Freezing, but Loving the Beauty of Halong Bay & Sapa

December 31, 2010

Somehow the new year is just hours away! I’ll be celebrating in Sapa, a gorgeous mountainous region in northern Vietnam. It is very chilly – about 20 Celsius – and I so wish I had my fingertipless gloves as I type this. So I might have more errors than usual so I’ll apologize upfront. People keep walking in as I write this and if they are local they just leave the door open!

You’ll also have to excuse the lack of photos as I’m having more issues. I think I’m going to have to invest in a netbook otherwise I’ll end up losing pictures and wasting more time. And over the course of a year I’ll probably pay just as much in internet cafes. …I might have just cleaned the files with a software I downloaded so maybe you will get pictures. :)

Since I last updated the blog I’ve seen Halong Bay (part of the Gulf of Tonkin) and this mountainous area. I did a three day/2 night tour of the bay, which was really fun. We took a bus about 4 hours from Hanoi to catch the boat and as usual the bus rocked me to sleep. There were only 13 other travelers so it was a great size and they turned out to be really fun. One is from NYC so we had fun “talking NY” and it turned out we were roommates for the one night on the boat.

After settling in on the boat and having a yummy traditional lunch we visited a MASSIVE cave of stalactites (stalagmites – never know which). The cave just went on and on and had huge open spaces. There is even a huge turtle shaped rock that people (including me) touch for good luck. I didn’t leave any money with it though like some – what is a turtle going to do with dong! The visit required many many stairs yet I still saw a determined woman in high heels. At that moment her boyfriend was trying to carry her down the stairs. I don’t’ know if she was Vietnamese, but many women in the cities seem to like high heels. But they are like me – they don’t know how to walk in them.

After the cave we headed to an island where we could walk to the top for a beautiful view of the bay and sunset. Halong Bay has nearly 2000 islands –most small land inaccessible unless you start rock climbing from the boat. The islands were formed from the earth plates shifting and pushing up the land. After making it to the top out of breath (but proud I only stopped once) I ran into my French friends again. I knew they were on another tour so it wasn’t surprising to run into them.

The bay was chilly, but we were extremely fortunate that the skies were sunny and clear. The third day was overcast and that is common this time of year. The chill though reminded me of camping of being in a cabin in New Hampshire. I had no jacket and just bundled with what I coiuld. The bedrooms fortunately had a heater though – and hot water (standard in the north this time of year).

Before dinner was served we had a brief class on rolling spring rolls. One guy suggested we make a race out of it so you can see me competing with him. With all my burrito wrapping practice I swiftly beat him :) The rolls turned out delicious as did the rest of the multi-dish meal.

The next day we had to move from the sleeping boat to another boat and unfortunately a group of three Chinese women realized one of them had money stolen. It likely happened while we were at dinner the night before. This delayed our start, but the rest of us were quite content to relax on the sundeck. We felt badly, but fortunately she didn’t loose too much. Of course the culprit wasn’t found.

Our first activity was bicycling several kilometers to a village on Cat Ba island. It’s a large island with a national park and a town in one section. I love bicycling, especially in nature because the quiet of the bike and slower speed lets you take more in. At one point I had to dodge a family of goats. So far on this trip, whether bicycling or motor biking, I’ve had to swerve for dogs, giant lizards, chickens, cows, goats, water buffalo, and pigs. :) I almost collided with another bicycler who was in my lane riding towards me with his head turned to his friend. Brillant. The ride ended at a little restaurant, of course. No organized tour activity is complete without trying to get you to spend money. On the ride back I knew I was ahead of some people so I stopped near a deep cove so I could dip my feet in the water. It was swimmable, but I didn’t have time – or my suit. The water was so clear and lovely against the green trees. When the guide caught up to me he got all nervous about me walking on a rocky beach. It seemed so unsafe! It tickled me that walking on rocks that aren’t even slippery made him nervous. Anyway, back to the boat we went.

We motored a bit and then anchored off shore. A few of us opted to go kayaking. There were no single kayaks so I paired up with another woman. She fears the water, but is trying to face here fears and I applaud her for that. She hadn’t kayaked before so I took the steering position. I got quite a workout because though she paddled she mostly just dipped the paddles in the water. This was better than a partner I had in Turkey though who paddled hard in the opposite way than we needed while also drenching me with sea water (which burned my eyes to no end). She and I turned back so as not to be late, but we returned with 20 minutes to spare. She asked if I wanted to keep going. I got a kick out of this considering that would be great for her, but more work for me and additional pain in my side muscles. I don’t think she had a clue how little she contributed and that is fine. I didn’t mind, but at that point I was ready to relax on the sundeck.

