Ha Long, Hanoi and (Alternative) History

As I previewed, we both slept exceptionally well in Ha Long.  I was up first – shocker! – and I tiptoed to the curtain, hoping against hope that I’d be greeted by clear skies.  Alas, it was gray, just like the day before.  If there was any saving grace it was that there was no rain; just the constant threat of it.

Breakfast was quite good, and it brings to mind that I think I forgot to mention that the breakfast buffets at all of our hotels were incredibly similar.  They all had an omelet, egg, and crepe station, along with traditional Western buffet items.  Lots of French-looking (if not tasting) pastries, along with large and elaborate stations for fresh fruit.  Then there would be an Asian station, usually where they would offer you fresh-made and customized Pho, the traditional Vietnamese meal.  There were also Asian buffet items, usually noodle and rice dishes, along with dinner-like meat dishes, sushi, and dumplings.  It was always a bit overwhelming.  The Japanese tour group was at breakfast the same time as us.  At this hotel, the Asian food was on the far other side of the restaurant, so we all ended up naturally segregated.  It did show that there were clear preferences as to what folks like in the morning.  I have also failed to talk about Vietnamese coffee.  I was shocked to learn that they are the number two grower of coffee in the world, behind Brazil.  I don't think I'd even even heard of coffee from Vietnam.  It is grown in the mountainous regions, which we did not see, and is known to be particularly bitter.  In reading later, we import very little Vietnamese coffee into the United States on account of its bitter qualities.  With this in mind, they have taken to serve "traditional Vietnamese coffee," which is about two third black coffee and one third condensed milk.  That considerable amount of sweetness helps overwhelm the strong coffee.  Each breakfast also had coffee stations, always including lots of condensed milk and sometimes pre-mixed iced coffee with the condensed milk already in there.

Most of our day would be taken up by a cruise through the bay, which included an island stop and hike, following by lunch prepared and served on the ship.  The boat terminal was fairly new and built on a promontory which was covered in very expensive looking villas and mansions.  Tony explained that a wealthy Vietnamese man secured the contract for the island and agreed to build the port, in exchange for control of all the land.  He then built all of the villas, also in hopes of attracting rich Asians, to include Australians.  I wonder if Australians consider themselves Asian?  Probably not.  I digress.  As in the city, though, all of the villas looked empty, though their elaborate lawns and gardens were all kempt and tidy.  It almost felt like we were driving through a movie set, as there were absolutely no people or cars.  Right before we reached the huge – an empty – pier parking lot, we passed a life-sized King Kong.  He looked over the road and was part of something called “King Kong Park,” though what was actually in the park, I cannot say.  We learned that the movie “Kong: Skull Island” was filmed here in 2017.  To mark that, they built the amusement-like park, hoping to cash in on legions of loyal fans.  None of us, however, had ever heard of the movie, and in researching, I see that it bombed at the box office.  Oh well, more planning that failed.

Along the way I also noted a lot downed trees and vegetation, and lots of buildings – particularly along the large pier – which were missing patches of roof coverings, and there were some boarded-up windows.  That was all damage from a huge cyclone (Eastern Hemisphere hurricane) that went through last fall.  Tony said most of the damage had been repaired, so given what I was seeing, it must have been much worse. 

King Kong...yes, King Kong

The Marina in Ha Long

As in Cu Chi, Tony made sure we were the first arrivals of the day, and our bus sat alone in the massive parking lot that could easily accommodate a 100 or more buses.  We walked through a sparkling new terminal building, with lots of workers just sitting around for want of work.  Our two-level ship was waiting for our group, and we were soon off.  It was cool, but not cold, and despite the gray, it was not raining or even misting.  The lower level was glass enclosed, with large elegant tables for sitting (and this is where we ate lunch later).  The whole upper deck was for viewing, and there were decks aft and ore on the lower level, too.  As soon as we cleared the harbor, we started coming up on the granite islands which dot the bay.  There were lots of fishing boats, too, and we eventually crossed a major shipping lane, with large container ships and a steady stream of very elegant looking cruise vessels.  The latter were overnight ships, which take long groups out into the bay and folks stay and party on the boats overnight.  We were told this is particularly popular for Chinese tourists.

