Vietnam from north to south

Hi again,
As I promised I would try to tell you about Vietnam also. I always try to keep it short, which never happens, so probably this one is also to long. Just accept it and get through it. Take a break and a coffee if you need it.
I arrived in Hanoi with my parents. At the airport my younger brother and his partner, Stanley, were waiting for us. Together we took the taxi to our hotel where my other brother and Carolina, his wife, were already waiting for us. (Yes, we decided to have a family meeting in Vietnam for Christmas, as everybody is living all spread over the world.) It was years ago since we had been together all of us (that time in California).
The hotelrooms were very luxury, even with digital tv to watch movies and music and all that stuff. We stayed 3 nights in this hotel so I could watch one of the Hobbit movies, watching one hour every evening (it’s a very long movies to watch in one night).
Hanoi is a very big city with a lot of Chinese influence. The temples resemble Chinese temples and the country is also communistic, although I found out that it’s not so restricted as in other countries. The most special thing to see in Hanoi is the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, the man who unified Vietnam after is being possessed by the Chinese, French and Americans for many years. Standing in line to walk along his glass tomb in a big white rectangular building, guarded by thousands of soldiers dressed in while, not being allowed to stand still inside the building, nor taking pictures inside or right outside the building, did feel very communistic though.
Walking through the streets full of small shops selling whatever you can imagine, old and now was funny. Walking through the fresh markets selling whatever kind of dead and living animals you can think of, was too much for me, especially seeing the frogs and turtles and dogs laying there.
Crossing the streets in Hanoi is only for the brave. Scooters never stop for traffic lights or pedestrians, cars might stop for red traffic lights. So just cross the streets and behave very convinced making clear that the vehicles have to stop is the right way to do is.
Apart from this, most Vietnamese people are very friendly, always smile and especially the younger people speak good English, (compared to people in Thailand and Laos at least).
After a few days in Hanoi, we went to Halong Bay, another world heritage site. The whole bay is full of steep rocks in funny shapes, some of them with caves where small or big boats can go through. We rented a private boat for our whole family and the boat was huge and even had a white Christmas tree, making all of us but especially Roel very happy. The afternoon was very sunny so had a relaxed start sitting on the top deck, feeling as some millionaires. The top was about 10m above the water, but the water was deep enough, so we allowed to jump from the top. Whoahh, 10meter is high when you stand on the edge of the ship, but we (Stef and I) did it. The adrenaline was enough to make us swim to one of the rocks, but that appeared not to be allowed. The shore was full of sharp shells and stones. Luckily we were warned just in time, some we only had some minor scratches. Later that day we got into some kajaks to go around and through some caves to see to shore from close but on a safer way.
That evening after a nice diner, we celebrated Christmas Eve. It was a very special, beautiful, emotional and unforgettable evening for all of us. Details about this will come after I’m back home in august.
Next day started with a lot of rain and that actually didn’t really stop for the whole day. We spent most of the day inside the boat, only leaving to watch and walk along a floating fish farm and walking through a small village on the biggest island in the Halong Bay. In the evening we played a nice game called backpackers, a present I got for Christmas. Especially Carolina (Argentinean) and Stanley (Cambodian/American) gave an extra challenging dimension to the game.
Next morning Roel and Stanley had to leave to catch the flight back to California. The rest of us enjoyed another day on the boat and around halong bay before going back to Hanoi. The driver who brought us back to Hanoi was the worst one I’ve ever seen, speeding and braking continuously, honking to all the other traffic that didn’t let him trough. Nevertheless we survived and got back to the same hotel. Next day I went with Stef and my father to a temple complex 2 hours out of Hanoi. The scenery was nice and the walk up to the temple was long and lonely. The latter because the whole way was along stands, meant for souvenir shops that were closed now because of low season.
Getting back to Hanoi we had to hurry to the train station to catch the night train to Hue. Luckily we had sleeping seats so we trip was not too bad. Nevertheless, arriving in Hue only Stef and me had the energy to do some sightseeing. We rented a scooter, took not the shortest way to the first imperial tomb, but therefore had a nice sightseeing. Hue is full of big imperial tombs, looking more like temple complexes. Some inspired by the Chinese imperial tombs, others more like the French ones.
