Heat Exhaustion

 The Smiles of Vietnam

Headed south, we were excited to explore a new part of Vietnam and see what the charm  was all about. Before we departed we repacked all our bags then went and found some Bun Cha that was absolutely delicious and took a Grab to the train station. We boarded the train at around 730pm and got into a 6 person sleeper bay, we were only going about 2.5 hours so we didn’t need the sleeper but I guess that’s what we booked. Our sleeper bay was completely full and there was about 2 feet between each bed and they were hard as rock. We took the top two beds, and did our best to rest but the noise from the other passengers and constant stopping didn’t allow much. We got to Ninh Binh and got a taxi to our homestay which was 20min to a smaller town called Tam Coc. Our driver followed the directions and the street got so narrow we couldn’t open the doors. Must be at the wrong spot. So he backed out we grabbed our bags and went on a search for our homestay. No street lights, and narrow streets, where the heck are we. Nic booked this stay and she said “I am not crossing my fingers on this one” so we started talking about a plan b for the night sleep, we rounded a corner and saw some lights on and entered into the building. A lady was there to greet us, gave us our key and led us to our room. Didn’t ask our names, nothing. Just shoved us into the room. We turned on the A/C and confirmed, now that we had WiFi, we were in the right spot. We slept like babies, the north had whipped us out and we needed our beauty rest.

We didn’t leave the homestay till 1030 the next morning because we needed an easy and relaxing morning. We rented a motorbike and headed towards Tam Coc river float which is famous for its rice fields nestled around large rock monoliths. We quickly realized we had made a grave mistake by starting so late. It was near 100deg with no sun covering. We borrowed an umbrella which saved us but our boat driver was young and new and he struggled for the whole 3 hours. We felt bad for him. I was not feeling well, as I felt like I had to go out both ends, and the heat was not helping. We finally finished tried to find some A/C at a restaurant, Nic ate, I did not. We went back to the homestay and they did not have any extra rooms so she sent us to another place and I laid down for the entire afternoon. I was upset we wasted the afternoon but I was miserable. Feeling a bit better we had already booked an over night bus to Hue so we jumped on the bus at 730pm. I Still haven’t eaten all day. 

We booked the bus through our homestay because we were not able to online so we had no idea what seats or what time we are meant to arrive in Hue. Another fun adventure… We boarded the bus and it was a sleeper bus that  we had not experienced yet. We found two spots but the driver Kept yelling BEHIND BEHIND, so we walked all the way to the back and got in a tiny cubby, meant to sleep 3 people about the size of a small double bed. Holding my breath that Nic and I would have the hole space dwindled quickly when a gal from Italy had to squeeze in with us, Next to the on-board bathroom and minimal A/C in our cubby We laughed about the situation and all hoped for a decent nights rest that we knew wasnt going to happen.. at one point in the night the bus driver slammed on his brakes and I woke up sliding off my seat into the aisle, onto a person who was sleeping in the aisle. Quickly I said sorry and crawled back Into the cubby, everyone was shaken up a bit but I’m  sure me sliding into another person was not the biggest tragedy of the slammed brakes. 

We got to Hue at 530am, and were hassled the moment we got off the bus to give us a ride, where we are from, can I carry your bag etc, we sloughed them off and walked the 20min to our homestay. We were not able to check in but they greeted us with bananas and watermelon. Grabbed a bottle of water and walked to a coffee shop so Nic could get her morning fix. Her fix was not fulfilled because 10 of their coffees still isn’t the size of ours. Either way we had plans to go walk through the Old Imperial City. 

Before entering the old city they were doing a martial arts showcase for their military and witnessed a guy pulling a truck with his teeth, and many others breaking glass with their heads. They started shooting guns in the air so we quickly entered the gates of the old city. Inside the noises of guns and fireworks continued and we meandered around the city’s walls that took up more then 35 acres. It was built from 1804 - 1833 consisting of 140+ structures. It was the most important center for politics affairs during the Nguyen emperors up until 1945. It was drastically destroyed in WWII and Vietnam War and has slowly been restored up to today. We walked around the area for 2.5 hours before deciding it was too hot and we needed to get in some shade.

Being close to the Dong Ba market we walked through and saw locals selling all things, and decided we had to go as the smells were overwhelming for our current state. We found a restaurant that sold Bun Bo Hue a popular local dish and enjoyed the sweet meat/noodle style soup. We had to kill another hour before check in so we played a bit of cribbage and soaked in the A/C. 

Checked in, showered, and rented a moped for the afternoon. First things first, I had to figure out how to navigate through the traffic without dying. Gas on, brake on, horn on, roll through. Got it! Perfectly orchestrated traffic that makes no sense. I love it. We saw on the map an old tiger fighting stadium so we went down a couple narrow roads and boom, a Romanesque sized arena showed up. Middle of a neighborhood. Parked, crawled through a gate and imagined the events that took place within the confined walls of the building. The Walls were approx 12ft tall and Nic was surprised how short they were when she said “don’t you think the tigers could have jumped out of here”. 

We saw a few other spots on the map that we marked but they cost money or had hordes of people at them so we didn’t even stop. Temples are starting to blend Together. We did however find ourselves on some small back roads that had many grave sites that were extremely large and intricate that were very unique and in the middle of no where. 

On the way back Into town we saw a pagoda, monk monastery, and then a large Catholic Church. Most of the windows were missing or knocked out and there were birds and bats inside but it was cool and calm and gave a brief escape from the noise outside. 

The sun down we found a quaint spot for dinner and then a coconut coffee for desert before calling it an early night. 

The next morning we were up and going early to try and beat the heat. Our motorbike was horrible, so clanky, brakes didn’t work well and bars crooked, we had to make our way slowly around the city since I didn’t want it to fall apart on us, but at $3 for the day I couldn’t complain much. We were enroute to the first stop and I was enjoying the majestic type traffic flow, before coming to Khai Dinh tomb, who was a Vietnamese Emporer that ruled during the early 1900’s. It had some cool sculptures and a bronze statue of him inside the mausoleum. 

The tomb being a decent sized lookout, I could see a large Buddha across the valley so we drove in that direction. Only got lost for a little bit due to a road closure and had to wheelie up a 1.5foot curb(nicolette got off for that part) and buddha greeted us with a smile. 

Minh Mang Tomb wasn’t far and was much larger land area. It included a lake, multiple buildings and took over 40 years to build. 

We had heard of an abandoned water park around Hue from multiple other travelers that was a must see so we located it on the map and brought us into a large parking area where there was a completely dilapidated outdoor auditorium. We were flagged down by a local with a moped and he said “we had to leave it was closed(in extremely broken English)” I responded and said “it’s ok” and drove in the other direction. He caught up to us and stated the same thing again. Nicolette used google translate to ask why it was closed and if we could just take a peek around. He responded and said “20,000/person” I handed him 44,000 just so he would leave us alone. Free from the local tourist trap we rounded the bend and saw the giant dragon. Awestruck by its size and the history of the park we walked around and enjoyed the idea of what could-have-been or what-was this like in full swing. We ran into a couple other tourists and they said “ we just acted like we didn’t know what he was saying and kept walking and he eventually left us alone” obviously the guy is just pocketing the free cash from the tourists visiting. They also mentioned water slides on the other side of the lake so we motorbikes over and enjoyed the lazy river and 4 water slides that at one time brought joy to thousands of people on its hydrated surfaces. There were talks that the property and water park build out cost was $30million and it closed within only a year or two of being open. Not sure the reason but I would assume it was due to the park being to large and spread out and only having 4 water slides in a water park….  

We had one last stop on the “must-see’s” of Hue the Thien Mu Pagoda which is on the Peninsula in the Perfume River. Great views and lots of people but we were not able to check out the whole area e cause Nicolette’s clothes were “too Revealing” which was said to us by a little girl about the age of 10, so we stuck around the outside and took the little girls word for it. 

The outside temp felt like it was 110deg per google and we were on our way to find the famous Salty Coffee and I spotted a barbershop so I briskly turned off the road, jumped up the curb and told Nicolette “I was going to get a hair cut” she said “really, right now and this is the place you picked?” I responded “I’m too hot and this was the first one I saw” in we went and everyone inside were awestruck and smiling that a couple westerners had walked through the front door. One grabbed me by the arm and settled me into his chair and threw an apron around me that was garbed in an American flag. It being the 4th of July (our Independence Day) this was our first taste of anything American that day. They spoke little English and I know they had no idea it was a national holiday back home. I did my best to explain I wanted a 1-2-3 fade on the side and the top left a bit longer, so I used the drinking chant I learned during our Ha Giang loop tour doing Corn Wine happy water shots. Mot (1), Hai (2), So Ba (3) as I raised my hand along the side of my head. He shook his head yes and I could see the smile under his mask and I knew we were getting somewhere. Nicolette was a bit more apprehensive and I reminded her, “it’s just hair it will grow back” - thinking in my head I hope so, cause both my grandpas were bald. It took a bit longer then anticipated but for $4, some A/C, a head massage, and shampooing I thought it was worth it. The haircut even turned out much better then I anticipated which was an added cherry on top. 

In the wind to the salty coffee spot called Ca Phe Muoi (translated coffee salt) we showed up 30min before they opened but luckily they were kind enough to serve us before they opened so we could try their famous take on the many coffee options of Vietnam. Again it was sweeter than anticipated and left us wanting more but not sure our sodium levels needed it.

