The Noodle Tour

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Northern Vietnam: The Bay of Descending Dragons, Ha Long

Long ago when my forefathers were fighting foreign invaders from the north, the gods of heaven sent a family of dragons to help defend our land. This family of dragons descended upon what is now Ha Long Bay and began spitting out jewels of jade. Upon hitting the sea, these jewels transformed into dozens of limestone islands and islets which dot the seascape and formed a formidable fortress against the invaders. The locals were able to repel the invaders, keep their land safe, and form what is now the country of Vietnam. The Vietnamese people honored the Dragon’s and because of their reverence, the Dragon family fell in love with Vietnam and decided to remain on earth. The mother dragon now rests in Ha Long Bay where she watches over and protects Vietnam… or so the legend goes.

Utterly stunning. That’s all I can say about Ha Long Bay. It is truly one of the most beautiful and scenic views I’ve ever experienced. It was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1994 by UNESCO for it’s spectacular aesthetic value. Although, it was once a hidden gem which few people visited, nowadays tourists flock to this site in droves, where throngs of people shuffle on and off boats in the small harbor that serves as Ha Long Bay’s primary entry point. At first I thought that it was going to be a real disappointment. I didn’t like the crowd and the limestone karst formations were kind of hazy and unimpressive. I didn’t realize the haziness was due to the fact that we were still quite a long way from the actual bay itself. Boy was I in for a pleasant surprise.

Me and Chantra spent our first night on board an old Chinese style imperial Junk (fancy word for ship). We went to our cabins to get settled and rest for a bit. This took about an hour or so. When we finally decided to emerge from our cabin, what we beheld simply took our breathe away. The pictures do not do this place justice and I do not have the words to describe the splendor of Ha Long Bay but I will try. Underneath the hot Vietnamese sun, our boat sailed across a clear emerald green sea whose water was so calm that It could gently rock a child to sleep. All around us were dozens of exquisite limestone mountains, covered in thick dense tropical rainforest, that rose out of the sea like some sort of ancient colossus. Some of these island’s had small hidden alcoves while others had pristine stretches of sandy beach.

As we moved further into the bay and farther away from the other boats, we started to see the small aquatic villages where the locals live. About 1600 Vietnamese populate Ha Long Bay, where they make a living farming fish, oysters, and clams underneath their floating houses. It’s a simple but hard life. Most of the local’s here rarely leave the bay and only come to town to buy or trade their wares. I loved seeing the women in their conical hats slowly rowing their boats on the calm waters of Ha Long Bay. It was such a common sight, yet there was a sublime beauty to it. To a Vietnamese person, this is an Iconic image.

Rather than going to a resort on the largest island, we opted to stay in a bungalow on the beach. Man did we ever make the right choice. After a night on the boat, me and the wife, were taken to one of the larger limestone formations. It had it’s own private beach which was large enough for about 4 or 5 bungalows. It was secluded and completely isolated from the other boat traffic. In fact the island didn’t even have any electricity. The family that stayed there had a gas powered generator which they turned on for 4 hours a night between 6 and 10 p.m. There was nobody on the island besides us, a few other couples, and the local family. It was calm, quite, and serene.

Our bungalow looked out into the bay and was beautifully constructed. It was bare bones but we didn’t care. The family had kayak’s for us to use and we spent several hours leisurely kayaking through the bay. We met several of the locals who took to the time to speak with us for a few minutes before they went back to work. Several of them even invited us over for dinner but we politely declined. We finished our stay with a beach side BBQ and bonfire where we had some fantastic seafood, freshly caught that day, and watched as the stars slowly crept across the flawless night sky. Ha Long, the bay of descending dragons… stunning.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Northern Vietnam: Sapa and the Hill Tribes

Sisters

A young girl playing while her parents build a house.

Local girl selling bookmarks and taking care of her baby brother.

Chantra and two Black Hmong girls.

Adorable little Vietnamese girl.

Sapa is a frontier town that lies near the Chinese border and it is nestled within Vietnam’s rugged mountainous northwest. The slopes of these mountains are covered by lush green terraced rice fields that seem to be perpetually shrouded in mist. Yet the mist does not conceal the natural beauty of this place, but rather enhances it. I never knew that such a place existed in Vietnam. It is such a contradiction. Here in the mountains of a tropical country, it’s actually cold. The locals tell me that in the winter they sometimes get snow. Snow?! In Vietnam? That’s crazy. Never the less, Sapa is a picturesque and charming corner of Vietnam.

Another little girl caring for her baby brother.

Vietnam has 54 different ethnic groups and this region of the country is home of several of them. The tribes that populate the Sapa area are the Black Hmong, Red Dzao, and the Tay. The Black Hmong are by far the most common and a whole swarm of them were waiting for me and Chantra as we stepped off the overnight train from Hanoi. As usual they were plying their trade and trying to sell us little knick knacks and trinkets. None of which we wanted or needed, but the kids were so cute that we couldn’t help but buy a few souvenirs. A few of the Red Dzao, who can be identified by the bright red cloths they use to cover their heads, could also be seen selling things but, they were few and far between. The Tay, who wear a Chinese style green or blue tunic, did not interact with the tourists very much and were the most reserved of the three major tribes.

One of the local girls made a horse out of a
tiny bamboo sapling for Chantra.

Me and Chantra did a two day trek and homestay with a Tay family. A caravan of Hmong kids and old women followed us while we hiked through the gorgeous countryside. As we stomped through muddy rice paddies, trying to avoid the leeches, yes I said leeches, we were able to watch the mist advance and recede in an ethereal dance that left us in a state of awe. However, as beautiful as the countryside is my favorite part of the whole experience was meeting the locals. They told us the stories of their lives and spoke to us about the harsh realities of life in the mountains. Yet there were no complaints and the smiles never left their faces. When they tired of hanging with us we contentedly sat in a small café and watched as the children ran around underfoot without a care in the world.