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We left Hanoi bright and early for Halong Bay.  Getting there was unbelievably awful somewhat unpleasant.  Four hours in a tightly packed van over bumpy roads is not the most pleasant thing to do in the world, but when the person next to Scott got motion sickness and started throwing up (less than a quarter through the drive), it become monumentally unpleasant.  Fortunately, because we travel with kids, we had an entire backpack filled with wet wipes, paper towel rolls, and other necessary items to give to the woman to clean up the mess.  Gone, but not forgotten. (Thanks, nose.)

This sweet find at the bathroom break made up for some of the ride:

Once we got to the harbor though, it all became worth it.  Scott booked us on a three day, two night cruise on Rosa Cruises.  

We had two connecting cabins which were small but really nice.  Each of our bedrooms had its own bathroom.  

Knowing we were going on a “junk boat”, I never expected any of it to be really nice, so the surprise was excellent!

The first day we went to a pearl farm where we learned about how cultured pearls are made.  We were all shocked to learn that only 30% of the (over a million) oysters they had would produce a pearl.  They demonstrated how they take a small round ball made of part of the oyster shell and implant it, along with a small piece of membrane of a different oyster, into each oyster hoping that the oyster will live and will produce a large beautiful pearl.  The science behind it was really impressive, but I am surprised they haven’t figured out a way to improve on the 50% mortality rate with a further 20% of oysters not producing.

After that, the boat anchored and most people went swimming and kayaking.  The views, even in the fog, were breathtaking.

Day two involved breakfast and then moving to a day boat.  The day boat took us out to do more swimming, kayaking, and a tour through a local fishing village (where the locals live on the water).  We also went out with a local fisherman to see how he dropped the net into the water, drove large circles around it while beating on the side of the boat to get the fish to swim towards his net, and then pulled it up out of the water with everything from fish to crabs to langostines caught in it.

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That night we went squid fishing off the back of the Rosa boat.  We didn’t catch any that night, but our two new Canadian friends who were on the boat caught two squid.  The next night, Keali caught one.  It was all very exciting.  And late.

Day three, we stopped at one of the many caves that are in Halong Bay and walked through it.  The crowds were horrible.  At one point, you could barely walk through the hoards of people.  

After about five or six minutes though, it opened up into one of the largest caverns I’ve seen.  It was spectacular to see.  

A quick tinder ride back to the boat after that, took us to Keali making homemade Vietnamese fried spring rolls followed by lunch.  The tour was over.  We boarded the van and headed back to Hanoi, but fortunately this ride involved no one being sick.

Halong Bay is an unbelievably beautiful place.  The legends that go along with it that involve dragons and gems and rising mountain islands to protect the country are endearing.  It’s a shame that there are parts of the bay that are being destroyed by humans.  Specifically, people are dropping their rubbish into the water.  No one is cleaning it up. And there doesn’t appear to be any regulations against it.  It is what I figure a place looks like with no EPA.  It’s unfortunate.  With hundreds of boats on the water, Halong Bay won’t last as long if they don’t start working to keep it clean. 

Lastly, we spent one night back in Hanoi before flying to Bangkok. The kids found this kitten in a shop in Hanoi that they wanted put up on the blog, maybe because of the tail or maybe because of the leash. I don’t know. So here you go. 

Video of other highlights and photos:

We finally arrived Hanoi after the umpteen hour delay from Dong Hoi. It was pretty late and in true everything-has-gotten-screwed-up style, we landed at our VRBO at 10:05pm which was five minutes after the last restaurant closed.  The kids hadn’t eaten properly since lunch, had fallen asleep on the drive (missing the incredibly beautifully lit Red River Bridge), and woken up tired and hungry.  Joy.  Caden fortunately passed out on his bed, but Keali wanted food.  After searching the area for almost 30 minutes, she settled on some raisin bread from a local bakery.

