Hanoi
Am back from Hanoi with a bit of a tummy upset, which is funny, because last I recalled, I ate WAAAAAAY more roadside food in India and Mexico and Cambodia than on this trip and was just fine. I am also feeling oddly exhausted by the whole trip - the traffic, people, noise and smells of an unfamiliar Third World city (all things I used to relish) now grate on my fraying middle-aged nerves a lot more quickly than in the past. Well everything points to the fact that I'm now a little old lady cum boring civil servant. Ah well. I accept my fate and resign myself to padding around in flipflops and sipping martinis at the Sofitel, which is exactly what Diana and I did after a particularly harrowing motorcycle ride through the city.
It's not that it was a bad trip, not at all - it was just not very... restful. I think the traffic in particular was a huge source of stress. On the plus side: the Vietnamese were smiley and helpful without being intrusive, the weather was absolutely beautiful (low 20s, clear blue skies), there was a fair amount to see and do in Hanoi (watching the sunrise and the city awaken over the misty lake, the water puppetry performance that tickled the both of us so much, the cheap and decent coffee + food, great shopping), and Halong Bay was wonderful. We kayaked into a beautiful sunset, and spent a chilly night on the ship's deck because our room was directly above the engine and too noisy/stinky for us to sleep in - but oh what a night: first the stars winking, splashed across the sky, then fading as the moon rose, a rich deep yellow, over the pitch-black sea, the moonlight outlining stark, shadowy, limestone karsts rising from the water like some otherworldly, lunar landscape; and then - awakening in the wee hours to the sound of water lapping and kites gliding, circling in a mauve-streaked sky.
My next vacation will be beachy and bummy, I think. Except - I think I have to bring the kids to Delhi. If there's a city with WORSE traffic than Hanoi and Phnom Penh that I've seen thus far - Delhi has to be it. And with 15 kids in tow? Just shoot me now, urgh.
It's not that it was a bad trip, not at all - it was just not very... restful. I think the traffic in particular was a huge source of stress. On the plus side: the Vietnamese were smiley and helpful without being intrusive, the weather was absolutely beautiful (low 20s, clear blue skies), there was a fair amount to see and do in Hanoi (watching the sunrise and the city awaken over the misty lake, the water puppetry performance that tickled the both of us so much, the cheap and decent coffee + food, great shopping), and Halong Bay was wonderful. We kayaked into a beautiful sunset, and spent a chilly night on the ship's deck because our room was directly above the engine and too noisy/stinky for us to sleep in - but oh what a night: first the stars winking, splashed across the sky, then fading as the moon rose, a rich deep yellow, over the pitch-black sea, the moonlight outlining stark, shadowy, limestone karsts rising from the water like some otherworldly, lunar landscape; and then - awakening in the wee hours to the sound of water lapping and kites gliding, circling in a mauve-streaked sky.
My next vacation will be beachy and bummy, I think. Except - I think I have to bring the kids to Delhi. If there's a city with WORSE traffic than Hanoi and Phnom Penh that I've seen thus far - Delhi has to be it. And with 15 kids in tow? Just shoot me now, urgh.
posted by leah | 12:24 PM
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