Mong Cai

It’s an easy walk from the border crossing with China into Mong Cai, the first Vietnamese city. There’s no need to rent a motorbike, though drivers will hassle you to do so. You’ll see a modern apartment building on the street leading away from the border. Turn right at the corner (west) before this building and you’ll come to a market. On the block to your right (north), in the direction of the border, there are several hotels. From what I could figure out, the Vietnamese for hotel is Nha Nhgi, but there are also signs in Chinese, 旅館. The hotels are usually identifiable by balconies and obvious reception areas. Compared to the concrete efficiency of some Chinese hotels, the colorful décor will certainly be welcome.

The bus station, where you can catch buses to Haiphong or Hanoi, is about three kilometers away from the market. It’s best to take a motorbike and walk back. On the way to the bus station, you’ll come to a circular before a bridge. On this circular there is a post office which will exchange Chinese money. You can also make phone calls from here. Next to it is a computer arcade where you can access the Internet. There is a bank and ATM which will give credit card advances nearer the market.

Remember the street you turned onto in front of the apartment building which leads to the market? Just continue on on it and you’ll come to a T-intersection. Turn right at this intersection, which will take you in the direction of the river, and there is a bank on the right.

Expect to be stared at in Mong Cai, encouraged to buy things, to ride on the back of a motorbike. People will invite you to have tea and beers with them, even if they can’t speak more than three words of English. They’re just curious about you. Evidently not too many westerners pass through this town. No one was too forceful with me about buying anything. The people were helpful, and, compared to the Chinese, more laid back. They were often smiling and waving, saying, “Hello.” This might get tiring after a few days, being a celebrity, but the alternative, being regarded with suspicion, is far worse.

Note: I drank iced coffee and didn’t suffer.

Haiphong

The bus ride from Mong Cai to Haihpong takes about six hours and first goes through some picturesque scenery—rice fields, tea trees on hillsides, jungle in the distance, farmers homes—and then passes through an industrial town black from coal dust. The scenery improves, however, when a bay comes into view on the left.

The bus stops at a very crowded ferry landing. You will have to get out of the bus, buy a ticket for 500 dong, and then get back on the bus when it is on the ferry. Try to keep in mind where your bus is and to get on the same ferry, as there are several ferries running back and forth and swarms of people walking and on motorbikes. It’s easy to get lost in the crowd. If you don’t get on the right ferry, you’ll meet up with your bus on the other side.

The ride from the ferry into Haiphong is about forty-five minutes and passes some resort hotels just past the ferry landing before the land becomes more familiar—rice fields and duck farms. The Haiphong bus station is in town, not far from Dien Bien Phu, where there are some hotels. If you want to walk from the station to a hotel, you can manage it. If you take a taxi, make the driver put on the meter. The charge shouldn’t be more than 15,000, if that. To walk, just go back the way the bus came and you’ll come to a circular; stay to the left around it, and Dien Bien Phu is the street on the opposite side. Turn left on it, and in two or three hundred meters you’ll come to some hotels which look expensive. The one I stayed at, however, Kim Thanh, had a great room on the 5th floor, room 502, for 165,000. There is no elevator, but if you don’t mind the hike you will be away from the street noise, on a floor that overlooks the rooftops, and feel like you are in a penthouse. There is only one other room on this floor, and it probably won’t be occupied. The fifth floor is where the maids do laundry and give offerings before a Buddhist altar. (Kim Thanh Hotel 67 Dien Bien Phu. Tel: 031.745264; email: kimthanhhotel@vnn.vn.)

To get to some good restaurants, turn right when you leave the hotel, then right again at the first corner, and continue on to a park, which is a walk of a few blocks. If you cross the street through the park, then turn right you’ll see some hawker stalls, where you can eat and have a glass of draught beer, total cost about 30,000 dong. If you want to eat at a restaurant, don’t cross through the park, but turn right before the park, keeping the park on your left, and you’ll come to some seafood restaurants which have fish, shrimp, and crabs in aquariums. A crab dinner will set you back as much as the hotel room. Price is determined by weight. On your way to the restaurants, you might have noticed an Internet café just around the corner from the hotel which has a wireless connection, free with a drink. Mango juice is 18,000.

