Yang Shuo, Guanxi Province, China

From Guilin, it is a quick and easy bus ride to Yangshuo in the province of Guanxi. A favourite with young Chinese tourists, the quaint town is the gate to awesome scenery all around it. The landscape is like an inland version of Halong Bay, displaying similar vertical Karst formations. The Li River runs between the cliffs while the flat sections surrounded by the gigantic rocks are used for pocket-sized agriculture, where rice and vegetables are cultivated. It is quite a rural area and the contrast between its inhabitants and the domestic tourists visiting it is perhaps even more striking than our own presence.



We spent our first day in Yangshuo mostly walking around the small town. A portion of it is very touristy while the surrounding streets are not particularly interesting. Nevertheless, it seemed full of good eating options and looked like a nice base to explore the area from. For dinner, we decided to try a small eatery nearby, owned by a family of Muslim Chinese. They had a whole wall of photos of meals but we wanted to see what other people were eating and point when we found something appetizing. We must have looked confused since a young man came over to help us and, probably, practice his english, which incidentally, was pretty good. Eventually, after some slightly awkward chatting, he invited us to join his group of friends for dinner. Not able to refuse, we went over and became the focus point of 8 pairs of eyes. They had ordered an absolute feast and we were invited to try it all. It was really delicious food which one wouldn't necessarily associate with Chinese cuisine. We had curries, fried jalapenos, soup and the highlight : home-made flat rice noodles, it was sensational. Towards the end of our meal, our new friends decided that it was time to name us which began an animated discussion on what names and characters would suit us best. I was named Mo Li, which means flower and is the title of a famous opera which they all sang in unison at our table. Chris was named Gao Jian which has a less straightforward translation but refers to being strong and healthy, buildings and having valued opinions. By the time we said goodbye, we were pretty happy and in love with the warmth of the Chinese. To thank our hosts, we slipped a note attached with a kangaroo pin under their door the next morning. It was signed Mo Li and Gao Jian.



On our second day there, we decided to do a popular walk between two villages, from Yangdi to XingPing, which follows the Li River whilst going through farming land and rustic villages. The walk is supposed to take about 5 hours so we arrived in Yangdi fairly early, ready for a good day of walking. On arrival though, our plans had to change somewhat. Due to heavy rains in the previous days, the level of the River was a couple meters higher than usual and was covering up the first section of the path. Initially, it seemed that our plans were foiled and that the only way to get to Xingping was by boarding a bamboo raft all the way. The rafts can only carry a few passengers at a time and are ones of those tourist traps one tries to avoid at all cost since they are expensive, slow and boring. Deadseat on walking, we attempted some negotiations with raft owners to take us to the other side of the river where we thought we could see a path going up towards higher grounds. These efforts were in vain and after much gesticulating, we were ready to give up and hop back on the bus to Yangshuo. As a last resort, Chris asked a young man standing nearby if he spoke english and from there, our luck changed. Eager to help us, our interlocutor reinitiated the negotiation process and after a few minutes of yelling followed by total silence, a raft owner agreed to take us to a point we could walk from, all that for a portion of the price we were being offered. From then on, we were travelling with Qing Ta and a couple of his friends who took care of everything for us. The walk itself was worth the effort. The landscape was lovely as it went from following the river to going more inland and walking through fields of rice and villages. It took a little bit longer than we expected as Qing Ta, a post-graduate student whose name means "post-graduate student" and his friends were obviously not accustomed to any form of exercise and although the path was pretty much flat the whole way, had to take regular smoking breaks to rest their "very tired" limbs. Once in Xingping, we shared a big bowl of noodles as a late lunch and parted ways with the promise that we would send him some photos we took.