With the desire to start celebrating our Independence Day we dropped the moped off and I told Nicolette “follow me I have an idea,” and started walking to the tallest building in the city. Once to the building I told Nicolette “follow me and don’t stop if someone’s says something to us” and we proceeded to the elevator and pushed the button for the top floor. Luckily the top floor had a rooftop bar and we enjoyed miles of uninterrupted views while drinking cocktails that cost around $5. I think it was worth it. 

We had plans on meeting Joeri (our Netherlands friend we met in Sapa) for dinner and we agreed on a craft beer spot that had hamburgers and pizza so we could enjoy our first “American style food” since we arrived in Asia 6 weeks ago. With minimal cheese in this part of the world due to lack of fridge space the cheese had us craving pizza. Upon arrival we started chatting a guy from San Diego who ended up owning the brewery and had lived in Vietnam for over 10 years. He had a 4th of July sale going on that included hot dogs for $2 and  all you could drink craft beer for $12. We of course partook in the deal and wished we would have got here earlier as the deal only went until 8pm. By 8pm however we had had enough craft beer and just enjoyed a pizza and good chats with Joeri. We then went to catch up with Tom, Tom, and Dom, (who we had met on the Ha Long bay tour) and played pool and listened to country music to squeeze out the last few hours of our Independence Day. 

Morning came early and a new motorbike trip with Joeri (who took an easy rider), and Owen who we had met the day previously, briefly at the water park. The trip would take us to Hoi An via the Hai van pass, famous for connecting north Vietnam to the South and its amazing views of the Ocean. The traffic out of Hue was chaotic as always and I mentioned to Nicolette “I think this is what my heaven looks like, you squeezing me and trusting I get you through the traffic, and effortlessly working through mobs of cars and motorbikes without injury.” It put a smile on my face and made me enjoy Vietnam and it’s lack of organization even more. On the way we stopped at the Lagoon to catch some water and views, then to a local swimming hole that was much needed since the sun had been beating down on us for 4 hours. At the swimming hole everyone was eating drinking lots of beers and enjoying the cool water hiding in the valley from the heat. Nicolette forgot her swimsuit, (since we had shipped our bags with a bus that morning) so she was not able to get in but she took some funny videos of Joeri slipping on the waterfall and doing a cannonball splashing everyone. 

We had lunch just before the pass along the beach and Nic and I shared the mixed seafood fried noodle. Interesting to say the least but atleast gave us some energy. The pass climbed quickly and the views took our breath away. We stopped for a few pics then rolled into Da Nang where we slipped out of traffic to take a picture of dragon bridge and realized Owen missed the turn and he was lost to traffic. We waited for 10minutes in hopes he would swing back but with no avail we had to continue to the Marble mountains. Two options to get to the top of the marbles climb the stairs or take a lift for 50cents, I convinced Nicolette and Joeri to save our money and hike the stairs, and who woulda guessed Owen was at the top. Baffled about the situation we laughed enjoyed the view of the city and ocean then continued the remainder of the trip to Hoi An. Nicolette was not feeling well so she went straight to the hostel to lay down in the A/C and I waited at a tailor shop for our large bags to arrive. HOI AN is famous for their silk and tailoring services. So I started looking at material and made an executive decision that Nicolette and I needed new suit and dress for Our friends wedding (Chloe and MG) when we arrive into the states in August. Our bags arrived and I used the excuse that I needed to consult with my wife about getting the goodies, so I slipped out in an effort to find potentially a more affordable shop. Joeri’s easy driver  must have really liked me cause he gave me like 10 hugs and 20 Hand touches when I was walking away. NICE GUY. 

We got all schnazzed up for the evening we stopped at another tailor shop to get measured that was recommended by our hostel (and was cheaper than the spot earlier that day) then went to find the Famous Lantern street, not hard to find if you follow the crowds, and we quickly decided that is not where we wanted to be. So we discovered a little restaurant had the famous local dishes to Hoi An called Cao Lau (beef and noodles), Rose Petals (dumplings), and My Quang (beef, noodle, quail egg dish) and were happy to be fed and living the local flavors. Absolutely beat from the 9hr motorcycle day we slept through the night.

Hoi An is an very small touristy town so we used the next few days to relax on the beach, rent bikes and pedal around town, go to the Japanese covered bridge, get our suit and dress fitted properly(which only took 1 time) eat delicious street food, get a massage, and do our best to stay hydrated during the extremely hot days. We hung with Joeri lots and got to know him even better and also caught up with Kim and Linda our German friends we met in Sapa. It was great relaxing couple days.   

With only a week or so left in Vietnam we are hustling to close out the rest of our bucket list items.