miner. His own history tells you something of the torment and struggle to survive that the older generations of Cambodian people all had to face. He was removed from his family in the early days of the Khmer Rouge and became a soldier for them, before later defecting during the Vietnamese-backed administration. During his life he has had many names, now going by his adopted Japanese name. Initially his career as de-miner - trained by the UN - was outside the work of any agency. Now there is an NGO supporting the museum as well as the education facilities and dormitory that Aki Ra and his family provide for disadvantaged (often extremely impoverished) children in the area. See Ottawa Treaty for some information about the international cooperation needed to ban landmines.