The rain stopped in Hanoi

Once we got outside this morning, the rain had gone. Not as much as was predicted here although coastal areas were still very wet.
We went and booked our seats for the water puppet theatre. Could only get into the 2.15 show, but that suited.
Russ and I walked around the lake which is situated right in the heart of the city. A nice respite from the hustle and bustle of the city. Had a cup of tea at a lakeside cafe. In mugs. That was a bonus. The French influence here stretches to the small cups that coffee is consumed from in Europe. The tide is usually out as well.
We decided to do a cyclo trip around the city. Negotiated the price for 2 in one cyclo. Poor fellow was only a little guy. Had his work cut out with the two of us. He got us going with a push start, then it was no problem. Despite being in pretty heavy traffic, it was very relaxing. We weren't having to worry about the traffic. That was his job. We just took in the sights. Spotted another wedding while on the cyclo. While traveling around, we spotted some shops that we wanted to go back to. Took a while of wandering later on to find the street again, but eventually found the one we wanted.
The water puppet show was very entertaining. Cleverly done. It was good at the end as they showed you how it was done. We all thought the puppeteers had scuba gear on. Fooled. Puppets were on very long sticks.
A little more shopping later on before drinks on the Mozzies balcony. Good view tonight as the weather is fine.
Dinner was at Gecko. Good food, cheap drinks, both Vietnamese and western menu. Russ chose pizza tonight, just for a change. But he did use the chopsticks to eat it! Fine effort.
Good news is that we should be fine at Halong Bay. Leave at 8 in the morning and back on Thursday afternoon, so will be out of range for a few days.
Catch up on Thursday night.

Monday morning in Hanoi

Hi all. We got back to Hanoi yesterday afternoon, after spending a gloomy day in the rain. As I mentioned in the last post, Typhoon Son Tinh was bearing down on the coast. The rain started on Saturday night at Cuc Phuong. It has not stopped since. Our day started with a drive to more temples. From here we were supposed to do the 12 km bike ride to Tam, but the weather was foul so we passed on that one. It wasn't an option. Deemed too dangerous. Quite windy as well as pelting rain. Back in the bus to Tam Coc inland Harbour for our 2 hr boat ride. Unfortunately the Harbour was closed for the boats. Hung was able to get a short alternative for us. A short boat ride through a cave. Supposed to be better than the caves we would have gone through on the other trip. It was very pretty and peaceful and dry (occasional drips from the stallictites). Off to the restaurant for lunch followed by a walk around the Harbour in light rain. It was a little disappointing but you can't do much about the weather. We are not as disappointed as many tourists as Halong Bay was closed yesterday and possibly today. We have our fingers crossed as we are to head there tomorrow morning for 2 nights.
Because of Halong Bay being closed, there were many day trips to Ninh Binh and Tam Coc just to fill in their day.
As we headed back to Hanoi, most of the shops, stalls etc were closed. They were battening down the hatches for the wild weather ahead. It is their 8th Typhoon for the year. This one has hit the Phillipines quite hard with 25+ deaths already. Not sure what damage it has had on Vietnam yet. Yesterday,the weather bureau was forecasting 11 inches of rain for today. Hopefully much of that has been overnight. When we were out for dinner last night, the street of Hanoi were a contrast to a few nights ago. Hardly any traffic about. Not much fun on a scooter in the rain. On our way back, we did see one scooter run into a vehicle in front. Low impact, but enough to send the driver and passenger sprawling across the wet surface. Both got up walking but a bit sore I would imagine.
The Mozzies paid to have an upgrade to a suite with windows. Standard rooms here don't have a window. Very nice room but the view is not much because of the weather and something on the roof rattled all night in the wind.
Plans for today are to go the the Water Puppet theatre (not far away) and some shopping. Might depend on the weather.

Well done Nicola on getting the job at Taco Bill's in Clifton Hill. Nice to have some regular income so you are not quite so poor!

We are very used to the food here, will eat anything put in front of us (almost) but I am looking forward to getting back to porridge for breakfast and not eating so much!
Only 4 nights left in this fascinating country.

