Vietnam:
We wandered over to the Long Bien Bridge (1700 metre), an iron lattice bridge for motorbikes, bicycles and pedestrians. It was bombed during the Vietnam/American War but not taken out. It was strongly fortified by the Viet Cong.
The contrast of their bright orange robes and the lush green grounds with the shimmering lake was eye catching. To my surprise one of the Buddhist came up to me and pointed his camera indicating that he wanted to take a picture with me. One of his friends proceeded to take a picture. Within seconds the rest of the Buddhist came along. Tom made is way over and before I knew it we were all taking pictures of us all together. It wasn't till after the photo shoot that we spoke. The friendly Buddhists are from Bangkok, Thailand.
Afternoon we took a short 3k trek to the CAT CAT village. Easy to follow trail with views of rice paddies, pot belly pigs, water buffaloes and locals busy with their daily lives.
Note: If we were to do this trip over: Go to Bac Ha right from the train station (Lao Cai) and spend Saturday night in Bac Ha. This way you will be able to see the villagers arriving and setting up for the market. The opportunity to get to know the people and experience their lives better before the arrival of buses loaded with tourists.
Bac Ha Market/ Sundays only
Bursting with color and culture!
Flower Hmong tribe attend and barter for items.
Flower Hmong women selling their home-made corn wine.
Blaring horns, jaw drop sights, delightful new tastes, pleasant smells. All that and a warm welcome from the Vietnamese locals! I hope to go back and explore Vietnam's culture more in depth. We spent 12 days in Hanoi, Sapa and Ninh Binh. (Northern Vietnam)
Below are some of my high lights of my trip:
- Eating Sugar cane from the stalks (In Singapore, sugarcane juice is one of my favorite drinks)
- Breakfast slurping Po Rau
- Pla- my personal Hmong guide on a trek to a homestay (whether I want one or not!)
- Outside barbecue street in Sapa
- Star treatment from Elite Hotel
- The family that insisted we sit and have tea with them in Ninh Binh.
- The older man in a suit on a motor bike thinking he is showing us the right way as we follow him on our bicycles (he is extending his help, although he doesn't ask where we are heading)
- All the children in Ninh Binh yelling out "Hello" excited to see us.
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| Elite Hotel 10/50 Dao Duy Tu street Phone: 84-438281711 |
First night we stayed at the Elite Hotel in the Old Quarters of Hanoi. It is an incredible hotel . Comfortable accommodations and the staff helpful with out pushing guided trips on us! They treated us as if we were stars. They made me feel as if they sincerely cared for our well-being.
BEWARE of the scam with taxi drivers at the Airport. For info read Elite Hotel warning on their web-site
Elite arranged a driver to pick us up from the airport. It was a bit surreal when our driver stopped on a chaotic narrow street that t boned into an even narrower street. Out of now where a young man dressed in a white uniform appears out of the dark alley and opens our door. He quickly grabs our bags and we follow him about 100 meters to our hotel.
After breakfast at Elite we wandered the streets of Old Quarters Hanoi. A challenge indeed, with traffic from all directions and no traffic lights. NEVER to take a step backwards and KEEP MOVING. Friendly cooperation is what I observed daily with the traffic. Traffic kept moving, rarely an accident and no jams.
Horns sing a sweet and demanding tunes all day long. My first taste of Vietnamese coffee...whoa a caffeine JOLT! Strong and distinct!
At the end of the day we took Elite Hotel up on their offer, a free shower. Elite also provided a driver and a private escort to the train station and proceeded to escort us to the carriage and our seats on the train. At NO charge!
Prior, I had the hotel arrange the overnight train to Lao CAI then to Sapa One way ticket $33.00 per person on the King Express. Big cozy comforter with narrow berths. Shared in a 4 berth cabin.
Arrived in Lao Cai train station early the next morning and looked for our driver sent by Luong Thuy Guesthouse. The ride from Lao Cai to Sapa is about an hour. Bich who manages Luong Thuy Family Guest House is charming and honest. The views from our room and the restaurant were incredible. Go to Tom's Pbase website to see our view.http://www.pbase.com/atucker/vietnam
After breakfast we wandered around Sapa, Strolling by the lake in town I noticed Buddhists roaming through the park.
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| CAT CAT village, drying clothes |
Note: If we were to do this trip over: Go to Bac Ha right from the train station (Lao Cai) and spend Saturday night in Bac Ha. This way you will be able to see the villagers arriving and setting up for the market. The opportunity to get to know the people and experience their lives better before the arrival of buses loaded with tourists.
