VIETNAM

 HANOI

Two things about Vietnam:

1) If it moves and doesn't talk they will eat it

2) There is nothing that cannot be delivered on the back of a 125 cc Honda Motorbike

  

The traffic in Hanoi was intense. I never knew that there could be so many motorbikes in one city. We quickly learned that traffic lights, crosswalks, and stop signs are just  suggestions to the Vietnamese. People drive pretty much wherever they want, there are no road rules. They would honk their horns when they approached an intersection to let the other 100 + motorbikes know they were coming. When someone wants to make a left hand turn they would just hug the curb turning left into the oncoming traffic. It was insane, they would drive the wrong way on a roundabout.  But the best part was there were no angry words yelled at each, no finger gestures, no tempers. It was controlled chaos.  Crossing the streets was just like the old video game Frogger. Nobody stops to let you cross. You just walk out into the traffic and all the motorbikes keep going, they just drive around you. Keep in mind there are no lanes so you might have 10 motorbikes spread out on the street and they are all heading your way. And behind those 10 are another 10, and it just keep going. If you wait for traffic to clear, you would wait all day. It was scary at first, I mean really scary. Willingly walking out into oncoming traffic defies everything we ever learned. The kids loved it, they thought it was awesome. I am not afraid to admit that a few times when I was by myself, I would use a walking local as a blocker  to get across the hectic streets. I would stealthily walk as close to him/her as possible and just catch a ride on their shoulder.

Both of these shots were taken from the front steps of our hotel. Scenes like this were all over Hanoi and Bangkok. This is how the locals prepared their food everyday.  Pretty sure the FDA would not of approved of the way these ladies were handling their meat. This is one of the reasons we were advised not to eat any of the street food. We were told that our western stomachs would not of been able to handle the extra bacteria that some of these meats may of offered. We are happy to report that not one of us got sick the entire 3 weeks (except for a small incident involving Brad and Owen on the overnight train, and all I have to say about that is THANK GOD Brad was sharing a room with Owen that night and not me).

 

The food in Vietnam was delicious. It was a balance of sweet and heat. The fresh simple herbs could be tasted in every meal. They use mint, cilantro, lemongrass, ginger, garlic and tear inducing chilies if you dare. They are known for their fish sauces, which change with each region. The most well known dish is Pho, which is homemade rice noodles mixed with french minded meat broths.

A man selling chickens and ducks. Evidently he would kill the bird for you on the spot if needed. We just trusted this  advice and kept walking.

Grubs anyone??

The buffet at the market which included black chicken and intestines. 

Meat aisle

By far the most disturbing food we saw in the market. Dog. I had hoped my kids would not of seen this, but they did, and some tears were shed and some hard facts learned. Our guide told us that they eat anything that moves and does not talk. Needless to say Owen did not shut up the whole time we were in Vietnam! 

Lady selling snakes, eels, snails, and other  fish. 

The Ho Ch Minh Mausoleum. 

Our guide Canh, in the Atlanta Braves Hat. He was excellent, very direct and knowledgeable about Vietnam. He also got onto us whenever we made stupid tourist mistakes, like leaving our camera case in a public place, which we amazingly recovered because of a phone call he made. 

This is the flight suit that John McCain was wearing when his navy airplane was shot down while on a bombing run over Hanoi.

Hanoi Hilton

This is North Vietnam's Hoa Lo Prison, the most infamous P.O.W camp in Hanoi. The American Prisoner's jokingly called it the "Hanoi Hilton". John McCain was held here for more than 5 years. Most of the prison was torn down in 1993 to make way for a luxury hotel but they preserved one corner for the museum. It was fascinating and entertaining to read how the Vietnamese portrayed life inside the prison. They showed pictures of the Americans receiving letters from their families, and sitting down together for Christmas dinner. One of the plaque's says" Though having committed untold crimes on our people, the American pilots suffered no revenge once they were captured and detained. Instead they were treated with adequate food, clothing and shelter."

This was a lovely local couple that prepared us a traditional Vietnamese meal. They were both teachers, but the man fought for the Viet Cong during the war. It was a very humbling experience for us, and just another example of the kindness and forgiveness of the Vietnamese towards American people. They did not speak a word of English, but our guide was able to translate everything for us. 