Saturday, another day of experiences

The day started earlier than expected with the local wildlife rising early. First was the rooster at about 4.30. This was closely followed by the dog barking, not long after was the squealing pig. Did not realize at the time that the pig had a very good reason to be squealing! More shortly. Many locals were up and about early, well, the sun was rising I suppose, and many domestic jobs to be done. As we climbed out of bed and headed for the just tepid showers, we spotted the large group of men with fires going and pots and woks heating. Today is day 3 of the funeral celebrations and the pig mentioned earlier, was already in many pieces, being prepared for today's feast. The men had responsibility for the day. Women were doing other things like harvesting rice or chopping wood.
Breakfast for us was very western. Fried eggs (may have been duck eggs) baguettes, with butter and jam and a banana. Tea and coffee (but only condensed milk, too sweet). Can't have everything!
On the road again after farwelling our very gracious hosts. It was to be a long day to get to Cuc Phuong National Park. (150km). Not that far, but most of it was on some of the worst roads you have seen. Our transit van was rocked and rolled all the way. Ting did a marvelous job as it took enormous skill and concentration to get us here in one piece. Especially since the roads were still busy with heaps of trucks and scooters and bikes. Market day everyday, but saw plenty of roadside markets with lots of live produce in very small cane baskets, mostly chickens and pigs. I saw one scooter that had at least 10 small pigs on board.
The road trip was pretty wearing, but made it here at about 12.30. Had lunch, checked in to our basic rooms, then walked to the nearby Primate Rescue Centre. Many species of primates are nearly extinct here because of hunting (mostly for the Chinese market). These monkeys are confiscated and injured ones. They are returned to good health, and ultimately returned to the wild. Mostly funded by a German foundation, with a number of volunteers (including Australians)
After that we had trek through the National Park to see the 1,000 year old tree. It was a long 3km walk each way on some slippery surfaces, as it had started raining. Fortunately the tree canopy stopped most of the water coming through. RR left his poncho on for a while longer and was drenched underneath as it was still quite warm. When he did take it off, he was steaming!
Back for some R n R before dinner and to discuss plans for tomorrow. It seems that the Typhoon that is brewing off the coast of Nth Vietnam may alter our plans a little. We are supposed to be heading to the Ninh Binh region where we will do a 12km bike ride, followed by a 2hr rowboat ride at Tam Coc through some limestone caves. Hung will get advice from his tour company as to whether it is safe for us, otherwise it will be back to Hanoi a little earlier than expected. Can't do anything about the weather, but we will be playing it safe.
This part of our journey has been amazing, a little rugged at times, but it has given us a real insight into rural communities. Having a ball, but getting weary. Will need a holiday when we get home to recover!

Leaving city madness for the countryside

We left Hanoi this morning with a new guide (Hung) and driver (Ting). Once again it was mind blowing going through the traffic. Even worse than other times because it was peak hour. Ting did a great job getting us through unscathed. It was a short drive to our first stop, the silk village, where we watched the women in action with their looms. It was fascinating watching the old machinery in action. The machines included the binary card to do the pattern automatically. They also had the silk worms there doing their magic. Naturally, there was the buying opportunity afterwards.
From there, we headed to the hills. The traffic was endless as were the street side shops. They just went on and on.
Eventually things quietened down and the traffic thinned a little. The views became spectacular as limestone krasts loomed from the ground. The condition of the road was pretty ordinary at times and we bounced around in the van. Lots of expert overtaking done, some of it a little scary. Mai Chau is in a valley and we stopped at the top to take in the breathtaking views of the town and the rice fields. It was a short drive down to the valley. Through the town to the Thai ethnic village to our house on stilts. Our hosts for the evening eagerly awaited our arrival, and it was Xin Chiao (spelling?) all around. Our cases were lugged up the hill and then up the stairs to our quarters for the night. A delightful lunch was put on for us by the host family. In the house adjacent, a funeral was taking place so there was plenty of action in the village. After lunch a stroll ensued for a few of us to the town of Mai Chau, about 1.5 km from the village. The town was fairly quiet in the middle of the afternoon, they may have been resting, out in the fields harvesting rice, at the funeral celebration, or at one of the many weddings that we witnessed today. Apparently it is a special lunar day (a full moon in a few days time). It is said to be good luck to get married on the lunar day. The first wedding that we spotted leaving Hanoi was about 8.30 am. The wedding cars are very decorated with flowers. Look very nice. The houses where a wedding was taking place would be drapped with colorful material and a private created from the road. (All these places are on the main road). Everybody rocks up on their scooters or walks.
Later in the afternoon, we hired some bikes from our hosts and pedaled around the town and countryside with Hung. We rode through tracks between rice fields, where the manual harvest was well in progress. Many people involved doing very hard work. We stopped at a local rural kinder to say hello to the kids and taught them to "high 5". Then into town to stroll through the market which was coming alive. People were out collecting fresh food for dinner. Variey of fish, meat, (including dog!), chicken and fruit and vegies. I'm glad I don't know what is being prepared for our dinner. We headed away from the town to another Thai Minority group. On the way, RR managed to break the chain on his bike. A replacement was called for. While we waited between the rice paddies, we watched a very reluctant bullock pull along the cart of rice heads. So much manual work in this country. The replacement bike came on the back of the scooter with the passenger balancing with it on her lap!
Our ride then continued and back to the house for dinner. The ride was such an enjoyable experience. Right in amongst the local community. A magnificent feast was once again placed before us, with the family gaining much delight in our great appetites and willingness to eat anything put before us. Yummy!
This community now has many home stays, but their main income comes from agriculture (mostly rice) or craft. The women here make beautiful items of clothing, weaving their own material on looms. Unlike the ones at the silk factory, there are no binary cards for patterns. They do it the old way. Very talented women.
After dinner, we were treated to a traditional Thai dance performance. It would normally be held at our host's house, but out of respect for the mourning family and friends, we were taken to another family member's house for the performance. 6 women and 2 male dancers plus 3 musicians. Performers outnumbered the guests!
It was very pleasant, with the finale being involvement from all of us. (This included the partaking of rice wine from the pot. We got to use the straws first! Revolting stuff it is!
Then it was off to bed upstairs in our shared accommodation. 3 double mattresses with mosquito nets over them. Each with a ceiling fan. The floor was made of bamboo over wooden bearers. A little bit of movement when someone walked about. A few had to negotiate the steps for the late night loo visit. Some had a better night's sleep than others, but overall probably better than was expected.

