Vietnam: August 7th-8th Hanoi - various snaps

Thap Rua (Tortoise Tower) in Hoan Kiem Lake
Many buildings have these long passages between them going back some distance. In the past, people built so-called 'tunnel houses' that were narrow but went back a long way, since taxes were levied according to how much street space the building occupied.


Propaganda posters around the city
This is a sight seen all over Hanoi, and I can only guess it's some form of advertising with a phone number.
Sign inside Cafe Moca near St Joseph Cathedral
Some very narrow buildings in the Old Quarter
Early evening at Hoan Kiem Lake

Vietnam: August 7th-8th Hanoi

On arriving back in Hanoi in the early evening, it was time for a different hotel, this time the Gold Spring, a nice newly refurbished place, well-situated in the Old Quarter, though a bit too close to a busy main road, but it was streaks ahead of the previous place. For dinner it was off to Old Hanoi again where I had spicy beef and papaya salad and steamed red fin fish with vegetables, both really good as I had now got used to.

The next day was the last day of the holiday, with a night flight back to Tokyo, so I spent the last few hours doing some souvenir shopping, soaking in the atmosphere of the Old Quarter and dipping into cafes to cool down from time to time.

Before dinner in the vegetarian Tamarind Cafe, I had a look at an old restored Vietnamese house on Ma May, which was free to look around.

Vietnam: August 6th-7th Halong Bay

Can't say I was unhappy to check out of the Thien Thuy hotel this morning, especially since the next stage of the holiday was a trip to Halong Bay, a place of amazing beauty. The minibus arrived almost on time and we set off on the three hour trip to Halong from Hanoi. The others in the group for the tour were from Spain, Germany, New Zealand and the UK. We had a chatty good-humoured guide for the tour named Tho.

To leave Hanoi we had to cross the Red River, which really was a deep brick red colour, due to the silt in the water. After that we were to pass through the countryside, where the main road was lined with rice paddies and banana plantations, and later passing through Hai Duong and Haiphong. We reached Halong port at just before one, and then we were taken on board our boat and everyone checked into their room before (a voluminous) lunch was served.

One of the many boats in the bay (not the one I was on though)

The bay contains over 1500 small limestone islands rising sharply out of the sea, covered in trees and ringing with cacophony of cicadas and birdsong. In 1994, it was designated a World Heritage site.

A fishing village on the sea.

In the middle of the afternoon, the boat bumped and jostled for almost half an hour among the other tour boats as we pulled in to an island to see the Huang Dao Go (the Cave of Marvels), a huge cave complex of three chamber quite tastefully illuminated.

Near the exit of the caves, a local from the fishing village rows past in a boat laden with Pringles and chocolate!

After the caves we sailed on a bit and moored at the fishing village. As well as fishing and selling junk food to tourists, the village's other source of income is renting out sea kayaks. Our group were paired off and we paddled around the bay and through a kind of tunnel-like cave into a grotto in an island, which was fairly peaceful. The kayaking was a lot of fun though also quite strenuous, so the hour or hour and a half we had was probably just about the right amount of time. We got back on our boat at about six, and had barely got changed before the heavens opened. The storm from Hue had worked its way up the coast, and we had a couple of hours of heavy rain and thunder to accompany dinner.

The next morning we spent more time cruising around the bay some more before returning to port for lunch and then the three hour trip back to Hanoi.

Vietnam: August 5th Hanoi - various snaps

A more traditional way of getting around in Vietnam is the cyclo, though few Vietnamese people use them nowadays and they are there mainly for holiday makers, much like rickshaws elsewhere in Asia.
Propaganda poster urging people to vote (by the looks of things).
Market stalls early evening.

Vietnam: August 5th Hanoi

Got the late morning flight from a damp Hue back to a hot and sunny Hanoi, took a taxi into town to the Hotel Thuy Thien in teh Old Quarter. This was taken as a cheap option just a one night stay, but to be honest it wasn't a great choice. At first glance the room was fine, but gradually, the smell of drains began to permeate the room from the bathroom, and by the evening it was pretty strong. However, there were no other rooms available, so it was a matter of grin and bear it for one night.

Of course, for most of the daytime and evening time I was out exploring the city some more. I enjoyed mooching around the Old Poster shop with the colourful propaganda messages urging greater productivity on farms and other such socialist messages as well as some older posters of the war era. After shopping it was back to the hotel to freshen up a bit, though I ended up getting stuck in the lift for 15 minutes or so, which wasn't fun.

In the evening, it was off to a restauarant-bar called '69', which is in restored old Vietnamese house on Ma May in the Old Quarter. The decor was great and the food was delicious. I had seafood spring rolls followed by a dish called Hanoi Cha Ca, which was fish boiled in a soup over a charcoal burner with spring onions and dill, served with rice noodles and peanuts. Really nice. The only problem with '69', though, was that the service was painfully slow, mainly due to the fact that they were understaffed, and it was clearly too much for one waitress, who after forgetting a few orders, decided to have a sit down on the floor in the centre of the restaurant while the other two ran around frantically.

Vietnam: August 4th Hue

It was raining slightly but not too heavily, so instead of taking a river trip, I thought it a better bet to stay inside the city limits. Also, I wasn't going to cycle in the rain given the state of the bikes offered for rent yesterday, so after breakfast it was out over the Perfumed River on foot towards Dong Ba Market.

The Perfumed River with Dong Ba Market visible on the far bank.

A toddler out walking in the rain.

The market had everything for sale from food, to clothing and souvenirs and it was interesting looking around even if there wasn't anything in particular I wanted. The novelty wore off after a while though and it was time to head back to the hotel, especially since the rain had almost stopped at the point. I'd got about a third of the way across the bridge when the heavens opened and there was a torrential downpour. I had only gone a further hundred metres or so when it became apparent that the light raincoat I was wearing was showerproof at best, and I was getting well and truly drenched.

The rain seemed to get even heavier as I continued on my way back to the hotel, and the streets had turned to rivers. In fact, in the space of a few minutes they were pretty much flooded ~ not due to the river bursting its banks or anything, but because the rain was coming down faster than the drains could carry it away. There was no option but to wade through the streets really ~ there were cafes and restaurants open, but I was so wet at this point there was no benefit to gain from stopping. Eventually I arrived back at the hotel, utterly drenched, which amused the receptionist no end. I peeled off my sodden clothes and warmed up with a shower and then loafed about in the hotel for a few hours waiting for the rain to stop.

A street vendor crossing the bridge in the rain.

The streets start to flood.

A very wet me.

The view from the hotel window in the middle of the storm.

The rain stopped at about 5 o'clock, and by 7 or so the flooding had subsided, and it was possible to venture out into the sodden city. Tonight the restaurant of choice was La Carambole, a superb Vietnamese-French restaurant with lots of tasty options on the menu. I had crab soup, pork with sesame and stir-fried vegetables with tofu.