Ha Long Bay

An early-morning journey through rice fields, ducks, water buffalos, the whole lot! Then a surprise stop at a disability workshop with many items for sale. Funny, that was not mentioned on the tour itinerary! Bought an embroidered picture to ease our conscience. Ha Long Bay was big, as was the town. Funny how you get an impression of a small seaside town which turns out to be bigger than Geelong- much bigger.

On board the Treasure Junk.

The Bay is full of remarkable limestone karsts; sheer cliffs rising out of the emerald water. Every few minutes there was another jaw-dropping view.

We sampled the local fare (which was a bit bland, surprisingly), paddled kayaks, toured floating villages and saw the pearl-seeding business at first hand.

It is an amazingly beautiful place, well-deserving of its UNESCO Heritage status.

Hanoi Pt 3

By Day 3 we were feeling that we had a bit of a handle on our little piece of Hanoi. Everything we did needed careful planning, from crossing the street to working out where these crazy streets were. The maps seemed to bear no relation to the actual reality of the situation. You just had to pick out some landmarks and trust your judgement! Fortunately we had the Lake and St Joseph's Cathedral as our reference points: thanks to the Catholics for taking the high ground.

We found our way to theTraditional House in Ma May Street, one of a few such reconstructed homes from the 19th century. From there we wandered over to the History Museum, then took a cyclo to the Women's Museum.

That was a big day, so a stop at the Hanoi Social Club was in order, on the way back to the hotel. Thanks Maddie!

Tomorrow, off to Halong Bay.

Hanoi Pt 2

Hanoi, Continued...
We flew in to  this crazy city totally unprepared for the controlled(??) chaos that is the roads, lanes and goat tracks that make up old Hanoi. There seemed to be no traffic lights, no police, no indicators and no system! But of course there is- you go with the flow, use your horn constantly and everyone accommodates to the situation. Its very Buddhist, I think. In Melbourne, there would be a bingle every 5 minutes as we need to protect our 'space'. And when a truck comes blaring at you on the wrong side of the road..... don't worry, he will swing back just in time.

And when you need a rest, just pull up onto the footpath and have a nap!

It was usually easier to walk on the sides of the road rather than pick your way through the clutter of cooking, motorbikes and people sitting on their little chairs to eat.

We were offered the services of a young university student as a city guide. Tranh (I think!) was a great ambassador for her city. She is studying Tourism, a very popular course it seems, and her English skills were crucial to her success. She spent almost 7 hours with us, took us to Uncle Ho's Museum, the Temple of Literature (one of the oldest universities in the world) and various other sights in the Old Town. Here are the girls opposite the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.

The Vietnamese still revere Uncle Ho after more than 40 years since his death. Even the younger  generation seem to be under his spell! He certainly left his mark on his country, helping to defeat the French in 1954, and not quite living to see the back of the Americans in 1975. People queue up every day to file past in total silence, no shoes, no hats, no conversation! It can take up to 2 or 3 hours to spend a few minutes gazing on his preserved body. (Every year during the hot season he is sent to Moscow for a freshen-up.) We happened to be there on Reunification Day, the high point of the year! The queues were kilometres long, so needless to say we didn't join in. Surprisingly, the Ho Chi Minh museum next door was almost empty. 

Hanoi, like no other!

What a city! Hanoi prides itself on being a mix of many cultures, and delivers in spades! Sure, it is hot, dirty, noisy and crowded, but it manages to combine an Asian sensibility with some stunning European touches. Blame the French (the Vietnamese certainly do!) , blame the Americans (ditto), blame the hordes of Europeans here, with a few expat Aussies, but walking Hanoi's streets you could be excused at times for thinking you were in the boulevardes of Paris. Except then you see this:

Or this:

Or fine dining like this:

And you know this is another way of  thinking altogether.
The Viets have been dominated by different nations for more than a thousand years- they are nothing if not patient! They think the Chinese are poised for another try, and of course Korea is just around the corner.
More later....