We rode then headed to our hotels on Cat Bay Island. Depending on your level of payment you were at different hotels. I was the only one to choose the cheapest option so off I headed to Princess Hotel. Actually the van transporting us was overfilled because a family of 3 had opted to extended their one night to the two night trip. So I rode the motorbike with the guide and a woman who would take the bike back to the harbor. So I was sandwiched and hit my new record for how many people I’ve been on a motorbike with. I think three adults is my max! My hotel was more luxury than most of my accommodations so I was quite content. The only bizarre thing was that that lobby and hallways were dark. The halls had no lights so I took my headlamp around (once again proving what a good idea it was to bring). I felt lazy and the town didn’t seem too exciting to explore so I watched two movies on TV (mostly only old, bad movies from US are on HBO here) and then dragged myself to dinner and an internet cafe (where I did the last blog entry).

After a good sleep and woke up to pack and realize I had had money stolen. I have money hidden in different places and locked up, but a 50 Singapore dollar bill was gone. The thief left the small bills – I’m sure hoping I would be delayed in noticing (which I was). This is my first theft traveling ever, but I did expect it somewhere along the way – though of course I hoped I’d get lucky. My other stashes had more money in them so I did get lucky in that way. I wasn’t sure if it happened on the boat or at the hotel, but when I rejoined the group I spoke with another woman who had money stole. She also had to small money left. So we think it likely happened while we were bike riding. We told the tour guide who was upset, but also blaming us for not keeping it all with us. We explained that that isn’t necessarily a good idea either because if our person gets robbed then we are really up a creek. One man on the tour had been pick pocketed in Hanoi on Christmas Eve. Anyway, we didn’t let it ruin the tour, but my first theft.

As we went back to the harbor to get the bus to Hanoi, we all enjoyed the boat’s sundeck. I would have loved more time to cruise around. Instead, we arrived at the harbor early and were told to come down, but then were stuck on the boat nearly an hour. Then we had to wait another 30 minutes on the land while the bus arrived from Hanoi. Basically a new batch of travelers were coming and we’d swap places.

I arrived in Hanoi with just enough time to get my next bus – this time to Sapa. I met up with a traveler I met in Dalat, Ben, and we took the sleeper. It wasn’t full and this company had two “beds” next to each other so we had tons of space. I still didn’t sleep as well as on the other ones for some reason. Anyway, we arrived around 7am and though I had called a guesthouse prior to arriving we opted for a cheaper room. Instead of $15 we paid $8 and the main difference in price is the heat. The cheaper room had none! The air here is very damp with fog frequently settling into the valley. The temp is 12-20 Celsius and my clothes just don’t cut it. I bought a coat later that day and it helped immeasurable, but the nights are still cold and the motor bike rides. I have taken up wearing the cotton face masks the locals do. It serves three purposes that I know of: filtering out the air pollution (important in Hanoi especially), preventing tanning and staying warm.

Sapa is a small town with lots of outdoor markets (where I bought a North Face knock-off jacket that already has a broken zipper). It’s an attractive town and looks rather knew and heavily influenced by French architecture. The view from my first hotel reminded me of a town in the Alps. The people about on the streets though bring in the Vietnamese culture. Some minority groups live in the area and many women walk the town in colorful traditional clothes as they try to sell silver jewelry and bags to tourists. They are more persistent than elsewhere.

The day we arrived the a medium sized fog moved in and out of the valley, but we hiked in a landscaped mountain area as well as other sights that took us above the fog. The mountains are striking and the fog adds a romanticist feel to the scene. One of our treks took us to a beautiful high waterfall. The colors were sharp and at times even neon like. Ben is a bit hardier than I (he is from way north in Canada) and decided it was a good time to take a swim. So while I stood bundled on the rocks (not quite shivering) he dove in and took a 10 second swim. He did admit it was chilly, but felt refreshed.

We came back to our cold hotel room after all the hiking and the cold motor bike ride. We had requested a room with two beds, but out of necessity we huddled in one bed for awhile before we each braved a shower. We had hot water, but it runs out fairly quickly and then you have to dress and stand with wet hair. Thankfully I did bring a hair dryer for just this occasion.

