Bikes, Bidets and Boats

Hello all,

Well the 6 day motorcycle tour turned into a 9 day, which is why I haven't written in a while. Did I mention that I was driving??! The guide had one bike and we took turns to drive the other (semi-automatic). Wicked fun! Didn't want to spell it out before cause I thought my Mum would freak out : ) Lots of mountain passes and windy roads. There's nothing like the feel of speeding though an S-bend, taking the perfect racing line as you lean from one side to the other. Exhilerating.

Also incredibly difficult. I spent a lot of time ignoring the view and thinking over and over again - "brake as you enter the curve, accelerate as you leave, look to the horizon not the ground right in front of you." It's my new mantra. Not staring constantly at the ground is also v. hard as it's sometimes full of potholes and other challenging road hazards.

For the most part, there wasn't much traffic but when there was traffic, driving here is incredibly dangerous. Big trucks come hurtling down these practically one-lane roads. I came off twice. the first time was when a big truck ran me off the road. Of course, it had to be the muddy verge not the dry one and i skidded and fell. Now I have the traditional "bikers graze" to the left elbow but apart from that bike and i were fine. Luckily I wasn't driving very fast.

The second time I was watching the bike infront of me (not the ground). We were going over a sandy area on the road, but it was dry so traffic was moving relatively quickly, when we hit the muddy bit and I skidded again (not prepared). That one was a little more scary cause no-one wanted to stop to help me up (who wants to stand in mud?), but after what seemed like hours, a guy got off his bike and helped me. Again, no damage to bike or me.

On the whole, am quite happy with the way I drove and intend to do my 125 motorbike licence when I get back to UK. Should have got it before but wanted to get the bigger bike licence and it ended up being too expensive. After riding around in Asia, I've realised that a 125 is probably enough for me. Don't have to have a big powerful maching. Plus less likely to do myself serious damage!

The real test was driving back into Hanoi. The highway is not particularly wide although it is 2 lane. YOu have massive trucks bombing down the road overtaking anything in sight without a glance in the mirrow. I have never been so alert in my life. My Dad told me that in the old days, the examiner for driving would cover your rearview mirror and you would have to tell him what was behind you. You're supposed to look every 3 seconds. This is probably the only time I could tell you EXACTLY what was behind me at any second. The vehicles from behind were more scary than the trucks infront of you. I was always very careful to determine (by my speed of driving) when I would be overtaken.

We did see the aftermath of a couple of accidents (all involving overtaking). 2 buses managed to get themselves caught up in overhead electricity wires and the worst involved a coffin and a large group of crying people. As we drove through that, the grief was so strong that it still brings tears to my eyes when I recall it.

Anyway, enough about that side. We spent the days driving and stopping off in small ethnic minority villages. Hill tribes wearing brightly coloured clothes and hats that they weave themselves. Each hill-tribe had their own style and they are all different. Quite beautiful to look at, especially when wondering around a local market to see these often elaborate costumes bringing some style to what would be a quite uneventful occasion.

They have to walk for miles to get to market. sometimes the markets are just too far and you'll find a line of them all sitting by the side of the road instead selling their goods. Usally they have vegetables and herbs to sell. For the tourists, they have jewlery, clothes, pillow cases etc. There are about 20 different hill tribes and during my time in Vietnam, I think I've seen most of them. The smallest tribe only has 10 families!

Some are incredibly poor with basic stilt houses and wooden or earth floors. Kitchens are inside the one room houses for poor and outside for rich. Usually just one or sometimes 2 fires with heavy, blackened kettles and saucepans. Many of the places we went to, they would invite us in for vietnamese tea or hot water (if they couldn't afford tea).

Several evenings we had homestays, which was great. ALthough only one was probably a genuine display of normal life. Vietnam seems to be doing quite well at incorporating tourist interests with traditional way of life. The Vietnamese find the hill tribes fascinating attractions as well. They don't undersand why they want to live like this. At one tourist/hill tribe village, we watched some tradtional dancing and heard local music. We even got to take part in one dance. they have 6 long bamboo poles on the floor. One person holds two poles at each end and they clash them together on a certain beat. You have to dance over/through the poles (in a circle) without have your ankles wacked! Cool : ) Afterwards we drank some sweet rice wine from an urn with about 30 bamboo straws (communal drinking).

