P6hja-Vietnam – Hanoi & Halongi laht // Northern Vietnam – Hanoi & Halong Bay

Huest p6hja poole j6udmiseks otsustasime me 14-tunnise rongis6idu kasuks, mis k6lab palju jubedamalt kui see oli. Reis oli tegelikult p2ris meeldiv, ja vaated m88duvale maastikule olid kaunid. Sellegipoolest olime me 6nnelikud kui l6puks 6htul Hanoisse kohale j6udsime ja jalutasime meelsasti paar kilomeetritVanalinna ja meie hosteli poole.

Hanoi on Vietnami traditsiooniline pealinn ning riigi teine suurim linn. Sarnaselt Saigonile on ta t2is hullumeelset liiklust, ent tegemist on ilusama linnaga, kuna Hanoil on kaunis ning p2ris h2sti s2linud vanalinn mida ymbritsevad mitmed ilusad j2rved. Mulle meeldis Hanoi Saigonist tunduvalt rohkem, ent v6imalik, et see tulenes sellest, et Hanoisse j6udnuna olin ma Vietnami linnade kaosega juba harjunud, samas kui vaiksest Austraaliast Saigonisse j6udmine oli p2ris shokeeriv.

Me veetsime Hanois yhe t2isp2eva, lihtsalt linnas ringi jalutades ja pealinna atmosf22ri uudistades. Meil oli plaanis Ho Chi Minhi Muuseumisse minna (mis on muuseum mitte ainult mehest endast, vaid kogu Vietnami l2hiajaloost), ent olime unustanud, et Vietnamis pannakse muuseumid keset p2eva paariks tunniks kinni – ja me saabusime just siis kui nad p2rast l6unat uksed kinni panid. Seega otsustasime me niisama Ho Chi Minhi kompleksis ringi jalutada. Kui Saigonit nimetatakse Ho Chi Minh City'ks, siis Hanois asub mees ise. Ho Chi Minhi Mausoleum on t6eline arhitektuuriline monstrum, hiiglaslik tumehall sammastega ehitis mis hoiab endas Vietnami Rahva Suure Kangelase surnukena (mehe enda soovide vastaselt, muuseas), mida valvavad 88p2evaringselt valgetes kostyymides valvurid. Me polnud juhi elutu keha n2gemisest piisavalt vaimustatud, et selle jaoks piletit osta, ja l2ksime maja niisama v2ljastpoolt vaatama. Juhuslikult sattusime me sinna just siis kui algas valvurite vahetus, mis oli p2ris lahe kokkusattumus.

6htu veetsime me vanalinna keskuses, mis l2heb pimeda saabumisega kohe rahvast paksult t2is. Inimesed tulevad, istuvad pisikestel plastiktoolidel ja joovad imeodavat 6lut (15 senti klaasi kohta) v6i j22teed (kohalike suur lemmik), v6i ostavad lugematutelt t2navatoidumyyjatelt syya, v6i j2lgivad niisama t2navatel toimuvat absoluutset kaost. Meie meeldivale 6htule j2rgnes paraku ebameeldiv ja uneta 88, kuna teist 6htut j2rjest hakkasid kell 10 6htul pihta naabermaja lammutust88d, survehaamritega ja puha, ja t88d kestsid terve 88. See ei olnud just eriti meeldiv.

J2rgmisel hommikul suundusime me Cat Ba saarele, paar tundi Hanoist idasse, et n2ha kuulsat ja kaunist Halongi lahte, kus lugematud teravatipulised kaljusaared k6rguvad tyrkiissinise mere kohal. Me saabusime saarele p2rastl6unal ning olime otsustanud 88bimiskoha leida kohapeal (st seekord mitte reserveerida). Me leidsime h6lpsasti koha mis tundus meile hea ja v6tsime seal endale toa 9ndal korrusel, koos r6duga millelt avanes vaade imekaunile sadamale. Me j2tsime oma asjad hotelli ja l2ksime v2lja jalutama ja 6htust s88ma. Kui me 6htul pimedas tagasi j6udsime ja toas tule p6lema panime, n2gime me kohe yhe voodi peal laisklevat voodilutikat (toas oli kolm suur voodit, ja k6igis saare hotellides oli tubades v2hemalt kaks suurt voodit – kummaline!). Me olime seni oma reisil suutnud kuidagi l2bi 6nne lutikatega kohtumist v2ltida, mist6ttu olime m6lemad ysna n8rdinud ning asusime tuba paremini l2bi otsima, et n2ha kui t6sine probleem on. Teise voodi vahtkummist madratsist leidsimegi terve hunniku voodilutikaid, kes k6ik proovisid valguse eest plehku pista. Kutsusime kohale 8ise administraatori – vanema tyybi r2pases valges maikas – ja n2itasime talle olukorda. Tema pakutud lahendus (mida ta seletas kehakeeles, kuna inglise keelest ei m6hkanud ta s6nagi) oli madrats v2lja vahetada teise, koridoris seisva madratsiga. Sellest me muidugi keeldusime, kuna nii t6sise probleemi korral on lutikad kindlasti k6ikjal toas (ja esimese lutika olime me pealekauba yldse teise voodi pealt leidnud). Uskumatul kombel oli ta j2rgmine ettepanek k6nealune madrats ymber p88rata – nagu see probleemi lahendada aitaks! Me tegime talle selgeks, et me olime hotellist lahkumas ja et meil polnud plaanis talle mitte midagi maksta. P2rast pikka torisemist ja veidi meie peale karjumist andis ta meile l6puks meie passid tagasi (n6medal kombel kysivad enamik Vietnami hotelle kylaliste passe enda k2tte hoiule) ja lasi meil minna. Me jalutasime paar maja edasi ja leidsime teise, puhta ja lutikavaba hotelli, mis kyll maksis veidi rohkem, ent kuna aeg oli hiline, ei olnud meil selle vastu suurt midagi.