Bac Ha Market/ Sundays only
Bursting with color and culture!
Flower Hmong tribe attend and barter for items.
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| Arrived by motorbike. |
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| For sale: Medicinal Herbs |
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Flower Hmong women eat lunch along side Tom. After lunch we entered another village. Upon doing so another group of Black Hmong women greeted us and started walking by our sides. The one who apparently assigned herself to me was very tiny, her name was PLA. She always smiled and had a certain charm about her. They followed us all afternoon to our home-stay. To our disappointment the home-stay is a barn structure built for tourist. Three other tour groups also spent the night here. The food was surprisingly good, we cheered the night on with home-made cloudy rice wine and great people from around the world.   The next morning the Black Hmong women greeted us. Pla walked by my side and at times in front of me.She swayed her hand on the ground to show me where to step. Often she took my arm or hand to help me down a muddy slope. I decided to go with the flow and we both ended up giggling and having fun. She wore purple plastic boots but trekked skillfully like a goat.   Pla and Sandy model handmade bags. At the end of our trek Pla kindly expected me to purchase a bag from her. Out of nowhere other H'mong women approached me when PLa and I made a transaction. She was proud when I said "I only buy from Pla!" We chose to end our home-stay trek after one night (we expected to stay with a family on the home-stays which is indicated when you book.) Also, we prefer to be independent travelers. Trekking with so many people around was different for me and okay for one day only! Back in Sapa the outdoor barbecue street became our favorite place to eat. Touts "Eat here" are called out as you stroll down the street. Each stall has a long table with plastic low chairs. A colorful array of fresh vegetables, and meats are displayed.  My favorite ... coconut sticky rice wrapped in sugar cane shell. Tom's favorite is mushrooms wrapped in strips of pork. We shared a festive night feasting and toasting rice wine with some young Americans and Vietnamese men. The Americans happen to be staying at the same place/ Thouy Family Guest house. They had just completed their Peace Corp mission in the Philippines.  The Red DAO women that Katie (one of the Americans) became friends with earlier in the week happened to walk by. We invited them to sit and drink rice wine. It was fun to get to know them a bit and learn more about their skilled work.   Breakfast at Sapa Market, Pho Rau (vegetable noodle soup). My vote goes to Luong Thuy Family Guest House for the tastiest Pho rau. Traveled back to Hanoi on a different overnight train carriage. The cost was significantly lower as well as the comfort. Recommend the higher cost carriage such as King Express. Back in Hanoi, we stayed at Spring Hotel. It is located behind St. Joseph's Cathedral. Almost every staff member tried to sell us a tour to Ha Long Bay. Graciously we declined! We bummed around for two days while we figured out our next adventure & how to take the local train to Ninh Binh. During this time we came across some men cockfighting on the street. The roosters had covers on their beaks and protective bands.   The train ride to Ninh Binh was full of drama. Two slatted hard seats face each other. I noticed often three people squeezed into the seat for two. At a later stop an older couple boarded with several bags, boxes and suitcases. Boldly the woman began moving people's luggage around to fit their items. She was ranting in Vietnamese as she shoved passenger's items around. This rather loud disturbance continued for 20 minutes. The woman then tugged on a person who soundly slept on a mat between the facing seats. By now all the passengers were watching. The man across from us assured us(with made up sign language) that it is okay for us not to move our small day-packs for this woman. A few seats down, a young well-dressed Vietnamese girl popped up with a big smile and said to us" Is everything okay?" Yes, the people all took great care of us!  Ninh Binh was gray and rainy. We rented beat up bikes and toured around ourselves for the day in half. Content at this rather than being part of the tourist herd that are guided on sampan boats through the waterways of Tam Coc. We pedaled through villages with narrow winding roads that lead to karst surroundings. Misty and gray weather added to the mystical feel. Some of the flooded rice fields had rows of white tunnels which are green houses for rice seedlings.  As the day went by we observed the Vietnamese in their daily lives. It seems to me that the women do most of the work here! Missed an opportunity for a picture: a woman digging out a rice field. Mud from head to toe!  Through out the whole day children ran out to greet us with their English "hello" with excitement in their voices and expressions. Often running down trails from their homes, that are in between the flooded rice fields.   Narrow street in a village near Ninh Binh. Before you go be sure to research current scams via travel forums:
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