Hanoi- the old quarter and some excursions

Walking along the waterfront in Cadiz, Spain in 2008 there was an old man and a dog relaxing in the shade of a large, old banyan tree with huge roots splayed out. We stopped and petted the dog and talked with him a bit. He pointed out in the water and exclaimed:

“Do you know what happened out there? The fantastic battle of Trafalgar! A huge naval battle with Britain”. I looked out and tried to imagine it, but let’s face it, it was 1805 and things were much different back then, not much of anything is left today but the water and some descriptions from old men on a sunny day.

Viet Nam and Hanoi are much different because that war happened during my lifetime and I know many people who fought there in both the US and Vietnamese military. I remember seeing nightly reports on TV. I work with people from all over the world; and have heard many incredible first-hand accounts of people who escaped SE Asia during war years and soon after as “boat people”. One woman told me her story; people with hatchets chased her family across a field killing them as they ran screaming, she jumped in a river to save her life, her young six year old niece jumped on her back, they are all that is left from their family. They were killed not because they had worked with the US during the war but because they were ethnic Chinese living in Viet Nam after the war had concluded in 1975. When people tell you these many stories their eyes become unfocused and drifting as they remember times they thought they would not survive, and they speak in a way of incredulity and gratitude that says yes they somehow came through the other side.

So I have always wanted to go see and experience this area of the world for myself, as a special present.

Something I had read stated Hanoi is comparable to Washington DC as a “historic city” and Saigon is more like Las Vegas as a party town. So I chose history. 

https://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20121123205928AAIsYbg

The visa process is a little more complicated than some places but not a big deal. I think it was something like $50 to get in. You can send off your passport in the mail and get pre-approved, you can go to a website and do some legwork there or just go naked. I went the website route and got an “approval letter” which I handed over on arrival in Hanoi Airport, I also brought a couple extra 2”x2” photos.

I normally contact my hotel before arrival and ask them to pick me up at the airport, this has worked out well for me. I stayed at the Hanoi Imperial http://www.hanoiimperialhotel.com/ , it is a medium quality hotel I suppose. I look for a hotel where I can walk to things, I find this really helps. I wanted to be in the “Old Quarter” of Hanoi; http://thingsasian.com/stories-photos/1445

, where vendors are concentrated on different streets according to their occupation, this goes back to royal times. So bamboo is sold on one street and sunglasses on another street etc... This hotel’s location was great for that endeavor.

In a hotel I look for:

Price- Location- free internet- room safe- air conditioning- website- free breakfast

If there is no website and online photos to check out, that is a bit of a red flag for me. I think of a good hotel as a “home base”. I might leave town for an excursion or rent a car and explore. I leave my passport and extra cash in the room safe, I take some good color scans of my passport to carry on me. I also like to work with the hotel for excursions and advice. If I can develop a rapport with a good concierge it really helps.

This Hotel the Hanoi Imperial was a good choice, the room was great, nice and large and quiet, although really no view. The hotel restaurant was on the top floor with a 360 degree view but the elevator stopped two floors below, so you take the elevator to the 6^th floor and walk up to the eighth. The food was buffet style and it was quite a varied spread, this fortified me for a good start to the day and saved me some cash!

Many renowned sites like the Hanoi Hilton, the Lake where John McCain crashed, the B52 Lake and Ho Chi Minh’s tomb were within walking distance. In addition to this I booked excursions to the Perfume River, Halong Bay and Sapa, all through the hotel before I left the states.

I bought a few travel books on Viet Nam and then took a razor blade and cut out the parts I wanted and made a new book just on the northern parts of Viet Nam I was going to have time to visit, putting it back together with duct tape.

Perfume River Excursion: This was hot and kinda uncomfortable, the boat seats are low and steel, so bring a small pillow of some kind. The picturesque rowing gets old quick there is not much to look at in the river itself. Be ready for boats with colorful pilgrims for photos. The temples, shops and hike up above are well worth the trip. I tried to talk our group into taking a fast boat back, the other group behind us did with their rowboat sitting crosswise on the larger boat, as the shot past us they laughed and pointed! Rats! The thing I found frustratingly is we asked the bus to stop a couple times for photos on the way down and they refused, the rice harvest was in progress.

