Hanoi and Halong Bay

Old Quarter

Not sure this is up to standards...

Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam and the largest city in the Northern part of the country. I was excited to compare this city to Saigon. First impression....they are both incredibly humid, hot and have lots of motorcycles! But that's where the similarities ended. Saigon has more of a Western feel, people in the South seem very excited about Western culture. Hanoi feels more like Vietnam; perhaps that's because I stayed in the Old Quarter. The Old Quarter is a jumble of streets, people, shops, smells, food, motorbikes and the infamous Bia Hoi (cheap, and I mean cheap draft beer). It's a place where tourists seem to mix in with the everyday life of Hanoi natives. It was a lot of fun wandering the streets, trying some absolutely amazing street food and on my birthday, finally sitting down with the masses to enjoy some Bia Hoi (did I mention it was cheap), 4000 dong (approx 25 cents) a pint. Hanoi also has some other great sights that I discovered.

The Old Quarter

Hanoi.

 I enjoyed the Hao Lo Prison museum, housed in the old prison that was built during the French Colonial period, but became famous as "Hanoi Hilton", the prison for POWs during the Vietnam War. The exhibits mostly concentrated on the use of the prison during the French occupation, but a small part talked about its use during the Vietnam War and one of its most famous inhabitants, Senator John McCain.

Another highlight was visiting the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. The great leader of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh is entombed here. Similar to his Communist predecessors (Lenin, Stalin, Mao), he is embalmed in a glass sarcophagus and on display to his many admirers. It was an interesting experience to visit. First, we had to go through a security check, then we had to check our phones and cameras before being lead single file into the mausoleum. The crowd slowly worked its way around the square room with "Uncle Ho" (as he is affectionately called), in the middle surrounded by guards. It was eerily quiet as we moved through the room taking in the moment. I've heard there are rumours that the body in the glass sarcophagus isn't real and that he's actually kept somewhere else or that it's a wax figure....but he looked pretty real to me! In the same area is the stilt house that he lived in during the Vietnam War and a very interesting museum all about his life. He grew up poor in the countryside, moved to France for an education and was there exposed to Communism. He progressed through the French Communist party and eventually started his own to liberate Vietnam from French rule. There were a ton of pictures, documents and stories about his life. It definitely helped me better understand this important figure for Vietnam.

The Mausoleum

The Man himself...

I thought one of my highlights to Vietnam would be my trip to Halong Bay, a world heritage site of over 3000 islands rising up from the ocean. Unfortunately, that wasn't so. Don't get my wrong...I think Halong Bay is quite beautiful, but it is soooo touristy! Also, very unfortunately, my overnight trip turned into a day trip as we had to leave due to the weather. We were only able to cruise close to land, kayak for about 30 minutes and see a beautiful cave before calling it a day. On a positive note, I met a wonderful group of people including a lovely Aussie newlywed couple who treated me for dinner and drinks out on my birthday.

Beautiful Islands of Halong Bay

Famous kissing stones of Halong Bay

Cave (with just awesome lighting...well, not really)

More cave pictures!

Vietnam, it's been a slice. I missed your beautiful highlands, so perhaps I will be back some day.

I'm now in paradise! I joined my friend Tyson, and new friend Laura on a posh resort on the west coast of Thailand....talk about paradise! There's just something about drinking beers on a stunning beach with thousands of stars in the sky that makes me smile :)

My next adventure takes me diving to the Simian Islands off Thailand. I can't wait!!!