Hanoi Destination: Hanoi – Accommodations: Sunway Hotel
We slept in and enjoyed a late breakfast. The hotel restaurant was empty when we finally arrived, so we enjoyed the peace and quiet.
We spent most of the day reading in the hotel, but we did take a walk around the neighborhood. It was a beautiful day. We skipped lunch and just had egg coffees.
We met friends for a light dinner and then Thanh took us to the airport for our flight. We couldn’t check in until 3 hours before the flight would be leaving so we sat and talked with Thanh for awhile.
Thanh gave us “money” for Tet which is the custom. After he left us at the airport, he was going to his grandma’s home for the celebration. They celebrate days before the actual holiday, cooking and eating special dishes every day and visiting with family and friends. It’s similar to our Christmas. He said his favorite dishes are the fish dishes. His grandmother already bought a lovely cherry tree to put in her home.
We told Thanh to go because he was celebrating tonight with his family. We hugged and wished him luck and as he walked an away, he was crying and wiping his eyes as he went out the door. What a gentle and sweet young man. He was so nervous when he first met all of our group, since this was only his second time as a guide. He had asked us numerous times for comments and suggestions that would help him be a better guide, since we’ve been on so many trips. I felt like a mom to him and we were happy to help him as much as we could
We breezed through security and we are now in the lounge waiting for our flight to Tokyo. Then we have a long lay over, but we can spend it in the lounge in Tokyo so that will be great.
The next time I post, we hopefully will be home.
Photo of one of our beer bottle caps from when we put them on the train tracks. Thanh said that they don’t put coins on the tracks since the coins sometimes bind to the train wheels.
This morning we left to visit the village where May Linh was born. She was a member of the Red Dao village, but now, she lives with her husband in his village, which is about a four hour drive from her village. When she married a man outside of her village, the Red Dao villagers wouldn’t speak with her when she returned home to visit family. But now, they have accepted her decision and are friendly towards her once again.
Our first stop on the way was to the market in Sapa. What a happening place. People are getting ready for the Tet celebration and the market was very crowded. You would be able to buy anything in the way of food – Vegetables, fish, meats, noodles, and spices. Some of the meats, I had no clue what they were, but people were buying everything in sight.
Then we went to the upper level and saw some of the beautiful hand sewn and embroidered cloth from May Linh’s village. I bought a beautiful wall hanging done on hemp, entirely hand embroidered. Just lovely.
From there we visited May Linh’s childhood home. We met her grandfather and he offered everyone a cup of tea. We sat around the fire in the main living area which was very cozy and it took the chill off of us since it was damp and cold outside.
May Linh told us that when she lived at home, she was going to marry a boy in the village. When girls are “engaged”, they spend a year or more making wedding outfits by hand. All the bead work and stitching is done by hand and the girl has to be as meticulous as possible since it is a sign of her worth.
She had to make outfits for her husband to be, her father, the groom’s father, her grandfather, and she has to make seven layers of clothing for herself. It took her longer than a year to sew them all. She brought the outfits out to show us and some of us tried them on. The stitching was beautiful as was the bead work. She said it took her longer to make the clothing because she struggled to make the stitches perfect.
She ultimately did not marry the boy, but she did use her wedding attire that she made for herself when she married her now husband. Her husband did not want to wear what she sewed for the old boyfriend since it wasn’t originally for him.
She was the rebel in the family she said. She was not allowed to learn how to read and write in her language. Only boys were allowed. She didn’t go to school at first, and when she was fourteen or so she sold handmade items on the street. One day, a couple on a motorbike came into the village and told her that if she went with them, they would take her to China and she could make a lot of money to send back to her family. She almost went with them… but her grandmother came after them with a huge knife and took May Linh back home and didn’t let her out of the house for weeks. The couple were human traffickers so she was very lucky to escape. Some of the girls she knew at the time were not so lucky. Two girls left with the couple and were never heard from again.
Usually, once the girls are taken away they were put in cages and let out only to sleep with men. When they got too old, they were sold to farmers and had to do farming work as well as be available for men. Human trafficking is still a big problem in Vietnam. According to a site I saw in the Internet, “Human trafficking has reached a rampant level in Vietnam, primarily targeting women, children, and ethnic minorities. Every year, a large number of Vietnamese citizens are trafficked to other countries, often those who come from “poor, vulnerable, or broken families” and lack a proper understanding of the crime of human trafficking.” Unfortunately, the women and children in the villages of Sapa fit this description – “poor and vulnerable” – and it remains a problem. The government does send government workers around in cars with megaphones, broadcasting throughout Sapa, telling the people about the dangers of trafficking and not to go with anyone who promises a better life somewhere else.
May Linh now has an education, but she still can’t read or write in her native language. Her husband is at university studying tourism. She works often for OAT as well as other travel companies during the tourist season and when she’s not working for them during the off season, she plants rice and corn for the family. She lives with her two daughters and her husband as well as her in-laws. Her daughters do go to school and she hopes they will continue and go to university. Her family didn’t bother with her for years because she married a man from outside of her village, but now they have all reconciled.
We bid her goodbye and then went on our bus for the long ride back to Hanoi. We stopped for lunch at the same place we had eaten at on the way to Sapa, and Allan and I enjoyed a burger and fries. Nice to taste after all the Asian food we’ve eaten these past weeks. But here’s a tip: You can’t eat burgers with chopsticks! 😂
We arrived back at the hotel around 7 and most of us met and had dinner together and drinks. We chatted for awhile and bid each other safe travels because most of us will be leaving late tomorrow evening.
I don’t have to set the alarm tonight, because nothing is planned for tomorrow. It will be nice to sleep in.