Halong Bay: Once again well worth doing. The boat was fun interacting with the people aboard, they had great food, a huge spread, we stopped at a little fishing village, and a great cave system on one of the limestone karst islands, a long day but a fun trip. The photos you see all over will not prepare you for all the tourist boats, a flotilla! But that’s life.

Sapa Trekking: This was really an experience and deserves its’ own write up here-- http://425traveler.blogspot.com/2013/06/mr.html

I wasn’t prepared for the huge line of people at Ho Chi Minh’s tomb. There is no one in American history that would demand even a fraction of this kind of veneration. A huge line around four blocks outside the compound before you even get in. It took me a while and a lot of walking just to find the end of the line! JFK on the day of his funeral had a grand exit but to see this every day, years and years after his passing, the Viet people must truly have a mind-blowing patriotism! I finally gave up and never got in, if you do go make sure you are there first thing in the morning.

The Long Bien Bridge was fun I walked out to the middle of the Red River then down to the island in the middle, worth doing. The traffic watching is hilarious. The market at the foot of the bridge is a little sketchy watch yourself in there. When you walk into a place like that and no one smiles and they stare at you like you are food, it is a sign.

The “water puppet theatre” is something you can miss, I did it and it was just OK. Old women in front of me had to hold up their cells and video THE ENTIRE THING!

I got a good massage close to the hotel, less than a block away and I found it by going to a site like Trip advisor and reading reviews. The most amazing part here is the woman could walk on my soapy back (while I was lying on a raised massage table), without falling off! The narrow little dark hallway and three story walk-up was a little off putting, but I am glad I went.

The B52 Lake; where a plane crashed during the war and some wreckage is still left was very hard to find. I walked and walked and finally gave up, and started talking to some motorbike guys on a corner. They didn’t really speak English so I ended up pantomiming a plane flying over, people shooting at it, and then it crashing into a lake. Voila! Then they all laughed and knew exactly what I wanted. I got a guy to give me a ride over on the back of his motorbike (what I should have done from the start).

Speaking of motorbikes; yes I realize I am rambling but this is important, make sure you stow your gear, and have some glasses to protect your eyes from dust, hang on securely, and take the extra few moments to find a guy/gal that provides you with a helmet. Then relax and enjoy, it was a blast.

If you are going to someplace like Snaketown, which is farther away then take a taxi. Yeah I did that gig where you go and pick out a cobra, they kill it and give you a drink with the heart sill beating floating in the drink, then prepare a meal with the cobra cooked eleven different ways or something like that. They pointed to the price on the menu like they felt I might not be good for it. I think the dinner was 1.2 million dong, which is a little over $50. I showed them I had the cash and asked if they wanted me to pay up front but they motioned no, no one in this area seemed to speak even broken English. We also had a bit of confusion when I explained I don’t drink alcohol. I transferred the cobra heart to a glass of water and then my retinue of waiters were happy and all clapped with enthusiasm. I got the name of this place and the taxi all set up through my concierge. I am sure he got a cut and that’s fine. It makes things easier and safer for everybody.

In closing two things, firstly get up early and hit it and about noon when you are hot and dusty go back to your room (if close enough), and take a cool shower, change clothes and take a nap with the air con. Then go back out all refreshed for an evening run.

Secondly, I need to say one of the coolest places I ran into was by accident (like always). I was trying to find a particular street which was on a walking tour map. It kept taking me into a dead end brick wall, like some kind of Harry potter movie. But the street on the way there, a little back alley kind of street, was just full of life. All kinds of vendors and activity, completely authentic and non-touristy, it was wonderful. (see above)...