She gave us all the ingredients for Pho and we made our own  using the noodles, pork, herbs and broth. It was delicious as were the spring rolls. 

                        MOVING MARKET 

This market starts at 4 in the morning and then they have to move all of their bikes around 7 when the traffic starts to get worse. It was beautiful to see and once again so impressed by what  they are able to carry on their bikes.

                                                               HALONG BAY
Located in Vietnam's northeastern seacoast, it is often considered one of the world's most beautiful bays.

This is what they call a Junk boat, and where we got to spend the night. Halong Bay was  a  4 hour drive from Hanoi.

I woke up early on the junk and since there was now where to run, I took some photos of the early morning fisherman. 

                   FLOATING VILLAGE

A village of about 600 inhibitions built on the water. It is a magically calm place away from the hustle and bustle of the streets of Vietnam. The village is a true water world, rising and falling with the tides sheltered amidst limestone towers. These people have no home or land ownership, and their main livelihood is fishing and aquaculture.  They also harvest oysters for pearls.  They take small oyster, pry them open, insert a small round mineral into the oyster for a pearl to develop around and return it to the water for several months.  

                                  SAPA 
Once we arrived back in Hanoi after our night on the Junk we then caught an overnight train to the mountains of northern Vietnam to a beautiful mountain town called Sapa. The valleys and villages that surround Sapa are home to a host of hill tribe people who wander into town to buy, sell and trade. The weather was much cooler, and terraced rice fields were breathtakingly beautiful. We  wanted to experience the colorful hill tribes and go tramping in the valley. It was the most exhausting leg of our trip, as we had to take an overnight train to arrive, we only had one night in Sapa, and then we had to depart on the overnight train the following night. And sleep did not come easy on the public transport. We had our only hiccup of the trip on the train as well. The train was scheduled to arrive at 6 am. So around 5:45 we all woke up and got ready to depart the train. I saw the conductor and ask him how much longer to Sapa. Now keep in mind, he does not speak a word of English, nor do I speak a word of Vietnamese. He looks at me and shows me 5 fingers and says words I do not understand.  So I think, great, 5 minutes till we arrive. Well, he was telling me 5 more hours! It was funny at the time because we had no idea when we were going to arrive, every time we ask someone we got a different answer. So all there was to do was sit back and enjoy the ride. The kids slept, Brad read and I enjoyed looking out the window soaking up all that Northern Vietnam had to offer.

The town of Sapa lies at 1600 m. 

The black Hmong hill tribe women. 

A beautiful lady and her baby working on the side of the trail. 

Skyler and I doing some damage at the market. That afternoon we bought a purse, a skirt, 3 coin purses and we each had a 30 minute foot massage. Our total bill was 525,000 dong which equates to $25 American dollars. 

 Bargaining at the market was expected form the ladies, it is part of their custom. I was lousy at the game. I quickly realized that I was arguing  over $1, maybe $2. That was pocket change to us, but lots of money to the locals.  I happily backed off and would usually give them their asking price. The markets were exciting, thrilling and exhausting. The products were beautiful, all of it. We tried not to make eye contact with the ladies unless we were serious about buying something. And once the ladies realized what you where after, they would quickly hold up all their items, and then all the ladies in the stalls next to them would run over and hold up all of their items. And before we knew it, we had 4 to 5 ladies surrounding us, all holding up their items. It was  sensory overload.  I usually succumbed to the pressure and would just smile and walk away. Hell, I have a hard time deciding what I am going to eat for breakfast so having to make quick decisions in the market with local ladies pleading for your business was quite intense. 

This little girl and her baby sister are trying to sell bracelets to the tourists. 

This little girl stood there throughout our whole lunch trying to sell Skyler some bracelets. She would say "buy from me purleesse", and we would say "no,thanks", and then she would say "yeeesssss". This went on for about an hour. It was a bit annoying and also sad. Our guide would not let us buy from the local tribes who were begging. They were breaking the law by selling to us without having a storefront. It about killed me not too, but it just encourages the behavior and gives the kids an incentive not to go to school. Why go to school when I can sell merchandise and make $10 a day to help my family??

After 6 days in Vietnam we headed to Cambodia.  We realize that we have really just scratched the surface of Vietnam.  It is a wonderful country full of interesting people, tastes and sights.  We hope to return someday to explore it a bit more.