A word about Cat Ba Island and Halong Bay, major tourist destinations. According to an English language newspaper, almost 1.5 million tourists go there a year. I went there one day, taking a slow ferry, which is cheaper and more enjoyable, because a person can go out on the deck, even sit on the bow, thinking I would return to Haiphong the same day, but I got stuck on the island because the high speed ferry, which I had planned to return on, departs from a different location. Cat Ba is a great place if you want to be around drunks, screaming kids, western tourists, or want a “massage.” My hotel room cost twice as much as the one I had in Haiphong and it was a dump. I knew I didn’t want to stay on this island more than an hour when I saw a restaurant advertising spaghetti and pasta, with only westerners reading a Lonely Planet book out front. But I was stuck on this Island from Hell. I got the next ferry back to Haiphong at 5:40.

About the only thing of interest to me on the island happened after I arrived when, while having an iced coffee on the sidewalk outside the Blue Note Bar, I watched a woman across the street slit the throats of two chickens. The way it is done is like this—first pluck the feathers from a section of the neck while holding the bird by the feet with one hand and by the throat with the fingers of the other; next, while continuing to hold the chicken by the legs, bend back the neck with the same hand that is holding a knife and draw the knife across the plucked section, severing an artery; allow the blood to flow freely into a bowl you have placed on the ground. The bird will kick a little for twenty or thirty seconds before submitting to its fate. To aid in its plucking, put the deceased bird in a large bowl and pour hot water over it. Be sure the water is not too hot to cook the meat. Establish a plucking pattern, top to bottom or bottom to top.

Hanoi

I went to Hanoi by train from Haiphong. Haiphong Station is very picturesque. Like many buildings in the city, it is a throwback to a colonial past. The station is only a short ride from Dien Bien Phu and taxi fare shouldn’t cost more than 15,000 dong. It is possible to buy a ticket to Hanoi the day you depart. Show up at least thirty minutes ahead of the scheduled departure. Seats are reserved. The train ride is between two and three hours and is unbelievably noisy. The cars are without AC, too. At each stop women sell drinks, peanuts, and other snacks.

It’s a short taxi ride from the train station to the Old Quarter, where there are many backpacker hotels. Take your time finding a place, as there are many hotels to choose from. The rate for one night is between 150,000 and 200,000. After traveling down into Vietnam from China, along a path less traveled, it might be a shock to see so many western tourists and menus in English.

I was disappointed with Hanoi. It doesn’t have the lazy, colonial air of Haiphong. Like many cities, it is crowded and noisy and, at least in the Old Quarter, impossible to walk down the sidewalk without having to step around something. Also, the motorbike drivers are more aggressive. They won’t give pedestrians the breaks that the drivers in Haihpong do.

There’s plenty of information about Hanoi from other sources, so it isn’t necessary for me to write about what you can learn on your own.

I only stayed in Hanoi a few days. It wasn't for me.

Vinh

Vinh is of no interest to tourists, as far as I can tell, which makes it an attractive place to visit, particularly by train, because the Vietnamese there are not used to westerners. Expect constant greetings, “Hello!” and maybe men offering to buy you draught beer.

The train from Hanoi to Vinh departs at 09:45. It is possible to buy a ticket on the day you depart, but you might be limited to a hard seat. I had a hard seat, which wasn’t so bad, and, though it was a reserved seat, after the train got going a lot of people changed seats, so that by the time I arrived in Vinh it seemed like no one was in the seat assigned to them.

What surprised me on the ride was that I had expected to buy something to eat from the women who sell snacks on the platforms of stations. When the train stopped at a station, however, there were no women in sight. Then, at around noon, I noticed the staff on the train rolling out a cart which obviously had lunches on them. I didn’t expect them to cost much, but I wasn’t expecting lunch, and water, to be included in the price of the ticket, about 70,000. The food was good, too, but basic—rice, cold soup, a few scarps of pork mixed with green beans. You can buy other things, like grilled meats and spring rolls, if you’d like more.

