HK and Hanoi - a bit of a messy blog

It has been a busy past couple of months. I was able to visit Hong Kong for a long weekend with some collegues. I really enjoyed the cleanliness and environmentalism happening in the city. Hong Kong Island is where the business district is, as well as the shopping! It's not a market sort of place, however there is a Ladies Market on Kowloon (the mainland part of Hong Kong). I shopped around my favorite stores and only bought a couple of t-shirts. BO-Ring! I was more concerned about the sights than the shopping, but know I can go back to shop if I want, which is nice.

It was rainy the first day we were there, but it didn't stop us from taking our umbrellas and heading to Hong Kong Island anyway. By mid-afternoon the rain had ceased and we were free to wander. It seems that each of us had our own agenda for the trip, so we basically started off as a group and branched off as people wanted to do different things. The first day we took the hotel shuttle to the waterfront, had some coffee and walked to the Star Ferry which crosses the bay to Hong Kong Island. After some walking around and shopping, we went back to Kowloon to our hotel and just relaxed.

The second day I spent walking around Kowloon and did a little bit of shopping. Hong Kong is FULL of tall, close-together buildings. It was mostly interesting to walk around and see how the city is laid out. I didn't do much other than walk, take photos, eat and a little bit of shopping. The evening of the second night we took in the lights show, sitting at the waterfront of Kowloon and watching the buildings light up and change colors choreographed to music that was broadcast. It's the world's best light show, according to the announcement and it was nice. The rest of the days were more walking around and actually buying a couple of things: shoes, shorts, t-shirts, art, trinkets, etc. I also ate quite a bit of western food, which was a nice treat!

The city is so spectacular at night, I really had fun. Hong Kong is nice because it's on the ocean, has mountains, has big city life, excellent shopping, it's very clean and organized, they value the environment and has outstanding public transportation. It would be a very livable city with a good mix of Asian and European influence. I really loved Hong Kong and can't wait to go back and make it up The Peak which is a great view of the city and the bay.

After Hong Kong it was back to school for 9 more weeks of the term. The term has gone well, the boys have come so far. They are still quite playful and are a lot of fun to be with and teach. Just before exams I had a visitor stop in on his way home (to USA) from a tour of Vietnam. After exam week (the last week of Term One), my friend Sarah D. came for a four week visit. We just returned from four days in Hanoi, Vietnam. What a crazy place!

The first thing you notice immediately after landing in Hanoi is the smokey smell... and after going through the visa and immigration process, you actually see the haze. It comes from the burning of nearby fields/crops after harvest. I think they grow wheat, but I'm no farmer, so I don't know for sure. The next thing you notice is the crazy traffic.

I have it all figured out. If you want to drive (your motorbike or bicycle or taxi or minivan...) there are a few rules to go by. FIRST, don't worry about stopping at intersections because most don't have any sort of stop signs or stop lights (there were about four in the whole city). Next, you just drive. Drive and be SURE that you don't look, except to look where you're going. If another motorbike comes at you, don't move, only HONK HONK BEEP BEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP your horn. Actually, don't ever STOP beeping your horn, you'll need it so people hear you coming because you're not going to notice them at all, so they should notice you... via your horn, of course. Last, if there are pedestrians trying to cross the road, remember you don't look at them either, instead drive directly at them and if they don't move, just scrape by them. They'll get the point. And bottom line: the more aggressive you can drive, the better!

The trafffic was totally uncontrolled (except at those very few stop lights) and they don't drive particularly fast but they do NOT want to stop and will just swerve to avoid whatever might get in front of them. When you want to cross the street just step into the road and look at the motorbikes and cars and buses coming at you and move accordingly. Above all, do NOT run... keep a steady pace and you'll make it across, hopefully without getting hit. :)

We did the normal tourist thing, walked the around one of the lakes near the Old Quarter and has some strong coffee, ate some delicious croissants. After moving hotels, we went to see Ho Chi Mihn's mausoleum (didn't see his body) and the grounds where he worked, including the Presidential Palace and his alternative homes and gardens. We didn't make it to the HCM Museum before it was closed, so from there we just walked back to the Old Quarter, passing loads of wonderful, colorful shops and plenty of food stalls and restaurants. Hanoi is not a particularly modern city. The only American food chains that I saw were KFC and Gloria Jeans Coffee shop. We ate some pho (noodle soup) and it was outstanding! We booked a two-day, one night tour of Halong Bay and were picked up in the morning and driven the three hours to the Bay. Once there we boarded a boat and ate some lunch. Regardless of what the brochures and tour sales girl said, we only got the food they provided and had to pay additional for any drinks that we wanted to purchase, including water. So our first meal we didn't drink anything other than the little bit of water that I'd brought onto the boat.

After lunch we were brought to two caves (inside the islands) and had a chance to swim where we were anchored to sleep for the night. Sarah and I jumped right in and most of the others onboard just watched us, saying that the water was too dirty. It just seemed very salty to me. Only later, in another part of the islands, did I see all the debris and oil/gas floating in the water. Oh well. It was great to swim in the deep ocean. We survived just fine.

At dusk we ate dinner (buying our own drinks this time) and watched the water at night before heading off to bed. We woke early to pouring rain and had our breakfast (bread with jam and greasy eggs) which included either coffee or tea this time! During breakfast we sailed to another part of the bay and were able to kayak around the islands a little bit and then we sailed to a place where we could take a small boat to see a water school and another cave. But since Sarah and I were the only ones interested in going (hence not so much money for the boat driver) they didn't stay and we just sailed back to Halong Bay City to have lunch and catch the minibus back to Hanoi.

Back in Hanoi we went to dinner (we arrived back around 5 pm) and then went to shop at the great shops we'd seen on our first day, but they were mostly closed due to a massive celebration in the streets to celebrate the 999 year anniversary of Hanoi being named Hanoi. Let me tell you, this made traffic laughable and annoying to try and avoid. Since the shops were mostly closed and the smoke was bothersome, we headed back to our hotel and arranged a taxi to the airport for early the next morning and headed off to bed. The next morning we were feeling quite ill, probably from the smoke and possibly the food we ate, but caught our taxi to the airport and got our flight back to Bangkok.

I really enjoyed seeing Vietnam and will plan to go back to see the southern part, where Ho Chi Mihn City (Saigon) is, at a later date. I don't want to candy coat it, but I did enjoy myself. Other than the smoke and crazy traffic, Hanoi was very dusty and the people seemed generally intolerant and impatient. On several occassions when I spoke to people they'd just shake their heads "no" and turn their back to me or just ignore me altogether. Smoking cigarettes is still very popular, though mostly with men. Vietnamese halkers are relentless. Whether it was the women coming to the boats to sell western junk food or the people selling various good throughout the city, they stick around and BEG you to buy something. It bothers me when they won't go away UNTIL you're rude to them, so I tried very hard to just keep saying no until they went away. Most wouldn't leave until I physically turned my back to them. That was hard.

There were those diamonds in the rough that were very kind and helpful, but it seems most people are just trying to get tourist money or not deal with tourists at all. I can understand that, but there was a lack of tact. They'll learn, hopefully. It was, in general, an enjoyable experience and I'm so glad we went!!

Now we're getting ourselves organized to head to the southern islands and do some beachy RELAX time. Just what I need! In the taxi back to my apt. in Bangkok I realized I need time to just be still. It's been go go go go since Hong Kong. It was all good, it's just now time to really sit still and relax. :) YAY!!

Hope you're all doing great. Sorry to see that there's SNOW in Minnesota already! Suckers. Haha! Just teasing.

Halloween is coming soon! What should my costume be this year??!!