Where the Phó are we? The 'Bear's Vietnam Redux 2013
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Day 27 Last day at Phong Nha
Our last day at Phong Nha, I’m back out on the National Park Tour as a Guide and Mrs SB in the office at the Farmstay.
Mrs SB: Yesterday the girls, one in particular, Dzoung, (for whom my pet name is "cheeky monkey " due to a pair of trousers she wears sometimes with a big grinning monkey on them) came and dragged me off very excitedly to "have snails!"
‘Cheeky Monkey’ and Mrs SB
Anyway- the girls grabbed me by the hand and presented me with a plate of water snails, all watching very expectantly, almost hopeful that I would be repulsed. But I was aware of their interest in my response, and picked one up, and following their instructions, sucked hard until the little "door" popped open, and then under further instructions, used a toothpick to pull out the meat and eat it. To my pleasant surprise it was delicious. The girls giggled and chatted, obviously pleased as I had another and another. Then I asked for the recipe! Boy did that win points.
Apparently one sautés onion, lemon grass and chilli until soft, then add the snails (these were about the size of periwinkles) and a splash of pineapple juice. I have to say the flavours absolutely burst in my mouth and were delicious! I think the actual snails were relatively tasteless but it didn't matter. One thing I do need to say though - if I had to live on them I would fade away as I couldn't keep up with them. I worked hard for each snail, while they just raced through them. The girls go out and gather them from the rice paddies - it saves the rice from damage and they get fed. Sounds like a win-win to me!
The toothpick is a necessary extraction aid.
Then later I watched as two of the girls played a game similar to knuckles, but with stones. It was a game of skill, and they were obviously practiced.
The Tournament
I was out on the tour and as the sun threatened to come out a couple of times in the morning, it stirred a bit of insect life into action.
Not an insect but this spider was bigger than my palm
One of only two caterpillars I saw in my time at Phong Nha National park.
I was home very tired after dark and we packed up then had drinks with Ben, Multi, Michael and Bic until late.
We are off at 7.15 am to catch the train to Hanoi from Dong Hoi.
Cheers, The Travelling ‘Bears
Mrs SB: Yesterday the girls, one in particular, Dzoung, (for whom my pet name is "cheeky monkey " due to a pair of trousers she wears sometimes with a big grinning monkey on them) came and dragged me off very excitedly to "have snails!"
‘Cheeky Monkey’ and Mrs SB
Anyway- the girls grabbed me by the hand and presented me with a plate of water snails, all watching very expectantly, almost hopeful that I would be repulsed. But I was aware of their interest in my response, and picked one up, and following their instructions, sucked hard until the little "door" popped open, and then under further instructions, used a toothpick to pull out the meat and eat it. To my pleasant surprise it was delicious. The girls giggled and chatted, obviously pleased as I had another and another. Then I asked for the recipe! Boy did that win points.
Apparently one sautés onion, lemon grass and chilli until soft, then add the snails (these were about the size of periwinkles) and a splash of pineapple juice. I have to say the flavours absolutely burst in my mouth and were delicious! I think the actual snails were relatively tasteless but it didn't matter. One thing I do need to say though - if I had to live on them I would fade away as I couldn't keep up with them. I worked hard for each snail, while they just raced through them. The girls go out and gather them from the rice paddies - it saves the rice from damage and they get fed. Sounds like a win-win to me!
The toothpick is a necessary extraction aid.
Then later I watched as two of the girls played a game similar to knuckles, but with stones. It was a game of skill, and they were obviously practiced.
The Tournament
I was out on the tour and as the sun threatened to come out a couple of times in the morning, it stirred a bit of insect life into action.
Not an insect but this spider was bigger than my palm
One of only two caterpillars I saw in my time at Phong Nha National park.
I was home very tired after dark and we packed up then had drinks with Ben, Multi, Michael and Bic until late.
We are off at 7.15 am to catch the train to Hanoi from Dong Hoi.
Cheers, The Travelling ‘Bears
Last edited by Sebastionbear1; Nov 29, 2013 at 10:11 PM.
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Day 28 Phong Nha to Dong Hoi to Hanoi
About 570 km
It was quite difficult leaving Phong Nha Farmstay which had literally become our home for the last 8 or 9 days.
The friendship of Ben, Bic, Mike Hannah, Tunny, Cheeky Monkey and the other staff as well as the myriad different tourists with their stories made leaving all the harder.
We travelled to Dong Hoi railway station (Ga) by taxi and waited to board the train.
Mrs SB: Arriving at Dong Hoi station we squashed in to the waiting room with others. Apparently, like their scooters, the Viet believe in using their trains well. We were in what they call "soft seats" rather than in cattle class which had hard wooden seats. We at least had some padding. It would have been a truly long day otherwise!
On walking out to the train we were unable to board due to the huge amount of stuff being handed out of the carriages by people to waiting relatives. Huge bags of rice, fruit, noodles, and other identified parcels -this is what causes the train to be late - anything up to 1.5hrs at times, depending on how many villages are stopped at.
