Vietnam
February 27, 2021
We landed in Hanoi on 20 December just after five and were picked up by our taxi and brought to our hotel. Due to the early hour, we could not check in for quite a while. We decided to have a walk around the lake, where the locals were exercising and ballroom dancing.
After a while walking we were able to exchange money and found a lovely little cafe called “The Note Coffee”. The walls of this coffee shop are covered with post-it notes with messages of love written by visitors from all corners of the globe. It was such a special little place.
After our excellent coffee, we continued our walk around the old quarter of Hanoi before finally checking in to our hotel and being able to have a shower and a little nap.
After a short siesta, we continued our exploration of the city with a walk around the cathedral quarter and the old opera house before eating our first authentic Vietnamese dinner at “Vivienne”, a small restaurant beside St Joseph’s Cathedral. The whole area was beautifully decorated for Christmas celebrations and we watched the many visitors taking “selfies” and soaking up the atmosphere.
Hanoi city tour
On the second day, our guide picked us up at the hotel for a city tour. We started our tour with the visit to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum. The visit takes you around Ho Chi Minh’s glass coffin, where his mummified body lies. Hundreds of Vietnamese people as well as tourists visit this place every day. It is taken very seriously and the many guards surrounding the location ensure these visitors behave in a very respectful way throughout their visit. Ho Chi Minh is this country’s true hero and is loved by all the Vietnamese people. The complex includes some grand houses built by previous political powers and remain as symbols alongside the more humble quarters of their eventual beloved leader.
Our second stop was an art gallery, where the artists painted with eggshell and black lacquer, a process taking months, with absolutely amazing results. We then entered the university museum, a temple of education where historically only four outstanding students were chosen to graduate each year from the hundreds who had completed their four years of study. We then enjoyed a delicious Vietnamese lunch with or small group of fellow travellers and shared a birthday cake with a Canadian group member who’s birthday it was. We finished the day in a rickshaw ride around the old quarter before being dropped at the station for our journey to Sapa.
Sapa
Due to a misunderstanding with our travel agent, we ended up squeezed in a four berth cabin with two Chinese passengers. We didn’t sleep a second during this overnight journey on an old, rickety train. After eight hours, we arrived at Lao Cai, the end station of this arduous journey, at 6am. After a further hour on a bus through rough and winding roads, we eventually arrived at our hotel in Sapa in a sad and exhausted state.
After a copious breakfast, I spent the rest of the day on the first trek around the villages and the cascade below the town of Sapa while Lorri recovered at the hotel. Since it was a Sunday, there were plenty of locals (and visitors) dressed in their traditional clothing. In addition, there was a show of local dances by young very talented performers.
The second day started with a wonderful sun rise above the mountains of Sapa. We then went for a guided trek around the rice terraces and adjoining Black Hamond tribe village. No need to say that it was a muddy and slippery experience, but we really enjoyed it. We had lunch in an Eco Lodge along the way before descending into further villages. After the trekking, we were picked up by our driver for the long journey back to Hanoi, but this time we travelled in a small luxury bus shared with only two French passengers.
Back in Hanoi, we had dinner at a local seafood restaurant. We ordered squid and tiger prawns and were given gloves to open their shells and chopsticks to eat their meat. This was quite an experience since the waiter did not speak a word of English and we would have had no idea of what we actually had ordered if we had not seen the pictures.
Halong Bay
On Christmas Eve we were picked up at our hotel and driven to Halong Bay were we boarded our ship for a two days/one night cruise around the islands. On arrival, the weather was warm and humid and there was a mist hanging over the bay that created a sort of dramatic, mysterious atmosphere. The port was bustling with people waiting to board their ships. Our ship was a wooden vessel built in a particular Asian style and we were given a beautiful cabin on the top deck. Cruising around the bay was like being on a movie set of a film from another era.
After a fabulous lunch on board with our twenty fellow passengers, I went kayaking and then climbed the four-hundred steps up the Ti Top Island. I was rewarded by a wonderful landscape and rare sighting of a macaque monkey. Unfortunately, I was not quick enough to catch him on camera as he moved like lightening through the trees.
On our second day, we went to visit the ‘Sung Sot Cave’ on Bo Hon Island. This is a site that brings many visitors to the area after it was discovered by two French scientists in 1901. This enormous, naturally created cave, deep inside the rock of the small island, is amazing to see, and I hope the photographs can convey some of the splendour of this natural phenomenon.
After a farewell lunch served by the crew, we left our beautiful ship and began our journey back to Hanoi where we would catch the flight to Da Nang to make our way to Hoi An.
Hoi An – My Son Sanctuary
On 26 December we woke up early to join a small group of travellers on a bus to visit the My Son Sanctuary, recognised by UNESCO as a world heritage site. The collection of ancient Hindu temples were constructed between the 4th and 14th century by the Kings of Champa.
The temples were dedicated to the worship of the Hindu God, Shiva. Unfortunately, many of the temples were destroyed by US bombings during a single week of the Vietnam War. Quite a lot of restoration is still ongoing and visitors from all over the world visit this fabulous site on a daily basis.
Hoi An – Old city
We spent the rest of the day wondering through the old town of Hoi An, admiring the old buildings and the colourful, bustling life that makes this city so special. The hundreds of little shops, offering stunning handmade products made from silk, cotton, bamboo and many other available materials, is a joy to behold. The city is full of beautiful young people on holiday from other parts of Vietnam and Asia parading in stunning traditional clothing and outfits they’ve had specially made in Hoi An.
You can get measured up and have an entire outfit made for yourself within 24 hours. That includes handmade shoes and bag to match! The place is buzzing with young enthusiastic entrepreneurs growing their businesses. They want to please and to show off their talent and creativity. It is a vibrant and inspiring place to be.
Our next destinations are Hue, Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong.
