Days 6,7,8 Hoi An

Hoi An is a lovely historical town in central Vietnam, just 40 minutes from Da Nang. We heard that during the war, Americans were told not to bomb the city, so many of the old shops remain intact. The city was a trade center between Vietnam, China, and Japan and remains a shopping mecca. 

It is also a food mecca and, although the town sits on a river, it is a few miles from a sandy ocean beach.

Hoi An also has an enormous market complex where fresh vegetables, meats, fabric, and so on are sold. There is also an extensive "food court" in the market.

Our hotel is lovely...apparently it is standard to strew bathroom and bedding with flowers and flower petals...we also have five fresh flower arrangements in our room.

We meet Missy -- our friend from the Halong Bay cruise for dinner at Miss Ly's restaurant. One of the owners, Nathan, was enchanted by Barbara due to her Alaska connections, and got us in without a reservations - turning away many others.

Day 5: night train

We thought we had booked the private tourist "Livitrain," a car that hooks onto the Vietnamese Railway Train. Even though more expensive than flying, it seemed like a good way to see the scenery during the daylight portion.

Our hotel, which kindly booked the train for us, clearly misunderstood our request, and put us on the Vietnamese Railays "soft bed" train -- probably luxe by Vietnamese standards but a little scary for us greenhorns.

We had a four-person berth. We shared the entire trip with a lovely Vietnamese woman in her twenties who acted as our translator and guardian angel. 

She made certain our berth was locked against marauding freeloaders and vendors (we think, who knows really) and possibly thieves. Through the night, various people got on and off the one empty berth in our coach. 

The bathrooms were dirty and fundamental and ran out of toilet paper early in the evening. 

In the morning, a vendor came around with bags of hard-boiled eggs...fertiilized duck eggs and chicken eggs. I chose the duck egg (photo below) but was not able to finish when I bit on a hard piece...what was it?

I was, though, able to rest from the lingering effects of the stomache virus...12 hours prone is exactly what the doctor ordered. 

The scenary between Hue and Danang was remarkable. Many miles of unfettered coastline below us...the land smothered in kudzu vines above it. 

It was not the worst travel experience of my life, for certain, although at triple the price of an airplane, not to be repeated.

We got a car beteen Danange and Hoi An.. Hoi An, a little gem.

Day 4: Halong Bay; Long Duc Village Stay

Sadly, I was struck by a stomach virus this morning, so missed the side trip to the floating village and pearl farm. Please ask Barbara for details and photos.

Fortunately, I was able to watch the stunning scenery  as I rested. Never has illness been so scenic!

Our next stop was Long Duc Village - I had booked this "extension" on the Halong Bay Cruise without fully understanding what it was. All of our fellow passengers were going back to Hanoi and we were very nervous about sleeping in a rice hut that night -- particularly since I wasn't feeling well. 

Happily we did not sleep on mats that night but were instead treated to an intensive 24-hour introduction to Vietnamese farm life, complete with deluxe accommodations and amazing meals.

We were the only guests at the farm. Thuy, our 28-year old guide was charming, and welcomed us with Vietnamese herbal tea ... a restorative blend which contained licorice and many other herbs I did not recognize.

We then did a three-hour tour of the village including a visit to Mr. The, a 78-year old who also served us herb tea and showed us his family tree and shrine. The highlight of this was a photo of his brother with Ho Chi Minh. His brother, now deceased, had served as body guard for "Uncle Ho."

The experience introduced us to Vietnamese Buddhism which is very complex and involves keeping keeping track of the ancestors with a full-wall family tree that records five generations of Mr. The's family.

On our walk through the village we discussed the plants that were growing...betel nut, betel leaf. Apparently the combination kept the villagers warm in the damp Hanoi winters when warm clothing was rare. We had quite a discussion about an herb I know as mugwort, and they know as sage grass. We covered the various fruits and vegetables growing in the fields as well as the farming techniques.

Thuy took us to a spot where a family demonstrated the old way of husking and milling rice. Today the farm uses machinery to accomplish this. (note: we were served the rice we husked in our breakfast porridge the following day).

