Embarked on another Intrepid Journey this month on the tail end of a typhoon which had I known about would have caused me great anxiety. However apart from torrential rain at times we were not affected. A lot of the countryside was flooded and the rivers were very swollen. We joined our group in Hanoi a very busy bustling noisy city with a lot of motorscooter and bike traffic as well as cyclos and cars, all tooting whenever they overtake. Footpaths, pedestrian crossings and traffic lights are very scarce and often disregarded. This made for the intrepid part of the journey for me and I was very wary of crossing the road. In addition it came from the opposite direction to here. We had a day before we met up with other intrepidians so went on a day tour, visiting all the Ho Chi Min sites - saw the mausoleum from the outside - he was away in Russia having his annual restoration - his garden, his retreat, the place where he died. He is definitely regarded as father of the nation. Visited an ancient university in the heart of the city which had been restored. Very nice water gardens, various shrines and a performance of traditional singing and instrumental music. The highlight of the day was the water puppet theatre - about 20 shortish folk tale items performed on water - lots of colourful puppets, dragons, boats all splashing around with accompaniement by tradional singers and Vietnamese musical instrument players.
Met our guide for the next 9 days and the others in the evening - 2 Aussie couples, 2 guys from Belfast, one young woman from London, another from Utrecht , 2 male school leavers from London. The next day was dry and our trip to Halong Bay was on. This was another highlight of the tour - the bay has over 1000 small steep karst islands, covered in scrub as far as I could see, few of them inhabited. We went on a traditionally- styled wooden boat, had delicious seafood meals on board , swam off the boat and stayed overnight before sailing back the next day. There were quite a few of these boats out, all with their small groups of tourists on board like us.
On the way back to Hanoi we visited a ceramics factory where we saw porcelain being painted in the most vibrant colours, including a lot of traditional blue and white with splashes of red. Bought a tiny divided dish with a handle for salt and pepper. That night we set off on the overnight train for Hue, a noisy rocking trip . We were in a 4 berth cabin with another couple. It was interesting seeing the extent of the flooding the next morning from the train. The water buffalo were in their element. Not many people around but always a few working in the fields. We were all pleased to arrive in Hue and transferred to a nice hotel with a beautiful garden restaurant for breakfasting.
Met our guide for the next 9 days and the others in the evening - 2 Aussie couples, 2 guys from Belfast, one young woman from London, another from Utrecht , 2 male school leavers from London. The next day was dry and our trip to Halong Bay was on. This was another highlight of the tour - the bay has over 1000 small steep karst islands, covered in scrub as far as I could see, few of them inhabited. We went on a traditionally- styled wooden boat, had delicious seafood meals on board , swam off the boat and stayed overnight before sailing back the next day. There were quite a few of these boats out, all with their small groups of tourists on board like us.
On the way back to Hanoi we visited a ceramics factory where we saw porcelain being painted in the most vibrant colours, including a lot of traditional blue and white with splashes of red. Bought a tiny divided dish with a handle for salt and pepper. That night we set off on the overnight train for Hue, a noisy rocking trip . We were in a 4 berth cabin with another couple. It was interesting seeing the extent of the flooding the next morning from the train. The water buffalo were in their element. Not many people around but always a few working in the fields. We were all pleased to arrive in Hue and transferred to a nice hotel with a beautiful garden restaurant for breakfasting.
Hi Anna, I guess you are still overseas on your very interesting trip. Just want to wish you a very happy birthday. Love to you and Dieter, Carolyn M.
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