J2rgmisel hommikul oli ilm hall ja vihmane kui me 2rkasime – seda kell 6 hommikul, naabermajas t88tava survehaamri peale. Paolo oli t2iesti meeleheitel, kuna ta polnud mitu 88d j2rjest saanud korralikult magada, ja me olime sunnitud j2rjekordselt hotelli vahetama. Selles olukorras polnudki halb ilm ebameeldiv, kuna hea ilmaga oleks sellise asja peale aega raisata v2ga n6me olnud. L6puks leidsime me hea koha mis oli puhas, lutikavaba ja meeldivalt vaikne. Me kontrollisime j2rgmise p2eva ilmateadet ja l2ksime endile laevatuurile kohti kinni broneerima, et l6puks Halongi lahte saada n2ha.

Ilmaennustus l2ks t2ppi ja j2rgmisel hommikul kui me sadamakai ja oma laeva poole jalutasime oli ilm ilus ja p2ikesepaisteline. Me s6itsime esmalt pooleldi ymber Cat Ba saare, l2bi Lang Ha lahe Halongi lahte, imetledes imekaunist vaadet lopsaka taimestikuga kaetud kaljusaartele ning nende vahel s6itvatele v2ikestele kaluripaatidele ja suurtematele turistilaevadele. Ainus negatiivne kylg oli pidevalt m88da hulpiv prygi, ent see pole enam midagi mis meid yllatab. Maailma ookeanid ja mered on nyydseks niiv6rd reostatud, et sellisest asjast enam p22su pole.

Me peatusime l6puks kohas kus meil lasti tund aega kanuudega kaljusaarte vahel ja koobastes ringi aerutada, mis oli ylimalt 2ge. Yks asi mida nii mina ja Paolo kyll t2heldasime, oli see, et kuigi me olime parasjagu erakordselt vapustavas ja uskumatult kaunis paigas, ei olnud me sellest niiv6rd vaimustatud kui oleks v6inud arvata v6i oodata. Viga on lihtsalt selles, et me oleme viimaste kuude (ja tegelikult viimaste aastate) jooksul n2inud nii palju kauneid ja erilisi kohti, et oleme m6lemad uute paikade suhtes muutunud veidi tuimemaks. Sellest on muidugi kahju, ent samas t2hendab see seda, et meil on seljataga palju erinevaid kogemusi, ja kui me nyyd n2eme midagi, mis meid t6esti vaimustab, siis on see sellev6rra veel erilisemgi.

P2rast kanuuga s6itmist pakuti meile laeval yllatavalt rikkalikku ja maistvat l6unat (kogu p2evatuur maksis ainult 13 USA dollarit ja meil polnud teeninduse suhtes just eriti k6rgeid ootusi), misj2rel peatusime kohas kus meil lasti ujuda (kuna puhus p2ris jahe tuul, ei yhinenud me osade kaasreisijatega vettehyppamises – r22kimata sellest, et ringi hulpiv prygi ja vett kohati kattev 6line kiht oli samuti ysna vastumeelne). Viimase peatuse tegime me v2ikesel saarel kus saime pisikese m2e otsa ronida ja vaadet imetleda. Saart kutsutakse Ahvide Saareks, ja seal leidus v2ike hulk uudishimulikke ahve ka – ent me olime ahvide imetlemisest Balil isu t2is saanud ja eelistasime niisama rannas istumist. Paolo sai reisi jooksul s6braks yhe vanema Baskimaalt p2rit hispaania h2rrasmehega, kellega nad pikalt v2lispordi armastusest jutustasid (st rattas6idust ja matkamisest).

J2rgmisel p2eval naasesime me Hanoisse, et seal veeta meie viimased kaks 88d Vietnamis. Saabumisep2eva 6htul l2ksime me vanalinna jalutama ja oma suureks (ja meeldivaks) yllatuseks avastasime, et n2dalavahetuseti on vanalinnas 88turg, mist6ttu suletakse suur osa keskusest mootorliiklusele. Hurraa! T2nu sellele oli meie 6htune jalutusk2ik eriliselt meeldiv (vaatamata suurele rahvamassile – jalak2ijate v2ltimine on siiski v2hem ohtik ja ebameeldiv kui motikate ja autode eest 2ra p6iklemine) ja me leidsime eriti m6nusa t2navatoidu koha, kus me s6ime imemaitsvat kartuli-loomaliha-juurvilja asjandust.

Me olime oma viimaseks p2evaks planeerinud taaskord Ho Chi Minhi Muuseumisse minna, ent avastasime, et esmasp2eviti on pea k6ik muuseumid Vietnamis suletud. Tundub et meile polnud sinna minemine lihtsalt ette m22ratud! Selle asemel l2ksime me hoopis hea kohvi peale raha kulutama – muidu olime me koguaeg tavalist vietnami kohvi joonud, millest ma olin juba varem kirjutanud. Seekord l2ksime me 'p2ris' kohvikusse ja maksime topelthinda (st siiski ainult ca 2 eurot) ja ostsime maitsva kookosekohvi. Kohvidega l2ksime me Hanoi kesklinna j2rve 22rde ja nautisime erakordset rahu sellest, et olime liiklusest paari meetrit eemaldatud.

Seej2rel suundusime me yhte v2hestest esmasp2eviti avatud olevatesse muuseumidesse – Hỏa Lò vanglasse. Vangla ehitati 19. sajandi l6pus prantslaste poolt, p2rast seda kui nad Vietnami olid okupeerunud ning tollal oli see yks nende Indohiina suurimatest karistusasutustest. Suure kompleksi ehitamiseks sundisid prantslased terve yhe kyla kotid kokku panema ja mujale liikuma. Sellega kaasnes see, et kohalik kauaaegne keraamikatraditsioon sai l6hutud – too kyla oli olnud kuulus keraamikatootja. Vanglasse pandi nii naisi kui mehi, seehulgas tavalisi kriminaale kui ka poliitvange. Vanglale pandi esmalt nimeks Prison Centrale (Keskvangla), ent hiljem muudeti see v2idetavalt paremini k6lavaks Maison Centrale'iks (Keskmaja). Olukord vanglas oli loomulikult kohutav ning alatoitumine ja haigused olid vangide seas tavap2rased. Kui Prantsusmaa oma Indohiina kolooniad kaotas, l2ks vangla yle Vietnami kontrolli alla. Vietnami s6ja ajal hoiti vanglas Ameerika s6javange, keda v2idetavalt koheldi ylimalt h2sti (terve sektsioon muuseumis oli pyhendatud fotodele ja filmidele, mis n2itasid kuidas j2nkisid vanglas 2ra hellitati – skeptilisemad hinged v6ivad spekuleerida, et paljud pildid olid lavastatud). Ameeriklased kutsusid vanglat sarkastiliselt Hanoi Hiltoniks. T2nap2eval on suurest kompleksist alles vaid v2ike osa ning see on nyyd muuseum – sealhulgas h2sti esitatud ja huvitav. Vietnami muuseumide yleyldine kvaliteet on olnud meeldiv yllatus – n2itused on olnud huvitavad, juuresk2iv tekst on h2sti kirjutatud ja arusaadav ning pea alati jutustab muuseum tervikliku loo ja ei j22 tunnet, et justkui on eri eksponaadid suvaliselt kokku visatud.

P2rast viimast ja v2ga meeldivat 6htut Hanoi vanalinnas (taaskord maitsva t2navatoidu ja odava 6llega) naasesime oma kylalistemajja (seekord v2ga meeldiv koht, ja vaikne!), et seal veeta viimane 88 Vietnamis enne j2rgmisel hommikul Filipiinidele s6itmist. Kirjutamise hetkel on k2es juba reisi teine lend, oleme lendamas Hong Kongist Cebu suunas, hetkel just L6una-Hiina mere kohal.

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To get to the North from Hue, we opted for a 14-hour daytime train journey, which sounds much worse than what it was. It was actually quite pleasant, and the scenery was beautiful. We were still happy to finally arrive in Hanoi in the evening, and set off to walk towards the Old Town and to our hostel.

Hanoi is the traditional capital of Vietnam, and the country's second-largest city. While full of crazy traffic like Saigon, it is a prettier city, with a well-preserved old quarter, and lots of greenery around its many lakes. I have to say that I much preferred Hanoi to Saigon, but it may simply have been that after a few weeks, the chaos of Vietnamese cities was no longer as jarring as it was when we arrived in the South from peaceful Australia lol.

We spent one full day in Hanoi, just walking around and checking out what the capital was all about. We did plan to go to the Ho Chi Minh Museum (which is actually a museum not just about the guy himself, but about Vietnamese recent history in general), but forgot that Vietnamese museums all close for a few hours during lunchtime, and we arrived just as they closed their doors in the afternoon. So we opted to stroll around the huge Ho Chi Minh complex instead. While Saigon is named Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi is the place that actually has the man himself. The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is a true architectural monster, a huge dark-grey pillared edifice that holds the body of the Vietnamese People's Great Hero (against his wishes, mind), protected around the clock by guards dressed in pristine whites. We weren't interested enough to pay the admission price to see the leader's lifeless body, but instead marvelled at the thing from the outside. We were lucky to happen there just in time for the changing of the guards, so that was a pretty cool coincidence.

We spent the evening in the Old Quarter proper, which gets very crowded when it's dark, with people coming to sit on tiny plastic benches on the street, drink the super cheap beer (15 cents per glass) or iced tea (as many locals do), buy food from any of the multitudes of street food vendors, and just marvel at the absolute chaos of the city. Our nice evening was disappointingly followed by a second consecutive night of bad sleep, since the demolition works of the building next door to our hostel began at 10pm, complete with sledgehammer, and lasted throughout the night. That was a bit of a bummer.

The next morning we headed to Cat Ba island, a few hours east on the coast, to see the famously beautiful Halong Bay with its jagged islets rising out of the turquoise sea. We arrived on the island in the afternoon, and had decided to find a place to stay when we got there (as opposed to prebooking). We found what we thought to be a nice place, got a room on the 9th floor with a balcony overlooking the beautiful harbour, left our stuff and went out for a stroll and dinner. When we came back in the evening, and turned on the light in our room, we found a big-ass bed bug lounging on one of the three double beds (all rooms on Cat Ba had a minimum of two double beds per room for some reason). We had been wonderfully spared of any encounters with these notorious pests on our travels so far, so we were both quite gutted, and proceeded to inspect the beds for signs of more of them. And more of them we did find – the porous foam mattress of the middle bed, once stripped of bedding, revealed huge nests of the little buggers, all trying to scurry out of the light. We went down to get the night receptionist, an older guy in a dirty white tank top, and showed him what was up. His solution (in body language, he did not speak a word of English) was to first offer to swap the mattress with another one that had been standing in the corridor. We obviously refused, since the other beds would be infested as well (we had found the first bug on one of the other beds). Astonishingly, his next proposal was to turn over the bedbug mattress – as if that would help lol! We made it clear that we were leaving and were not planning on paying. After a lot of scowling and some yelling, he finally gave us back our passports (which nearly all hotels here annoyingly insist to keep until you check out) and let us go. We walked a few doors down and got a clean room in another hotel for a slightly higher price, but since it was already quite late, we didn't really mind.

The next morning we awoke to horrible grey and rainy weather – at 6am, to the sounds of a sledgehammer next door. Paolo was desperate, not having had a good night's sleep in days, and we were forced to change hotels once again. In this situation, we were actually glad to have had bad weather, since it would have really sucked to have to waste a nice day in search of a place where we can actually get some sleep. Finally we found a nice place that was clean, had no bedbugs, and was blissfully quiet. We checked the forecast for the next day, our final one on the island, and with confidence went to book ourselves on a boat tour of the bay for the following day.

