Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

In January 2007, I went to Vietnam with my older sister. It was a very different trip - we started in Hanoi, then went about 2 hours south to a city called Ninh Binh. We circled around to the coast, to  Haiphong, and then we went to Ha Long Bay. We didn't get a tour, we just showed up, and this was possibly a misstep on our part, with some interesting results...

We went to the docks on the day we arrived, and booked a tour for the following day. We stayed in a random hotel in Ha Long City that night. (We actually spent the evening out on the beach with some beers, which was kind of nice. The enormous rats in the drains nearby were less nice...) The following day, we were brought to our "private" boat, only to find the tour operator had booked two other tourists on it with us, and they'd paid about a third what we paid. Lunch was also not included, we had to go and buy bread and Oreos and Coke before we left.

The trip itself was not too bad - we followed all the other tour boats out to the islands, and we got to sit on the roof of the boat. We went to see the Cave of Wonders, and then another island where we climbed to the lookout at the top. When we got back to land, we went to dinner, and the owner of the restaurant asked us what we had been doing. We showed him the boat tour operator's card, and he took one look and told us it was 'mafia'. Now, he may have been referring to the whole "private boat that actually had other tourists on it" rip-off, but... Well, we decided it was good enough that we got out in one piece.

Not actually our boat - this is a fancier version.

Four years later, I like to think that B and I benefited slightly from my previous experience. We booked a tour with the Kangaroo Cafe in Hanoi. (Their website is a little eye-bending, but they really provided an excellent, high quality tour for us. The owner, Max, was super-helpful and friendly.) Despite the 2007 experience, I had always thought staying overnight on Ha Long Bay would be kind of amazing, so the tour we picked out was actually two nights; one on the boat, and one at Cat Ba Island resort, where, apparently, we would get to see monkeys.

So, we showed up at the Cafe at about 7am, ready for a bus to take us to the tour boat at Ha Long Bay. We had four other tourists with us, all British - a couple, and a pair of young guys. They were all travelling through Asia, and, as happens so often with randoms you meet, especially when you're sharing meals, it was pretty easy for us all to get along. We also had a tour guide, who was very nice but told some kind of appalling jokes.

Unfortunately, on the two-hour drive out to Ha Long Bay, the weather was already turning. We'd been lucky so far, to come to Vietnam in monsoon season and not really be affected by the rain. (The storms were downright pleasant in Hoi An.) We boarded the boat, explored the rooms we were assigned, then went to the dining room for a fairly amazing three-course lunch. The boat was still moored in the harbour, which didn't really bother anyone until our tour guide came and let us know that the coast guard wasn't giving us permission to leave. Apparently there had been one too many tourist boats capsizing in the heavy weather, and they'd prefer not to risk it.

The news cast a bit of a downer on the next few hours, but we still hung around and started to get to know each other. Nothing like shared disappointment to bring a bunch of strangers together. Outside, the weather was definitely pretty dark and gloomy, but the rain seemed more like showers, rather than downpour. The British folks especially couldn't understand why we couldn't go out in this; they claimed that in Britain, this weather would be classified as a nice day!

Then, at around 3pm, the coast guard gave us the go ahead to leave! They got the boat going, and we chugged out of the habour, into the bay. It was still raining, so photo opportunities were limited, which was a shame since the sight of the dark, mountain-like islands appearing through the grey cloud and rain was fairly picturesque. (Maybe for someone with a better camera than mine...)

On the first day, I think we were supposed to tour a few of the islands. Due to the delay, we only made it to the Cave of Wonders. We got there just in time, right before it close, which actually meant that all the other tourists were gone and we had the place to ourselves. It was exactly the same combination of amazing rock formations and hilarious Vegas lighting that I remembered from the trip with my sister.

Pretty nice digs...nice view...

We returned to the boat, and set of for a bay between some islands where we would moor for the night. The staff served dinner - another three delicious three course meal in the dining room - and we had quite a few drinks. B and I hadn't really been partying during our trip, and this wasn't strictly partying anyway, but it was the closest we got. And honestly, drinking on the rooftop deck of a tour boat in Ha Long Bay is not a bad way to spend some time, let me tell you. (The drinks weren't included in the cost of the tour, so at the end of the night we got a bill we had to settle. We were alarmed to find it came to almost 1,700,000 dong - by far the most we'd spent on anything in Vietnam, excluding tours and travel tickets. Of course, once we converted the currency, we realised it was all of $75, and we've spent far more than that at bars in Brisbane, so it's all a matter of perspective.)

