Back to Thailand - Koh Phi Phi

One airplane, four buses, one mini bus and one ferry later I arrived on the island of Koh Phi Phi. I left Hanoi at five in the morning and got to the Thai island eleven in the morning the following day. The best part of it was skipping through Bangkok with only enough time to eat at my favourite restaurant before jumping on another bus!

Koh Phi Phi is on the Andaman coast, it is often ranked among the most beautiful islands in the world. It certainly is striking. A large land mass of limestone cliffs covered in trees. Secluded beaches hide amongst the rocks. It has a downside as so many places seem to in Thailand and that it is the development that has shot back up since the tsunami. Fortunately the shape of the island has made sure that it can only go so far leaving most of the island untouched. Busy yes, but with clear turquoise waters and enclosed by the cliffs it was a beautiful site. Walk a few minutes out of town and it becomes rugged, a different world and yet everything you could want to make your life easy is within reaching distance.

It’s possible to walk around the island but I have to admit I didn’t do very well. Signposts were not at the best and whilst I found myself on a couple of lovely beaches a lot of the island was out of bounds to me. The best day that I spent was heading out on a morning boat trip. I had enquired when booking my ticket why an old fashioned long tail boat was cheaper than a larger ferry like boat. The long tail was far more preferable in my book but it’s normally the case that the bigger the mode of transport the cheaper it is. I didn’t get a clear answer and left none the wiser.

Ten minutes on the long tail and I found out why. As calm and still as the sea is around the beaches, in open water it’s a different game altogether. Our boat was thrown all over the place by the waves. At one point it even gained a hole and water flowed in needing a very urgent repair job! Luckily we made it to the island, home to Maya bay safely. The bay itself is revered not only in Thailand but around the world. Why? Because Leonardo Di Caprio swam to it in Danny Boyle’s film ‘the beach.’ He went there after being told that it was the closest thing to paradise that you could get. I watched the film in Goa along with Tom, Alex and Nick. We almost died of laughter and declared it as the worst film any of us had ever watched. Meeting up with others later on in the evening we were mystified to see many of them utterly convinced it was brilliant. It’s a film that polarizes opinion. After my visit I think the island does too.



First stop was a little cove hidden away between jaw dropping cliffs towering above. It was Thailand of the postcards. The seas colour was the clearest I have ever seen it. We swam and enjoyed the warm waters. Second stop was a coral reef which we snorkeled. I’ve never swam across a coral reef before but will certainly be doing it many more times.

From there we sailed to the poor mans entrance to Maya bay. It was one of the more dangerous entrances to a tourist attraction I have done. After swimming to the rocks you had to cling onto two poorly tied ropes as the waves pull you out and then throw you into the cliffs. A number of people had to be taken back to the boats injured. I managed a couple of cuts, but by other peoples standards I came out pretty well. As for the beach itself? Well it’s gone a little astray. A national park, the sheer popularity of it has meant that every man and his dog are on the bay at the same time as you are. I had expected that so it didn’t bother me too much. Back on the boat we paid a visit to monkey island, an island with monkeys on it. I got off the boat and then promptly got back on again. I’ve seen enough monkeys. I’ve grown to love them so it hurt to see them being paraded in the way that they were. They are very fat with the amount of food thrown at them. Tourists tease them for the perfect photo and then get angry when the monkey retaliates. For some reason it has also become a dumping ground for rubbish. I saw a monkey fending off another over a medicine bottle. A very sad sight showing how Thailand often puts the idea of what a tourist wants ahead of what is best for its own country.

That said it didn’t detract too much from the overall trip. After the first two stops, I was more than happy with what the tour had given. In the evening I went out with the people on the boat for a night out on Phi Phi’s party beach. Fire dancers, live DJ’s, acrobats, it was all there and capped off a great day.

Phi Phi has restored my faith that Thailand can deliver as a good tourist destination. Sure it’s built up beyond belief but there is a reason for that. It’s called unrestricted building permits with the help of an odd bribe. Oh and also the place is outstandingly beautiful.

