The following day we was our day to visit the Great Wall of China (at Badaling, the most accessible section from Beijing). The previous day, we had already scoped out the departure point for the public bus that we thought would take us to the Great Wall.

No one on the bus spoke English, but we confimed with the driver that this was indeed the bus for the Great Wall. As we started out, a tour guide spoke to the rest of the bus in Mandarin. Then, inexplicably, in the middle of Beijing, the bus stopped and everyone piled out. We sat, confused. We finally figured out that they had all gone on a guided visit of another site and would be back in 2 hours! We finally met someone who was able to translate for us, who explained that the "tourist bus #4" to Badaling was in fact an all-day Chinese guided Tour, stopping at 4 different places – definitely not what we wanted! Fortunately, we met a couple of other confused Europeans who only wanted to go the Great Wall. We bailed on the tour group, and piled into a taxi that we rented for a day, for $7 each. I still don’t know if there’s any public buses to the Great Wall. If we’d stayed with the tour group, I would guess that we wouldn’t have had more than 2 hours at the Great Wall.

  After the problems in Beijing, we arrived relatively late at the Great Wall (10:30AM). The taxi dropped us off about a 15 minute walk from the wall (we’re not sure why, there was a road that led directly there). Where the road goes under the wall, it is possible to walk on either side. Curiously enough, one side was almost completely empty while the other side was full of tourists (maybe tour groups?). Hiking up the wall is very hard work – even at Badaling, the most accesible part of the wall. The steps are very steep in places. The railings help, but unfortunately a lot of them are designed for short Asians and not giant Westerners, so they are not always comfortable to hold without dislocating a shoulder.

There are multiple ways to get up and down the wall as it snakes around the mountains at Badaling – there’s a couple of chairlifts and a "sliding car" system. Access to these improvements wasn’t clear to us – we had no map of the area and we didn’t want to wander far out of the way and miss our taxi home. Other ‘development’ at this section of the wall includes loudspeakers piping in traditional Chinese music. Fortunately, the souvenir and drink sellers are kept to a minimum (they are relegated to the turrets) and are not that aggressive.

See all our Mekong Delta and Can Tho pictures here

The last part of our trip took us down to the south of Vietnam to see the floating markets at Can Tho and the Mekong Delta. From Saigon, we took a very long bus trip on a very old bus. The bus actually broke down on us – but never fear, the male passengers piled out, pushed it to the side of the road, and as a group, fixed the problem and got us going within an hour.

We stayed at the Hien Guesthouse.  It was clean and comfortable. The owner was a little funny, but did arrange a day long “cruise” of the floating market and surrounding waterways in a motorized boat.

The market wasn’t really that exciting – motorboats everywhere selling vegetables – but at least it wasn’t the touristy feeling we got from Damoen Saduak market in Thailand.

The tour of the waterways was more interesting – as it was a good chance to see how a lot of people live. It was peaceful, and a pleasant way to spend the rest of the day.  The man whose boat we were in even killed the motor and started rowing.  Wendy took a turn too, and he was very impressed (and amused) that she could do it!

We didn’t find anything else too interesting, and we were glad we only had arranged one night in Can Tho. We headed back to Saigon on an empty mini-van that the hotel arranged – much more comfortable (and faster) than the bus we took down, and only marginally more expensive!

See all our Saigon pictures here

Back in Vietnam, the airport taxi in Saigon tried to rip us off – refusing to use the meter and wanting to charge an exorbitant rate. We bailed and got another taxi, which took us to our hotel in Pham Ngu Lao, Mme. Cuc #7. (Madame Cuc #7) The hotel is a walk-up (and we were on the 7th story of course), but fortunately there is a winch system for luggage. The room was clean, and they took good care of us. The staff was a laugh a minute, and always tripping over themselves offering us drinks and food, all included. The included dinner is just noodles, but the egg rolls and juice (all you can eat!!) were excellent.

Saigon has the worst traffic we have ever seen in our life (in over 35 countries!) [The country count is now 51 and it’s still the worst!]  Swarms of mopeds dominate the streets, making crossing the street incredibly stressful. It got to the point that by the end of our time in Saigon we chose our restaurant based simply on the number of times we would have to cross streets to get there. We also took taxis for destinations that were only a 15 minute walk away, just to avoid having to cross streets.

There wasn’t that much to see in Saigon – we spent most of our time shopping. We visited several of the markets in Saigon. We went to the Binh Thay Market in Cholon – but that was a mostly disappointing market, aimed really at the locals. We guess it was an interesting sight to see, but souvenirs could not really be found there.