The scenery south of Hanoi becomes quite interesting--homes made of stone or concrete with tile roofs, well-worn footpaths leading to fields, tree lines on the levies of rice paddies, and people working the fields, planting by hand, plowing with a water buffalo, irrigating with buckets. There are some panoramic views across vast fields of rice, with the steeple of a church on the horizon in a village. The French influence is obvious, with buildings that have domes. There are also Christian and Buddhist graveyards. I was struck by the neatness of the homes, the verdant greenness of the countryside, the piercing blue sky, and the complete absence of cars and buses. The mountains are to the west. The train line seems to be separated enough from the main north-south highway to make one feel like they are watching traditional Vietnamese rural life pass before them outside the window, unchanged for decades. Children sit on the backs of water buffalo and play in lakes and ponds. Women wearing traditional straw hats ride bicycles along dirt roads.

The train will probably be late by an hour arriving at Vinh. Confirm that you are getting off at the right station. In Vinh, ignore all the touts and taxi drivers and just walk out of the station area to the Muong Thanh Hotel, which will be on your left. The least expensive room, one with twin beds, is 150,000, including breakfast. The rooms are clean and comfortable, with good AC. The staff speaks a little English. There is even a pool on the second floor and a place to get a massage in the basement. I had a little trouble checking in, because the woman registering me wanted to keep my passport. I adamantly refused, and she eventually agreed to write down the information. Later, when I said I was very satisfied with the room, she became very polite and friendly. There are a few more hotels past the Muong Thanh or on the way to the bus station.

Trains departing from Vinh south leave either very early or too late, and so I took a bus to Hue. The bus station is about two kilometers from the hotel. If you decide to walk it, take the street leading away from the station to the first traffic light, which is about a kilometer away, and turn right. Continue on for maybe five hundred meters. The station will be on your right. On the way, you will pass men out on the sidewalks drinking draught beer and eating peanuts. Expect an invitation to join them.

I’m not completely sure about bus schedules to Hue. I was told there are only buses early in the morning, which I doubted, and was eventually approached by a man who spoke English very well. It turned out he was a former English teacher who had given up the profession because he said it was for women, whatever that means. He organized tourist buses to Hue. I got a bus the next morning which departed at 14:00 and cost 170,000, a bit steep when compared to the train, but perhaps a necessary expense.

After leaving Vinh, I regretted that I hadn’t tried to rent a motorbike and explore the country north of there, which I had seen from the train. South of Hue, the countryside becomes less interesting. The towns and cities seem more developed and lose their French influence.

Hue

I traveled to Hue by bus from Vinh on Highway 1, the main north-south artery. With the driver passing on hills and curves, weaving through motorbikes and people herding cows and water buffalo, the ride might appear to be dangerous, but drivers approaching from the opposite direction give way and the cows are predictable. The cities and towns between Vinh and Hue don’t have the charm of the ones north of Vinh. They are more of the concrete slab style.

The highway crosses over the former DMZ at the Ben Hai River north of Dong Ha. There is a railroad bridge to the east of the highway and a monument. After crossing into what was formerly called South Vietnam, there are a few military cemeteries to the west of the highway, rows of white crosses in sandy, scrubby soil.

Before leaving Vinh, I told the man who had sold me the bus ticket that I needed a hotel room in Hue, and the bus driver let me out right at the door of one. I believe the hotel was on Le Thanh Ton. It wasn’t much of a room, but it was cheap, just 120,000 with AC, and conveniently located if you want to be near the Old City. It was north of the Song River.

