Caves, Dead Emperors, And A Ladies Jacket

My Little Train Buddy

Laos has a total of 3.5 kilometers of rail track and aside from getting yourself to Chiang Mai, northern Thailand is void of train travel options. So after several trainless weeks we were happy to hit the Vietnamese rails for our nearly eight hour journey from Ninh Binh to Dong Hoi. Our car was full of drinking and gambling young fellas and the "Rail TV" system was exceedingly loud requiring us to deploy the ear plugs. Regardless, it was a welcome change; trains are so much more comfortable than buses and in many cases a more swift and safe way to travel in Vietnam.

Heading Into Phong Nha Cave

 

 

There really isn't anything to tell you about Dong Hoi; anything interesting there was destroyed during the American war. The main draw to the area is the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park which is one of the seven UNESCO World Heritage sites that can be found in Vietnam. The park contains 885 square kilometers of nearly pristine jungle. But the real draw is the hundreds of cave systems that lie within the the oldest karst mountains in Asia (formed 400 million years ago). We went to see Phong Nha cave, a wet cave you travel into by boat, and Paradise Cave which is the longest known cave system in the world at a length of 31 kilometers.

Tasteful Lighting Or Tacky Disco Cave?

In addition to having some interesting historical significance as a shelter during the war, Phong Nha cave is a peaceful spot to visit with several interesting cave features along the waterway and a couple of large caverns to walk around. Paradise Cave though wins the prize for its impressive size. The cave was discovered only in 2009 which is no surprise given the tiny entry point obscured by vegetation. Had it not been for the incredibly refreshing blast of cold air coming out of the cave's entrance I might not have even noticed it. Dawn is quick to point out though that the steady stream of tourists emanating from the cave was a bit of a give-away and that I can be rather unobservant for anything that doesn't relate to food. Fair enough. Being as amateur as they come with our camera I don't have an image to share with you showing the sheer size of the cave but I'm not sure it's something that can be captured completely in photographs anyhow. For you cave fans out there we put some more photos at the bottom of the post.

Tomb Of Emperor Khai Dinh

 

 

From Dong Hoi we travelled three hours by train to Hue (pronounced hway). Hue was the capital of Vietnam during the Nguyen Dynasty in the 1800s and early 1900s and thus contains a number of related sites. Hue was also the site of the Tet Offensive during the American war which leveled much of the city. Fortunately the emperor's tombs are well out of town and were mostly spared. The tomb sites which each took as long as a decade to construct are acres in size and contain various buildings, monuments, and of course mausoleums for the emperors and their families.

The Walls Of The Citadel

 

The same cannot be said for the other main tourist site: the Citadel. This walled section of the city ten kilometers in circumferance was indeed flattened with only ten of the original 160 buildings surviving the bomb and napalm attacks. The Purple Forbidden Palace - a citadel within the Citadel - is being rebuilt though giving us another, albeit less impressive, site to visit. In addition to these sites Hue is known for its royal cuisine so we did our best to sample that during our short visit.

The Streets Of Hoi An

 

 

Next stop: Hoi An. The three hour rail journey was the most scenic so far exposing us to some of the beautiful stretches of sand on Vietnam's coast. The train took us to Danang and then it was a 40 minute car trip from there to arrive in the quaint riverside town of Hoi An. We've heard many people say that it's the nicest city in Vietnam and a relaxing place to hang out for a while so we planned several days there to recuperate. Most days consisted of walking to town (about 2 kilometers) for food or to just walk around and otherwise we sought relief from the afternoon heat in our lovely guesthouse.

Cua Dai Beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

During our week there we also got in a nice day bike riding out of town, a day at the beach, and another street food tour for me (40 different Hoi An foods in four hours!). We kept a pretty relaxed pace but the gongs that were sounded between 3AM and 4AM each morning at a neighbouring temple and the public address system that usually switched on at about 530AM (once to the sound of an air raid siren) left us fairly unrested.

The Guy In The White Won

 

 

 

We were fortunate to be there during the monthly full moon festival when fluorescent lights are turned off in favour of lanterns throughout the old quarter. It's also a time to pay tribute to one's ancestors and the front of many businesses and dwellings sported a small little altar where offerings are placed and incense burned. Various paper offerings in the form of money, suits, cars, and even iPads are burned and therefore sent up to ancestors so they're well equipped for wherever they are. It's also a time for old guys in silk jammies to hit the sidewalk for some serious checker matches. Overall it made for a really pleasant wandering environment.

Four Out Of Five Ain't Bad

One thing you will have no problem finding in Hoi An is a "tailor". There are estimated to be about 600 shops in Hoi An that will make you a custom piece of clothing. Each of these shops has walls of fabric and usually several samples of finished pieces. They range from slick, air conditioned boutiques to tiny, overcrowded market stalls. In reality they're all measure-uppers and they farm their jobs out to mini-factories with sewers and a tailor (hopefully) on site. I'm usually not one to do so but I totally bought into the idea and had four shirts and a jacket made for me all within 48 hours. Being chronically somewhere between a medium and large I figured I was a good candidate. I think the four shirts worked out well although we'll see how they last and whether they fit once I fatten up back at home. I knew from the start that the jacket was a risk. At any of these shops you can provide an image of what you want and they'll copy it. In this case the copy was decent but with a few critical misses. What looked like a sexy peacoat on the pictures of Daniel Day-Lewis I provided looked on me like a boxy, ladies jacket with shoulder pads. Needless to say the jacket remains in Hoi An waiting for an abnormally large Vietnamese woman somewhere between a medium and a large.