Hanoi on Thursday 25th October

Xin Chao (hello)
It has been a long day being on an organized full day private tour. Ve (rhymes with be) was our guide for the day. Our first stop was a buddhist Temple, but it was also the First University. They had beautiful gardens and a heap of turtles (concrete) that were in honour of the top students (the King set the questions for the exam). Next stop was the Ethnology Museum which paid tribute to the many Ethnic tribes in Vietnam. Their artifacts, costumes and customs were on display. Also recreated houses and tombs. One of the tombs was decorated with symbols of fertility. You will get the drift by looking closely at the photo below! We spend tomorrow night in one of the Ethnic villages tomorrow night south of Hanoi. Hopefully not the one with their open display of fertility.
Ve, our guide, was very knowledgable and happy to rattle off all this. Our next visit was to a family store/factory where their speciality was Lacquer art work. The process was impressive, especially the art work which ranged from painting, mother of pearl pictures to egg shell pictures. The art was so detailed, definitely requiring skill, patience and good eye sight. The finished products were stunning. Of course the selling pitch came next. We resisted.
The eating tour of Vietnam continued after that. We were taken to restaurant out in the suburbs called True Viet. There were no other restaurants about so stuck with this one. It looked good, prices were a bit higher than we would have liked, but when the food came out, we were stunned. Not only was the food presented in a spectacular way, it all tasted great. A real highlight. Given a small glass of rice wine to try. Just as well it was a small one because it tasted like rocket fuel!
Off to Hanoi Hilton (prison named by US airmen captured during the war). This place was set up by the French during their control of Vietnam. Vietnamese political prisoners as well as others were kept here in appalling conditions until their departure from Vietnam in 1954. Even the guillotine was used till the French left. The jail operated as such until the mid 90's.
Vietnam has been occupied by various countries over the years (French, Chinese, Japanese) coming and going at various times. They must enjoy the peace and stability that they have now, although the next invasion has already started (tourists).
A visit to the Presidential residence and Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum. The guards in white uniforms guard the Mausoleum for 2 hour stints without moving, a bit like the guards at Buckingham Palace We weren't able to go into the Mausoleum as Uncle Ho (as he is affectionately known) is under restoration from September to November. The gardens around the residences are very pretty. The story goes that he didn't want to live in the massive Presidential Residence by himself (very oppulent for a leader of Communism) so he lived a more humble life in adjoining residences with other Govt. Officials near by. This included a beautiful wooden house.
A quick stop at the One Pillar Pagoda, but by this stage we were pretty worn out so we skipped the visit to the Embroidery shop and the Chicken egg coffee shop!
Had a drink at The Polite Pub (not really polite as there were smokers, very common as smokers can smoke just about anywhere). Fortunately hotel rooms have been smoke free.
We up to the roof top City View Cafe, great view over the lake and city, but not inspiring for dinner. The Little Hanoi cafe was a recommended one so we went there. Nice.
The next two nights we will be in rural areas to the south of Hanoi (Mai Chau and Cuc Phong National Park). Unlikely to have wifi so see you Sunday night (Monday before you read the next one).

Happy birthday to Sue H for tomorrow and Lauren M for Saturday.