Yesterday (our second day in Sapa), we visited some of the local villages. The fog wasn’t as heavy so we were lucky. Many people walked several kilometers down and around to get to the villages, but we took the motor bike. (I have to say my toes are numb right now!) It turned out to be lucky because when we got to the entrance to Cat Cat Village (where you park the motor bike and walk) you have to give an entrance ticket. Now a weird thing about Vietnam is that you buy your entrance ticket in one place and then, usually, just nextdoor is the ticket checking person. I can only figure the government is trying to create jobs. Anyway, in this case the ticket sale office was way back up the mountain in Sapa. The guard wouldn’t take our money (an honest one) so we rode back up and then back down again. The picture of us on the bike next to a buffalo is on our way back down.

We walked along a lovely stream and another waterfall. We also saw several local people using the trails as part of their daily lives. Then we walked through the small village that teamed with dogs, puppies, pigs, piglets, chickens and chicks. You would think it was spring time here with all the young animals I saw and the pregnant adults! There were also many kids playing and adults selling their wares. Later we rode our bikes to villages that do have small roads and we saw more farms, animals and people. Many of the very young boys wore no pants – cold! There were a group of kids who took an interest in us and we played a bit, but they also kept saying “money, money.” While we were with them we noticed that another group of younger kids were peeked at us, but tried to hide when we saw them. Then we would catch them peeking again.

The rice has just been harvested so though the terrace farms are impressive they don’t have their usual lushness. Near one of the villages we went spelunking. It was fun to crawl around a bit. :) The fog rolled in and we made our way slowly back to Sapa. By the time we arrived the fog had made the lower half of my pants wet. We went straight to an Indian restaurant we had seen earlier and order a hot drink and hot food. Unfortunately, there was no heat and the doors were left open. Why?! The food took an hour to arrive so we were freezing and hungry.

We had moved to the guesthouse I originally called and though the space heater doesn’t make the whole room warm it does help – especially if you sit next to it. The hot water in this room lasts a lot longer so I felt much cozier.

Today has been all dense fog and I haven’t even ventured out yet and it’s 2 o’clock. I’ve been on this computer probably 3 hours. And I still have a couple of hours more to upload the photos, but will probably take a break too go warm up by the space heater. Tomorrow Ben and I are heading to Dien Bien Phu (the site of the last battle the Vietnamese fought against the French for independence). From there we get a bus to Laos.

Christmas in Hanoi

Christmas Day 2010

Merry Christmas!!! My holiday has been a mix of highs and lows as I’ve missed being with my family. The night of Christmas Eve seems to be the time to celebrate in Vietnam so the streets were a complete disaster last night as everyone was out. There were places where the sidewalk was unusable so cars, motor bikes, bicycles and pedestrians were all haggling for space. Since the shops spill onto the sidewalks the last minute shoppers were on their motor bikes perusing the toys. I saw many young kids dressed up as Santa – and even several adults!

I hadn’t met anyone at the hostel to spend the day with and I had parted ways with the friends I had traveled the few days prior. Most of the day seemed like any other. I went sightseeing – made it to the Museum of Ethnology (more on that later) and then took the public bus back into the old quarter (now “the tourist quarter”). The bus driver kicked everyone off early and I had no idea where I was. I was on the street trying to get my bearings and a local man came up and offered his help. Unfortunately, he didn’t speak any English and wasn’t good at interpreting my novice hand gestures so we parted ways with me still baffled. Alas, there was a hotel that helped and as good fortune had it I was walking distance from the central area. That began my 2+ hour mission to shop for Halong Bay tours and find a special restaurant for Christmas dinner. The slow and stressful traffic slowed me down and it is quite difficult to find a regular restaurant. Many of the Vietnamese restaurants are either open-air ones in a stall or on the sidewalk. I don’t mind that in general, but wanted something a little nicer for Christmas Eve dinner. On this trip I’ve been tearing out the pages in my travel book that relate to where I am, but the Hanoi section was so big I didn’t put the restaurant section in my book. My map had one marked as Tamarind and I love Indian food, but I couldn’t find it. Of course, today in the daylight I found it and realized I had gone in there because I thought it was one of the travel stores I was looking for. Wouldn’t you know! The hotel part of the travel agency is attached to the restaurant, but the tours part was next door (and extremely expensive).

