As I sit here, relaxing at a lovely internet cafe in Phuket, Thailand, it is bizarre to think about how quickly my time in Vietnam went by! Before arriving in the country, we were warned that Northern Vietnamese were especially rude and abrasive, so we prepared ourselves for the worst. After a ridiculously long journey into Vietnam, the bus abruptly stopped at the Vietnamese border town, Dien Bien, where the crazy bus employee (who stole my ipod), attempted to force us to take one of his buddies buses to Hanoi. After five minutes of our complete refusal, we were reluctantly taken to the actual bus station, which was even more chaotic! Everyone was in our face, attempting to get us on their bus. We took a deep breath, ate some delicious Pho (Vietnamese noodle soup), and finally faced the mob and caught our bus to Hanoi. There was instant relief upon stepping onto the bus, and we had no trouble getting a good nights sleep, partly thanks to an incredible dinner buffet that was included at a stop along the way!
So, we arrived early in Hanoi on our second day in Vietnam and had a full day to explore the city before heading to Halong Bay. Before arriving in Hanoi, I thought that Bangkok traffic was so chaotic. It turns out that it was nothing compared to the madness of Hanoi. You literally have to plunge yourself into a busy street, and hope for the best. More or less, it is like playing a game of frogger, and luckily I won, given that I didn't end up being hit by a motorbike! On top of the traffic, you always have to be ready in Hanoi, as most people are out to get money from you. The people weren't particularly friendly and it was impossible to go a block without being hassled by someone trying to sell books, dvds, and so on. Despite the utter chaos of the city, I embraced it, and kind of enjoyed the madness of it all. We strolled around the city and enjoyed the serenity of a beautiful lake and fewer interruptions from vendors!
To top it all off, we saw Avatar 3D!!! Now, seeing Avatar 3D in a Vietnamese shopping center was one of the funnier experiences I have had in my life. Apparently, it was the first 3D movie ever to hit Vietnam and tickets had been selling out for weeks. During the entire movie I kept hearing all of the Vietnamese people with their "ooooo's" and "ahhhhsss", while continually repeating movie lines during the entire film. So, apart from Avatar being an epic film, the audience in itself was its own entertainment! Here are some more shots from the city:
The following morning we had to get up early to prepare ourselves for our biggest splurge of the trip thus far, a 3 day/2 night tour of Halong Bay. Despite the dreadful weather, it ended up being a blast. We instantly bonded with a core group of people (3 Americans, 2 Aussies, and 2 Brits) and coincidentally, we all had big appetites so we coined ourselves "the scrappers". The boat workers would continuously bring out dishes and we would demolish them so quickly that they would just keep bringing out leftovers from other tables. The rest of the boat probably thought we were savages, but we embraced our scrappy ways and feasted the entire trip! Day 1 in Halong Bay consisted of heavy fog, a slight drizzle, and freezing weather. Despite being freezing, we thought to hell with it and still jumped from the top of our boat into the water, which ended up being much warmer than the air temperature! After a nice swim, we kayaked throughout Halong Bay. It was quite impressive to explore all of the rock formations up close.
Once we finished kayaking, we enjoyed a little resting time in our awesome boat rooms and then had a delicious seafood feast for dinner. Afterwards, the boat workers organized a nice little happy hour and some fun drinking games late into the night. Here is a picture of the scrapper gang:
The following morning we had to pack up early to head to the company's personal island. It was this tiny, empty, rugged island with a handful of ground bungalows that each had six beds in them. Then, the island itself consisted of a bar area, ping pong table, a volleyball net, and a speedboat for wakeboarding! What more could you need!?! We hung out during the day, and enjoyed the awful, cloudy weather. Later on, we went wakeboarding, which was included in the price of the tour. Now, I have always wanted to wakeboard, given that I surf and snowboard. It was so much harder than I thought! It took about three times for me to finally get up, but once I did, I loved it! After finally feeling more comfortable with it, I began relaxing, and looked around in awe of my surroundings. Wakeboarding in Halong Bay was so unreal, and thanks to Julie, she got some great shots of me!
After another night of socializing in the bar area, we woke up the next morning and unfortunately had to head back to Hanoi! Although I wished for better weather, it was still an amazing trip. We had a wonderful time with our fellow "scrappers" and will hopefully cross paths with the friends we made in the future! Upon returning to Hanoi, we had a perfect night full of pho, ice cream sundaes, and movies, as we were all exhausted from the trip! The next day, which was our final day in Hanoi before heading south, we went to the famous prison where John McCain was held. There were some really cool replications of prisoners and interesting photos throughout the complex. It was so bizarre to watch the documentaries, which were full of Vietnamese propaganda, dubbing the Americans as "savages and evil". But, other parts of the prison showed the opposition to the war, so there was quite a contrast.
Since I, not surprisingly, got sick from the bitter cold weather in Halong Bay, we took it easy the remainder of the day and hopped onto our nice sleeper bus in the evening to head down south in the hopes of warmer weather!
Our next stop, Hoi An, was known as the tailoring capital of Vietnam. The entire city was lined with shop after shop, offering to make you anything from trousers to a suit! I was relieved to escape the ongoing shouts of "Hello madam, please buy from me" by riding a bicycle to a nearby beach. Along the way, we passed some beautiful rice fields and lakes. Apparently, we took the bad weather with us, as it was cold and gloomy when we finally arrived at the beach. For the rest of our time in Hoi An, we took it easy, walked around the small city, enjoying the beautiful cobblestone alleys and brightly colored buildings.
By the morning of the 18th, we arrived at our final destination, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), and were ready to explore some war sites. That morning, we did a half day trip to the CuChi Tunnels, which were an elaborate unit of tunnels used by the Vietnamese as a hideout during Vietnam War.
What is bizarre about these tunnels is how tiny the entrances are so that "fat" American soldiers would get stuck when trying to get into them! It was very interesting exploring the tunnels and we were daring enough to crawl through the tunnel, luckily not getting stuck along the way! Then, to top it all off, we were able to go to a firing range and choose from a selection of guns...Julie and I both felt that an AK47 would be pretty badass to shoot off so we each got five bullets. Now, I have never touched a gun, let alone shot one, and to say that I was terrified is a massive understatement. Unfortunately, the video of my humiliating attempt to shoot a gun did notupload so let me try to explain it...every time I shot a bullet, I would scream while simultaneously jumping back as if I was being shot. By the time I went through my last bullet, I sprinted out of that shooting range instantly!
After the tunnels, we were still in our war mode, so we decided to go to the War Remnants Museum, which is meant to document what the Vietnamese considered war crimes committed by the U.S. It was truly shocking to read some of the statements within the museum, but even more horrifying were the pictures of the women and children affected by it. It is an incredibly sad museum, but a must see, and luckily at the end there are some beautiful pictures painted by children, meant to symbolize peace among the world.
To get ourselves in a better mood, we took a lovely stroll through downtown Saigon, enjoying the well-kept parks and delicious food! With not one day of sunshine during our entire time in Vietnam, it decided to pour from morning till night on our last day there as a final farewell! It definitely made me ready for our $40 flight to Phuket, Thailand!!!!! Despite the dreadful weather, Vietnam was an intense, but worthwhile experience. By the end of it, I was ready to leave but had some great memories there!
Lisa your pictures are amazing! I love reading about your adventures!
ReplyDeleteLove to both of you,
Aunt Gloria