Hanoi

Started this blog in Hanoi, finished it today in our bungalow while it rained. No captions for the photos just now. I'll leave the blog I started at the bottom.


Hanoi
Very sorry to have let this go for so long! Hanoi seems like a million years ago. On our return from Halong Bay we tried to check back into the same guest house we'd stayed in our first night there. The owner had asked us for a deposit in order to reserve the room, which seemed shady so we said no.
She was shady alright.
Upon trying to check back in she failed to tell us that she didn't actually have a room and kept trying to get us to pay her before seeing a room. Then another couple would come in to check the rates and rooms and she'd show them a room. We were upset because we couldn't understand why she kept showing other people the room but wouldn't show us.
Turns out the room she was showing had already been reserved via email. She was trying to give it away! It was more than we wanted to pay so she wasn't offering it to us.
Then she tried to get us pay her again. We asked to see the room and we were walked across the street to a really dirty hotel we'd passed on staying in that first morning at 6am.
Some kind of shady!
So we promised her we would come back in 30 minutes when she might have rooms (magically?).
We asked at another place on the same street and we walked to their #2 location. Clean and quiet. No shady dealing. DONE!
We grabbed our bags and checked in for 5 nights. Shady lady lost our on $60 from us.

Hanoi was another city n Vietnam. We liked it alright and the Old Quarter was cozy and colorful. People from everywhere were everywhere. A moment of distraction and you'd be run down by a motorbike, step into someone's sidewalk frying pan, or smack into a row of motos parked on what you thought was the footpath. Busy and hectic and exciting... and cold! Another week of cold is not what we needed! Luckily we had a few warm days in there.
One day for lunch we stopped at a street corner crowded with locals of all ages and economic means sitting on dirty little plastic stools designed for kindergartners. The all greedily slurped at bowls of what looked like pho. We found some empty stools and ordered one each, just 30k dong, about $1.50usd. It was a crab broth with noodles, handfuls of fresh herbs, large bits of tofu seasoned with chilis and tomato. It was absolutely fantastic! Maybe the best thing we ate in Vietnam..

We walked everywhere because we're cheap-ass bastards and because you can eat more sweets and ice cream if you burn a few more calories in a day.
We walked at least 20km one day roundtrip. We started at the Thai embassy (another 60 day visa- still free). We got there too early and decided to grab breakfast from a noodle shop around the corner. We'd recently been warned to ask the price first. We did. Twenty thousand dong, about $1usd. "Sounds great," we said with smiles.
Suddenly a feast was set before us. "Did we order this?" and "oh well, can't be more than a dollar," was our response.
The food was good and definitely topped-up or appetites. When it came time to pay things became interesting. I think the exchange went something like this:
"300,000 dong."
With a sudden fury, "Um, no. I don't think so!" Leighton fired daggers from his eyes. I think it scared the lady because she was pretty meek about it.
We spent a couple minutes trying to tally and used a calculator to communicate. She really did want 300k dong ($15). For those of you thinking, "that's not too bad" you should remember we were spending about $8-$9 a day, of which $5-$6 was for a room. Paying 300k dong for noodles was like paying $80 for a hot dog. Ludicrous!
So we decided to stand up for foreigners and hopefully make rule think twice before trying to rip us off again.
We gave them 100k total and yelled and called them lying thieves. We took pictures of them and plan to post them on travel sites and to send a scathing email to the Vietnam Tourist Police as well. No one will eat there again. Not that we saw anyone eating there any of the times we walked by after that.

Anyway, after the Thai visa was dealt with we walked to Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. As creepy as it sounds. Rumored to be wax, the embalmed remains of 'Uncle Ho', the leader of the revolution, sit on a massive square that you can't walk on. The concrete structure is only accessible
After security checkpoints akin to an airport, checking of cameras and all other electronic devices at a depot, and removing all hats and glasses. We were quietly whispering about the experience and were angrily scolded for talking in line 100 meters from the entrance. Then I tried reading the section of the guide book on the mausoleum and was angrily scolded for reading while still 50 meters away. Mind you the scoldings came from guys with machine guns.
The body was creepy and should be disposed of. Let's get that out of the way. Icky old man who looks very dead and waxen and not at all dignified or glorious.
A minute later we had our cameras back and were avoiding the entrance fee to see where Uncle Ho "grew up" and his presidential palace (opulent for a communist...)