The weatherman had been correct, and the next day dawned sunny and glorious as we made our way towards the pier and our ship. We sailed halfway around Cat Ba island, across Lang Ha Bay and into Halong Bay, marvelling at the stunning scenery of all the rocky islands, covered in lush vegetation, jutting out of the beautiful waters, with lots of small fishing boats and larger tourist vessels zigzagging in between them. The only downside was the constant floating rubbish in the water, but this is something that we have come to expect. Our oceans and seas are far too polluted by now that there is simply no escaping it.

We stopped then at a place where we got to spend an hour kayaking among the rocks and in caves, which was a lot of fun. One thing though that both Paolo and I noticed was that while we were in this exceptionally amazing and jawdroppingly beautiful place, we were not quite as awestruck as we would have expected (or liked) to be. It is simply that we have been to and seen so many amazing places in the last months (and in the last years, really) that we seem to have become somewhat desensitized to new sights. It is a bit of a pity, but then it just means that we have a wealth of experience under our belts, and when we do get to see a place that really strikes us, then it will be all the more special for that.

After the kayaking, we had a surprisingly rich and tasty lunch (the whole day tour cost only 13USD so we didn't really have high hopes for the quality of the service), stopped in a place for a swim (it was quite breezy so we didn't really feel like joining some of our co-travellers for a swim, and even less so because of the trash floating in the water – and the film of oil that we could see on the surface, ew). Our final stop was at a small island where we got to climb up a small hill to admire the view. The place was called Monkey Island, and it had some monkeys there of course, but we had had our fill of witnessing monkey business in Bali, so we just chilled on the island instead. Paolo had a good long chat with an older Spanish gentleman from the Basque country, as they shared their love for outdoor sports (cycling and hiking).

The next day we returned to Hanoi to spend two last nights there before leaving the country. We went out on the evening that we arrived and discovered to our joyous surprise that in the weekends the Old Town is taken over by a night market – and consequently, all motorised traffic is banned from the area. Yay! We had an extremely pleasant stroll because of this (despite the huge crowds, but it is less bothersome – and less dangerous – to avoid fellow pedestrians than noisy scooters or cars) and found a lovely street food place, that cooked the most delicious potato/beef/vegetable thing ever.

The following day, our last in Vietnam, we had planned to go for a second try to see Ho Chi Minh Museum, but discovered that nearly all museums are closed on Mondays. I guess it just wasn't meant to be! Instead, we went and splurged on coffee for once – usually we have had the regular Vietnamese hardcore coffee that I wrote about in an earlier post. This time we went to an actual coffee shop and paid double the price (it still only amounted to 2 euros) and got a tasty coconut coffee. We took this to the promenade next to the lake in Hanoi's city centre and enjoyed the relative peace of being a few metres away from the traffic.

We then headed to one of the only museums open on a Monday – Hỏa Lò prison. The prison was built by the French in the late 19th century after having occupied Vietnam, to serve as one of their main penitentiaries in Indochina. To build the huge construction, they forced a whole village to relocate, destroying the area's long-lasting ceramics and pottery tradition – as the village had been renowned for its pottery arts. The prison held both men and women, including regular criminals but also political prisoners. The prison, first called Prison Centrale, was then renamed to the more benign-sounding Maison Centrale. The conditions were obviously horrendous, and malnutrition and disease was rampant among the prison population. When France lost its grip on Vietnam, the prison went under Vietnamese control. During the Vietnamese war, the prison was used to house American POWs, who were arguably treated very well (a whole section in the museum displayed photos and videos showing how the yankees were pampered during their incarceration, but I am a bit sceptical as to how much of these were in fact staged). The Americans sarcastically called the prison the Hanoi Hilton. Today only a part of the original huge complex remains and that is a museum – and a well-presented and interesting one at that. The quality of Vietnamese museums in general was a really nice surprise actually – the displays are interesting, the interpretation is comprehensive and complete, and there is nearly always a feeling of a story being told, and not just random exhibits thrown together with no thought.

After a last nice evening in the Old Quarter with tasty street food and cheap beer, we returned to our guest house (a very nice one this time, and no noise!) for the last night before heading to the Philippines in the morning. As I write this, we are on the second leg of our journey there, flying from Hong Kong to Cebu City, just right now above the South China Sea.

Hanoi

Ho Chi Minhi Muuseum, kuhu sisse me ei saanudki mindud // Ho Chi Minh Museum, that we never got to enter

Tuhandeaastane Yhe Samba Pagooda // The thousand-year-old One Pillar Pagoda

Valvurite vahetus Ho Chi Minhi Mauseoleumi ees // Changing of the guards in front of Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

Hanoi vanalinn // Old Quarter in Hanoi

Kassipoeg kookostega // Kitten with coconuts

Vaade Cat Ba saare linnale // View on Cat Ba City

Ja sama vaade teiselt poolt. Paraku saime vaadet nautida lyhidalt, kuna see avanes toast kust me voodilutikad leidsime // And the view to the other side. Unfortunately we got to enjoy this view very briefly, since it opened from the room where we found bedbugs.

Cat Ba saarel myydi k6iksuguseid mereande. Molluskite k6rval ka kilpkonnasid :( Ja odasabasid, kilpkonnade k6rval :( Odasabad on yrgv2hid kes on olemas olnud yle 450 miljoni aasta (nad olid siin juba dinosauruste ajal!). Nende organism on nii iidne, et nende veri on sinine, mitte punane. Odasabad on mulle pakkunud palju huvi juba kaua, ja mul oli kahju neid esimest korda p2riselt n2ha selliselt, s88gina, ja mitte vabas looduses. // All kinds of seafood was for sale on Cat Ba island. Alongside all kinds of molluscs, they also sold turtles :( And horseshoe crabs, next to the turtles :( Horseshoe crabs are one of the most ancient animals alive, they have been here for over 450 million years (and have coexisted with the dinosaurs!). Their organism is so ancient that their blood is blue, not red. I have been fascinated by horseshoe crabs for a long time, and it was such a pity that the first time I got to see them for real was like this, as food, and not in the wild.

