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Published: April 18th 2009
As we descended in our approach to Hanoi, we both didn’t know what to expect. What was this country, with a troubled past, going to be like? Will there be extreme amounts of poverty, destroyed infrastructure, huge military presence? We set off on our journey through Vietnam to answer these questions. Our route we chose was to travel from Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, in the North and work our way south to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon).
When we arrived in Hanoi, we drove across typical Vietnamese countryside with women in their straw hats and men working hard in the crops. The countryside was dominated by French architecture, with homes built tall and narrow. We later found out that this is because the land is taxed based on the footprint, not the height. The homes had a colourful front side but unfinished everywhere else. We are not quite sure the reasoning behind this, but our thoughts are that it has to do with costs. Our hotel here is in the center of the old quarter of Hanoi. Right in the heart of the city, not only geographically, but culturally it is the beating heart of the
city. It was at first a real shock to experience Hanoi. The first thing that comes to mind to explain Hanoi is motorbikes.....thousands of motorbikes!! It is really cool to see a small downtown, filled with one way streets absolutely overrun with bicycles, motorbikes, cyclos (bikes with seats in the front), ladies with straw hats and bamboo sticks with fruit etc. hanging from the sides.
We had a great couple of days touring around Hanoi, checking out the lakes, parks, museums and temples around the area, not to mention the great food, and countless "bia hoi" stalls slinging draught beer for approx 30 cents a glass!! Hanoi also has a great night life (considering that the government enforces a 10:00pm curfew....only those that pay off the cops can stay open). We spent a few nights at places that only local 20 something’s frequent along the lake, with great view, and cheap drinks.
We ate many servings of Pho (beef noodle soup), and great fried spring rolls. In fact, the food in Vietnam is incredibly cheap, and incredibly tasty, from soup, stir-fry, subs, and western food. However, we haven't found soup that is quite on the same level as
Our first impressions...
Motorbikes, motorbikes, and more motorbikes.Mina's Noodle House in Avenida mall in Calgary. We were in search for Mina's Pho, but no luck here…we will just have to keep searching throughout Vietnam.
One thing that can be said about Vietnam for travelers, is that it is very easy to meet people because everyone is on either 2 routes....start in Hanoi and work south, or start in Ho Chi Minh City and work yourself north. This means that you keep on seeing travelers you have met along the way at every place you turn. We have met so many great people along the way, and we keep running in to them.
After a great a time in Hanoi, we were off to Halong Bay. This is the mecca for those wanting to explore limestone karsts jutting out of the sea like the humps of a dragon, as legend describes. Halong Bay is legendary for its scenery. There are thousands of islands that pierce the surface of the Gulf of Tonkin.
Our boat trip through this area was amazing, as we saw the most remote areas, only accessible by boat. Untouched, untamed wilderness was everywhere. We spent a day cruising at the feet of these
lime stone giants, stopping for kayaking, and swimming which consisted of jumping off the roof of our junk. We had a great time with the other passengers of the boat. During the evening, we were fortunate to have a woman from Scotland who was travelling the world with an enormous accordion. She played lively hymns, followed by the rest of us singing karaoke through the night. What a perfect day!
We sailed to an Island called Cat Ba Island where we were off on a jungle trek to an old steel lookout tower on top of a mountain. This trek was great, passing French couples in their 70's, showing us youngsters how it’s done. At the top, we were plagued by wasps that are the size of butterflies, thankfully they weren’t hostile, however, it didn’t stop Erin from panicking. At the top of the tower we enjoyed an amazing view of the jungle and mountains.
