Sapa is a beautiful small town set in the mountains in northwestern Vietnam 4800ft above sea level. It’s a place consisting mostly of hill tribe people (H’Mong) who make their living cultivating rice field terraced into the near vertical landscape. We boarded the night train in our journey there from Hanoi and found our sleeper car bunkmates unsociable. We spent most of the night in the snack car playing cards and enjoying some Hanoi beer. The next day we were whisked into the mountains by a van, passing some of the most dramatic countryside I have ever seen. We were quickly put into groups and led down into the valley by Chu, a very talkative 18 year old hill tribe guide. Our group consisted of Liz and I as well as five other people from all over the globe, each of us was followed by our own “guide” who at the end of the excursion guilt tripped us into buying their subpar scarves and bracelets. The trek was amazing, winding through villages and ending with a spectacular waterfall, which was diverted for use as a primitive irrigation system. The next day the real trek began, an 18km breathtaking journey that led us through three villages and along side of a very steep ridge overlooking terraced fields. Again all of us were accompanied by our own “guides.” We had a few injuries in our group as well as a few people who opted out of the steeper grades, but in the end it was worth every stunning moment.
HALONG BAY
Next on the itinerary was Halong Bay, which is being pushed as the 8th wonder of the natural world. We booked a trip through the same agency as the Sapa trip and boarded a boat for a 3 day 2 night journey through Halong Bay. Our boat was brand new with sleeping for 12 people, as well as a crew of 5 including one guide. The food was almost as good as the views, including soft shell crab and some very tasty squid. We spent the night in the middle of the bay with 8 other people, again from all over the world. The next day we boarded a 24 seat dining boat for the 3 hour journey to Cat-Ba Island. We quickly realized that we were the only people that booked the 2 night package, so we had the entire boat to our selves with 4 crew members and another delicious meal. On the way we stopped for some kayaking and some biking to a small village. Cat-ba Island was the next stop, and after checking into our hotel, we rented a motorbike and began exploring the island. The main attraction is a cave which during the Vietnam War a hospital was constructed inside, it included 3 stories, 30 rooms and even a large chamber for watching films. The next day we boarded the boat again and enjoyed the scenery passing only a fraction of the bay’s 2000 islands
HOI-AN
Hoi An is a beautiful traditional town full of great examples of Chinese and Japanese architecture. It is also home to some of the best chefs in all of Vietnam, serving up specialties such as fried wonton and cau lao. We spent our days here on the beach and in the town getting lured into the countless tailor shops and eventually getting sold on a suit for me and a dress for Liz, Our nights were spent with our friend Dong, a motorbike rental guy who brought us around town to the cheapest bars, brought us wine, and showed us where to get the best food in town.
SAIGON
Saigon is an insanely busy place, and not very welcoming after a 24 hour bus ride from Hoi-an, (we were told it was 16 hours). We booked a trip to the cu chi tunnels right away, and visited the war remnants museum. The tunnels were amazing, we learned that at one time they were over 500km in length and stretched from Saigon to the Laos boarder. And at during their peak almost 16,000 people lived in these cramped dank environments, only coming out after nightfall. There was a 250m section which you could duck walk through (our guide claimed the original tunnels were much smaller), as well as an area displaying the various traps used for American troops. The war museum was very shocking, focusing mostly on the use of Agent Orange, with countless pictures of deformed children; and the brutalization of the Vietnamese people by American soldiers, citing examples of troops killing children, etc. The museum also includes a very large collection of American made weapons as well as tanks, planes, and helicopters. Our last night we met up with friends from Canada, Jenny and Johnny, who we have run into 3 or 4 times in our journeys.
PHNOM PENH
Our first stop in Cambodia was Phnom Penh, the capital city we settled into the Happy guesthouse, recommended by Anna and Lucas, and booked a Tuk Tuk ($10 for the day with a driver) to take us around to the various sites of genocide during the Khmer Rouge reign; Which, after the Vietnam War, set out to cleanse Cambodia of all creativity and thought by brainwashing the peasants, and killing or enslaving the city dwellers. It is estimated that over 2,000,000 people were executed during the reign of Pol-Pot and the Khmer Rouge. Our first stop was S-21, a former high-school turned prison which was used to not only house, but brutally torture skeptics of the Khmer Rouge campaign, as well as any moderately educated individual. The site is very moving, and includes most of the original cells as well as picture of many of the 20,000 inmates, some of which were small children. Of the 20,000 inmates, only 12 made it out alive from the prison. Our next stop was the killing fields a site 14km from the city which was used to execute prisoners. Walking around the site we passed many of the now excavated pits, where mass graves containing hundreds of bodies were exhumed. As the environment takes its toll on the land, more and more bones and clothing continue to come up from the ground. Piles of bones are everywhere, and scraps of cloth litter the ground almost everywhere you step. Here it is estimated that 17,000 people were killed and digs have uncovered 8,500 of the bodies. In the center of the site is a massive 60ft high glass stupa which contains about 5000 skulls at different levels according to age. These sites were very moving and really gave us a first hand look at a period in history that many Cambodian people wish to forget.
Below are a few pictures from these different places
