Onto the beaten path

Throughout China we were joking about the fact that even if we'd wanted to we couldn't get onto the beaten path no matter how hard we tried. There just weren't very many westerners in China at all so no matter where we went we were a bit of a novelty.

After the Dragon's Backbone came Yangshuo in Guangxi province, probably the number one tourist destination in China outside of Beijing and the Great Wall. As soon as we arrived we noticed the difference in attitude. We were met by a hotel tout for one thing. But most noticeable was the fact that almost no-one stared at us. Everywhere else in China we get curious glances and stares - in Yangshuo we just got salespeople trying to sell us things. Looking around the town, it was absolutely swarming with westerners, and not just adventurous backpacker types either. There were elderly Americans, family groups, wealthy tourists, as well as the obligatory party animals. We spent a night in a backpacker bar hanging out with all the bright young things playing beer pong. It involves throwing ping pong balls into glasses of beer (a very sophisticated game!) The owner of the hostel was playing with us. She's known as Monkey Jane, is only 25 and spends most evenings quaffing beer with the tourists. What a life....

We went to a cool cave in Yangshuo with an underground mud bath and mud slide (still finding bits of mud in my ears!) and an underground swimming pool, the first time we'd managed to swim outdoors in China since Dalian. The irony is that in these hot countries it can be very difficult to find somewhere to swim. When you are dripping with sweat and all you want to do is jump in the river, it's too polluted, or there's a dangerous current or something.

Yangshuo was a breath of fresh air to us, not least because we were able to buy western food for the first time. The very first thing we did after we arrived was go and order milkshakes and burgers. Funny, not food I would eat at home but somehow it's all you want after endless rice and noodles for weeks on end. They made valiant attempts at the food but somehow it wasn't quite right - the ham was a bit plasticy and the cheese a bit too gooey.

From China to Vietnam was an easy hop. We just got on a bus with a load of Chinese (mostly men) and filed across the border. We had to sign something to say we didn't have diarrhoea, nausea or any sickness.... I think there must be a lot of creative truth amongst travellers across that border....

Immediately we noticed four things about Vietnam: There are at least ten times as many motorcycles as in China, everyone wears helmets (they don't in China), everyone speaks English, and the food is better.

Our experiences in Vietnam are a bit of a mixed bag.
The Vietnamese Armada invade Halong Bay

Halong Bay was a big disappointment. It is a beautiful place (myriad karst pinnacles poking out of the sea) but it has become a victim of its own success with over 3 million visitors each year. I am not exaggerating to say that our boat was moored with 45 similar boats overnight, and the resultant oily slick on the water made swimming unappealing. We were ordered to bed at 10pm by the surly staff on the boat and in the morning we ran out of jam and were told there was no more.

Steve singing "Zombie" on the boat - went down a storm

Back in Hanoi we weren't allowed to store bags in the hotel (victims of other people's bad behaviour) and were ripped off by a taxi with a rigged meter (but what could we do but pay?) Our bus to Ninh Binh took literally an hour to exit the bus station due to bottlenecks and generally incompetent queuing behaviour. At Tam Coc (known as the Halong Bay of the rice paddies) ladies row boats with their feet! I will try to post a video on facebook of it. But they forced us to buy them drinks as "tips", subjected their captive audience to a sales pitch of handicrafts and then demanded a further tip. We refused to pay.
Some of the extortion artists around Ninh Binh

On the other hand the embalmed corpse of Ho Chi Minh was worth the queue. Very impressive considering he's been dead for over 30 years. We weren't allowed to dawdle and Steve was told to get his hands out of his pockets in the presence of the glorious leader.

We also enjoyed the water puppets in Hanoi (thanks for the recommendation Pete and Jane) - never seen anything quite like it and we spent a good ten minutes trying to figure out how it worked. A cyclo ride (a bike with two seats on the front) was also fun though hair raising as they just plough into junctions without a care for any other traffic. The driver enjoyed our shrieks of horror!


Steve and driver

Today was probably my Vietnamese highlight so far. We hired motorbikes (and drivers - too chicken to ride on our own given the crazy driving here) and went to Cuc Phuong National Park. The trip was beautiful, through rice paddies with people fishing and planting rice, pineapples for sale and a queue of ladies crossing a flooded path on bikes. In the park we visited a primate centre (lots of cute monkeys) and went for a guided walk through the rainforest. We needed a
Jo and Steve - sweaty and under leech attack in the rainforest

guide as the track was barely discernable and required scaling rocky outcrops, climbing fallen trees etc. It was pretty hot, humid and generally hard work and I came off badly, being subjected to a poisoned plant attack on my arm which the guide treated with another plant - much more effective than dock leaves - and also being attacked by mosquitoes and two leeches. They crawled right up my sock and had a good feed before dropping off - I never saw them or even felt them but they left two bleeding holes!

Vietnam is a real contrast to China. It is firmly on the beaten path but I get the impression it's a bit too beaten. It feels a bit jaded, like a constant stream of tourists has corrupted it. Children demanding money is a sad thing and something we never saw once in China. But apparently most of Asia is like this so I suppose we will have to get used to it.

We are now looking forward to Hoi An where you can get clothes made. I'm seriously tempted to ditch all the smelly gear and get a whole new wardrobe!