On our way home

Today we fly home, taking a circuitous route: Hanoi - Bangkok - Taipei - Vancouver.
We've had a wonderful trip, our first to Asia.

We've especially enjoyed meeting many wonderful people and experiencing the natural beauty of the country. Vietnam is an amazing country undergoing rapid economic growth, profound social change and big environmental challenges. We learned a lot.

We leave you, after the plane pictures, with a few random photos for your enjoyment.
So we say goodbye dear readers, thank-you so much for following along!

Photo by Christian Junker on Flickr

Photo by Prayitno on Flickr

Some greenery on the wall near the cathedral in Hanoi

More plants on the wall, with a bench too

On weekends some roads around Hoan Kiem Lake are closed to traffic,  and kids have fun in these cars

Here we're about to visit the excellent Museum of Women with two Spanish speakers we met in a cafe

In the doorway of the old Hmong house (built in the 1930's) that's been turned into a lodge in the village of Meo Vac, north of Hanoi

An Art Tour in Hanoi

Back in Hanoi, we did a few more of the things on our list.
One was Sophie's Art Tour, to learn about the history and culture of Vietnam through art.  We met our guide at a cafe, met the two others who had signed up, and soon were in a small van going first to the Fine Art Museum, then to small galleries around Hanoi.
We really enjoyed the tour.

In front of the Museum of Fine Art

Our guide, Maia, puts the art in historical context

Examples of commercial art at a private gallery

This art space / cafe exhibits the work of emerging artists.  Ways to portray certain subjects are found, and the venue matters - some galleries are licensed as "souvenir shops" so avoid scrutiny, others are cafes technically.

Lost in translation?

With our lack of Vietnamese language, we at times had to get creative to communicate.  One day we were the only guests at the Eco lodge restaurant for lunch.  We were served the set menu, and our server, Nu, was the only one on duty. We got to know each other a little. Her name means "flower bud."

Having become accustomed to pho (delicious Vietnamese soup), Brad needed some chili or hot sauce for his soup. We beckoned to Nu, who spoke very little English, and asked for chili sauce.  No luck.  I pantomimed something hot in my mouth and reached for my beer.  AHA!  She went away and brought Brad a glass of water.

Hmmm, we tried again - B pretended to sprinkle something over his soup, and was offered a dish of salt, then pepper.  OH!  Brad remembered the Google Translate app on his phone!  Nu saw the word, tried to teach us how to say it, we all laughed, and she came back from the kitchen with the bottle.  Later she agreed to pose for a photo:

In the picture below, we had breakfast in the courtyard, at a different place.  We were on the other end of the charade performance.  There was no printed menu.  Our server probably didn't speak Vietnamese, only her own dialect.  She came to the table with a brown egg in one hand, showed it to us, and made a motion with the other hand.  We understood perfectly - "yes I'll have a scrambled egg please!"

In the photos below, our guide took us on a walk to an isolated village.  We saw these two boys, on the left in the picture, then they ran way ahead and joined a bunch of other kids.  We could hear their laughter echoing.

When we caught up to them, the children were all sitting on the rocks.

Our guide took a picture, then showed it to them - much laughter!

We took a page out our guide's book - taking a photo then showing it to the person - sharing a laugh, makes it more of an exchange

A Northern adventure Part III

The last leg in our circle tour of a small part of the North was just as interesting.  We'd walked through rice terraces on day two, then way up at the top or our circle it was too dry for rice, and we saw corn fields on steep mountain slopes.  Now we were back to a more lush environment, and saw rice again.

Harvesting rice by hand

Young rice we saw the next day further south

Snail eggs (not native - introduced) - if not picked off the snails will eat every part of the plant

Approaching Puong Cave by boat in Ba Be National Park

Brad in the cave

In the afternoon we went for a 12 km ride; I loved my bike - Brad hated his and called it a "piece of crap!"  Hmmm do you really need brakes on a bike?

We stopped at a market - not many women wear traditional dress anymore

Pigs for sale, or someone bought them; see all the motorbikes parked on either side of the road - it was a busy market

The end of a great road trip.  Left to right are Brad, Thuan our guide, and Cuong our driver

A Northern adventure Part II

The road trip continued, and the landscape kept changing; we were fortunate to have a skilled driver, and a very knowledgeable guide.

Climbing up another mountain, we stopped to walk, and take some photos

Looking down into this valley, we could see rice fields that had been harvested, separated by corn; the mountains in the distance are in China

This heavy truck full of rocks was slowly grinding its way up the hill; we eventually passed it

At a "Cultural Village" designed to show tourists the traditional way of life, our guide Thuan demonstrates how to grind corn

Looking across to the road we're about to travel on; limestone dominates the landscape, the climate is dry, and the people have a very hard life. We could see the steep paths they take to get to their corn fields.  Zoom in to see a dwelling on the bottom right.

We walk a ways down the mountain

And see boys walking up

They're taking home grass for the cows

Not fast enough on the shutter!  I wanted a picture of the houses on the side of the mountain, and got this guy as well!  Photobomber!

A Northern adventure Part I

How to distill a 7 day road trip in a few posts... hmmm perhaps impossible, so we'll give you a few highlights:

Up North the roads through the steep mountains were winding, twisty and in need of repair due to landslides in places - here we were stopped by road work

We got out of the car to walk for a bit, and watched these fellows on their motorcycles negotiate the turns

Around another corner there was a water buffalo with a wooden bell

To get to the Eco Lodge you park on one side of the river and cross the bridge on foot

Where we stayed at the Eco Lodge

Rice terraces from the highest point of our hike. The rice is turning golden and will soon be ready for harvest by hand

The terraces were built into such steep slopes that each level was almost as high as it was wide

They also grow tea in the area and we visited a small tea producer - here they're drying tea in baskets (more like trays)

Store cat

Sometimes we see people get off their motorbikes, and put a tiny dog down on the ground.  I'd love to get a photo of a dog on a motorbike, but it's hard to get - you have to be quick!  We'll keep trying.

In the meantime, here's a cat picture.

by Kiek Fabels on Flickr Creative Commons

Getting around town

Taxis have competition here.  We've heard of Uber of course, but when our hotel reception person said he would call Grab, we were at a loss.  He showed us the options nearby, said "you don't want a motorbike do you?" and told us the exact cost and when the car would arrive.

It was nice to know ahead of time what the price was, and since the hotel person had input our destination into the app, we didn't even have to try to explain to the driver where we wanted to go.

Hanoi's Hoan Kiem lake

We're staying near Hoan Kiem lake, which has the much photographed Turtle tower out in the middle.  Legend has it that the Emperor, in the 15th Century, was send a sword, which he used to drive the Chinese from Vietnam.

Later, a giant turtle grabbed the sword, and quickly dove to the bottom of the lake, to restore the sword to its rightful (divine) owners.  That's how the lake came to be named, since Hoan Kiem means Lake of the Restored Sword.  The monument on a tiny islet in the centre has been dubbed Turtle tower.

There's a walking path all around the lake, and it's a very busy place.  On our side, there's a nice open-air coffee place, where you can sit at a table with a Caphe Sua Da (I can order it now, in Vietnamese) - iced coffee with sweetened milk, and watch the passing parade.

People practice Tai Chi beside the lake; my photographer thought he was being stealthy, but it looks like he was busted!