The carriage had a unique pungency, but nothing quite prepared me for the stench of the squat toilet. I have to hand it to the Viet -it is really hard to use a slippery floored squat toilet when you are being bumped around in a less than smooth train. There was one western toilet on the train, but the handle had been removed and the door locked. Needless to say I "held on" for as long as possible and only made the trip when absolutely necessary. The toilet opened straight onto the rails, but even with the window wide open and the upward draft the smell was unbelievable.
The views however, compensated!
When the Viet build churches, they are always huge edifices.This one (Catholic) was out in the middle of a plain, imposingly beautiful but somehow incongruous against the rice paddies and buffalo. I apologise for the grainy nature of the photo, but I took it through the less than clean window.
A 4 minute video of the changing landscapes over a 10 hour, 500 odd kilometre rail journey to Hanoi. The videos were taken through an open window in the ‘Smoking section’ near the extremely pungent and well used WC.
The inside of the train carriage. It actually looks better in the photo. The TV presents a series of programmes throughout the trip, including an appalling children's talent show which left us feeling deeply sorry for the kids. SB called it ‘Vietnam Hasn’t Got Talent’ Show.
About every two hours the food conductors would come through offering drinks, food and snacks for sale. At lunch time we enjoyed a meal of rice, stewed pork with hard boiled eggs (they put them in the stew - very yummy actually) and stir- fried bean shoots and Chinese cabbage. And it was very good!
If you need to move your scooter, why not use the bus roof………..
After 10 hours or so we were quite happy to see the Hanoi Train Station and disembark. We tried to find where our bikes were, but gave up as everything seemed to be locked up. We found a Taxi and set off for the Rising Dragon (Damp) Villa Hotel on Bat Su Street and our home for the next 3 nights.
We checked in, threw our baggage in our room, showered and were back on the streets within half an hour quite excited at being back in Hanoi. A City we both truly adore.
We considered chicken for dinner……..
We walked down familiar streets to Hoan Kiem Lake, soaking up the sights, smells and frenetic atmosphere of life here. Horns blaring from cars and scooters, delicious, aromatic, enticing smells from all of the small street eateries, sellers trying to flog us, clothes, fruits, rickshaw rides, hats, books –almost everything and anything you could imagine. It’s a little like Luke Skywalker landing on the planet Tatooine or Captain Jack Sparrow at Port Royal. It's THAT different to our normal lives.
Lake reflections……
Stacked coffee and Beveridge houses
Balloon sellers
Even the locals find the pace hard going at times!
We eventually found an eatery with a delicious beef (bo) based dinner that was delicious. Then we set off to find a Pub where we could sit and watch the world with a cold beer.
Halfway through the first beer, we had roadworks - literally at our feet!. In 10 minutes the new tar was laid, rolled and edges tidied and they were gone.
Only in Hanoi.
Cheers, The Travelling ‘Bears
It was quite difficult leaving Phong Nha Farmstay which had literally become our home for the last 8 or 9 days.
The friendship of Ben, Bic, Mike Hannah, Tunny, Cheeky Monkey and the other staff as well as the myriad different tourists with their stories made leaving all the harder.
We travelled to Dong Hoi railway station (Ga) by taxi and waited to board the train.
Mrs SB: Arriving at Dong Hoi station we squashed in to the waiting room with others. Apparently, like their scooters, the Viet believe in using their trains well. We were in what they call "soft seats" rather than in cattle class which had hard wooden seats. We at least had some padding. It would have been a truly long day otherwise!
On walking out to the train we were unable to board due to the huge amount of stuff being handed out of the carriages by people to waiting relatives. Huge bags of rice, fruit, noodles, and other identified parcels -this is what causes the train to be late - anything up to 1.5hrs at times, depending on how many villages are stopped at.
The carriage had a unique pungency, but nothing quite prepared me for the stench of the squat toilet. I have to hand it to the Viet -it is really hard to use a slippery floored squat toilet when you are being bumped around in a less than smooth train. There was one western toilet on the train, but the handle had been removed and the door locked. Needless to say I "held on" for as long as possible and only made the trip when absolutely necessary. The toilet opened straight onto the rails, but even with the window wide open and the upward draft the smell was unbelievable.
The views however, compensated!
When the Viet build churches, they are always huge edifices.This one (Catholic) was out in the middle of a plain, imposingly beautiful but somehow incongruous against the rice paddies and buffalo. I apologise for the grainy nature of the photo, but I took it through the less than clean window.
A 4 minute video of the changing landscapes over a 10 hour, 500 odd kilometre rail journey to Hanoi. The videos were taken through an open window in the ‘Smoking section’ near the extremely pungent and well used WC.
The inside of the train carriage. It actually looks better in the photo. The TV presents a series of programmes throughout the trip, including an appalling children's talent show which left us feeling deeply sorry for the kids. SB called it ‘Vietnam Hasn’t Got Talent’ Show.