The week didn’t really improve too much.  While the VRBO was amazing in a western comfort sort of way and located at the top of the largest shopping mall I have ever seen, the weather was dreary and the whole family just wasn’t so impressed with the city.

The kids did enjoy spending one rainy day on the ice rink at the bottom of the hotel.

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Probably the coolest thing we did in terms of exploring Hanoi was sign up for a private walking tour from a local university student.  He walked us all over the French Quarter and the Old Quarter.  We were able to stop and visit Ho Chi Minh’s house (where he “wrote” the Declaration of Independence),

taught us about the White Horse Temple,

 explained multiple street foods to us (while we sampled and learned a favorite was bun cha),

saw the first bridge that the French colonists built that connect Hanoi with surrounding areas, showed us the murial that was made six years ago during the 1000 years of Hanoi celebration,

and explained the layout of the districts.  As it turns out, all the clothes are sold on one street, paper goods on another, toys on another, and so on.  The streets are aptly named things like “Mattress Street”, “Paper Street”, etc.  I appreciated the tour especially because it was free of charge.  The local university students walk foreigners around various areas of the city in order to teach them the rich culture, but also so that the students can practice their English skills.  Truly a win-win.

Regarding the White Horse Temple (officially named the Bach Ma Temple), our guide gave us a great deal of information about it.  One of the stories that goes along with the temple was that almost all of them have a crane and turtle statue (or painting).  The story (that we all loved) that goes along with this is demonstrative of the ying-yang that the Vietnamese people try to achieve in their lives.  The crane is a tall bird who, during times of drought, helps his turtle friend get to water by flying him to water.  In return, the turtle helps the crane during the rainy seasons (monsoons) by surfacing on the water to allow the crane a place to land in the flooding waters.  The ying-yang is in many things in Vietnamese culture.  The food has both a salty and sour and sweet taste, meat is served with vegetables to balance it, hot with cold, etc.  I kept hoping for a yang to the ying of the motorscooters everywhere, honking all hours of the day and night.  I never did find it.  The closest I found was that through all the honking and obliviousness of any possible traffic laws, there never appeared to be wrecks or even road rage.  Amazing.

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Other highlights of Hanoi were fairly limited to a only a few more.

We made it to a water puppet show which I was sure to be mind-numblingly boring.  In fact, it ended up being really entertaining.  A local band comprised of about nine musicians played and sang music to the performance of the water puppets.

Each short scene told a different story which all came together at the very end.  Even the legendary crane and turtle made an appearance.  I would recommend a water puppet show to any visitors to get a feel for not only the entertainment and stories of the locals, but also to see and hear new musical instruments that are rarely (never?) heard in the USA.  The one most impressive to me was the đàn bầu.  ​

​We were so confused by how the woman was playing it that after the show, we went to a nearby music shop to see how it worked.  I know the oboe and the violin are supposed to be two of the most difficult instruments to master, so this thing much fall on the “impossible” list.

One other interesting and educational stop we made was to go to the Hanoi Hilton, also known as the Hỏa Lò Prison.  A huge amount of this old prison has been torn down and converted to other buildings, but the front and several of the main prison wards are still open and give a decent feel for the atrocities committed at the prison.  I was also surprised to learn that the American POWs were treated as well as the Vietnamese government said they were.

I bet Senator John McCain might be surprised to know how well he was treated when he was a prisoner there.  *Ahem*

Lastly, we had a decent time at the night market that only happens during the weekend nights in the Old Quarter.  We fed on local street food (most passable but a couple of things were really good).

Overall, I’m happy we went to see Hanoi, but comparing it to other places we have been in Hanoi, I must say that I still think there are many better places to visit.  Braving the motorcycles and traffic to walk around didn’t bother me at all, nor did the hectic chaotic scene always unfolding around us, it just didn’t have that many things to do/learn and the food was the least palatable of any of the places we have been.  But still, glad we saw it.

Slideshow of Hanoi: