After our incredible day with the elephants, it was time to say goodbye to Thailand. At the very end of our trip I'll do a blog post with overall tips for next time/lessons learned for each of the countries we visited. For now, though, on to Vietnam!
Hanoi
Friday midday we headed to the airport in Chiang Mai to catch our flight to Hanoi. We landed in the mid afternoon and took a taxi to our hostel, called Buffalo Hostel Hanoi, which is in the center of the Old Quarter - a great location to be in. We were pretty tired from the traveling, so we walked around the Old Quarter a bit and got some street food - Bahn My, Fried Rice, and Mango Sticky Rice - and called it a night.
On Saturday, I joined in on the hostel's daily walking tour. Charlie wasn't feeling up to walking for three hours, so he stayed in the hostel and did research on where/how we will be spending our time in Vietnam. Here's what I learned and saw on the walking tour in and around the Old Quarter of Hanoi:
Many of the streets are named after the things they sell - there's Sunglasses Street, Packing Street, Candy Street, Shoe Street... etcetera. I'm not positive that these are the real street names, since it's written in Vietnamese, but locals seem to refer to the streets this way as well as travelers.
We walked to Saint Joseph's Cathedral, which was built by the French when they were invading Vietnam. They modeled it after the Notre Dam (can you tell?) and since they liked it so much they built two other identical cathedrals around Vietnam.
Then we walked to Turtle Lake. The lake got its name from a legend about a Vietnamese emperor who, while the Chinese were invading Vietnam (and winning), walked to the lake to clear his head and try to come up with a better strategy for winning the war. As the story goes, he noticed something shiny in the lake and dove in to retrieve a large sheet of metal, which he then had melted into a sword. The sword from the lake gave him so much power that he ultimately beat the Chinese, and when he returned to the lake a giant turtle rose from the water. The emperor assumed that this turtle was a god, and when the turtle asked for the emperor to return the sword he did so gladly. Then the turtle retreated back into the depths of the lake.
The lake is super pretty, and there is a small pagoda in the middle of it where they honor that emperor. Also, apparently there is a rare bread of soft shelled turtle that used to occupy the lake, but most of them have died, save for two females and a male. They recently sent the male turtle to China (ironically!) to try to mate with females and save the species, but he is too old to mate. While I didn't see any of the turtles, the tour guide told us that they are really ugly!
Then we saw this large statue of Ly Thai To, who, in 1010, brought the capital of Vietnam to Hanoi (also I learned that the word "Hanoi" means between two rivers, which is literally true of the city). This emperor also has a legend attached to his history - apparently he didn't decide to move the capital because of the logical reasons one might move a capital of a country, such as it being near waterways to support trade, but because he saw a giant dragon fly out of a lake, and it was the dragon who told him to move the capital! Many more past emperors of Vietnam have these weird giant animal prophecy stories attached to them. Not sure what the emperors were smoking back then, but clearly it was strong.
Then I learned about Vietnamese coffee - first of all, Cong Cape (pronounced like "cafe" but with a "p") is the Vietnam version of Starbucks, and it's everywhere. There are lots of cafes in Vietnam, and lots of them have either egg coffee or coconut coffee on their menu.
Egg coffee was created during the Vietnam war, when there was a shortage on milk-based products like creamer, so they started whipping egg whites to create a sweet taste to balance the intense bitterness of Vietnamese coffee. Coconut coffee, created for the same reason, is a blended coconut meat and ice with a shot of espresso, and is served cold. I tried both at the cafe where we stopped on the tour. Coconut coffee is so delicious and creamy, and was almost like a milkshake. Egg coffee was definitely a more intense taste, but I learned that if you mix the egg and coffee together enough it tastes good (if you don't mix, they will separate, and then you'll drink sweet egg and then super bitter coffee).
We walked to the Dong Xuan Market - the largest market in Hanoi. Similarly to the streets of the Old Quarter, the shops are somewhat sectioned off by what they sell. The first part of the market is almost entirely dried shrimp and fish - I don't know what they are selling them for, but it all smelled like fish food to me!
Then, once we got inside the market, we walked through countless shops with thousands of shoes, then purses, then fans, hats, etc. It was three stories high and super big. Most things there are sold in bulk, meaning that mostly the people who are buying these things are then reselling them individually in their own stores.
Once we headed back to the hostel, we walked through Bia Street (which means beer, and even sounds like the word beer if said in a heavy Boston accent). During the day, Bia Street looks pretty normal, and is lined with shops, restaurants, cafes and bars. But at night, every night of the week, the shops close their doors and instead set out small, low to the ground plastic tables and chairs on the sidewalk and onto the street. They sell all kinds of food, made from makeshift "kitchens" which is really an open fire on the floor where two or three women squat and cook the food. Apparently there is actually a law about how far out the chairs can be placed - only up to a certain line on the sidewalk - but since no one follows that law they just have someone stand guard for police. Every now and then, when the police are coming, the guard will blow a loud whistle and suddenly all the shopkeepers are making people stand up and throwing the tables and chairs back onto the sidewalk and off the street. Once the police walks through the street and leaves, they set up the tables again like nothing happened! If you eat on Bia Street at night, it is wise to eat at a table closest to the sidewalk so that you aren't interrupted in the middle of your meal!
