Bonnie and Ed's second Around-the-World Adventure: There is no North and South Vietnam…there is only Vietnam.

Many people may blanch at the title of this post, but our two days in Ha Long Bay and Hanoi proved to us that Vietnam has irrevocably changed since the so-called Vietnamese War. I say so-called because from their side, it was the American War. Our guide, the charming and affable Lieu (Lee-oo), made it clear that we were in a Communist country that was experiencing a market economy. Based on our experience, we believe one would be hard-pressed to find animosity toward America or Americans in Hanoi or in the old north.

We are still in the north and the weather is still very cool and cloudy.

Hanoi is a huge city and the central portion is quite spread out.

Our guide, Ngyuen Dien Lieu, "Lieu."

Put in historical perspective, consider the following:

For thousands of years the Vietnamese were fiercely independent and apart from most other southeast Asian peoples.

They were conquered by the Chinese in the ninth century – that rule lasted for over 1000 years.
The French took over from the Chinese in the mid-nineteenth century – that “protectorate” lasted about 100 years (roughly late 1950s).
The Americans were there in a war that lasted a mere ten years (roughly 1963-1973).

Given that our presence as combatants was a mere blink of an eye compared to the French and that the French occupation was an annoyance compared to the Chinese, it becomes more clear that the Vietnamese have no use and do not trust their nearest neighbor to the north, tolerate the French heritage, and love Americans. Another huge factor is that there are over 92 million Vietnamese in an area half the size of Texas (just slightly smaller than California). Of these over 75% were born after the cessation of the conflict in the 1970s and over 25% of the population is under the age of 25.

OK, enough about the demographics and politics. We were in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)) last year and were not sure what to expect this year. Having a day in Hanoi and Ha Long was a very good start. Our first day was a long one.

Hanoi is a little over 100 miles from Ha Long. If there were interstate highways in Vietnam, we could probably make the trip in a little less than two hours. Unfortunately, most of the roads are much less than highways in Vietnam.

We were up at 6:00 and in a mini-van for the three-hour + trip from Ha Long City to Hanoi. Driving in Vietnam is akin to a contact sport – except for the contact part. They use four implements to propel their vehicles: the gas pedal; the clutch (remember the clutch???) the brake pedal; the horn. The gas, clutch and brake are used in the usual way, but the horn is special.

When starting out the horn is blown hard and loud to let others know you are there. When moving in traffic the horn is blown at every other vehicle to let them know you are there and will probably be passing them –to the left, to the right, down the center line (if one exists), on the shoulder, wherever… The horn is also used to alert the myriad of motorcycles, mopeds, bicycles, etc. that you are behind them and want them to move out of the way. Although most vehicles have rear-view mirrors, they are universally distained in favor of listening for a horn that may be too close.

We found it fascinating at first. The fascination turned to fear when we realized that we were only one vehicle of many to all the other vehicles. The fear turned to resignation when we realized that we would not be getting any little catnaps on the long drive into the city.

Fortunately, our guide was a good one and the first thing he told us was that there would be a stop about halfway for the “happy room”. The rest stop was at a rehabilitation and training facility for people who were the victims of Agent Orange or had suffered birth defects of any nature. They live, work and play at the complex. We saw silk embroidery, clothing-making, and other local crafts being taught and practiced and we had an opportunity to make this a shopping stop, but the six of us in the van wanted to get to Hanoi.

Hanoi is a giant city, but only the second largest in Vietnam with just over seven million inhabitants (by the legal census; no one really knows the actual number). Saigon is the largest city.

This map shows the relative locations of the sites we visited.

We wound our way through the narrow streets and broad boulevards to the center of the city and our first stop: Lake Hoan Kiem and its shrine. Vietnam has no official state religion or even a generally recognized nation religion (such as Catholicism in the Philippines). Lieu explained that most people have a belief in a divine being, similar to many eastern religions, but they tend to worship in their own individual ways. The shrine in the lake commemorates an ancient emperor who was said to have saved the country from an invasion. That story, as in many handed down in oral tradition, has many interpretations and embellishments, but the temple itself was gorgeous.

The main entrance to the temple.

On the bridge over the lake.

After our temple visit, we walked several blocks to a section of the old quarter (pre-French) that we would call an “eating street” in most other locations. The walk itself was an adventure. First we had to make sure that we were all grouped closely together. Then we waited for Lieu to say “Now!” Then we proceeded to leave the relative safety of the curb and begin walking into traffic. The trick, we were told, was to keep your eyes front, walk at a steady pace – no halting or running, and just look as if you know exactly what you are doing. By George, it worked! We are still alive and well and obviously have lived to tell the tale.

We left the curb just after the van on the right edge of the picture passed us. Talk about a leap of faith...we just moved out as a group and floated through the sea of mopeds, motorcycles, bicycles, and vehicles.

The “eating” street was narrow and lined with stalls and shops side-by-side serving almost as many different foods as shops. Several of us wanted to try a few things, but if we had sat on the tiny and very low stools available, we might not have gotten back up… Then of course, there’s this e. coli. thing… oh well.

A typical eating shop.

The lady is preparing the traditional bowl of Pho...yum,yum...

