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| Thang Long - Hanoi 2007 Having grown up in America before living many years in France, Vietnam holds a special place in my psyche. The danger that awaited my 18th birthday. The country able to defeat any invader. So off we went for winter break 2007, focusing on the former North Vietnam and the French colonial capital of Hanoi. Excellent food and views on Halong Bay as expected. What I didn't expect was the visible pride, both in the past (even in the good things brought by invading Chinese / French / Americans), and for the bright economic future that is approaching fast. |
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| 2007 Feb 25- March 5 |
| Water puppets, temples and markets in old town, what the French called the "quartier indigène". The poor short shelf-life catfish met a violent end, splattering fish guts on Luc's feet. A pedal-bike tour through town brought back our smiles and appetite. |
| Vietnam is beyond bikes, but not yet to car ownership phase. Instead the city is noisy with small motorbikes, and absolutely everyhing is transported on them. The beautiful art nouveau Long Bien bridge built in 1899-1901 has a twist in it where the US airforce took out Eiffel's girder work. After harrowing traffic and views from the bridge, time to relax with some rice noodles. |
| Hanoi is supposedly one of the best-preserved French colonial cities in the world, and the monuments are amazing, especially the Opera and the palace of the governors of Indochina. The Britten opera we attended became surreal as the traveling company lighting director (from Brussels!) tried in vain to communicate with the local theatre staff. |
| Back in the city we visited several temples, many of which were still full of locals since it was just after the Tet new year celebrations. But after many smoky and noisy visits, it was nice to return to our room at the Sofitel, formerly the Metropole Hotel - the Raffles of Vietnam. Beautiful, calm and elegant, with yoga class as an added extra. I'd love to come back to Vietnam soon and see how it changes. I am happy though to see that they have the foresight to keep the history they have, even as they accelerate into a very different future of Thang Long, the Soaring Dragon. |
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| A dreamy John McCain was a guest at the "Hanoi Hilton". There is still some propaganda (I think the American protesters cared more about ending the war than Vietnamese unification), but "Harry Potter Va Hoi Phuong Hoang" was on sale in a government book shop. We walked past the old citadel to visit Uncle Ho along with many reverent local tourists. |
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| We spent a night on the Emeraude, an art deco ship cruising among the amazing monoliths of Halong Bay, on the gulf of Tonkin. Absolutely Amazing scenery, only disturbed by a noisy group from...the French-speaking Belgian parliament. On the other side of the world we kept running into Belgians. Still, the relaxing pace, visits to caves, cooking class, tai chi lesson and squid fishing all amounted a excellent side trip. |