Halong Bay

Eli and I left Hanoi on Monday morning for the 3 hour car ride to Halong City to pick up the boat for our Halong Cruise.  During the ride, you pass by modern day Vietnamese French-style terrace townhouses, rows of one-story storefronts/restaurants that line the streets, factories with parking lots jammed with motorbikes, rice paddies, lotus flowers, cemeteries. 

Halong Bay is a magical place where time seems to stop.  Watch the movie Indochine and you will get a glimpse of the beauty and exotic nature of this place.  Tour the bay on a modern-day Chinese junk (an exquisite wooden boat) and time seems to stop.  Our boat was Halong Jasmine,

A day exploring the Old Quarter

After walking around Lake Hoan Kiem, Eli and I explored the Old Quarter, a maze of narrow streets filled with shops, galleries and restaurants.  Pedestrians, cyclists, and motorbikers throng these small passageways.  The clothing is all so tempting, especially the beautifully made silks, but the temperature was so hot you can't fathom trying on a thing. 

Rather than eat in traditional restaurants, the Vietnamese crowd together on small plastic stools that look like brightly colored kiddie furniture.  They eat food often cooked outside on the street, particularly a soup called pho - a broth filled with a variety of meats, rice noodles, sprouts, Thai chilis, and herbs.  Pho is the most common Vietnamese breakfast.

After her month in China, Eli was more familiar with the unusual fruits like dragonfruit and mangosteens sold from the street stalls.  Mangos are everywhere.  There are mango drinks, mango restaurants, mango dishes.

In the evening, we went to see the Water Puppet Show and ate at Green Tangerine.

The Lake of the Returning Sword

Lake Hoan Kiem, the Lake of the Returning Sword is in the center of Hanoi.  The legend says that Le Loi, (1384 - 1433), emperor of Vietnam, had a magic sword that helped him defeat the Chinese.  After his return from battle, he was out on the lake when a turtle rose from the depths and snatched the sword, returning it to the gods.

Hanoi: Scooter City

Before leaving for Vietnam, friends who've been here before warned us about the terrors of crossing the street in Hanoi.  The Vietnamese ride everywhere on two wheels – bicycles, rickshaws, but mostly motorscooters—swarms of them.  The Vietnamese ride rain or shine - wearing ponchos, their lovely Vietnamese cone hats, many young couples, others balancing chickens and families in tow.

It’s not as noisy as I expected – the scooters are relatively quiet as motorized vehicles go – and everyone seems to go at one constant speed. But there are few traffic lights and no rules of the road.

To cross a street, just take your best shot, and keep on moving.

Arriving in Hanoi

I arrived in Hong Kong for the start of Lisa and Eli's Vietnam Adventure on Friday, July 16th.  Checked into the Bishop Lei International House (thank you Will), and turned on CNN to hear a typhoon was headed straight for Hanoi.  This is the storm map.

It looked to me like we were heading to the vacation from hell, but miraculously, the winds vanished and our flights landed nearly on time at Hanoi Airport.  What's a little rain anyway.

The Hanoi Airport was small, casual, and relaxed compared to the Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong airports we came from.  As our plane descended, sleek skyscrapers and brilliant lights were replaced with views of rice paddies and villages with almost no lights.

Families were hanging out in the airport holding flowers for those arriving, children running around and playing.  An overall very relaxed atmosphere.

I changed $300 which turned into more than 5 million dong.  This is trip is going to take some serious higher math.  Eli and I negotiated our cab fare to Hanoi - just 300,000 dong.

I knew our hotel - the Sofitel Metropole - was reputed to be the nicest in Hanoi (for less than the price of a Marriott Courtyard back in the USA), but was not prepared for how lovely it is.  It's my new favorite hotel.  Who cares about a typhoon and a bit of rain if you can stay here.

Eli and I checked into our room then headed to the outdoor bar (all bamboo and wicker armchairs) for wine, spring rolls, and artichoke and began to catch up on all that's happened the past month....