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dusk in hoi an
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nha trang coast
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| our cattle car on the train |
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| odd couple |
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| japanese bridge hoi an |
laurel says:
visiting vietnam was one of the main things on my bucket list. i had visions of quaint rice paddies, women in conical hats and insanely delicious vietnamese food. maybe my expectations were just too high, but vietnam did not pan out to be as a-mazing as i had dreamed it would be. that said, there is still so much to see and experience here. the highlight of our trip was our time spent in the tiny seaside village of hoi an. here paper lanterns line the narrow streets and there are more bicycles than mopeds. the charming old town is a unesco world heritage site filled with old houses, religious shrines and arched bridges. it is a slice of the vietnam i had imagined. my other loves were hanoi, the charming capital of vietnam, and the one of a kind topography of halong bay. taking a tai chi class on the deck of our boat while cruising thru the misty morning in halong bay was an unforgettable zen moment. thousands of ancient limestone islands jut up from the emerald waters of the south china sea. travel within vietnam proved to be a nightmare as all forms of public transit were loaded to the gills in the lead up to chinese new year. we thought that taking the train would be a romantic way to see the countryside, we were sorely mistaken. sardines are more comfortable. next we attempted a 15 hour bus ride that managed to be even more traumatizing than the aforementioned train. vietnam is still worthy of a visit, but i would stay north and hit hoi an, hanoi and halong bay and give the south a miss.
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| lovin hoi an |
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| lantern market |
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| tombs of hue |
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| pagoda in hue |
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| hue citadel |
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| uncle ho's final resting place |
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| vietnamese barbershop |
emil says:
skip ho chi minh city…go north. the quaint town of hoi an is the first spot in vietnam with a semblance of tranquility, solid food, venice-like waterways, and markets not soley based around ‘hey, you buy tshirt now’. the mini-bustling town of hue has some funky pagodas, an uber sized citadel compound and ancient emperor tombs, all worthy of a visit. then make your way to hanoi, a sweet treat of a city. oddly the north, which was under communist rule the whole time, is more sophisticated and advanced than the south. the old quarter of hanoi has all the beep beep, honk honk repeat of millions of mopeds but add to it european tree-lined flair, solid food, the grand ho chi minh masoleum (embalmed and all), hanoi hilton (ex-pow prison), temple of literature (shrine to confucius), and some nearly-serene lakeside parks. we finally found our vietnam swerve and if one had to pick one place to go in vietnam head to hanoi. overall though i must admit vietnam fell a bit short of expectations, a bit light on the food and infrastructure and a bit heavy on the manic chaos. we are looking forward to some hong kong urban fury.
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