The views were simply stunning, and unlike anywhere we’d visited before.  We saw lots of birds, to include large numbers of eagles.  The water was clean and greenish.  We cruised among the islands for an hour or so, before we arrived at our first and only stop.  We were to be dropped on one side of an island (with people given the option to remain on board or disembark), and then walk up about 150 stairs, at which point we entered a huge limestone cavern, which essentially was the entire center of the small island.  I was not sure what to expect, but whatever my expectations, they were exceeded.  The caverns were massive, and as we walked down and up, from chamber to chamber, each one seemed to have its one geology.  This was a really enjoyable hike, and a definite highlight of the trip for me.  We were sorry for the few folks who remained behind, scared off by the stairs, which were in fact not arduous at all.

Disembarking for Our Cavern Hike

We emerged on another side of the island, and our boat had sailed around to meet us.  We could still see the original landing area, and by now, a steady stream of boats were arriving, depositing passengers, and then pulling back out to make room for the next arrival.  Whereas we had had the caverns to ourselves, I imagined hoards of new arrivals and a certainly less majestic visit for those poor folks.  It appeared that most of the other groups were large Chinese contingents.

Emerging Back Out from Caverns

Back on board, we settled in, were offered drinks, and then a multi-course lunch was served.  I had seen them preparing the food earlier, as we departing Ha Long.  There had to have been at least 10 courses, all served family style, and we left so much uneaten food; not for quality, but for quantity.  I felt bad, but I certainly enjoyed the dishes, all of which were unique so far, and they relied heavily on fish and shellfish from the bay.

We arrived back at the pier around 1:30 or so, and after visits to the “happy room” we found our bus in the now nearly half full bus parking lot.  I am still not sure where all of these other tourists had overnighted, as the city seemed so dead.  My current working theory is that they came on day trips from Hanoi.

Speaking of Hanoi, we were soon on the road and headed there.  Most of us were tired, and certainly full, so we had quiet and sleep time until we made one more “happy room” stop.  Soon after leaving there, we started to hit the suburbs of Hanoi.  It is the capital, and though a second city in terms of population, it still has almost 9 million inhabitants.  The blocks and blocks a tall apartment complexes contrasted with HCMC, which while larger, seemed to have fewer such large housing high-rise complexes.  It was even grayer here, likely due to the temperature inversion, which also traps smog.  That, combined with the still not working dehumidifier, meant that the scenes out the window were quite dreary. 

Traffic was just as intense as HCMC, as were the numbers of scooters.  It was raining now, but that didn’t seem to deter any of the scooter traffic.  Local are obviously used to it, as they were all donned up in slickers and protective gear, though I’m sure they were still getting soaked by all the road spray.  We exited the main road into town and drove down into the city proper, and here the contrasts with HCMC were even more noticeable.  The streets were markedly more narrow, and the buildings more dense.  I should have noted earlier, too, that the VAST majority of buildings in Vietnam are very narrow.  This is an artifact of how buildings used to be taxed, with the levy based on building width. As such, everything was built very narrow to pay the least tax.  Though we were told the laws have since changed, the narrowness become cultural and even new buildings are still built very narrow and very high.  I personally didn’t find it attractive, but no one asked me.

Our hotel was located in a nice neighborhood, but with the narrow streets, it felt crammed into its location.  It, too, was narrow.  The staff at this hotel, however, was by far the most friendly and accommodating of any on our trip; that’s saying a lot, as we’d had excellent service throughout.  Our room was on the small side, but still nice, and we were relieved to be far enough back to have zero street noise. 

