Sunday, November 23, 2008
Arrival in Nam
Jim and I arrived in Hanoi’s Noi Bai airport on Wednesday November 19, after more than 24 hours in transit from Sydney via Singapore. Grumpy and sleep deprived, I had little patience for the queue-cutting antics of a 10-person Korean-speaking tour group and sent them packing to the back of the queue with some very insistent gesturing.
Getting from the airport to the Hanoi Backpackers Hostel was a little more challenging than we’d expected. By the time we reached our hostel from the airport shuttle’s drop-off point, we were sick and tired of being accosted by overeager ‘students’ and an endless stream of motorbike traffic.
Vietnam’s second-largest city, Hanoi is home to some 3.5 million people and is supported by industrial production, trade, tourism and financial industries. In the tourist-centric Old Quarter, sidewalks are lined with vendors so aggressively hawking food, clothing and the like that pedestrians are forced to compete with vehicular traffic on the road.
But crossing and walking on roads in Hanoi is not for the weak of heart. The Western code of traffic lights and lanes seems to have little relevance to the anarchic flow of local motorists, cyclists and pedestrians, and sometimes, it’s all one can do simply to walk steadily forward and hope for the best.
The cacophony of beeping and yelling usually is joined by blaring music and what I assume to be nationalistic propaganda from speaker towers on almost every street corner. I am told that once, on a national holiday, the speakers instructed local touts to support their fellow Vietnamese and save price gouging for tourists.
On our second day in Hanoi, we treated our travel-strained bodies with an exfoliating massage for Jim and a facial and manicure for me at the Spring Fragrance Spa. But no amount of pampering could alleviate the stress of road-crossings, and by the third morning, we were glad for a break from the city via an overnight cruise on Halong Bay.
Halong Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located about 170 kilometres East of Hanoi. Its name translates to ‘Descending Dragon’, which originates from the myth that the area was formed from a mother dragon that was sent by the gods to fend off Chinese invaders.
The bay features almost 2000 limestone islands and is shrouded in a perpetual fog, providing a dramatic backdrop for local fishing settlements and hundreds of tourists cruising the region.
We booked a double cabin on a junk called ‘The Pinta’ through its operator, Columbus Cruise, in Hanoi. While US$97 apiece seemed a hefty fee to pay for our tiny cabin with dysfunctional shutters and a rarely-warm shower, I was much impressed by the professionalism of staff and the incredible eight-course meals that were included in the tour.
And the scenery was amazing. Grey-blue skies melded into grey-blue seas with shadows of islands extending to the horizon. While the tour included activities such as caving and kayaking, some of my best moments in Halong Bay were spent simply gazing off the edge of the Pinta’s sundeck.
Our Halong Bay tour concluded on Saturday. So too, I suspect, did the quiet part of our trip. As we returned to the hostel, we were greeted by the jetlagged -- and drinking -- Max and Viren. And happy hour was only 15 minutes away…
Getting from the airport to the Hanoi Backpackers Hostel was a little more challenging than we’d expected. By the time we reached our hostel from the airport shuttle’s drop-off point, we were sick and tired of being accosted by overeager ‘students’ and an endless stream of motorbike traffic.
Vietnam’s second-largest city, Hanoi is home to some 3.5 million people and is supported by industrial production, trade, tourism and financial industries. In the tourist-centric Old Quarter, sidewalks are lined with vendors so aggressively hawking food, clothing and the like that pedestrians are forced to compete with vehicular traffic on the road.
But crossing and walking on roads in Hanoi is not for the weak of heart. The Western code of traffic lights and lanes seems to have little relevance to the anarchic flow of local motorists, cyclists and pedestrians, and sometimes, it’s all one can do simply to walk steadily forward and hope for the best.
The cacophony of beeping and yelling usually is joined by blaring music and what I assume to be nationalistic propaganda from speaker towers on almost every street corner. I am told that once, on a national holiday, the speakers instructed local touts to support their fellow Vietnamese and save price gouging for tourists.
On our second day in Hanoi, we treated our travel-strained bodies with an exfoliating massage for Jim and a facial and manicure for me at the Spring Fragrance Spa. But no amount of pampering could alleviate the stress of road-crossings, and by the third morning, we were glad for a break from the city via an overnight cruise on Halong Bay.
Halong Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located about 170 kilometres East of Hanoi. Its name translates to ‘Descending Dragon’, which originates from the myth that the area was formed from a mother dragon that was sent by the gods to fend off Chinese invaders.
The bay features almost 2000 limestone islands and is shrouded in a perpetual fog, providing a dramatic backdrop for local fishing settlements and hundreds of tourists cruising the region.
We booked a double cabin on a junk called ‘The Pinta’ through its operator, Columbus Cruise, in Hanoi. While US$97 apiece seemed a hefty fee to pay for our tiny cabin with dysfunctional shutters and a rarely-warm shower, I was much impressed by the professionalism of staff and the incredible eight-course meals that were included in the tour.
And the scenery was amazing. Grey-blue skies melded into grey-blue seas with shadows of islands extending to the horizon. While the tour included activities such as caving and kayaking, some of my best moments in Halong Bay were spent simply gazing off the edge of the Pinta’s sundeck.
Our Halong Bay tour concluded on Saturday. So too, I suspect, did the quiet part of our trip. As we returned to the hostel, we were greeted by the jetlagged -- and drinking -- Max and Viren. And happy hour was only 15 minutes away…
Labels: Vietnam
# posted by liz : 4:39 PM
