I apologise for not posting for quite some time, we really have had a lot of things happening. Most excitingly, it was my birthday, which we spent in Hanoi, Vietnam! Life's tough I know...... but what can you do! Anke (mum) was in Vietnam for 22 days of touring fun throughout Vietnam,
Trent and I on the other hand had 5 days, which overlapped Anke's tour and my birthday. I call that planning!! It was great to see her, even though we don't see each other all that often in Oz, it was good, especially on my birthday!! Hanoi was interesting, we had some lovely experiences, and some not so lovely experiences. Firstly, our hotel, Church Hotel http://www.churchhotel.com.vn/index.php?lan=e was fabulous, great service, really friendly, good English, and the room was fantastic - we had the roof top suite US$70 and it was worth it (this was our view). Koto is a restaurant/ cafe based on taking street kids off the street to complete a traineeship and an opportunity to get off the streets permanently. They currently have a 100% success rate in getting these kids work after their 18 months. http://www.streetvoices.com.au/
Hanoi is a beautiful city, the lake in the middle is quite lovely, and it's green in comparison to a large number of Asian cities. It has an interesting mix of cultures, its quite rural in a lot of ways, but the French and US have had a big impact on architechure and self image of Vietnam. 
Outside Hanoi (and we didn't go far) was incredibly green, there is so much rain, and rice fields and farms covering large tracks its a really pretty place. The workers still farm, dress and transport goods the same way they have for generations. There are conical hats, and ladies with baskets on poles over their shoulders everywhere. They are resourceful, and unlimited by the idea that road laws/ safety or physics should limit you in what you can fit on a bike/ motorbike/ truck. They are 
also very flexible and adaptable, seeing no reason restrick yourself to using one side of the road when the other side is free. Just take things slowly and carefully so everyone else knows what you're up to so they can avoid you. Somewhat terrifying the first day or so, but you get the hang of it!! 
It did make me appreciate why we experience some differences in driving styles on Aussie roads. And also made me appreciate the relative sanity of HK!!
Unfortunately, our experience of Hanoi was very different to what so many people had told us. We feel that tourism is having a really big impact on the place. Our experience of a lot of people were that they were rude, aggression and demanding - we just didn't want to shop/ go near a cyclo or even look interested most of the time because they were straight into you. We could totally understand it, given the gap between what we have and what they do, but it didn't make for a very pleasant time
Hanoi is a beautiful city, the lake in the middle is quite lovely, and it's green in comparison to a large number of Asian cities. It has an interesting mix of cultures, its quite rural in a lot of ways, but the French and US have had a big impact on architechure and self image of Vietnam. 
Outside Hanoi (and we didn't go far) was incredibly green, there is so much rain, and rice fields and farms covering large tracks its a really pretty place. The workers still farm, dress and transport goods the same way they have for generations. There are conical hats, and ladies with baskets on poles over their shoulders everywhere. They are resourceful, and unlimited by the idea that road laws/ safety or physics should limit you in what you can fit on a bike/ motorbike/ truck. They are 
also very flexible and adaptable, seeing no reason restrick yourself to using one side of the road when the other side is free. Just take things slowly and carefully so everyone else knows what you're up to so they can avoid you. Somewhat terrifying the first day or so, but you get the hang of it!! 
It did make me appreciate why we experience some differences in driving styles on Aussie roads. And also made me appreciate the relative sanity of HK!!Unfortunately, our experience of Hanoi was very different to what so many people had told us. We feel that tourism is having a really big impact on the place. Our experience of a lot of people were that they were rude, aggression and demanding - we just didn't want to shop/ go near a cyclo or even look interested most of the time because they were straight into you. We could totally understand it, given the gap between what we have and what they do, but it didn't make for a very pleasant time
I also had it in my head that we'd find some really nice unique/ unusual pieces that we could bring home to start making our place a bit more us. But there was lots and lots of the same. Lacquerware, silk scarves, decorated sandals. To the point where it would be the identical design, shop after shop. And I guess most disappointingly, we had seen most of it in Australia (Freedom, Target, Home, House etc etc) for pretty much the same price. I know that's not the people of Hanoi's fault, they are proud of their export of goods, and I'm sure its doing wonders for their economy, it was just disappointing for us. We also felt a little let down by our Lonely Planet - prices were well out of date, its just a word of warning to anyone heading to Vietnam soon, double your lonely planet figures (at least), especially if you're on a tight budget you'll need to expect it to be quite a bit more than the figures quoted. Our sense is that Hanoi & Vietnam is moving rapidly, and not necessarily for the better at the moment.
However, our last day was definitely our best, we went to Koto and ended up going to a little lacquer shop where Anke had been the night before, and finally saw (& bought) some unique pieces.
(Son Lacquer - 119 Hang Gai St, Hanoi, in case anyone is going). Our recommendation, especially after speaking to Mum too, would be visit soon, and don't spend too long in the cities - I think this was our mistake -but with meeting up with Anke we didn't have time to explore outside Hanoi very far. Going off Anke's recommendations, Halong Bay is a must, Sapa is interesting but very aggressive, Mekong is really good. I don't think we saw the best side of Vietnam - Anke is a lot more positive about it, so we're thinking we need to be a little more strategic in planning our next holiday. Thankfully, we're thinking we'll be in HK for a while now so we've got some time to do that!!
HK is heating up, temperatures are heading up to the high 20's, humidity following to 90% plus. It was into these conditions we welcomed our first visitors. Marianne & Stephen arrived last weekend for a brief stay to say hello and get a taste of HK for themselves. We had a really lovely relaxing weekend, Stanley market,
Deep Water & Repulse bays, Lantau to see the Buddha and a return trip on the Ngong Ping Skyrail. Have to say big recommendation - we definitely recommend the Skyrail for any of our future visitors - quite impressive!! (Remind us to buy tix beforehand, 90 mins was a long wait, even with the infinite snaking abilities of the Chinese!!). We hope Stephen & Marianne enjoyed their time with us as much as we enjoyed having them! And we think we're ready for more visitors, if anyone happens to be planning a holiday our way!Anyway thats us for a little while, we're both into global teleconferences for the coming weeks, Mon Trent, Thurs Nik both at 8pm - god its fun being part of multinational!! ;-)
1 comment:
I am amazed!! We found the lonely planet to be full of really useful and pretty spot on information. We spent about 4 days there I think, with a 2 day trip out to Halong bay to break it up. We also bought one of our favourite pieces of art there! It sucks you didn't find interesting unique stuff. Did you visit the french quarter? Hanoi has 2 older quarters which are chock full of gorgeous little shops with art, silk, carvings and so much more! I know what you mean about the lacquered stuff, it's everywhere!! but we came away with quite a bit of very local wares. Did you hit Bobby Chinn's? the best cocktails I've had anywhere! and also some cool art and outrageously good atmosphere. You absolutely have to go to Hoi An when you head back, definately my favourite place. I wish you'd loved it more. Nevermind, there's always next time.
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