Advertisement
Published: July 12th 2009
Edit Blog Post
Vietnam! A word for an American that summons images of soldiers in the jungle fighting and bleeding for a cause and reason only known to them. The idea of a communist government that spread fear among our parents and grandparents. The very word Vietnam makes a war pop into your head and not a country. Welcome to the new Vietnam. A place trying to develop into a modern country and trying to forget the war that made it a household name. A country that is full of friendly people that are trying to make a living for there family. A place where you can see a family of four on a scooter, an old woman carrying a heavy load on her shoulders, endless rice paddies, or water buffalo walking down a street carrying a farmer. You see a modern side with everybody now having cell phones (what is crazy is watching a person driving a scooter that is talking on a cell phone). Stores that sell HD tv's and washing and drying machines. A young kid playing online computer games in an internet cafe. This is the new Vietnam!
Arriving in Hanoi I experienced the crazy traffic and amount of
scooters as I took a taxi ride to my hotel. The next morning I awoke to a strong and constant tropical rain. With my trusty new umbrella I set out to see some of the sites of Hanoi. The first stop was to see the preserved body and hero of Vietnam Ho Chi Minh. After seeing the body we headed to his old house and wondered back to hotel to dry up. Venturing back into the rain we headed to the Hanoi Hilton a prison made famous during the Vietnam war and is now a museum. The facts in the museum are a little one sided as the museum shows how badly Vietnamese people were treated by the French in the prison but went on to show how nice the American soldiers during the Vietnam war. According to the museum Americans could play chess, basketball, plant trees, have christmas celebrations, go to church, have pets, and have a great time in the Hanoi Hilton although we know this is untrue. The next day we ended Hanoi with a cyclo tour of the town, a water puppet show that could be made shorter, and a stroll through the night market. We
headed out by bus for a one night cruise on Halong Bay. Halong Bay goes into the ocean and has amazing limestone cliffs jutting out from the sea. The cruise ship was nice with cabins, dining room, sun deck, and karaoke. Sailing through the bay was amazing and we were allowed to kayak into a secluded area where we spotted wild monkeys playing and ended the day with a swim in the ocean as the sun set. The next day we headed back to Hanio and then to the train station and took an overnight train to Hue, Vietnam.
Arriving in Hue we find that this a smaller city then Hanoi. As we go south the weather in Vietnam gets hotter and more humid. The city of Hue contain the old royal city and the mausoleums of old kings of Vietnam. We explore some of the tombs and mausoleums although much of the ancient sites are under reconstruction as many sites just recently got funding from UNESCO. The next day we took a short boat ride on the perfume river passing by fishermen house boats on the river and ending up in a pagoda. We headed to a
nunery for a vegetarian lunch and got a chance to visit the orphanage on site and play with the kids. Our next stop was to a secluded beach where we were the only foreigners around. The only thing you could see were a few locals, some fishing boats, and water buffalo being used to carry sand away from the beach. On the way back we stopped at a local market and we ran into some beggars. Now most of the time beggars follow you around for a while and just stop. Well this time a woman beggar would not take no for an answer and started to grab at our pockets. Then as we got in the van she jumped inside and had to be pryed out by the guide and van driver.
The next day we headed by bus to our next city Hoi An, Vietnam. On the way there we passed by the old Da Nang airbase and ruins of american lookout post during the Vietnam War. Also passing by China Beach which is having million dollars condos being built. Hoi An is a small city located close to the ocean. A main attraction in Hoi An
is the abundance of tailors making custom made clothes for people. I personally had some red skill pajamas and a kimono robe custom made. It is a quite town with nice restaurants and a friendly atmosphere. I ended my night with a cooking class learning how to make soup, spring rolls, eggplant, and fish in banana leaves. As of right now I am enjoying my trip through Vietnam. The people are friendly and everything is very cheap so I have been surprised the pleasure and easiness of exploring Vietnam.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.159s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 9; qc: 47; dbt: 0.0576s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
sharon
non-member comment
pleasant journey
Your lovely trip through Vietnam is very surprising from the image I hold from years ago.