Next we went to An Dong Market – also in Cholon – and although we suspect that this was maybe once an interesting market, at the time we were there, most of the stalls were empty – 2 entire floors were vacant.

The most interesting shopping was at the main tourist market, the Ben Thanh Market. There was a wide selection of souvenirs, handicrafts, knock-off watches, food stalls, etc. The big problem with this market was that the “white person” prices started out insanely high, and it would take a LOT of back and forth to get them down to a reasonable price. We didn’t have that much time – so in fact we ended up doing most of our shopping around our hotel, in the Pham Ngu Lao area.  Here, there were several fixed-price stores, and the fixed prices were more than reasonable – they were equivalent to the prices that you could get at Ben Thanh after 10 minutes of hard haggling. We’re sure if we were persistent we could have gotten better prices in Ben Thanh, but we’re just not that good at it, and we didn’t have the time. In addition, being able to browse the stores without hassled by any one was also worth a lot to us.

In addition to the souvenir shopping we did at Pham Ngu Lao, we also did a lot of clothes shopping. She had a wonderful dress custom made for her in the Dong Khoi area at Khai Silk ($50). They were able to make the dress in one day. She also had several pairs of shoes made for her, and a handbag to match the dress.

We also tried to see some sights – we visited the Giac Lam Pagoda – but – it wasn’t really that captivating for us.

See all our Hue pictures here

That evening we headed to Hue on the night train. We were supposed to get in at 8am, but various official-looking people told us different things about the actual arrival time and we finally got there mid-afternoon. Our hotel in Hue, the Mimosa Guest House, was clean and central.  Hue is a small, pleasant city.  The traffic is much more manageable, and there’s lots of green space around the river.

We headed out to check out the Imperial City, but it was a bit of a bust. we’re sure it used to be very beautiful, before the "American War" leveled a lot of the buildings.  It’s also just not Beijing’s Forbidden City…  We ducked into a building during a torrential downpour. The next day we rented bikes from our hotel. We should have looked a little more closely at what we were renting – they were in pretty bad shape. In fact, Ian’s chain came off about 20 minutes after we set out. The chain is encased in a metal housing, so it’s not easy to put it back on. Fortunately, a local scooter repair shop came to our rescue, and charged us almost nothing, even though we had failed to negotiate the price before-hand (DOH!). 

We biked out to a couple of temples, Tu Dam Pagoda, and Tu Doc. The roads were empty enough to make it a nice ride (although very HOT), and following the map was easy enough. The sights weren’t anything special though – we were rather bored by the whole thing.  – but it’s no Ayutthaya or Sukhothai , Thailand.

We didn’t have much luck shopping in Hue – we were unable to find any really good markets selling interesting items, it was mostly knockoff brand names and underwear in the bazaars.

We didn’t have much luck with vegetarian restaurants in Hue. We chose to leave the very empty restaurant Hanh Thien Quan Chay (Vegetarian Inn) when we realized all the food had been sitting out, already prepared, uncovered, in incredible heat.  Another vegetarian restaurant, Dong Tam, across from Mimosa Guest House had rats running around in the kitchen (which we unfortunately discovered after we’d eaten there!). Our only success was La Carambole, which, while definitely aimed at the tourists, was clean and had very good food and neat decor.

See all our Halong Bay Pictures here

The following day we had planned a day trip to Ha’long Bay. Although most people go for more than one day, our schedule was pretty tight, so we only had time for a day trip. We used the same company we had used to go to Perfume Pagoda, since that had gone well.

We were a little late starting, since we had to move around the old city picking up various people from different hotels. It took a couple of hours to get to the launch point for the Bay. 

The boat ride was pleasant, and the scenery spectacular. And we only collided with a couple of boats as they jostled for position at the quay. We visited some caves (Thien Cung, or Celestial Palace cave, and Dau Go Grotto), which, while not spectacular, were still interesting, and thankfully not quite as ‘developed’ as those we had seen in China at Guillin. 

We continued on to a ‘quiet spot’ for an afternoon swim off the boat. Although they had advertised snorkeling as a possible activity, the water was pretty murky.  Not dirty, just not clear – at least not

inside the sheltered bay we were in. The lunch they provided was very good. The boat we were on also had some rooms, so I assume they use it for the overnight trips. They looked nice, but we would check into the existence of toilets and showers before doing a multi-day trip.