At night we made a few friends in the hostel and started playing Black Jack with them - definitely the easiest game to play with a group of new friends because it's simple, and quick, and you can walk in and out of the game anytime. Eventually, as more and more people joined, we had nearly 15 people playing! That definitely wouldn't have gone well in a real casino, and dealing was exhausting. But it was fun, and a great way to break the ice with other travelers.
On Sunday we woke up early to go explore the city. I wanted to go see the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, so we started on the 30 minute walk there. We passed by tons of cafes all lined up - all selling coconut and egg coffee!
Walking through Hanoi is crazy because there are SO many motorbikes! And since no one actually obeys any traffic signal or law, they all just constantly honk at each other to let each other know they are there. At intersections the lights are ignored and instead motorbikes just speed through without looking - only honking. Crossing the street is a nightmare - you have to be confident and just go for it (and pray, maybe).
On the long walk there we saw this gorgeous palace (amongst others):
Once we finally got to the Mausoleum, we realized that we weren't wearing the right clothing (especially me). The Mausoleum is treated similar to the pagodas (which are like the temples in Thailand), and you have to have your shoulders and knees covered. I was wearing a sundress, so I wouldn't have been let in. I was really disappointed, because I knew better and should have just worn pants. This was all I got to see of the Mausoleum:
We got a taxi back to the hostel to regroup and replan, and take a nap. Then we walked to Turtle Lake, where they close the surrounding streets on weekends for street performers and food. The lake at night was beautiful!
As we walked around the lake, two young Vietnamese boys came up to Charlie and I and asked if they could "talk with us". The one talking to me was only in 4th grade, and he started asking me questions like where I am from, where I've been in Vietnam, what I do back home, etc. I asked him if he was practicing his English, and he said yes. He said they learn it in school but he can only practice with his classmates, so he likes to practice with tourists who speak it natively. The one talking to Charlie was a bit older, maybe by two or three years, and spoke nearly perfect English. It was so interesting to have that happen, and even later more kids asked us if they could "talk with us". I wondered if maybe that's part of an assignment at school. Regardless, I was impressed with their courage - if I was in fourth grade and practicing a foreign language, the last thing I would want to do would be to talk to a stranger in that language!
After walking around the whole lake, we stopped for some Pho (Vietnamese noodle soup). We went to a place with only three or four Pho dishes on the menu, and each of us just pointed to the picture that looked the most delicious. It came out immediately, and it was super delicious! Two giant bowls of soup, some fried batter sticks that you dip in the soup, and two drinks cost about 95,000 Dong, which is roughly $4!
We went home to relax and see friends from the hostel, then got hungry again and went to the only taco place in the Old Quarter. It was surprisingly good, and we had a great night out. Then it was back home to sleep and get ready for our next city.
Ninh Binh / Tam Coc
On Monday we took a bus from Hanoi to Ninh Binh. It was a small van, and it was surprisingly really fancy! The seats were lush and comfortable and there were only two other people in the van. That was the only time we've ever wished that a trip was longer so we could enjoy the nice van longer! But, the drive was only just under two hours, and we then transferred to a taxi which took us to where we were staying - in a city called Tam Coc, which is essentially a suburb of Ninh Binh, at a hostel called Tam Coc Friendly Homestay. We learned that all of the hostels in Tam Coc were called homestays, and here were some of the names we passed as we drove to ours:
Tam Coc Friend Homestay
Tam Coc Friends Homestay
Tam Coc Family Homestay
Tam Coc Friendly Family Homestay
Tam Coc Friendly Home Homestay
You get the picture... We thought it was pretty funny.
Tam Coc is a very small town with one street that has bars and restaurants, and the rest is of the town is long winding roads weaving in and out of these giant mountains. Take a look at the view from the road to our hostel:
The mountains look like a giant fist from below the Earth's surface punched up towards the sky - they are all very tall and skinny and round at the top. They are also all made of very dark, sometimes black rock, and have moss or small bushes growing from them. The scenery of the whole town is stunning.
Our hostel was hidden away, and it was incredible. It was like a little villa, and it was cozied up against some of those giant mountains and near many small streams and lakes. Even though it was rainy and cloudy the day we got there, it was still so picturesque.
We wanted to go into town for dinner, but none of the taxi companies were answering the phone to come pick us up, and it was too late in the day to rent a motorbike, so we tried to take a walk on the one road near our hostel. It was pitch black, and nothing was open, but we could hear music coming from a bar further down so we kept walking. We found the music, but it was actually a wedding! Oddly enough, as the people at the wedding saw us walk by, they tried to wave us in! One person even walked up to us to tell us to come in! We decided not to crash a stranger's wedding in Vietnam, but honestly maybe we should have!
