7 February 2018 2 of 2
Greetings from Hanoi, capital of Vietnam and really quite nippy in winter
Since the last exciting instalment we’ve done a bit of time in a train and a bus traveling to and around the north of Vietnam. We’ve assessed the quality of cocktails across the miles, done some hard bargaining in the shopping streets, tried as much local food as possible and educated ourselves with some cultural activities.
As part of our tour we did a home stay in the mountains about 4 hours west of Hanoi in a tiny village called Da Bac. I’m not one for tourist crap but this was actually fantastic. We were the only whities in the village, and for +100kms I reckon. The locals were genuinely interested in having us there and sharing their world. Heather and I spent some time with the kiddies – them drawing and writing their names, and playing with photos. As part of the visit, the villagers put on a show of local dances that depicted Vietnamese life – farming, weaving, etc. Without any notice, we were asked to perform as part of the show. So, what does a group of 12 Westerners perform that allows reasonable participation and satisfies the cultural requirements of such a situation……????? YMCA! (I had hoped Heather would lead us all in a rendition of Daryl Braithwaite’s Horses but the Canadians, Scots and Poms didn’t know the song!)
I’m still not coping with the YMCA music choice, but we were relying on music stored on people’s phones, so options were extremely limited. Nevertheless, Heather and I were queens of the dancefloor in leading the troops in a coordinated, seamless, unforgettable combination of aerobics OZ style, the nutbush and YMCA. We were awesome. I’m sure the villagers were amused and confused.
Our final tourist outing was to Halong Bay – a UNESCO heritage area which hosts a gazillion tourists every day. It was 14 degrees, but we were lucky that the sun was almost out and the pollution was bearable. Leaving the harbour to enter the bay, we were one of hundreds of boats all following the same route to the assigned tourist areas. It felt like we were going off to war, in a nice way (?).
Because someone(s) on the tour needed to put the intrepid in the Intrepid Tour, we went for a swim at “the beach” at Halong Bay – much to the amusement/interest of the gazillion tourists. The water temperature was the same as the air so it wasn’t too bad. We rewarded ourselves with a hot shower and sunset drinks.
And so now we’re on our way home. Here are my final interesting tid bits about Vietnam and our trip:
– the sacred animals in Vietnam are the dragon, unicorn, turtle and phoenix symbolising power, intellect, longevity and nobility. I had never associated unicorns with intellect before now – an interesting choice.
– Vietnamese are preparing for the new year celebrations on 16 February. Part of the preparations involves getting komquat trees and cherry blossoms. If the cherry blossoms haven’t blossomed in time, the locals burn around the roots of the plant and then put it in water so the blossoms come out!
– No one cleans on new years day as they don’t want to sweep away the good luck that the new year has brought
– Tasty discovery: Egg Coffee – Vietnamese put meringue mix while still gooey in their coffee and hot chocolate. Sooooooo good.
– Heather found goon sacks (boxed wine) in the duty free at the airport! 18 USD for 3 Litres. Hilarious!
– Have you ever wondered how postage works between countries – I hadn’t until the other day. The bureaucrats at the UN Universal Postal Union have a hard job
– The old town of Hanoi has some narrow streets so the nightclubs spill out on the streets which is technically not allowed. The cops come through intermittently through the evening to check, but are kind enough to send a scout through with a whistle to warn everyone that the cops are coming. Everything is packed up in a flash and when the full fleet of cops arrive 5 mins later, everything is legal. Was very impressive to see.
We finished the trip how we started – with sunset rooftop cocktails – very nice. We’re looking forward to the warm weather at home.
Local butcher – Hanoi
