Hanoi Hotels
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Good Morning Vietnam!
Entry 4 of 8 | show all | print this entry |
Hello All!! Sorry if some of you have tried to read an update that didn't exist. I updated my "map" and it seemed to send you all a notice of a new entry.
Arrived in Viet Nam safe and sound but exhausted. I managed to get to bed in Christchurch around 1:00 pm and could not sleep .... too paranoid about not waking up in time to get to the airport for 5:00 am. I met a guy in Franz Josef (bus driver for the French group who happens to also own/ drive a cab in Christchurch) who offered to pick me up and deliver me to the airport at this ridiculous hour for FREE! What a guy! But before I left the hostel, Peter, the guy sleeping in the bunk above me for my three nights in Christchurch decided to get up and see me off. Peter is from Adelaide, Australia ... and now that he has my blog address I felt I should provide an honorable mention to him! :-)
Vietnam Airlines took good care of us ... unlike flying in the US these days, I certainly did not starve. But it was an extremely long day with a stopover in Saigon to pass through customs. I managed to make arrangements two days before for a place to stay in Hanoi - Hanoi Backpackers Hostel - that also made arrangements to pick me up at the airport so I wouldn't have to deal with the numerous scams run by cabbies in the city. It was only 8:00 pm but I could barely keep my eyes open to ponder the ride into the central city 32 km away. All I know is that my driver kept honking his horn at what I do not know. I figured this out the next day. The Hostel was down a narrow street, what we would probably call an alley in the states but with a distinct street address. Entering a questionable facade I found what was a very clean,warm interior with a great, friendly and helpful staff. I felt I wanted to stay there longer than I could. Instead I would be moving to a different hotel the next day where I would meet the people with whom I would spend the next 23 days. The hostel staff got me settled in with a hot cup of tea and, with encouragement from Barry the British desk manager, I decided that I would give running a try around the lake/ park in the early morning.
I shared a room with two Australian mates, already in bed, one who had spent the entire day recovering from over indulging the night before on the local freshly brewed Hanoi beer, called Bia Hoi, that can be purchased at several local corner stores for about $.15 a glass. Thankfully the sickly one rose to clean and fumigate our bathroom before I entered!
RUNNING IN HANOI
I awoke about 6:00 am to find that it was still dark!! Well, duh! I'd become so used to summer in New Zealand that I completely forgot it was now winter in Hanoi, many many hours to the north. Argh! Nevertheless I threw on my running clothes and headed out to the street, with little compact street map in hand. Forunately Vietnamese lettering is not so different from our alphabet that I could easily read the street signs. When I arrived at the lake a couple of blocks away I found thousands of Vietnamese with whom to exercise! Walkers, runners, lots of Tai Chi groups, people doing strange little movements, MANY playing badmitton. Fascinating!! Many are out much earlier and around 7:00 am many of the groups start to thin out. While I was certainly a bit of an anomaly, I never felt uncomfortable stares and at one point a couple of men from what seemed to be a running group, decided to run with me until my shoe came untied. They continued on for as long as they planned to for the day. When they finished they waited for me to come around to wave and give me the "high five". Fun! A good first morning in Vietnam.
Back at the hostel I shared breakfast conversation with two pair of women. Two Americans from the DC area who'd quit their jobs to travel for several months and two British women, one who is a freelance photographer owning her own business which allows her the freedom to travel when she is so inclined. It certainly got me thinking.
Eventually I made my way to my new hotel, walking several block through chaotic streets with my backpack. I had to just sit for an hour or two to collect myself and decide what to do for the day. Then it was off to the streets to see the city.
A PEDESTRIAN IN HANOI
The traffic in Hanoi, especially in the Old Quarter where the streets are squashed together, is like nothing I've seen before. Organized chaos that somehow works. I'd been warned about Saigon/ Ho Chi Minh City but, depending on who you talk to, some say that Hanoi is worse. Their are MILLIONS of motorbikes, few of which travel in a straight path, all honking horns along with the cars and buses to announce their existance. Crossing the street is a constant leap of faith. You must intentionally step out in front of traffic or you will never go anywhere. You must not flinch and, whatever you do, DO NOT BREAK YOUR STRIDE. Every move of every vehicle is made according to the meter of your stride. If you speed up the bike in front of you may hit you. If you stop, the bike in back of you has your name. It also helps if you can at least pretend that you don't notice they exist at all. After a while you just step off the curb without thinking.
