Central and Northern Vietnam: Cool Sights, Great Food!

Hoi An

We took a quick flight from the tropics of Phu Cuoc to the costal middle of Vietnam. Hoi An city was relatively untouched during the war years. The old town area is still the original trading port with many original buildings and together “present a traditional townscape of the 17th and 18th centuries, the survival of which is unique in the region. The town continues to this day to be occupied and function as a trading port and center of commerce.” — To quote the UNESCO World Heritage listing about Hoi An. The old town was filled with old buildings (all painted yellow) and narrow streets and lots of tourist souvenir shops. It is a very charming place.

This is a big tourist destination, with many Asian tourists arriving in tour buses in the late morning from Da Nang, and departing in the evening back to Da Nang. Western tourists typically stay in local hotels in Hoi An. There are Japanese, Chinese and western influences here, due to the worldwide trade that took place here through to the 19^th century. Festive colored lanterns line the river and hang on the tourist boats that move up and down the river. We walked through the night market, with lots of individual vendors selling pretty much the same tourist souvenir stuff in each stall.

fruit vendors
Our Hotel
Banana and Nutella Crepes
Typical original 17th century building
Japanese Bridge from 17th century
colorful lanterns on the river
Buddhist temple

We had a local dish call Cao Lau, which we liked very much and had again the following day. Noodles, pork, greens, croutons, broth and a little heat.

Tam Coc

This is a region with many steep limestone hills poking out of the ground. Very beautiful. We rode scooters out to a boat dock on the river where we were rowed around the hills and through some impossible-looking caves with low head clearance. We stopped to visit some buddhist temples at a couple spots on the river.

Dave gassing up his moto
Asian bathrooms…not much privacy

Don’t forget to duck.

Bai Dinh Pagoda

This is the largest Buddhist complex in South East Asia, with old and new buildings. We didn’t have much time here, so we mainly focused on the new, large pagoda. We ended up riding motos home in the dark, which was cold and a bit scary as we were sharing the road with large trucks….Not the greatest plan…

Ha Long Bay

We signed up for a “Luxury Bus” ride from Tam Coc to Ha Long City. This turned out to be a cramped ride in a van, but it got us there on time. The next morning we boarded a small cruise ship (21 cabins) for a three day/two night cruise through some of the islands of Ha Long Bay. These appeared to be similar geology to the hills in Tam Coc, but now as impressive islands. Each day there were excursions and activities. At this point I had developed some sciatica so I opted to rest, while Susie spent one day riding bikes and visiting villages on one of the islands. The food excessive in quantity, but monotonous in composition. Boiled cabbage and squid in various forms for three days in a row is not that interesting. The islands are beautiful.

Our ship
making a fresh roll
Waay too much squid and octapus
fish farms
view from the throne room

Hanoi

Dave’s first place to visit was the Hanoi French Hospital for a doctor’s consult and an MRI, followed by results and consultation on the MRI results. An old back injury to a lumbar disk has finally impinged on the spinal nerve enough to cause that lovely pain shooting down the leg. Laying is good, standing is good, sitting is iffy, bending over is a no no.

We did do some exploring here, just in the city. We attended a traditional water puppet show and did another walking food tour with Pho again (the North Vietnamese version, which is without the veggies and a bit saltier), Bahn Mi (this time without the pig pate), and a few other things. Walking around is an adventure.