Halongi lahe traditsiooniline laev // Traditional boat on Halong Bay

Lang Ha lahest Halongi lahe poole suundumas // Heading toward Halong Bay from Lang Ha Bay

Paolole meeldib laevaga s6ita // Paolo likes to ride on a boat

Halongi lahe kalurid elavad sellistes hulpivates elamutes, koduloomadega ja puha // Halong Bay fishermen live in these kinds of floating houses, complete with dogs and chickens

Vahetult enne toitu // Ready for some Vietnamese food!

Tyypiline t2navatoidukoht Hanois, tagaplaanil on n2ha k88k koos kokkadega // Typical street food place in Hanoi, the kitchen and the chefs are visible in the background

S88mine k2ib selliste miniatuursete toolide ja laudadega // Everyone eats at these tiny tables, on these tiny chairs

Hoa Lo vangla muuseumis - rekonstruktsioon 20. sajandi alguse poliitvangidest // Hoa Lo prison - reconstruction of the conditions political prisoners were kept in the early 20th century

M2lestusm2rk Hoa Lo vangla poliitvangidele // Memorial to the political prisoners kept in Hoa Lo prison

Atmosf22r Hanois // Hanoi atmosphere

Vana ja uus kultuur Kesk-Vietnamis // Old and new culture in Central Vietnam

P2rast n2dalat l6unas olime me teel Kesk-Vietnamisse, et esmalt kylastada Hoi Ani iidset linna ning seej2rel Hued, kunagist imperialistlikku pealinna. M6lemad linnad on ajalooliselt t2htsad ning kultuuri poolest rikkad.

Hoi An, hetkeseisuga 90.000 elanikuga linn, oli kunagi champa rahva pealinn. T2nap2eva elavad champad Edela-Vietnamis ning moodustavad riigi v2ikesest muslimikogukonnast enamiku. Hoi An oli sajandeid v2ga t2htis sadamalinn ja meelitas seet6ttu ligi kaupmehi yle kogu maailma, kellest paljud ka linna elama j2id. Paljud neist tulid Hiinast ja Jaapanist ning nende kultuurilised m6jud on Hoi Ani j22davalt iseloomustama j22nud. Hoi An ei ole seega koht vietnami kultuuri n2gemiseks, vaid pigem saab seal nautida tykikesi paljudest eri kultuuridest koos. Hoi Ani asukoht j6esuust veidi ylesvoolu oli purjelaevade ajastul plussiks, ent paraku ei olnud see sugugi sobilik suurtele aurulaevadele, mist6ttu kaotas linn t88stusrevolutsiooni j2rgselt kiiresti oma t2htsuse. Piirkonna t2htsamaiks sadamaks sai hoopis Hoi Anist natuke p6hjas asuv Da Nang, mis on t2nini suur laevanduslinn.

Hoi Ani juures on k6ige silmapaistvam ta imekaunis vanalinn, mis on ylimalt h2sti s2ilinud. Vanalinn on yhtlasi mootors6idukitele t2ielikult keelatud – mis on Vietnamis haruldane, ning v2ga meeldiv! Me saabusime linna varahommikul, p2rast ysna ebameeldivat ja pikka 8ist bussis6itu, mist6ttu suundusime me otsemaid oma kylalistemajja m6neks ajaks magama. Kui me keskp2eva paiku v2lja saime, l2ksime me esmalt kohalikku Ajaloo ja Kultuurimuuseumit kylastama, mille k6ige lahedam osa oli tegelikult ta viimasel korrusel asuv, ja Muuseumist t2iesti eraldiolev kunstin2itus. J2rgnevalt veetsime me terve ylej22nud p2rastl6una niisama vanalinnas ringi uidates, kauneid t2navaid nautides, k2sit88poode imetledes ning m6ningaid vaatamisv22rsusi kylastades, sh Jaapani Silda, mis on yhtlasi ka linna symbol. Kui p2ev 6htusse veeres, jalutasime me m88da jalak2ijatesilda vanalinna vastas asuvale j6esaarele, et kuulsat 88turgu kylastada ning kuskil 6htust syya.

Ma pole seni siia toidust kirjutanud, kuna mul on tunne, et toit on s88miseks, ja kui einet maitsta ei saa, siis mis sellest ikka kirjutada. Reisi jooksul oleme enamasti s88nud ylimalt maitsvaid toite, ent ka yhtteist p2ris keskp2rast (eelk6ige Indoneesias). Hoi An on aga tuntud kui Vietnami toidupealinn, ja see on juba omaette muljetavaldav, kuna kogu Vietnami k88k on olnud imemaitsev. Linna kuulsus oli aga 6igustatud – me saime seal syya eriliselt h6rke toite. Minu jaoks oli tipuks banh bao vac ehk valge roos – 6rn riisipelmeen, t2idetud hiidkrevettide ja/v6i sealihaga. Kohalik nuudliroog sealihaga, cao lầu oli samuti maitsev, ning wonton mis me s6ime oli uskumatult hea – tegu oli maisijahust tehtud 6hukese praetud kolmnurgaga, mille peale oli kuhjatud k6iksuguseid h2id juurvilju ning kalmaari- ja ananassitykke, ja k6ige peale pandi m6nusalt haput kastet. P6him6tteliselt nagu vietnami taco. Parim toit mis me s6ime ei olnudki yldse restoranis, vaid pigem t2navas88kla/turu moodi kohas, kus me istusime pisikese laua taga, pisikestel plastmasstoolidel – nagu Vietnamis kombeks. S88gid maksid k6ik umbes 1,5 eurot ja k6rvale j6ime 6lle, mille eest maksime 15 senti klaasi kohta. Yhes6naga saime syya nagu kuningad.

