| Jun 16, 2005 - Hanoi and Ha Long Bay
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 | | show all 4 | | Hanoi street scene | | Paul has a soft spot for local salespeople! | | HaLong Bay scene | | |
| We have nearly melted in the heat of Hanoi. Almost immediately after stepping off the the short flight from Vientiane we stepped into a couple of "classic" scams (which ironically we read about on the plane.) First off, we took an airport shuttle to town with some other travelers. We familiarized ourselves with some hotels and instead of taking us to where we requested, they took us to another hotel to "check it out." You might be smarter than us and already know where this is going, but we were all convinced to stay ($8 per night) and only realized later that the hotel was not the part of town they pointed out on the map. After checking in, we attempted to walk around in Old Town (our intended destination for hotel) and this is when we realized we weren't actually already in Old Town. We hopped into a taxi and less than 15,000 dong ($1) later we were in Old Town. Unfortunately, the taxi driver claimed he had no change. I just planted myself there (like the book said) and he eventually made change with a passerby on the street. What did G.W. Bush say?...Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice...uh...I'm no fool!
We met a nice couple from Israel and checked out some museums including Ho Chi Minh laid out in his mausoleum (we also saw Mao in China - some odd fascination Paul has developed- seeing bodies of former Communist leaders.) We also saw the prison where John McCain was held they call it the "Hanoi Hilton" - interesting.
I can't seem to walk more than a couple of blocks in this town without absolutely soaking through a shirt in the heat. Also, the streets of Hanoi make Beijing seem like amateur hour. There are swarms of thousands of motor and regular bikes just everywhere. To cross the street is absolutely counterintuitive. You must force yourself to walk in front of the buzzing swarm of traffic, take it one lane at a time, don't stop, don't run and don't get angry when they honk and swerve to miss hitting you. It's a delicate balance and is simply how it's done - even by locals!
We just got back from an overnight trip to Ha Long Bay which was quite a nice and welcome break from the pressure cooker that is Hanoi. We were on a big (maybe 60 ft.) wooden, three level boat with 11 others. The bay is about three hours outside of Hanoi and is full of over 1,000 beautiful limestone rock formations and/or islands. It is a UNESCO world heritage site. We visited some caves and kayaked through one cave/tunnel which led to a secluded lagoon (which felt like something out of the book/movie, The Beach.)
Ok, I promise to upload some pictures in Hue,our next destination by train tonight. |
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