So, we spent the evening on the boat, mostly on the roof, looking at the sky and what we could see of the islands around us. There were several other tour boats moored in the bay with us, including one or two that seemed to be having dance parties or karaoke or something. Snatches of music kept floating across the water when the wind was blowing the right way.

The karaoke coming from the boat on the left
was kind of terrifying.

In the morning, we went for a swim before breakfast. The water was the same salt as you get in any ocean, and the diving competitions we had off the first and second levels of the boat kind of negated any ideas of reverence or mysticism, but something about swimming in a world heritage site still seemed a bit strange and special to me. It was cool.

After breakfast, we got the bad news; Cat Ba Island was flooded from the rain, so we wouldn't be able to stay for the second night of our tour. The boat did dock there to pick something up - we could see how the water level had risen above the jetty - and then we headed back to Ha Long City. The tour guide took us to a restaurant for lunch (I swear I ate more on this tour than we had been eating for our whole trip) but then we got back on the bus to Hanoi. Kangaroo Cafe was kind enough to offer a partial refund, as well, and they were apologetic considering flooding wasn't exactly something they could control.

So, we got rained out of Ha Long Bay. At least we got to see some of it, and I don't know about B, but I had a great time on the boat. We had an extra day in Hanoi, as well, and our hotel didn't care that we were back a day earlier than we said we would be. Another trip to the Bay with mixed results, but hey, there was no mafia this time...

Ha Long Bay - one of the must-see places in Vietnam.

Vietnam voyage: Sa Pa

As you travel through Vietnam you can pick out your fellow travellers by the souvenirs they collect along the way. It may be a trashy t-shirt or sampan, or a woven bracelet of the kind you find at markets and in Oxfam shops. You get chatting and ask where they’ve been. If it’s someone who is travelling north to south they will tell you ‘Sa Pa’ hold you their wrists and waggle their woven bracelets at you in a strange sign language you don’t yet understand. But you will, they tell you. Oh you will.

Sa Pa is a small town in the mountainous northern regions of Vietnam near the border with China. Capital of the Lao Cai province, it has for a long time been a market town and administrative centre.

Now the town survives on the tourists that flood in from Ha Noi to experience the mountains for a few nights before heading out to Ha Long Bay. To get to Sa Pa, one catches on overnight train to Lao Cai, waits for a seemingly interminable time for your hostel bus to find you and then it’s a 45 minute drive up through the mountains.

Sa Pa valley

I got pretty excited on the bus ride up. Looking out of the rain-splattered window, the view slowly changed from concrete and grime to red clay, rice terraces and water buffalo. Farmers shacks and yellow painted schools lined the road. 

Water buffalo!

Sa Pa looked same-same-but-different to every other town but we were in for a rude shock. As we stopped at the first hotel drop off, the bus was mobbed by a score of traditionally dressed women waiting to pounce on the new arrivals. The bus literally rocked from the force as they hit the side. The look of panic in the eyes of the couple who got off was genuine fear at what they’d got themselves in to. The performance was repeated at every hotel until we finally disembarked and shoved our way through the waiting crowd.

We were in Sa Pa for only one night, arriving 9am one day, leaving 6pm the next day. Considering this, I had taken an executive decision to splash out the extra $2 a night each on a room at the top of our hostel, which promised magnificent views. It did not disappoint.

We were told that ours was the ‘honeymoon suite’, even though it had 

2 single beds and questionable linen. 

Hue: Part 2

On our second full day in Hue, we took an amazing boat trip, organised by our hotel. It was private, just the two of us, on a fantastic tourist long boat - bright aqua, with red and yellow dragon detailing. The boatman and his wife lived on board, so while we the front part, which had open windows on three sides and an open deck just behind the prow, we could see in the back to their tiny kitchen and living space.

We set off quite early, onto the Perfume River. First, though, we crossed to the Citadel-side bank, so the owner's wife - who I'll call Nana from here, because she never told us her name even though she clearly thought I was awesome and wanted to adopt me - could go into the market and get supplies for lunch. (To do this, we crossed towards the bank, met a long, low boat, she boarded that boat which took her to the bank, and we did a long, slow u-turn and a few circles, and picked her up when she came back.)