We decided to walk another 7pm from the Old Quarter and visit the Museum of Ethnology. It was really fun! We learned about the various ethnic groups of SE Asia and saw very good exhibits on their culture, rituals, and housing. We even went into some reproductions in the sculpture garden out back.
The rest of the week we just bummed around as per usual in Vietnam.
The Monday morning we had our flight a taxi picked us up and off we went. Bangkok called our names! We heard it, carried in on the warm morning wind. "Come back! It's warm and delicious here!"

So off we flew.








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After Halong Bay we didn't know what to expect of Hanoi. We'd heard it was fun. We'd heard it wasn't. After the hotel debacle was cleared up we found a supermarket and stocked up for dinner. Along the walk we got hungry and stopped for a late lunch (yes, after our massive lunch earlier in the day). It was hard to find something that wasn't exorbitantly overpriced. We got angrier and angrier as prices reflected the greed of the shop owners rather than their supposed aptitude toward being more friendly than the more capitalist southerners. "Yeah right!" we said.

Eventually, exhausted and hungry, we stumbled across a lady serving people from a street corner. She had set up her stove and some plastic seats a la

Cruising The Bay of The Sunken Dragons

Halong Bay literally means the 'bay of the sunken/submerged dragons' because ancient Vietnamese saw the nearly 2000 islands as a family of dragons protruding from the sea. It is as epic a view today for this traveler as it was for those fisherman. It goes on forever. It looks like a trick of the eye. It is incredible.

I'm only slightly getting ahead of myself. When we started walking in the pre-dawn streets of Hanoi's Old Quarter we had essentially no idea where we were or where we were going. With only 1 hotel in mind we set off... magically we found our way! But it was closed. So was everything else. Fortunately, in the same alley as our hotel, a small noodle bar was setting its first bowls for the day and we snagged a few seats. Hot noodles have never been so good for two guys wearing shorts on a cold, dark morning. It hit the spot and gave us a spot to wait out the sunrise and the opening of the hotels.

We checked in, spent most of the day napping and buying food. We were leaving the next morning for Halong Bay and that was about all we could think about.

Fast forward to Monday and we were off! The pick up and ride out were uneventful except that Leighton correctly answered a trivia question (What is the favorite hobby of Vietnamese people? Riding their motorbikes and honking, he answered correctly). He won a map of Vietnam, a beer, and a toy. We got the port and onto a small ferry boat that took us to our ship: the Elizabeth Sails.

She was a medium to large ship for the harbor with 2 main decks and a top-deck open to the elements with loungers and tables. We checked into our room and were very happy to find the promised "luxury, very VIP for you" was not a lie. The beds were just singles, but the sheets felt like God himself made them soft. I guess the guest house accommodations have made us appreciative of the little things in life, like a clean shower.

We had lunch and then cruised to a cave, the "Surprising Cave." See picture below for the spoiler. Lunch was yummy and took a long time to eat. For 6 people at a table they brought out plate after plate of various dishes including fried chicken, french fries, clams, rice, and more.

The cave from the outside.

The cave was REALLY big.

The "surprise" turned out to be a rock that looked (vaguely) like a penis pointing at a hole in the ceiling. Gross.

It was an epically large cave. The bay has its beauty. Then we kayaked around a bit before getting back onto the "small boat" which took us to the Elizabeth Sails.

Then we got back on board and had some hot showers before setting off for our sleeping area, the "VIP area, for luxury." It was the spot where about 6 boats park versus 100. Thankful for that!

We met some other people including a wonderful lady doctor from South Africa who travels with her MD. Smart lady and very fun! We really liked her! We also met a couple from Quebec who spoke excellent English. I ended up playing cards with him and Ms. Doctor for a while, then our tour guide, Tony, sat with us and taught us a Vietnamese game. It was a little confusing, but fun.

Then dinner and drinks and karaoke. No more details. Or pictures. Sorry. Okay, okay. Dinner was yummy. Crab cakes, squid stirfry, beef with bean sprouts, rice, soup, and more! We were happy to stuff our faces.

Next morning after breakfast Leighton and I hitched a ride to Cat Ba island (everyone else only chose to take a 2 day journey, we did 3) and met up with a new group of people. We bussed to the national park and then, instead of going inside, rode bikes around the perimeter and then back. It was okay, somewhat scenic...

Then the other people got checked into their hotels (we were sleeping on the boat again) and then lunched before heading for Monkey Island. Lunch was pretty good. We had our own table, so we didn't have to share. It was different from what was on the boat but much of a muchness.

Yay for monkeys on the beach! One tried to steal Leighton's water bottle while he wasn't looking. Jerks!

