Heading north

Howdy from Ninh Binh


It's Friday evening.

Monday was another grey day with occasional rain. In the late morning I boarded the train in Hue, heading to Dong Ha. I was in the cheap seats. An hour journey cost 18,000 dong, about $1.10 US. It was a hard seat. It was really a wooden bench with full back, I shared with another person. The benches were arranged so that 2 benches faced eachother, thus allowing families and such to talk and spend the trip together. The atmosphere in this car was quite communal, and was a bit of a circus. The racks above the seat were already packed to the brim, my big backpack had to go under the bench, but really only fit about halfway in. My day pack had to stay on my lap.


On the previous train, the one going to Hue, I was in the soft-seats with aircon, which I think I was given automatically by that ticket seller because I was a foreigner. There were other Westerners on board, and thus we were no big deal. This train, the one going to Dong Ha, was one of the more basic ones, and all that had been available was the hard seats. It was all Vietnamese on board. Therefore, I, being anything but Vietnamese, was quite the attraction for the people in the train. The 'booth' I was in had 3 women who were obviously family, though I'm not sure how they were related. They were nice (although we spoke no common language). They shared their oranges and longans with me. We were able to communicate the basics (through gesturing and proper nouns), such as my name, their names, where I'm going, where I've been, where I'm from etc. The women in the booth across the aisle also were saying hello and such. They shared some of their food with me. They gave me a package with banana leave pieces as the wrapper. I unwrapped it, it was the pounded glutinous rice in a block form. I began to eat it, it didn't have much flavor, but it was ok. Then I discovered the filling inside. GROSS!!!! Oh crap this was the most disgusting thing I'v eaten on this trip. I have no idea what it was, but it was putrid. I can hardly begin to describe to you how awful it was. I have absolutely no idea what it was, but, man, I hope I never encounter it again. It literally made me gag. I tried my best to hide my disgust, which I think I did a pretty good job of doing, given its awfulness. They were able to tell I didn't like it, and I'm pretty sure they weren't offended. They had a laugh about it and assured me I didn't need to finish it. A bit of a sticky situation, but turned out ok.


As the train journey went on, I had noticed a guy nearby, probably about my age, looking over. For some reason I sensed that he spoke English (probably because he appeared wealthy, which around here usually means well educated and thus capable in English). Sure enough, he finally engaged me in conversation in English. He was eager to translate, which made things a lot easier for everyone. I only wish he had spoken up earlier, oh well.


After a little over an hour, the train arrived in Dong Ha. I said goodbye to my new friends. I caught a motorbike to the hotel I planned to stay at. I checked in, took a little rest, and explored the town. I had a late lunch of chicken fried rice, ok, but not great. I found the market, which was surpisingly large for a town of this size (58,000 people). A good part of it is in a large permanent building. I picked up some fruit and had a looksee. There was a lot of activity, and everything one needs, from produce, to tools, to haircuts, to flowers, to live poultry and seafood.


I walked through the town more. In the town center there is a proudly-displayed destroyed American tank along with some other war machine. Welcome to the DMZ (more later).


I slowly made my way back to the hotel. I wanted to stop in the park to take pictures of a statue I had seen earlier (sorry, I forgot to bring my camera to the internet cafe). Anyways, there were about 15-20 school kids, still in their uniforms, hanging around. Of course, I got the chorus of "hello"s. They were all eager to greet me, I kinda noticed not many foreigners walk around this town (it's pretty much just a launching point for DMZ tours, which appeals to a limited number of people, mostly Americans). Then, they saw me pull out the camera to take pictures of the statue. They went absolutely bonkers. They were screaming and waving and jumping. They all wanted their pictures to be taken. I took some photos and they kept screaming and jumping and posing. They just wouldn't wear out. So, I obliged and took more photos. Every few shots they would run over to see the results on the LCD. After that, they would start screaming and jumping again and holding up the peace sign (I have no idea why, but so many people here pose for the camera holding up the peace sign). They asked where I was from. Upon hearing "America" their faces lit up even more. These kids were nuts. They started cheering and jumping more. Eventually, I said goodbye, and they all screamed goodbye in unison. Soon, some of them caught up to me on their bicycles. They obviously wanted more pictures, so I snapped a few. When the others, who were hanging out where I had left, saw the camera again, they all ran over for more photos. Everything repeated. More kids, not part of the original group came running over shouting hello and so on.


I finally made it out and went to the hotel to hang out for a bit. It was then I met a fellow at the hotel, Tin, to take me on a motorbike tour of the DMZ. We agreed on the plans and would head out the next morning. I went out for dinner and found a rice stall nearby. I had a plate of rice with big hunks of stewed pork belly. Awesome. You all know how much I like pork belly. Sure, it's extraordinarily unhealthy, but it's delicious. I had some stewed greens with it as well, which were very tasty. I washed it all down with a cold tamarind juice.