I took the Lonely Planet walking tour. In Vietnamese, all the streets in the Old Quarter are named after the commodity that is sold therein. At first sight I wondered what was supposed to be of significance - the blocks all looked silmilar. But then I noticed an entire block of nothing but shoe stores. Then a block of silk clothing shops, then leather....appliances....hardware....jewelry...and on. A great way to comparison shop!! My quest also took me to the Mocha Cafe where I hoped to find out information on the Ex-pat Hash House Harrier groups that supposedly gather on Tuesday and Saturdays to run and drink. Apparently they now meet elsewhere, but in the meantime I met John, a retired school teacher from California, in Vietnam for his second or third time, looking for post retirement possibilities with NGOs in the country. This was quite good for me as I hoped to find the office of World Neighbors, an organization I interviewed with twelve years ago for the position of country director right here - and I came pretty close. John happened to have a directory of all the registered NGO/ PVOs in the country, saving me a bit of running around. Alas, it seems that World Neighbors is no longer here so I have to decide if I want to find out what happened. But for now I'm staisfied that I've gone as far as I can in that quest and found some pretty cool people to chat with along the way.
After taking a picture of Hummer in front of the Protestant Cathedral - it looked so strange - I had to make my way back to the hotel to meet the people with whom I would spend the next three weeks.
PERSONALITY DYNAMICS
I was hoping that only eight people signed up for our little adventure - but I arrived to find out that instead the maximum of twelve would be leaving for our first stop, Halong Bay the next day. A breakdown in case I mention these folks later: Hong (our Vietnamese guide, Steven (Australia), Linda & Shannon (Australia - twin sisters), Scott & Sarah (Australia - moving to British Columbia for a couple of years), John & Cathy (Welsh - great accents!), Corey & David (Australia), Kelly (Australia) and Elizabeth (American but living Germany where she also has spent most of her life). So you can see that the Australians are heavily favored in this group. For the most part people get on pretty well - but there have been moments. Mostly this centers on a cultural faux pas displayed from time to time by one of our members. But, as the time moves on we have found it easier to split up and do our own things when we are in a place long enough.
HALONG BAY
Before traveling to Halong Bay our first full day together we all marched acrossed the city to do the requisite pilgrimage to the Ho Chi Minh Mauseleum. We were like ducklings following mama duck through the wide open, upscale streets of the embassy and consulate district (no mayhem here). They built this massive marble structure to house his body so that his faithful followers, young and old, can pay tribute. No cameras or suspicious items. "Uncle Ho" as he is fondly referred to by the Vietnamese, has been sent off to Russia several times for re-embalming. Apparently there even have some "specialists" on hand in case something goes awry in between maintenance. The Lonely Planet guide suggested that some think Madame Trussaud may have gotten a hold of him the last go around. Not far off - but considering how long he's been lying in this state I didn't think he looked too bad.
What is interesting to me is that Ho Chi Minh requested that he be cremated and given a simple place of honor. But the country, at least here in the north, seems to revere this man. When he died of illness during the war, they kept his body hidden away until they could "properly" diplay him at what I imagine was great expense.
We soon after left for Halong Bay, hoping that the weather in the morning would offer us those picture perfect moments. After my excellent weather luck in New Zealand I assured the group that certainly it would stay with me throughout my travels! So far it's been not too shabby. There was the morning fog that could be expected during the winter in this area - but even this presented an ethereal feel to the islands. As the morning wore on the fog began to lift and by noon we had a spectacular day.
There are tiny fishing "towns" built out in the water - actually a bunch of individual houses built on flotation with a network of docks, for lack of a better word reaching out. Most of these households had more than one dog that would run up and down and over these constantly. At low tide they might be transferred to the nearest island for a bit more exercise. Apparently a boat from the main shore comes out on a regular basis to buy fish and seafood and to provide supplies to the fishermen and families. A very different and isolated life.
0ur original plan after Halong Bay was head to Cat Ba to stay the night and to visit the National Park that same afternoon to climb up to a tower placed on one of the highest hills for the view. But the day turned out to be so nice that we opted to do some kayaking and instead hike the next morning when it would be cooler. We could have benefitted, however, from a bit more tide. It was now coming in but not fast enough. Hong led us around islands only so that we would have to drag our boats over exposed bottom to reach deep enough water to continue. There were live starfish everywhere in the shallow reserves and everytime we had to drag a boat we most certainly committed some sort of "starfishicide". Just the way to travel through nature's wonderland - admire it's offspring than kill them.
