Ha Noi

I feel like I have a lot of catching up to do on here. It's not that I'm trying to cram a lot of experiences into a short time or see a lot of things as quickly as possible, but I keep seeing so many incredible things that I forget where I left off and can't process it all at once. Where were we? Hanoi?

I like Hanoi a lot, actually. It felt a little scammy at first, although that's probably because I was busy trying to arrange that Halong Bay trip that turned out to be a bit of a gong show. I've now seen Hanoi during Tet, where everything was shut down and locals were buzzing, and in it's "normal" state, I guess you could say. The streets are crowded with motorcycles, scooters and cyclos that seem to follow no pattern or rules of the road whatsoever. Cafes serving Vietnamese coffee and croissants - a remnant of French Colonization - dot the streets between street kitchens serving pho, and little shops selling vibrant silk scarves, lanterns, handicrafts and touristy clothes. The lake in the old quarter serves as a good landmark for the area and is home to a Pagoda which houses a 250 kilo tortoise that supposedly came out of the lake several decades ago. Many locals swear that there is yet another turtle of the same epic proportions in the green slimy lake, though no one has confessed to seeing one in person.

I've spent quite a few nights here between excursions to Halong Bay and Sapa, and a total of maybe 3 days wandering through the streets, checking out museums and pagodas, and hanging out in some of the cozy little cafes. I love traveling to countries that have a ton of history, especially coming from Canada which is still so young... so today I checked out the National History Museum, which turned out to go ALL the way back to cave man times in Vietnam right through to the revolution. Interesting artefacts, though I think a bit was lost on me without full explanations in English, of what exactly I was looking at. Before heading to Sapa, I also checked out the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and saw the man himself, lying in a highly secured and sophisticated marble building, embalmed and preserved against his wishes. The Vietnamese are very strict about the whole ordeal of visiting dead Ho Chi Minh - all cameras, bags, sunglasses, hats, etc. are confiscated at the gate, you must be properly dressed, and speaking is absolutely prohibited. Guests are led into the complex in a strict single-file line and the guards - armed with bayonets - do not hesitate to blow their whistle or firmly 'shush' anyone who so much as whispers. Pretty crazy. Between museums and pagodas, I've wandered around the lake several times snapping photos of locals still vacationing after Tet, and spent quite a while sitting in rooftop cafes, people-watching. As far as big Asian cities go, I think Hanoi is a pretty awesome place to have as a home base and despite the scammy tour agencies (that all copycat each other and use the same names), is full of friendly locals, good food and some pretty cool sights.