Day 27 - Snakes on a mini bus

So in my last post I was waffling about cultural things we'd observed, as our list of activities had ground to a halt while the never ending rain fell. We were getting a little miffed at our lack of progress northward, and so with a little aid from our extremely helpful and friendly Czech speaking hotel owner we found a solution. While driving around the country we had observed buses with bikes stacked on top, and decided this was the answer to our prayers. This seemed like a good idea as we would stay dry, and we still needed to cover around 300km to get to Hanoi.

Our very friendly and helpful man who owned the hotel we stayed in for 4 days, and spoke fluent Czech!

The bus left at 6 the next morning, so we got up really early, checked out, and went to the bus depot. The bus guys hooked a rope around the front wheel, and using a small ladder and an open window as steps lynched our bikes onto the roof. They were then laid down on top next to each other and tied them securely. Our bags and ourselves inside. The bus stank of petrol. We soon realised we filled up the biekes previously, and with the bikes being on their side our fuel pissed out all over the bus.

Getting the bikes on & off the mini bus.
 

Inside the bus the floor was coated in boxes of all shapes and sizes – transporting some unknown cargo as well as passengers. We hoped the bus would stay empty allowing us to spread out a little and catch some zzz's en-route. How wrong we were! As we started to leave the city, we drove past the main bus depot, where one of the bus guys simply hung from the open door and started shouting at everyone he could see picking up new fares to take to the final destination (or somewhere en-route) – Danang. He picked up girls on the back of a bikes, guys walking, all likely going home for the weekend after being at Uni all week – some he practically dragged onto the bus. People standing on corners, sitting in cafés, all got convinced by this young guy to get on, and everyone bartered for their price before they boarded – it was hilarious. Further along route we stopped at places they'd obviously prearranged to stop and collect people. Another guy got on with a bike – the bus drivers starts accelerating to 60kph as the other chaps is still on the roof securing the bike, as he then clambers down the side and swings into the bus as we overtake tens of bikes at breakneck speeds.

In about an hour – every spare inch of space was used up, either with bodies, boxes or luggage. People got on-board with all sorts of things; electronic equipment, artwork, overnight bags, food. One woman even got on with a giant tank filled with some liquid that got plonked right in front of Lukas. Upon closer inspection there seemed to be something moving inside. It as actually a snake-pickling tank – a few hundred small snakes stuffed in a tank filled with soy sauce/vinegar where they are left to pickle-to-death, they are then eaten. Half were clearly dead already, the rest struggling for life. It was pretty grim. One poor girl sat a few seats away from us was really not having a good time, and must have chucked up at least 20 times into tiny black plastic bags which she just chucked from the moving buses window. When we stopped at a half-way house for a toilet & drink break, local dogs were seen carrying these bags around in their mouths. By this point we were sharing a 20 year-old nicotine-interior-stained, petrol and damp smelling mini bus with 14 random people, one of whom was constantly vomiting, all the luggage, about half a tonne of cargo, and a tank full of half-dead/half-alive pickled serpents, with four motorbikes and large basket on the roof. It really was quite and experience.

The bus dropped us 10km from our destination – Hoi An (30 km south of Danang). With a little help from us getting our bikes back down, we strapped our bags back on, and continued the remaining distance under our own steam.

Updated visual-journey progress - the journey from Quy Nho'n to Hoi An

Hoi An is an interesting place. It's very touristy, perhaps more so than anywhere we have been so far. It's one of the earliest ports in the region, benefiting from a safe harbour that leads 5km up a river to the town centre. There were many types of cultures that used it as a trading post from all over the S.E. Asia region – mostly Chinese ad Japanese, and these influences are evident in the architecture of this interesting little place. The whole town floods in rainy season – the water level rises up to 3 metres and Hoi An becomes like Venice. Residents are forced to move to the first floors of their buildings and use boats to get around, or retreat to higher ground. All the building walls are damp and mossy, they must have to redecorate every year! Walking around the narrow streets and lanes it's east to imagine how this town may have looked 150 years ago, and they have made use of every ounce of that heritage to make this THE tourist destination of central Vietnam. What was the old trading town in the centre is now entirely gift shops, bars, restaurants, and sites of touristic interest. It's very picturesque, but the town itself too touristy for our blood.

What this place does have is a lot of things to do in the immediate area surrounding the city, so it makes a good base. Also the food here is the best we have experienced anywhere in Vietnam – it really is rather good, so a great place to spend our evenings and gorge ourselves on large set-meal options :)

Our first day we set about exploring the town centre and getting those touristy things checked off, incase we missed something we might have enjoyed. Turns out it wasn't that great, but you never can tell, and we did learn a little about the town's history.

Typical Hoi An scene.
 

The following morning we were up early, eager to beat the tourists to the prime spots. We visited an ancient temple site filed with ruins (and tourists even at early hours), which was interesting. Not exactly well preserved, and lovingly cared for, but still fascinating to experience. We explored marble mountain outcrops further north, which are coated in religious temples and pagodas, with gigantic hidden caves containing Buddha's carved out of the natural rock – entirely surrounded by a town whose sole industry seemed to be carving giant chunks of marble into large tacky statues. We briefly explored a peninsula in the north end of the regions largest city Danang, that contained a nature reserve, where along the coast we witnessed masses of luxury resorts being constructed, and a 120m tall religious statue – presumably Danag's version of the Statue of liberty –we could imagine it being a very different place in 10 years time. They must be pepping the city to become Vietnam's newest luxury tourist destination, and everyone seems to be getting in on the act. A nice drive back, and another splendid meal to fill our stomachs.

The villagers crafting statues from giant chunks of marble
 

Today we slept in with monster hangovers having bought some cheap booze, and drinking it sat on the pavement opposite our hotel watching the world go by and putting it to right. After which we had ourselves booked into do a Vietnamese cookery lesson. It really was fun! We first went to the market where the girl (Han?) showed us where the locals buy their food. This was an experience in itself. Markets here are very hectic, and packed with a maze of narrow passages between stalls, down which hundreds of people walk as well as cycle, and motorbikes slowly navigate. It was good to see how the markets operate, and to be shown how Vietnamese identify good fresh veg, example; Pak Choi cabbage – if it looks like insects have been eating the leaves a little – that's good, as it's tasty, and not covered in insecticides (which are used quite heavily over here). Every variety of meat, hundreds of different vegetables and all seafood were sold,. We bought what we needed, and back to the restaurant to start our preparation.

We had chosen to cook;
1. Our daily favourite, Pho Bo (Beef noodle soup)
2. Fish with chilli & lemongrass
3. Chicken hotpot

All quite traditional Vietnamese dishes. And all very tasty. We prepared our marinades for the meats, prepared the veg and cooked one dish at a time, pausing to eat once we'd finished one. We were writing the recipes down each step of the way and have made a separate recipe blog post for anyone interested in the ingredient and method for themselves.

Cooking class fun!


Off for our last lovely dinner in this town tonight, then onwards again tomorrow, further north to a place called Hue. It's only 100km, so a short trip, and time to look around before heading north again.

More pictures buy Lukas.