CAT BA ISLAND and THE HOSPITAL CAVES
Cat Ba is being developed as a large island resort. During winter is a rather sleepy town but it apparently quadruples in size in the summer when it becomes engorged with visitors from Hanoi and surrounds. There are plans everywhere to build new hotels and other developments and they are in the process of constructing a bridge to the island from the mainland. I'm not sure this a good thing. But one can currently observe the reaches of the bridge extending out from either end with no center.
Vietnam has several National Parks but we will only have the opportunity to see the one on Cat Ba. We made the climb up the trail to a tour on one of tallest hills for a spectacular view of the countryside. There are white-headed monkeys living somewhere within but there numbers are only around 25 so I didn't hold my breath waiting to see one. Although there weren't many deciduous trees, I imagine that the forest in springtime would present a very different face.
Just outside the Park we stopped off to visit caves that served as a military hospital for the North Vietnamese during the war. It took them about five years to fully convert the caves to a fully functioning hospital that could serve about 150 patients, including a labyrinth of tunnels for escape should the need ever present itself. The tunnels have been filled but the rest of the infrastructure is still in excellent shape. The gem of this visit was the former Vietnamese soldier, now 83 looking at least 10 years younger, who lived in the cave over the course of the war. A very proud man but one who made it clear that his country wants to move on and embrace the world in friendship. The past is what it is. He sang beautifully for us and insisted that we, too, sing along. For whatever reason, this man touched me deeply and I found my eyes welling up with water more than once. I'm not sure that any of the others were so affected - I think it's simply because I'm American and the war was what it was. As the others left I stayed back to shake his hand and tell him where I was from ...instead I told him I was American, thanked him and ...started sobbing pathetically and hugged him. Poor man. But he was ever so gracious after not knowing what to do he seemed to return my hug and smiled. I said goodbye.
NIGHT TRAIN TO THE NORTH
Back on the road we went to Hanoi to gather up things we left behind and to catch the night train to Lao Cai, about 3 km from the Chinese border, and then on to Sapa to visit some of the hilltribes in the area. The train really wasn't bad. Of course we stayed in "soft sleepers" with four beds to a berth, but we could have chosen hard sleepers/ six to a berth, soft seats similar to flying on an airplane, or hard wood benches with chicken wire windows. I slept fine this time around - it would be the first overnight train of several we will take.
We knew to expect less than stellar weather in Sapa in the winter. It has that reputation. It is at just the right altitude for fog to settle ... and stay. There was a constant damp chill and we found that our hotel was not heated although you could "hire" a space heater if you felt the need. I found that I spent a lot of money going to somewhat heated restaurants to sip hot drinks - ginger tea, hot mulled wine.
The town is filled with women from the area's various hilltribes hawking their wares. Persistently. Very savvy. At some point you can't even acknowledge them anymore. But this is nothing compared to the "tribal village" visit that Hong set up for us the afternoon we arrived. We all hopped in a small bus/van for what we thought would be a casual visit. When we arrived at least 50 women and children waited together for our bus to approach and stop. We all looked at each other in stunned agony. I was closest to the door but there was no way in hell I was going to be the first one out - like sending a lamb to the wolves. Nevertheless, we all had at least three companions to "assist" with the tour of the surrounding area at the same time asking if we would buy something from them at the end. Actually the three women who faithfully accompanied me proved quite helpful - first they save me from extortion. And, we had no idea that the tour included paths of thick, slippery, red sticky mud. In fact they decided to take us across the rice paddies to "observe" the neighboring Black Hmong working in the field (We were with the Red Dao(?). I'm not sure why. Quite funny really. But they got me through the mud in tact and, somewhere along the way, I assured the three women that I would buy something from each of them at the end. I highly discourage this method of showing gratitude. As soon as we got back to the main village to catch our bus back out they stole me away to a porch to present "the goods". Ever try bargaining with, what was now, twenty people looking over your shoulder? Impossible. Hong didn't know what happened to me but, seeing my plight, he didn't do much to help me either. In the end I did manage to escape only buying four items. The others on the bus sat amazed.
I'll leave it there right now but will be back later with a bit about our "home stay" with one of the tribes and some more on Sapa. I've since returned to Hanoi and head down south on the overnight "Reunification Express" shortly. Until then.....
Latest Comments (1)
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Hi Abby (reply)
Feb 23, 2006 11:45 EST by dancegypsy
It was exciting to read your travel log. Tracy had forward it on to me. Having been to Rotorua, I could picture your discriptions. Too bad you didn't stop at the cavern on your way there to see the glow worms. Did you have to go on a tour to see Vietnam? Were the couple from Battle Creek, Bob and Dottie? I know they travel all over the world. I look forward to seeing some photos after you fi... show all
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