Halong Bay trip

So I made a trip to Halong Bay, a spectacular bay full of limestone formations not too far from Hanoi. This is the most famous natural area of Vietnam, seen on some of the currency and a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site. It was a bit hazy that day, so the photos don't quite show the full spectacle that Hailong bay is, but you'll get the idea.

This is a floating fish farm. There were all kinds of funny creatures on this one.

Some of the houseboats around Halong Bay. Many of the famous "Boat People" who went to Hong Kong in the late 1970s and early 80s to escape communism.

A dock near one of the caves below.

Some people borrowed me a filter to take this picture. Interesting.

One of the tourist boats in the bay.

Boats and the limestone formations.

More boats and more limestone.

A guy fishing.

A Junk, full of tourists, I'm sure.

A cool looking footbridge to a cave.

Karst limestone formations always means lots of caves. Halong is no different. This one was all lit up.

A puppy eating coconut. How cute!

A woman rowing her boat in the bay.

An announcement

It's official! I'm US bound. I fly from Hong Kong to San Francisco on 24 May, 2007 with China Air. The funny thing is that with the time-zone differences, I land in San Francisco an half an hour before I take off from Hong Kong. I'll be in HK for three days.

Other than that, I'm working my tail off here with this intensive English class, which meets for four hours per day (8 am to noon) six days per week, and has at the very least two assignments I have to correct each and every day. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have World Civilization class from 12-3. At 4, I have to take a taxi on Sukhumwit road, leaving before the rush hour traffic gets too terrible. This usually takes about 30 to 45 minutes. After that, I have the evening class for two hours. So, that keeps me going pretty late, and by now, Friday, I feel like I'm running on fumes. But it's going to be good to have some cash when I get to the Bay Area.

Comin' to America!

The Perfume Pagoda

On one of the days I was in Hanoi, I took a day trip to the Perfume Pagoda, a sacred religious site for many Vietnamese people. Being that Tet, the Vietnamese New Year celebration was only a few weeks before, the route to the Pagoda and the Pagoda itself were crammed with people, as it's seen as auspicious to visit the pagoda in the first three months of the New Year. This made the trip particularly interesting. Enjoy the pics!

A Vietnamese grave in a rice paddie near the river. I find it rather interesting that most Vietnamese people are buried in their rice fields - with rice growing all around them. This is much different than most places in Asia, where prime agricultural land is almost never used for burial.

Garbage near the path to the perfume pagoda. Because of this, the walk to the pagoda was unfavorably aromatic in places.

The entrance to one of the other pagodas near the Perfume Pagoda.

Another view near one of the pagodas.

These women were taking pictures of people visiting the pagoda.

A view near the top of the trail to the Perfume Pagoda. I wish I had a polarizing lens, because this could have been a spectacular picture.

The way lazy people make the normally two-hour climb to the Perfume Pagoda.

Ornaments for sale along the trail to the Pagoda for pilgrims to leave and pay their respects to the pagoda.

The climb to the pagoda was an hour and a half to two hours. It was quite difficult, not because it was terribly steep, but because it was difficult to keep one's footing on this uneven rocky path. Interestingly, I saw some women making the climb in high heels!

Another view of the uneven, rocky path to the Pagoda.

Some of the pilgrims, making their way up to the Pagoda.

The Perfume Pagoda was actually inside of a cave. These are some pilgrims paying their respects.

More pilgrims paying their respect to the pagoda in the cave.

More pilgrims paying their respects. Note the Dong (Vietnamese money) in their hands, to use as offering.

This is the Perfume Pagoda itself - it's a natural formation in a cave, seen as sacred by the Vietnamese for this reason.

Yep, that's cat. I ate at this restaurant, but did not have any cat. Wasn't quite ready for that.

The back of my guide's head, on the boat back from the Pagoda.

One of the hundreds of boats on the river to the Pagoda. The trip to the Pagoda required an hour and a half on a boat up the river. It's a beautiful, karst landscape similar to that in Southern Thailand or Northern Lao, so it was a rather pleasant and scenic trip.

Another boat full of local pilgrims.