Teisel p2eval Hoi Anis kylastasime me My Soni, iidset champa templikompleksi. Tegu on umbes tuhandeaastase hinduistliku pyhapaigaga, mis on sarnane Kambodzha Angkor Watiga v6i Indoneesia Borobuduriga – k6igil on n2ha India m6jutusi – ent kuigi My Son on v2iksem ning kahjuks halvemini s2ilinud, on tegu Kagu-Aasia vanima selletaolise templiga. My Son seisis sajandeid vihmametsas unustusteh6lmas, kuni prantslased ta 19. sajandil taasavastasid. Vietnami s6ja ajal kasutasid Viet Congid My Soni baasina, mist6ttu sai ta ameeriklaste poolt k6vasti pommitatud. Paljud ehitised olid kas t2ielikult h2vitatud v6i t6siselt purustatud ning kompleksis ringi jalutades on 66vastav k6ikjal pommikraatreid n2ha.

6htu veetsime me taas Hoi Ani vanalinnas, kus me kohtasime juhuslikult teisi r2ndureid kellega koos me olime varasemalt bussis s6itnud. Vietnamis on naljakas see, kuidas peaaegu k6ik turistid reisivad m88da enam-v2hem sama rada, Saigonist Hanoisse (v6i vastupidi), peatudes vahepeal samades kuulsates paikades. See t2hendab et tihtilugu saab uutes paikades n2ha samu n2gusid. 6htust syyes tutvusime me ka yhe shoti-poola paariga, kes, me avastasime, olid j2rgmisel hommikul sama rongi peale minemas mis meiegi, Hue suunas.

P2rast lamamistoolidega odavate busside kohta internetist 6udusjuttude lugemist olime me otsustanud edaspidi rongiga reisida. Seega olime me Huesse s6iduks ostnud endale rongipiletid, ent pidime selleks esmalt 30 kilomeetri kaugusele Da Nangi linna j6udma, kuna Hoi Anis rongijaama ei ole. Otsustasime kohaliku bussiliini kasuks, kuna tegu oli odavaima v6imalusega. Olime internetis varasemalt lugenud, et bussikonduktorid kysivad v2lismaalastelt kahekordset piletihinda ning meie kylalistemaja omanik manitses meid samuti kindlasti mitte maksma rohkem kui 30.000 dongi (1,20 eurot), seega olime me valmis enda 6igusi kaitsma. Enne seda aga proovis meil naha yle k6rvade t6mmata taksojuht kes meid bussijaama oli s6idutanud – tyyp yritas meilt v6tta 100,000 dongi, vaatamata sellele, et taksomeeter n2itas selgelt 50,000. P2rast temaga v6itlemist ei tundunudki buss nii hull. Me j2rgisime internetis n2htud soovitust ja kontrollisime, et piletihinnad on tegelikult bussi ukse k6rval n2idatud, seega kui konduktor proovis meilt m6lemalt 60,000 dongi kysida, n2itasime me ukse suunas ja andsime talle teada, et teame kyll kui palju me maksma peame. Selle peale ta lihtsalt naeris ja j2ttis meid rahule. Ma kirjutan sellest vahejuhtumist, kuna sedasorti suhtumist, et v2lismaalasi on OK petta, leidub Vietnamis k6ikjal. Eriti halb on see vanema generatsiooni seas, kes ilmselt tunnevad, et p2rast s6jaraskuste yleelamist on neil on 6igus teistelt v2lja petta see, mis nendelt varem 2ra v6eti. See loogika on muidugi vigane ja pikemas perspektiivis teevad nad endale karuteene – Vietnam on yhe madalaima turistide taaskylastustasemega riik, vaid 5% kylastajatest tuleb siia tagasi. Teiste reisijatega r22kides v6i internetist teiste muljeid lugedes on selge, et vajadus koguaeg pettuste suhtes valvel olla ja kohalikega pidevalt v6idelda j2tab pysivalt halva kogemuse. On m2rke, et sedasorti kylastajate ebaaus kohtlemine ehk v2heneb noorte p6lvkondade pealetulekuga, ent uus seadusandlus aitaks olukorda ehk rohkem parandada, enne kui on liiga hilja ja Vietnami maine kui turismisihtpaik rahulolematute r2ndurite poolt pysivalt kahjustada saab.

Erinevalt Hoi Anist on Hue t6eline vietnami kultuuri keskus. Linn, mis on t2nap2eval koduks umbes miljonile inimesele, oli Vietnami pealinn Nguyeni dynastia aegu. Nguyenid valitsesid 19. sajandi algusest kuni 1945. aastani, mil keiser v6imu Ho Chi Minhile yle andis. Gia Long, dynastia esimene keiser t6i pealinna Huesse ja k2skis sinna ehitada ekstravagantse uue Keiserliku Paleekompleksi. Kompleks sai valmis 1833. aastal ning v6ttis enda alla yle 10.000 ruutmeetri, oli ymbritsetud nii kivimyyri kui vallikraaviga ning hoidis endas kymneid luksuslikke ja rikkalikult kaunistatud ehitisi, mis j2rgisid kummalist Aasia ja Euroopa arhitektuuristiilide segu. Peale tseremoniaal- ja valitsusehitiste leidus kompleksis ka Nguyenite esivanematele pyhendatud templeid, alasid keiserlikuks l66gastumiseks, keisri ja ta haaremi privaatsed eluhooned, keisri ema ja vanaema eluhooned, riigikassa jpm. T2nap2eval on Paleekompleks UNESCO Maailmap2randite nimekirjas ning seal k2ivad pidevad restaureerimist88d – kurikuulus Hue halb ilm on Paleekompleksi l2bi aastate k6vasti kahjustanud, ent suurem kahju tuli Prantsuse ja Ameerika s6dadest. Eelk6ige USA 1968. aasta Tet rynnakust, mille k2igus ameeriklased kompleksi pommitasid ning h2vitasid peaaegu kogu Keelatud Linna – keisri luksusliku privaatsete eluhoonete kompleksi.

