Misty Sapa; Buffalos and Cowboys

 I journeyed by 6 hour bus from Hanoi to Sapa, a mountain town in NW Vietnam known for trekking and having the highest mountain in SE Asia.  During my time in Sapa, it was alternately misty, rainy, cloudy, murky, overcast, drizzly and foggy. This picture mostly sums it up-

I did a trek to a couple of villages where you got an occasional view of the famous terraced rice fields- 

And saw Vietnam’s version of the Golden Gate Bridge 

I also took the worlds longest cable car to the top of Mt Fanispan, the highest mountain in Indochina, where the views were mostly nonexistent- (it was closed to hiking due to weather)- 

I did read somewhere that the views would have been a real wow if the weather had cooperated -

The Vietnamese take no interpretation risks  

I did see some ersatz cowboys at the base- 

Maybe they were trying to round this lazy water buffalo up- 

He seemed somewhat unroundable tho   Onto the renowned Ha Giang loop and hopefully better weather  

Hanoi- Chaos, Coffee, Puppets and Train Street

 Hanoi is a very lively and fun city chock full of scooters and tourists. It is, in my opinion, a city that is enjoyed more for its sensory experiences and frenetic atmosphere than for its marquee sites.  But it does have a pretty lake in the middle of the city-

It is known for its millions of scooters (7 million) and chaotic traffic.  You feel as if you are taking your life in your hands as you walk about the streets, dodging by inches all sorts of vehicles- 

To cross any street you just have to take the plunge and assume that all the scooters and other vehicles roaring right at you will not run you over.  Sidewalks are reserved for scooter parking so out in the street you go…

The city is  crazy about coffee with salt, coconut, egg and a myriad of other delicious coffees on offer, with coffee shops, as well as little beer cafes, everywhere- 

There are all sorts of shops with many featuring famous outdoor brands like Patagonia, The North Face, and Gortex  In fact, you have to think about half their sales come from Hanoi alone given the surfeit of shops selling the stuff, tho all this premium gear seems strangely deeply discounted 

This store reminded of the old saying about the Holy Roman Empire (neither holy nor Roman nor an empire)-

With the gear being neither original nor made in Vietnam  nor sold in an authentic factory outlet   Regardless, you bargain for everything and it was fun watching a canny Viet shop owner haggle with some penniless backpackers with no sincerity on either side  

Hanoi is famous for its water puppet theatre-

It also has a steer called Train Steel where tourists- like myself- go by the hundreds to sit in a cafe just a foot or so from the train tracks and await the next train in a bizarre carnival like atmosphere- 

It was zany- you squeezed yourself against the cafe wall and could literally touch the train as it chugged past.  

Two minutes later, the street was empty as everyone disdained the exorbitantly priced $2 beer of Train Street and headed around the corner for the regular $1 beer  

Strange as it seems to one who grew up during the Vietnam War (naturally called the American war here), Hanoi is a very lively, friendly and fun place, with my kind of spa-  

Halong Bay; Aussies and Money in Vietnam

 The currency situation declines as I progress thru SE Asia with $1 USD equaling-

Hong Kong $$-  7.8 

Thai Baht- 30 

Cambodia Rial-  4000

Vietnam Dong- 26,000

I have employed a Cray supercomputer service to assist with the conversions. 

I took my 2,day/night cruise of Halong Bay off the coast of north Vietnam.  Halong Bay is Vietnam’s premier tourist attraction and a cruise through the almost 2000, frequently sheer, karst islands is its most expensive tourist activity. Tho similar to Ninh Binh, Halong Bay feels different and is I think more stunning- 

One of the best parts of my cruise were 2 Aussie couples I met up and spent much time with (one from Sydney area and one from Melbourne).  They were considerate, fun and had great senses of humor-

One of them appeared to shop at a store with which I am vaguely familiar-

The cruise offered a variety of activities, including kayaking, squid fishing and a class on how to make the dreaded Vietnamese spring rolls (pro made this debacle waiting to happen look easy)- 

Given my history with fishing (where I have pretty much never caught anything), it was no surprise that neither I nor anyone else caught any squid that night (I hexing everyone else’s chances)  

Everywhere I have been in Vietnam Vietnamese/communist flags have been ubiquitous and yet I doubt I have ever been in a more market/capitalist place (sometimes it seems like everyone is trying to sell you something)  Asked something about this, one of our guides said there is a famous saying in Vietnam- 

“Money can’t buy you everything in Vietnam.  But a LOT of money can buy you anything “  

Well,  I do have a weakness for trinkets and baubles and such and this one attracted my eye- 

A few last photos of Halong Bag and then onto the bright lights of the big city and the capital of Vietnam, Hanoi. 

Ninh Binh- Hanoi Descends, Conical Hats and Goat Meat

The 5 hour bus ride north from Phong Mha to Ninh Binh on a VIP sleeper bus was actually pretty comfortable. 

Interesting that they make you take off your shoes before boarding the bus. The buses tend to be quite clean tho 

Ninh Binh is an off the beaten path scenic spot about 1.5 hours south of Hanoi.  Except that …all of Hanoi seems to know about it and most decided to descend upon it this weekend for the famous boat ride through the karst limestone mountains- 

It is a pity that so few here seem to wear the traditional conical hats- 

But where does one get one nowadays?  They seemed in short supply-

The boat ride- paddled by older Vietnamese women-was quite scenic, meandering along the river through caves and by the surrounding limestone mountains- 

And passed temples and caves-

There were Westerners sprinkled amidst the literally thousands of Vietnamese but maybe 1 in 100. 

I had rented a bike for the day and used it to bike amongst the mountains and then over to a small mountain famous for its 500 steps and spectacular sunset views. You can judge the latter-

IAs sometimes happens in my trips, I stumbled upon a local wedding (on a beach)-

The local specialty is apparently goat meat so I ordered a plate of it for dinner. That, however, turned out to be a complete fiasco. 

 First. they aren’t big on knives in Indochina - no 2nd Amendment apparently- so I was flummoxed as to how to cut it up.  The waiter, seeing me struggling- came over with a pair of scissors and then showed me how to eat this goat delicacy. Not good when you need instructions on how to eat tho this has happened to me before here. 

Well I used the scissors but ended up shooting half the goat meat across the room so someone else got it  

As with other dishes, you are supposed to put the cut up goat meat, rice and lettuce, etc on rice paper, roll it all up and then dip it in sauce. Great in theory, assuming one is facile with chopsticks. but in reality what happens is that the roll falls apart, the ingredients fall out and the juices get all over your hands and next to nothing ends up in your mouth. 

To add insult to injury, the supposed delicacy was tough as hell and it took me hours to chew up a couple of pieces.  Finally i gave up and just ate the rice. 

It is really bad when the highlight of your dinner is a bowl of plain white rice, but maybe it is an authentic Vietnamese. experience.