Hello again.
Vietnam has always interested me. My earliest and most vivid memories as a kid were watching the news on TV during the war. NEVER thought I'd go to Hanoi. It's a real mind-bend for me to be here. And I've had few experiences in the 30 years since to change my perceptions.

A friend warned me that it's intense here. That's probably part of the appeal for me. Unfortunately, I didn't read up much on the country before arriving. And my knowledge of the war is really marginal. Anyway, I'm enjoying the trip here a lot. Will be canceling my trip to Cambodia to spend more time here - Lan Ha bay cruise.

I headed off quickly to Halong Bay to get some warmer weather. Surprise, it's winter here. Very foggy and cool - like Seattle. Leaving Hanoi, it's a two-hour minibus ride to the coast. In the cities, French colonial architecture is still popular. Tall, skinny buildings in pastel colors with lots of balconies. And of course the double doors. In the country, there's lots of rice fields. There's a few oxen plowing. And scattered in there are laborers in conical hats. It's kind of funny. Even though I've seen the pictures before, it's still a whole new experience to see it in person. The locals make the work look easy, but it's not.

In Vietnamese, Halong Bay means 'descending dragon.' It's an important and popular site. Around the 11th century, the Vietnamese defeated the invading Mongols three different times. One time they hid bamboo spears in the caves and surprised them during an attack. Another time, they plunged long bamboo poles into the bottom of the bay. The Mongols' boats got stuck during low tide. The Vietnamese then fired flaming arrows on the boats and burned the fleet.

I was on a tour that took a short boat ride to Cat Ba Island. Have you ever seen King Kong where they stumble across that mysterious island in the mist? Picture about 200. There are large communities that live on houseboats in the bays. It's hard to imagine, but with a few imports from the mainland they are pretty much self-sufficient. We hopped on a couple boats to see. They have nets in the water holding fish, eels, crabs and other food until they need it. Laundry just hangs outside. And there are lots of little taxi-boats transporting people around. One night we slept on the boat in the bay - Bai Tu Long bay tours.

The next day we took a short trek up into the mountains. Our guide was Tam. An easy day for him is 15 kilometers. He could dart through the jungles as quick as the animals without breaking a sweat. Tam was continually waiting for us to catch up. He joked at how much we were 'swimming' after only a few kilometers. I really did my best to keep up with him. The 'trail' changed from a dirt path, to steep rocks, to jagged rocks, to narrow bamboo pole bridges to vines hanging from trees to rock faces. We did summit three mountaintops that morning. Had some magnificent views of the surrounding mountains disappearing into the mist. My thighs were burning after only two hours. For the next few days, I was walking awkwardly and off-balance. The guy behind me ended up straining his arch. Tam noticed I kept up better than the others. So I told him I was half Vietnamese - Halong boat tours.

One afternoon, two British guys and I walked around Cat Ba city for a while. I always enjoy going to the local market. A great way to learn about the culture. At one store, we were haggling for some fruit and milk. Between the currency, exchange rate and limited language we were having fun trying to work it all out. Two older Vietnamese ladies we were bargaining with knew we knew the game and eventually complimented us. So I motioned back and said "Zeh-eh-tu." They smiled, then kept going. So I responded "Chi dep lam." They giggled and asked if we'd come back the next day. We did. At this point, I have to give credit to the Vietnamese girls back at the hotel for teaching me the only words I can pronounce correctly: "pretty" and "you're beautiful."

Some inhabitants of Cat Ba Island are impossible to miss. Groups of little kids selling postcards for a living. The successful ones are persistent and perceptive. One of their many lines: "Where you from?" To turn the tables on them, I asked them where they thought. England? Australia? They never got it right. Their best guess, after about 15 tries, was New Zealand. Even when I told them America, they didn't believe me. Remember the Swiss couple I met in Laos? They showered and changed clothes every few days. Since then I've been going European.

Next stop, Hanoi.

Contributed by Eric
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