We headed upriver. It was great to be out of the city for a while, and there's nothing like a boat trip to make you feel like you're doing something when really you're just relaxing. The Perfume River and surrounds are really beautiful - the riverside land is full of grasslands, bamboo, farmlands and reeds, and then there's hills and blue mountains in the distance. We lucked into some amazing weather, as well - clear and fresh.

The point of the trip was to visit four historical sites upriver from Hue - a far more interesting trip than it sounds, even just to compare and contrast the different styles of mausoleum and temple. Lunch was included, and also, we got to go on a boat trip. Total price? $20 each. Only in Vietnam.

The extensive grounds of the first temple site.

We were headed to the furtherest mausoleaum first, so Nana whipped out the tourist prints and souvenirs. We looked through everything to pass the time, and I did buy an awesome little wooden carving of a man-turtle thing. (I still can't work out who he is - my Google-fu is still failing me.) Then we arrived at the furthurest mausoleum, and we got to spend an hour or so walking through the grounds and looking at the temples. The grounds of these places are huge - this one had a man-made lake, weeping willows everywhere, three temple buildings, and very ornately carved stone. The overall impression is quite European, actually, mixed in with the expected Chinese and Vietnamese elements.

The second temple site.

The second site was incredibly different - a small temple, built hugging a mountain, perched up above the river. It had spectacular views, but the temple itself was comparatively modest. We were back on the boat after about 20 minutes, headed to the third site.

To get to the third temple, we had to get off the boat, then Nana had to hire to motos to get there! We perched precariously on the back of the bikes, and got a ride through the countryside, to perhaps the most ornate temple yet - this one had a lake as well, and had been built in two sections, one for the emperor and his family to live in while he was alive, and one for him to be entombed in after death. I can't quite imagine living next door to your grave, can you? The complex included a pavillion over the lake, where the Emperor apparently used to sit and compose poetry. I quite liked this complex, not for the pavillion but because of the way some of the buildings were unrestored, unpainted or painted in dark colours - I liked the contrast between the dark interiors and the hot, bright sun outside.

Lunch!

Back on the motos, and back to the boat! While we were gone, Nana had made us an amazing lunch - she somehow produced about six delicious dishes in her tiny, tiny kitchen, and she insisted we finish all of it! She re-filled our bowls a few times, and she was very happy we ate so much (we couldn't exactly say no!).

The fourth and final site was actually a monastery, also set above the river but on a much larger site. And it was actually a working monastery, with monks and everything (it seemed rude to take pictures of them...). It was a very beautiful and different complex, with a front courtyard full of huge trees and turtle steles, with a beautifully painted entry gate and a great view. Once inside, the grounds were also lovely, with treed areas along the length of the complex and open courtyards in the centre. The temples were very clearly being used for worship, so it didn't seem polite to take pictures of them, really, or go inside without the intent to pray, but walking around was interesting enough.

In one of the side buildings was a very famous car - the Austin sedan that carried Thich Quang Duc to Saigon, before he burned himself alive in 1963 to protest the persecution of Bhuddists by the (Catholic) South Vietnamese government.

Once done, we headed back down to the boat. On the ride back into Hue, Nana came to chat with us. She had 7 children, including a daughter about our age, and she was interested in the photos I'd taken. (61 years old, and you should have seen her on this boat! She was bendier than I've ever been in my entire life...) The couple were, overall, some of the nicest locals we met, and we both agreed it was one of the best things we did the whole trip.

The lake and pavillion at the third temple site.

Shady interiors at the third temple site.

Close-up of a tortoise - he's carrying a huge stele. (This was at the monastery.)

Not sure who this colourful guy is... (also the monastery site.)

The front courtyard of the monastery, with view.

Back to Hue: Part 1

Hue: Part 1

Leaving Hoi An, we arranged for a car to take us to Da Nang, to the train station (took about 45 minutes). We were early, and had to hang out in the train station, where the TV seemed to only show one episode of Mr Bean on a loop, with ad breaks at very inappropriate moments. (Same ads over and over, too.) Finally the train, and the journey itself was slow and pretty uneventful. The view of the coast out the window was pretty fantastic, though - the train snaked around the side of mountains, just above where they met the sea.

Alley to our hotel.