The next morning, Tuesday, it was pouring rain. I was afraid of this, it was already raining the night before. Nonetheless, Tin was there ready to go with his motorbike. He gave me a poncho and a helmet and we were off. Tin is a South Vietnamese veteran of the war.


In case you're not aware, the DMZ (demilitarized zone) was the border between South Vietnam and North Vietnam, stretching from the coast to the Lao border. It had been set in 1954 at the Geneva conference when Vietnam became independent from France. There was to be no military within 5 km of either side, thus the name. However, it became very heavily militarized during the American-Vietnam War. It had some of the most important locations and events of the war. Dong Ha is just south of it.


We headed west, towards the Lao border, on Highway 9. On the edge of town we stopped at a museum. It was mainly photographs, along with a few artifacts, about the war. It was all told from the Vietnamese side, of course. After the museum we headed out on the highways again.


We first stopped at Camp Carroll. We went up a hill, into the middle of where the camp was. The only thing of note there is a big victory monument. Most of the land had been cleared by people looking for scrap metal. Now, it's a rubber tree and vegetable plantation. None of this is really organized as a tourist attraction or anything, just a sign on the main road pointing in the direction of the base. Tin showed me a concrete platform in the field (I totally would've missed it if I looked alone). It was an hold helicopter landing pad. Around there were still scraps of sandbags. That was about it. It was definitely eerie.


We continued on. We drove past the Rockpile. A steep, formidable mountain shooting up out of the landscape. The area as a whole is rather mountainous, but this stands out. On top had been stationed one company of Marines. You can't go up it (I have no idea how one would get up there). We also went on the Dar Krong bridge. We went on some of the road that was the Ho Chi Minh Trail.


At the end we arrived in Khe Sanh, about 20 km from the Lao border. At Khe Sanh there's preserved relics form the war. There's an tank, airplane, helicopter, machine guns and such. There's a small museum about the battle of Khe Sanh. Once again, told (very obviously) from the Vietnamese side. There's old personal US military gear such as uniforms and canteens and ID cards. There's guns and wreckage on display as well. While walking out, I met 2 Americans (they, and a few other people in their group who were already on the bus, were the only others there). They were both Marine veterans who had fought at Khe Sanh. We talked for a while. They told stories about their time at Khe Sanh. We talked about lighter topics, too; one was from New York and knew all about The Culinary Institute of America.


Tin and I headed back (it was quite a distance). We stopped for lunch and had quite a spread of delcious Vietnamese food.


A little before we got to town, we arrived at a massive war cemetery. There's about 25,000 North Vietnamese soldiers buried there. There's large monuments and statues. There were people there visitng the graves. Tin got talking to one of the men there, and translated to me. It was wquite a sad story that showed the personal side of the war. The man had lost his younger brother in the war and was there burning incense and giving offerings at his grave.


We eventually headed back to the hotel. We stopped at the train station, so I could pick up a ticket. Unfortunately, there were no convenient trains the mext day. Tinn was able to set up a bus to pick me up, though. I was heading to Vinh.


The next morning, Wednesday, I met Tin outside the hotel. The weather was nice out. It had rained (between sprinkling and heavy) the whole previous day. We headed out of town and I waited by the side of the highway where the bus would come. It came, I paid (and they definitely overcharged me by quite a bit, but I had no choice...assholes) and got on board.



This isn't going to be the most comfortable ride. If I haven't mentioned it already, Vietnamese transport is built for Vietnamese people. I'm just too damn tall. The seats are really small and the seats (front to back) are very close together. Aditionally, there were big sacks of something on the floor at my seat, so my feet rested on those. The seat next to me was empty, I was in the aisle. My knees spilled out to either side of the seat. In the back of the bus, there was an area for cargo (about the last 12 feet), the bus carries various sacks and packages to be delivered along the way).



Not much later after I boarded, another person boarded and they needed the seat next to me, so I sat by the window, which was more uncomfortable, as my knees couldn't really go to the sides anymore. The guy next to me was eager to converse with me, though we spoke no common langauge he kept shouting in my ear in Vietnamese. Now, I know personal space isn't a popular idea in Vietnam, and that's fine, but this guy was overboard with it. He had no problem putting his arms in my lap and resting his torso on it when I showed him my book with a map. It got to the point wher I literally pushed him off a few times. (his behavior isn't really acceptable in Vietnam, either). He later thought it would be ok to turn to the side (so his legs were out in the aisle) and lean on his back against me and try to fall asleep. No way, dude. I once again had to push him a few times for him to get the message. He relented and sat upright. Later in the journey, as I was reading my book, he, being fascinated by my oh-so-white skin (trust me, white skin in of itself is a subject of interest for some people) decided it was ok to start stroking my arm with his fingers while he stared and studied the skin. Oh, hell no! After a firm pulling away of my arm, and a glare, he understood.



