Tuesday September 8, 2009 Hanoi, Vietnam

Day 11 of 36

Hanoi, Vietnam and Halong Bay

We awoke abotu 7, showered and dressed and took off to the other side of Hoan Kiem Lake for coffee at Highlands Coffee. Tim had a double shot latte and I had my usual Americano. We both got a croissant with ham and cheese. It was really good. The women were doing their swinging arm exercises again around the lake.

Back to the hotel to meet our tour guide for the day, Cao, and driver Haie. We are off to Halong Bay. It is about a 3 hour drive there depending on traffic. As it ends up, the tour had 2 parts - the journey there and back and the cruise itself in Halong Bay.

The journey was incredible - the countryside beautiful but the traffic and how they drive was the fascinating thing. I just don't know how it all works but it does. The large trucks, busses, cars, and minibikes are zipping in and out everywhere. They say that there are lots of serious injuries and it is very dangerous. We witnessed that on the way back - a large semi-truck hit a motorbike and the person was trapped under the 4 back wheels of the truck - we don't believe that person would survive. It was pouring rain at the time and they were trying to figure out how to get the person out from under the truck's wheels. It was gross. We saw another minibike wreck.

We passed a lot of baguette stands on the highway. Stall after stall of women selling fresh baguettes.

Lots of rice fields, skinny houses, kilns, factories, cows crossing the road, and traffic. The traffic was definitely the attraction. I was fascinated with how it worked. Cao explained a lot about Vietnamese life and culture (and the war) during our day.

We stopped half way there for a toilet stop at a handicap facility where they make crafts. All kinds of sewing, statutes, clothing, food, crafts, etc. Interesting to walk around.

Cao explained a lot about life in Vietnam. They get 12 years of education - if they go to school. Those who don't work in the factory and make about $100 a month. Others may make about $200 a month (like drivers). It takes 6 months of school to learn to drive a car, 9 months to be a driver, and 3 months of school to learn how to drive a motorbike.

He expressed concerns about the impact of Agent Orange in Vietnam. He also said that most Vietnamese people don't care about politics. They have mock elections where they are required to vote. But the officials are appointed by "the party".

We arrived at Halong Bay and were taken directly to our private boat - a large sampan type boat that would easily accommodate 20 people or so - and we had it all to ourselves with our tour guide, the captain, a mate, and a cook. We left immediately and started our slow journey out into the rocks that emerged from the Gulf of Tolkin. There was a haze over the water in the distance that made it look mystical.

Shortly after leaving, we sat down for a beautiful lunch - shrimp (very sweet), crab, beer, soup, beef, rice, morninglory greens, squid in onions, spring rolls, watermelon, cod fish, chicken and a Vietnamese white wine ($15 a bottle) that was excellent and cold.

We cruised through the rocks where we could see lots of caves for over 3 hours. Tim went for a swim. Jumping in from the upper level "hurt the family jewels" so he did an ungracious swan dive on the second entry. The water is very salty and floating was easy. It was hot so the swim cooled him off. Larry stayed in the shade.

After our cruise, Haie picked us up about 3:30 for the drive back to Hanoi. It started pouring rain and that's when we saw the fatal wreck (at least we were sure it was fatal). Tim slept again in the car (twice) and Larry sat in amazement at the traffic. As we got back to the city, the traffic intensified - and my mouth was open at some of the traffic situations we saw.

We showered and got dressed for the Press Club dinner that was excellent. We each did a chef's menu with wine pairing and wow was it good - all for a little over $100. An excellent value. We liked this place - good service, beautiful setting, delicious food.

After dinner we went for a walk around the Opera House. Young people were sitting out on the steps of the Opera House as if they were watching a performance. I guess they were - the "traffic performance" at the circle at the Opera. It truly was fascinating. We found another neat restaurant under the Opera House but we won't have another night here, so we'll save that for next time. It started to rain so we headed back to the Metropole and retired for the night.

A great adventure today. We rest tonight for our jouney south to Hue, Vietnam.