Adventures in Viet Nam
We flew from Laung Prabang, Laos to Hanoi, Viet Nam on
January 3rd. The good news is that John did not have any flashbacks from his
1969 experience. The bad news is that it was cold, grey, and overcast the whole
time we were there. We visited the city of Hanoi, went north a stone’s throw
from the Chinese border, and east of Hanoi to Ha Long Bay.
When we got to Hanoi we checked in to our hotel, Hanoi Elegance
Diamond and they upgraded us to an Executive room which was really nice and well
worth the extra $20. As soon as we
settled in we decided we should do a little walking tour of the “Old Quarter”
which is where our hotel was located. The roads and streets of Hanoi are
extremely busy with all kinds of street vendors and there are thousands of
motor scooters darting around on the roads. Their roads are complete “jungle rules”,
it is every man or woman for themselves. Crossing a road is an adventure in
itself. It was kind of funny because you would see lots of foreigners standing
on the side of the road with that “what do you think, should we go now” look on
their faces. We were standing on the side of the road trying to decide if we
should try to cross and a local person came up to us and said “follow me”. So
we did and she said “go slow, they will go around you”. So it became sort of a
game for us crossing the road and we would high five each other every time we
made it across.
The people in Viet Nam are very friendly and the city was
interesting. We were standing taking
pictures when a group of young people rushed up to us, and we thought they were
about to start some scam. Instead they
started asking us where we were from, and explained they were learning English
and wanted to practice. We had a lovely
time talking to them and helping them with their English skills. They even taught us a few words of Vietnamese.
The next night we took the Orient Express, night train to
Lao Cai, which is right next to the Chinese border. Our train arrived about
5:30 in the morning and our guide, Ha was there to meet us. We had breakfast
and then our driver, Hi arrived in his Ford SUV. Ha in Vietnamese means the sea
and Hi means the river. So we were well covered with the river and the sea; and
they were both great. After breakfast we drove several hours to the Can Cau
market. This is a market like nothing you have ever seen before. It is out in
the boondocks and held out in a field off a dirt road. The draw for us is all
the local hill tribe people who come to sell their goods including water
buffaloes, birds, and pigs. The main tribe group there was the Flower H’mong.
This tribe got its name from the colorful dress and clothes they wear. As a
photographer it is a visual feast to see all these people dressed in such
colorful and decorative outfits. It was a wonderful experience.
That afternoon we drove back to the little town of Bac
Ha. The hotel we stayed in was an interesting experience. I think it was the
first hotel Sara and I have ever stayed in where we could see our breath freeze
when we exhaled. It was cold!! We had the heater going but it didn’t seem to
make a dent in the temperature. Finally, we figured out the window in the
bathroom would not close all the way so we closed the door to the bathroom and
that helped but we still slept with our warm clothes on and every blanket
available. It was like camping in a hotel.
Another interesting thing they do in Viet Nam in every
city and town is every morning and evening the government broadcasts the news
and some music over a loud PA system. So forget about sleeping when that is
going on. Isn’t that nice of the government to provide news and music for the
people? Apparently, it is mostly the older people that listen because there is
unlimited Internet access for everybody.
On Sunday January 6th we got up and went to the Bac Ha market which
was in the streets of Bac Ha. It was a lot like the Can Cau market but bigger.
They were selling basically everything from finished goods to hacked up animal
parts- pretty earthy and gritty.
That afternoon we headed back to Lao Cau to catch the
night train back to Hanoi. On the way back, Ha suggested we take a walk through
the country side through a small village to a river where we would take a local
boat down the river. The walk and boat ride was a real pleasure. It was
refreshing to get some exercise and fresh air and see the rural area with rice
paddies and farming. That night we boarded the “Orient Express” to head back to
Hanoi. The train arrived at about five in the morning. We went back to our
hotel and got a shower and prepared for our drive to Ha Long Bay. We took a
mini bus to Ha Long Bay which took about three and a half hours. About half way
through the drive we stopped for a bathroom break. The place we stopped was a
place where disabled people made some fine embroidered artwork. These pieces
looked like paintings but were done by hand with silk thread. Of course, I
insisted that we buy some.
When we arrived at Ha Long Bay the staff there was very efficient
at collecting us up and moving us to our boat which looks like a Chinese Junk.
The sails are really only for decoration and they only put them up when we were
anchored but we knew that. The bay is quite an extraordinary geological feature.
It was really quite beautiful, although photographically it would have been
nice if we did not have grey skies. Our first stop was a little island called
Titop. We hiked to the top for a view of the surrounding area. Next we went to
another area with a cave and did some kayaking. The boat was delightfully luxurious,
with wonderfully food and of course massages.
We had a great time in Viet Nam.
I just wished we would have had better weather but on a one month trip you are
bound to get some bad weather somewhere.
No comments:
Post a Comment