I woke up fairly early to turn the fan off as it was chilling me slightly and noticed something quite cool – the light switches in my room glow in the dark! No more scrambling around trying to find them! What a great idea.

Anyway, I nodded back off again only to be woken by Vietnam’s answer to Smashie And Nicie warming up for tonight’s disco across the road. At least it was only 7:30 – half an hour before my alarm. I snoozed for a bit then gave up and did my situps, donned a t-shirt and trunks and headed for the beach.

Running with no music is definitely not as easy. Maybe it’s just me, but I get an adrenaline rush from some songs and having them on random is like being at a gig when I get lost in my own world. Instead, I plodded along and let my mind forget about my legs and concentrate on the surroundings. It’s surprising how much you notice around you when you “tune out”.

The patterns of shells on the beach, for one. The way they follow the curve of the water that washes in. Also that some waves come in very low and deposit a thick black line, like a child drawing in crayon on the sand. The little footprints heading towards the holes in the sand that either belong to the crabs that live there, or the birds that are trying to have them for breakfast. The way the sand actually changes consistency over the handful of seconds after the water washes over it, then draws back; and the colour change from dark to light orange as this water drains away.

 I didn’t run as far as yesterday, again I think as I couldn’t really get into a rhythm. Damn you, Sanyo, and your cheap switches! I did have a nice splash in the sea to cool off before running back up the beach. As I got back to my “exit”, I spotted another loony on a moped. This one weighted down with three crates of beer bottles and a tray of Coke. I defy you to figure that one out – he was using no boards, supports, straps or anything. Just the moped.

After breakfast and playtime with the puppy, I decided to go to the Marble Mountains as it’s the nearest tourist attraction and therefore wouldn’t cost much. Armed with my Lonely Planet and the ability to say “no” and mean it to anyone who insisted on showing me around, I walked up to the end of the street, crossed over and picked up a one-girl convoy who insisted I look in her marble shop when I left the Mountains. I also bumped into a Finnish guy I’d met in Hanoi who was zooming off somewhere else with his friends. We arranged to meet later for a couple of beers, but he never showed up.

I chose to ignore the woman trying to sell me water outside with cries of “none inside – only water out here”. Lo and behold, I soon discovered she was fibbing.

Shaking off my escort, I walked to the second entrance (which, as it turns out is the one LP tells you not to use, but it’s directions aren’t great), forked out my 15,000d (not 10,000d as LP states) and walked up some very steep steps.

 And some more very steep steps.

Then a few more.

This was the point when I started to think that coming up at 6pm when the sun is down (and there is no entry fee) may have been a better idea. Ah well. Live and learn – I believe is something other people do.

Once I got my bearings and realised I was doing the LP route backwards. I started wandering around. There are really some stunning views to be had, both inland towards the river and over towards the South China Sea. I took plenty of photos, both of the outstanding scenery and the carvings within the caves. Some are simply gorgeous, with sunlight streaming in through natural holes in the “ceiling”. Smoke from incense burners adds to the atmosphere and you can’t help but feel a little “Indiana Jones” as you step foot into a naturally-hewn cavern with stalactites dripping from the roof.

I thoroughly enjoyed the wander, including finding some crannies that LP didn’t mention. And failing to find some that they did, including the “door [which] leads to two stalactites, dripping water which local legelds describes as coming from heaven” in the Huyen Khong Cave. And believe me, I looked for ages. No doorway.

Sometimes I wonder when they last checked the information in their books, as the Ong Chon gate is most definitely not “pockmarked with bullet holes”. In fact, it looked in very good and colourful nick.

 I spent an hour longer than I expected walking around and had a great time. Even the fauna was amazing. I think I spotted the largest butterfly I have ever seen and never have I encountered so many dragonflies in one place.

Back to Hoa’s to find that he’d already organised my ride to the airport tomorrow for me, and reminded me I needed to call Max and Mike in Hanoi about my ATM card. Top bloke. Sadly, said card still hadn’t arrived, so when I get to HCM City I need to find somewhere to Skype from and ring Nationwide to get them to send another one. Hopefully I have enough time for this one to reach my folks and get to Christchurch before I arrive there.

A quick change into trunks, and a wander to the beach. I had a quick swim then sat and watched some others from the hostel play volleyball. Two Vietnamese insisted I sit with them and then forced me to drink several glasses of rice wine. The savages. Despite me speaking no Vietnamese and they speaking no English, we managed a conversation of sorts. They discovered that I don’t like fish, and I discovered that they likes my tattoo and beard – which looks like Uncle Ho’s.

