We arrived at APTez Hotel too early. The employees were sleeping soundly when we knocked on the door. We was hoping to check in early but there was no room available. They were kind to arrange a room for us to freshen up. We left the hotel before 7 and went round to hunt for food. We have yummy clear soup chicken phon. As my sore throat and cough were worsening I skipped the chili. The chili was good according to others but it wasn't for me :-( After the meal, we walked around then headed back to our hotel and wait for Perfume pagoda pick up.
At 8, our guide for the day, X. arrived to pick us up. Then we went zig-zagging across the city to pick up other tourists. This was the 1st time to get to see more of the city on broad daylight. We passed by the shopping area in the downtown. There were lots of branded stores there...Gucci, Cartier, LV, Mont Blanc...most probably I were to name all those branded brands to me, they would have it there. After leaving the city, it took us another one and a half hour bus ride to arrive at the river.
There were 5 of us and another man, most probably a Singaporean on board with X. Our boat was hand rowed by a lady in her 30s. Quite small size for a boat of 8. X was very humorous. He spoke mandarin very well. It was an entertaining ride despite the slow pace rower and under the roasting sun. He could still make drastic moves to shake the boat left and right to make our ride more exciting. The scenery was postcard like and marvelous.
When we finally arrived on the other land, we stopped by the counter to claim our cable car ticket. Many foreigner ops for hike up and cable car down to see more. We were too tired for hiking and to race against the cable car. The waiting time and travelling time on cable car was about 30 minutes while the hike itself would take about 40 minutes if we were fit enough. So we stick to our original plan of cable car as our legs were aching. At the stop, I got my 1st cream of the trip despite my cough. The weather was too hot and the green bean ice cream was just too tempting. Glad that I took for it was refreshing on a hot sunny day.
Arriving at the top of the hill, we still have to descend on a long staircase into the Tiger Cave. The cave have a tiger similar natural limestone sculpture at the entrance. In the cave a a typical Chinese temple. There were few goddess and altars for the believer. I was more fond about the limestone :D Then he hike out of the cave and back to the cable car station to head downhill for our lunch in a local restaurant.
The scenery seem better on downhill ride. It was series of green mountains, undisturbed forest with occasional huts in between. Under the clear blue sky, yes no more polluted grey sky as in the city center, this was the best outdoor activity so far in Vietnam considering the weather, environment and the difficulty level. I just love it!
At the bottom, we were served with lunch in a huge local restaurant. The back of the restaurant seem more like a shelter for the pilgrims during festive season. There were lots of empty room with a huge plank platform for resting. There were 1 or 2 more luxury rooms with thin mattresses. This restaurant cum shelter can easily fit over hundred of people.
The lunch seemed to be the worst provided by our many tour package agents. We got the usual dishes but tasted the worst. For starter we have deep fried spring roll and French fries. For main course, we were served with stir fried cabbage, stir fried chicken with onion and lemon grass, deep fried tofu and deep fried fish with white rice. As usual, most Europeans or Australians would praise that the meals were excellent when in fact, they got all the flavors from the additional soy sauce they have requested from the waiter. Half bowl of soy sauce sauce for 1 bowl of rice.
After our lunch, we quickly made a detour to the silver pagoda. This was one of the newest and best maintained temple I have seen in Vietnam. This temple seemed to have element of Chinese and Japanese architecture. The shiny red pillars and windows were astonishing Chinese while the pagoda and it's roof edge were like the Japanese. Under the blue sky, the silver pagoda just stand out. It was a satisfying spot for photographer like myself.
Finally it was time to head back. We got on our sampan again and the ride back was more comfortable as it wasn't that hot. The sunset view from the bus over the paddy fields was mesmerizing. It was a nice short excursion but lots of time spend on travelling. I was too tired that I felt asleep on the bus after witnessing the sunset.
We asked for a drop off at the lake area. We intended to head to KFC for dinner...just curious of their menu in Vietnam but this short detour turned out to be a disaster strike. HJ's camera was stolen from her back on crowded street. Lucky for her purse and passport were in safe. Anyway we decided to lodge a police report. Finding a police station was a challenge to us. The word 'police' was not common here. We finally learnt it from a hotel reception.
Arriving at the police station, our communication skills were put to challenges. No one seem to understand what exactly we were speaking. Only 1 young officer could clearly say 'I know. I know' when we asked if anyone speak English. Those were the only 2 English words from him. After long hand and body gesture communication, they finally got our intention and as usual they were reluctant to take our case.
They asked for hotel contact and got the hotel staff over to talk us into dropping the case. They told us that the camera can not be recovered. Cost incurred on us would be more that what the camera worth...guess they meant they were expecting some bribe to get those officer to hunt the culprit down. We didn't felt bad over the remark for this was not something new we learn about Vietnam and it wasn't our country after all. We were pissed when the hotel staff tried to condemn our country by comparing his friend murder case in Malaysia. Though he may be true to certain extend but when you hear it from him, you just get pissed off.
We have no choice but to drop the case. We headed back to our hotel while searching for food but have no luck. We ended our day with dinner at Hue where we bumped into a Korean with her local friend. They were so nice to show us the right way to wrapped our BBQ meat. Another 鬼佬凉茶, Hanoi beer!
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