Today's Thoughts...
So in my week’s stay in Vietnam, traveling through the 4 H’s—Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hue, and Ho Chi Minh (as a point of departure), I have come to realize that an absurd number of people in this country have a thing for vomiting. Not anorexia/bulimia sort of vomiting, no, but something strange nonetheless. On the way in, after a 10 hour bus ride from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, Allison and I got on a plane headed for Hanoi only to land and after stepping onto our airport shuttle into the city, notice that not one, but two women were vomiting into plastic bags. The ride was bumpy, but not nauseating by any means so this was odd indeed. The next day, strolling through Hanoi, we came across more gagging sounds, this time from a small child whose parents continued to feed her as if nothing had happened…hmmm. Finally, on the flight into Ho Chi Minh, a man began retching amongst laughs from throughout the plane. Since when was vomiting a hilarious event? I have no idea, just thought I’d note it. So, Vietnam you ask? Let’s start with Hanoi.
We landed in Hanoi in the middle of a giant child's costume festival sort of like Halloween. The kids were adorable! Besides these cute kids and with the notable exceptions of Thom, our gregarious serenading hotel host at Lucky and the wonderful ladies at the Mask shop who offered us delicious tomato-looking fruits to try, I’m not sure what crawled up their noses and died, but many of the people of Hanoi were decidedly and unnecessarily spiteful most of our stay there. Point in case, our first night we were literally shooed out of a restaurant, pushed onto the street by a waiter saying it was too full and to come back in an hour. We went to grab fries and while sitting down (at the appropriately table belonging to the fry stand), were pouted at with puckered lips, stamping foot, and Vietnamese curses by a girl working at the shop who up and took our table as well as the table of some kids next to us. After she attempted to throw our things on the ground, I grabbed her wrist and shook our stuff free, yelling at her for being so abominably rude. That surprised her a bit, but not enough to leave us with the table. It would seem that although the general malaise that hangs in the air is displayed liberally for foreigners, it is not reserved for the out-of-towners alone. What they say is true about Hanoi, the traffic is insane, but with a little confidence and steady strut, crossing the street really is no biggie with the zigzagging cars and crisscrossing lines weaving about without traffic lights.
With Jonas and Maria, we created our own walking tour of the city, going to the beautifully serene Temple of Literature, the Ho Chi Minh Museum with all its crazy art, the Flag Tower, a Bonsai Park, the Ngoc Son Temple, the Hoan Kiem Lake, and whatever other random bits we could throw in. We dined on delicious pho (fuh), which is a yummy white noodle soup with lemon thyme-esque broth and meat and to our AMAZEMENT— bread! A holdover from French colonialism, Vietnam is chock full of delicious baguette style bread! After nearly 5 months without real bread (I’m talking not that nearly Wonder bread tough stuff in Thailand), we were in heaven and devoured every piece of bread in sight including the great breakfast at our hotels. Every hotel it seems offers a light fare breakfast of bananas, bread, eggs, jam, butter, and coffee or tea as well as free computers in the lobby and usually Wifi. We were in comfortable bliss despite our tiny quarters in the Hanoi Lucky Hotel and Queen A-Z. If that wasn’t enough, we chowed down on pizza pleasure (Pepperonis restaurant) and burgers (courtesy of the Hanoi Backpacker’s hostel) to round out our eating marathon. That and the crazy Vietnamese white coffee with condensed milk ad enough black coffee to knock you over, served over ice for delicious crispness.
Leaving Hanoi, we booked an overnight one night, two day tour to Halong Bay with the Hanoi Lucky Hotel which I would not at all recommend. Although AP Travel is very legit and the tour was nicely set up, we literally did NOTHING that Lucky promised in the tour itinerary we paid for. NOTHING. No fishing, no swimming, no kayaking in the most beautiful body of water and islands I have ever seen. All of which were promised in our so-called package we paid Lucky for. And as with all things in Vietnam, once you’re scammed, you’re stuck. So we made the best of what we could, I raised hell intermittently throughout and we lapped up the beauty of Halong Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage sight and Cat Ba Island, the biggest island nestled therein. We did get to see a very commercialized and overdone cave with special effects and lighting that we could have done without, but the cave itself was certainly spectacular. Ran into Visi alum Erin Murphy and her cousin Jess, yay! Great surprise! Staying in a great hotel— the Holiday View Hotel right on Cat Ba Island. At night, to make up for the loss of excitement in the day, we bought drinks (I should say at least the tour provided 4 sit-down family-style meals!) and hung out near the water with a whole crew of European kids from everywhere. On this side of the globe you don’t get too many Americans, but we met up with a Brazilian (ok not European), several Swedes, two Danes, two French kids, a Dutch girl, and some Aussies. Over two rounds of Tiger beer— first round courtesy of the Danes and second of the French— we laughed, talked travel, sparred country against country, and listened to really bad and really good Swedish pop. Sort of spontaneously generated our own Eurotrip ;)
Well, after evil stares in Hanoi and a mildly less than thrilling trip to Halong Bay (with all its incredible gorgeousness and splendor right there for the taking!), I wasn’t very much looking forward to the 15 hour overnight bus to Hue City in the middle of the country and the encounters that would ensue there. Call me pessimistic, but things just looked a little gray. After 15 hours crunched in a top bunk, debating whether puking was worth the trip to the vomit-urine reeking moving port-o-potty beneath me, and battling in vain with the constant jerking and swaying of a bus that tossed my pillow out from under me so many times during the journey that eventually one of the women sleeping on the floor below (yes sometime during the long night, people boarded the bus and took refuge in heaps on the floor), mistook it for her knapsack and fell fast asleep on it. Neck aching and bladder bursting, we arrived in Hue. Fortunately if I had to do it again, I would since the hours flew by, I’d just recommend picking a better bus. Did I mention that I raised a fuss with Lucky Hotel and got us a discount, yes a discount on the bus of midnight horrors. Hahaha. Oh how that works out. Anyway, dazed and still dozing we climb off the bus instantly assaulted by hawkers trying to get us to stay at this hotel and that for the cheap, cheap, cheap madam price of $2 or $3 a night for a shared room.
