Sunday 26 September 2010

The real Vietnam: riding the Ho Chi Minh trail

What an amazing week, i could quite possibly say its the best week out of the entire six months i have been away. After initially coming up with what we both thought a slightly hair brained idea it has turned into a stroke of genious or at least is paying massive dividends.

For the last week after leaving Hoi an with a few more kilos of clothes than planned we headed inland away from Highway 1 and the tourist trail that follows the entire of vietnams coast. The country may be long but it is also very thin and after 40km we had hit Highway 14 also known as the Ho Chi Minh trail. This road famously follows the supply routes of the vietcong from north to south (along the border with lao) and for this reason it is the most bombed area of the world. Both Josh and I have essentially gotten fed up of package tours everywhere, always being hassled by touts and the never ending supply of 'same same but different' sights. Instead what we have been after is unspoilt countryside, amazing views, mountains, forest and what i would now call the real vietnam.

Joshs bike has been so far without any problems and mine has had a few hiccups shall we say and is double the age of the other bike. I would say i set out with some tripidation of the bikes capability to do 800km of mountainous riding along roads that are one big pothole. The first day nearly killed me we did 350km in one stretch having gotten lost for about an hour earlier on. One thing about asia and i have found this everywhere if you ask for directions and they have no idea they will give you some anyway. This led us a merry dance but we eventually found our way and blitzed 40km inland towards the trail. My bike which makes numerous noises then started to vibrate really badly and forced me to pull into a garage. 10 minutes and 10,000 dong later (30p) my bike was better than new. The potholes had loosened a nut which was the problem. Sorted and for the first time when someone knew they had you over a barrel they didnt try and rip me off.

The rest of the day was shattering, roads that were beautiful but needed full concentration and then just when i was really tired we had to do the last 30km in the dark. I have lights that are pitiful at best and there are no street lights so 30kms straining to see while trucks are hammering past and people are everywhere and theres potholes and sections of the road missing was so exhausting. Nevertheless we made it to Kon tom our first staging post. I had not seen a foreigner all day and the town was no different. We dumped our stuff in our cockroach ridden room and went out for dinner. In vietnam you never eat from a resteraunt only off the street and in Kon tom we had prawn pancakes which were insanely good. I think this was probably the best food i had eaten anywhere ever!!!

The next day was a short hop 45km to Plikou as our bodies wouldnt take much more, so we treated ourselves to a lie in and the chance to eat breakfast before heading off. The towns themselves have nothing to see and are just dust bowls but its for the road that we were here so i didnt care too much. In plikou we just chilled in our nice hotel ready to do the 180km to Boum ma thot. We were treated to amazing roads again all day and the feeling is incredible. On a bus all this passes you by but on a bike you see it, smell it and have everyone waving and shouting hello from the side of the road.

Buon ma thot is the coffee capital of vietnam. Iced white coffee is something to which i am now addicted and there is nothing better than sipping this while watching the world go by. We have bought ourselves lots of the stuff in an attempt to not too succesfully recreate what we have had so far. On my trip i have tried to tick off as many new things as possible and one that had alooded me so far was Thit Cho also known as dog. The random place we were staying (im pretty sure they had just kicked there son out of his room) took us to a dog restaurant. The place was heaving so it must be good. We tried the lot, BBQ dog, dog blood sausage, dog soup, dog with ginger and generally the taste was pretty good although it doesnt smell great. The taste is unlike anything else not quite beef, not chicken or pork but you have to try it to know what i mean.

Our final day on the trail took us 200km south to Dalat a mountain resort in the south highlands. We both agreed that despite the road surface for large sections being the worst we had ever seen the scenery was incredible. People talk about great drives of the world and for me there have been some good ones in six months and this was by far the best. For large sections there were ethnic communities perched on the sides of stunning valleys, jungle, friendly people, mountain passes and exciting bends to really get stuck into.

We now plan to keep the bikes until Angkor wat in cambodia, and we are hoping we can cross the border easily (not too much money in bribes). We will see but tomorrow its back down to the coast and the amazing beaches of Mui ne. I cant wait

Saturday 18 September 2010

Refinding the groove

Nearly three weeks now in Vietnam and i am in Hoi an the tailoring capital of the world or so it seems. I arrived this morning with Josh who i met in Ukraine and remet randomly in Hanoi. We have been traveling together for the last week after we both decided to buy motorbikes and see the country from a different perspective.