Sapa Vietnam Trekking

Mr. Tony Vo,… bon vivant and general advisor, the “front office manager” at my hotel, the Hanoi Imperial Hotel in Hanoi, http://www.hanoiimperialhotel.com/ had talked me in to going on a side trip, a “Sapa Trekking” trip. I was to understand I would take the night train with a sleeper car to Lao Cai and then bus up to my hotel in Sapa. I had a hazy understanding I would go out to some native villages of hill people who are ethnic minorities in Viet Nam and walk around a bit and take pictures as a high-fiving white guy tourista, it sounds good no?

The PDF file e-mailed to me describes this mental image “Sapa is an incredibly picturesque village that lies on the Hoang Lien Son mountain range near the Chinese border in North West Vietnam, it is called the “Tokinese Alps”……

Ok go already

They sent someone to get me on the train; I thought sharing a sleeper car with three other people was a little odd, but whatever. I had bought some brand new Keen shoes before I left the States from REI. I put them under the bottom bunk, I never saw them again. The train was super noisy. There was a small angry man with a deadblow hammer berating the train roof all night long (my only explanation). I did take an ambian and managed to get some sleep. In the morning I lurched to the “café car” the workers, who wore very impressive uniforms, were playing cards for money. It was so deliciously seedy I wanted a photo, I brought up the camera, they panicked and brought up the waving hand, I got a shot anyway but said “yeah ok, cool you bet” and sat down.

When I got on the minibus I said “my shoes, my shoes my precious shoes”. The guy running things didn’t say “fuck off” he said “it will be very difficult”… I said to call someone to check.. “It will be very difficult”. I said something about “lost and found”; he found this very funny that I thought this was a viable option for the return of my shoes. I explained in terms of bad karma that taking another man’s shoes were more or less at the tip-top of badness… my fellow travelers listened on with amusement

When I got to my hotel  http://www.boutiquesapahotel.com/I was a little tired and cranky. It said I would check in immediately and I could take a cool shower. I figured I needed to get ready to trek, remember I had no shoes, just some Teva sandals on my feet. Eventually I did go to my room and the view was breathtaking. I took a shower, cooled down and was feeling good. I checked on the tour and then walked up the street to the market it turned out I needn’t have worried. Apparently all kindsa people show up unprepared there were several shops selling North Face stuff; shoes, packs, jackets, you name it. I got some cheap shoes for $20.

My guide showed up at the hotel and off we went. Her name was Zaza and she rocked, she is a Black Hmong from a small village near Sapa. I assumed we were walking to a car of some type. We were not.

She explained we simply were going to walk the entire thing from where we were. Hmm, glad I gots me some shoes then. She spoke very good English and I was able to really learn about the area (I had lots of questions). Since I had booked the tour by myself it was just me and her taking a stroll, a long, hot ball busting stroll. (Key Gilligan’s Island theme song here). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfR7qxtgCgY

It was fun and informative and the whole thing was good, lots of photo options and we eventually got to the bottom. Zaza seemed to assume I would want a car or motor bike to get back up to the hotel. I told her I thought I could make it if we went slowly. So I walked all the way back and was very proud of myself. The hotel, Boutique Spa Hotel provided free breakfast, lunch and dinner by the way and the food was excellent; ask to stay in room 403.

The next day I was hurting and sore. The previous day I had suggested we do something different because it was just the two of us, I told Zaza I could rent a car and we could go way out and visit a village not normally bothered by tourists. But today was a little different a young woman from Florida named Megan joined our group and Zaza had invited two of her girlfriends. So as a merry group of five off we walked.

We hit a trail and it got very narrow and muddy and steep very quickly. Megan and I both slipped and fell in the mud on our asses in no time. I started to worry about my camera getting wet; I also couldn’t well take photos with a muddy hand. I sprained my thumb trying to break my fall. I started to try and grab plants for support. My guide Zaza said “ok, this plant is fine; don’t grab the one next to it because it is poisonous”. Zaza and her friends helped us along, her girlfriend helpers now seemed to not to have been invited by accident. I was looking for a walking stick for support but couldn’t find one. At one point I was trying to walk along a section of bamboo fence to stay upright and a branch hit me in the face—zoop, I felt my contact lens shoot out.

