Good morning, Vietnam!
Trip Start
Feb 01, 2004
1
32
44
Trip End
Jun 01, 2004
Hue,
Vietnam
Thursday, April 15, 2004
Unfortunately the title of this entry does not ring so true for us. We have not had many good mornings since arriving in Vietnam.
Despite the trials and tribulations of travelling here, we really enjoyed our time in the north, and in Hanoi in particular. For many, Hanoi evokes images of an austere bastion of communism, ravaged by war and long closed to the world. Yet we have found it to be a charming and beautiful city full of lakes, chinese architecture, French colonial buildings and tree lined lanes. Don't get us wrong...there are plenty of hammers and sickles and red and yellow slogan bearing banners. And Party propaganda blares from loud speakers every day!
hh1
You have already heard about the close call in Sapa, and although Halong Bay was gorgeous, the trip was not so smooth. After our night on Cat Ba island we pulled out and made it about an hour into the Bay when we noticed we were just drifting. Soon we realized we had turned around. We were told everything from people were simply left on the dock, to the other boat had mechanical problems to the coast guard kicked people off for overloading. Even the Vietnamese say you cannot believe them! There word is that they are "complicated." What this means is that corruption is rampant and that deceit in business is acceptable so we shouldn't believe much of what we are told.
The extended cruise was only a big concern since we had to get back to Hanoi to catch an overnight train to Hue. Despite all of this, Halong is gorgeous, almost 2000 outcroppings of limestone cliffs overgrown with jungle and ringed by fine sand beaches. After a few days of haze and rain, we had great weather and a beautiful sunset the first day out on the Bay.
We made it to Hue after 15 gruelling hours and the city itself is very historic and a nice change of pace from Hanoi. There are already signs that we are headed south. We continue to meet tons of fabulous people along the way, often the same people along the tourist trail. Sorry for the lack of photos but we have had trouble finding a card reader or a place to burn a CD. Perhaps when we get to Hoi An we'll be able to upload a few from the last entries.
We continue to enjoy the food, the beer, and the people and the legendary water puppetry in Hanoi was stupendous!