After getting to Vietnam i headed up to the mountain country along the Chinese border for a couple of days mainly to check out how things had changed since my last visit. I probably shouldn't have as the picturesque mountain town of sapa now exists as a tourist trap. Slightly disappointed i cut down my stay to two nights although i did manage to head out of town to some of the more remote tribal villages on a rented scooter. Seriously i didn't think the bike would make it with the state of the road. At one of the villages i met a Vietnamese couple on holiday who then proceeded to show me round sapa as well as all the local food markets. Honestly black chicken (a different species not burnt) is incredible i must have had it three or more times that day. I was also introduced to Pho the staple of Vietnamese cuisine which is noodles in spicy soup although out of the town thats about all you can get so its beginning to lose it magic.

From sapa i took the train to Hanoi after being smuggled on board by a security guard as all of the tickets were sold out. After china this was a refreshing change especially as he didn't ask for money. Onboard i managed to pick up a spare ticket from a family heading back after being on holiday. They were really cool and spoke a bit of english which made the 12 hour journey pass alot faster although teaching and then playing endless games of snap was a bad idea. The ticket didn't go all the way to Hanoi so i had to grab a bus in the pitch black (no streetlights in Vietnam) and pray for forty minutes i was going the right way. Shattered from traveling and the day before i did pretty much nothing in Hanoi for 5 days. I had been before so the sights were of no interest instead a book, ipod and the lake was perfect. On the last day i bumped into josh who i had met in Ukraine. Our journeys had separated after a day and then came back together again. I kind of wanted to ride a motorbike down Vietnam but not on my own and turns out so did he so we agreed to meet in Hue a few days later buy bikes and take the trip from there.

We met in Hue and bought our bikes. They basically cost $200-250 each and all was well at the beginning. We took them out for a test drive and perfect. Next day leaving our bags we headed up to the DMZ (de militarised zone) to see the tunnels and the dividing line between the north and south before heading up to khe san where the famous siege of the US marines happened. We spent the night up there and awoke to solid mist, great this will be a steep learning curve. We had already learnt to ride a bike in Vietnam rush hour traffic probably not the best idea but you learn fast. Then riding in the rain up the coast, then the mountains and now thick fog. All fun and games. The plan was to ride down the Ho Chi Minh trail for 100kms before taking the back road over the mountains to hue to pick up our stuff then over the famous (top gear) hi van pass to Danang and china beach. It kind of went ok until we got delayed in hue sending a parcel then my bike making funny noises. Despite this we soldiered on going over the hi van pass at sunsest (seriously amazing) me at about 2mph and josh powering on ahead. We then took on Danang vietnams third largest city at night which is something that will live with me forever, just a mass of lights, horns people crossing without looking. Insanity in its purist form.

Somehow completely shattered we turned up at our small guesthouse on a deserted section of china beach. Not being a beach person i was not sure about spending too long here but it was amazing. Pristine white sand, palm trees and perfectly clear water the perfect place to relax and unwind although the sun got us both by the end of the day. The ownly downer was going swimming forgetting my solitary bike key was in my open pocket and remembering with horror later. The solution a shifty looking guy with blank keys files me a new one in 10 seconds flat by looking in the lock. Not a comforting thought considering our bikes live outside.

Today we just did the 20km to Hoi an along the coast road to where we are now a nice hotel with a pool $6 a night, happy days. An in two days time we attempt the next section of the Ho Chi Minh trail, should be amazing.

Heres hoping my bikes makes it ;-)

Wednesday 1 September 2010

Trials and tribulations on the roof of the world

On my last day in Chengdu i finally met violet the lady who has put up with my constant questions and change of plans to pick up my tickets and passes in order to get to Tibet. Chengdu itself was a great place to lie around and do nothing, not that there is much to do apart from try the local delicacy hotpot and look at pandas. Compared to the zoo i went to in Kunming yesterday the pandas have the greatest life ever.

The train from Chengdu to Lhasa is 1 day and 19 hours long and passes over a 5100m pass before continuing along the Tibetan plateau at 4600m and then dropping down to Lhasa which occupies the lowly altitude of 3600m. I was really nervous about this train after my experiences at the top of Fuji. This anxiety wasn't helped when i was asked to sign a disclaimer in case anything happened due to the altitude. The train ride itself was great as for the entire journey the scenery was incredible and there were two australians in the next carriage to talk to and play cards with as nobody on the train spoke a word of English and the constant eating of chickens feet is enough to make anyone nauseous. Arriving at Lhasa train station was an experience, the building itself was strangely futuristic and brand new as the train line had only been completed in 2007. Outside though i had a taste of what was to come, a city under siege from heavily armed Chinese troops. The people on the train were all Han Chinese and were moving to Lhasa under financial encouragement from the government and soon Tibetans will be the minority.