I trekked back to my hostel to look in their book on Vietnam and ask for advice. At this point I was cold, woozy with low blood sugar, and feeling homesick. I asked the man at the hostel if he knew of an Indian restaurant or something non-Vietnamese. I felt badly saying that, but I wanted more familiar food. He asked if I’d had pho – Vietnamese soup. It is impossible not to have it while you’re here so in my starving, sad state I said yes, but I wanted something else. I found another Indian restaurant and hit the road again. On the way I grabbed oreos to keep from passing out! Then success – I found the restaurant! I gorged on Indian food and left with a belly ache. :) My special holiday dinner cost just less than $10. The bars were hopping, but at this point I was ready for bed and hit the hay.

This morning I slept in and had fun chats with my dormmates. My friend, Simon, came back into Hanoi so we met up again. He patiently went with me while I searched for an internet café with a Skype webcam. This turned into quite a hunt. Some people told me where to go, but they never had a webcam and some places didn’t even have Skype. I think people here give you an answer whether they know it or not. :) One spot I went into had two cameras – one of them was being used. I didn’t see the owner of the shop and then realized he was the one playing video games on one computer. He seemed quite perturbed to be interrupted and just grunted that the spare webcam didn’t work. He was quite unfriendly so I didn’t really want to give him my business anyway. We stumbled upon a western style café (I’m back here typing now) with Skype and a cam. It was such a treat to talk with my family – even though they cruelly showed me the cookies I was missing out on. :) But I also got to hear them blast our traditional horns and see my sis wearing reindeer antlers. My mom took family pictures with my coming through the laptop. Can’t wait to see what those look like! I haven’t felt too homesick and the trip is amazing, but being away from family on Christmas has been tough. For me, it is a day to be with family and I didn’t get that. I’m looking forward to it next year.

After the call, Simon and I headed to lunch. The French restaurant we had found in the book has since closed, but near Notre Dame Cathedral (you can see my pic there) we found a tapas restaurant with French flare. Simon was in heaven with his traditional meal of duck and frois gras and I enjoyed a leg of lamb. Along with our Merlot we relished in the beautiful food and atmosphere. We topped off the meal with warm chocolate cake and ice cream. I ate slowly not knowing when I’d have such a decadent meal again. I really enjoyed being able to share it with a new friend.

We ran more errands – I was trying to find a coat. Apparently in Vietnam I am a XXL – not good for my ego! I find one coat I was willing to buy and it was priced at 388,000 VND (~$18). The woman gave me a clipboard to write my counter offer on. Now I hate negotiating and I don’t know how low to start. I wrote 250,000 and she threw the clipboard and said angry words in Vietnamese. Still seems like an over-reaction even if it was a low start. After that I needed a break before shopping again. I haven’t gotten back into the mood so I’ll probably just freeze until I get into Laos.

Simon and I met our other friend from Hue and Hoi An for drinks and his girlfriend had joined him. We found a nice rooftop bar that overlooks a small lake. Tomorrow I go to Halong Bay for a 3 day/2 night tour. I tried to research this one well so I won’t be disappointed like in the Mekong. Then I head to Sapa. So my time in Hanoi is wrapping up, but it’s been cool to see.

It's late and I'm sleepy (with an early wake up tomorrow), but I have so much more I'd like to write. You can see some of my sightseeing photos from Hanoi, but I'll have to write in the details later. I've had tons of problems with viruses so can't access my Hue or Hoi An pictures still. A friend was trying to help me and my flashdrive now is infected! So I have two infected flashdrives out of 3 and one bad memory card. Guess I gotta go shopping...

Have a wonderful holiday!

December 27, 2010

I thought this posted, but apparently not. Anyway, now I can add my adventures in Hue and Hanoi (pre-Christmas).

I traveled to Hue (central Vietnam) with my two new French buddies and found such wonderful surprises there. We arrived by bus in the early afternoon and were immediately accosted by several people pushing their hotels. It was quite overwhelming. We told them after having their info spewed to us that we needed to have a private meeting to discuss things. That privacy lasted about 20 seconds. We went with one man who promised a room for 3 people for $9 (total!). At the hotel though we found out that room was rented and he tried to up-sell us. We left and found a nearby hotel that gave us the same rate. Now these are decent clean hotels. We had a tv and hot water.