Hue is a tourist town. Expect to be offered a motorbike ride wherever you go. I went to a very popular restaurant with Vietnamese people, called Ngo Co Nham, which is in the Old City and has cheap, tasty food. It is an open air affair, made of bamboo, and has two floors. A trishaw driver who gives tours took me to this place, and then peddled me around the Old City. I usually resist being peddled around, but I was tired of walking. His English was good enough for us to have a conversation. The cost for one hour was about 30,000, I think. If war landmarks are what you are interested in, ask to be taken to an American bunker built in 1968 soon after the Tet Offensive. There is another one on the southwest corner of the city. While in the Old City, I recalled Stanley Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket,” but it was filmed at an abandoned gas works outside London. I am also old enough to remember the Tet Offensive, watching it play out on American television screens.

There are a few historic landmarks, like some shrines and the Forbidden City, that weren’t destroyed during the battle of Hue, but most of the buildings are new. Karaoke bars, cafes, and computer arcades seem to dominate. There are no hotels. Near the Forbidden City, some American military equipment captured from the “Puppet Government” is on display. The signs are amusing, and if it weren’t for the personalization of death in the small war museum, where American GI’s and ARVN’s ID cards are on display, this place might be amusing, too, how the Communist government portrays the war as one of liberation from the American occupiers.

My trishaw driver’s father was killed in the war in 1972. He referred to the day in 1975 when the South Vietnamese government fell as his country’s liberation day. The Vietnamese who talked about the war talked about it as if all the Vietnamese were fighting only the Americans, not mentioning that the Vietnamese were also fighting each other. The manager of the hotel I stayed in had fled the country by boat in 1980, ending up in California, where he had had a daughter before returning to Hue. The enmity that the victorious Vietnamese had for their brothers and sisters in the south, and the fear these southerners had of being punished by their new occupiers, is conveniently overlooked.

The train station is on the south side of the river, to the west. It is within walking distance of the Old City. It’s a good idea to buy a ticket to your destination at least the day before you depart. There will probably be lines at the ticket counter, people asking about who knows what, but if you’re lucky a security guard will take you aside and show you into an adjoining office, where an agent will sell you a ticket. Most of the trains depart from either Hanoi or Saigon, stopping briefly in Hue. Don’t expect them to be on time. Mine, which went to Danang, departing from Hanoi, was at least an hour late.

Hoi An

Hoi An is about forty kilometers south of Danang, on the coast. It is a tourist town, with seemingly as many westerners as Vietnamese. Expect to be nagged at to buy something everytime you step outside your hotel. If you are looking for tailor made clothes at a good price, you might consider going there. But that shouldn’t be the only reason. Though I avoid tourist towns like this, you can rent a motorbike and take trips out into the country, where tourists apparently never go. A motorbike for the day will cost about 5-6USDs, gas not included. Make sure you get the tank filled before starting off, and maybe the telephone number of the lender, just in case you need to make contact. There are countless roads to take to the west which meander through the countryside.

You can reach Hoi An from the Danang train station by either taxi or motorbike. I rode on the back of a motorbike, my bag tied onto the back. My driver, Duong, furnished me with a helmet and took me along what he described as the scenic route along the beach, passing a former American airbase and Marble Mountain, where VC had a tunnel complex. The cost was 5 USDs. I suppose a taxi will be twice that.

If you come to Danang by train from the north you will have some dramatic views of the sea when the train climbs up a pass just north of Danang. Note that lunch is served on the train and is part of the fare. I came from Hue, a couple of hours away.

The Than Binh III Hotel has wonderful rooms for as low as 15USDs during the low season. This includes a good breakfast. My room, in the rear, which is quieter, had a balcony, a tile floor, a vaulted ceiling, a ceiling fan, and AC. The TV has HBO and CNN. There is also a swimming pool. The staff is very helpful and can assist you with tours or transportation for a small fee. Email: vothihong@dng.vnn.vn; telephone: 84.510.916.777.

I can’t say I liked Hoi An so much. The place is overrun with tourists—in restaurants, shops, bars—but I enjoyed motorbike trips out into the country, and the hotel room was the best I had in Vietnam for the price. I doubted anything to the south would be better and so I stayed until the day before my visa expired, flying from Danang to Saigon on Vietnam Airlines, where I got a Tiger Airlines flight to Singapore. I don’t regret that decision.