Last week Dan and I had our very last holiday in Vietnam. We went up north to Hanoi, where we met Dan’s friend Ben, then went down to Halong Bay then up to Sapa. Both places are quite spectacular, though, unfortunately for us, the weather decided to turn nasty.
We spent a night aboard a boat in Halong Bay (despite the fact that a tourist boat sunk there a few weeks ago, drowning 12 people). The mist and rain had rolled in so it was quite eerie to see ghostly limestone cliffs emerging from the fog as we slowly went by. We also visited the Surprise Cave, a massive cavernous gulf in one of the cliffs which was absolutely jam-packed with tourists. Still pretty impressive though.
After successfully not sinking overnight, we went to Monkey Island; renamed by Ben “Rabies Island” (the Lonely Planet warns that the monkeys on the island do bite). Luckily or unluckily (depending on how you look at it) we didn’t see any monkeys. We didn’t see much of anything really, spending a night on a bungalow on a beach on a secluded limestone island is a bit boring when it’s raining and cold and the only thing to do is listen to the soothing sounds of a circular saw being used in the construction of more bungalows. Still, I’d rather be bored than catch rabies!
So the weather was a bit of a let-down but we were lucky to get out into Halong Bay at all, the day after we left all the tourist boats were denied permission to leave the harbour because visibility was so poor.
Anyway, onward and upward to the northern highlands of Vietnam and on to Sapa. After a fairly gruelling night on the train we arrived in Sapa where it was snowing. Snowing! In Vietnam! In springtime! Crazy! I am eternally grateful for the rain jacket I had just bought in Hanoi, without it I would have absolutely frozen. The first few days in Sapa were spent waiting out the snow and rain by sitting in one of the (somewhat) warm cafes or restaurants which sold mulled wine. And getting food poisoning, again. That was fun.
On our final day in Sapa the weather cleared and we had enough time to go for a trek through the valleys and take a motorbike out through the countryside. The scenery around Sapa is so beautiful, the mountains, valleys and raging rivers are all so impressive. Then there are the local people themselves, many of whom belong to an ethnic minority group and still wear traditional clothes and practice traditional farming techniques. The whole area really is amazing to see.
After another gruelling overnight train ride we arrived back in Hanoi (at about 4am) for our last holiday night. We decided to treat ourselves by going to the wonderful Koto restaurant for dinner, the restaurant is run by an Australian man who decided to help the disadvantaged and street youth in Vietnam by training them in hospitality. The food and the service at Koto were fantastic; Dan had the duck while I had chicken skewers with Saigon peanut sauce – yum! My absolute favourite though was the cheesecake, so good! Anyway, if you ever find yourself in Hanoi or in HCMC then I recommend having a meal at Koto. We know a couple of Australian volunteers who are working with Koto to get the restaurant and training centre in HCMC started and the work they do to help the young people is absolutely amazing.
Now we are back in Soc Trang and back at work again. Our time in Vietnam is quickly coming to an end. We only have about another 2 weeks in Vietnam then we start to make our way back to Australia. It’s strange to think that we are leaving so soon! Our last weeks in Vietnam will be really busy as we try and finish off our work, which includes holding another teachers’ training workshop on mangrove forests plus holding a handover ceremony where we give the Department of Education and Training 1600 copied of the teachers’ manual on climate change that Dan and I wrote. Plus there will be farewell parties; Dan is planning on having 4 parties! One for work, one for friends, one for his tennis buddies (which I won’t go to) and one for the co-management members out in Au Tho B Village. And on top of that we have to pack up all our belongings and try and sell off our furniture. I have a feeling the next couple of weeks will be so jam-packed that they will just fly-by. Then Dan and I will likely find ourselves at the international airport in HCMC going “What just happened?! Are we leaving already?!”
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