We hit the sights by first going to the Royal Palace, including a Forbidden City. Hue was the capital for the Nguyen royal family. Unfortunately, I can't access these pictures right now, but the palace was such a delight. It was built in the early 1800s and was used up through WWII. I hadn't heard of it so had no idea what to expect and that made it all the better. The area is walled and we passed through the main gates and came to the building where the king would meet with guests. The throne was an opulent gold chair. From there we saw a large courtyard and more buildings. The damage from bombing during the Vietnam War is still visible. Much construction and rebuilding is underway, but the site is incomplete. From my vantage point I thought I could see most of the grounds and wandered along the "wings" also. There was a large pond so the king could float and relax as well as a theatre. One of my favorite buildings was the king's library. The architecture was pretty with a pond in front.

There is also a tennis court! Apparently, there used to be 3, but again the bombing destroyed them all. One court was rebuilt, but in modern style with plastic seats for the audience. A king in the early 20th century enjoyed all kinds of sports and built the courts. I'm sure his advisors decided to take up the game quickly!

At this point I had enjoyed the visit, but my jaw wasn't dropping yet. I wandered to the other "wing" and found that the grounds kept meandering for several more acres. There were more temples as well as the residences for the dowager, wives and concubines. Though some of the styles and layout were different the overall idea of the space reminded me of the Korean palaces I saw and what I've heard of China's Forbidden City. With each passage through a doorway my eyes would set on a new gate, temple, courtyard or home. I was truly discovering the place for myself since I had not known of its existence before. Some of major sights I've seen around the world might still invoke awe, but not to the same degree when I've seen pictures and videos beforehand.

We closed the palace and made our way to dinner. The next day we hired a guide to take us to temples and royal tombs in the area. These were also a wonderful delight. At one monastery, Tu Hieu Pagoda, we watched seven monks chant for half an hour. They are dressed in different colors and have different haircuts depending on the stage of "monkhood" they are in. The full-fledged monks, of course, have shaved heads. New, young monks have a length of hair just on the top of their head, but then that is later shaved and the air on the right and left is grown out. The chanting had clear stages and at times they knelt, but mostly the monks stood. I took many pictures and even a video so hopefully I can get them up soon. The three of us were the only visitors until the end of the ceremony when a small group arrived. I was selfishly glad we had the monks all to ourselves, but also glad they didn't have more voyeurs. Some were friendly and bowed and smiled when I bowed to them at the end.

Then we scooted off to the tombs. Now you might think that the tomb covers a somewhat small area of land, but not the first one we saw. Again, this was one that just unveiled itself as we wandered. It actually was King Tu Duc's palace and tombs were added as his mother, wife and he died. He reigned from 1847-1883 during a time of violent imperialism. He wrote a critical autobiography that stands near his tomb and he laments the French influence and his inability to oust them. There were also a lot of internal rebellions so he seemed to feel he had failed his country.

The next tomb was created solely as a tomb and for a 20th century king, Khai Dinh. His reign only last from 1916-1925, but he has an elaborate and impressive tomb. This tomb blended traditional styles with more modern and western styles. You walk up a couple of dozen steps and get to an area with statues of guards and others at the ready. The tomb is built on a mountain side so the king forever has a beautiful view.

You can click here to see some photos of the tombs. The website includes tombs I didn't see.

That night one of my new friend's, Simon, and I took the night bus to Hanoi. Upon arriving in Hanoi we hurriedly walked to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum - though we accidentally took the very long way. In front of the mausoleum is a large grassy area with crisscrossing sidewalks, but when we tried to cut through it to get to the entrance we were whistled at and waved off. We couldn't figure what the problem was because the only signs said "stay off the grass." Other people actually darted and ran across the grass. The policeman whistled vigorously, but I think the runners got away with it. Simon and I didn't want to test our luck though. It turned out that when the mausoleum is open (from 8-11am, 4 days a week) they funnel everyone through a different area so they can go through security. The whole process was very communist like. Every move was dictated. Walk here. Can't go there. Stand here. No talking. Keep walking. The mausoleum as you can see was very austere and in the Soviet style. The inside was also plain - such a contrast to the royal tombs! Ho Chi Minh wanted to be cremated, but instead he is laid out for thousands to walk by him as well as being transported to Russia each year.

We visited the nearby Ho Chi Minh Museum, which lacked substance, but had lots of flare. Art and creative installations were built. There were lots of photos and quotes by HCM. It really was just a huge homage to him. There was one room that had images that he believed were pivotal to shaping the 20th century. There was another room inspired by Picasso's Guernica that tried to capture the violence of the wars.