After our tour of the old section we went for our real lunch. It was a grand Vietnamese seven course affair at one of Hanoi’s oldest “good” establishment, Ly Club. We had “Pho”, spring rolls, stir-fry, stew, grill, and steamed fragrant rice. All this followed by several slices of fresh local fruit for dessert. One thing about the Vietnamese national dish, “Pho”. It is pronounced “fa” with a dropped and rising end tone. That is important because if you do not impart the correct tonality to the word, then you might be asking for a “street girl.” Vietnamese is a tonal language, even more so than Chinese. There are four tones in Mandarin and Cantonese, but there are six tones in Vietnamese. Vietnamese is one of the ten most difficult languages to learn of all the world’s languages.

After lunch we drove to another temple. This time it turned out that the temple was the original school in Vietnam and was actually built as a Confucian Temple. The day we were there we were fortunate that high-school graduates were present to have their pictures at this school/shrine/temple. In addition, an assembly of primary school children (I guess at their ages of between 6 and 8) were receiving a lesson as well. I have a soft spot for kids and these kids were just achingly cute and friendly. As we walked past them they would look up and smile and wave.

I don't think that the pictures above really need any captions.

We pulled ourselves away from the school and took a short walk to the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum. The museum is housed in a former girls’ school dormitory built during the French occupation. It is one of Vietnam’s oldest and best museums. It contains artifacts, crafts, and artwork of all types dating back to the eleventh century.

To cap off the day, we made our final stop in Hanoi to visit Uncle Ho. Ho Chi Minh is considered the father of his country in a fashion similar to that of George Washington in America. He was responsible for re-activating Vietnamese pride and patriotism in the waning days of the French occupation and led the Vietnamese to finally oust them for good in the mid-1950s. I won’t go into all of the politics and intrigues that led to the American involvement in the 60s and early 70s. Suffice it to say that Ho Chi Minh was alive and leading his people up until his death in the early 1960s.

We saw the presidential palace. It is a grand structure in the traditional architecture of the French Colonial period. Ho distained the grandiose and had a simple stilt house erected behind the palace that he used for his living quarters. During his tenure the palace was only used for state occasions.

The Presidential Palace.

The Stilt House. If you look carefully at the bluish structure to the left of the stilt house, you will see that it appears to be a dirt covered mound. That was Ho Chi Minh's personal bomb shelter. We were told it was never used.

The One-pillar Pagoda.

As we moved from the area of the Presidential Palace and the Stilt House, Lieu gave us more background on Uncle Ho and we were led to the “One Pillar Pagoda.” The pagoda was built to emulate the lotus flower; thus, the single large pillar supporting the shrine itself. The lotus is the symbol of Hanoi.

We continued our walk around the grounds and wound up viewing the massive mausoleum housing his embalmed and mummified remains. We could not get into the mausoleum for a viewing, but we didn't mind.

Back to the vans for the drive home and, perhaps, a little nap during the drive. Not to be. as night fell and we began the drive back, we realized that for many of the mopeds and motorcycles, the use of headlights and taillights was optional. For other motor vehicles, the use of high beams by oncoming traffic appeared to be mandatory. No catnaps on the way home either.

We made it to the dock a little after eight in the evening and realized that we still had a 20-30 minute tender ride back to the ship anchored in the harbor. We stumbled back to our suite a little before nine and managed to order a pizza and Champagne for dinner. Not a bad end to a fabulous day!

As you can see from the map, we only scratched the surface of the Ha Long Bay area. We could go back and spend a few days on one of the cruise boats that ply these waters exclusively. There are bay cruises that go for several days. Perhaps, on a return trip to the area...

The next morning we again rose early and prepared for a morning sail on one of Ha Long Bay’s famous junks (that’s a type of boat, not a commentary on the upkeep of the vessel…).

During the night, the Captain had a barge pulled up to the tender door and about a dozen of the Has Long Bay junks were pulled up to accept passengers. It was easy to walk off the tender platform, on to the barge deck, and then on to the junk. We were on a junk that could probably hold over 100 passengers (if they were locals) and we only had about 25 people on each junk.

We went from the tender door to the barge to the junk.

This is typical of the junk.

Our "Captain." I know he looks like he is about 12, but he was actually in his early thirties. Vietnamese, because of their small stature, wiry build, and constant smile, appear to be much younger than they actually are.

We slowly motored out of the harbor and headed for the rocks – figuratively, not literally. Ha Long Bay is teeming with ancient rock formations that are the tops of hills and mountains left from volcanic and tectonic action eons ago. The junks are motorized, but they move slowly and the motors are very quiet – so quiet that after a few minutes one is hardly aware of the background hum. It is almost like being on a sailboat under sail.

One surprise right away was the number of these boats of various sizes that are plying the waters of the Ha Long estuary. It is an estuary in that the area we were in was only from about 15’ to about 35’ deep. We were on the water a total of almost three hours. Each junk had two of our servers from the ship along with treats. The treats were finger sandwiches, cookies and small pastries, and Bellini cocktails. This was so that no one would be afraid of starving on the trip…

We had seen pictures of the rock formations in Ha Long Bay on various travelogues and in magazine articles, but actually being there and viewing these formations firsthand is different. The only fancy words that come to mind are Wow! and Wow again! I will let most of the pictures speak for themselves.

These two pictures are typical of the floating merchants who eke out a living going from boat to boat trying to sell their wares. In this case it was bananas. Others are crafts or other fruits.