Ha Long Has This Been Goin On... Day 4: Halong Bay, Vietnam

We awoke this morning to our last PA broadcast in Hanoi that we have come to know and love. Still having no idea what is being said in that broadcast, we enjoy the singing and know the time is now 730AM, time to start the day. We sat down for a quick breakfast in the Hanoi Elegance Elite lobby, Joel going for an omelette and Dasha with two fried eggs. The peach juice is a delicious alternative to orange juice. Seeing another couple bring their bags down for the trip to Halong Bay, we realize it is time for us to get moving. As we finish our meal, we are entertained by two British men, one of whom has become noticeably impatient for his yet-to-be-served breakfast sandwich and we look on as he takes three bites after it was placed in front of him, then he zooms off on a motorbike.  His friend who stays behind describes him as "lugubrious" to the Vietnamese waiter and we giggle knowing that the waiter has no idea of the meaning of such a word. (Editor's note: lugubrious - adj., mournful, dismal, or gloomy, esp. in an affected, exaggerated, or unrelieved manner)  
We return to the lobby a few minutes later to see the first couple being shuffled down the street with one of the hotel staff. Trying to explain that we too are off to Halong Bay, we are then escorted down our alley street as well and pile into our Sprinter bound for the Halong Bay port. As we make casual introductions, we learn that the other couple is from Austria and has been traveling Vietnam for just a few days as well. Chris and Christina are as fascinated by us as we are them as we trade travel stories and share anecdotes of travels-gone-wrong. We stop to pick up two other couples in Hanoi and then we are on our way, the journey to take us about 4 hours. As we cross over the Red River going east from Hanoi, you quickly see the landscape change. First we are on larger streets lined with more modern storefronts, housing car dealerships, scooter shops, and then these give way to scattered houses and views of agricultural fields. There is still the crazy driving, as we are passed by honking cars and beeping scooters, but the wider roads give way to faster travel and we soon see mountains and formations in the distance, signaling our near proximity to the coast. Dasha spends most of the drive resting on Joel's lap and we are slightly annoyed when we make a pit (tourist) stop at a stone carving depot. Joel steps out to take a few photos of the statues but he is quickly told by the proprietors that there are to be "no photos."  Oops, sorry!

Piling back in, we have about 50 km to travel before we reach the port.  The excitement is great as we wind down the hills to the ship and we pass many building projects resembling the skeletons of would-be resorts and condo structures.  As it is now, there are very few lodging options on this side of Halong Bay, so your best option is to hire a transfer from Hanoi or Haiphong, a smaller coastal port city to the south.  Upon our arrival to the dock, we are welcomed into an upscale lobby, presented with the customary towel (now cold), and assigned our boarding laminate which designates the ship we will board. We fought briefly with our Austrian friends over who the Rolls Royce was really waiting for, but Joel jumps in front just in time.

Upon check-in, we’re informed that because we’re the only 2 night, 3 day booking, we have been upgraded to a premium suite with a private deck aboard the boat. . . being on your honeymoon certainly has it's perks!

 The first stop on our boat trip is to visit an amazing cave system on one of the islands, Hang Sung Sot. To give us plenty of energy for the 150 steps up to the mouth of the cave, they prepared a lunch buffet on board and have made every effort to accommodate our vegetarianism.  Peter, the onboard maitre'd, confirms our meals for dinner.  It is so nice to have attention paid to what we'll be eating. Hang Sung Sot cave is both beautiful and fascinating. 

We learned of the fisherman that have at times used the cave for overnight stays on the island and the views from atop are amazing. 

On this small expedition we also learn more about our fellow passengers, who are mostly older in the 60ish range, some from NYC and upstate New York, others are British, Italian, Spanish and Chinese. Back on the ship via tender boat, we sail for another 45 minutes before climbing back on the tender to see a floating fishing village, one of the largest in Halong Bay, that even has a school for it's children. We did a float by visit waving at the children as we passed by. 

Back on the boat, we have a small cooking class learning how to make the infamous Vietnamese spring roll.  

