Lost in the Labyrinth of Hue, Vietnam (Vol. I)

Time given to travel country: 2 weeks

Time needed to travel country: 3 weeks (min)

Places visited: Sa Pa, Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Da Nang, Hue, Hoi An, Da Lat, Ho Chi Minh City, Mekong Delta

Vietnam seems to keep coming up as a backpackers favourite country in South East Asia. It's obviously largely dependent on your personal experiences as I can say with certainty it is my least favourite country so far but it's more than likely because I rushed it. I had only 2 weeks left on my Vietnam visa by the time I got there (I stupidly picked it up in Bangkok - big mistake). There are so many beautiful places to see in this country you need at least 3 weeks - otherwise be prepared to miss places - big mistake no. 2, I tried to squeeze it all in! This resulted in 9 places in 14 days and a habit of staying one night in a hostel followed by the next night on a sleeper bus. It's no way to travel, I was exhausted when the two weeks were up!

Sa Pa is in the very north of Vietnam (close to the border with China) and it's typical to do a trek when you arrive in this small but scenic town high in the hills. Sa Pa fields on the hills are cropped in the most ingenious way, to stop flooding affecting the villages surrounding them.

The villages consist of the minority tribes of the area that live modest basic lives. Trekking in the area often involves a guide from one of them. The trek I did was nice although the weather was overcaste so the views of the valleys were restricted.

As much as I think the minority women appear to be adorable, the look friendly and come up to about 4 ft high. They were some of the most stubborn and feisty touts I've ever met!

The old women of the H'mong tribe were the ones that decided we were the trekkers they would invest their time in - bad decision ladies! Four women followed us, aged from around 30 to 60, one with a baby strapped to her back, all dressed in the thick black and patterned robes of their tribe. They stuck by myself and 4 others for half a day of our walk. Seemingly innocent, they would ask us questions about where we were from, our families, our travels. They stopped when we stopped and continued when we did.

I knew what would happen and how the sweet old ladies would turn against us so I kept my distance and barely gave more than one word answers. After a few hours of our hike, our host family was serving us our lunch, the women had us surrounded and asked us to come to their village to buy their jewellery and/or to do a homestay with them. We declined politely and we saw their true colours! They became rude and aggressive, I kept my head down...

When we saw one of the 5 year old homestay children bouncing along happily into the kitchen with a giant severed pig leg and trotter hanging down from his arm we worked out what would be on the menu that night! Being the Chinese new year meant a special time for much of SE Asia so we would be eating the sacrificial pig that was slaughtered earlier that day. Our meal was pork in all it's many formations, grilled, roasted, liver, bladder, intestines (I worked out the hard way) and ears... it worked out nicely there were no (practising) Jews or Muslims among our group.

I was in Hanoi for their new year watched the firework celebration from a rooftop bar. It was insane leaving as the streets were completely gridlocked with people and there were random street fires everywhere! Seemed to be a tradition of some sort to be become an arsonist for a night.

Two things stood out for me in Hanoi:

1) the number of mopeds and motorbikes outnumbered cars by a long shot. Seeing whole families of five squeezed on to a bike would be a regular occurence. I was anxious for their babies like the WHOLE time.

2) The Hanoians (??) loved to socialise european style. Locals would be squatting outside local bars all the time on these tiny looking uncomfortable plastic stools with a beer and nibbles. It reminded me of Spain.

From Hanoi I went on a boat trip around Ha Long Bay.

If you've seen any pictures of Vietnam, it'll be of this place as it is one of the most picturesque places in the world (see picture that isn't mine).

Surprise, surprise, this place was ALSO overcaste when I was there!

I know I say this a lot but it was super Avatar-y sailing through these giant mini islands!

From Hanoi I travelled down to Da Nang on a sleeper bus.

The sleeper buses in Vietnam are okay if you are 5ft 4 or under. The seats recline almost completely and are on the floor and you have a little cubby to tuck your legs under chair in front, these are enough space for a small person's legs (like me) so if you're a tall or even of average height you're unlikely to get comfortable enough to sleep!

The journey was supposed to be 18 hours... and I think I would've handled it if it actually HAD been 18 hours, but in Asia you should ALWAYS add on a few hours. Also if it hadn't been the last seat on the bus which was essentially a single bed in a cubby hole at the back of the bus which claimed it was for three people. There were two strangers with their bags which just fitted in the middle. That middle would be my bed for the night. With no room for our arms and the ceiling not high enough to sit up in I tried to remain calm and as I crawled into the cubby in the dark hoping I wouldn't accidently put my hands anywhere I shouldn't. I laid down between these two bodies, arms squished together. There was an awkward moment of silence which I broke to say 'Soooo... I'm Eli, nice to meet you.'

They turned out to be friendly backpackers THANK GOODNESS.

The sea side town of Da Nang turned out to be missable with only a few interesting monuments - again perhaps I wasn't able to give it a chance! My four hour stop over in Hue (another UNESCO World Heritage site) turned out to be more action-packed - I arrived there at 8am from my sleeper bus. I woked up thinking I'd arrived early in Da Nang (ha), instead they told me to wait there until 1pm for the next bus to take me the rest of the way.

I'd heard great things about Hue - it's one of my old housemate's favourites (big love Al) - so I wasn't about to miss the opportunity to do the essential sightseeing. I wouldn't say this was a MISTAKE as such, just extremely overambitious... I'd had very little sleep on the bus, I was in the same clothes as the day before, I hadn't showered or even brushed my teeth in what felt like days. And the temperature got to over 30 degrees FAST.

So tired and feeling grotty, sweaty and disgusting, I went for a wander. Getting lost in the city was initially exciting as I ended up wandering down narrow winding side streets with local kids running along beside me and asking questions, some in English. Each brightly painted house connected to the next, basically a room that may or may not have had doors. Surprisingly, most had TVs that were showing one Vietnamese soap opera or another. I walked past small shrines attached to the walls every few metres that were lit with candles. As I wandered past the locals, very closely (v.narrow streets) as they were sat outside their houses I prayed it wasn't a dead end as they some gave me the kind of stares that said 'this is a place NOT for tourists' - woops. Cool though!

So it stopped being so cool and amazing when I tried to visit Hue's famous 'Imperial City' (aka the Citadel) - a 'walled fortress and palace' as described by Wiki and a 'perimeter wall' spanning 2.5 x 2.5 km in length. At this point I'm starting to feel the lack of sleep and I'm getting really hot. I try to find the Imperial City's entrance. There are no signs.

​When I've walked around almost the whole 2.5x2.5 perimeter wall, stopping at every opening to be told 'the entrance is round the corner' - I suddenly realise that I'm actually in the Labyrinth and I am Jennifer Connolly. It was a freaking maze and I hadn't even got in yet!! It was super pretty inside and I felt very cultured as I saw these ancient monuments but it was all overclouded by the fact I had the same problem trying to leave the 'walled fortress' - there was only ONE exit (not where I evetually found the entrance) and it took another 40 minutes to find. I even succumbed to begging the guards to just letting me out when I could see the out, it was a foot away with a thin rope in front to stop me. They said no. Regretfully, I may lost my cool and started swearing... The sun was soooo hot and sweating more than I've ever sweated before in clothes that must've stank to high heaven, I let out a little tear as I walked in the opposite direction.

A night in Da Nang and the next day I took a scenic motorbike taxi ride to Hoi An an hour down the coast...

#vietnam #sapa #hanoi #hue #sleeperbuses #halongbay