Dinner was much the same as last night (that is, delicious) and I spent a good while afterwards seeing if I could get Charlie the pup to dangle from my beard by his teeth. He’s taking a shine to my facial hair. If you can call attempting to savage it at every opportunity “a shine”.

Early to bed this evening as I’m physically drained.

I’m also working on an extra page for this blog, listing all the places I’ve stayed at on my travels. Speaking to some people, a lot of travellers check out blogs for this kind of info as you get a personal account of the accomodation. So, to make things easier, I’m rattling off a separate web page with contact details etc for the places I’ve crashed in and what I thought of them. 

The best night’s sleep I’ve had in ages. I only woke up once and that was to turn the fan off as I just didn’t need it. Other than that, I slept right through from 10pm to 8am, being woken by my alarm for the first time in ages.

Sticking to a plan I’ve had for a week or so now, I started the day with 100 situps. This hurt. I’ve done next to no exercise since I left the UK other than walking. While I’ve been in Hanoi, I played football every Sunday morning for an hour until the pitch was booked out from under us by someone with more money. Then there was the fateful swimming/sunburn incident. Ow.

I then attempted 100 pressups, but as my wrists are still somewhat dodgy I couldn’t finish them. Instead, I donned a shirt and trunks and went for a jog on the beach.

This is how to start a day. A quiet beach, clean surf, and an MP3 player with just the right motivational music. I expected to do maybe a mile. I ended up doing nearer two, then stopping for a quick swim when I got back near Hoa’s Place.

Andrew WK screaming “I get wet”, Hatebreed belting out that “If you don’t live for something then you’ll die for nothing” and Machine Head advising that you should “Let freedom ring with a shotgun blast” are way more motivational (to me) than any pumped up gym-jockey gurning obscenities. At least they were until my mp3 player died. It now just constantly switches itself off and back on. Off and back on. Never getting as far as playing anything. Using the “key lock” button stops this happening, so I can only assume the on/off button’s shorted. Brilliant.

By the time I’d showered and had my rather delicious fresh fruit and yoghurt breakfast, my legs had decided to revolt. Maybe I should consider stretching. Or doing less exercise at my age. Or just doing it again tomorrow and the day after. I don’t think a morning jog will be an option in Ho Chi Minh City.

I spent most of the day reading and eating the great food provided by the Hoa clan. A trip to the Marble Mountain had to be postponed as the heavens opened in the late afternoon. Four people who’d hired mopeds returned like drowned rats. On scooters.

Dinner was “same same, but different” to the previous night. A smorgasbord of Vietnamese deliciousness from rice to wheat noodles to a thick soup and chunks of chicken in lemongrass. I ate till I was bursting then sat and chatted to an English mother and daughter and a Kiwi couple who have done a lot of travelling.

Just after 11:00, a small group headed down to the beach and I joined them. Pitch black, a handful waded into the water for a swim. One guy sat on the beach and played guitar. I simply stood with the warm surf washing over my feet staring at the stars.

 “Hoa” is pronounced “Hwa”, by the way. A nice, quick sound. Not “Hoe-A”. Just so you know!

The bus went through Hue before stopping for lunch at a beautiful hotel and restaurant with a stunning coastline view at the back. I had an utterly delicious beef fried rice with fresh veg at a stupidly reasonable 30,000d before re-boarding for the last leg.

Through Da Nang where the confused ticketmaster made me disembark to get a bike, before the girl in the bookings office chased after the bus and got me back on it with instructions to the driver to let me off at Marble Mountain.

Within 15 minutes, the bus pulled off the main road. Due to roadworks, it has to take a diversion at the moment, so I had to walk a whole extra 200m or so. This was the diversion which the driver had originally reckoned made it impossible for me to get the bus to Mr Hoa’s.

Less than five minutes after being dropped off, I was walking down the lane to Hoa’s Place with a young Vietnamese girl (probably one of Mr Hoa’s many daughters!) telling me all about the Marble Mountain and how the Vietnamese had hidden there during the war while the Americans bombed it.

 We arrived at Hoa’s Place to have a wonderfully warm smile beamed at my by a Vietnamese gentleman saying “You Iain?”. I shook hands with Mr Hoa, a man of great warmth and many talents. He’s the only Vietnamese I have met who can say “Top o’ the mornin’ to ya” and actually sound Irish.

OK, hardly warranting a spot on TV but I was impressed.