Next day we went into the imperial palace, which is well preserved since the 18th century when it was built by the emperors. Again the influence from the Chinese was quite clear, with even a forbidden part in the middle of the whole enclosed city. We spent almost all day walking around, just finishing in time to have late lunch and a taxi to Hoi An, 3 hours on a very bad road south of Hue. Again we arrived in a very nice hotel with swimming pool, very friendly people and a free breakfast included. This one had even a breakfast buffet, which especially my father did abuse incredible. The swimming pool kept unused, like the one in Hue, because of chilly weather and lack of time to get in.
Hoi An, like Luang Prabang, had a cute tiny, well preserved, touristic and crowded UNESCO world heritage city centre. During the day we visited some traditional wooden houses where the family that lived there mainly tried to sell handicrafts to everyone. In the evening the nicest place is in a restaurant or bar next to the river that runs right through the city.
Hoi An was also the place where I had to say goodbye to my family, as they went from there to Cambodja on December 31th. After 2 weeks in luxury hotels I changed to a real backpackers hostel, though again with a swimming pool that I didn’t use because I didn’t have time. In the hostel I met some other tourists with whom I planned to spend new year’s eve together. Somewhere during the evening we got spread out and I ended up at a podium with especially Vietnamese people. After some dance and singing performances we had the big countdown and after that everybody was invited to dance on the podium. The Vietnamese people were able to let many people dance together, although most didn’t know each other. Such a nice way to start the new year.
I spent another day in Hanoi, joining a motorbike tour through the villages and areas around Hoi An on a very old motorbike. Changing gears was a big challenge and driving through the muddy unpaved roads made sure all of us got dirty. One of the group (not me) even ended up in a rice paddy beside the road because an oncoming truck didn’t go aside.
Next day I flew to Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon (it’s still unclear to me which is the most politically correct name). Although again a big chaotic city, traffic looked less uncontrolled than in Hanoi to me. I found a nice and cheap restaurant in front of the guesthouse where I was staying, so I went many times to have breakfast and dinner there. In the end the waitresses started to recognize and chat with me.
I booked some tours to see the Mekong delta close to HCMC and also the tunnels dug out by the Vietcong during the invasion by the USA. I booked both with the same company and also my busticket to Cambodia, so I could get a nice discount.
The Mekongdelta trip was very touristic (again), of course an area full of water and tropical plants but not so many Vietnamese people selling rice and crops, as I expected, but I met some nice people from Kuala Lumpur which I’m going to visit next week. The visit to the tunnels was also made touristic and with some entertainment, but still impressive so see the creativity of the Vietcong, the braveness of both men and women and the small tunnels where they had to hide. The only thing I didn’t like was the shooting attraction at the end of the tour where visitors could shoot with the guns the US people used to kill the Vietnamese. This seems a strange combination to me.
After getting back to HCMC from this tunnel visit, I had to take the bus to Cambodja at 16.00h. We were supposed to be back before 15.30h but only arrived at 14.45. I arrived at the travel agency at 15.55 to get my luggage and they said I had to hurry as the bus was waiting already. (To my surprise because buses are always later than planned). I got my luggage but it appeared that the bus had gone already, so even before 16.00h. I forced the agency to get me to the bus or let the bus come back because it left to early. They didn’t but finally offered me the alternative to get the night bus, leaving around midnight. I agreed and then they said I had to pay 50% of the price because I arrived to late. It took me more than 20 minutes to convince them that it was the bus that left too early and that their company brought me back to late from the tunnels that afternoon. Eventually they agreed. So I had another 8 hours to enjoy myself. After walking around for 2 hours I decided to head back to my private restaurant and stayed there until I had to catch the bus. Fortunately it was a night bus, so at least I could get some rest before arriving in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
So far about Vietnam. Next time I’ll tell you about Cambodia and the diving adventures in Thailand.