At the market
The indoor market is huge!
Look at the size of those carrots!!!
Who knows what these are….😳
Black chicken. The black chicken has black skin, bones, meat, and feathers, resulting from a genetic condition called fibromelanosis. The meat is firmer than regular chicken. It is considered a “healing food,” traditionally believed to restore health, strength, and energy. It is served to women during birth and afterwards to restore strength. It apparently is very chewy.
Beautiful dresses
A member of May Linh’s village. They are the Red Dao sect. They shave their eyebrows and they pull out the forehead part of their hair line. The custom of shaving eyebrows and the front hairline is traditionally considered a sign of beauty and maturity for Red Dao women and shows their married status. May Linh did not have to do that practice since she married a man from another village. The Red Dao are also famous for wearing a bright, often red, turban or scarf, frequently decorated with silver coins and tassels.
Fish for sale at the market. Families purchase live goldfish to serve as transportation for the Three Kitchen Gods (Tao Quan) to travel to heaven. The gods use these fish to report on the good and bad actions of each family to the Jade Emperor. After the ceremony, the fish are released into lakes or rivers, often along with ashes from burnt offerings, to ensure a favorable report for the family.
Taking the live fish home
May Linh’s childhood home. Photo below…the tree at her childhood home is decorated for the Tet celebration.
Her grandpa. When we arrived, he was bundled in blankets on the bed to ward off the cold.
A room in the home
Sitting in front of the fire to get warm.
We tried on the wedding outfit that she had sewed years ago when she was 15. Beautiful work. Allan and I held each other but actually, when the wedding ceremony is happening , the couple cannot touch each other or make eye contact until the ceremony is over. We’re such rebels! 😂
Photo below shows the workmanship
Our hands from the indigo leaves yesterday. The color took a day to wear off.
The piece I purchased. The camera doesn’t do the blue colors justice. It is truly lovely and vivid.
People cut the cherry trees and take them back home on their motorbikes for the Tet celebration. They plant them in big planters and they will bloom. After the new year, they burn the bottom of the branch where it was cut and either plant it in the ground or just throw it away. We saw hundreds of people with trees on their motorbikes.
Little pigs at the door at May Linh’s childhood home
Sitting around the fire
All of us making our fingers into little hearts. Notice the fog in the background.
Destination: Sapa – Accommodations: Sapa Charm Hotel or similar
This morning after breakfast, we met our local guide May Linh and we set out for a trek on a nearby mountain slope in Lao Chai. The village below was shrouded in the fog, so we couldn’t see much in the distance. There was a little mist and the roads we walked on at times were muddy and slippery.
Ladies from the black H’Mong tribe walked with us and were trying to be friendly. They knew phrases like “What is your name?” or “How are you?”. May Linh said we could purchase handmade items from these ladies, but not to give money to children since the adults don’t want the kids to get used to money, but rather they hope that the kids stay in school.
May Linh told us that single boys in the village will sometimes “kidnap” a girl that they want to marry. He takes her to his mother’s home and she stays there for three days and nights. Then, if the girl likes him, a marriage might be arranged. The girl can choose not to marry the man if she doesn’t like him. If she decides to marry him, after the ceremony, she will leave her family and live with her in-laws.
Villagers can tell how rich their neighbors are by the number of buffalo they have. Three buffalo… you are considered poor. Fifteen buffalo, you are rich. The people make their living primarily in agriculture (rice and corn) as well as tourism.
Alcoholism is a big problem. The women do most of the work planting the rice and corn. The men sit around playing cards and drinking. Come harvest time, however, men and women both work hard together. Because of the drinking, women are many times abused by their drunk husbands.
May Linh married a man from another village and her in-laws did not approve. The father-in-law never spoke to her, but rather communicated with her via his wife or through his son. Her husband is understanding and they have been married for 13 years and have two girls. Having girls is not as beneficial as having boys because boys will inherit the land, but girls will not.
We stopped at a home and the lady there gave us a lesson on batik. Many types of natural fabrics can be used in Batik. But the tightest weave and highest thread count such as linen, hand-loomed hemp, or cotton work better because these fabrics can absorb the wax the most.
Several types of wax can be used for making batiks but this lady used natural beeswax. She uses indigo extracted from the indigo plant. She soaks the leaves in water for several days and let them ferment to convert the indican in the plant to yield a natural blue dye. Then the material that she painted the wax on goes in the dye vat for three days and then it is put in boiling water to remove the wax.
We were all given a square of hemp and we tried our hand at batiking. It’s not that easy to do and we appreciated the beautiful batik work that the lady does.
It started to rain (the first rain we’ve experienced in all the weeks we’ve been in Southeast Asia), and it is much colder than Hanoi. The walk that we took today was pretty strenuous…up very, very steep hills and back down again all throughout. There were no handrails. The mud made things a little slippery as well. All in all…we did very well. I was a little worried about navigating the steep hills given my foot, but it seemed to be ok. I took a walking stick to take the pressure off the foot going down the steep hills.
We had lunch at a local restaurant and then Allan and I went back to the hotel, sat in front of the fireplace with a glass of wine, and read our books.
Dinner tonight was hot pot. We had chicken, salmon, sturgeon, vegetables, tofu, and noodles in the hot pot. I wasn’t a fan of the fish, but I did enjoy the tofu, the vegetables, the noodles, and the chicken. The broth was really good.
We tour a bit tomorrow morning and then back to Hanoi. It’s very cold here so we were glad we brought our Patagonia jackets and our REI raincoats that we could wear over our jackets.
It will probably be raining tomorrow as well.
Indigo leaves rubbed on our hands. Then May Linh poured water to rinse the leaves off. The dye from the leaves left our hands a light shade of blue.
