Hitting the Wall in Hanoi

Four months into our travels, and everything has pretty much gone as planned.  We did make that unplanned detour to Myanmar for two weeks, but everything to this point has been fairly smooth.  Did have that one luggage mishap from Bali to Saigon where one of our backpacks got left behind in Kuala Lumpur, but we were reunited 24 hours later and all was good.

the street of our hotel- a typical Hanoi image

It was when we arrived in Hanoi that our best of plans fell apart.  We had planned to go early the following day to the Chinese Embassy to apply for our visa, explore the city for a day, then go on our 3 day/2-night Halong Bay cruise.  After cruise, pick up the approved visa and our passports and fly out to Hong Kong the next day.  We gave ourselves five working days in Hanoi as a buffer, knowing that the embassy states that it takes four working days.  After we checked into our hotel, we decided to walk over to the Chinese Embassy to make sure we knew where it was for our trip there the next morning.  Found the embassy no problem and saw a sign posted only to learn that it was some sort of Chinese holiday and that it would be closed for the next two days, then the weekend, opening only on the following Monday (no notification indicating such a holiday on the embassy website!). Our cruise was scheduled for Saturday through Monday, which meant only being able to submit our visa application on Tuesday.  We already had booked our flight to Hong Kong for early Thursday morning, which meant a 48-hour turnaround.  We could request expedited service, which would take two days!  We were also told by the guard at the embassy that they only accept visa applications from 8:30-11:00, so need to get in the queue early to make sure you got inside before they close doors at 11:00 am.  So how early, we inquired, do we need to arrive to stand in queue?  7:00 am?  Earlier?  6:00 am?  Oh no, he responded, 1:00 or 2:00 am!!!!!!!  Seriously?????  Asked a few people waiting to get in the embassy to pick up their approved visa and they confirmed what the security guard already stated.  This is like waiting all night in line to buy tickets for a concert before the days of internet, or camping out at an electronics store Thanksgiving Eve hoping to get a newly released PlayStation on Black Friday!!!!!

Thinking quickly, we called the cruise company and were able to change our cruise to the following day, Thursday, returning on Saturday.  Perfect.  Had a few hassles rearranging our Hanoi hotel reservations, but success!  We were picked up early next morning for the three and a half hour ride to the port on Halong Bay.  We were about 30 minutes away from the port when the van pulled over, and the driver announced that all cruises on the bay were canceled due to bad weather.  We turned around and spent another three hours returning to Hanoi.  Not only did we need to try and re-book the cruise, but we had checked out of our hotel and put our luggage in storage.  Called our hotel and they were already fully booked for that evening.  Imagine approximately 500 ships going out daily on Halong Bay with 20-50 persons per ship- that’s a lot of people scrambling to find a last minute hotel room when a cancellation is declared.  Add to this the fact that it is already high season for tourism in Hanoi and Halong Bay!

Took calling a few hotels, but finally found a place not far from the Hoan Kiem

Lake, a beautiful oasis in this extremely congested city.  Settled in, we walked over to the Ngoc Son Temple, situated in the middle of Hoan Kiem Lake, and a lovely bridge with which to access it.  So, next morning we were picked up once again and headed back out to Halong Bay. Two hours into the ride the van again pulled over.  This cannot be a good sign!  Sure enough, all cruises canceled again due to continuing bad weather (the Halong Bay Coast Guard makes the decision every day between 10-11:00 am as to the cruise status).  Back to Hanoi!  We luckily kept our room just in case, willing to pay for an unoccupied room as insurance.  Yay for us!  

"Hanoi Hilton"

Not wanting to waste the afternoon, we headed to Hoa Lo Prison (aka the Hanoi Hilton) where American Pilot POWs were held during the Vietnam War.  Learned that it was first a prison built by the French during its occupation here and held Vietnamese Communist Revolution Fighters.  Then later, during the Vietnam War, this prison held the American POWs, including Senator John McCain.  The displays were mostly propaganda, detailing how great the prisoners were treated.  It also showed in no uncertain terms how un-welcomed the American involvement in the war was.  Again, it was an ugly war. 