It was raining in Hue when we arrived, so we took a taxi. Our hotel was on the tourist side of the river, off the main road and down a small alley (classic location for a Vietnamese hotel). The staff were excellent, very friendly - even the elevator was friendly! - and the room was also really nice. There were actually rose petals scattered around - not sure if they got the wrong idea about us? We relaxed for a bit, and planned out what we'd do after Hue - Hanoi, Sapa, Halong Bay - then ventured out.

About 2 people and no luggage fit in the friendly lift...

Hue was humid. We walked from our hotel down the main tourist drag - guesthouses, restaurants, tacky-looking bars - then onwards towards a more regular part of town. As always, the sidewalks had to be carefully negotiated, as did the traffic, but we found an excellent french bakery (I had pan au chocolat banane - delicious!). We walked down to the river and walked along, passing the prep for some kind of food festival, some kids rehearsing something on stilts, and a section of riverbank where for some reason someone was playing the loudest dance music ever.

We had dinner at a place near our hotel called La Carambole, and saw ads for a charity shop called 'The Healing of the Wounded Heart', which we decided to check out after dinner. It turned out to be a pretty amazing store; all profits go to a charity for victims of Agent Orange, and most of the goods are made by those victims. Not only that, but the goods were actually really nice and good quality - we both bought some jewelry and bits and pieces, to give as gifts.

On our way back to the hotel, I talked B into going to the DMZ bar - awesomely backpackery, with good beer and nikko signatures all over the walls from various travellers. We met a couple who were actually from Brisbane - I swear, you can't go anywhere in the world without running into people from Brisbane - and they recommended lots of stuff for Sapa, including a guide we could email.


Hue - The Imperial City

The Noon Gate: Main entrance into the Imperial City.

On our first day in Hue, we got up early in a futile attempt to beat the heat, and set off for the Citadel. Hue was once the Imperial capital, and the closest large city to the North-South divide during the war. The town is bisected by the Perfume river, and there's a huge fortress and palace dominating one side. The outer wall is huge, and once we made it inside, we found ourselves in a fairly vast courtyard, outside the entrance to the Imperial City. We paid the entrance fee, and spent the next three or four hours wandering in the Imperial Palace, the Forbidden City (which used to be restricted to the Emperor, his family, concubines, and various eunuchs) the grounds, and the many temples.

We'd arrived by 8.30, but it was already baking hot. Thankfully we'd each bought an umbrella in Bangkok, so we took a lesson from the Japanese girls we saw and used them as sunshades - best idea ever. There was quite a bit of shade, but also extensive courtyards without trees, and in other spots, the buildings themselves had been bombed out, leaving nothing but grass. Actually, the whole city except one or two buildings was totally flattened in 1968, during the Vietnam War, so many of the buildings were restorations rather than the originals. They've done an amazing job, though, and there are plans to gradually rebuild the whole complex - I'd love to come back in 10 years and see what progress has been made. I think it'll be an amazing historical site, once the restoration is complete.

As we circled away from the bombed-out centre to some of the reconstructed temples around the edges, we could see the effort that's been put into restoration - the details, the paintwork and carving, down to the painted blinds. Everything was painted bright colours, beautiful golds and reds. There were also lovely, tree-lined walkways, with beautiful gates - marked, of course, by remnants of the war.

In another part of the grounds, there were also elephants!

The ruined centre of the Imperial City.

Elephants!

Lovely avenues around the sides of the complex...

...where the gates still bear bullet holes from the war.

The restored buildings are impressive.

Details of the restoration, including beautiful gold tiling and brightly coloured blinds.

Continued in Hue: Part 2

Saigon to Da Lat to Nha Trang

We left Saigon quite early - said goodbye to our guesthouse at 7am, and were on the bus by 8am. We struck up a conversation with the guys across the aisle from us, as you do, and talked to them on and off throughout the journey. They were father and son, travelling from south to north like we were. The father picked our accents immediately, he was from Sydney but had moved to Belgium 40 years ago. They'd made several trips to Australia, as well.

The trip started in the heart of the city, travelling outwards. As we headed towards Da Lat, we passed rural areas and drove through several small towns. The view from the bus window was limiting, but it was interesting to look at the towns as we passed them. The buildings varied from newer houses, built the faux-colonial style and brightly painted in every colour from lime green to pale blue to fuschia, to barely-standing shacks made of corrugated iron and tarpaulin.

