Leaving Asia: Last week in Hanoi & Hong Kong

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We arrived in Hue late in the afternoon. We had lower berth, ‘soft sleeper’ tickets that evening on the overnight train from Hue to Ninh Binh - a city about an hour south of Hanoi. We had originally intended to spend three days exploring Hue - the Imperial capital of Vietnam - however we changed our mind at the last minute and spent the three days on the backs of motorcycles along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. So, here we were zooming through the streets for a fleeting visit on the way to the train station.

The train gods were smiling on us as we had no upper berth-mates - the cabin to ourselves for the twelve hour journey and the cabin was actually clean.

We read our books and enjoyed some beer and chips as the train sped through the dark. This train simply rocketed through the night. If you set a jar of fresh cream on the floor before going to sleep you’d have butter in the morning. The berths are set perpendicular to the line of travel so with the side-to-side motion of the train we were jostled length-wise all night...the train gods giveth and they taketh away....

It was cloudy the next morning as we woke up to an immense Saskatchewan of rice paddies as far as the eye could see. Little figures were bent over planting in every field. On the occasional bit of high ground there were a few houses, a road or a small town. We had entered a water world where a few feet of elevation made the difference between wet and dry.

We had arranged for our hotel in Ninh Binh to meet us at the station for our 8:00am arrival. This meant we could avoid the taxi hustle and get a cheap ride to the hotel. Darla negotiated an upgrade from the original $19 per night with no breakfast to $30 a night in a superior 5^th floor room including breakfast and free wifi. We quickly settled in the room and, as the sun broke through the mist, arranged for a day-long tour on the backs of scooters for about $12.50 each.

The geology of this area is why we were there. Imagine 500ft to 1000ft tall limestone mountains thrown here and there into the aforementioned water world. These were ridiculous mountains rising with sheer abruptness from the rice paddies below.

We went to three temples and then an hour-long ride along a river and major dikes to where we were treated to a two hour boat ride through locks and past villages, goat herds and the ever-present rice paddies. The coup-de-grace was a ride in a small rowboat along a waterway in the shadows of the towering limestone mountains. We actually went into about seven water-filled caves under the mountains - scary for a claustrophobe.... We were the only westerners in a vast crowd of Vietnamese. There were hundreds of little boats rowed by uniformed women. They had a unique way of facing the direction of travel and using their feet on the handles of the oars - you have to see this to believe it.

As we headed back to our hotel on the second day we passed a small local lime-burning facility. A large circular wall of loose rocks (the kiln) corraled layers of small broken limestone pieces and coal. It took a day or so for the whole process to complete itself. The heat generated turns the limestone into quicklime which is then mixed with sand to make mortar. The loose rock wall allows oxygen to penetrate the whole structure.

Ninh Binh was only two days of our time in Vietnam but perhaps it was one of the most interesting and active two days...didn’t hurt that it was 30C and sunny.

We caught the 8:00am train for the two hour journey north to Hanoi from Ninh Binh...still nice and hot when we arrived. We were immediately impressed with the huge numbers of motorbikes on the road - a few cars and a zillion bikes all heading somewhere very quickly. They reminded us of schools of fish or flocks of birds that all seem to know what the rest were doing, ebbing and wheeling around objects in the path. To cross the street one simply had to move slowly out into the traffic and give them time to weave around you.

We settled into our hotel and went for a walk. It was time for the mid-day meal and it was served on the sidewalk. Hanoi is famous for its street food. Office towers empty, the workers take their seats on little plastic stools and are served by women who set up shop every morning and close down at night. A little propane burner, a pot of soup, a charcoal grill to sear spicy pork burger; these impromptu eateries are everywhere and they are serving thousands of people - especially the young people.

That first day in Hanoi was the last time we saw the sun for about ten days. Then it got cooler and rained for a few days. We were supposed to take a cruise on Halong Bay - another famous destination in Vietnam - but we cancelled because of the fog and rain and just hung around the streets for a week waiting for our flight to Hong Kong. We thought it would be a long boring wait during that week but we were very pleasantly surprised to find lots to do in this busy and exciting city.

We took a day-long boat trip down the Red River to a huge ceramic center where everything imaginable in the ceramic world was for sale. On the boat we met a number of young, upwardly mobile families. Many of the women worked in the same bank and this was a staff/family outing. We were the only westerners on the boat and we felt warmly welcomed by the other passengers.