I said Ok, everyone STOP for a moment.

I asked if anyone had a mirror. Mah, Zaza’s friend pulled a jagged piece of mirror glass out of a cloth purse which looked like a dagger. I said “this looks like a weapon”. I looked for my contact, it was gone. Zaza suggested we go look for it. I gave the same laugh the guy gave me when I suggested we go look for my shoes.

I said “so where are we going here, I see no destination in mind, is this really a trail your tribe uses or are you just going cross country to be weird or what”???

An amused Zaza looked at me and said “this is what you asked for Ed”

I said “How is that”

She explained “you said you wanted to go where there were no tourists, do you see any tourists? And yes this is one of our regular trails, and I would use this everyday but when I go on this trial I would normally wear my boots and I would run the whole way, we don’t walk, we run everywhere we go”

I thought …”ach! Fer crying out loud”!!

So sure enough, about five minutes later a dude who had been working in the fields along side of us came out and wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and sandals he RAN down the trail and disappeared from sight in about 2 seconds. It dawned on me I had a brutal hike ahead of me. We literally were walking along on the lip of those rice paddy dikes a narrow muddy band of dirt about eight inches wide. The Black Hmong women trotted across these like giddy little pixies. Megan and I skulked warily.

It seemed either straight up or straight down. We eventually came out on a high aqueduct type of bridge with no guard rail. Megan was afraid of heights, I was glad it wasn’t windy. Zaza talked about having lunch. I asked what we were going to eat? She said my lunch was on her back. Hmmmm

There was a large snake by the trail. Zaza said “Ed can’t you see that snake”, I said “remember I am operating with one eye here”. Megan said is that snake Poisonous”?, Zaza said “oh yes, all the large snakes like that in Vietnam are poisonous, the bright green tree snake called the leaf snake is the worst”. Some boys grabbed bamboo sticks and went after the snake.

We stopped for lunch and the baguette sandwich Zaza had prepared was excellent. Zaza’s two friends peeled off here and came back selling stuff, I didn’t recognize them. I said I didn’t want to buy their goods but to give them a nice tip for helping to keep me in one piece (more or less) on the trail. A small cadre of girls came over and started their perpetual chant of “

“You buy one from me ..too”

“You buy one form me ..too”

They sounded like doves cooing.

I started to imitate this which made everyone laugh.  We were finally at the bottom and walking along a village in a flat area. Some Red Dao women walked by. Zaza pulled out an umbrella Megan was red and cooked on the shoulders and neck. There came up a wooden walkway bridge and then a small building. Zaza asked if  wanted a car? I said “yes I want an air-conditioned Mercedes with a bed and a masseuse”. She laughed and said “I will ride with you then”.

I said “you are sweating Zaza you are exhausted”

She said no she wasn’t and she could walk back the way we came.

I said “yeah right”

We sat down and she tried to call her friend for a car ride. He was already busy.

Next she asked f we would ride on the back of a motorbike. I said yeah.

They showed up and off we went, the road back was a long ways up! I really felt like I had in fact got to really see and experience that part of Vietnam. It was a hell of an adventure and I highly recommend it.

I can’t really convey at this point how tired, sweaty, sticky and worn out I was. My knees were swollen, I had a blood blister on my toe, my thighs were screaming and all the Gatorade in the world wouldn’t have helped. But I really felt like I had accomplished something too.

So I had two hours to clean up and then back to the night train again. I decided to just throw away my muddy shoes. Someone at the hotel wanted them. When I got to the train it was just me and one other in our sleeper car. I had a bottom bunk. I turned out the lights, locked the door and went to sleep.

In the morning a Chinese man was lying across from me reading a book on an I-pad. His eyes darted up and down in an unfamiliar reading pattern. How could he and his wife have gotten in my cabin in the middle of the night without waking me up,  I thought to myself,  “ where oh where did YOU come from sunshine”???

Pics? https://picasaweb.google.com/EddieTsunami/SapaVietnamTrek