Vietnam is a country who has preserved it's culture. Hanoi is full of charm and is not dependent on tourism as much as other places that we've visited. It is home to 3.5 million people and I think that they all must own a motorbike! There is one intersection where 5 streets come together at once and there is not a single traffic light! We managed to find a bar on the 3rd floor of a building and watched the traffic for hours. It's quite comical!! There are people on foot, bicycle, motorbike, taxi and tour bus. There are no cross walks so people just walk clear across the intersection with no worry. We didn't see a single accident. Now I understand why there is such a stereotype about bad Asian drivers, it's just a completely different mindset!! Alex calls it controlled chaos!
We've also enjoyed our morning Vietnamese coffee and street food. There are little restaurants that set up on the street every evening. The food is delicious and less than $1 per meal.
There is a lake in the center of the city and in the mornings there are thousands of people (old and young) practicing tai chi and playing chess. Hanoi is exactly what we were expecting our of southeast Asia!!
We just got back from a wonderful 3 day/2 night boat trip in Ha Long Bay. It was absolutely beautiful, no doubt the most breathtaking place I've ever seen. There are over 2,000 islands in the bay that are jetting straight out of the water. We spent one night on a junk, kayaked around and listened to unique birds, trekked in the national park and stayed one night on Cat Ba Island. We wished that we could have stayed another night but today was a national holiday (Vietnam unification day)and all of the buses were full.
Every restaurant on the island had fresh salt water tanks with huge crab, clams, fish and lobster. We saw fishermen with nets full of seafood coming directly to the restaurants. Now THAT'S fresh!!!
We are now headed northwest to the mountainous region of Sapa. We will trek for 3 days and visit several hill tribes with traditional dress and trades. We've really enjoyed Vietnam so far and have had a lovely time.
We'll post more pictures soon! We love you all and look forward to your comments.
Love, Loranda and Alex
3 comments:
I enjoyed the update. Can't wait to see some pictures from the hill tribes in Sapa! --Alisa
YAY! I have been waiting for the Vietnam blog! It sounds amazing! The boat trip sounds like so much fun. How big was this boat? I can't wait to see pictures!
I googled some images of Ha Long Bay and it looks awesome. Make sure you enjoy a steaming bowl of genuine Vietnamese Pho soup for me! Heavy on the tendon and tripe just for the authentic experience.
Perry
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