The following day, we decided to hire a pair of bicycles and explore another area. We planned on doing a 20km loop from Yangshuo, along the Yelong river, over a 600 year old bridge and back along the other side of the river. As usual, mapless and following the vague directions of the "Lonely planet", things didn't go exactly as planned but were good anyway. The first half was absolutely gorgeous. The Yelong river is much smaller and was quiet and clear. (the Li River was quite muddy due to the heavy rains). The scenery was stunning and the route took us through very small villages on mud tracks through rice fields. Old men with water buffalos were plowing their tiny fields while kids ran around with chooks. Although the scene seemed iddylic, it was obvious that these people were very poor and that there was nothing easy about their life. We saw a 89 year old man walking up the hill to get oranges while his wife was selling them on the side of the track. We reached the bridge after a couple of hours and had a short rest there before setting off on the other side to complete our loop. The path started to deviate from the river and thinking nothing of it, we powered along. Eventually, we crossed another Western couple coming the other way. As they passed us, they asked where we were heading and when we said "Yangshuo", they yelled the dreaded words "wrong way"... Grrr, we were lost again and after some discussions, we turned around and headed back to the bridge. We had already cycled for a few hours and we were already dreaming of steamed buns and dumplings so the idea of going back the way we came was a bit depressing. Instead of going the same way, we took the quicker main road rather than the slow picturesque path. It was 10km and we got it done pretty fast since it was a slight downhill and we were keen to get back to town. We finished off with a big bowl of wonton soup, picked up our bags from our (crappy) hostel and caught a bus back to Guilin, the main city in the province from where we would go explore another stunning area called the "Dragon's backbone terraces".

Sapa : Last stop in Vietnam

We chose Sapa as our final destination in Vietnam and did not regret it. We considered skipping it but after calculations on when to enter and exit China, we had a couples days to fill in after coming back from Halong Bay. Sapa is an overnight bus trip out of Hanoi in the North West direction and we arrived there early in the morning feeling bleary eyed but excited by the glimpses of landscape we had caught in between winks of sleep from the bus windows. Apparently, while I was sleeping, in another impossible position, the bus driver hit a scooter who was thankfully more shocked than injured. After long and loud negotiations, the bus driver gave him a small amount of cash and waved him off. Blissfully unaware of what was happening outside, I enjoyed the stop thinking that the bus company was very kind to give us a bit of extra sleep time.

The area around Sapa is a hilly/mountainous region which is home to various ethnic minorities. The hills have been sculpted into an infinite number of terraces cascading down and used mainly for rice. The terraces are cultivated by hand, with the help of water buffalos pulling small mechanical plowers through the mud. Whatever is grown on those hills is then taken to the market in Sapa along with various arts and crafts more directly targeted at tourists who are well on the way to becoming the main industry in the region.

Shortly after getting there, we managed to find what would become our best room yet. It was spacious and elegant but mainly, we had our very own balcony overlooking a magnificent valley. To top it off, breakfast was included and it was actually good. We probably allowed a bit too much time in Sapa but we didn't mind as it was a pleasure just sitting outside, having a couple beers and watching the sunset.

In order to keep drowsiness at bay and to make the most of the rare good weather, we hired a scooter and went exploring the mountains. We drove along the steep undulating road and reached Tram Ton pass, the highest mountain pass in Vietnam at 1900 meters above sea level. The pass is also the starting point to the climb to the top of Mount Fansipan, the hightest mountain in the country. After a quick lunch back in town, we continued our explorations and unfortunately this was to become one of our worst experiences on the trip so far. We made the mistake of heading for a hilltribe village a few kilometers out of Sapa. The drive there was stunning and when we got to the gate we accepted to pay a fee and continue into the village. As soon as we got there, we instantly regretted it. Naively thinking that we could have a quick walk around the village, we soon realized that we had become the main attraction. We had barely stepped off the scooter when we were instantly surrounded by a dozen women of various ages vying for our attentions, whether by speaking robotic English or grinning toothless red and black smiles, trying to sell us anything from silver jewelry to embroidered bed spreads. As I tried to get Chris' attention, my voice was drowned out by the constant pleas for money. After a few minutes, when it became clear that we weren't going to buy any pouches or pillowcases, we literally ran away, hopped back on our scooter and drove off as quick as possible. The feelings that flooded me after that were those of disappointment, disgust and anger. Those feelings weren't directed at them but rather at the system that has trapped these people into a way of life that is similar to slavery. Unable to develop into a more modern lifestyle, they maintain these supposed customs to attract tourists while poisoning what was fascinating in the first place. They are completely dependent on the tourist trade and have turned almost entirely towards it. The problem is that they don't look so much like farmers as beggars and they will lose their way if they do not regain control of their independence and create a sustainable way of life for themselves which does not involve entertaining curious tourists like monkeys in a zoo.

