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.

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!

Hanoi water puppets

Tomorrow we leave for a 7 day adventure to the Northeast part of Vietnam - we'll be going over mountain passes, trekking, cycling a bit and visiting small villages.  It's doubtful that we'll have much internet access, so after today only scheduled posts will appear - ones that we're uploading now, scheduled to appear every few days.  We'll report on our trip North when we get back.

On Saturday we had a very enjoyable time at an outdoor water puppet show.  There was live music, and a narrator who gave us an idea of what was about to happen.

Before the show; in days gone by they would perform in flooded rice paddies

Fire breathing dragons

Musicians playing traditional instruments

The puppeteers came out from behind the bamboo screen to great applause

Arrived in Hanoi

Today we arrived in the capital city, Hanoi, after a short one hour, 20 minute flight from Danang.
On the way to the Danang airport, Brad got these great shots of this woman on the motorbike.  I was exhorting our taxi driver to please slow down, while praying for the woman to speed up, and all the while traffic is honking and going around us every which way...

Two chickens hanging down at the front...zoom in to see what else...

Greens in a bag at the back, with ducks - how many ducks in total?

We're staying in the Old Quarter of Hanoi, and it seems like it's more walkable than Ho Chi Minh City was, or even Hoi An. Or maybe we're just getting used to it. On our evening walk to the lake we didn't encounter the crossing the road terror and around the lake there's a walkway for pedestrians only.

If you're wondering what all the fuss is about, have a look at this interesting article and 3 minute video called Why Did the Tourist Cross the Road?