Halong Bay

Posted on September 27, 2019 by wonko

One of the “must do” locations, from all Jos research was a visit to Halong Bay.

There are a number of options for this out of Hanoi, a day trip, overnight on a cruise ship or 2 nights with island hopping on the second day. We opted for the overnight, and our hotel organised it for us. The only real issue was this form of organisation left us with no paperwork. In the morning we waited for our transport for an hour before learning the bus was full and had already left, they sent a private car for us and that got us to the docks in time, but there was a little anxiousness until that was sorted, with reassurance from the hotel staff, in the end it worked out ok.

The journey to the docks was interesting, after a small amount of time in city traffic, we joined an arterial and were in farming land almost straight away. Banana plantations opened out to vast areas of rice, fish farms mixed crops, punctuated with little shrines and family burial plots, so different and picturesque.

On arrival to the docks, we joined the general hubbub and checked in, having our booked room confused twice, but eventually were lead, with luggage to a motor launch that took us out to the Orchid 3, a lush 3 deck cruise liner designed for about 30 people all up. Our room had been conquest with a father and son booking, so we found 2 single beds and they quickly re-jigged them to be a king double, all good, time to settle in as the ship began motoring down the coast towards the inlet that takes you into the system of bays, part of which is Hanlong.

The landscape was amazing, with stark limestone tors and bluffs rising dramatically out of the blue green water, fringed and topped with shrubby growth, more the more you look. I could imagine e it would be really easy to get lost, each shipping line taking varied routes to spread out among the thousands of islands.

After a many course lunch we had some relax time before being offered to explore limestone caves on one of the islands. We were warned there were lots of steps and narrow, low parts but decided to give it a go. Our launch took us over to the island, apparently inhabited with 13000 people, not sure how as there seemed little infrastructure, perhaps on the part we did not visit. After a wild and woolly drive on snakey narrow roads we reached the start of the cave walk and set off.

It was hot, really humid, but we climbed the concrete stairs, hundreds of them up to the cave entrance. The cave is now part of a newly formed national park, designed to help preserve the endangered local monkey population (whose only fault is that they are, apparently, delicious). We scrambled though low, tight passageways into vast chasms, low caves, dogging stalactites and stalagmites (who can tell the difference?), dodged a cluster of startled bats and generally felt cooked and claustrophobic until the cave system opened out into jungle, and a short path to a jungle bar. Oddly we had been advised only to bring cameras, so no one had money for drinks. The bus picked us up (sparing us the need for a return cave experience) and we were back aboard in no time.

Rest, relaxation and happy hour were all greatly appreciated, then we joined in a cooking class (fried ricepaper spring rolls) which was a nice appetiser. Sunset among the mountains is breathtaking, looking back, one of our photos do the colour or scale justice, just magic.

There was a many course dinner, lots of yummy things, but we were pretty done in and retired to the air conditioned comfort of our room. Apparently they offered late night squid fishing, not sure if there were any takers. We had a relatively early night and slept really solidly. I get motion sick in a bath, but felt no ill effects of the ocean, I am guessing the myriad of islands keep the water really calm.

Awaking refreshed and recharged, we opted for the sunrise tai chi class, and really enjoyed the slow-motion ninja poses, giving our muscles a thorough but gentle workout. We have no idea if we did it right, but it was fun trying. We then had an early breakfast as we wanted to go kayaking. Donning togs, shirt, hat, sunscreen, life jacket and signing last will and testament, our launch took us to a rickety pontoon, and, somehow, we got into kayaks -Jo in the front and me in the back.

The experience of paddling among the limestone monoliths was breathtaking. We circled some, paddles under overhangs of others, all the time in awe of the scenery. Over an hour flew by and then we made our way back to the pontoon, concerned we would be last and they would have to come looking for us. Fortunately that privilege fell to an American couple who paddled off in a direction and that was the last we saw of them until we were leaving, when we went looking for our lost couple. All good fun.