They call to friends with the leaf. It makes quite a loud noise. I tried doing it and I got a little sound, but I couldn’t make the different sounds that she made.
Hot wax to do the batik. They make the patterns on hemp or cotton.
Below is a close up of the tool. The blade at the end is dipped into the beeswax and you draw with it.
My batik pattern.
Allan’s batik.
After the wax goes on, the material gets soaked in this indigo. After 3 days, they put in boiling water to take off the wax.
The scenery is beautiful but with the fog we couldn’t see very much far away.
Luncheon soup
taro with bean paste
Duck
Chicken and cabbage. Everything was delicious
Banana flower. Not the banana that we eat, however.
Hot pot Mushrooms and tofu going in
Everything in the pot
Have no clue what these were but they were tasty.
The batik cloth after it has been dyed with the indigo.
Destination: Sapa Meals – Accommodations: Sapa Charm Hotel
This morning we started out early on our journey to Sapa. Sapa is a market and touristic town and ethnic minorities such as the Hmong make up the majority of Sapa’s population.
We stopped at a cinnamon farm and drank some very delicious cinnamon tea. The owner told us how he cultivates the cinnamon and sells it. He also offered us some cinnamon rice liquor which was pretty strong. After one sip, I was done.
We ate lunch along the way in Lao Cai and then we stopped at the International Border Bridge that spans the Nam Thi River, to view Hekou, China across the way.
Along the way, Thanh told us that sometimes we can see graves in the rice fields that we pass. When people who were farmers died, they wanted to be buried into the rice fields that they had spent their life harvesting. The government however has banned the practice, but does allow cremated remains to be buried. However, crematories are not readily available and many people cannot afford to take the body of their loved one to be cremated in a far away city. It has become a problem all around.
We finally approached Sapa and the bus climbed up the mountain road. Sapa is about a mile above sea level so it was quite a journey.
Our hotel is built into the hillside and seems to be very nice. We had all eaten a huge lunch so we weren’t very hungry. Thanh arranged for us to have Pho soup for dinner, but even though the broth and noodles were very good, the chicken was grisly and really inedible.
It was a long day of travel, so we all went to bed early to get ready for tomorrow.
This morning after breakfast we drove to the ancient village of Duong Lam, the first Vietnamese village to be declared a national relic. The settlement is known for its wooden homes, some of which are over 400 years old.
We walked through the village, stopping at a temple along the way. The construction date of the Mia Pagoda, also known as Sung Nghiem Tu, remains unknown. In 1692 a concubine in the court of Lord Trinh Trang, Ngo Thi Ngoc Dieu found the shrine deserted and ruined, so she raised the money from her family for the restoration. 400 years have passed and the pagoda has been renovated many times, but the scale and the ancient architecture are kept almost intact. Mia temple is home to a collection of 287 ancient statues, the largest of any pagoda in Vietnam.
There were large earthenware crocks of fermented soy beans fermenting in the sun and we also saw noodles hanging to dry on racks outside.
We walked through the village seeing all the fruit and goods for sale until we came to one of the homes and we were welcomed by the owner to enjoy their hospitality. Mrs. Duong Thi Lan owns the traditional wooden house and it is considered one of the most famous and well-preserved ancient homes in the area.
We met the grandma, a spry 86 year old and she and her family welcomed us with green tea. We sat for a while and chatted.
The home was built in 1674 and we had to step over about a foot high wall to enter into the living area. The wall was high because the original grandfather, back nine generations ago, was highly educated and was very revered in the village. I guess he was a kind of superintendent of the school system at the time, and so he was able to have the highest wall to step over to enter his home, making his status the highest in the village.
We noticed that the grandmother had very black teeth. She eats betel nuts with slaked lime leaves and the combination acts as a stimulant. It is highly carcinogenic. That being said, the grandma has been chewing the nut since she was 8. Years ago, having black teeth was a sign of beauty in a woman.
We enjoyed helping to make part of our lunch…spring rolls. I have made spring rolls before so I was pretty adept at rolling them. After we made the rolls, we sat down to eat them after they had been deep fried. Many other dishes were also served. We especially enjoyed Che Lam a Vietnamese nutty ginger sticky rice bar. Everything was delicious. I must say…we haven’t had a bad meal since we began this trip in Thailand weeks ago. All the dishes have been amazing!
We said goodbye to our hosts and got back to the hotel in time to embark on our optional tour – Hanoi’s Local Life and Food Adventure! What a great tour!!
We were picked up at the hotel in a classic Russian army UAZ jeep by a driver (who was in the military and used to drive these jeeps) and a guide named Nam who rode with us as well, and off we went, merging into the crazy traffic for the adventure.
Our first stop was Cafe Giang for an egg coffee. This family-run café is perhaps the most famous of all coffee shops in the city. Open since 1946, it has been renowned for creating the egg coffee. Raw egg yolks in coffee sounds awful, but Mr. Nguyen Van Giang’s concoction made it surprisingly delicious resembling a frothy cup of liquefied tiramisu. Mr. Giang invented this delight years ago when milk was very scarce. People wanted milk in their coffee and Mr. Giang came up with the idea of creating a rich foam by beating an egg yolk with sugar and condensed milk, and then pouring it over coffee. The drink was originally served in a bowl of hot water to keep it warm, a method still used today. It sounds crazy but people loved it and so did we. It was delicious.
