Vietnam II
December 1995

 

I've always been fascinated by markets and thus made a beeline for the "Cho". As I sauntered  through the narrow passages amid the noise and din, I would pause and take a hard look at some of  the oddities. The sour smell of pickled vegetables, the fishy smell of the ocean denizens and the  aromatic smell of cooked food played havoc with my olfactory nerves and made me doggone hungry.  The old quarters was an interesting place to wander around. It was the business hub where on one  particular street you would see mostly ironsmiths, rattan shops or paper merchants.  On the 27th, the innkeeper's brother offered to give a bicycle lift to the railway station which I gladly  accepted. As a gesture of gratitude, I gave him a treat of "pho", a very popular dish in Vietnam  Pho is similar to our kuayteow. There is pho bo, pho ga and pho vit  Bo is pork, ga is chicken and vit is duck. At 4000 dongs (less than a ringit) a bowl, what more can  you ask pho? Really motakteng.  It was another 4 or 5 hours before the train arrived at Danang but when the train stopped at Hue at  11am, I got down, too weary of the snail-paced journey. Rented a bicycle and cycle around, visiting  the Forbidden city, the Royal tombs, Thien Mu pagada and the Notre Dame cathedral. If there is one  thing one should not miss, it is the water puppet show, unique only to the Vietnamese. I went for one  in Hue which was very much cheaper than in Hanoi.  This was along the perfume river in Hue.  Couldn't help taking a shot at these carefree villagers.  Along my bicycle route. While in Hue, I booked a tour of the DMZ which took me to Rockpile, a  230m high pile of rocks used by the Americans as a lookout during the Vietnam war, Khe Sanh  combat base, scene of the bloodiest battle and Vinh Moc tunnels. The Piyamet tunnel in Betong is a  pale shadow of it. Some of the tunnels in Vinh Moc go as far below as 26 metres.  The equivalent of Quilin in China. Booked a conducted tour from Hanoi and spent 2 nights there. A  boat took us out to the open sea to watch these limestone hill jutting out from the sea. After that we  went under a cavern to a lake and a cave. The next day we cruise to another cave and the boat  stopped briefly. The clear water was too tempting and I cut off 2/3 of my longpants and jumped into  the water for a refreshing swim. The cost of the conducted tour was US$22. Returned to KL on the  5th June.