I dropped my stuff in my room (fan only – I’m saving cash so opted for non-aircon) and went for a quick walk up and down the beach.

It’s beautiful.

The water is so clear that even at about 5 feet in depth, you can see your feet perfectly. I’d reckon you could easily double that if you were tall enough. The sand is clean of all debris save a handful of broken shells, and is the finest golden sand I think I have ever seen in my life. Hills lie to the north and south, and a fishing boat is moored a couple of hundred metres offshore.

 There are very few people out and about, though I got accosted by a couple of children asking the usual questions about where I’m from and responding to my answer of “England” with “Lubbly jubbly”. Funnily, I’ve not heard this since I was in Thailand! Kids there must watch too much TV as well. I really should re-teach them all to say “Howay, man Oz”, “Don’t mention the war” or something instead.

Later in the afternoon I ventured back out, and this time there were several groups of kids playing football and volleyball. I got roped into a short game of volleyball in the sea whilst I was splashing around enjoying the scenery.

After showering, I sat and read until dinner was served. For 50,000d the Hoa’s serve up quite a generous platter, though I could have eaten more. Given that I only had one meal today, though, that’s to be expected. The beer here is cheap (though I’m avoiding it due to financial ARGH) and the breakfasts and lunches are also very reasonable. No need to shop around for food, then!

 Mr Hoa also has one of the cutest puppies in the world, ever. He certainly has a thing for making the most of those new-found pointy teeth! My ankle has teeny puncture marks as do some of my toes.

As we were settling down to eat, some sound-checking started up in a compound across the street. Apparently this had started at 5am or thereabouts. Nobody seems to know exactly what it is, though the grounds themselves are a police training academy or something similar.

After some blaring music, we were treated to a goon shouting “mawt, mawt-hai, mawt-hai-ba”. Yes, folks, it’s the same the world over: “One. One-two. One-two-three”. I always thought they used “two” because of the hard “t” sound at the start. Or maybe soundcheckers just like sounding like they’re spitting down a microphone.

Not long after dinner finished, I made my excuses and headed for my room. After a 5:30am wake-up on Wednesday, and sleeping on a coach overnight after that I was drained. Just enough stamina to write this up and then zzzzz. 

4pm and time to pop out and get the money out to pay for my accomodation at the Hostel. Grand total was slightly over 5 million dong, and Mike just rounded it down. That sounds like a lot, but at current exchange rates, it’s around £150. This includes accomodation for 40 nights, a passport visa extension, my bus ticket to China Beach, a flight from Da Nang to Ho Chi Minh City and more bottled water, Coke and beer than I can even hope to remember.

So, off I wandered to the ATM with my Lloyds card – the backup I’m having to use as the Nationwide one still hasn’t appeared. Maximum withdrawal from any ATM here is 2 million dong per shot, and it costs 20,000d plus Lloyds’ charge of £2. Thieving… *ahem*

Anyway, I used one machine to withdraw my first 2 million, the moved to another machine for the second. The last thing I wanted was someone to spot me withdrawing a fortune. At the second machine, I hit the 200,000d button by accident and paid about £2.66 to withdraw around £6. Arse. I then withdrew another 2 million.

Then I thought, sod it, nobody else was watching so I withdrew the final 2 million. Only the machine said my transaction has been denied by my bank and to naff off. Fine, be like that.

I walked over the road to the TechComBank machine sat by the stairs at the City View Cafe, inserted my card, banged in my PIN, hit the 2 million button and waited.

Only to be told that my transaction time had expired (whatever that means) and that the machine was retaining my card.

Oh.

No.

So there I was, one million short of the money I needed to pay my bill and with no spending money when I left Hanoi even if I could scrape it up. And no means of withdrawing money from anywhere. Screwed.

I headed back to the Hostel and Skype’d LLoyds who informed me that “the card shouldn’t have been withheld” (how comforting) and that my withdrawal was refused as I’d tried to go over my daily limit. I find this surprising as the last I knew, I had a £250-a-day limit on the card and I’d not even tried to withdraw £200.

They put me through to a woman at Visa in the States who sounded like one of those Speak and Spell machines. In fact, I honestly thought I was talking to an electronic switchboard for the first few minutes, such was her unbelievable accent. She told me they could arrange to send me out an emergency card if I gave them an address. Fine, how long will it take?

“I can’t answer that until you provide me with an address.”

“I can’t give you an address until you tell me how long it will take.”

