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Hanoi Post 2

March 3rd, 2014 · 4 Comments

I’m back in Saigon as I write this, getting ready to catch a plane to Siem Reap, the city near Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

We went on a boat ride in Ha Long Bay near Hanoi last week. The scenery is spectacular with sheer cliffs rising out of the water in hundreds of islands. Unfortunately there was heavy fog on the whole trip, so we couldn’t see the cliffs until we got within a quarter of a mile or less. Still worthwhile to see, but we missed the full grandeur. It was nice that our group of 14 had the whole 30 – 40 foot boat to ourselves, so in between seeing scenery there was lots of chatting and laughing.

Pictures on a boat
Five people taking pictures of the others. No scenery, just sitting on the boat. In a minute several people will swap places to take more pictures. It’s an addiction!

So far my stomach has been behaving. It’s almost guaranteed that if you travel in South East Asia long enough you are going to get sick, but I’m hoping that long enough is longer than we stay. Gisele has had a little upset, but Imodium took care of it. One of our companions hasn’t been so lucky and has spent some sleepless nights. I’m being very careful, not eating ice, and limiting the raw vegetables.

One of the biggest dangers of Saigon is purse snatchers. They don’t limit themselves to purses either, happy to grab backpacks, phones, whatever is within reach. They roam the streets on motorcycles and as they come upon an unwary pedestrian they reach out and make a grab in passing, and then are gone before you can react. So far we have been lucky, but everyone warns us at least twice a day to watch your stuff. When Gisele was a teenager living here she had a gold necklace grabbed from around her neck. It seems like Saigon is the worst (and reportedly getting worse), and we didn’t hear warnings in the other parts of the country, though I’m sure the threat is real everywhere.

Speaking of motorcycles, the streets are full of them, maybe 50 motorcycles for every car. And crossing the street is something like playing Frogger. You slowly make your way into the stream of traffic while the motorcycles swerve around you, horns blaring. The secret is to not make any sudden moves. They see you from a long way away and as they approach they have already calculated how to pass you, but if you suddenly leap forward or stop you will upset their plans and you could be in danger. Traffic is an apparent chaos, but we have only seen one minor accident since we’ve been here. There are order and rules in the apparent anarchy, and everyone knows who has the right of way in a given situation. The one accident I know about was a motorcycle who obliviously pulled out in front of our bus. We swerved at the last moment, but clipped the bike. We stopped for a minute to make sure the driver was OK, and then proceeded on our way.

I think everyone on the tour agrees that the favorite place was central Vietnam around DaNang and Hue. Weather, scenery, hotels, everything was very nice.

I’ve mentioned before that we see a lot of Europeans, especially in the center of the country but there are also many in Saigon and Hanoi. There is the usual dichotomy; about half are scruffy young people in their 20s with backpacks out for adventure, and the other half are overweight, retired tourists. Probably more than half are from France; the French seem to love Vietnam and because of their earlier occupation there are many French speakers here, more than speak English. I rarely hear tourists speaking English, and when I do it is never with an American accent.

We flew back to Saigon last night and had a last dinner together with all the tour. Today four of us, Gisele, sister Angela, brother DaChuan and I fly to Cambodia to spend 3 days exploring Angkor Wat and surroundings.

When I think of Cambodia I can’t help but think of the movie “The Killing Fields”. An excellent, dramatic movie, if you haven’t seen it. I know things have changed a lot since then, but that’s the image in my mind. Even as my image of Hanoi has changed, I’m sure that will happen with Cambodia too.

Tags: Family Updates

4 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Richard // Mar 3, 2014 at 5:58 pm

    Thanks for the update. Glad it’s you and not me eating the food there. I think I would have a tough time touring the area.

  • 2 Daryl // Mar 3, 2014 at 6:14 pm

    You’d do fine in the Da Nang area. There’s lots of western restaurants serving pizza, hamburgers, spaghetti, steaks etc.

  • 3 Donna // Mar 3, 2014 at 7:17 pm

    Very interesting post, Daryl. I’m with Richard on the food, though. I’d have to stick with those Americanized restaurants.

  • 4 Don // Mar 4, 2014 at 7:35 am

    I’m with you on “The Killing Fields”. That was such a powerful book, and movie. Pol Pot was certainly one of the most evil people of our time.

    On a brighter note I’m salivating at the thought of being able to eat all the great food you’ve been exposed to. I do love me some Asian food.

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