We then visited a section of the city where people live in apartments that are small and rather squalid. We climbed to the second floor and stood in the hall. A mouse scampered by and spiders were all over the place. The apartments share a bathroom… except for one apartment that had its own bathroom/kitchen across the hall from the living area. We were invited in to meet the 86 year old gentleman who lived there and who was a like a grandfather to Nam. His apartment was clean…but small. His bed was in the middle of the room and there was another room next to it that we didn’t enter. Thanh told us that room was actually illegal. The man had added the room, but it was not approved by the housing commission. At 86, I don’t think he cared. He was a vibrant man who had served in the military.
After spending some time with the gentleman, we left the apartment and walked through town, sampling some fruit along the way. And then, we arrived at the Train Station.
Located in the heart of the city’s Old Quarter, the Train Street attracts thousands of visitors each year. We were offered a drink…most of us chose beer, and we imbibed while waiting for the train to come by. As the time for the train to pass was imminent, we were told to keep our knees sideways, not to stand, and just remain seated. They put our beer caps on the tracks and then we sat and waited. After awhile, we were told the train was approaching and we had our cameras ready. OMG! What a thrill. The train passed literally inches from us and none of us expected it to be so close. It was scary, but a really fun experience! We searched for our beer caps and we found one of the Tiger ones, the brand we had been drinking, and we kept it as a souvenir.
Then we had dinner at a local restaurant, eating outside like all the locals. Nam showed us how to open the small pillow shaped pho noodles (not sure what they were made of) with our chop sticks and fill them with some of the meat and vegetables on the table. Then you soaked the filled square in a sweet/sour sauce and popped it in your mouth. Really tasty. All the food was stellar and we enjoyed every morsel.
The food tour was a lot if fun. From riding in the army jeep through the insane traffic, to wandering the local streets, meeting an amazing 86 year old, to the thrill of the train passing us by within inches, to the finale of a delicious dinner…what a night!!
The entire day was wonderful. Tomorrow we travel to Sapa for two nights.
On the way to Duong Lam Village. You can see the smog hanging over Hanoi
Visiting Mia pagoda
Jars of fermented soy beans
Noodles hanging to dry
Shrine at the pagoda. The food is placed in the morning to honor the ancestor whose ashes are buried there and then the food is picked up in the afternoon and usually it is given to the poor.
These “clothes” are made of paper and are put with the corpse so that when the body is cremated, they will have clothing to bring with them to the afterlife. Paper money, and items that the dead person loved, all made of paper, also goes with them.
The family in Duong Lam village
We made spring rolls
Tofu
Potatoes
Another dish for lunch.
Embarking on our food tour
Egg coffee. Delicious!
Navigating the traffic in the jeep. Yikes!!
Visiting one of the apartments
A mouse scampered by in the hallway.
The center board is how the motorbikes get up to the upper floors.
The kitchen and bath across from the man’s apartment. He owns the apartment and the kitchen and bath are for his use only. Everyone else on the floor shares two other kitchen/baths.
The 86 year old man in his apartment. He had served in the military.
Stopping to admire the fruit and to enjoy Lychees, a fruit extensively grown in southern China, Taiwan, and North Vietnam.
You peel the red outer layer halfway down the fruit and then squeeze the white lychee into your mouth. There is an inedible pit inside that you spit out, after you enjoy the white fleshy sweet lychee.
Waiting for the train
The train passed by so close! I took a video and it really was something to behold, with the train horn blowing and the metal cars of the train inches away. Whew!
The Ho Chi Minh mausoleum at night.
Memorial honoring John McCain. The monument is located on the bank of True Bach Lake, marking the spot where he was shot down, captured, and taken prisoner on October 26, 1967. it has become a site of reflection for the Vietnam-US reconciliation.
Where we enjoyed dinner.
Delicious food. Some of the dishes were Cơm Cháy Hải Sản, spring rolls, fried corn, Nước Chấm (a dipping sauce), deep fried Pho noodles that are like little pillows and you fill them with stir fried beef and veggies and soak them in the dipping sauce. Everything was delicious. There were a lot more dishes served that I don’t know the names of. The pho pillows are on the left of the photo.
The pho noodle pillow soaking in the sauce. Next to it…fried corn.
This morning after breakfast, we set out to visit the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum where the remains of Vietnam’s former President resides. Our guide said that Ho Chi Minh wanted to be cremated and his ashes spread over the countryside, but the people wanted to be able to revere him. Russia was contacted to determine how to preserve Ho Chi Minh’s body, since the Vietnam mausoleum was inspired by Lenin’s mausoleum in Moscow.
The embalmed body of President Ho Chi Minh is preserved in the central hall of the mausoleum, which is protected by a military honor guard. The body lies in a glass case with dim lighting. Soldiers were all around and on the approach to the mausoleum, and inside the mausoleum as well, we were prohibited from taking pictures, carrying knapsacks, and we could not bring in water bottles.
After viewing the body, we visited the stilt house where he lived. He preferred this humble abode to the palace. Ho Chi Minh never married, but the story goes that he was in love with a woman called Lily. However, that story has never been substantiated, and yet everyday, lilies are placed in the stilt house in her honor.
We then visited the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology where we learned about Vietnam’s ethnic groups. The inside museum has a vast collection of over 15,000 artifacts, including traditional clothing, household tools, musical instruments, and religious objects, representing Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups. The outdoor Ethnic House Display is an open-air exhibition which has life-size replicas of traditional houses, meticulously constructed to ensure authenticity. It was a very interesting tour.
We had lunch at a restaurant called Five Spice and the food was excellent.
Thanh then took us to visit his grandma whom he is very close with. She served us tea and talked a little about her life during the war. I was able to talk a little with her via my translation app and I told her she had a very nice grandson. She smiled and agreed.