The one thing that bothered us was that at the end of the trip, we were surprised by a ridiculously high bill for the drinks we’d had: they’d been offered to us throughout the trip in a way that led us all to believe they were included.

See all our Perfume Pagoda pictures here

The next day, we had arranged a day trip to the Perfume Pagoda. We went with the tour company our hotel, Thu Giang Guesthouse, arranged. We ended up alone in a big minivan with a Dutch couple. Getting to the Perfume Pagoda involves a long boat trip in a small rowboat, followed by a substantial hike up a mountain. The boat ride was frightening. With 4 Westerners and 2 Vietnamese (our guide and the rower), we only had an inch of clearance to the water. Every time a motorized boat came by, we had to furiously wave to them to get them to slow down, or we’d sink.  We can swim, but we had our cameras that would have been wrecked.

After a very, very long 1 hour trip, we started the hike up the mountain. It was hot. Very, very, very HOT.  We didn’t know we could even sweat that much.  Fortunately, all the way up, there are stalls selling drinks.  At other times of the year, the Perfume Pagoda is packed with pilgrims, and the infrastructure to support the crowds can be seen year round.  In fact, while we were there, they were working on a chairlift to carry people most of the way up the mountain (Amen!).

The pagoda itself is in a cave down a long flight of stairs at the top of the mountain. Incense wafts out of the cave and creates a mystical, spiritual atmosphere. Unfortunately, we were not warned to bring long pants, so we felt slightly uncomfortable. We also weren’t offered the time we would have liked to soak it in, because the guide wanted to get back down the mountain.

At the bottom of the mountain, we checked out some other beautiful temples, and at our insistence, split into two rowboats on the way back.

At night we ate at the Hoa Sua Restaurant d’Application (training school), which was a fabulous meal. This restaurant takes kids off the street, and trains them to work in high-end hotels. This restaurant is their training ground, and service was absolutely faultless.

See all our Hanoi pictures here

We arrived in Hanoi in the morning. As always when we arrive in a country, our first task was to find an ATM, but both the train station’s ATM’s were out of order. The nearest one was about a half hour walk with our packs. Fortunately, communication was easy – most people seemed to speak some basic level of English.

We grabbed a cab to our hotel Thu Giang Guesthouse in the Old City. Finally, we were definitely back in backpacker land. Laundry, Internet, Tours, everything arranged for you for a reasonable price. We dropped our bags and headed out to see the sites. It didn’t take long. We quickly checked out Hoan Kiem Lake and Ngoc Son temple, and then started doing the Lonely Planet’s walking tour. The shopping in the Old City was great – and by far the best quality and cheapest prices we saw in Vietnam (much better than Saigon). Unfortunately we didn’t know this, and decided to press on with the walking tour instead of relaxing and shopping.

Traffic in Hanoi was extremely, extremely challenging. As a pedestrian, it was the most stressful city we’d ever been in (only to be topped in a week’s time by Saigon). All the bicycles that you see in postcards of Vietnam’s cities have been replaced by scooters and motorbikes. Unfortunately, the government hasn’t really kept up with that rate of change. There are no pedestrian crosswalks, no traffic lights, and no traffic police. There is a real sense of anarchy as soon as one steps onto the street. Basically, as our guidebook explained, the only way to cross the street is to just walk into the oncoming stream of traffic, and walk at a slow, steady pace across the road, trusting that they will weave around you. If you slow down mid-way, you will confuse them and are more at risk. If you wait for a break, you’ll never get anywhere as the crowds of teens loop their way around the city, cruising. As in many cities, sidewalks are mostly non-existent, having been taken over by parked vehicles, shops, or restaurants.

So, we didn’t really enjoy the walking tour that much. In the evening we headed out to the Thang Long Water Puppet Theater, which was very entertaining – definitely a must-do if you’re in Hanoi. It’s worth paying the extra money to get closer seats. We bought the tickets a couple of hours in advance.

The next day, we headed to Vietnam on the train. Although the train ride was supposed to be overnight, we barely slept. The first time we stopped for visa formalities at about midnight. We continued on the train, and at about 3am, we had to change to a Vietnam train at the border. It was all fairly well organized, and comfortable, but it wasn’t exactly conducive to a good night’s sleep.

The Vietnamese train was a significant step down from the Chinese train. The linens weren’t clean, there was no door on the compartment, it was over-air-conditioned (freezing!) and the train was pretty grubby.