Hanoi

Hanoi, like Kampot in Cambodia became a sort of home for me. Outside of enjoying it in its own right I also used it as a base to get to both Sapa and Halong Bay.
Hanoi is smaller than Saigon in population number (still manages over six million) but in many respects a little more hectic. The roads contain everything and anything whizzing around in crazy numbers somehow avoiding accidents. On the paths and the streets however things seem to go a little bit slower. The contrast of people sat around drinking coffee on the streets whilst bikes roar past them was striking.
At the heart of Hanoi is the old quarter. A lake is the center piece enjoyed by many, always with a bride and groom having a professional photo shoot. The rest of the old quarter is a maze of lanes taking you deep into traditional Vietnam. Whilst obviously having its fair number of tourist shops, the narrow alleyways still contain the life and blood of Hanoi. It’s a wonderful place to just stroll and see how people are making a living. I’ll never forget the man I passed every evening who parked his bike on the road with a cage on the back full of rabbits. Amongst the chaos of the roads, motorbikes would race across the lanes to see him, many bought a rabbit, held it in their arms before speeding off. In fact many of the more noticeable sights seemed to happen on the road. I thoroughly enjoyed watching an elderly man push his bike amongst the thousands of motorbikes and scooters. What made it unique was that attached to his bicycle was a huge billboard advertising boatd. Ludicrously dangerous but a superb way of catching everyone’s attention.
In terms of sights I remember two in particular.



The first was Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum. The moment I heard that I had an opportunity to complete my collection of dead people by seeing someone embalmed; I couldn’t resist…could I? Stupidly I chose to visit it on a Saturday which meant a huge queue had gathered. It took around two hours of standing in the heat of the day to arrive at the entrance. I had to smile at the two armed guards outside the entrance. Similar to the Queens Guard they were under instructions not to smile. That seemed to have passed by one of the poor guys who was having a terrible time stopping himself from bursting out laughing.

When inside I was told off for having a hand in one pocket (something’s don’t change) before being literally thrown by several guards around the walkways and out of the exit. Two hours queuing for ten seconds at best inside. Uncle Ho’s body was partially orange due to the lighting. Some people say that Madame Tussaud has done its works on the body. When looking at him you can understand why the rumors have spread. It was quite interesting to see how basic everything was inside. The flag of Vietnam and Communism hung from the ceiling and four armed guards stood at each corner of the see through coffin but other than that it was a dark stone room. This is no accident as it is designed, as everything about Vietnam’s favourite son is, to show him as a man of the people, having apparently lived a very basic and modest life. It’s a shame the government ignored his desire to be cremated rather than put on public show!

On another day I went to the Hanoi Hilton where American POW’s were kept if they were captured in the North. It wasn’t very interesting other than in terms of propaganda with most of the photos showing the wonderful conditions the American’s were kept in. Something told me a few pictures and information was missing from the wall.

Hanoi probably moves into second place behind Phnom Penh in terms of my favourite city that I have been to. It’s small and compact meaning you can walk everywhere with ease. The roads and more money orientated shop sellers put off some people but for me added to the enjoyment. As I left for the airport we drove past the Mausoleum. The grass area was filled with locals doing individual and group stretching. I remember how in Bundi I was taken aback by the strange exercise phenomenon I witnessed. In South East Asia it is such a common scene. To westerners it’s a comical site but I can’t help but wonder if everyday stretching and brisk walking is far more successful to paying vast amounts of money to a gym to only visit it once a week.

Sapa

My first night train in Vietnam was uneventful. The bed could have been slightly bigger but other than that I rode in style arriving into Lao Cai station at six in the morning. There I was herded onto a minibus and taken a further hour up into the mountains to Sapa. On arrival I had to take the drivers word that we were indeed in Sapa as the clouds had long closed in and rain thundered down. It was a very English mountain range.

The first day was a write off. Despite the train being good, I wouldn’t go as far as to say I had a great night sleep. Jaded and with the weather so bad, I passed the day walking around the small town and sitting in cafes. On the second day the weather was not much better but feeling much fresher I strolled down to the village of Cat Cat. A six kilometer walk in all it’s hardly demanding but was nice enough. Occasionally gaps in the clouds appeared showing glimpses of the mountain range that they hid. Those sightings were by far the highlight as the village itself is very touristy with the Hmong people having turned everything into a shop. Fortunately I had little interest in coming to Sapa to visit the villages because if I did I think I would have been very disappointed. Rather I was here to walk in the mountains and I looked forward to the following day to go on a longer hike.



There is a feeling in Sapa that everything has to be done with a tour. All sorts of rumors spread in Hanoi before I departed. ‘They won’t sell tickets to tourists at the train station you must buy them at travel agencies’. No, you can, it’s a lot cheaper and was probably the most organized train station I have been to in Asia. ‘You can’t hike independently, you must have a guide and permits.’ Wrong again I’m afraid. I set off around nine o’clock and tailed a small group down the mountain. I met various Hmong women on the way one carrying her three month old child with her on her back. Considering it was tipping it down with rain at this point I felt a little for them as they walked around attempting to peddle their handcrafts. As the group stopped to take photos of the view over Sapa town I nipped past happy to be free of the conveyer belt.