Back on board, showered and fresh, time for the boat to return to port, open bar, lunch and the experience was largely over. I could not imagine you would see very much if you did it as a day trip, and I am sure that would be even more exhausting than our 2 day adventure. We would highly recommend the experience.

On return to Hanoi, the hotel staff were amazing, welcoming us “home”. We had a health spa massage booked and it turned out to be a perfect way to unwind and relax before cocktails (I had a Manhattan, Jo a Pina Colada) on the roof bar followed by dinner and drinks at The Street Food Cafe (justly highly recommended on TripAdvisor). The owner was really friendly, topping off our meal with cups of his favourite coconut rice wine – terrifyingly potent but yummy (it reminded me of some of the smoother sake I have had). Walking through Hanoi fairly pickled is an surreal experience but we safely found our way back and were asleep soon after. What a huge day. More to come…..

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Trains, Paper and a Bamboo Circus

Posted on September 26, 2019 by wonko

Hanoi is a city of over 15 million. It breaks my brain to imagine in that number of people in such a small area but there you have it. Today we had booked a walking tour with some university students from “Hanoi Kids” – a volunteer tour service where the kids get to practice English in exchange for being shown around and refreshments.

Our tour guides were Le and Evan, a couple of 20ish year olds, Le is a native Hanoian and Nathan was from the country further out. Both had fairly good understanding and we said we wanted to see the old quarter, French quarter and generally get to know the city a little better. We walked, and we walked, through throngs, back alleys, through hidden bookshops, across impossibly busy streets – it was fun, and really interesting talking to some locals about life in Vietnam generally.

We learned, for example, that young people volunteer 2 years national service in a military capacity, either straight from secondary school or delayed by university study. We learned that families stay close, it is rare for family members not to all live together, we sensed the family ties were strong across the generations, the mother ruled the house and that it was possible to get lots of people into terrifyingly small houses and still be happy. We also learned of the love people have for “Uncle Ho”, and how invested they are in communism. They could not get their heads around our democracy, interesting perspectives.

One of my goals, when visiting Hanoi, was to acquire some of the local handmade paper. After some research I found a village driven paper making collective called Zo Project, who had a store on Train Street (so named because it is both a residential and thriving market street and train line) so we asked the boys to head us in that direction as part of our ramble. I managed to purchase some lovely thin sheets of duong paper and have rolled it and ensconced it in a tube for travel home – I cannot wait to try it.

Our return journey, we asked to be taken to a recommended place for Banh Mi (a baguette with various fillings, we chose bbq pork, but no liver pate – added to most Banh Mi apparently). A delicious and light lunch before returning to our room for a cool off.

When we were in Venice, we visited the Opera House but could not get tickets to the show. Jo did some research and found a show at the Hanoi Opera House so off we went. Entitled “Our Village” it was a brilliant cultural rendering of village life, seen through the eyes of circus. Everything was bamboo, performers used it as props, fastened it together into towering structures they then did gymnastics on. There were contortionists, acrobats, jugglers, an active orchestra that spent some time in the pit, the rest on stage. The music was mesmerising, a total soundscape with traditional instruments. We both were really wowed by the show, and the Opera House was a grand old building also.

After the performance we trekked to the other side of the lake for a meal. We started with fresh spring rolls (ricepaper filled with prawns, noodles, herbs and a dipping sauce we must find a recipe for. Delicious. We followed it by steaming bowls of crab noodle soup (the signature dish of the restaurant) which proved delicious and entertaining to eat (the noodles were slippery little suckers indeed).

Returning via the lake, beautiful reflections and hilarious/odd groups of ladies in exercise groups, sort of line dancing to various musics in the cool breezes from the water. Apparently this, and morning tai chi are common group exercise regimes for lots of the city and there must be agreed rosters of friends, neighbours, work colleagues and so on.