Spotting a beefy White guy next to a slender Vietnamese girl, we ran over and asked where he was from. Hue Backpacker’s Hostel he told us and in a moment’s notice we were off in a taxi to the hostel with a new arrival we met in the taxi— Emilie from Holland. Hendo, the name of the hostel owner is unequivocally AWESOME and the hostel was heaven-sent. Not only did they pay for the taxi for the short ride (just a few blocks) to the hostel, they have a convenient lift to pulley our luggage up to the upperdeck terraces that are the open air hallways of each floor, they have a delicious free beers 5-6pm gig, and wonderful 2 for 1 cocktails 8-9pm for Happy Hour every day, free breakfast of bread, jam, butter, fruit (the standard fare), and cozy clean rooms with gorgeous wooden floors and walkways and everyone who works there was simply saintly (thank you How!). They spent over an hour helping me to track and print a boarding pass for my flight the next day, even taking my flash drive to a nearby shop to print while I hung out with the gang. They stayed on the phone to help me sort out a shuttle via Vietnam Airlines to the airport (although I was flying Jetstar) to save me tons of money on an over-priced cab ride, and just all around were an amazing bunch of people to get to know. If ever in Hue again, which will be soon for sure, I would definitely stay there again.
After loading in, we headed on a cute boat ride after haggling forever in the sun to the Thien Mu Pagoda holding the car of the Buddhist monk who burned himself in protest of the Vietnamese regime in 1963. The pagoda is large, beautiful, and full of wonderfully friendly monks that welcomed us happily. From there, on our adorable boat that dropped off two of the owner’s kids for school on the shores of the Perfume River (as it’s called), we went to yet another UNESCO World Heritage site at the Citadel and Imperial Enclosure of Hue where the Emperor lived once upon a time.
We spent hours inside exploring its dilapidated remains and the ongoing restorations of the site which was vastly beautiful. Leaving, we popped over to the Dong Ba market and wandered down its twisty alleys and thoroughfares, the absolute talk of the town everywhere we went— two six foot blonde girls, a blonde Swedish guy, a brown-haired chap, and me. People came and rubbed my skin and smiled and were in general overjoyed to have us in Hue. SUCH A RELIEF from Hanoi and probably the singlemost experience that would ever bring me back to Vietnam. Hue is remarkably warm, friendly, and fun to explore. We went back in time for shopping and happy hours (had a Passionfruit Leg Opener whatever that means, yummy yummy) and spent the night bopping away at the DMZ Bar (walls covered in graffiti of past visitors including a special one I know) and Brown Eyes, a little hole in the wall club filled with smoke and foreigners. It was intensely wonderful and crazy and we met two new kids to add to our now gang of five— two Brits named Laura and Carl traveling for 18 months throughout Asia and Australia. Fabulous, fabulous, but the highlight of my trip was not beautiful places or packed and smoky clubs.
Strolling past with our group, we passed a stand advertising for Vietnamese silk paintings, a specialty of the region. They were gorgeous and well priced so I made note to come back later. When I did, later that night alone, the woman Titi was hands down so sweet it made me want to cry. After the hustle and bustle of Hanoi and the disappointments of Halong Bay, the love this woman exuded made something tremble inside. After I made my purchases, which she spent forever helping me to do patiently, she asked for some help with English homework hearing I was an English teacher and I agreed. After spending nearly forty five minutes with her, I was floored by her constant determination to learn English over many many years from a kind Australian man who was tutoring her for free. Titi at 58 has a lung disease which didn’t quite make it through the language barrier despite her impeccable English for most things and currently she wanted to learn to get a better job to pay for her elderly parents and her crippled brother who hasn’t walked for ages. Despite her constant protests that she is not intelligent just hardworking, I can say that studious as she is her hard work has paid off enormously. Tutoring with her friend, she speaks better English than many of my college students. After a while she admitted that she saw me when I first walked by and thought that I looked like a angel with confidence who knew what she was doing (despite the fact that I was sweating, exhausted, and had no idea where I was going at the time) and she wanted to meet me. Something told her that she would and then I showed up again later that night and she said that when she saw the cross on my neck, she understood why. She was happy to meet someone teaching especially and just wanted to talk, something that doesn’t happen all that much during the selling hours. Although she asked me for nothing in return, there was something about the genuineness of this sweet lady that hit me somewhere deep.
After thinking much last night and today, I have decided that I don't think my time over here is quite finished. something about her made me realize that there's something I've yet to do, to complete before I go and I think that I want to stick around after this year to figure it out. There’s so much more than I ever knew over here and who would have thought that outside of a nutso city with its nose in the air and a fantastically beautiful aqua paradise, I would find this humble town with its happy people and the woman who might just have re-steered the course of my future with a smile, a painting, and some love?