We gradually climbed higher and higher - high enough for my ears to pop - and reached Da Lat. A minibus drove us from the station to our accom, the Pink House Villa Hotel. Which was definitely pink, a solid cerise, with polished marble floors and lots of timber inside. The room was nice and clean, with a tiny balcony, but given the temperature had dropped to the low twenties.

Furnished with a map from the hotel owner, we set off downhill. Da Lat was apparently one of the few places neither side bombed during the Vietnam (American?) War, and the difference was subtle but clear - the buildings were all real colonial, not the post-war versions. The consistency showed. The streetscapes were classic European spa town, but with Vietnamese language, street-sellers, and most importantly traffic.

The Pink Villa's owner had invited us for dinner with some other guests, to be followed by karaoke. We had our doubts, but went back int time to go along. Dinner was delicious - a hot pot with chicken and tofu (the best tofu I've ever had, and I don't loathe tofu) with lots of greens and ginger - if a little expensive. Then Roc - the owner - took us back up the hill to his karaoke bar.

I say 'his' bar - he didn't own the place, but he used to work there as a professional karaoke singer! The bar was at the top of a hotel, and seemed like the kind of place you'd need local knowledge to find. The Vietnamese take their karaoke very seriously, or these singers were very professional, at least. Roc sang too - all Vietnamese songs, no-one sang anything western. It seemed like an interesting style, very melodramatic, and even the female singers used quite a deep range.

Magnus, another tourist from the hotel, was the only one to come along with us. He was from Manchester, and he and his wife had been travelling in China for 3 months. They'd been in Hoi An, and gave us the name of a tailor they liked!

We left Roc at the karaoke bar; he was going to come home with us, but we were piking pretty early and didn't want to make him leave.

After our early evening, we got up around 5am to check out in time for the minibus to take us to the bus station for our bus to Nha Trang. It was supposed to come at 7; by 7.30, we'd freaked out a little, despite reassurances from the hotel staff to wait just a little longer. We got our stuff, trekked down the hill to the main road, and made it to the bus station only to be told we'd missed our bus! They said there was another bus at 1pm, but then another woman called us back and handed over two tickets for an 8am bus...the one we were supposed to be on all along. So, we decided to go with it, and got on the bus before anyone else could tell us we weren't supposed to be there.

The ride itself was not exciting, but quite picturesque, with lots of farmland and tiny villages. The road wound along the side of the hills, then down across the valley floor. The air got hotter and hotter as we descended.

Nha Trang was hot. We arrived at the bus station, and had to find the tour place to confirm our tickets to Hoi An. The sun was beating down on our heads, so with the "help" of a moto driver, we found a cab (after the ride, we were told to pay the moto driver instead of the cab driver...no idea how that works, but pretty sure we got a little ripped off anyway). But we got our tickets, left our bags, and ventured out into the sun to find...something. Something to do, a place to drink, anything to kill the seven hours until our bus left.

We found the beach, and it is a nice spot on the coast. Nice breeze, trees in the park by the water. They'll charge you $20 for a beach umbrella, though...

We wanted to get out of the sun, so we went inland. The streets were all quite bare of both people and trees. We found a bar for lunch, and I swear we didn't do it deliberately, but the place had Fosters beer on tap. And, oddly enough, Christmas carols on the sound system. After lunch, we walked around, checked out the shops, hit the beach again, and walked along the promenade, checking out families, tourists, shmick hotels. We still had around four hours to deal with, and the sun was still beating down. We went inland again, and found a cafe. That killed maybe an hour - we went for dinner in a very-slightly-dodgy looking place on a tourist alley, then gave up and went back to the tour place to wait.

The sleeper bus arrived around 7, and even though it looked cramped, I hoped it'd be better than trying to sleep on the train.

It wasn't, not for me anyway. My berth was underneath, and also over the engine, which made the whole experience unnecessarily warm. Also, the dude in the berth behind me snored. He was so loud, I wanted to kill him.

A few of the other tourists had moved to different berths, so at about midnight, I was fed up enough to switch to a different berth, on the top level by the window. I didn't sleep that much, but it was at least cooler and less noisy without snoring guy.

Then, at about 5am, someone in the back threw up. Audibly. I closed my mouth and blocked my nose, praying we'd reach Hoi An soon.

