Red River Delta

Mike and I leave Vietnam tomorrow evening and - 3 flights later - we arrive at 11 pm, Sunday night in Victoria. So we travel for 20 hours but I’ll only be 5 hours older!
It was nice to be off of the bikes for the past few days. We had a pleasant afternoon in Halong Bay kayaking and enjoying the spectacular views. Halong Bay is a World Heritage Site that contains thousands of limestone islands and “ karsts”. ( new word) Essentially, these are caves that result from the limestone and other minerals melting away. Our group had a small, but comfortable boat to ourselves and the food was excellent including oysters, crab and other treats …..that Mike couldn’t eat. Last night was our final night with our merry cycling gang and we had a typical Vietnamese meal that included stir fries, lots of rice, cabbage and some other veg, really good local beer and terrible wine. [The kind that makes Mike say, “ I’ll be glad when I’ve had enough”.]

Hanoi is a much different city than Saigon and I think I find it an easier place to visit. The city was flattened during the bombings of the Vietnam war so much of it is quite new. As the seat of the government and home to embassies, it has a calmer feel. The buildings are grand and newish looking. The streets are clean. There are a number of pretty lakes within the city with green spaces for walking. The traffic is stopped in the old city areas after a certain time making it more manageable to move around. We’re at a hotel in the old part of the city with a lovely rooftop space including a bar and pool. All the great bars in Vietnam seem to be up high on rooftops. From ours on the 13th floor, we have a panoramic view of the city and the chaos is all below.
We saw a few sites today including going through the “Hanoi Hilton” - as the Americans incarcerated there called the Hoa Lo Prison in Hanoi. It was actually built as a French prison and medical centre during the French colonial times and mainly housed anti-French dissidents. There were many stories of brave prisoner insurrections from that time. The conditions did look pretty bleak. Incarceration during the Vietnam War ( or American War) history was conveyed as more compassionate. Pictures of GIs playing cards, volleyball and opening care packages. As Churchill said,” History is written by the victors.” We walked around the old city quarters and saw a street (Train street) where the railway line literally runs between homes without any barrier - and it’s a narrow street. Lots of things seemed to be happening on the tracks so I guess people know the schedule and clear off to let the train pass by. We were struck by how the various types of shops are all grouped together in the old quarters of Hanoi. One street was all stainless steel items like kitchen machinery, appliances, small stoves etc. ONe street was all wood - frames, chairs. One street was the funeral stuff - coffins, flower arrangements. I guess it’s the same as in Canada where the car dealerships are clustered together. Sound marketing strategy. I think we’re going to pass on viewing Ho Chi Minh’s body. Someone from our group went today and said he looked rather waxy. No kidding!
I came to Vietnam thinking the most recent war would be omnipresent. However, with the exception of the 2 museums we’ve visited, there is very little discussion about the war and the overall message from people we’ve spoken to - particularly the younger people - is that they very much want to have a peaceful country. Their concern is not about the west but about the Chinese expansion in places like the South China Sea which is often referred to here as the East Philippine Sea. Interesting. Also, the fact that this is squarely a Marxist/ Communist country is evident in things like posters but there is not the oppressive communist bureaucracy and officials that you encounter in China, for instance.

My overall views of Vietnam after such a brief visit: wonderful people, very colourful, some great food although I’ll pass on rice and noodles for awhile when I get home, a country that is trying to give Thailand a run for the tourist dollars, lovely natural settings including beaches, still some work to do to improve infrastructure in places but you can see they want to be a place where people love to visit. Mike says Vietnam is on its way to being a really well functioning country. We’ve never felt unsafe from crime - only the traffic but, amazingly, never saw an accident. Transportation somehow works even with the scooters riding every which way at the same time. But there seems to be a real disparity between what we saw in the rural areas and the cities we visited. Such is much of the world.

Being done with the traffic, side-walk chaos, noises and smells, this afternoon, I retreated to a spa and to sip G&Ts on our hotel rooftop bar. We’ll stay in our hotel for dinner tonight as the menu is a bit more familiar and enjoy the rooftop bar later.

Time to get home. Looking forward to seeing everyone soon. Thanks for traveling with us.
Heather/ Mom xxRead more