We missed the Presidential Palace and HCM's stilt house because most sights take a 2 1/2 hour lunch break - wow! Instead we walked to the Temple Library, but were disappointed that many of the areas were filled with tourist shops. This area was a school and tablets on top of turtles were made to commemorate the doctors. There were also elaborate shrines to contemporary kings.

We found a place for lunch and I topped it off with dessert. The restaurant is staffed by students of a cooking school. Most of the students are from disadvantaged backgrounds so eating there is a philanthropic type of thing. Back to my dessert - it was a heavenly chocolate mousse in a crust. I have been indulging in desserts much more than at home and I think it's because western desserts are one of the few familiar foods I can readily get here. That and I have quite a sweet tooth!

My favorite site in Hanoi was the Women's Museum. It was recently renovated and covered the marriage, birthing and obligations of women from different tribes/ethnic groups. Most people here are Viet, but there are so many more other groups and the diversity seems most dense in the north. The colors, clothing and rituals were fascinating. Several of the tribes are matrilineal. The picture of three people mostly wearing red and black is of a wedding group. The bride is on the left in a massive bamboo framed veil that hides her face. The little baby caps are made by grandmothers to ward off evil spirits. There were also lots of medicines and rituals explained that are performed by pregnant women or to new mothers. There was even a breast comb (looked like a regular comb to me) that is meant to promote lactation.

There was also a large section on the contribution of women to the communist effort during the war. They fought as soldiers and even led attacks. For all the faults of the communist wars and governments, they do tend to give women rights more readily than the west ever did. You can also see the propaganda poster attacking Nixon. The photo collage of women are the women the government deemed heros because they each lost children in the war. The translation wasn't clear so I'm not sure if they had to lose one more children to get the honor. The honor was only recently given and each person received money.

They also displayed a certificate one had to have during the war authorizing you to have a bicycle (pictured here). It's startling at that time in history that a country was so covetous of bicycles. A clear reminder of how poor they were.

In Hanoi a law has been passed against street vendors on certain main streets. There was a video about this at the museum and apparently the law is to make the streets "more civilized." I think they should tackle the problems of the motor bikes all over the sidewalks (parked and driven). I love the street vendors, but the bikes are a pain. Much of the sidewalk is unusable b/c of bikes parked on it so I have to walk in the streets, which isn't very safe. The vendors - and most street vendors are women - were worrying about how else they could earn the same amount of money. The government doesn't seem to be trying to help them find something else as they get pushed off the streets. Not the supposed communist way of looking out for all!

In the evening we saw the water puppet show, which was such a delight. It last 45 minutes and included 10 stories. There was a horse race, a celebration of the water buffalo, royalty being honored and a turtle turning into a dragon. You can see in the pcitures (sorry they are blurry and dark!) that the stage is a pool and the puppeteers are behind the curtains. The wooden puppets are controlled by a wood stick attached to their bottoms. The art is a few centuries old and is quite special. There was so much energy in the performance. Musicians and singers sat on stage right.

Are you wondering about the turtle? The story goes that a turtle gave the king a sword (to do something -oops, I forgot) and the king accomplished what he needed to and the turtle took the sword back. The lake in the old quarter of Hanoi apparently has big turtles and they embalmed the one pictured here. I think they also gave him a big grin!

The next day I took the public bus to the Museum of Ethnology, as I mentioned before. The guy at the hotel told me where to get the #14 bus, but it turned out he was wrong - as was the next person I asked. I feel like people just give you an answer because they feel they should. :) On the bus is a ticket seller who also tells you where to go on the bus. Except for the driving, the Vietnamese seem to like order and preciseness. The museum was intereseting, but much overlapped with the Women's Museum. The really cool part was the outdoor exhibit of homes, barns, communal halls, tombs (sorry didn't mean to include the pic of the sign) and such from different regions.

My bus back from the museum did not go as smoothly. It was jam packed with no AC at rush hour. After about 30 minutes the bus stops and makes everyone get off. I had no idea where I was. One local man saw me studying my map and offered to help, but he spoke no English and hand gestures didn't work this time. But a hotel helped me and fortunately I was able to walk back to the area I was staying. That started my Christmas Eve chaos described above. :)

I'm in Halong Bay now and loving it, but I'll have to wait for another time to write about it. I will say it is gorgeous and a geological wonder with nearly 2000 islands that were pushed up from the earth. I also have been fortunately to have sunny, clear skies and a good group for the tour.