Cam Thuy to Cuc Phuong ...March 24, 2009

As I said, the hotel in Cam Thuy was pretty gritty but during dinner we did hear a lot of one Vietnamese person's perspective (our tour guide) toward the Communists, Uncle Ho, and the move toward market based economics. He surprised me a little, but he is making good money and does not need the state to provide anything. They all said that there is no single payer healthcare beyond the very basics, unless you are employed by the government. School is mandatory through grade six, but available through grade twelve, but higher education is paid for by the student's family. I won't repeat what he said about Ho, in case anyone is listening.

The road out of Cam Thuy was moderate, mostly flat, with agriculture teeming on both sides of the one lane road. We crossed the Da river several times and saw a crew starting a new highway retaining wall, digging deep four foot diameter holes for rebar/concrete by hand, lifting the clay out with buckets suspended from bamboo crane/lever contraptions.

We had some bike problems which slowed us down, and everytime we stopped, all the kids within hearing/seeing distance came over to watch the repairs. This gave me lots of opportunities to unload the yellow LiveStrong bracelets. Our guide now is wearing three, the driver has given three away to ladies along the way, and I have given four to Hieu for his kids and one for himself. The worst bike problem was when John's saddle broke completely off the seat post and the crew did not have the necessary bolt to reattach it. Joe gave up his saddle/seat post and rode in the minibus the rest of the way. I don't think he regretted getting out of the 90-90 heat-humidity. He said he loves bikes, but does not like to ride all that much. We noticed that if some really narly hills were coming up, he would let Hieu ride with us for a while. Hieu is about 32, but he smokes a little, and he was walking up some the steep stuff while John and I were granny gearing it up. We stopped frequently for water refills and photo opps. This crew is taking good care of us.

After lunch of four different kinds of very tasty, but very fatty Muong pork, which is a small pig, and several beers, we got back on the bikes for the last 10-15km into Cuc Phuong National Park. This last stretch had some 10% grades, and the heat was at the highest. I was soaking wet all day. This park was established in 1962 by Ho Chi Minh. It now houses a threatened primate rescue center which has mostly gibbons and lenguers in cages. They say they can't let them out due to poachers. The plan is to eventually get the hill people educated about endangered species and be able to let them go.

Our room in the park was nice and the grounds were beautifully planted with ornamental tropical plants and flowers. We had another many course meal (mostly beef and pork with greens, and rice) and warm beer, all making for a nice sleep. Tomorrow we will ride through the park before hitting the road for Ninh Binh.

bonsoir

Mai Chau...March 23, 2009

Reentry --
I'm in the lobby in a hotel in Ninh Binh, using the tour operator's laptop with a flaky wireless connection. We just had our evening meal of goat, goat, goat, (that is all they have here...it is a fairly good sized town next to a river, but they said all the fish are sent to Hanoi). Our guides like rice liquor, so we had a few shots of that with our warm Bia Ha Noi. But that is now. I need to go back a few days to catch up.

Hanoi to Mai Chau -

We left Hanoi on Friday morning about 8:00 in a drizzly, grey, traffic laden rush hour headed south, I think to a town called Hoa Binh. It took at least an hour to get out of Hanoi and into some green hill country. Our first rest stop was owned/operated by Muong people who had some brilliant handicrafts, weaving and embroidery for sale. Further on we were able to change into our riding gear in the minivan and get onto the bikes. As I said, it was grey and drizzly, and John and I both were covered in brown, oily sludge within the first half hour. The road had some good climbs, not terrible traffic, and we only knocked down 10-15km before stopping for lunch. These guys love to eat and take a relaxed approach to things. I don't recall the food that first day, but the dogs roaming the restaurant kept the floor clean. We got back on the bikes for some 8% climbs, up and down, stopping for photo opps of the lush green valley floor below us. After another 15km, the driver stopped us and said the climb would be too radical and had us load the bikes into the minivan. He was right, I was glad we weren't riding as we climbed higher and higher before descending into the town of Mai Chau. At this point of the tour, we had Hieu, our guide in Hanoi, the driver (we still don't know his name, but the owner/operator told us he had several wives in different houses in Hanoi), and a young woman Houng, who was doing a sort of residency for her studies in tourism at Hanoi U. Same degree that Joe (owner/operator) and Hieu have. We did not stop in the town of Mai Chau, but went on a mile or two and turned off the main road into what they call the home stay village number 1 and number 2. These are White Thai villages of houses on stilts with one or two big rooms which are divided (if needed) by curtains or mosquito netting. The floors are joist with thin bamboo planking running across the joist. There is usually a water buffalo housed on the ground below. When the government realized what a tourist attraction these quaint villages were, with their incredible weaving and needle work, they subsidized the building of water closets separated from the house by a few yards. We slept on thin futons on the bamboo floor with mosquito netting surrounding us. The family and the guides were separated by curtains and netting. After dinner, very tasty beef with leafy vegetables, pork with leafy vegetables, etc., we went to a dance performance of traditional White Thai festival dances, to celebrate Spring, weddings, harvest, etc. The dancers were wearing colorful, traditional woven garb, and the dances were very well-coordinated. These villages are nestled in a verdant valley with water flowing, buffalo grazing, birds chirping. It has to be one of the most beautiful places on the planet. Next morning, we noticed the young apprentice was crying, and then she disappeared. Later, the guys told us she was complaining about the amount of work, so they sent her back to Hanoi. She had washed our muddy cycling clothes, and entertained us while we waited for the dance performance to begin. Her English was not great, spoken, so we communicated via the cell phone display where she texted what she wanted to convey.

Mai Chau to Cam Thuy -

Joe arrived early on Saturday morning. He had to finish a French group's tour before joining us. We left Mai Chau on a dirt road, two track path, through lowlands, as a 10km shortcut to the first village. This first village was on the (I think) Da river, and was the beginning of the Ho Chi Minh trail. Joe pointed to a rugged dirt path headed up the hill which was used for ground troops. The river was used to float heavy stuff, Soviet tanks, artillery southward. This little town was busy and dangerous. As we sat having bottled iced tea, and taking pictures, a pedestrian was hit by a motorbike. The walker seemed unhurt, but the biker did a faceplant onto the hard clay road, and seemed shaken. Our guys pulled out the first aid kit and applied some mercurochrome, and he rode away. The road out of this village was just one lane, but there was very little traffic, gorgeous views of the river, water buffalo drawn carts, and a lot of bamboo harvesting. We passed several chopstick factories where they cut the bamboo down to manageable size and clean it up, making thousands of pairs of chopsticks per day. There were baby ducks, baby chickens, baby pigs, baby buffalo, baby dogs, baby humans, everywhere. Little kids were eager to run to their fence and yell "hello" to the funny dressed people on funny bikes. The land along the road was full of terraced rice fields, people working at everything, irrigation, weeding, bamboo harvesting, fishing in the river. The road had many 8% and 10% grades and the heat and humidity were high. Everyone was friendly. Most women wear a mask which we thought was for latent fear of avian flu or protection from bad air, but the guides said they do it to protect their skin. As dusk approached, the guide said enough two wheeling, and we drove the final 10 or so km into Cam Thuy. A dusty little town where our hotel had given our room away to some govt official/brother-in-law who needed space for a wedding party. We found another little place (probably 1 star) where we wondered about bed bugs in the quilts we pulled out of the wardrobe. We had another meal of pork and beef which you wrap in rice paper with leaves of mint or other herbs and flowers and dip into a sauce, and pork cooked with pumpkin flower, rice, soup, etc., and many beers shared among the four of us.

Ha Long Bay

We've been here a week now, and finally, tomorrow, will get to get on a bicycle. I'm not complaining, this has been a fantastic week, full of the sights and sounds and motorbike danger of Hanoi (John's foot was run over this evening as we crossed the street), the beauty and tragedy of Cambodia, and the ultimate vacation/honeymoon/anniversary spot, Ha Long Bay. John and I both complained that the other was the wrong person to enjoy it with. It is a three hour drive by private tour bus from Hanoi, through rice fields, brick plants, coal fired power plants, little towns with the same type of sidewalk life that we see here. Upon arrival they take the party by ship tender out to the junk. The bay in this area is a huge anchoring area for these two masted ships which can hold about 16 guests. Our group was mostly English, one Dutch couple, one Austrailian couple, and one Russian couple. A motorized sail of about two hours through the classic limestone monoliths that are famous from all the tourist literature and geography books got us to a large island where we disembarked to explore what is known as the "amazing cave." This cave is very large, made up of three main cavities. There are French soldiers' grafitti (names and dates) in a couple of places. The dates are 1907, 1906, etc. Another section has Chinese characters evoking hope and long life, from the time when the cave was used as a hospital facility during the struggle against the French. This ship had great food, several courses of shrimp, squid, fish, chicken, beef, broccoli, all mostly stir fried served to each table. We sat with the Dutch couple and enjoyed swapping stories of travel experiences. Their's was quite extensive, as is John's. We finished dinner and played around with some karaoke. The sky was grey both days we were on the water, so some of the photos are not as good as one would wish, but should still help the viewer to get an idea of how stunningly beautiful this place is. This morning we sea kayaked for a couple of hours among the islands, under connecting land bridges, etc. The temperature was great, and the lack of sun probably made the experience more enjoyable. The bay has many floating homes, and oyster farms where they grow pearls, which were of course for sale on board. Three hours on the bus and back we came to Hanoi. These next few days on bikes may or may not have any entries, as I don't know if these little hotels will have internet. I'll see what I can do.

Cambodia Day Two...March 17, 2009

Cambodia is a wonderful place with beautiful people and an ugly history. The Hindu/Buddhist temple complex at Angkor is exhausting, physically and sensorily. These structures were built from about 1100 to 1300 by the Kings of Kampuchea as monuments to the Hindu deities. Later in the 13th - 14th centuries, Buddhism was adopted and some of the structures were modified to reflect that shift. They are made of volcanic rock and faced with sandstone. All the bas relief telling the stories of Krishna and the exploits of the kings are carved in the sandstone as are all the facing that gives the structures the three-dimensional faces of the gods, elephants, dragons, etc. Some of these giant complexes such as Ankor Wat (which was just the monastery for the entire city) were built in periods of ~50 years. The whole place was abondoned in the 1400s and forgotten about and overgrown until a French archeologist stumbled upon the broken down, overgrown temples in the mid 1800s, and began a rebuilding effort. One of the structures, where parts of Tomb Raider, were filmed, has been left in the overgrown condition so you can see the Spung trees (3-400 years old) growing on the tops of walls with the huge root systems hugging the walls on their way to the ground.

On day two in Siem Reap, the guide asked us if we wanted more temples or other aspects of the region. We chose the latter, and saw the Great Lake (Tonle Sap) ("the largest fresh water lake in the world" (I think he meant Cambodia)) which is fed by the Mekong river. People live on and around the lake, and have to move their floating houses 8 or 10 times per year to follow the water level as the lake expands during the monsoon and contracts now, in the dry season. These are very squalid little bamboo huts with typically one or two rooms, whether it floats in the water or is on stilts at the water's edge. I stopped to give a canal kid a LiveStrong bracelet and was swarmed with about 30 kids all wanting a bright yellow bracelet. The guide managed to get them to line up and I was able to hand them out one at a time.

Back to Siem Reap the guide, Soth, pronounced Rot, took us to the local monastery which was used by the Khmer Rouge as an interrogation and execution center between 1975 and 1979. He was very good at explaining the rise of Pol Pot, the role the Vietnamese played in '79, the methods used by the Khmer Rouge, the economic and political circumstances that gave rise to the holocaust. More than 1.5 million were killed outright in those 4 years, and another 2-3 million died of starvation during and after. The monastery had a shrine, a glass walled structure full of skulls and bones. It is amazing that these young people whose parents were probably teenagers during that period, are doing so well.

After that we went to the other part of Siem Reap (a small town, very dusty, noisy, geared for western tourists downtown) to a cultural crafts trade school where people from 18-25 learn one of many skills, wood carving, stone carving, silk weaving, lacquer, all beautiful, and made to sell all over the world as fair trade items. Spent lots of money in their gift shop.