For many of the hill-tribes lack of rain is casusing problems with rice growing - their mainstay. Most are self-sufficent and do not sell what they grow. Food for sale is more likely to be vegetables or fruits. Rice always comes first because no rice = no food. Our guide kept on going on about small children running around with no trousers and that this was a mark of extreme poverty. Yes, I think they are poor but I also think the busy famillies do not wish to spend lots of time washing clothes for children who are not yet toilet trained. They have no diappers here.

After one meal, a Grandad was lying on the ground, holding his grandson over his chest and playing with him, when he started to pee all over him. Everyone burst out laughing but he didn't seem to mind at all. The hill-tribes have strong family values.

A lot of the groups didn't like having photos taken, but many would gradually come around after Julia took pictures with her digital camera because she could show them the results. They worry that their spirit is caught by the camera. Julia will send some of the photos to the guide and he will give them to various familes. If you have a photo of yourself it is something to be proud of and the people concerned show them off. We met one old man who grows cinammon who had a photo of himself and he loved it. At that same place, another lady came up to Julia and demanded (in sign-language) that her photo be taken). Then she thanked her and walked off... ??!

The children love digital cameras. We spent about 1 hour at a hill-tribe school, ages 8 to 12. They were running around trying to get into photos, desperate to be at the head of the group and then cranning their necks to look at the tiny screen so they could see themselves. There were about 30 kids. We played catch with them too. Very well behaved (when not fighting each other about photos). When we told them to go their 2 classrooms, they ran off straight way to sit at their wooden trestle tables! Most shools in vietnam do not have paper, pens, books. They have to learn things by heart.

Apart from walking around hill-tribe villages, we also visited a primate sanctury where they are saving injured languars, gorillias and other monkeys and also breeding them. These creatures are beautiful! We visited numerous small businesses (like the cinammon sticks, toothpicks, mining, weaving.... I forget!) and some waterfalls. Everyday we would eat at small local restaurants, that from the outside appear really dirty, but in reality were generally very clean with good food. We've eaten a lot fish, beef and water spinach, pork (they're into meat here), but have avoided chicken because of bird flu. Bird flu is not mentioned at all here although people know about it, they pretend it doesn't exist. Seems a bit like their attitude towards china.

One evening we helped to cook dinner and i was very disappointed to discover that the key ingredient to vietnamese food is seasoning - or, in other words, MSG. The vietnamese eat a lot which is probably related to not too distant memories of not enough food, or also due to the addictiveness of MSG. Still, they remain a very slim race.

One excellant bike moment that I must mention. It was early one morning and I was driving behind the others. Slower than normal because I like to relax in the morning and was enjoying the scenery, the mist in the hills, birds singing and the feeling of being alive. I felt like singing but pop songs didn't seem appropriate so I was singing hymns instead. Unfortunately I can't remember many so I'd finished off as much as I could remember of "I vow to the my country" and was on the second verse of Jerusalem. I rounded the corner high up in the mountains and was faced with a stunning valley covered in forest and jungle with a couple of small villages dotted in the distance. At that moment, I felt like a chorus of angels started singing with me, their voices reverberating off the valley walls and echoing in my ears with such power that my previously loud (and probably tuneless) voice was rendered almost speechless, broken down with the effort of holding back the tears. I was in a cathedral of the world and the moment was so profoundly moving that I think it will stay with me forever.

The trip turned into 9 days because Julia and I decided not to stay in Sapa. We wanted to do some trekking there (high-up in the mountains wth terraced paddy fields and many hill tribes), but it was very foggy when we arrived so it seemed pointless to stay (can stay like that for days). Unfortunately (or fortunately), the next morning was clear blue skies and a view straight down the valley. Julia was gutted (she despereately wants to go trekking), but I was thrilled just to have a chance to see the area in sunlight. They occasionaly get snow in Sapa! So its the coldest part of Vietnam. Very touristy though. It's the one "off the tourist trail, as in not on the open-tour bus" place that nearly all tourists visit. The hill-tribe women are very pushy and will hold your arm and try to drape scarfs around you or place hats on your head. These are little old ladies! I ran away from them down the street and they ran after me!

Hanoi is full of motorbikes and people. Julia and I walked around the old quarter and then spent the last 3 days in Halong Bay. We took a boat trip (supposedly a junk - ha!) and kayaked around the stunning limecarst hills jutting out of an often smooth sea. We kayaked through a tunnel into a grotto. The rocky hills were covered in jungle and we heard the call of hornbills. Moments later, 2 flew out infront of us. Amazing to see this bird in its natural habitat. We also saw a monkey but too far away to tell what sort. I half expected the ground to start shaking and a Tyranasaurus Rex to poke his head out! Very jurassic park.