The woman rowing our boat. Interestingly, most of those rowing, as many as 80% I would estimate, were women.

Some of the hundreds of boats near the Pagoda, ready to make the trip.

The river to the Pagoda. Beautiful area.

A week in Hanoi

So a week ago, I left the land where most of the Vietnam War movies are filmed to the land where the stories they are based on actually took place, Vietnam itself. I had been to Saigon (now officially known as Ho Chi Minh City, but still referred to as Saigon by most of the Vietnamese people,) but that was six years ago and I only stayed there for two days. I had heard that Hanoi was much better, with a more relaxed vibe. I found this to be true, and enjoyed my time there more than I even could have expected. There are lakes everywhere, over 30 in the city (Ha Noi means something like lake city in Vietnamese), the coffee and bread were excellent, and I saw a lot of cool and interesting things.

In the seven days I was there, I took 400 pictures! So, there are lots of images to share, and I'll probably do three or four posts. Hope you enjoy. Hail progress!

Sipping coffee, overlooking Hoa Kian Lake in Hanoi's Old Quarter. Vietnam has good coffee, and is the world's number two coffee producer (after only Brazil.)

Ah, globalization! Vietnamese language is interesting. At first, they used Chinese characters as writing. But in the 1600's, a French missionary came to Vietnam and introduced the Latin Alphabet. It helps, because you can read the street signs, but the rest seem almost incomprehensible to those uninitiated in the language.

Hanoi traffic. I would estimate that 85-90% (if not more) of traffic in Vietnam is motorcycles. This creates a style of crossing the street that is peculiar to Vietnam (as far as I know.) Since the flow of motorcycles on the streets rarely abates, one must step out of the street, and walk slowly and steadily across as the motorcycles weave around you. It's more than a little unnerving at first, but you get used to it.
Interestingly enough, I saw ads for Ford, Mercedes, Honda, and lots of other car companies, and lots of factories. I spoke to some Vietnamese people who were working on very large projects, such as hydroelectric plants and other factories. One can't help but think that Vietnam is on the verge of becoming the next "Asian Tiger" economy. This could create an interesting situation with traffic, when a large percentage of these motorcycles will likely be replaced with cars purchases as a status symbol by people with new wealth. I don't want to be in Hanoi's traffic ten years from now!

The symbol of Hanoi, the pagoda in Hoa Kiem Lake, lit up at night.

I stayed in a hotel in this little alley.

A temple on an island in one of the lakes.

Two young girls in traditional Vietnamese dress. So beautiful!

This is Tyler, a guy from Canada I hung out with a fair bit in Hanoi, buying oranges from a woman on a bicycle.

The central shrine in a Confucian temple. Vietnam is a sinicized, or heavily influenced by China, culture, as opposed to Thailand, Lao, and Cambodia, which are Indicized. However, the culture of Vietnam is quite distinct from Chinese culture, much as Thailand's is quite distinct from India's.

The bridge to the lake temple above.

This is a water puppet show, a wonderful form of theater unique to Vietnam. It was developed on the rice paddies hundreds of years ago, and continues to be popular today. If you ever go to Hanoi, DO NOT miss the water puppet show.

Some of the wonderful French bread in Hanoi. Colonial influence at its finest. The bread here was even better than it was in Lao, although the coffee in Lao was better, in my opinion.

I bought Mangoes from this woman.

I am not sure what this woman was carrying. The Vietnamese pe0ple often say that their country is shaped like one of these yokes used to carry rice, fruit and lots of other things.

I bought gum from this girl.

This woman is playing a Dan Bau, which is a single-stringed musical instrument unique to Vietnam, with a lever on the end used to modify the pitch. It has a beautiful, soothing sound, and I bought a cd of Dan Bau music. They say that in times of yore, young women were not allowed to listen to any men playing the Dan Bau, because their parents were worried that they'd fall in love with the Dan Bau player.

The pagoda in Hoa Kiem lake seen above, but only in the day time. It rained almost every day in Hanoi, and the weather was much cooler than here in BKK. The morning I left, I believe it was even less than 20 Celsius! (68 Fahrenheit).

A cool looking building in Hanoi's old quarter.