We staggered home, having got our step count up to 18600 steps, and we had to pack and reorganise for the trip to Halong Bay on the morrow. We are taking one bag, leaving our other luggage and some laundry for the hotel when we return. More to come…

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Food, glorious food

Posted on September 24, 2019 by wonko

Feeling hungry (if a little bloaty from airline food), we waited in the lobby for our walking tour guide Chris. We thought we had booked a private tour, but were accompanied by an English couple and a pair of gents for Sydney. This mix turned out to be fun regardless and off we trekked.

Spring rolls. Our first stop was really close, a small family in an alcove adjacent to a large hotel were deep frying ricepaper bundles filled with carrot, rice noodle, pork and other fresh ingredients, wrapped and fried in front of us, delicious as an appetiser.

After a brisk walk through crowded streets we stopped at a small family restaurant, white tiled, busy, and tried a dried beef salad. A delicious combination of green papaya, rice noodle, dried beef, jerky, peanuts and Vietnamese mint dressed in a dipping sauce. Little chillies on the side as garnish, such yummy tastes, fresh and crunchy. 

We were told we would visit many “family” restaurants, and had no real idea what that meant. Turns out the restaurant is part of their house, kitchen out front to show the freshness of the wares, living space above (we saw trap doors, ladders and lofts above us where the family lives). Real estate in Hanoi is prohibitively expensive, these shops have been owned by generations of families, handed down, generally specialising in a few dishes, cooking just them to a faithful clientele. We learned the hallmark of a good streetfood vendor also, common sense regarding cleanliness, preparing fresh and a strong local patronage ensure a good turnover and likely freshness. All useful information for the days ahead.

We were then taken to a family restaurant to try Bun Cha, a bowl of dipping sauce with pork shoulder ground to make char grilled meatballs and slices of belly pork. Accompanying it was a mound of rice noodles and salad of herbs. The instructions: mix it all in together, add chilli if you like and eat it any way you like. We are adept with chopsticks and had no trouble demolishing it. We had bottled Hanoi beer with this, apparently it was called “The Obama Special” as it was what was had by a visiting president a few years back – I can see why, just so delicious.

From there, en route to another shop we passed a tropical fruit stall and sampled mangosteen, sweet and sour little beauty it was as well. We then went to a Pho family restaurant and had a “dry” pho. Pho is the name of the noodle used, and this came with chicken, herbs and soy sauce instead of the ubiquitous fish sauce – quite delicious and different to the big bowl of broth and rare beef we have had before.

We stopped off at a local coffee vendor to try weasel poo coffee, well, Jo did as I do not drink coffee. The store owner prepared it several ways, Jo preferred the frothy variety with condensed milk but I think coffee snobs would have probably liked the first pressing black. It was difficult for them to understand I did not like coffee and could not drink it. We also got introduced to a bong-like smoking pipe locals use for tobacco.

Next on to a Banh Mi family restaurant, with the grandma watching Vietnamese general hospital (or days of our lives, episodic teledrama seems universally badly acted and loved by their viewers) while we supped on goose Banh mi with some savage but yummy home made chilli sauce. Toasted in a charcoal stove, the combination of crunchy baguette, fragrant herbs, crunchy salad and lush meat topped off with condiments made for a tasty end to our savoury journey.

Next on to a dessert restaurant, we chose pandan sticky rice topped with coconut ice cream, cooling and delicious. Seems lots of things are served in “sweet soup”, essentially sugar syrup, including poached fruits, seeds and other mystery objects. Nearly full, we then headed off to the coffee house that invented “Egg Coffee”. Born of necessity, when fresh milk is not common, a cappuccino like beverage is topped with a sabayon (whisked egg yolks, honey cooked gently to make a foamy stable egg foam). Jo had coffee, I had chocolate (interestingly I think it was Milo), a suitable topping off for what was a diverse and interesting culinary journey.

I want to say it was cooler as we walked back to our hotel, but the humidity was oppressive and we returned as tired and cooked sweatballs, ready for sleep. Too tired to blog, or even check photos taken, we set an alarm and went almost immediately to sleep. Such a terrific, busy, diverse, hectic, perfect day. More to come…

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