After the trek, we were taken to Cat Ba town where we spent one night in a huge, totally out of place, hotel. It was a nice place to freshen up and have a good night sleep, after some drinks out on the
Trevor sawing off a lock on a laptop
Yes, this was our laptop that we just bought in Hong Kong. It is a funny story now (not then). We bought this amazing lock at one of the markets in Hong Kong...it was so amazing, the combination didnt work and it was stuck on our laptop. Good thing Hardware Street was close to our hotel in Hanoi. Trevor was able to saw the lock off with a hacksaw with only a few scratches on the laptop. town. The next day we had to say goodbye to our friends we had spent the last 2 (or more) days with as we were the only ones to stay on another night. It ended up being the best night of the trip! Cat Ba Island has some of the nicest beaches we have ever seen. Cat Co 2 beach is a small white sand beach that is protected by huge lime stone hills on each side. The water is warm, crystal clear, and shallow, allowing a person to wade out a hundred feet still able to touch the soft sand under their feet. We were of only 5 people on the beach and spent a magical night watching the stars and catching a glimpse of a few shooting stars that littered the sky. It was amazing...every part of it. We had an incredibly simple beach hut with a mattress on the floor, a mosquito next, a small side table, and minimal electricity. It was all part of the experience...even when we found a massive cockroach INSIDE our mosquito net (Erin slept the whole night like a mummy with her sleep sac over her head).
After our Halong Bay
Pho at a streetside restaurant
These are very common throughout Vietnam. The tables and chairs are the same size as a kids play table. The nice thing is they are quick and usually very good. experience, we were excited for our next adventure and to discover the other treasures that Vietnam has to offer. We made our way back from Halong Bay to Hanoi where we stayed one night before setting off for our overnight train to the northern mountain city of Sapa. Sapa is known for great treks and picturesque scenery. We set off on a great 3 day 2 night trek into the hills. During this trip we saw the amazing rice terraces of the area built on the side of mountains, each carving the mountain like waves in the sand. It was truly a beautiful experience even more beautiful than the rice terraces we saw in China. Day 1 we arrived the hotel to be welcomed by some local tribe women. Coming from China, we knew what was going on here, but to our surprise, the ladies were super nice and just wanted to say hello and talk…or so we thought. Later that day the lovely ladies and young girls were there to greet us once again so off we go with our local guide on our first trek. It was pretty easy and was beautiful until we got to this beautiful
Trevor's $2 hair cut and shave
This man was so meticulous that it took 1 hr for a buzz cut and shave, BUT, this was THE BEST hair cut Trevor has ever had! It was perfect...so perfect, we gave the guy a tip (he was a little confused). roaring waterfall with the most loud, obnoxious, shrilling noise (can't even call it music) coming from the speakers just above. It truly ruined the experience entirely! It was a short day to give us some rest for the next 2 days of more intense trekking (if only we knew).
The next morning, who was there to greet us? Yes, the same wonderful ladies and girls from the day before. No string attached? We will have to wait to find out. It was a nice day of trek through rice fields; however it was raining off and on all day which made it very messy. We came to our home stay in a Black Hmong village. The host family was great; they provided us with a feast and some good old fun playing pool (not in good shape). After a night with the family, we were off on another route back to Sapa. Sounds great, only it was pissing rain AGAIN....so much so, that it made a medium difficulty hike into an expert level. We were slipping, sliding, and generally spending more time on our ass than our feet!! And during this whole time, there are young village girls, even
one with a baby on her back, in flip-flops or rubber boots leading us, giving us a hand, and helping us every step of the way. It was quite funny because we foreigners had our gore-tex, hiking boots and all this technical equipment, but we were wet, dirty, and hopelessly falling around the mountains. These local women, usually around 12-20 years old are like mountain goats, sure footed and strong through terrible terrain. I guess we found out that having good shoes doesn’t mean you can hike.
Ok, so the catch was that the ladies would expect you to buy some souvenirs from them at the end of each day. It was the least we could do with all the times we had to lean on them to avoid stepping in some cow dung or slipping down the terrace and getting soaked. And, it was nice to chat with them and learn more about their culture and their lives. We had a wonderful time and were excited to see the rest of Vietnam.
The countdown was on to Nov. 23rd when Erin's parents arrive in Thailand!
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