We spent one night on Cat ba Island and finally took part in that greatest of Asian entertainments - karaoke. IT's different here to Europe. you hire a room with friends and then just take turns to sing. Julia had never done anything like this before and I've never hired a room before. It was brilliant fun. AFter a few songs, we were dancing around the room, singing "Flashdance, what a feeling" and old classics like Hey Jude and Martika, Toy soliders.... It was the oddest collection of english songs I'd ever seen!

Back in Hanoi, we visited the water puppet theatre. So called because the puppeters stand hip high in water (behind a stage). Originates from farmers in the Mekong Delta who used to put on shows when the river flooded. They played out traditional country scenese such as courtship and planting rice and fishing. As well as other traidtional cultural scenese such as 2 phoenix's giving birth to a baby phoenix and lion dancing. Very clever.

We had a TV in the room, so I took the chance to watch Man U beating Newcastle... Rock on Rooney - amazing goal, but what is our goalkeeper like??!

Julia left today to go to Laos. She's crossing a border that tourists rarely go to, so adventures for her. Sad to see her go, in the end we spent most of this month together!

I'm off to China. It's impossible to buy a book on china here for 2 reasons :- 1) more toursits go into china, then come from. 2) Vietnam likes to pretend china doesn't exist so they don't promote the sale of chiense books.... Great! Thanks a lot.

So I'm feeling rather unprepared and nervous, as it's supposed to be quite difficult to travel in China, little English etc. ALso it's coming up to big holiday so trains/hotels may be full. All I've got to do is get to Hong Kong by 2nd May, so fingers-crossed. I'm being a bit touristy pathetic and going by tourist mini-bus to the border, mainly in the hope that I will meet other toursits to share accomodation with etc. Hotels are well expensive in china. It's also likely that tourists will be heading towards HK too. Prefer to leave earlier in the day but can't leave till 2pm as am waiting for my chinese visa. Think I'd reather start off in china with other people than alone. Also, maybe they'll have a book on it! I've looked up the trip to HK on the net and have as much info. as possible on it, so should be OK.

When I'm in HK, I'll start doing some more personal emails etc. cause been a bit slack on that side, but thanks to those people who have written. Always good to hear from you.

Ah, one last thing - you may have noticed in the email heading, the word bidet. I actually mean toilet, but bidet fitted with the "B" theme. Now, for some unknown reason, I've needed to use the toilet a lot in Vietnam and it was a source of constant amusement to Julia and our guide. Now, you would have thought that there couldn't be much variation in the squat toilet...? But you'd be wrong. I had no idea you could create these toilets in such different ways. I've seen everything from the traditional china bowls, to 2 bricks on the floor (you stand on them) with a tiny hole with a concrete plug in it to tiny bamboo houses which you have to squat to get into and can't stand up and then have to try and manouvre yourself around the hole in the floor (drop toilet) without falling into it. The funniest was a french squat toilet. This was in an old French prision. Now you could tell it was a french squat toilet (as opposed to asian), because like the French toilet, it had a little ledge for you to examine your business before flushing. Now, that one I had to take a photo of!

OK, one more last thing. COuldn't really finish this email on that note, or rather scent. I visited one war museum - wouldn't have gone to any except it was part of our trip. The musuems here are unbelievabley biased. They still look at the wars as victorys rather than the european way of appreciating that with the loss of life on both sides, there are never any real victorys. And are quite atagonisitic in the description of the enemy (like they are encouraging vietnamese to still hate them). They're also oblivious to the fact that the vietnamese were jsut as capable as comitting attrocities on their own countrymen as the French or the US were. The musuem I went to concerened the french war. What made me "laugh" the most was in the courtyard. They had a display of weapons and tanks taht the french used. This was positioned so as to be facing the guns and weapons taht the vietnamese used. The war still goes on... AT least in the minds of the governement.

Ho Chi Minh is revered like a God here. Makes me feel ill. He did some good and some bad stuff, but when it comes down to it, he's still just a man. Especially in the North, even the poorest of homes, will have a picture of Uncle Ho displayed on their wall.

Right, now that truely is it. One massive email over. I'd better go and pack.

Hope your lives are full of sunshine and light.

lots of love
kx