We kayaked here as well before heading back to Cat Ba where we waited in a hotel lobby for an hour before getting driven back to the port and our boat, now waiting in the same spot as the night before.

We had just enough time to shower before dinner (exactly the same menu as night 1), where we met another group of people. This one included some Germans, a couple of Austrians, and a bunch of others we never actually talked to. After dinner we passed out... at 9.

The next morning we woke up, ate the same breakfast again (fried eggs, toast, SPAM, and fruit), and headed back to port. We had a quick lunch at a hotel there before bussing back to Hanoi.

When we arrived were wrecked but still had to deal with a hotel room. We hadn't wanted to pay the place we stayed the first time to hold our room because, well, that's shady. So she didn't have a room for us. She tried to scheme and scam but eventually we just left and found another place where we've been staying and been very happy.

Hue and Lunar New Year

Hue was an unexpected little city.

When we first arrived in Hue we were greeted by our hotel's bell-hops who packed our bags and drove us the 2kms to the front door. We checked into the largest room yet, replete with light, airy (and drafty), and it came with a balcony! We couldn't quite enjoy it... too cold!!!! Story of Vietnam!

The first few days we did our usual: walk around, find the supermarket, stock up on lunch and dinner options, and enjoy the ambiance. It was pretty okay.

Turns out that eating is one of our favorite things to do. And spending time looking for a good and cheap place takes up most of our time. We happened across a place that served our favorite Vietnamese food (bun thit nuong or grilled pork and peanut sauce over noodles with fresh herbs). We doubled back after our first stroll around the town on day 2 and went back on day 3 and 4! The place was delicious and priced the way things should be! Lunch was a dollar! The second day I tried some amazing lettuce wraps, mmm!!! The small store was run by a deaf man who did a better job at communicating with us than most Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laos, or Thai person has in the last 3 months. Kudos to you and your amazing daughter the cook!

We heard that on the day of Tet, the Lunar New Year, all the cultural destinations were free, so we planned to head to the Citadel. We went to sleep early so we could get an equally early start. Around 12:05am I was startled awake by explosions and bright lights: fireworks right outside our window!!! I woke up Leighton and we gawked at the night's show. It was a bit too cloudy and the air was stagnant, so the smoke didn't dissipate and the show was a bit unfortunate. Still, having missed lots of great firework shows recently, I was happy for the brief and exuberant show!

The next morning came later than we'd hoped...

Hue was declared the capital of Vietnam by a new dynasty (Nguyen) in the 1800's and is home to The Citadel, a city within the city surrounded by a moat and large wall. It is similar to other Chinese Imperial Palaces such as the Forbidden City in Beijing, Gyeongbukgung in Seoul, and the Japanese Imperial Palaces. Within the walls of the Citadel is the imperial palace itself, the Purple Palace (no, didn't make that up). Largely destroyed during the war, this city and its palace have been on the mend and are impressive in both their scale and architecture. Far more unique than Gyeongbukgung and less gaudy than its counterparts in Cambodia and Thailand, the Purple Palace is oppulant and grand without being ostentatious.View from the top of the main gate on the outer Citadel Wall.

The throne of the Nguyen Emperors.
Leighton found somewhere cool to pose in the Purple Palace grounds.

An awkwardly vertical dragon... can't say more.
A view of the Purple Palace's outer wall and moat from the outside but still inside the Citadel.

A neat little gate leading to a French-era office block in the Citadel.

So that was Day 3 of 5... anything else to do in this place?


MORE HOT SPRINGS!

We hired bikes and hit the road, only 7km and no downpours this time! Because it was the day after New Years we were worried it might be uber crowded. Boy were we wrong! We saw a grand total of 10 people there throughout our stay, only 2 when we arrived! These were more what I thought hot springs would be like: shallow and broad pools filled with natural, stinky water so hot it stung at first. We avoided the fill-pipes because the water was brutally hot.

We had a lot of peace and quiet and were very thankful to be warm... when the sun came out for the first day in 2 weeks we were giddy as school boys on "free candy day." No locals, no tourists, no noise AND sun!? Perfect little day.

There we are!

The next day we left for Hanoi on a night bus (14 hours), unfortunately not one with the comfy lie-down seats. Boo. Leighton did his smarty pants dance and made a pillow out of 1) pillow case 2) blanket 3) towel 4) extra tee shirts. I copied and our necks gave us high-5's the next morning when we woke up REFRESHED! Wow, who would have thought?

We arrived hours earlier than expected (again) and started off into the dark streets of Hanoi...