Day Fourteen - Exploring Hanoi

We will be exploring Hanoi today. This seems an odd thing to do as a Veteran of the war.

This is and was the seat of the communist government. All of the orders came from here. "Hanoi Rose" the propaganda voice of the north Vietnamese was based here. She spewed her rhetoric over the radio every day. We laughed it off. None of us liked it. Her "canned" propaganda was uncanny in it's ability to tell us what we were planning.

After talking with one English speaking member of our boat crew, I know there is great pride in the north for having defeated the U.S. And the French.  But, as the quote says "To the victors goes the spoils.

Click on the image below to see a slideshow of photos from Hanoi.

Red River

Pagoda

Martha's Notes:

Our one day in Hanoi, we took a walking tour of the Old Quarter, shopping for souvenirs along the way.  We had fun bargaining with the merchants, although I'm quite sure we could have gotten better deals, but we still spent less than $150 on a duffel bag to carry them home in, several silk scarves, several tee shirts, some paper lanterns, a couple of cone-shaped hats, a small purse, a couple of small carvings, a hand-carved chess board, and some hand-painted coasters.

Chuck felt strange being in the city where "the enemy" was based during the war.  I think walking and talking to people made him feel better by the end of the day. The traveling was starting to get to us.  I was breaking out on my face and Chuck's legs were swollen and red.  My butt hurt from all the sitting, and my legs were sore from all the walking.  

We sent all our clothes except what we were wearing to the laundry first thing in the morning, so were stuck sitting in sweaty, stinky clothes until the clean laundry was delivered around 6:30 or 7.  We quickly showered, had a fabulous dinner at the hotel restaurant, and got massages at the spa around the corner.   I have to say that every single massage I got in Vietnam was great.  I am going ot miss getting twice a week foot massages!

Our hotel in Hanoi, the Essence d'Orient Hotel cost us $62.50 the first night, plus $20 for breakfast.  The second two nights were $70 per night, breakfast included.  Overall, Hanoi was a little more expensive for everything.  Massages at the hotel spa were about $30 per hour, so we got ours at a spa around the corner that only charged $15.

Vital Statistics

Date - Thursday, October 1

High Temperature - 93 degrees, Heat Factor - 102 degrees

Miles Walked - 5

Day Ten - Train to Hanoi

We boarded the train in Hue. It was an early departure at 05:30. We didn't get coffee or the breakfast the hotel promised to have for us to take and go. So here we sit, an hour into a fifteen hour train ride. We have Vietnamese television to keep us company but nothing is subtitled or dubbed.

Martha is journaling, I'm bored. But the other passengers are fun to watch.

Update: We're just south of Haifong now. Another hour and half to go. Update two: We're now 20 minutes from the center of Hanoi. Next up, shower, food and alcohol.

More later

Martha's Notes:

After our miserable knees on the first train, and the mold and no sleep on the second, Chuck tried to convince me to take a plane from Hue to Hanoi.  He even got the travel person at the hotel to get us flight costs and information.  

At lunch, we talked to the young waitress and told her we were taking the trains, and she seemed really enthused that we would get to see more of Vietnam than just the cities.  So I got stubborn, and Chuck caved.  We took the third train as planned.  

The hotel didn't have breakfast to go, as they had promised us, but they did have a cab waiting at 4:30 am.  Yawn.  We ended up buying instant noodles and snacks on the train to get us through the day.  

This was by far the best train trip of the three.  People got off and on frequently, and we got to see and talk to different people along the way.

There were three high school teachers from Australia that were backpacking Vietnam.   There was a 20 to 30 year old man behind us who was Vietnamese and spoke English with a British accent, as he had been studying in Europe.  He and his wife had their 18 month old son with them, and the little boy ran up and down the aisles in the train car, and then drooled down the back of my seat!  It was Sunday again, so as the day got later, we saw more professionals that looked like they were heading back to the city after the weekend.  

The train ride took us through the countryside where I spent hours trying to get a decent photo of a water buffalo.  I managed a few good shots of the farmers in their fields, harvesting rice by hand.  It's amazing what a contrast this country is:   the cities with WiFi everywhere and skyscrapers being built, while the farmers are still working with water buffalo and hand drawn carts.  Despite the long sitting and the smells (and cockroaches) on the train, I am glad we didn't miss seeing this!

At this point in our travels, I did a little health check, as getting sick on the trip was a little of a concern.  I was feeling good, other than the sinus crap from the previous train ride.  Chuck had some digestive upset that started after our trip to the Mekong and lasted for a while.  He was also dealing with a kidney stone and pulled muscles in his legs.  So, he was probably in a little pain, which may explain the crankiness I noticed a couple days before.  

Vital Statistics

Date - Sunday, September 27

High Temperature - 95 degrees, Heat Factor 112 degrees

Hours on the Train - 14.5

Miles on the Train - about 450