On Tuesday, a friend we had made way back in Bangkok -Neil from the UK - told us he and some of his new friends were also coming to Tam Coc, and they booked the hostel we were staying at. We met up with Neil and his friends Lulu (San Fransisco), Sophia (San Diego), and Vicky (UK) to explore. We rented motorbikes (Charlie and I just rented one between the two of us, because I really don't feel comfortable riding them, and mostly I rode on Neil's bike because he has been riding them for a long time and is more comfortable with someone on his back than Charlie is) and headed out! First stop - the Hang Mua Viewpoint.
Only a ten minute bike away from our hostel, the viewpoint is a monstrous 500-stair climb to the top of a mountain to see the entire city of Ninh Binh. Even before you get to the mountain, though, it is so picturesque.
Then, we started the climb up the mountain. I was grateful there were steps, but even with them it felt like a very difficult hike. It was so steep, and every time we thought we were there, we weren't! It took probably 30 minutes to climb to the top, and then we climbed even further (past the stairs) up on the very top of the mountain where there was a long dragon statue. The dragon was pretty much the only thing we could hold onto, and it was freaky to be that high and only have a dragon statue to hold on to while you try to make your way to the very top, but the views were more than worth it!
Charlie took a time lapse video of the walk back down the mountain (which was very hard to do because everyone's legs were shaking with both exhaustion from hiking up and adrenaline from being so precariously perched on a sky high mountain). I had to split the video into two parts to upload it here. It gives you a good sense of how long the trek is!
As we were headed out of the area at the base of the mountain, Neil ran into a few friends who had just been to see some caves, which they enthusiastically recommended to us, so we decided that would be our next stop. We first had to get lunch at the place that Neil and Sophia had parked their motorbikes (they had promised the lady they'd eat there so that they could park in front of her restaurant). Each of us ordered a rice dish, and even though the restaurant was totally empty it took nearly 40 minutes for our food to come out! It was because there was only one person working - taking orders and cooking - and she cooked each dish individually. We were so famished by the time that our meals were ready that we all scarfed them up quickly, but ultimately it was worth the wait because it was some of the best rice I had had on the trip!
Bellies full, it was off to the caves! We made it there just in time - the last boat went out at 4pm because the whole tour can take up to three hours, and we were running late on account of how long lunch had taken. But we made it, and were one of the last boats to go out. It cost 200,000 Dong per person, which is about $8.60, and it was some of the best money I've spent!
We got on two little bamboo boats between the five of us (Vicky had gone home because she'd already done the caves) - Charlie and I had our own boat which was romantic :) There were three route options, and we chose number three which featured less caves overall but went through one of the longest caves in Vietnam. There was a woman on each boat whose job it was to guide us through the caves and row the whole time, and even though we could help row sometimes, she was the one doing most of the work for the entire two and a half our trip, which I can't imagine doing - it seemed exhausting.
The caves were so cool, as were the views. Inside the caves, the ceiling was so low that we had to lie down in the boat and duck our heads often, and we saw many bats flutter quickly past us while in the caves! I'd never been in surroundings like that before, and it was beyond words.
The next morning we slept in, recovering from the very adventurous day before. The two Californian girls had headed north on a bus that morning, and Vicky had left the night before to go south to Hoi An. Neil met us for lunch, and then we headed out for more exploring!
We motorbiked to the Old Capital, which was the capital of whatever reign was going on in the late 800s to early 1000s. The area is now a very small city, and there are a few houses and shops. The main thing to see, though, is the sprawling Temple of the Le Dai Hanh King.
The temple has been preserved well, and the shrines are gorgeous. Similar to the temples in Thailand, there is gold adorned all over the ceiling, pillars, and walls of the shrine, as well as many offerings laid out (each shrine had many bottles of water, food, and even alcohol, as well as some cash). There were also two coy fish ponds, and next to one of the ponds I couldn't stop looking at this tree (I just thought it was really gorgeous):
Maybe the reason I kept staring is because when I meditate I picture a very large tree, much like this one, in a large empty field. It looks so pretty above the water, though, so maybe I'll just start picturing this tree instead.
As we had driven to the Old Capital, we kept seeing these large patches of rice laying in the street. On some of the smaller streets, the rice patches would cover almost the entire street and we'd have to swerve to keep from driving over them (though sometimes it looked like people did drive over them anyways). Neil said it was the way that they dried the rice. I couldn't tell if everyone was doing it so that they themselves would eat the rice or to sell it. Some people had their entire front entryway covered, so they couldn't even leave their house without stepping on it!
Also, I'd like to include this picture, because I think Charlie looks very cool on his bike and I was super impressed with his ability to pick it up so quickly!
Neil left to get on a bus headed north after we finished exploring the Old Capital. Charlie and I got dinner in town, then headed to the train station, where we boarded a 13.5 hour overnight train to Da Nang. Even though we had the top bunks in our cabin, which meant we had only a few inches between us and the ceiling (I felt like I was in a coffin!) both of us managed to sleep pretty well. Once we got to Da Nang, we got in a taxi, headed to our next stop on the trip - Hoi An!
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