Tag Archives: Hanoi

Asia, Vietnam

Hue: The Imperial City

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Once we returned to shore from Ha Long Bay, our next destination was Hue. To get there, we flew from Hanoi, in Northern Vietnam, to Hue, in Central Vietnam. It was a nice change to leave the bustle of Hanoi for the slightly less bustling Hue It was also a fantastic break in car sickness to fly instead of drive.

Our first interaction – we were scammed by the airport shuttle that was to take us to our hotel. Vietnamese culture is to avoid answering no, but it is kind of inconvenient when the question is, “Will you take us to the hotel?” and the shuttle driver answers, “Yes.” but really means, I’ll take you to somewhere near the hotel and then say get out, and leave you to figure out the rest of the way. The rest of the passengers with us were NOT impressed.

Unfortunately, the names of the hotels are confusing , eg: Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn 1, Holiday Inn 2, Original Holiday Inn. And #1 and #3 might be across the street from each other, while the original is around the corner. You get the picture. We did find the place, but what a rainy nightmare that was.Hue is a beautiful city. We visited several temples, tombs and the Imperial City. We also did a short river boat trip on the Perfume River at the end of the day.

Imperial City, Hue Vietnam
The Imperial City of Hue is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Construction started in 1804 during the reign of Gia Long, and was completed in 1838 under Minh Mang. The Imperial City served as the center of government and court life throughout the Nguyen Dynasty. It has been damaged by natural disasters over the years, and still has visible scars, damage, bullet holes etc, from wars in 1947 and 1968.We went to the Minh Lau – Pavilion of Light, and Khai Dinh tomb. The Khai Dinh Honour Courtyard is probably one of the most recognizable with the stone sculptures of Mandarins, soldiers, elephants and horses.
Khai Dinh Tomb
Tu Duc Tomb grounds
The Tu Duc tomb probably had the prettiest grounds and walk ways. When we set out for the day, I figured the sites we’d see were ancient, but most of the construction was done in the late 1800’s. For the Tu Duc tomb, construction began in 1864 and was completed in 1867.
Tomb grounds, Hue Vietnam
Tomb grounds, Hue Vietnam
Lotus flower

One fantastic site for the day – the MASSIVE Buddha statue that was visible from Tu Duc Tomb. We never did get to visit it, but He fits right in with Cristo Blanco and Our Lady of the Rockies.

Buddha
Asia, Vietnam

Hanoi to Ha Long Bay

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Ha Long Bay was an amazing experience, and frightening as well. Let’s start with the trip from Hanoi to Ha Long…

Rice Field Vietnam
Rice Field Vietnam
I don’t think I have ever felt that carsick in my entire life. I don’t get carsick. I don’t get sea sick. I was carsick for 3 days. The drive was about 3 hours through idyllic rice fields. Imagine a stereotypical setting with green rice fields, a woman wearing a conical hat, she’s walking along the berm between sections, and there is a water buffalo wandering around. Seriously, we saw that. Then a few minutes of the skinniest row houses and businesses, and then back to idyllic movie scene Vietnam, then back to dust bowl village of skinny row houses.
Rice Field Vietnam
Vietnamese Row House
As we were driving, I noticed several tombs in the middle of the fields. The best explanation I received was that this was the burial custom. A deceased person is buried along side their home or field, with their possessions, and the alter is created to have that person ever present. As sort of an Ancestor Worship. Our driver said, “In your country, big big people with tiny grave site, in our country, tiny people with huge grave site!” He also said that all possessions of the dead person still belong to that person, so nothing is passed on to someone else lest the dead person come back and ask why you are using their stuff.
Tomb in Rice Field Vietnam
Tombs in Rice Field Vietnam

Once we arrived at the water, we met some of the people we were going to be onboard with. We met Pierre, an Australian traveling home from the UK via India and Asia. He was very interesting and passed along his Lonely Planet Vietnam to us. (We didn’t bring any guide books–too heavy! But, it was nice to have for the remainder of the trip. Just add it to the 50+ travel guides we already have.) We met a German physicist and his family, and a solo female traveler from Finland who we named Elsa, because she never did tell us her name.