Next morning, with a positive attitude (we kept our hotel room just in case), we boarded the van once again for Halong Bay- but now it was only for only a two-day/one-night cruise in order to get back to the Chinese Embassy first thing Monday morning.  They say third time is a charm.....and it was!  We were actually heading out on Halong Bay!

The boat was beautiful!  We chose the Indochina Junk Dragon Legend Cruise, considered one of the best (we are worth it!!).  The ship was a replica of a Chinese Junk boat (a Junk is a type of Chinese sailing ship, developed during the Song Dynasty).  Beautiful wood details everywhere.

dining.....

our cabin (bed unmade..sorry)

bath with a view!!

It was shorter than we had planned, but beautiful nonetheless and at least we had the opportunity to go after all those cancellations!

Now, back to the China Embassy.......

Returned back to Hanoi Sunday late afternoon, took a nap, and woke at midnight to head to the embassy for the night-long vigil.  Arrived at 12:30 am to see that there were already about 50 young persons in line ahead of us!!!! When did they get there?? As we learned (thank you Google Translate) they arrived at four in the afternoon.  Thank goodness it wasn’t terribly cold or raining, but the sidewalk was particularly hard.  

At about four in the morning, someone up near the front of the line approached us stating that due to our age, we didn't have to stay in line and could come back in the morning for priority treatment, along with pregnant women and people with children.  Apparently, she was urged to approach us (because she spoke English) by many others in the line that saw us sitting there.  We weren’t sure if this was a scam or really true and didn’t want to take a chance as this was our only opportunity to get a Chinese visa... so we stayed put.  

In the meantime, we befriended this woman, Hung, and spent the rest of the night speaking with her.  Sure enough, around seven am, the military guard started organizing the line, waking people up, and checking paperwork.  We were indeed taken out of line and brought to the front!!  At 8:30 am promptly the doors opened and we waited to be called to the visa window. The clerk reviewed our paperwork and told us our photos were not according to regulations and we would need to retake them.  She jotted down an address on a slip of paper and told us to go quickly and return, no need to wait in line again.  Ok, ran out and apparently there are drivers at the ready to catch people walking out with a slip indicating this precise issue.  We were grabbed by a driver and he took us, not to a car but his motorcycle.  MOTORCYCLE!!!!  Yes, both of us were told to hop on (three of us on a cycle, no helmets, oh help!) and we flew to the photo shop driving on the wrong side of the street and right through a red traffic signal!  Photos completed and back to the  embassy.  Still alive, we went back in and were told no rush service available, three-day is fastest turn-around with additional fee.  We would be notified Wednesday afternoon when the embassy reopened at 3:00 pm if we were approved.  If approved, we would then need to go to the bank (about three miles away, which closes at four pm), pay, and bring back paid receipt to the embassy before they closed at 4:30 pm to pick up passport and visa.  Oh, did I mention that we were flying out early the next morning to Hong Kong?????  Executive decision- after handing in our application, we went to bank and paid the $100 fee, understanding that there was the chance that we would not be approved, in order to avoid the stress and any last minute running around.  If visa not approved, we were going to lose substantially much more in flight and hotel cancellations, so what was another $100?

Rowing along the Ngo Dong River

With everything out of our hands at this point, we took a day tour to Ninh Binh Province (about two hours south of Hanoi).  We were to cruise the Ngo Dong River and Tam Coc caves, and bike in the surrounding countryside.  It was truly beautiful visiting the ancient capital of Hoa Lu and the temple of emperors from the Dinh and Le Dynasty, biking through Tam Coc Village and surrounding rice fields, and then onto a rowboat where the locals paddled us down the Ngo Dong River using their feet to row the boat! 

Royal Carriage at Dinh Tien Hoang King Temple

The river runs along limestone karst mountains with rice fields lining the shores and through three caves.  




Very scenic!