I was immediately brought to a halt and beckoned over by a Hmong lady who pointed to a mud track heading away from the road. The guide from the group chipped in saying it was one way to go but was too muddy so they would be taking the road. I’ve discovered a trait where I don’t like being told what I can’t or shouldn’t do when it is perfectly possible, so I went for the mud track.



Considering the amount of rain that had and was falling it was not a surprise that the path was a mud slide. I had to walk very small zigzags to stop me slipping over. After a while we reached another t-junction. Another lady pointed at me to go down the steep slope and waved goodbye as she went the other road. I’ve mastered walking in snow, got on alright on ice, handled cliffs and rocks but a mud slope with water pouring down it was a new one. An older Hmong Lady appeared. She laughed at me looking at the slope and then proceeded to offer me her walking stick. Being the gentlemen I am I bought it off her for twenty pence and used it as a mud axe to lever me down. I couldn’t have done it without that stick. It was a case of pushing it into the ground then letting my body slide as far as it could become catching something then changing the stick positioning. It took me around half an hour to get down it. As for the lady, well she showed all the agility and skill you would expect of someone who walks the path everyday of their lives.

She didn’t speak any English but she could point and soon became my unofficial guide. I don’t know whether it was deliberate but she had a knack for taking me along tough paths, whether it was across flowing rivers or using poles to volt across overflowing paddy fields, she could find them. It was all worth it. When the rain finally ended the views were spectacular, with the clouds clinging to the peeks and sunlight attempting to break through. A few hours later and we made it to a local village where I gave the lady a small tip much to her delight. She had wanted me to buy some of the handicrafts she was carrying but it proved hard to communicate how purses and handbags were not high on my shopping list.



I walked back up to SAPA by the road. There I passed minibuses by the bucket loads heading down the mountain. It did annoy me how the tours went down the mountain but were not willing to come back up again. That’s not hiking!

The next day I caught the night train back. It was all a bit of a disaster as the air conditioning had stopped working. Now before I endure criticism of being pampered and losing touch with the riff raff spirit I will say that it was not so much of the air conditioning turning off, it was the fact that the windows would not open, nor the doors. It was a sauna. All around me Vietnamese people were attempting to break the windows, we were approaching a near riot. That was until on one of the stops a railway worker got on with a butchers knife. Everyone went back to their booths and miraculously the air conditioning came on, much to the carriages delight.

Halong Bay

Arriving in Halong City you pass a big advertising board with the words ‘vote Halong Bay as one of the new Seven Wonders of the World.’ Alongside the Temples of Angkor, Halong Bay is arguably South East Asia’s premier tourist attraction. Approximately 1,553 square kilometres in size, the bay has 1969 islets that stand dramatically out of the water. It used to be a mountain rage but has since been submerged under water, leaving only the tallest peeks dry.

On the basis of a recommendation and good write ups on the internet I went with Vega Travel. It was not the cheapest, but certainly not the most expensive tour available. After one of the ships sinking in February killing twelve people, it seemed a good idea to play it safe. That said I was later told that a thorough review has taken place on all the boats, with thirteen per cent being removed for being unsafe!



At eight am I jumped into the minibus with nine other people and made the four hour trip to Halong City. Australians, Americans, Israelis and a couple of token Faroe Islanders made for great company over the two days. We arrived and were taken on a shuttle boat out to our ‘junk’. The boats are modeled on the Chinese Junks originating from 206BC! Fortunately these are a little bit newer. It had three floors. On the bottom were the rooms, all with air conditioning, the third time I’ve had this joy on my trip! The second floor was the dining and bar area, whilst the top was reserved for sun loungers. Ten or so minutes of settling in we were served a great lunch and then went up top to enjoy the scenery.



Sailing amongst the cast formations, gave a very unworldly feel. Coupled with the fog that hung over the bay, it was easy to imagine that we were explorers entering an undiscovered land. Planet of the Apes sprung to mind. After a few hours, chatting and enjoying the view we stopped off at a cave. I didn’t have huge hopes but it actually turned out to be rather wonderful. The caverns were huge, the rock formations superb. Our guide did the world wide trend of look that rock looks like… and we nodded or shook are heads. It was a really good half an hour or so exploring the three chambers.