Saigon

Jane had been to Vietnam before, but never Saigon and for me this was the first time I'd set foot in the country. Absolute first impressions? If I'd got around to forming a mental image of Vietnam in the weeks prior to my arrival, it would have pretty much exactly matched what I saw. Sun, tropics, business and people everywhere, questionable road rules and scooters, scooters, scooters. Our taxi driver kindly dropped s off at the alley for our hostel and helped us cross the road. She clearly understood the needs of those recently arrived in the country, i.e. assistance to make sure we didn't accidentally kill ourselves. However, it did not take me long to get a good grasp on Vietnamese road rules.

Rule 1: Scooters and motorcycles get right of way in every situation.

Rule 2: Cars and other motor vehicles get second right or way because they're big.

Rule 3: If you're a pedestrian, it's your job to keep yourself out of the way of everyone else and make sure you don't get run over.

Saigon traffic intersection by night.

At the hostel, our host gave us an excellent map tour of the city including the really important sights like where to get the best pho. Settled in to our excellent room, we took up his suggestion and went to get our first proper Vietnamese meal.

It was pho-tastic. Terrible photo of me but this is early am and I have not yet had my healthy breakfast of pho and coca-cola.

After the pho (such good pho!) we headed to the Ben Thanh markets, Saigon's largest markets, seemingly situated in the middle of a couple of highways. The challenge is to get there alive. Jane had been to Vietnam before, knew how to do it even if she was a little out of practise. All I knew about crossing the roads I got from watching Luke Nguyen's Vietnam – you start crossing at any time, walk slowly but steadily and have your hand out ready to wave signals to bike riders who might be pretending not to see you.

The markets weren't that large but were crowded with tiny stalls selling cloth, food, clothing, household items and of course souveniers. While locals probably still go, most of the buyers walking around had the distinct look of tourists about them. We were tempted by souveniers but restricted ourselves to fabric for the dozens of pieces of clothing we were to get hand made in Hoi An. For me this included 'Armany' wool/cotton blend for a suit for Allan.

We had 2 days in Saigon and we spent it walking around, eating and planning for the next 10 days or so of our holiday.

The streets around De Tham where we were staying and where most hostels and bars are located.

We went to the War Remnants Museum, which was every bit as harrowing as the guidebooks warn you. We were set upon just inside the gates by a man who had lost both forearms and a leg to landmines and was keen to sell us some photocopied books at ridiculously high prices. However, once you've shaken the stump of a victim of war, especially when surrounded by the tanks and rockets left behind from that war it's pretty hard to say no. That wasn't harrowing, just expensive. It did set the tone for the inside of the Museum with its very one-sided view of the war. Harrowing came with the exhibitions, particularly the one that focussed on the effects of Agent Orange – there were certainly some images there that will stay with me for the rest of my life.

"To the people of a United Vietnam. I was wrong. I am sorry." - William Brown, Sgt.

In the lighter moments we enjoyed the Saigon night life. Our first stop in Vietnam was the famous rooftop bar of the Rex Hotel. During the American War (as it is rightly known in Vietnam) the Rex Hotel was where all the foreign reporters would gather to hear the dailies or 'Five O'clock Follies' from the US military on how the war was going. Sitting on the rooftop sipping cocktails was first and possibly best taste we had of the remains of South East Asian colonialism. We also frequented a few dive bars in and around our hotel, though many were too full of drunk tourist for our tastes.

Cocktails and Campari.

The famous Allez Boo bar.

There were also some great cafes and meals, particularly at Nha Hnag Ngon – a restaurant that serves the speciality dishes from all the many regions of Vietnam. The photos aren't great but the surrounds and the meal was delectable.

Our first set of dishes, with Bia.

Saigon was a fascinating city and a city that is expanding and changing rapidly. Money has been spent to preserve what remains of the French rule – the wide streets, the beautiful opera house and town hall. The French also left behind an appreciation of nice bread, cafe culture and christianity. Designer boutiques are moving in to feed the city's new rich and one assumes, the burgeoning top-end tourist trade. There was so much more to see and do than we managed. Saigon is a truly delightful city with a fascinating history.

Notre Dame Cathedral

Hotel De Ville, now home to The People's Committee.

Coloured flavoured rice at the night markets.

Lychees and durian.