We then went to visit the Hoa Lo Prison. Hoa Lo was originally used by the French colonists for political prisoners and later was used by North Vietnam for U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. During this later period, it was known to American POWs as the “Hanoi Hilton”. The actual prison was demolished in the ‘90’s and only the gatehouse wall stands today which is part of a museum.
We toured the museum, but only the American side was open as the Vietnamese side was under construction. The museum is very biased…pictures and descriptions on the wall would lead people to believe that the U.S. prisoners were treated royally. The pictures show them smiling, playing basketball, enjoying reading letters from home, and just having fun passing the time. No mention of the brutality that took place, the starvation, the beatings, etc. that the U.S. prisoners had to endure. The Vietnamese released healthy and clean POW’s on the day they were finally sent home, not mentioning that days before their release, when they were half starved and filthy, they were bathed, their hair cut, and they were spruced up to look well cared for.
We came back to the hotel and then went to eat in a restaurant Thanh liked. There was no pho soup on the menu, so we left. Walking to the restaurant and making our way back was treacherous. In Saigon, when the cars and motorcycles see you are crossing the street… they slow down and stop. Not so here. The cars seem to speed up and they don’t let you cross. I almost got hit by a motorcycle as he zipped into an alleyway. I literally had to jump out of the way.
The smog has been hanging around the city since we arrived. Hanoi is moving ahead with a phased plan to restrict and eventually ban many fossil-fuel vehicles, especially motorbikes, in the city’s core. Eventually, they want everything to be electric, hoping that change will lessen and perhaps eliminate the pollution and smog.
The government just recently banned sidewalk venders selling food on the street. They say they block the way for pedestrians, which is pretty funny since the motorcycles park on the sidewalks and leave little room to pass by. Many times, you have to walk in the street…and risk getting run over. Fun times! 🙄
Ho Chi Minh mausoleum
Little kids on a field trip to visit the Ho Chi Minh museum, etc. . We did not go to the museum.
Ho Chi Minh’s private car
The President Ho Chi Minh’s palace
His private home on stilts. The house is a “special national relic” representing the modesty of the leader as he chose this modest home over the lavish Presidential Palace.
Another room in the house
Soldiers marching at the mausoleum area
Women and girls all over the grounds were dressed up to have their pictures taken for the Tet celebration. They put the photos on social media and also they share with their family. This is happening all over Vietnam. The pictures are staged at important sites.
Trees are brought in for the Tet celebration to make everything festive looking and then afterwards, they are transplanted back into the ground.
At the Museum of Ethonology – one of the authentic homes
The following sculptures of wood were in front of the large tomb house. These statues of men and women are shown showing off their “secret parts”. Oh my!
And this is what happens after those “secret parts” meet. 🫢
And I believe the face on this woman shows her reaction when those secret parts meet up too often. I think she’s saying…” All these kids are driving me crazy!!” 😂
Inside the museum
Another exhibit in the museum. (Notice the background figures.)🙈
Lunch. Each course was delicious.
The soup was so good
Visiting Thanh’s grandma. This is the shrine… a place to pray to his ancestors. The pictures are of Thanh’s great grandparents. Almost all homes have similar shrines to honor the ancestors.
Thanh and his grandma
At the prison. Sadly, this photo and the following photos seem to portray the US prisoners having the time of their lives.
Somehow, I don’t think the prisoners were playing basketball to pass the time, or shooting the breeze with each other.
Destination: Hanoi, Vietnam – Accommodation: Sunway Hotel Hanoi
This morning after breakfast we boarded our bus for the journey to the airport to fly to Hanoi. Everything went very smoothly as it was a domestic flight, so no need to go through customs or immigration.
We had a really nice lunch on the plane and after landing, we retrieved our luggage and met our new guide Thanh.
When we walked out to the bus we noticed the smog that was surrounding the area. We might consider wearing a mask while here. We checked into our hotel and got settled a bit and then Thanh arranged for us all to take rickshaws through Hanoi’s Old Quarter. The Old Quarter’s history can be traced back some 1,000 years when artisan workshops joined into guilds to safeguard their trade secrets. The guilds have disappeared, but the craftsmen here have held onto the tradition of grouping their shops by specialty on each street. We passed the fashion area, the shoe area, the fabric area, the medical herb area, the lock area. Yes…they actually have many stores along one street that just sell all kinds of locks.
Based on the rickshaw ride…I have two words to describe Hanoi: Crazy town!!! We thought the traffic and motorbikes in Saigon were bad, but they were nothing compared to Hanoi. It was a free-for-all but the difference being – in Hanoi, everyone blows their HORNS!!!!!!!
As we went through the streets, cars and motorcycles came at us at full force and barely slowed to let each rickshaw pass. You wanted to close your eyes and pray they wouldn’t slam into you. And couple that craziness with the fact the city is getting ready for Tet – the lunar new year – it was chaotic for sure.
After the rickshaw tour, we had the Welcome Dinner and it was absolutely delicious. Then we went back to the hotel to get a good nights sleep.
I have to say though, the people here are not very friendly. We topped the rickshaw driver and he didn’t smile but just grunted. No one seems to be smiling or happy. Maybe the smog makes people depressed. Time will tell.
Screenshot
I took these pics from the bus yesterday This is the traffic that we faced when we were on the motorbikes. And believe me, once that light changes, it’s free-for-all
And this is exactly how close we were to cars and other bikes on our food tour. Everyone edging to get ahead.
Eating breakfast and waving to me when he saw me on the bus.
Touring Hanoi by rickshaw
Decorations are being put up everywhere for Tet celebration
Lots of red for sale so people can decorate their homes
People everywhere and the motorcycles come very close to the rickshaws
People buy these orchids to give to family as gifts or to decorate their own homes during the lunar New Year celebration. It’s like Christmas. People go to visit family and enjoy food together, telling stories, and wishing each other luck for the new year.
