Vietnam Diary I - Hanoi and Halong Bay

Noi Bai Airport at Hanoi is as swanky as any airport in the world.  The highway leading from the airport to town is also top class with the glittering, lit up,  and colorful suspension bridge  on the Red river as the icing on the cake. It all gave an impression of an advanced country till the cab turned right after the bridge and we were in another world all together. It was suddenly as chaotic like back home.

The oriental suites hotel on this particular day was inaccessible by car as it was the time for weekend market. All roads had been taken over by the vendors so we had to disembark and walk a few hundred yards to reach the hotel. The weekend market as the name suggests is held from Friday to Sunday and is a night market where all kind of things are sold. Clothes, bags and electronics are most popular and often you get good stuff at bargain prices. The night market lends a festive air to the entire area . Once in the room, thankfully we were insulated from the activities outside.

Hundreds and thousands thronged the old quarter around the lake during the festive season.

The Hoan Kiem lake (The lake of the returned sword) was just a stone throw distance away so we immediately moved towards it. As the night market was just outside the hotel, we moved slowly inspecting the wares and understanding the conversion rate of currency.  This was a serious issue as a million Vietnamese Dong equals around $40. For dear wife, I had to convert from Dong to Rupee at each shop.  It certainly was no easy task. For the entire week, my mental calculator had to be kept alive wherever we went.

The Huan Kiem lake with the Turtle tower on an island. 

 It was a Sunday evening  and Christmas was round the corner so it seemed that the entire town  had chosen this area  at the old quarters for revelry. I have not seen so many people on the roads ever.  It was like a sea of humanity all around the lake. The buildings were lit up, the lake looked charming , the vendors were doing great business, music played from different places  and restaurants were packed. The lake itself was an attraction and most activities were happening around it. The lake has been associated with many legendary stories. On the other side of the lake was the Jade Island with a temple and the island was connected to the shore by a very charming, red colored wooden Huc Bridge. 

This building and the buildings around it have a lot of nice restaurants and cafes. 

The introduction to Vietnamese food was also good as our hotel had recommended Ho Guom restaurant for dinner. Set on the fifth floor, it had a pretty view and the food was delicious. It was important to have the first Vietnamese meal in a good restaurant as it set the tone for the entire week. We tried quite a few things on menu and all the dishes were pretty good. For the desssert we went for ice cream to a vendor near the lake. It was the curiosity that took me there as from the crowds thronging there it appeared that the ice cream was being given out free ! 

Ha Long Bay

Many tourists I met had similar itinerary to what we followed in Hanoi. Arrive on day 1 and roam around the old quarter. Get picked up for Halong Bay cruise on day 2 in the morning, while leaving most luggage in hotel. Day 3 return from Halong Bay and do touristy things in evening. Leave the city on day 4.

We reached Halong Bay in around 3 hours and finally boarded our boat around noon. Signature cruise had just 16 rooms so the number of people were restricted to 32. Rooms were well appointed and each room had a Jacuzzi.  Halong Bay in North of Vietnam, not too far from China border is a natural wonder having 1600 limestone islands which look like cliffs. Folklore has many stories about its existence but I prefer to go by what geologists say. It felt great sitting down in the balcony and watching these islands pass by. Even better was to lie down in Jacuzzi and doing the same.

Jacuzzi with a view

The boat sails but not that much. It takes you between the islands so you could enjoy the beauty but you are not taken too far from the coast. As the sun sets, the limestone cliffs look even more lovely. We sail between them and at times almost touch them. The music reverberated from several large boats nearby as it became dark. Our boat was much quieter. 

As it was Christmas eve, there were fun and games on the boat and food was good. A special session of games was conducted after dinner and Santa Claus was kind enough to give me a gift as well. There were people from South Africa, Sweden, USA and quite a few from India. Early next morning we got up before sunrise and it was good fun with Tai Chi on the upper deck at sunrise. A visit to a natural limestone cave on one of the islands followed and it was similar to what I have been to in South Africa and Australia. Yet, this natural phenomena with stalactites and stalagmites never ceases to impress you.

The Limestone Cave

  It was then time for brunch, disembarkation and back to Hanoi. 

Celebrating XMas aboard the boat with fellow travelers.

Back to Hanoi

Hanoi looks different during the day. The French culture is much too evident in the buildings as French ruled Vietnam for more than a century. They actually ruled Vietnam from 1887 till 1954 when they were defeated  in  the first Indochina war of 1954. The communists then took over the northern part of the country resulting in division of the country between north and south. Then started the American war in the 60's. More about that later in part 2 of the blog.

The traffic is even more chaotic than late evening as people go for work on 2 wheelers. Two wheelers are omnipresent everywhere. They are there on the roads, pavements and they try to squeeze through any given space. Riders have breakfast while riding, they talk on phone incessantly and for them pedestrian crossing or traffic light has no meaning.  It is your duty to move out of the way as be assured - these riders will not apply the brakes just because you happen to be on the way.

There were hundreds of garments and souvenir shops in old quarter. The branded jackets, shoes and t shirts looked pretty impressive. You have to bargain a lot and that could be tiring. I don’t know if these 'North Face' jackets were fakes or ‘export surplus’ but as I said – they looked pretty impressive.

We had enough time for Vietnamese massage and then sampled the street food on the food street. Walking, or trying to walk on the food street was itself an experience. It was full of locals and tourists. They served everything and anything and the food was accompanied by your choice of drink.

The food street at Old quarters.

Pho (Soup) with either chicken or Beef with spring onions, coriander and sliced onions was most popular. Bun Cha (Grilled meat with rice noodles) is eaten at any time of the day. You may want to eat at the local cuisine at the food street sitting on tiny stools or you may prefer to go to a proper restaurant elsewhere. But one thing is for sure - the trip to Hanoi is not complete if you don't walk through the food street in the evening !

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