emily's life in hong kong...: April 2008

Hanoi

This Easter break, I went to Vietnam for 9 days with some friends, starting in Hanoi for 4 days. I loved Hanoi, with the busyness of the streets, the food, the kindness of the people, the French style architecture, and the history. We learned a lot about the history of Vietnam in it's French colonial days and with "The American War". It was fascinating.

motorbikes were everywhere in Hanoi: it was quite the task just to cross the street

women like these were everywhere, wearing conical hats and carrying baskets of fruits, goods, and products on their shoulders

One night we ate at a Tex Mex restuarant where we were promptly escorted to "the American" table.

Here's a part of the market, selling eels and snakes.

Hanoi's steets

Most of the buildings were quite tall and very skinny with French style architecture, quite different than most Asian cities that I've seen.

Hanoi's Old Quarter

We visited the Hao Lo Prison, where American soldiers and pilots were kept captive. The images were quite haunting. This is also the prison where John McCain was held (his flight suit is on display) and were the Amazing Race contestants went one year.

blacksmiths

Enjoying fresh springrolls at a streetside vendor

Hue

In between our train rides, we spent a day in Hue, which was the original capital of Vietnam. Here, we ended up hiring motorbike drivers to take us on a tour of the area, where we saw the citadel, the Imperial Enclosure, two tombs of former leaders (quite extensive), and a very remote monastery. This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

Some apprentice monks learn chanting

monks play volleyball at this remote, countryside monastery

here we are at the Citadel walls, the original capital

Here's the restaurant where we had lunch. On the menu? Various Vietnamese dishes and motorbike rides. We decided to rent them from this place.

motorbike riding through the country. It was absolutely beautiful

train ride

We took 2 train rides in Vietnam to get from North to South. First, we took an overnight train from Hanoi to Hue, and then a 20 train from Hue to Ho Chi Minh City. We got sleeper cars, and found it to be really relaxing and enjoyable. We spent our time watching the beautiful scenery, reading, listening to music, and talking. I had always wanted the opportunity to travel this way, and I loved it. I would definitely do it again.

beverage cart

boarding the train in Hanoi

countryside views

Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon

Our last major stop was Ho Chi Minh City, where we were for 2 full days. This busy city of 6 million people was very directly affected by the war, and we saw a lot here. One of the hardest things we did was see the War Remnants Museum, with sobering images of the war and it's destruction. We walked around the city, ate a lot more great Vietnamese food, and visited some museums and sights.

Here's the Reunification Palace, a famous building that's been restored since the troops stormed it and knocked down the gates.

Here's the basement rooms of the Reunification Palace. They kept a lot of the equipment in tact, and this was a center for war strategy, planning, and communication.

durian for sale. this smelly fruit is sold widely in HCMC, but is banned at many public places all over Asia for it's terrible stench! In HCMC, it was banned in our hotel.

We stopped at Fanny's for some delicious ice cream during our hot and humid walk around the city. Vietnam surprised us by having delicious ice cream so widely available!

Here's the Rex Hotel, where many American officers and journalists stayed during the war.

streetside tailor

In all of Vietnam, the buildings had these stamps on the sides of the walls. We never quite figured out what they were for.

trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels

In our second day in Ho Chi Minh City, we took a trip to the Cu Chi tunnels. The Viet Cong hid here during the war, and it was mostly dug by farmers and common, everday people, using just an ax and basket. They extend for over 150km. They used these tunnels to hide from the US during the war, and we learned a lot about the Vietnamese perspective of "The American War". Since then, they've made the tunnels bigger for Western tourists, but being underground and crawling through the tunnels was enough to induce a small panic attack!

Sara and I are standing in a bomb crater, to show some perspective of the size.

On the way to the tunnels, we stopped at this lacquerware production center. Most of the artisans are victims of Agent Orange and how have physical disabilities that make it difficult for them to hold normal jobs. They have centers like these to produce handicrafts, and encourage Western tourists to stop and purchase things here. The art and work was beautiful.

Here's the actual size of the tunnels...I didn't go down any farther than this.

Halong Bay

We took a day trip to Halong Bay on the Western coast, a beautiful bay of limestone cliffs and caves. We took a van from Hanoi, got on a boat for the day, had a great lunch of fresh seafood, explored the caves, and came back late at night.

a floating school

Water Puppets

A traditional art form in Vietnam is Water Puppetry, so we went to see a show in Hanoi, near where water puppets originated. This tradition stems from performers in rice fields, performing for their small village. The show we saw depicted typical scenes of folklore and history of Vietnamese culture.