You may wonder why I said the trip was frightening. A few weeks before we were set for our trip, one of the junks sank in Ha Long Bay. Passengers died because they couldn’t evacuate the boat properly in the middle of the night. New safety standards were put into place, and our room came equipped with a flashlight and a hammer to smash out the window if need be. We slept just fine aboard the boat. I don’t know the exact circumstance that caused the ship to sink, but the junk we were on appeared well maintained, and the weather and water were both calm for us.

Stay tuned for more photos from Ha Long Bay.
Happy Travels,
~j
Asia, Vietnam

Hello Hanoi!

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Because of our scheduled trip to Ha Long Bay, we didn’t have much time to explore Hanoi. As with any metropolitan area, a day is often more than enough time before people/traffic become an issue. NOTHING can prepare someone for Vietnamese traffic! There is no way to describe it short of organized chaos. We learned the specific technique for crossing the street which was just start walking, and keep walking slow and steady, don’t change speed, and don’t stop until you get to the other side. Stepping off the curb into traffic is scary business.
Hoan Kiem Lake The Huc Bridge
Hoan Kiem Lake The Huc Bridge
Luckily, our hotel was within walking distance of everything we wanted to see for the day. We started at Hoan Kiem Lake and The Huc bridge. We managed to visit the Temple of Literature, checked out St. Joseph’s Cathedral, that was modeled after the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, saw some sights, and visited an indoor market. I did take some interesting photos along the way. The wire work was astounding. FYI: We didn’t try the Creative Oriental Craft Kingdom.
Lost in Translation
Regina Pacis Hanoi
St Joseph’s Cathedral Hanoi
Vietnamese Wiring
Asia, Vietnam

We’ve arrived?

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Before we left for Asia, I was nervous traveling to a country where I couldn’t easily ask for directions or piece together some semblance of a sentence. I don’t speak Spanish well, but I knew I could muddle through some basics for when we were in Peru. But, I only know one word of Vietnamese (thank-you), and I most certainly can’t read it. When we’re traveling, I don’t generally mind getting lost, or changing plans, but our first experience at Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi was a little over the top.

We landed after over 28 hours travel time. Having only carry-on, we by-passed baggage claim (FANTASTIC!), and moved on quickly to get our travel Visas at the airport. The girl behind the counter was singing Backstreet Boys and Air Supply songs the whole time she processed our passports.

It was the wee hours of the morning, and the arrivals exit was swarming with taxi drivers. Mobs of shouting taxi drivers make me freak out. It is irrational for the most part, but with no sleep, anxiety kicks in. I prefer to choose my own taxi driver rather than have someone approach me. In the irrationality, it seems safer to me to pick someone rather than be mobbed. Anyway, I couldn’t deal with it, so we sat down for a few minutes, and the lights in the airport went out, and then the exit doors locked. Yep.

Luckily we found a taxi driver that helped us find an unlocked door. We had a pre-printed address card for the hotel, but he took us to a random shop with a similar name, and tried to drop us off…in the dark…in the rain…with our stuff…in the middle of no where. We argued, and he realized we were at the wrong address. So, off we went again. He did find the hotel, and when we arrived there–it was pad locked shut.

I didn’t think it was possible to get weirder, but it did. The taxi driver phoned the hotel for us, and someone got up, from where they were sleeping on a mattress in the lobby, put some clothes on, and opened the door to check us in. Finally.
Asia, Vietnam

Good Morning Vietnam!

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We’re alive and well in Hanoi! It took just over 28 hours of travel to get here, and there is a 15 hour time change…let’s just say jet lag is being a bit of a bitch.

The flights were alright-the airline food would have killed both of my brothers, one of them literally would have died. FYI: the food was borderline alright, but different than any other airline we’ve flown. (Pork bits with huge chunks of mango, and the other a salad of cold noodles with thin slices of the most fatty marbled beef ever. I took photos.)

And now, we’re leaving Hanoi for Halong Bay. Hopefully it isn’t rainy and gross when we get there.

Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network
China Eastern Airline meal
(Yes, that yellow bit at the top is congealed ickiness.)