Next morning we awoke, terribly anxious, ran a few errands for toiletries and probiotics, then went to the embassy to wait once again in line at 11:30 am for the 3:00 pm opening.  Got in, bit of chaos, but finally called to window.  The clerk took some time to locate our passports and we were holding our breath.  Found them and we were approved! Presented our paid receipt and we walked out one stressed but very happy couple.

Typical Motor Scooter "Ballet"

...never got to see a train come, but they exist

Hanoi was extremely congested.  The now all-too-familiar motor scooter ballet that took place on the narrow city streets, that even had the occasional train, was always interesting (the intersections were the best....could watch the traffic all day!).  We dined on French Cuisine, lots of Pho, and Banh Mi (the restaurant- or should I say hole-in-the-wall, where President Obama dined on Banh Mi with Anthony Bourdain was next door to our hotel!  Of course we ate there!).  Didn't have a bad meal in Hanoi, although I must admit we weren't always sure what we were eating.........

We had also learned a few days prior that our departing flight from Shanghai to Japan coincided with Golden Week- a national, one-week holiday in Japan where everyone went on vacation and travel was difficult due to crowds.  Hotels more than doubled their rates during this week and there was minimal availability.  We didn’t want to make any changes until we knew the status of our visas (a rejection meant lots of flight and hotel cancellations). Now that we were approved, we could postpone our visit to Japan until after the holiday.  So, coin toss....Taiwan or Korea?  Met a couple in a restaurant a few nights prior and they were just in Taiwan and loved it.  Also, flights were less expensive, and it seemed, well, more manageable given the time we had to research destinations.  Gave ourselves a few extra days in Shanghai (we were to be there during the May 1 holiday, so could be interesting...).  Booked our flight to Taipei and we are now off to explore Hong Kong for a few days before we head to China. 

We will miss Vietnam- the food was great and the Vietnamese people were the nicest, warmest people we encountered.  We will not however, miss the stress......

Taking stock of our current location....

Hoi An - City of Lanterns

Lanterns everywhere,,,,,  Beautiful!

Traveling for such an extended period of time, you often look forward to locations where you will be parked for more than 2-3 nights.  I programmed several one-week locations and accommodations where I thought we might like to just chill and relax.  Hoi An was one such place.  We loved it here at Hoi An Holiday Villas!  We relaxed by the pool many days conversing with the other guests (many come back to this guest house every year), did a cooking class (best ever- everything was delicious!), had a massage (never enough, and at $11/hour, why not?) and pedicure.  Had some dresses and shirts custom-made (Hoi An is known for its custom tailored clothing and shoes), and biked to the beach and through rice fields (carefully avoiding the water buffalo roaming freely in the fields). 

biking through the rice fields

Hoi An Holiday Villa

Outdoor Breakfast Room

Pho...it's whats for Breakfast!

Each evening we strolled into the Old Town walking along the pedestrian streets, with their charming lanterns lit in a multitude of colors, lined with shops, coffee houses, restaurants, row boats, and baskets filled with flowers and candles floating in the river (a fire hazard waiting to happen!).  Touristy, yes, but oh so beautiful.  Hoi An is definitely a place I want to return to....maybe to have a dress made for Arik and Charlotte's Wedding next year????


Cooking Class experience: first, a walk around the local market to buy the required ingredients.  Meat (OMG, the health inspectors in the U.S. would have a heart attack!), and fresh prawns.  Also purchased fresh herbs, fruits, and veggies.  We then took our ingredients onto a longboat for the trip down river to an island where the cooking class kitchen was located.  Once at the class, we ground rice to extract the milk to make the rice pancakes.  Then, it was several hours of cooking and eating!

the meat market	fresh prawns	making rice milk
our jungle cooking class kitchen	Goi Cuon - fresh spring rolls with pork and shrimp with peanut dipping sauce	Banh Xeo - rice crepe filled with pork and shrimp, bean sprouts, green onion.  Nuoc Cham Sauce (fish sauce, garlic, chili, lime, and sugar)
Bun Bo Nam Bo - Herb salad with sauteed beef and rice vermicelli, topped with roasted peanuts and warm beef jus vinaigrette		Pho Bo Ha Noi - the famous Vietnamese Pho beef soup infused with beef bones, cinnamon, ginger, and star anise

Scenes around Hoi An............

local produce for sale	Riverfront	in Old Town
the street are not just for cars, scooters, bikes, and pedestrians.....on the alley where our hotel was located	Riverfront in Old Town with baskets of flowers and candles floating in the river	Old Town Chinese Bridge over canal

Vacation week in Hoi An- resting, eating, cooking, socializing, shopping...........