We stopped for lunch. I didn't have anything, despite my general willingness to try food that might not be 100% safe, this just looked way too dangerous to be eating; I don't want any more diarrhea. Anywho, a bunch of the guys from the bus called me over to where they were sitting on the ground. Despite them not speaking English, and I not speaking Vietnamese, we were able to communicate the usual "Where are you from?" etc. and we built a good rapport.



We all got back on the bus, and the guys who I had met outside invited me to sit with them. As the bus had run out of seats, they were all sitting in the cargo area on top of the bags and packages. Wanting to get away from Creepy Guy and the uncomfortably tiny seat, I took them up on their offer. It was actually quite comfortable. There was a lot more room, I could put my legs out and everything. It was definitely a better way to ride. We eventually got to Vinh. It took much longer than anticipated. I was picked up around 9:00 and Tin had been told I would get to Vinh before 1:30. We arrived around 3:30, and there hadn't been any traffic or other hold ups. Anyways, they dropped me on the side of the road and I hailed a xe om (motorbike taxi) to take me to the hotel.



The hotel had available rooms. I was able to get one for 100,000 Dong (about 6 bucks) a night. It came with a not-working antennae tv, hot water 2 beds, a fan, a mini-bar (just some bottles of water, cans of orange soda, and cans of beer sitting on the desk), a tea set with a tin of loose tea and a really heavy-duty, long-lasting thermos full of nearly boiling hot water for tea. The coolest thing about Giao Te Hotel... it's run by the Communist Party! That's right, it's a state-run hotel. Lots of concrete. Actually, it was alright. It wasn't uncomfortable. You know, just enough, nothing unnecessary or frivolous, but it meets one's needs (sound familiar? hmmm).


Anyways, I had a bad headache so I hung out for a while in my room. I fell asleep and awoke in the early evening. I headed out to see a little of the city, though I didn't do very much, I still had a bit of the headache. I had a simple dinner of chicken and rice with nuoc cham.

The next morning, Thursday, I went out and explored the town. I found the market and walked around there. Plenty of people said hello and such; not many tourists seem to come to Vinh. I had a nice brunch of pho bo (beef noodle soup). I walked aorund town some more and found a cafe. I settled in and had a ca phe sua da (really really strong iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk). After hanging out there for a while I went back to the hotel to plan out the rest of my day.

I went outside and found a motorbike taxi to take me to the train station; I had to buy a ticket for the next day. I was very clear in where I wanted to go, saying it both in English (which it turns out he didn't speak, fair enough) and Vietnamese. We agreed on a price (always set a price before you get a taxi ride) to take me there and take me back. Well, he took me to a place (it kinda looks liek it might be a train station) and I paid him the first half of the fare. I went inside, it was a shopping complex. I came outside and said again where I wanted to go. He only then showed that he really understood (as I thought about it more, he's full of crap). We got to the train station and he wanted another fare for that leg. I (stupidly) paid him. I went inside, got my ticket, and came out.

While waiting for my ticket in the train station I figured I should go straight to the next destination I wanted to see that day, Kim Lien. Kim Lien is the birthplace of Ho Chi Minh, about 14 km outside the city. I came out and showed the driver where I wanted to go and how much I would pay him for the round trip (which I made very clear). He was to take me to Kim Lien, then back to the hotel in Vinh. We were off.

We drove outside the city, through rice fields and such. It was quite scenic, vast fields, flooded plains, and mountains in the distance. We arrived at Kim Lien. It's nothing too exciting for someone who's not a Ho Chi Minh enthusiast. There was a shrine to Ho Chi Minh where people laid flowers and such. There was also his house where he was born (probably a recreation as it was made from straw and bamboo, but I dunno). There were lots of Vietnamese tourists there, no Westerners. Not far away is the house where he had grown up (his family moved away from Kim Lien then came back to another house). I poked around there a bit too. I got back on the motorbike with the driver and we went back to Vinh.

This is where this butthole really showed his true colors. He wanted double the fare. He wanted 1 fare for each way (even though before he acknowledged with confirmed gesturing that it was for both legs). I told him no and he started hounding me. I (stupidly) relented and gave him a little bit extra, but not the whole amount. Here's the kicker, he saw me later in the day and the next day and offered me rides again. Obviously, this buttmunch knew I wasn't going to skip out on paying the right price. If I were someone who didn't pay as I was supposed to, he wouldn't offer me anymore rides.