T2nap2eval on tegu on Hue suurima turismiatraktsiooniga – ja seda 6igustatult. Me veetsime seal yle kolme tunni, jalutades ringi kompleksi hiigelsuurel alal, mis on m6nusalt rahulik ja t2is kauneid dekoratiivaedasid ja tiike. Me saime ka olemasolevaid ja restaureeritud ehitisi imetleda, mis on oma luksuses t6epoolest imetlusv22rsed – ent samas, n2hes ja lugedes keiserliku dynastia suurushullustusest (nt valmistati keisrile igaks eineks yle 50 eri s88gi, millest ta siis oma valiku tegi) ei ole sugugi yllatav et riigis sotsialistlik revolutsioon toimus. Yllataval kombel aga oli tegu rahumeelse v6imuvahetusega – revolutsion22rid ei tapnud Nguyeneid (erinevalt teistest riikidest kus sarnane olukord toimus) ja nad isegi elasid Paleekompleksis m6nda aega peale v6imu kaotamist edasi.

Kuna meil oli Hues vaid yks t2isp2ev, ei olnud meil piisavalt aega, et teiste kultuuriv22rtustega tutvuda (sh nt keisrite hauakompleksid, mis on v2idetavalt samuti ekstravagantsed) ning otsustasime pigem renditud jalgratastel m88da j6ekallast s6ita. Hue j6e22rne on enamjaolt yks suur park, mille promenaade 22ristavad  paljud kummalised ja kaunid skulptuurid.

Hoi An ja Hue olid m6lemad fantastilised, ning p2rast L6unas veedetud aega meeldivalt omap2rased. Nyyd suundume me P6hja-Vietnamisse – kirjutamise hetkel oleme me rongis, s6ites pealinna Hanoi suunas, mille kylastamist oleme me juba pikalt oodanud.

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After a week in the South, we headed north toward Central Vietnam, to firstly visit the ancient town of Hoi An, and then the former imperial capital Hue. Both places are former capitals and rich in culture.

Hoi An, today a city of 90,000 people, used to be the capital of the Champa people, who today live in the South-West of Vietnam and make up the majority of the country's small Muslim population. Hoi An was a port city of immense importance for centuries, and therefore attracted merchants from all over the world, many of whom settled in the city. A lot of them came from China and Japan, and their cultural influence has come to define the city. Hoi An is not really a place for Vietnamese culture, but rather somewhere to experience tidbits from many other cultures together. While Hoi An's location upstream from the river mouth was excellent for sailboats, it was not suited for large steam engine vessels, and so the city rapidly lost its importance with the onset of the industrial revolution, having been overtaken by Da Nang in the north, which remains a big shipping port to this day.

The most striking thing about Hoi An is its gorgeous Old Town, which is remarkably well preserved. It is also off-limits to motorised vehicles – something very rare in Vietnam, and very enjoyable! We arrived in the city in the early morning after a fairly unpleasant overnight bus journey, after which we went straight to our homestay for some additional sleep. When we went out again, we first went to visit the local History and Culture Museum, the highlight of which was actually a small art exhibition on the fourth floor, and not the actual Museum itself. Afterwards, we spent the whole of the afternoon just strolling around the Old Town, enjoying the beautiful streets, perusing the many artisan shops, and visiting some notable landmarks like the Japanese Bridge, which is also the symbol of the city. As evening fell, we went across the pedestrian bridge to the small island just across the Old Town, to see the famous Night Market, and to get something to eat.

I haven't really written much about food here, since I rather think food is for eating, and if you can't taste it, there is not really that much to write about. Throughout our trip we have had mostly excellent food, but also some mediocre stuff (mainly in Indonesia). Hoi An however has a reputation as the food capital of Vietnam, and that's saying something since Vietnamese food is delicious. The hype did hold true and we ate some amazing things there. The highlight for me was banh bao vac or white rose – a delicate rice dumping, filled with prawns and/or pork. Their traditional noodles with pork, cau lầu were delicious as well, and the wonton we had was to die for – a deep-fried triangle of corn (?) flour, topped with veggies, squid and pineapple, and doused in a super tasty sour sauce. Sort of like a Vietnamese taco I guess. The best food we had was not in a restaurant either, but rather at a food court/market type place, where we sat at a tiny table, on tiny plastic chairs, as is usual for street food places in Vietnam. The dishes cost all around 1.5 euros, and a glass of beer was 15 cents. Needless to say, we ate like kings.

On our second day in Hoi An, we visited the ancient Champa temple complex of My Son. Built around a thousand years ago, the Hindu temple is similar to Angkor Wat in Cambodia, or Borobudur in Indonesia – all share the same Indian influence – but while My Son is smaller, and unfortunately less well preserved, it is the oldest such temple in the South-East Asian region. Forgotten for centuries in the jungle, it was discovered by the French in the 19th century. During the Vietnam war, the Viet Cong used My Son as a base, and as a consequence, it was heavily bombed by the Americans. Many of the buildings were either destroyed or heavily damaged, and it is chilling to see how the whole complex is full of bomb craters.

The evening we spent in the Old Town of Hoi An again, where we bumped into a few fellow travellers who we had shared bus rides earlier. It is funny how in Vietnam nearly all tourists follow the same rough pattern of travelling from the Saigon to Hanoi (or vice versa), stopping along in the same famous places. That means that more often than not, you keep seeing the same faces in the places you visit. We also met a Scottish-Polish couple over dinner, who, turned out, were taking the same train as us to Hue the next day.