The menu for our dinner
Duck spring rolls
Mango salad
Vegetables
Chicken. I didn’t take a pic of the fish, but it was delicious.
Destination: Ho Chi Minh City – Accommodations: Huong Sen Hotel Saigon
This morning after breakfast, we boarded our bus for the trek to see the Cu Chi Tunnels, a 125 mile long underground maze where thousands of fighters and villagers hid and fought during the Vietnam war. The South Vietnamese Communists, or Viet Cong, built this vast network of tunnels in and around the district of Cu Chi. The tunnels include mess halls, meeting rooms, small factories, and vast ammunition stores. The tunnels were used as a base for operations for the Tet offensive in 1968.
For the Viet Cong, life in the tunnels was difficult. Air, food, and water were scarce, and the tunnels were infested with ants, venomous centipedes, snakes, scorpions, spiders, and rodents. Most of the time, soldiers would spend the day in the tunnels working or resting and would come out only at night to scavenge for supplies, tend their crops, or fight the enemy. When they cooked in the tunnels, they arranged a venting system so that the cooking smoke would come out in a small area far away from where they were actually cooking. They would usually cook in the early morning so the steam that came out would blend in with the morning fog. Sickness was a big problem in the tunnels, especially malaria.
We had the opportunity to enter into the tunnels and duck walk to the next entrance/exit since the tunnels are, in some places, only three feet high. Allan went into one and turned around because it was too low for him to continue. I opted out.
After touring the tunnels, we had lunch prepared by a lady whose family lived through the war. She served our lunch and then spoke to us about the war. She said the GI ‘s were always kind to her family and they felt safe with them. Her father was a Viet Cong and died when he was 30 leaving his wife and five children. The lady said that she had to quit school to help her mom with the chores.
They wound be notified if there was going to be a bombing, and then they would run to the shelters about 2 miles away, bringing with them tapioca for the kids to eat. The babies who were too young to eat the tapioca drank sugar water.
It was very emotional realizing what the GI’s had to endure while searching for the Viet Cong. It was an awful time in history and GI’s are still suffering from the effects of agent orange and PTSD.
On the way back to the hotel, James sang and played the guitar with harmonica accompaniment – Blowin’ In the Wind.
“Yes, and how many deaths will it take ’til he knows That too many people have died? The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind. The answer is blowin’ in the wind.”
A poignant song to end the afternoon.
We had the farewell dinner tonight since we are flying to Hanoi tomorrow and Are will no longer be our guide. Are was perhaps the best guide we have ever had, and we will miss his smile and his many kindnesses.
The dinner was nice and we all shared our favorite moments of the trip. Allan shared that he thought Are was the most wonderful guide we’ve ever had in our 14 OAT trips. He also shared that seeing Angkor Wat was the highlight of the trip for him.
I shared that standing in awe…and then fear … when we visited the tarantula lady and watched as she searched for tarantula holes, was unforgettable for me. Especially when I walked carefully to avoid any hidden tarantula holes upon hearing the lady AND members of our group call out…”Oh…there’s a hole”… “Oh wait there’s another hole” “oh look…that’s a big hole.” YIKES!!!!
And getting up early to feed the monks during the alms ceremony was very moving for me – made more meaningful by the monks walking for peace across the United States that is happening now. For that quiet time in the early morning, I reflected about the need for peace in the world, peace for my country, peace for my family, peace for those on the trip with us, and peace for myself.
During dessert, I was asked by popular demand to tell some more jokes, and i regaled the group with my parrot joke, the broccoli joke, and the grasshopper joke. Everyone loved them and laughed heartily. They said I’m a great joke teller and should do stand up. (Again…I’ll be here all week folks!!)
We said goodbye to two couples in our group who were not going on the post trip and of course, a tearful farewell to Are.
Allan and I went with another couple to a hotel rooftop bar for a glass of wine, and then it was back to our hotel and off to bed.
Tomorrow we fly to Hanoi.
Using egg shells to make beautiful pictures.
An unusual craft, but a beautiful one.
At the Cu Chi Tunnels. Leftover ammunition from the war
This looks like a termite nest but it is a ventilation system for one of the underground tunnels. GI’s would send dogs to sniff out the Viet Cong but the Viet Cong were clever. They would kill a GI and then put his scent from his clothing around the mound to fool the dogs.
The ladies dressed in black to look like farmers, but they were Viet Cong. The problem was, no one could tell who was to be trusted and who wasn’t.
One of the many entries to the underground tunnel system
Coming out of the tunnel
The guide showed us this trick. First the Viet Cong would lift the wood cover and start the descent to the tunnel.
Then he would cover the wooden top with leaves.
Then the leaf laden wooden top would be held overhead as the soldier descended to the tunnel
Now the entry door is totally hidden.
And the soldier can come out another exit to avoid being caught.
The sleeping hammock could also be used for a body bag if necessary.
The wide bamboo shoots were used for ventilation in the tunnels
A bomb fell here and made a crater. The Viet Cong were clever. After a bomb hit, they would then hide in that area since they figured a bomb wouldn’t hit the same place twice.
They wore sandals that they fashioned the opposite way – the toe portion to the back – so when they walked, it looked like they were walking in the opposite direction so the GI’s wouldn’t know what direction they really went.
We had a snack of tapioca that was a staple for the people during the war.
Traps that the Viet Cong set
If a GI stepped on this, he would fall into bamboo sharpened spikes. A horrible way to either be maimed or to die.
The lady who prepared our lunch and then shared her story during the Vietnam war.