We had planned to hike to another village on the next day but of course, we changed our plans and suddenly had plenty of times on our hands. That was fine, we made the most of our last Vietnamese pleasures. We had lots of coffee, watched people walk around and live their lives, spent some time on the internet and sat on our balcony. We knew that the easy lifestyle of South East Asia was quickly coming to an end so we soaked it all in.

After 3 days in Sapa, we were on our way back to Hanoi where we spent one last day before heading to China. Chris had to get a Mongolian visa and we just had a few things to organize before the big move. We celebrated our last night in Vietnam by having a sensational meal of fresh spring rolls and cold beer in a cute restaurant in the heart of the Old Quarter. The next morning, we packed up our things and boarded the bus with that feeling of excitement and anticipation one gets when something big is about to happen.

Halong Bay and Cat Ba Island

Normally, we would prefer not to join tours. In this case though, we were glad we did. Trying to visit Halong Bay independently would have been far more complicated and we suspect, less rewarding. Instead, we enjoyed the best of both worlds by joining a tour through the famous bay and visiting Cat Ba island on our own. Through our helpful guesthouse, we organised to spend 2 days and 1 night on a tourist "Junk" (Big Chinese looking wooden boat with funky orange sails) and a couple days on Cat Ba Island, the biggest and only inhabited island, before being taken back to Hanoi.

Halong Bay is all that people say and should not be missed. It is probably the most beautiful scenery we have seen on this trip to this point and will be hard to top. As our ship was quietly gliding through the tranquil silver waters, finding a path between the hundreds of vertical karstic formations, a french woman was pacing the top deck, soaking it in and repeating in a quiet voice, over and over "ce que c'est beau, oh la la, mais ce que c'est beau..." Her simple words summed it up as sometimes this kind of beauty just needs to be looked at, admired, taken in rather than explained.

Towards sunset, a predictably beautiful time, we all boarded kayaks and went for a quick paddle around some of the islands. We then had a surprisingly feastish dinner, followed by a couple beers with a lovely Swedish couple with whom we exchanged tips and travel stories. They had somehow managed to save up enough money to go on a gigantic trip around the world including S.E.Asia, China, Tibet, Everest Base Camp, Japan and a few other places by working in Norwegian supermarkets for 6 months...Apparently it pays to work in Norway. At a somewhat embarassingly early hour, we all retreated to our lovely little cabins from which talking of a view of the water would be a slight understatement.

Around 10am the next morning, we were dropped off on Cat Ba Island. As our "tour" was then interrupted until we were ready to be picked up from the island, there was a bit of confusion as to what to do with us exactly and we somehow ended up joining the group on a short but steep walk up to the highest point on the island. The view was pretty good although, surprisingly, we could not see any water around. After the trek, we were taken into the centre where we quickly found a guesthouse and started walking around.

Life in Cat Ba is full of contrasts as on one hand, the area around the town is slowly but surely being covered by fancy resorts and ugly hotels, while the rest of the island remains home to a number of small fishing villages scattered around. The main specialties are seafood and Nuoc Mam (fermented fish sauce) as well as pearls although they are of low quality. The town market is full of fresh fish, crabs and squids as well as all of those things in dehydrated form including starfish, cute seahorses and stretched out lizards. We spent a whole day driving around the island on a scooter. We figured that it would be one of our last chances so we made the most of it and had a great time driving up the coast and down through the centre. We finished the day by going to the beach where the water was surprisingly fresh and wavy.