We went to the heritage museum that had excellent displays on the clothing and lifestyles of the many ethnic minorities of this region. We went to the night market to shop for trinkets and watch the crowds. We had massages at a local massage house. And we walked and walked, exploring the streets. The merchants set up their shops next to their direct competitors. We walked along silk street - only silk merchants. We also walked along bamboo ladder street, stainless steel mesh street, Pamper and baby supplies street, gong street, doorknob street and even paper party decorations street.

The day arrived when our week in Hanoi and our two month stay in Vietnam was over. If we had to assign a short description of this young, vibrant country it would look something like this: great weather and beaches - especially in the south; friendly people; delicious food; interesting sights to see and very reasonably priced.

We had planned a five day stop in Hong Kong before our flight back to Europe. Darla had always wanted to see this bustling city so we had made it our departure point from Asia.

We were welcomed on the first day by Paul Miles who lives and teaches in Hong Kong with his wife Sarah. They are both originally from Prince Edward Island. Paul showed us around and we found a good restaurant for the Chinese food Darla likes so much. After supper we took a ferry from the Hong Kong Island to Kowloon to watch the evening light show. The skyscrapers and this very busy city seemed a long way from the Ho Chi Ming Trail.

In Vietnam traffic laws are few and made to be broken. Red lights are for the other guy and crosswalks are ignored. In Hong Kong jaywalking is highly frowned on - they have fences along the sidewalks to force you to cross at a crosswalk. Even if there is no traffic people patiently wait for the green light to cross the streets. Very clean and orderly is the mantra.

On our third day a strange thing happened - the sun broke through the gray of the past ten days. We took the bus to the Stanley Market - a wild ride in a two-storey bus over the mountain on narrow twisty roads. We saw spectacular views of the islands, harbours and mountains. The Stanley Market was a tame, tourist-oriented destination - but a great spot for a nap in the sun as the waves lapped the shore.

The next day we decided to take the tram car to the top of the mountain. Interestingly, about two thousand other people made the same decision. When we got to the base of the tram there was a long line with a projected hour-long wait. Fortunately, there was a line for the disabled (and their ‘minder’) and in two minutes we were on the tram heading up the steep mountain. The view from the top was stunning - the quintessential view of Hong Kong with its office towers, the harbour bustling with ships, Kowloon and the Chinese mainland in the distance.

That evening we discovered an excellent restaurant around the corner from our hotel. It was a simple dim sum place without even a liquor license. We had spring rolls, deep-fried wantons, steamed shrimp dumplings and pork-stuffed eggplant.

On our last full day in Hong Kong we awoke to brilliant sun. Darla had spied a swimming pool from our 20^th storey hotel room. She found out it was a community pool and for a small sum we could enjoy the facilities. It was great to get into the sun again but we found the swimming in fresh pool water to be pretty challenging after the ever-so-buoyant salt water of the South China Sea. It was hot! We basked in the sun and cooled off in the pool for the afternoon.

In the evening we did an internet search to find a restaurant near our hotel in Wan Chai. Darla found an address up the hill on the other side of the Happy Valley Racetrack. We arrived by taxi before the restaurant opened so we wandered around the street in this evidently up-scale residential area. There was a unique store that sold Iberian ham and oysters from Spain, brown crabs and oysters from France and expensive French wine - including an $1800 bottle of Guevrey Chambertin that came from fields immediately next to fields where Pierre Viger, Chris Nation and I had picked grapes in Bourgogne back in 1972. The store also sold romance novels, Drum tobacco and rolling papers - we took this eclectic mix of goods to be a statement describing the people who shop there....

The next day was our last in Asia and our first back in Europe. We were excited about the final chapter of our twelve week trip - a three week visit to Spain. You’ll hear about it in the next episode.

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Photos

Temple On The Red River
- Near Hanoi, Festival Day

Pho Soup
National Dish of Vietnam

Hmong Woman
- they never cut their hair

Comments

[Mary MacQueen Elliott]

Happy Easter from PEI
Looks like you folks are having another great holiday. Thanks for sharing and Happy Easter to both of you. Hugs...Mary, Garnet and Family.