About every two hours the food conductors would come through offering drinks, food and snacks for sale. At lunch time we enjoyed a meal of rice, stewed pork with hard boiled eggs (they put them in the stew - very yummy actually) and stir- fried bean shoots and Chinese cabbage. And it was very good!
If you need to move your scooter, why not use the bus roof………..
After 10 hours or so we were quite happy to see the Hanoi Train Station and disembark. We tried to find where our bikes were, but gave up as everything seemed to be locked up. We found a Taxi and set off for the Rising Dragon (Damp
) Villa Hotel on Bat Su Street and our home for the next 3 nights.We checked in, threw our baggage in our room, showered and were back on the streets within half an hour quite excited at being back in Hanoi. A City we both truly adore.
We considered chicken for dinner……..
We walked down familiar streets to Hoan Kiem Lake, soaking up the sights, smells and frenetic atmosphere of life here. Horns blaring from cars and scooters, delicious, aromatic, enticing smells from all of the small street eateries, sellers trying to flog us, clothes, fruits, rickshaw rides, hats, books –almost everything and anything you could imagine. It’s a little like Luke Skywalker landing on the planet Tatooine or Captain Jack Sparrow at Port Royal.
It's THAT different to our normal lives.
Lake reflections……
Stacked coffee and Beveridge houses
Balloon sellers
Even the locals find the pace hard going at times!
We eventually found an eatery with a delicious beef (bo) based dinner that was delicious. Then we set off to find a Pub where we could sit and watch the world with a cold beer.
Halfway through the first beer, we had roadworks - literally at our feet!
. In 10 minutes the new tar was laid, rolled and edges tidied and they were gone.Only in Hanoi.
Cheers, The Travelling ‘Bears
Last edited by Sebastionbear1; Nov 30, 2013 at 05:02 AM.
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From: Vääksy, Finland
Once again amazing pics! Watching the wind tossing some snow around outside really wouldn't mind being there sipping on a Legend 
Hoping that the shipment would finally arrive, there's a mail strike going on in here and all my orders are late too...
Hoping that the shipment would finally arrive, there's a mail strike going on in here and all my orders are late too...
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Sorry for the delay with the mail, but I was searching for a particular style of card which we finally found in Hanoi yesterday. It will be posted from Saigon tomorrow when we get there.
I think you'll like it when it finally gets there.
Cheers, SB
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Last day in Vietnam.... Saigon
Well, after a great trip, we are packed and ready to fly to Singapore, Melbourne then Adelaide over the next 24 hours. The alarm is set for 5 AM.
We have a stop over in Singapore for 6 of those hours.
I still have to put up the last few days photos and stories and will attend to that when I am still again!
Vietnam is a crazy place and we love it. The changes we have seen that have occurred even in the last 12 months are significant, and I think this country will be rivalling South Korea as a production powerhouse in the not-too-distant future.
Thanks all for reading our trip story.
Cheers, The Travelling 'Bears
We have a stop over in Singapore for 6 of those hours.
I still have to put up the last few days photos and stories and will attend to that when I am still again!
Vietnam is a crazy place and we love it. The changes we have seen that have occurred even in the last 12 months are significant, and I think this country will be rivalling South Korea as a production powerhouse in the not-too-distant future.
Thanks all for reading our trip story.
Cheers, The Travelling 'Bears
Last edited by Sebastionbear1; Dec 1, 2013 at 10:42 AM.
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From: Vääksy, Finland
Heh, no worries, I just got the impression it already was on it`s way
BTW to be clear, was that sidecar bike an Ural? Somehow I thought it was a Beemer... Ural`s a Russian make, I once tested one of those without the sidecar, almost plowed right to the side of the car I was passing cause when you give it proper throttle it veers to the right pretty bad because there`s no counterweight axle or sth in the engine cause it`s designed to always have the sidecar... I`ve seen a few pretty cool choppers built from those, pretty interesting to see a boxer engine in one of those
BTW to be clear, was that sidecar bike an Ural? Somehow I thought it was a Beemer... Ural`s a Russian make, I once tested one of those without the sidecar, almost plowed right to the side of the car I was passing cause when you give it proper throttle it veers to the right pretty bad because there`s no counterweight axle or sth in the engine cause it`s designed to always have the sidecar... I`ve seen a few pretty cool choppers built from those, pretty interesting to see a boxer engine in one of those
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It was a Ural Mattson.
When you accelerated it pulled to the right and until I discovered where the back brake was when I braked (front) it did real weird stuff depending on the angle of the road.
The foot brake for the rear was tucked under one of the side-car mounts.
Cheers, SB
When you accelerated it pulled to the right and until I discovered where the back brake was when I braked (front) it did real weird stuff depending on the angle of the road.
The foot brake for the rear was tucked under one of the side-car mounts.
Cheers, SB