Ho Chi Minh City • Visit Independence Palace • Saigon street food adventure tour
Destination: Ho Chi Minh City – Accommodations: Huong Sen Hotel Saigon
Every day, Are has given us a question to answer, based on what we had learned the day before, and the first one to raise their hand to answer the question, gets a prize. Once you’ve won a prize, you can’t participate anymore. Allan won a prize a few days ago, but I have yet to win. I asked Are…”How about if I tell a joke tomorrow morning on the bus and if everyone claps and laughs, I’ll get a prize?” We fist bumped and he said that would be great. (I had already told him my broccoli joke and he couldn’t stop laughing. Literally! So I guess he figured I was a good bet for a stand up comedian.)
So this morning when we boarded the bus, I told my cowboy joke. Everyone loved it and said I should be a stand up comedian. LOL!! (I’ll be here all week folks!). And…tomorrow I get my prize!
After my comedy routine, we departed for a city tour. Our first stop was the Central Post Office. The building is quite beautiful with a magnificent ceiling. Then we toured the Independence Palace which was the home and workplace of the former president of the Republic of Vietnam and the site of the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975. That was the day that the Vietnam War ended when a liberation army of South Vietnam (Viet Cong) tanks crashed through its gates. The Viet Cong wanted to overturn the government, but instead, Vietnam became a unified nation after the war. The Viet Cong lived among the people in the south, and their neighbors didn’t even know it. They usually wanted to remain anonymous until they saw how the war would end because if people knew of their real intent, they would be hated.
We toured the main building of the Palace, seeing various state rooms, reception halls, offices, private residences, etc. Then James took us downstairs to the bunker tunnel under the palace. This is where communications and operations took place during the war. The bunkers looked exactly like they did in the 60’s and 70’s… rotary phones, radios, and maps that showed where the fighting was centered, etc. It was the place where the President and senior staff would go during fierce bombing to be safe.
We left the palace and walked single file through a market…which was crazy town…with vendors selling fruit, vegetables, meats, fish, etc. and motorcycles whizzing by. It was a free-for-all and we had to be constantly on the lookout for the motorcycles. At the end of the alley, we wound up at a secret bunker used during the Vietnam War. It was a house on Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street, which was purchased in 1966 and converted into a hidden weapons cache and commando shelter, by a man named Tran Van Lai. He was a member of the Saigon Special Forces and he worked undercover as a wealthy contractor for the South Vietnam government to avoid suspicion of being the Viet Cong sympathizer that he really was. He used his trucks to transport weapons and Viet Cong commandos to targets, including the US Embassy and the Independence Palace on the night of the 1968 Tet Offensive.
Lai claimed to be digging a septic tank but instead, he was building this bunker. There was a trapdoor on the tile floor with a little ring and when you pulled the ring, the tile floor lifted up to expose a stairway to the downstairs. It was very hard to detect.
Following the 1968 Tet Offensive, the house was attacked under suspicion of harboring commandos. We saw the bullet holes in the gates at the front door. It eventually fell into US hands, but the secret bunker beneath remained undiscovered. According to a site online, the “ hidden space once stored over 350kg of TNT and C4 explosives, 15 AK rifles, 3,000 rounds of ammunition, handguns, B40 rocket launchers, grenades, and more”. He was a spy who tried to help the Viet Cong, but he was thwarted. After 1968, his activities were exposed, and the South Vietnamese government issued a $2 million bounty for his capture. He was later arrested and endured torture in prison. For the South Vietnamese government, Tran Van Lai was a “bad guy” who attacked their leadership and infrastructure. For the Communist side, he was a “good guy” and was awarded the title “Hero of the People’s Armed Forces” by the Vietnamese communist government in 2015. It was an unbelievable story.
James told us as we went to lunch that he has been denied a visa to the US twice and now he has to wait two years before he can try again. He doesn’t know why he’s always denied, but he thinks it’s because he is not married as of yet. He goes to university and this is why he does not have to go into the army. Service is mandatory in Vietnam for men between the ages of 18 to 27, but it can be put off if attending school.
We arrived at our lunch place and enjoyed Pho soup. It was authentic and delicious. Pho is pronounced with an upward lilt at the end of the word.
In the evening, we took the optional tour that OAT offered… touring Saigon on motorcycles and sampling food along the way. What a fabulous tour!
We climbed aboard motorcycles behind our drivers and off we went as the drivers navigated the crazy traffic. It was a little scary at first because the traffic doesn’t stop. When my driver made a turn, he cut right in front of many, many cars and motorcycles going the other way and i just hoped for the best. Many times we were within an inch or less next to other bikes and cars.
Our first stop was to enjoy a banh mi which was a sandwich filled with meat and veggies. Delicious! Then we were back on the bikes and we rode to a restaurant and had clams, fish, noodles, prawns, scallops, and beer. What a feast, but I could hardly eat since the banh mi really filled me up.
Then back on the bikes to enjoy dessert of either ice cream or flan. I opted for the chocolate ice cream and it was very rich and so good!
Then it was back on the bikes for the half hour ride back to the hotel. Saigon is beautiful at night. The lights are lit all over like Times Square and everyone is out in the streets. We went over the newly built Ba Son Bridge – all lit up in pink, and looking across the river from the bridge was beautiful.
My driver and I hugged each other when we arrived back to the hotel and he wished me safe travels. I wished him a happy lunar new year. It was a wonderful experience cruising through the streets (at times we were doing 30 mph) on such a beautiful night. I’m so glad we took the tour.
We went with friends over to the Hilton Hotel and had a nightcap on the 40th floor. The view was incredible and a party boat went by and set off fire works. Perfect end to a perfect day!