After reading some horror stories about the cheap sleeper buses, we had decided to switch to train travel instead. We had booked tickets to Hue, but needed to get to Da Nang city, some 30km north, since there was no station in Hoi An. We took the public bus since it was by far the cheapest. We had read online how the conductors on that bus will definitely try to get foreigners to pay double the price, and our homestay host also made it clear that we should not pay more than 30,000 dong (1,20 euros), so we were prepared. Before that though, the taxi driver who drove us to the station tried to take 100,000 dong from us, despite the meter reading only 50,000. After battling with him, the bus wasn't that bad. We had followed online instructions and checked that the prices are actually written outside of the bus, so when the conductor, as expected, tried to get us to pay 60,000 dong each, we made it clear that we had seen the prices and he laughed and let us be. I write about this because this kind of attitude that it is OK to rip off foreigners is rampant in Vietnam. It is particularly bad among the older generation, who I guess feel that after what they were through, it is their right to 'get back' what was taken from them. This logic is unfortunately completely flawed, and in the long run it really seems that they are principally screwing over themselves – Vietnam has some of the lowest return visit rates in the world, with just 5% of tourists coming back. When speaking to other travellers, or reading things online, it is clear that having to constantly be on guard for scams and to have to battle with locals to get fair treatment really leaves a permanent negative experience. There are signs that this culture of disrespecting visitors will perhaps diminish with younger generations, but government regulations would go a long way to help the situation as well before it's too late and Vietnam's reputation as a great destination is tarnished by too many disgruntled visitors.

Hue, as opposed to Hoi An, is a true bastion of Vietnamese culture. The city, which today is home to about a million people, was the capital of the country under the Nguyen dynasty, who ruled from the beginning of the 19th century until 1945, when the emperor abdicated and gave power over to Ho Chi Minh. Gia Long, the first emperor of the dynasty relocated the capital to Hue and ordered the construction of an extravagant new Imperial Citadel. When it was finished in 1833, the Citadel stretched over an area of 10,000 sqm, was surrounded by a brick wall and a moat, and included a hoard of luxurious and extravagantly decorated buildings, designed in a curious mix of Asian and European influences. Apart from ceremonial and governmental buildings, the citadel also included temples for ancestral worship, areas for imperial recreation, the private living area of the Emperor and his harem, the private living area of the Emperors mother and grandmother, the national treasury and lots more. The Citadel is today part of the UNESCO World Heritage list, and is under constant reconstruction works – the notoriously bad Hue weather has had its impact on the buildings, but the more serious impact came from the French and American wars in the 20th century. Most notably, the place was bombed by the Americans during their Tet Offensive in 1968 which unfortunately destroyed nearly all of the Forbidden Purple City – the luxurious private quarters of the Emperor.

Today it's the main tourist attraction of Hue, and deservedly so. We spent well over 3 hours strolling around in the huge area, which was wonderfully peaceful and had lots of pleasant gardens and ponds. We also enjoyed marvelling at the extant, refurbished buildings, which are truly magnificent in their luxury – but at the same time, seeing and reading about the excesses of the Imperial dynasty (e.g. for each meal, the Emperor was served over 50 dishes that he could choose from), it is not surprising that the country had a socialist revolution. Surprisingly though, it seems to have been a relatively peaceful one, since the Nguyens were not all massacred (unlike in similar scenarios in other countries), and even continued to live in the Citadel for some time after abdicating.

As we only had one full day in Hue, we did not have time to see some of the other cultural monuments (like the tombs of the Emperors, which are apparently similarly extravagant), but rather opted to use the bicycles we had hired for a ride along the river. The riverside in Hue has been mostly been made into a park, which has a huge number of wonderfully bizarre statues strewn along its promenades.

Hoi An and Hue were both fantastic, and a wonderful change after the South. Now we head to North Vietnam – as I write this, we are on a train to the capital Hanoi, which we are very much looking forward to experiencing.

Kaunis Hoi An // Gorgeous Hoi An

Hoi Ani vanalinn // Old Town in Hoi An

Jaapani Sild // The Japanese Bridge

Altar koer-jumalale // All hail the dog god!

Jaapani silla sees // Inside the Japanese Bridge

Kohalik k2sit88 // Local handicrafts

Sattusime 6htuses Hoi Anis peale pulmapaarile // We happened on this wedding couple one evening in Hoi An

Kaunis 6htune Hoi An // Beautiful Hoi An in the evening

My Soni templi varemed // My Son ruins

Siin on n2ha uut ja vana telliskivimyyri My Sonis - uus, ca 30-aasta vanune myyr on vasakul, ja juba hallitab. Paremal on tuhande-aastane myyr, mis on veatu ja mille peal ei kasva isegi mitte sammalt. Kivid on kokku pandud minimaalse orgaanilise ainega, ent t2pselt ei tea keegi mida nad kasutasid (arvatavasti teatut tyypi puuvaha) // Here you can see the new and old walls in My Son - the new, 30-year old wall is on the left, and is already crumbling and mouldy. On the right is the thousand-year old wall that is still pristine and has not even lichens growing on it. The bricks were put together without mortar, using only some organic matter, but no one knows exactly what (probably a type of tree resin)

Paolo nuudlisuppi nautimas // Paolo enjoying his noodle soup

Paolo oma 2sjaostetud bambusfl88ti proovimas // Paolo trying out his newly bought bamboo flute

Hue Keiserliku Paleekompleksi v2ravad // Gates to the Hue Imperial Citadel

Hiigelsuur pronksist tynn (leia pildilt piiluv Paolo) // Massive bronze tub (also, find a peeping Paolo in the photo)

Karpkalad palee tiigis // Carp in the Citadel's ponds

Osad hooned olid veel restaureerimata // Some buildings were still waiting to be renovated

Keisri ema uhke eebenipuust riksha, p2rlmutrist kaunistustega. Selle tagasisaamiseks pidid vietnamlased ta prantslastelt oksjonil suure raha eest ära ostma. Suur osa Vietnami kultuuripärandist on ikka prantslaste käes, ja nood ei ole nõus neid tagastama, vaatamata Vietnami mitmetele pärimistele. // The Emperor's mother's ebony rickshaw, with inlaid mother-of-pearl ornaments. For the Vietnamese to get this back, they had to buy it off the French in an auction for ridiculous sums of money. The French still own a lot of Vietnamese cultural and historic heritage and are unwilling to return it despite numerous requests by the Vietnamese.

Wifiema (ehk), Hue pargis // Mother of Wifi (maybe?) in the park in Hue

Pargis olid k6ndivad t2navavalgustid // Walking street lights in the park