Cambodia Day One...March 15, 2009

We are in Nirvana, and have not even seen the temple complex at Angkor Wat. The plane ride was just about one and one-half hours, and then a short trip to the hotel in what used to be a sleepy tropical village. After UNESCO named Angkor Wat a World Heritage Center, tourists started coming in droves and financial interests began building gorgeous hotels. Our guide said that prior to 1992, there were 3 hotels here in Siem Reap. Now there are 114, and mostly very plush. This one, the Apsara Angkor, is a 4 star, and is stunning. Hardwood floors, staircases, bathroom vanities, wall carvings, all teak. With a beautiful courtyard with lush greenery surrounding a large, warm pool and jacuzzi, gym, massage/spa center, all the amenities. We are just about the only guests here. It is at the end of the "high" season (winter) and the guide said we could expect temperatures over 100 degrees tomorrow, so I expect there aren't too many people. At least not at this hotel. That would be good not fighting crowds to see the architecture tomorrow. Except for the hotels, the area looks empty, with a huge lake and lots of open space. Descending, I saw only a few scattered houses, and the map shows only a very small town down the road from this road from the hotels. This road is an interstate highway in Cambodia, linking Bangkok to Phnom Pen. More tomorrow

Hanoi Day 2...March 14, 2009

We are leaving for Siem Reap, Cambodia, to visit Angkor Wat. These two days in Hanoi have been very enjoyable, with a tour yesterday of the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, Ho Chi Minh museum, the grounds around the French built presidential palace, the national art gallery, the hospital that the US bombed in June and
December of 1972, and the enchanted lake in the middle of town, where in Vietnamese legend, the king, Le Loi's sword was taken by a turtle, symbolizing the end of war. It is a beautiful lake with a pagoda on one side, dedicated to Le Loi. It resembles Lake Merrit, but larger, with lots of shops on both sides. This mornig, there were many people enjoying Sunday morning, doing exercises, drinking coffee, hanging out with friends.

War is a popular theme in the art museum. At least half of the floors of 20th century art depicted soldiers fighting either the French or the Americans, with lots of villager support. The other half depicted rice harvest, portraiture, village life, etc. All very nice. The museum, as was the hospital, was in need of repair and painting.

Must go, our ride to the airport is here.

Hanoi....March 13, 2009

It is almost 10:00pm here in the Old Quarter of downtown Hanoi. This has been a long day, but before trying to sleep off the jetlag, here in the Hoang Thanh hotel, I wanted to get some notes down. I'll have to ask somebody to post this on blogger, because blogspot.com is in Vietnamese, and I don't have the energy to try to fix it to accommodate my inability to read it. This quarter of Hanoi is bustling, with streets full of motorbikes, some with three riders, going both directions. There are no lanes in these streets, and no traffic lights, it is a free for all, between the motorbikes, bicycles, pedicabs, automobiles, and pedestrians. Luckily, it is such a crap shoot, that people are driving pretty slowly and using the horns liberally. We saw two accidents today with no injuries. I see no homeless, no panhandling, no mumbling wanderers. Everyone is occupied, going someplace with freight on their bike, or bags/baskets of fruit/vegetables hanging on bamboo planks carried on one shoulder, or sweeping the sidewalk in front of their home/business, or cooking up food to sell to passersby. People seem happy and friendly, attractive and well- but not over- fed. On the trip from the airport, the man who will be our contact during our Hanoi stay, Hieu, a very nice, 30ish type guy, gave us a quick lesson on Vietnamese pronounciation, party membership, the Red River Valley, market economics, healthcare and schooling, and how bygones are bygones regarding the American War. He said his father had joined the army in 1974, and stayed in until retirement.
After Hieu deposited us in the hotel, the wife of the man who will be our real tour guide for our bicycle trip dropped by to settle business, collecting our fees for the trip, another very friendly and polite exchange. The exchange rate here is more than 17000 dong to the dollar, so we are typically dealing with tabs and charges in the hundreds of thousands of dong. It takes getting used to, and we're still cloudy from the long flight.
We did a lot of walking today, dodging motor bikes, enjoying the mix of aging, colorful architecture. Aspects of this city remind me of Puebla or Oaxaca City, crowded, but neat, with people living behind or above a sidewalk business, with lots of food being cooked on charcoal stoves on the sidewalk. In the course of our walking we found art galleries, antique stores selling old Buddha statues and opium pipes, and a store devoted to revolutionary posters left over from the struggle years from 1945 to 1975. This store also had lots of pictures of NLF troops working on tunnels, standing atop blown up American armor, and slogging through rice paddies and jungles with RPGs and AK-47s held high. Very interesting.