Saigon from the rooftop bar at our hotel
Everyone is getting ready for the Tet celebration and hanging red lanterns all around
The post office
Independence Palace. President Nixon was here for a meeting with the President of South Vietnam.
Meeting room in the Palace
The bunker under the palace
The equipment frozen in time
The radio room
The market
The motorcycles zooming by. This one slowed down to let us pass.
This plank of wood hid the guns etc. at the bunker in the house at the end of the market.
They hid weapons in these bamboo mats by putting the weapons in and covering the mat with manure. No one would dare open the mat to look inside, because this was how the dead bodies of people who were poor were taken for burial. The smell of the manure gave the impression a dead body was really inside.
The mat with weapons inside
The trap door
James showing how to go down to the bunker. Allan and I did not go down.
My Pho soup. I had chicken and Allan had beef.
The fruit up at the top left is Star Apple. It’s creamy and sweet.
The cherry blossoms are blooming.
Going off on the motorcycles for the food tour.
The streets of Saigon. The apartments on the bottom are more expensive than the ones at the very top.
This ramp is what they use to push the motorcycles up to the upper apartment floors. Not easy.
Below… first stop on the food tour – Banh Mi sandwich
Scallops
Clams
Fried noodles with seafood, and prawns on a stick
My excellent driver
I took this from the bike. We were weaving in and out of this traffic. Yikes!!
Allan had a female driver.
Beautiful evening in Saigon at the Hilton hotel sky bar.
Fireworks in the river from the party boat. Perfect end to a perfect day!
Destination: Ho Chi Minh City – Accommodations: Huong Sen Hotel Saigon
After breakfast we boarded our bus for another Learning and Discovery day and on the way, James told us a little bit about life in Vietnam.
Key agricultural exports are rice and coffee and actually, Vietnam is very famous for its coffee. Fruit is beginning to become a major export as well.
Vietnam is a religiously diverse country where the majority of the population practices a blend of folk religions, ancestral worship, and Confucianism/Taoism. Vietnam is often labeled as having “no religion” in surveys, despite active practice of Buddhism. Buddhism is the largest organized group followed by Catholicism.
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is an authoritarian state ruled by a single party, the Communist Party of Vietnam and James said you are either a communist or you’re not. The President of Vietnam has no power. The Communist Party of Vietnam has absolute power. The General Secretary directs national policy and the Prime Minister heads the executive government and economic management. The President just acts as the head of state.
It is compulsory for children at attend school from K through 12th grade and it is free. After they graduate, if they go to college, they have to pay the tuition themselves.
The average pay in Saigon is about $447 a month and he said you can easily feed a family for about $20 a week. There are tall apartment buildings all over Saigon because there isn’t much land to build out so they build up. A home in the wealthy section of town would cost about 2 million for a small house. However, you don’t own the house. In Vietnam, land is collectively owned, so homeowners are technically purchasing “land use rights” and that would be for 99 years.
We finally arrived at our first destination. We stopped at a coffee shop to savor the taste of freshly brewed Vietnamese coffee. We each had our own mini French press of Robusta coffee and we could either drink the coffee black or add condensed milk, which I did. I poured my coffee over ice and it was delicious! Allan drank his black and strong and loved it! Then we all got into hammocks to enjoy our coffee. It was relaxing and so much fun. Vietnam is the second-largest coffee producer in the world after Brazil and the most popular way to consume the bold, local brew is iced with sweetened condensed milk. I agree!
We then went into My Tho, the gateway to the Mekong, where we boarded a motorized wooden rice barge. We saw life on the Mekong River – fishing vessels, barges, san pans, and houses on stilts.
After a leisurely cruise, we boarded a sam pan and cruised through Vam Xep, a natural canal through a canopy of mangroves.
We stopped to visit a farmer who grows pomelo fruit and gac fruit. Pomelo is a large citrus fruit that is native to Southeast Asia. He gave us a taste of the fruit which is similar to a grapefruit, but much milder and less acidic. We dipped it in chili salt. So delicious!! He also grows gac fruit which is inedible but is used instead for food coloring. Since his fruit is organic, he uses garlic, chili, and alcohol mixed together to spray his fruit to prevent bugs. We also tried rice paper with sesame seeds and coconut milk. It’s a snack the kids enjoy…and we loved it so much, we all bought some to snack on later.
We bid goodbye to the farmer and stopped for lunch. At first I was not thrilled when I saw a whole fish on the table, but a lady came over and filleted the fish and wrapped it in rice paper with vegetables to make spring rolls. They were delicious, but poor Allan did get a bone. (Yuck!). Then prawns came to the table and the lady prepared those for us followed by a type of pancake that was filled with vegetables and shrimp. We also had a rice cracker filled with shrimp and veggies. The lunch was very different from what we’ve had before and really a treat. Then we went to where they make coconut candy. We sampled candy all over the store and watched as the people wrapped the candy in paper to sell. A man split open a coconut for us and we enjoyed tasting it.
We boarded our ship for the return cruise to get back to our bus to return to the hotel. It was a busy day and a day filled with new discoveries. So much fun!!
We went on a quick orientation walk when we returned to the hotel, had dinner with friends at a Vietnamese restaurant, and then enjoyed drinks with friends at the roof top bar.
What a fabulous day!!! Tomorrow should be interesting as Vietnam is getting ready to celebrate Tet… the lunar new year. There might be red flowers strewn in the river!
View from rooftop restaurant where we have breakfast
enjoying robusto coffee
On the cruise
They served this fruit on the cruise. Tasty.
the pomelo fruit.
Gac fruit
In the sampan
Bought the snack all the kids snack on
I think this is water coconut. You just eat the jelly inside. Not much taste.