After boarding the boat again it was time to do some kayaking. Looking around I wasn’t too enthusiastic. Every man and his dog was in the water paddling about. But our captain had other ideas. He took us away from the cave to another one twenty or so minutes away. There we had the ocean to ourselves. I teamed up with Peter and we paddled through the gap in one of the islets and ended up in a spectacular lagoon, enclosed by the surrounding cliffs. There are few more idyllic places I have visited. It was momentarily ruined when a Vietnames tourist paddle boat found us. “Where are you from?” shouted the tour guide with the help of a megaphone. We were laying in the water at this point, our feet on the kayack, laying back in the water, enjoying the buoyancy of the lifejackets. “Australia” came the reply over the other side of the lagoon. Cue lots of camera flashes as the Australian couple regretted their decision to answer the question. They soon departed and we were left with the area to ourselves. After a struggle to get back into the kayak we paddled out and around to some of the other islets. Two hours passed in a flash and we found ourselves in the middle of a shipping lane with gigantic tankers and increasingly choppy waters. With the light fading we headed back. After lunch we enjoyed a few beers under the moon light and a ship with an incredible number of fairy lights. I’m still confused as to who they were trying to impress.

The following day we sailed back to port and returned to Hanoi. I was concerned after Ninh Binh whether I’d opened my Christmas presents early and would be disappointed by Halong Bay. Thankfully I wasn’t. Is it better than Ninh Binh, I’m still not sure, but it’s certainly unique and a wonderful experience, sailing for two days onboard a luxury boat for bargain prices.

Ninh Binh

On my previous post I wrote about how despite enjoying Vietnam a lot, it has not had the same level of wow factors as other countries have given me. That was to change in Ninh Binh.

The overnight bus to Ninh Binh was a bit of a shocker as I came down with a cold, further agitated from arriving at my destination at five in the morning. I got off the bus with one other person, everyone else carried onto Hanoi. We were greeted by a lone lady, advertising her guesthouse. With no map of Ninh Binh or anyway of finding out where I was I agreed to check out her place. Open for just ten days, it was to make Ninh Binh even more special, with family meals, more advice then I could handle, and all in all a wonderful atmosphere to the place.

I spent the first day watching films and attempting to beat the cold that was trying desperately to put a hold on my trip to Vietnam. I ventured out a couple of times to eat food. Ninh Binh has no tourist infrastructure (outside of three guesthouses) so ordering food was an enjoyable mystery of pointing at a word on the board and seeing what would arrive. Of course it’s not quite as random as in other places of the world as you can pretty much guarantee whatever you order will either be rice, noodles or soup.



The second day I got on a bicycle and cycled out to Trang An. I was informed that Tom Coc had been invaded by tourist groups from Hanoi and as a result was now a hive for hawkers and general hassle. Trang An was supposed to be a more relaxing place to enjoy the spectacular scenery. My guest house owners were of course correct. It was splendid. The reaction I had when I first set eyes on the limestone peeks that emerge from the rice fields was to quite literally slam on the breaks on my bike and look in amazement. The nine kilometer lake that weaves its way through twelve caves just capped it all off. I joined a young family on a boat for the three hour trip. It was breathtaking and a real wow moment on my trip. Not just in terms of the scenery though, watching some of the women rowers, rowing with their feet was one of the stranger skills I have witnessed.

After three hours sat on a wooden seat I was ready to hit shore. My pain however was healed slightly by the last ten or so minutes as we entered the home straight along with another three boats. Two of them were in the process of a macho Vietnamese exchange, seemingly racing to the finish post. The other boat was filled with the women who burst into local songs. Before I knew it everyone was singing. I could join in with the Vietnam chorus on one of the songs but other than that I was left to clap along. The songs just added to the majestic beauty of the place.



From Trang An I cycled to Hoa Lu. An old capital of Vietnam there is not a lot left. I went to one temple which was unremarkable but did have five hundred steps to climb to a view point at the top of one of the limestone peeks. Unfortunately the view was a little blocked by trees. Instead I veered off the path and opted to climb on up to the higher of the two. It was a bit of a climb, but well worth it when I finally got an unobstructed panoramic view of all the different peeks. Climbing back down was a little trickier with the continuous concern of not wanting to fall as the rocks are stupidly sharp.



The following day I headed south and went to another viewpoint. Again the climb was well worth it and the view beautiful. Although Ninh Binh is off the Western tourist radar it is not to the Vietnamese tourists. One of the reasons they come is for a pagoda, which I currently cannot remember or find the name of. From a non Buddhist perspective it wasn’t particularly interesting however being surrounded by hordes of Vietnamese tourists was highly entertaining as many handed me food and wanted to practice their English.

I loved my three days in Ninh Binh, it is quite simply criminal that it is not visited by more people. It’s by far the stand out of my time so far in Vietnam. The scenery is unique, and awe inspiring. In Laos I came across a couple of places off the tourist radar, Kong Lor Cave and Tat Lo waterfall for example and it is kind of understandable as they are a bit out of the way. However Ninh Binh is slap bang on the route to Hanoi. How a gem like this can exist in such a well trodden country as Vietnam is anyone’s guess. One thing is for sure, it should be on every persons itinerary. It’s incredible.