2015 Jun 16-29
Nota: publicado en Inglés: vamos a
editar e incluir versión en español pronto.
We had planned to be in Vietnam for a business trip; this
was cancelled, however it made sense to use the tickets (part of a
multi-purpose trip from to Canada, Hong Kong, Vietnam, the UK, and back home
again) to spend time in Vietnam.
We travelled via Hong Kong, which made a pleasant stopover
for a few days, during which we visited the Peak, took a junk trip around the
harbour (along with several crossings on the Star Ferry), visited the Museum of
Art, WesternMarket, Temple Street Market, the Wet Market, and the Ladies’
Market, Sik Sik Yuen temple, Kowloon Walled City Park, as well as catching an astonishing
performance by Yu Ja Wang at the Cultural Centre.
We then flew to Hanoi (or Hà Nội), where we spent two days
walking the city, enjoying the wonderful street food, the new music (to us),
and the Street markets at night. We visited the Ethnology Museum and History
Museums to learn more about Vietnam.
On our third day we headed east to Ha Long Bay,
long-heralded and finally encountered. We had arranged to spend 2 days and a
night on a single-cabin junk exploring Hạ Long Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay.
This bay, or jigsaw of bays, a UNESCO World Heritage Site,
with its ~2000 islands, is a beautiful karst limestone environment, in which
these many islands outcrop as vertical pillars, rising from the sea and topped
with lush greenery.
We were welcomed by the friendly crew and enjoyed a
wonderful cruise around the bays and between the islands of the area, visiting
a quiet beach, a small fishing village, and simply relaxing in this natural
jewel. The food was delicious, our cabin comfortable, and our time there an
unforgettable experience.
Following this we returned to Hanoi via Yên Đức village; a
little off the main road, and a quiet traditional village, where we spent an
afternoon, a night, and a morning, cycling around the village and the surrounding
rice fields, learning about the village architecture, rice growing,
broom-making, and fishing (which Marce enjoyed immensely). We visited the local
school, in which our didactic skills were tested in a fun trilingual encounter
with the children of the village.
We then continued back to Hanoi, visiting the Temple of
Literature before catching the night train north to Lào Cai. This train, with multiple levels of comfort available, is a
modern reminder of train travel as it used to be (or at least as we imagine it
to have been in the first half of the last century, when the Orient Express was
the way to travel from Paris to Istanbul and back, rather than a tourist
attraction). We had booked a compartment to ourselves, which proved to be a
great way to travel, and enjoyed food and drink acquired both at the station
before leaving (in case nothing was available in the train) and from a trolley
which offered a range of possibilities on board.
Arriving at Lào Cai
in the morning we were met and ferried up hill to Sa Pa, which is the centre
for visits to the hill country in Vietnam. The town itself is perched above the
river valley, with a thousand hotels and hostels, and another thousand stores
selling souvenirs, hiking kit, and local food. We stayed at the curiously-named
“Amazing Hotel” which had excellent views over the valley, and was reasonably
central. From there we walked extensively, around town and down into the valley
below to Cát Cát, Lao Chai, and Ta Van, and also took a couple of trips, one
west on the main highway to the Lai Châu border, with a stop to climb 100 m of
the “Silver Waterfall” and a longer trip eastwards to Lùng Kháu Nhin market,
which was clearly a regular local market, as opposed to a tourist attraction.
On our way back we stopped for a coffee at Lào Cai, at a café overlooking the
river, which is the border with China. Our final night in Sa Pa was marked with
yet another excellent experience with Vietnamese street food, at Hoa Pheo, in
the night market.
We encountered
people from a number of ethnic groups while in the area: Tày, Black
H’mong, Flower H’mong, and Red Dao, among others. The variety of textiles and
clothing was fascinating, and we learned a lot about these, although no doubt
one could spend years before really understanding the huge variety of technique
and history.
We then headed back
to Lào Cai to catch the train back to Hanoi. There we visited the Hồ Chí Minh
Mausoleum, impressed at the length of the waiting line to visit the mausoleum,
and also the Citadel, Đồng Xuân Market, and Women’s Museum, with an
excellent exhibition of the clothing of the ethnic groups in the country.
We left Vietnam after 9 days, returning to Hong Kong for a
night before heading west to London.
We arrived home again via London and Miami, almost
inevitably losing bags at MIA, which were returned only a day later, albeit
with the expected loss of a couple of items (sustaining the evidence that theft
from checked bags at MIA is more or less a standard event).
Photos may be used for
non-commercial purposes with credit to alanymarce@gmail.com
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