The next day we were supposed to be flying on to Siem Reap in Cambodia to see Angkor Wat.  (We would love to return and see more, but there just wasn’t time on this trip and Angkor has always been a dream of ours).  There was supposed to be a flight from Hue direct to Siem Reap. Not so much. When we got there, they told us that flight had been cancelled weeks ago (funny since we’d only recently reserved it). They put us on a flight back to Hanoi, where we had to kill most of the day waiting for a flight to Siem Reap. In possibly, the most boring airport, ever. No shopping, the place was empty for most of the day and a Coke cost $3 US !!!

We finally arrived in Siem Reap in the evening. Although we’d warned our hotel we would be late, the message didn’t quite get to our Tuk Tuk driver, so he’d been sitting waiting for 6 hours.  Somehow, he was still happy to see us.  The hotel Popular Guest House was great – cheap, good restaurant, extremely central location, great shower, and A/C. We arranged to hire the guy who had picked us up at the airport to take us around Angkor Wat. It cost $15 US per day to rent a Tuk Tuk and driver.

The next day we started out at 5am, so we could see the sun rise over Angkor Wat (it’s the thing to do). We had to get a 3 day pass with photo-ID made at the gate, but it was extremely fast. (Although very expensive).  Although the sunrise wasn’t that pretty (apparently it rarely is during the summer months), Angkor Wat is beautiful, and huge. Our driver had left us after dropping us off, so he could go to his English class in town, but promised he’d be back by the time we were done, and true to his word, he was waiting for us when we got out. He drove us around all the Wats we wanted to see, and then some more he felt we should see too! The jungle wats were fabulous. In fact, we ended up seeing a lot more than we’d planned to! He kept on suggesting we  see other things, and we ended up out until 3PM.  Well, in all our years of traveling this marked the first time someone had tried to do way MORE for us than we’d asked them to without expecting anything in return.  So, we gave him $20 when we got back to the hotel.  At first he told us it was too much, but we convinced him to take it.  He was really happy, and even offered to drive us to dinner or to a show if we wanted to.

The second day with him, we went back to Angkor Wat to hopefully get a better sunrise, but no luck again. We climbed another Wat for a view of Angkor itself. We drove on to Banteay Srei (the women’s temple), which is 35 km away. There is supposed to be a surcharge to see this, but when we asked our driver about it, he wouldn’t tell us how much, telling us that we’d already tipped him so well so not to worry about it…! We asked some other tourists while we were there, and paid him anyways, of course!

On the way back from day 2 of wat seeing, we actually had to ask him to take us to some shopping (that was a first for us – actually asking to be taken to shop!), to see a factory where they were making stone and wood carvings. He told us he thought it was too expensive! He was right, they were a little too expensive (and delicate looking) for us.

All in all, it was a fantastic experience in Siem Reap. The authorities are managing the attraction very well. It was well taken care of. Even the postcard sellers and book sellers were kept in check – at every wat, they’d be there and desperately trying to make a sale, but there was a line on the sand that they weren’t allowed to cross. Guards made sure everyone respected the “tourist line”. They had a great sense of humor about the whole thing. When we wanted to buy a book, the seller told us “You have to come to my side of the line, or my enemies will get me!” The drink sellers threaten to cry if you don’t buy from them, and everyone reminds you that your driver is hot! The Cambodians have a real sense of humour about the tourists, and also a lot of respect. Even though it was obvious to us they were very, very poor, they were still friendly, even when there was no need for them to be. While many people tried to sell us things, there was no one begging.

Our flight back to Vietnam proved a little more exciting than we’d hoped. We were waiting in the airport departures lounge, when I saw through the window the Vietnam Airlines plane arrive, that was to take us back to Saigon. Suddenly, emergency vehicles screamed up the runway after it, and all the airport personnel ran outside, panicked. After some time they came back in “The plane’s ok. The plane’s ok” … What about the people??? Turns out the pilot had overshot the runway by 60m and got the Airbus stuck in the mud. No one was hurt. They blamed it on weather, but it was only raining lightly.

It took them a couple of hours to sort the mess out. They put us up in a 5 star hotel for the night, and planned to bus us to Phnom Penh the next day, from where we’d fly to Saigon. (We had to change hotels. The first 5 star hotel had a dead cockroach right in the middle of the room. Funny, we didn’t have any roaches in our budget hotel!!)

Anyways, it was an interesting sightseeing trip to Phnomh Penh, on surpringly good roads. The short hop back to Saigon was a pretty scary one for us, after we’d seen the quality of the Vietnam Airlines pilots in Siem Reap.