It was now almost 5pm. My bus was due to pick me up at 6:30. I hadn’t packed or eaten. This time tomorrow I would be in a different city. Three days after that and I would be in Ho Chi Minh City and I hadn’t arranged any accomodation.

We went round in circles until I agreed to give her the address I was going to immediately – Hoa’s Place, just outside Da Nang. I was given a case reference number and a phone number “in the UK” to call if I had any queries.

At this point I rang Lou and pretty much just sent waves of panic and anguish down the interwebnet all the way to New Zealand. She suggested seeing if someone could loan me the cash – someone with a UK bank account, into which I could immediately transfer the monies to replace it. Genius.

Fortunately, I found one such kind soul and he withdrew 2 million Dong for me. With his bank details, I transferred an equivalent sum (plus a few bob) into his account. Rent payment sorted.

After a few minutes, I realised it would be best to send the card to HCM City rather than Hoa’s Place, allowing for time taken. I re-rang Visa, realised that the number I’d been given was incorrect, called Lloyds, was told that the number was in the US (and not the UK as I’d been told), redialled, waited ages and got talking to another agent who put me on the line to the person at Lloyds who was dealing with the problem. She said that everything had been OK’d and she was about to send the confirmatoin fax to Visa. All very swift. Then we realised that the Visa dude had vanished from the line. So I had to ring them back. Again.

By now my soul had surrendered to the messages of forced politeness telling me how important my call was to them. It certainly is if they have shares in Skype.

Finally, person number three. They told me that if I had the card sent to HCM it would arrive on Friday via DHL – 3 days before I got there. If I had it send to Da Nang, it would take until Monday – the day after I left. So, HCM it would be. Only I had no accomodation booked in advance. OK – British Consulate.

With some digging I got the address of the Consulate… only Visa also needed a name to deliver to as consulates will often “bounce” packages with no recognised name on them for security reasons. I think I got the name of the Consulate General or similar from the web site – I only hope she works in HCM and not in the main Embassy in Hanoi.

I also emailed the Consulate to notify them of the arrival of the package and that I would be there to collect the card on Monday morning first thing.

All sorted, methinks. Only to then be told that as the card is shipped “pre-activated”, it has no PIN. So I can’t use it to withdraw cash from an ATM. I’ll have to go into a bank. Which means I’ll get charged £2 by Lloyds plus a fee by the bank at this end (which can be as high at 7%!). I also have no idea if a replacement “regular” card is being sent out.

Regardless – 18:25 and I dash upstairs to the barbequeue that I’m missing out on to hand Mike my last million dong, and to wish everyone a sadly rushed farewell. I didn’t even have time to grab a burger as I was being collected at 6:30 and I now had 2 minutes to pack all my things.

I was literally stuffing the last few items into my rucksack when the receptionist came to tell me the bus taxi was waiting. Argh. I was in such a rush I left two milk drinks and a Snickers in the fridge. Dammit.

To be honest, I’m most narked at not getting a chance to say a proper goodbye to everyone with a burger and a beer. That and only having a million dong in my pocket to last me to HCM City as it means I can do pretty much knack all between here and there and I’ll be bricking it that the card makes it as I have no way of getting internet access again until Sunday night.

At least I made it in good time to the bus. Which typically sat for almost an hour after we arrived before departing.

I’ll say one thing, though. You hear a lot of horror stories about the conditions of buses in Asia, but the one I boarded was fine. Aircon (though it was set to Mr Freeze Ray and I had to turn it off), decent driver who spoke enough English to be helpful, clean, no smoking on board (no signs… just nobody did), fairly comfy though not exactly National Express…

One thing that really “took” me was a late arrival in the form of a youngish female passenger. The only spare seat was next to the co-driver in the front row, and when she got tired, he slept lying down in the walkway so she could have both seats. That’s customer service for you.

 Today I will be leaving a city that has very much become “home” for almost 6 weeks. I have mixed feelings about moving on, in all honesty. Despite the pickpocket (who I still wish incredibly nasty things to happen to), Hanoi has been incredibly good to me and a wonderful experience. I’ve met some great people, made good friends I know I will keep, seen things I never thought I’d see and witnessed a culture that I am completely taken by.

But time moves on. I have places to be and people to see. However, there is no doubt in my mind that I will return to Hanoi someday, perhaps next year.

I am starting this post at the Blue Dragon office off Hong Ha near Long Bien market. I had to come and say goodbye to everyone and it’s going to be a very sad event. The staff here are some of the nicest people it has ever been my pleasure to meet, both the Vietnamese and the foreign volunteers. Many of these people are giving up their time for free to help the most important resource Vietnam has – it’s children.