That evening I had a dinner of rice porridge with chicken. It was kind of unexciting, but ok.

This morning, Friday, was my last day in Vinh. I slept in a bit. I can't remember what I had for breakfast. I spent some time in a cafe drinking ca phe sua da. There were a bunch of friendly people in there hanging out. I was glad to get to the cafe when I did, it started pouring rain a minute later. I slowly drank my ca phe sua da, watching it pour outside. A few guys at a table near me said hello and smiled toawrds me. Then they handed me a tiny little cup with a clear liquid inside. They were saying something, I couldn't quite understand. They said it again. "Vodka." It was 10:30 in the morning! Well, of course I didn't want to offend, so I shot it down and they nodded approvingly. Later, as I was making my way out of the cafe, the motioned me to sit at their table. They poured another shot for me. We all toasted and drank it down. Wow... I said goodbye (xiao).

I headed back to the hotel and checked out. I hung out for the internet cafe for a while and got started on this post. It was then time to go to the train station.

I found a motorbike taxi (not from the previously mentioned driver who hangs out in the area), and stated where I wanted to go in English and Vietnamese (this guy did speak a little English). We agreed on a price. This buttmunch took me to the bus station! The Vietnamese words for bus station and train station are very different and can't be confused. After stressing that I wanted to go to the train station he indicated that he wanted double the already agreed upon fare. WTF? No way dude. When he saw that I wasn't goign to take this crap, he started making a pouty face and kept insisting. I told him that he was to take me to the train station for the already agreed fare or I was getting off the bike, not paying him anything, and I would find another driver. He kept insisting. Nearby there was somebody official-looking. I couldn't tell if he was simply a security guard or a cop, the police uniofrom looks a lot like other uniforms. It was hard to tell, but he held up 2 fingers, seemingly indicating I was to pay double. He didn't seem insistent however, and I couldn't tell for sure what he meant. Honestly, it was apparent he really didn't care. The driver eventually drove off again, taking me to the train station, still saying he wanted double. We arrived at the train station. I got off, I handed him the originally agreed upon fare (single fare) and he drove off. Buttmunch...

It seems quite odd that I encountered all this crap in such a short time, especially for an area with relatively few tourists. Vietnam has been largely hassle-free. In the previous month I had only had 2 problems with motorbike drivers. Both those incidents also involved demanding an amount larger than the agreed upon fare. Both times I had my wits about me and showed I wasn't budging. They get the picture that I'm not gonna take their crap and drive off. I don't want this post to sound bitter, it's just a weird chain of events that I encountered all these problems (overcharging on the bus, creep guy on the bus, problems with 2 bike drivers) in jsut 2 days. I honestly have had overwhelmingly positive experiences in Vietnam.

The train ride to Ninh Binh was pleasant and comfortable. It took about 4 and a half hours or so. The scenery was fantastic, despite it being a bit grey out some of the time. There were vast field with crazy-looking mountains in the distance. There were a few rock formations shooting up out of the ground by the tracks. Really cool. As dusk set in, the crazy-looking mountains were silhouettes in front of a red background. Awesome. I munched on some really fresh, sweet oranges I had picked up in Vinh. I also bought a bag of sugarcane chunks on board from the snack cart. It's just peeled sugarcane, cut into pieces, approximately the size of a wine bottle cork or a bit bigger. You just chew and suck on them and spit out the woody, fibrous pulp. A bag with about 20 pieces cost 3,000 dong (20 cents US).

I arrived in Ninh Binh in the evening. I checked into a 5 dollar a night hotel by the train. It comes with free internet access in the lobby, hot water and satellite tv. Good deal. I had a nice dinner of pork in a sweet and sour sauce with rice. That brings us up to now.

So, you mgiht be wodnering why I'm in Ninh Binh. It's not very large, only about 25,000 people. The attraction really is the surrounding area. The landscape is supposed to be spectacular. Nearby is an area called Tam Coc. It is full of rock formations on the rice paddies. There's a few caves you can take aboat through. It's sometimes called the Halong Bay of the Rice Paddies (Halong Bay is in NE Vietnam and is famous for its awesome rock formations, a real natural wonder). Also nearby is Hoa Lu, the capital of Vietnam in the 10th century and has more impressive scenery. I'm really looking forward to it.

I'm not sure where I'll be going next, possibly Hanoi. Well, that about does it for now.

Take care and goodnight,

Mike