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.