Vietnam: "I look out the window of the car taking me into Hanoi, see lush, green rice paddies, water buffalo, the women in their peaked hats bent at the hip, standing in calf-deep water....an hour in town, and already I'm tipsy, elated, goofily high and wanting to do everything at once." Anthony Bourdain
Vietnam like all of South East Asia is uniquely different and has a feel all its own. A beautiful country that we highly recommend taking the time to stop off in Hanoi on your way to other destinations in South East Asia. It's a trip you will never regret with a culture and feel all its own.
Journal: Vietnam was wonderful and it actually caused us a little more culture shock than expected. We both assumed that the city would be a bit more like Bangkok but it ended up resembling a large undeveloped city in India, especially in the Old Quarter – where we stayed. The people of Vietnam were very kind and everyone we met was very friendly towards foreigners – even the beggars would leave you alone after one simple “No, thank you”. The first few days we walked around Hanoi and got to know the city. Later into the trip we took a small boat trip out into the jungles and hills of rural Vietnam. We visited a place called the “Perfume Pagoda”. The pagoda was about 3 hours from Hanoi. We first took a bus for 2 hours; followed by a 1 hour boat trip, rowed by a little old Vietnamese women; followed by a 2 hour hike into the hills. The “pagoda” we were expecting turned out to be a huge cave down inside a mountain that now contains various religious statues and has a constant stream of incense smoke billowing out of it. The pagoda was beautiful and the trip was more than worth it.
A few days later we took another trip out to an UNESCO World Heritage Site called Halong Bay. This was amazing and the pictures don’t even come close to doing it justice. Halong Bay consists of over 3000 small islands scattered out into the bay but rising hundreds of feet out of the sea. Tradition says a dragon ran down from the hills and as his tail swung from side to side he managed to cut these islands out of solid rock. Our little excursion cost $15 US per person and covered our 3 hour ride to the bay, a private boat trip around the islands, including a cook and lunch, tours of some of the caves on the islands, then a comfortable ride back into Hanoi. All in all this was one of the most beautiful places we have ever been. P.S. – For those of you who are Dog lovers beware of the “Dog Market” photo. It may be a bit disturbing.
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- Photos of Vietnam