Painting in Our Hanoi Hotel

Yet Another Bathroom Window

As I’ve written before, our trip included relatively few sights related to the Vietnam War, and when it did, those visits were optional.  One tour not offered to us was a visit to the infamous “Hanoi Hilton,” or Hao Lo Prison.  Tony talked about this during our drive and said that we were all free to visit on our own, but he cautioned us that the exhibitions are “written from the point of view of patriotic Vietnamese.”  K and I had already decided long before that we wanted to visit, but they closed at 5:00pm.  This meant that we’d have to move quickly.  Right after our bags were delivered to our room, we went down and asked the hotel to arrange a taxi.  They were great, and they worked out exactly how much it would cost, etc.  The cab was there quickly and it took about 20 minutes to drive to the prison through very heavy traffic.  It cost all of $4, which I doubt covered the cost of gas.  The prison was located adjacent to a very high hotel complex, and in an area of town which still maintained several large and elegant buildings from the French colonial period.  I do not know if they were original or if they were rebuilt after the war, given all the damage inflicted on Hanoi by U.S. bombing. 

We paid our admission and purchased two audio guides to use while navigating the large complex.   We learned that what remains is only a small portion of the prison, the rest having been demolished to make way for the massive skyscraper hotel next door.  The majority of the museum tells the story of how the prison was built by the French during occupation and used to detain and torture “Vietnamese freedom fighters.”  The displays were incredibly graphic, to include all kinds of torture devices, guillotines, and gut-wrenching pictures of tortured, killed, and detained prisoners.  It was, also, quite busy, with lots of school groups.  We finally had to skip ahead, as it was all very depressing. 

Next was what we wanted to see, which was the portion dedicated to the prison’s use to detain U.S. prisoners of war, to include the late Senator John McCain.  There were about five rooms dedicated to this era, and here the Vietnamese spin was both evident and discouraging.  There were lots of pictures of smiling American prisoners, to include basketball games and art classes.  The audio guide told us of the humane treatment and claimed that the moniker “Hanoi Hilton” was devised by the POWs, given the level of relative luxury in which they were allegedly kept.  It was, in fact, too much to take.  I did, however, enjoy an exhibit about the eventual reconciliation with Vietnam, to include a large display to John McCain’s subsequent visits and his work to improve relations.

Entrance to Hao Lo (Hanoi Hilton) Prison Museum in Hanoi

Most of the Original Prison Was Torn Down To Make Way for This Hotel

One of the Rooms Dedicated to U.S. POW's

We wrapped up right as the museum was closing.  We were both glad to have seen it, but we agreed that with the extreme slant in interpretation, many folks in our group would have been beyond angry and disgusted.  It was now, however, that I used the Grab (Uber-like) app for the first time.  I had figured out that you could order a proper car, rather than a scooter, and within five minutes a nice car pulled up and drove us back to our hotel without issue.

It had been a long day, and we were on our own for dinner.  I had done some research for restaurants near the hotel, and I cross-referenced that to a list Tony had provided.  We settled on one which appeared very close by.  I used Google Maps to walk us there, and it was shown as being close and on the same street as our hotel.  We walked a ways down and all of sudden it showed that we’d passed the place.  It kept jumping around, and I’m sure it was an artifact of the very narrow streets and dense urban environment, which were messing with the GPS function.  We had given up and were walking back to the hotel, resigned to ask for directions. As we were directly across for our hotel and about to cross the street, K looked over her shoulder, and the restaurant we wanted was literally right behind us.  Sigh.  We both felt a little foolish.  It was built in one of the very narrow buildings, and we were quickly seated.  As soon as we’d ordered drinks, a small group of American tourists (about 10) arrived with their guide.  They sat across from us and we got to listen in on their chatter.  It sounded like they were just beginning their tour, and the guide was helping them with the food, etc.  It was interesting to hear other people’s impressions.

The meal was quite good, and – yes – it was Vietnamese again.  Still, we thoroughly enjoyed it.  We were thankful, too, to only have to cross the street to reach our hotel.  While K turned in, I went up and used the gym, which was quite nice, not to mention the fact that I had it to myself.  After such a long day, and the workout, I was more than ready for bed when I made it back down.

Our Hotel in Hanoi (Note How Skinny)