Saigon - A Free-For-All Traffic Nightmare!

Millions (no exaggeration!) of motor scooters, congestion, no visible rules for driving....welcome to Saigon (as noted by the locals) or formally as Ho Chi Minh City. 

sidewalks are not just for pedestrians!

Saigon is the largest and most populated city in Vietnam with 15 million people and over eight million motor scooters.  We learned quickly (within two minutes on way from airport into city) that motor scooters are not required to follow the rules of automobiles- they can drive on sidewalks, down one way streets in the opposite direction, in fact, they can even drive on any road in the opposite direction.  They cut across multiple lanes of traffic with no signals, made left hand turns from the right lane, drove at night with no lights.......need I go on? 

Mekong River

A much-needed break from traffic, we booked a tour and headed out to the Mekong Delta.  We traveled about two and a half hours through the countryside past rice fields to My Tho, a bustling port on the Mekong River.  Onto a long-tailed boat to one of the many islands that grows tropical fruit, where we enjoyed fresh pineapple, mango, dragon fruit, sapodilla, and ladyfinger bananas, all picked earlier in the day, while enjoying live local music.  Then a short walk to a local bee farm where we

honey bees doing their thing......

tasted pure honey, royal jelly, and bee pollen served in some fresh tea with lime.  Yum!  Then back onto the river to Coconut Island to a local, family-operated Coconut Candy factory.  Here they make not only coconut candy, but everything else you can imagine (and not imagine) from coconuts: oil, soap, facial creams, etc...., up to coconut whiskey- with or without the Cobra snake pickled inside the bottle of whiskey!

On the river again to another island where we transferred onto a “xe loi” (a cart attached to a motorcycle) for a local fish lunch in the middle of a jungle.  We then boarded rowboats to travel through the smaller canals running through the island back to our larger boat for trip back to My Tho, and then back to Saigon.

rowing along one of the small Mekong canals

along the canals	our boat!	crushing coconut
fresh fish!	don't we look local?	lovely coconut on return to Saigon

along the Saigon River

Next day was our speedboat ride up the Saigon River to Ben Duoc/Ben Dinh, which is home to the Cu Chi Tunnels.  The tunnels, utilized by the Vietcong as a hiding place during the war, consists of a deep tunnel system with several levels, alleys, and branches, like a maze, that was more than 250 km long.  We saw the horrible booby traps they developed for use against the Americans, and experienced the claustrophobic tunnels.  Most have collapsed over the years, but a few remain for tourists to see. We also saw the impact of Agent Orange on the Vietnamese population.  It was a horrible war. Period.

on the Saigon River	on the speedboat heading up the Saigon River to Cu Chi	Nathan in a tunnel entrance
...he's in there!	one of the booby traps	entering the tunnel system

That afternoon, we returned to Saigon and headed to the city center to see the Central Post Office, designed by Gustav Eiffel (same architect as the Eiffel Tower), which had stores, banks, ticket offices...you name it, all within this post office!  Walked over to the Ben Thanh Market (the usual market......produce, flowers, tourist souvenirs), Notre Dame, Nguyen Hue Street, the Bitexco Financial Tower, and the Saigon Opera House, where we saw a performance of the AO Show (a blend of bamboo cirque, acrobatics and contemporary dance) depicting the contrast between Vietnamese country life and urban life).

Saigon was truly an experience in traffic congestion on steroids!

no words......!

Central Post Office	Notre Dame	Saigon Opera House
Bitexco Financial Tower - Day	....and at night	everything on a bike!

Sites around Ho Chi Minh