We have arrived in hot, sweaty and rainy Vietnam. Our flight yesterday took us from Bangkok to Hanoi where we found a great little guest house called Heart Hotel. Our “concierge” has booked us up now until the 13th of July so we have actually planned more than a day into the future. This is a far cry from life in Canada where our calendars were booked months into the future.
Today we head on a tour of Hanoi and its environs. This will take us to the Ho Chi Minh memorial, a museum, and a few pagodas. We walked around town yesterday and it is obvious that there are not many tourists venturing here just yet. Here are pictures from our 1st work:
While tourism is expanding, we are still an oddity. Small children point at us. I am not sure if it is because we are white, or because of Jacques’ jaunty Tilley hat!
Tomorrow we head off to the perfume pagoda which is about 25 km and is in a beautiful setting. Then on my birthday, we are heading to Haloong Bay to sleep on a big junk boat and kayak the bay. I have been assured that the bay is very smooth and the boat is big. Let’s hope so, because me and small boats are not a good thing.
The driving in this part of the world is surreal. Forget stoplights, turn signals and lanes. As long as you have a horn and are behind the wheel, the world is your racetrack. Three people on motorbikes, pigs on motorbikes, all manner of deliveries…it is a free for all.
The scariest part is crossing the street. While you may see a zebra crossing or crosswalk, it means nothing (except giving the driving something to aim for). You basically just start walking across the road and people swerve around you. There have been a few old ladies in this town who I have latched onto and stalked as they crossed the street. One lady held out her arm across me, and then tapped me with her fan when it was safe to cross. Needless to say, it is an experience!
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