Due to the restrictions on foreigners traveling in Tibet the whole trip was already organized something i hate as so far i have been able to wing it. I was staying in a hotel for the first time on my trip and it was great to be able to leave all my stuff out and not have to go hiking in the night to find a toilet. Despite all my fears about altitude sickness the train journey went fine and when i arrived in Lhasa i could walk around freely without fighting for breath. I stupidly thought i would then be fine and that afternoon i undertook a long walk all around the Tibetan old quarter the barkhor. Lhasa is divided into the old Tibetan part of the city and the new Chinese section that threatens to overwhelm the unique charm of the city. After a few drinks with a dutch guy in a bar (which closed at 11pm) i started to walk through the pitch black streets as the old town has no lights. My experience in Lhasa so far had been great and it was to continue as i lost myself amongst the monks, the people on pilgrimage and the colourful market stalls. Many Tibetans unlike the Chinese speak a few words of english and everywhere i was greeted with smiling faces and cries of 'hello' and 'how are you'. Unfortunately by the time i reached the hotel the effects of what i later found out to be a rich oxygen environment on the train had worn off and the beginnings of a headache and various aches and pains as well as a lack of breath started.

That night i did not sleep at all and in the morning i had to get up at 6am in order to get on the bus for the eight hour ride to Shigatse to the west. The bus ride was incredible twice we went over 5000m passes and also we saw yam drok lake which was bluer than anything i had ever seen. Each time we went higher the banging in my head got worse and walking came with great difficulty. At this point i was seriously worried about going to everest base camp the next day.

The towns of Tibet are all small but thankfully outside of Lhasa there a fewer Chinese and they have a different atmosphere. Pretty much everything eaten or drunk comes from the yaks which you see everywhere wandering the high pastures. In shigatse i took some pills which helped with the sickness and i managed to sleep a little. Again we had to rise early and we headed to Tengri a small town on the edge of the everest national park. I took another bunch of tablets but as we went above 4000m they stopped being effective. When we finally reached Tengri at 5000m i again had a pounding headache worse than anything i had felt before and this time nausea and pins and needles in my limbs. I was traveling with 8 others and although they had sickness it was not anywhere near as severe as mine. The road to base camp was another 5 hours but over the worst road you have ever seen. Absolutely gutted i realised i could not make it and if it got any worse i could be in serious trouble as tengri was the last place with medical facilities. Unlike the Nepalese side there is very little infrastructure in Tibet and later i found out people have died on the same tour i was doing a comforting thought.

I spent the afternoon and the night trying not to move as well as having every local remedy they could give me as well as taking altitude pills and pure oxygen. None of this helped as i had just gone too high too fast and felt so ill. Again being sick and lying in a hotel room on your own in a place where no-one speaks english is the worst feeling. I even managed to panick my parents with an expensive phone call in order to speak to someone. The people in the hotel were so kind and were incredibly worried. I found out the next day the old lady who had given me the local remedies sat outside my door making sure i was still alive. I managed to sleep somehow and woke the next morning feeling great. I was just one day too early to go to base camp and this demoralised feeling was made worse when i saw the photos the group brought back of everest completely clear. So gutted its unbelievable and for me i have unfinished business in Tibet.

After this we again went to Shigatse to see the monastery before taking the 8 hour ride back to Lhasa via several viewing places by glaciers and mountain lakes. I was staying for an extra day on the tour and had a private guide to take me around the temples and palaces of Lhasa the next day. My guide showed me so many things i had missed the first day including the snipers on the buildings in the old town as well as the security cameras placed in every alley. To see the pothala palace is a dream come true for me and i could sit and look at that building all day as the different lighting makes it come alive. Also i went to another monastery as well as the most holy sight in the whole of Tibet the Jankhor temple. It was filled with prostrating people as well as those making the epic trip from the outer regions of Tibet to give yak butter as an offering to the budhas. The deep feeling felt by these people was really something to behold and not being religious there devotion really touched me. Tibet is amazing and im glad i saw it before the Chinese destroy it completely. Its stunning that purely due to the wests heavy reliance on china they let the tragedy continue. It left me with a bad taste in my mouth and today i left China for Vietnam and felt a great sense of relief.