The next morning, we got back on the boat and slowly made our way back to Halong city before catching a bus to Hanoi. The feeling I had was a bit like going home after a week-end away, looking out the window as the outline of the freakish rocks became fainter and fainter until they disappeared completely and we were back in our river of scooters.

Hanoi, Vietnam

We arrived in Hanoi in the early hours, after a long bus trip from Da Nang, a boring town between Hue and Hoi An, which is mainly used as a transportation hub connecting the North and South. After a little bit of searching, we found a decent enough room at "Real Darling Cafe" in the Old Quarter for what was supposed to be an impossible price when we mentionned our budget to Hanoites. The first thing we did was to start the process of getting a Chinese Visa which was to take 5 working days but in a week peppered with public holidays, it meant we would have a bit of time to kill...



We started our explorations of Hanoi by walking around the Old Quarter which is a bustling hub of narrow twisting streets full of scooters on the road and all matter of goods on the footpath. Trying to navigate the two is a challenge at the best of times. The French Quarter, on the other hand, is like a sterile version of Paris with wide streets and handsome buildings without the heart and soul. The city centre is easily manageable on foot and combined with a more agreable temperature, we were able to give our flabby legs (from all the sitting on buses and not a lot of exercise) a good work out.



The next couple days were filled with touristy activities which was also a bit of a novelty after a long stretch without entering a single museum. We started by visiting the National Art Museum which was ok but not great. It seemed that although it could have been a decent collection, none of the artworks were very well preserved or restaured and the general standard of the works was pretty low and crude. On the other hand, some of the art galleries we visited in the centre show that Vietnam has some wonderful contemporary artists, as well as some very crafty copiers of classic works.



We have also taken a new liking for any type of shopping centre to the point where we can not resist visiting one if we even just catch a glimpse of the escalators. We love how delightfully cool and orderly they are. If they have a Nike store or any other brand we know, then it's the jackpot and we spend a few minutes perusing the neat racks of predictable merchandise. It's embarassing but it's true!



On our third day, we woke up especially early to go visit Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum complex and although the waiting lines were a bit frightening, we were both glad we stuck it out as the experience was both sobering and memorable. Uncle Ho's body is displayed at the centre of a dark cool room, inside a glass coffin with uniformed guards at each corner. His face and hands are lit and he appears to be glowing. As thousands of people walk around him everyday, the leader that the Vietnamese revere looks sound asleep. Even the crazy Korean woman directly (and I mean directly) behind us stopped pushing and calmed down for a while.



As usual, the rest of our time was filled looking for good breakfast, coffee and lunch places to add to our list. We succeeded partly as the coffee in Vietnam is divine, strong and sweet. Pho, the staple dish is always a good fallback and we are enjoying the last of our baguette opportunities (before heading to China).



As we seem to now accumulate them wherever we go, we were in the Capital City in time to celebrate two public holidays with the crowds. The first one was "Liberation Day" on the 30th of April, which marks the day when the Viet Minh conquered Saigon and defeated the American army. We celebrated with circus performances and fireworks around the lake. Never had we seen fireworks being greeted with so much applause, cheers and cries of joy. That was something else and we were both stunned, expecting the Western blase attitude to such things. Afterwards, the streets were like a river full of scooters but it wasn't flowing at all. We spent 5 minutes on one street corner contemplating how we might get through as there was not a single gap left between the bikes, only chaos. The next day, we celebrated "International Labour Day" which I suspect people only bothered with because the stage for performances was already set up from the day before.



Our last day wasn't great since I seemed to have an adverse reaction to the widespread use of MSG in the kitchen and spent the day in agony with a terrible headache and nausea. We planned a trip to Halong Bay to fill the remaining time until our passports can be picked up and also worked out the next couple months, through China, Mongolia, Russia and Scandinavia which should get us back to Nice sometime in July.