Yummy!  Joel does a stand up job of rolling one and we promise to have a dinner party featuring his amazing skills, culinary and otherwise, once back in the States.  

We are also treated to a shot of rice wine to accompany our veggie fried spring rolls; Dasha even got some hair on her chest after that one!  Needing a relaxation session, we headed in for a couples oil massage. Centered around aromatherapy, this was a Swedish-style rub, very welcome after the days of traveling. This also set us up nicely to be relaxed for dinner, which we found out was a full five-course meal! We could barely keep our eyes open for most of it, but every course was well-prepared, all with our vegetarian needs in mind. The meal included a delicious Vietnamese-style seitan beef dish and a mild, tasty coconut milk tofu curry. All but laying our heads down on the table, we excuse ourselves from dinner after finishing off a glass of malbec, and watch the shadows of the surrounding islands as we drift off to sleep. 

Takin' it to the streets... Day 3: Hanoi, Vietnam

Rising at the rarely seen time of 530AM this morning, we enjoyed the first few hours of our day lounging and finalizing other travel plans for the rest of the trip. By 1100AM, we headed back across the street to Tamarind for breakfast one more time and plotted the day. 

Once back out on the streets, we took a moment to discuss the plan, and were approached by a few vendors selling guide books, pastries, and fruit. One of the women was kind enough to share her load – those carrying baskets are so much heavier than they look!

After a few photos, and purchasing a facemask to use during heavy exposure to traffic (the smog from the motorbikes can be a bit overwhelming), we haggled with a tuk tuk driver who wanted too much money for his efforts. He was relentless and eventually, we had to alter our course to get away! So we started off on foot, visiting the meditation island on Hoan Kiem Lake, which hosted a building called the Ngoc Son Temple. 

This temple is dedicated to telling the ancient story of the lake and how a resident turtle returned a powerful sword back to the spirit world after an important leader had used it to his benefit. The island had a beautiful pagoda and some interesting foliage. There was a fee to get on the island proper and we debated not going, but when we discovered it was just 10,000 dong per person ($.50 / each), we laughed and bought tickets. There is also a small pagoda in the middle of the lake that commemorates the great turtle spirit, which you can view from nearly every angle around the lake.

Wanting to make our way over to a different neighborhood, we then hired a tuk tuk driver to get us over to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.

The thirty-minute trip took us through the north end of the Old Quarter, eventually leading to bigger streets, government buildings and embassies housed in beautiful French colonial-era buildings. 

Tree-lined streets and all kinds of vegetation throughout the city were the norm surrounding all of the crazy traffic. We arrived at the Ho Chi Minh complex and were immediately struck by its size. Deciding to just tour the grounds (we hear HCM’s preserved remains, usually stored here, take a vacation to Russia every winter for “cleaning”), we walked around the outside of the museum building and through the gardens. The civic grounds were groomed and quiet; here we visited the One Pillar Pagoda and we witnessed some military exercises happening as we walked by (you can see them marching in the background of the photo).

We learned a bit about Ho Chi Minh and how he defended the Vietnamese cause on many fronts, defeating interests against the Chinese, the colonialist French, and eventually, the United States. The Ho Chi Minh complex is a center of national pride while also being a stop for many international visitors. 

After taking a lot of photos, we leave the grounds in search of food, and make our way past more embassies in search of the Com Chi food stalls.

Unfortunately, mid-afternoon does not seem to be the ideal time to find many of them open, so we continued up Hang Bong and did some shopping, experienced more hilarious scooter traffic without regulation, and had a quick bite amongst all of the action at the somewhat unmemorable but favorably located Little Hanoi Cafe. 

At this point, we looked for scooters with 2 or more people and saw a few with 3, and even one with a family of 4 squeezed onto the seat. Sometimes it really is hard to tell which way everyone is trying to go!

 We finished our afternoon jaunt by shopping for some jewelry on Hang Bac, the main jewelry street. Whether it's silk, jewelry, scooter repair, bamboo or cheap toys, every product seems to have its own localized neighborhood in Hanoi, where 25 shops on a block all sell the same thing. 

We returned to our old hotel, and made the walk to our new hotel, which was in fact, brand new. 

We stayed on the 6th floor (no elevator) of this impossibly width-challenged building and enjoyed a hard drive system that had dozens of movies available.  Hot Tub Time Machine proved to be funny and original. Post-movie, we headed out to find local late night fare and found Half Man 1/2 Noodle, a Western-inspired bar/grill and enjoyed a salad, some veggie rolls and two Halida beers at a table on the street for a mere $.75 each.

On our way home for the night, a cocker spaniel sat watch, and we caught a glimpse of the travel agency we plan to purchase.

We slept for just a few hours tonight in excited anticipation of our morning journey to Halong Bay.    

Finally, a real vietnamese spring roll! Day 2: Hanoi, Vietnam

We awoke this morning to the ubiquitous sounds of car, bus, and scooter horns as early as 600AM, and as we half dreamt from bed, we were soon tantalized by what appears to be a morning ritual in Hanoi: at 730AM daily, a gorgeous song with a woman's voice is played over public address systems throughout the city, perhaps a national anthem or maybe a popular song? It is followed with what seemed to be some announcements by a man's voice... And so our first day in Vietnam begins! 

As with anywhere, there are rules on appropriate and inappropriate behavior, and we make note to abide by all of the hotel regulations, posted in our room.

We start things off with breakfast in the hotel lobby, which includes your choice of Western items and Rain Man playing on the TV with Vietnamese subtitles in the background.

The peach juice was our favorite (two glasses each), and we both ate an egg-based dish, which we found to be cooked up well, even if it's not the traditional Vietnamese breakfast. From the staff that checked us in last night to the breakfast crew this morning, everyone is so helpful and accommodating.

Even though there usually exists a bit of a language barrier, a smile and a few hand gestures can get us what we need, or they will get someone to help translate. We snapped a pic of the kitchen staff on our way out, and thanked them for the meal.

After this, we spoke with the hotel concierge (Manh is the man!), and he arranged our travel and accommodations for Halong Bay, and we scheduled our departure for two days later. Manh also hired Chung for us, a bicycle tuk tuk driver, to give a proper introduction to the neighborhood.

We witnessed motorbike, bicycle and auto traffic moving in what simultaneously seemed like chaos and harmony, as every moment was filled with what seemed like at least five potential accidents.

We were later told this rule in Vietnam: "Just go and don't stop."  If you stop, they will hit you, but if you close your eyes and just walk across the street, you will reach the other unscathed. As we people watched, Dasha pointed out several Vietnamese families along the way, and we noticed the youngest generation seems to hang out with mom, dad, or grandma during the work day if they're not yet of school age.

Following our hour long tour of the Old Quarter and Hoan Kiem Lake, the cultural heart of Hanoi, we ate a quick lunch across from the hotel at Tamarind, a vegetarian restaurant serving Vietnamese fare and all day breakfast. The pumpkin soup was outstanding, but Dasha's two color soup was just okay. We also ate summer rolls and spring rolls (we couldn't choose) that featured fresh veggies and deliciously thin rice paper.

This was also our first authentic Vietnamese iced coffee. Yum! Energized, we then took to the streets for an exciting afternoon of shopping and people watching on Hang Gai & Hang Bong streets.

There is beautiful silk clothing everywhere; Dasha found a few pieces to her liking, and even got one altered in just two hours.

Joel found a cool hoodie, and was astonished at how affordable everything seemed to be.  Continuing our journey through the Old Quarter, we walked by a street full of scooter repair shops and the St. Joseph Cathedral, completed in 1886.

As we wrapped up our shopping, we saw hundreds of locals and foreigners alike sitting on small stools along the sidewalks, dining, drinking, and cooking together in what was a daily ritual for many.

It's a casual yet cosmopolitan culture here in Hanoi, which is celebrating 1000 years of existence in 2010, marked by the Vietnamese phrase "Thanh Long."

We finished our day with massages at $7/hour upstairs from Tamarind, where we couldn't resist more fruit juice and smoothies.

Relaxed from our thai-style massages, we felt jet lag setting in, and were off to bed by 730PM, looking forward to another exciting day in Hanoi!