We also saw how the villagers capture fish from the ubiquitous ponds (and were served the fish for dinner).

Our dinner at the farm did not disappoint and was even better (if that is even possible) than our cruise meals.

The following day we outfitted in Vietnamese straw hats and plastic raincoats and bicycled through the rice paddies (on concrete roads) to the local markets through the drizzle. 

We visited another villager - a 76-yearold woman   -- and stripped the green bits off of coconut fronds. These fronds went into brooms. Coconut brooms are needed in the north because they don't absorb water...winter sweeping.

Another gourmet lunch and we packed and attended the local water puppet show. Seeing the show in a "farm pond" seemed rather authentic...the charmng art form was apparently invented by farmers.

Back to Hanoi for some more practice walking calmly among moving motorcycles and on to the night train to Danang!

Day 3: Halong Bay

Halong Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage site -- the limestone karsts are stunningly beautiful. It is also the most toured place in Vietnam ... millions of yearly visits. We picked our tour company because they take you away from the thousands of tour boats off to a more remote section of the bay and it was well worth the extra expense. 

Indochine Junk placed us on the Dragon Pearl II -- an 8-cabin teak boat with charming staterooms and public places and outstanding meals. 

Hanoi Day 2: Street Food, Ho Chi Min's Mausoleum, No Mixer

Barbara and I walk through Hanoi to find an ancient Pagoda. We learn more how to manage the wild traffic as we stumble onwards. Travel is slow when you must stop in fear at each street corner. We do manage to make it up to Ho Chi Min's tomb, a giantic mausoleum surrounded by a complex of outbuildings. There was a very long line to see the tombs, so we passed. We finally located the pagoda (we think, not sure). Hanoi is the capitol of Vietnam so we had stumbled on the complex along with soldiers and their machine guns. 

We managed to get in 7.5 miles (iphone tracker) before returning home to take the "street food" tour. Our guide Ha was very charming and took us to many restaurants where we were servied the equivalent of at least four complete meals. Included were: 

1. Bun cha : vermicelli with grilled pork and light fish sauce
2. Nem ran : fried spring roll
3. Com : steamed rice
4. Dua xao : stir fried salted mustard vegetable
5. Mam tep hang be : shrimp paste with pork of hang be street
6. Cafe trung : egg coffee
7. Banh xeo : fried rice pancake
8. Cha ca hanoi : grilled fish in hanoi style
9. Hoa qua dam : mixed fruit
10. Sua chua nep cam : yogurt with black sticky rice
11. Tra nhai : Jasmine tea
12. Ruou dua : coconut rice wine

Sticky rice with pate, yellow bean, fried Onions

Drinking

Not so easy here unless you want beer. We stumbled to a bar given that we were unable to have dinner after the "street food" tour. I ordered "gin n the rocks" emphasizing many times that I prefer to have no mixer. As requested, I am served a gin and tonic...presumably because the  barkeep couldn't believe I would drink gin on ice. 

This is a very good country in which to stop drinking.

Day 1: Hanoi

The Hanoi Airport is an hour drive from the city by nice road and much of the land is filled with rice paddies and vegetables. Our hotel is in Old Quarter Hanoi, and can only be accessed via foot (or motorcycle if you are so inclined). 

The staff in our tiny 11-room hotel were lovely and served tea before showing us to our room. The beds were decorated with rose petals and the room stocked with a laptop and snacks in addition to the minibar.

Old Quarter Hanoi is divided into blocks by trade...sewing notions, beads, jewelry, and bamboo street. The sidewalks are filled with tiny tables and chairs for street food diners, or by merchandise and motorcycles, so walking in the streets is required. We share the streets with motorcyles and cars, a few bicycles. With no traffic lights or stop signs, crossing the street becomes a challenge. Barbara and I began clothing eachother and waiting for a break in traffic, then darting across crying "mama," but ended up learning the technicque of walking slowly and making no sudden moves. You see if you walk slowly enough, they drive around you.

The weather was cold and drizzly (63 degrees) and the misty atmosphere of old Hanoi made me realize that the atmosphere in Bladerunner must have been inspired by Hanoi.

Recharge