 How could I not mention the kids? Without exception they’re smart, hard-working, dedicated, loving, friendly, strong, brave… I could run out of superlatives if I allowed myself to go on. They have made me feel as welcome as any person ever has and I am genuinely very sad indeed to be leaving them behind. I hope with all my heart that one day each and every one gets to the point in life where they can have the opportunity to do what I am doing and see other parts of the world. Perhaps they will themselves “give something back” and help someone else, somewhere else. Regardless, there’s not a doubt in my mind that every one of these children will succeed in whatever direction they decide to go.

It has been a privilege to work with these young people. Even the ones who enjoy tugging at my beard or telling me that Zidane is better than Shearer!

Again, I’ll ask anyone who’s not done so to please check out the Blue Dragon website from where you can donate some cash to help this hugely worthwhile cause. Vietnam has a very low cost of living compared to the west, so even a small donation from you could make a huge difference over here.

Begging over 🙂

At the time of typing, my ATM card has yet to appear. Speaking to Skye, she reckons that 3 weeks is realistic for airmail to make it here. This would mean my card arriving next week sometime. I’m part-tempted to leave cancelling the “lost” one for a couple more days. If it turns up before the end of the week, Mike or Max could concievably forward it to the British Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City for me to collect. However, this delay may mean that the replacement card won’t make it to Christchurch before me…

 As it stands, though, I’m going to get stung by Lloyds TSB for at least one cash withdrawal in each of Vietnam, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. At least in Oz and NZ (possibly Singapore), I should be able to use my credit card for a lot of purchases. It’s Nationwide as well, so no penalty fee for using it abroad. Annoyingly, the hostel I’m currently at don’t take plastic at all (not that many places in Vietnam do, to be honest) so I’m going to have to make three withdrawals to cover my outstanding accomodation bill.

To put this in perspective, that’s £6 in fees as I can only withdraw 2 million dong a shot from an ATM and my current bill is just shy of 5 million dong. £6 is roughly $US11 at the current exchange rate – that’s two nights’ accomodation right there.

I got a nice reply back from the Gecko Lodge in Darwin, where I’ll be staying in about 12 days. I’m arriving at around 3am and normal procedure is “no arrivals until 8am” without prior arrangement unless booking for the previous night (i.e. the one you’re arriving halfway through) as well. I explained my predicament regarding cash and the email back simply read “Iain – crash in the lounge until reception opens”. Superb – my other option was to sleep in the airport and get a later bus down.

Looking at the tours they provide, I’ll have to make another visit anyway. Virtually every one is 3 days or more and involves camping out in various locations in the Northern Territories. Money allowing (come on, house sale, hurry up and complete), I may head up there after Melbourne and go on one of the longer tours. To be honest, there’s not a lot on offer for someone who’s there for 3 nights, although I’ll be happy just to take in the beach and the nearby Charles Darwin National Park. Treat this as a “scouting trip” to see what the place is like.

 Sydney is going to be very much a flying visit. Option 1 was to hoik all my kit into the CBD from the airport at 9am and find a place to stay. The cheapest places are in the Kings Cross area that I’ve been warned about, and some don’t offer (or at least advertise) secure lockers. Add to that, most places don’t allow checkin and storage until midday and I’d be wasting quite a bit of time. My flight out is at 7:50 the next morning, so I’d have to be leaving the hostel at 5am or thereabouts to get to the airport to check in.

Enter option 2: Deposit my major baggage in a locker at Terminal 2. This is likely to cost no more than $AUS15 – the same as the cheapest hostel but a heck of a lot more secure. Bagless (or with a small daypack) I can then make the much easier journey into the CBD and spend my time getting round as much of Sydney as I can before late evening. I’ll then head back to the airport using the still fully-functional (i.e. not night service) public transport, collect my luggage and sleep on a bench. I’m sure it’ll be at least as comfortable as Paddington Station was about 10 years ago!

I have also just booked my visit to the Kakapo Encounter, though this is partly provisional. It involves one long bus ride, two ferries, a hotel and a flight. The flight is the only one I’m certain I have booked. I really hope the rest come back as “OK” or I’m screwed…

I won’t have any interwebnet access until Sunday night without taking a motorbike from Hoa’s Place into Da Nang, so I’m going to leave updates until I get into Ho Chi Minh City. Hopefully, I’ll have plenty of photos of the beautiful beaches and countryside around Marble Mountain.