164. SAPA/HANOI REVISITED

Post 59 - Hanoi and Sapa

2nd visits everywhere so far have proven to be disappointing. More often than not, the place has been overtaken by crass commercialism, traffic has become bad, it's noisy, crowded, polluted, too built-up. Overall - it's gone to the dogs.
I'm glad I maintain this journal with pictures and my impressions

This water puppet show is unique to Hanoi and is quite cute. My camera couldn't do it credit. It depicts cultural life and dances. Has a lot of action but a trifle long. The puppeteers are behind a bamboo blind and standing in water up to their thighs...

 

There are some fine old buildings left over from the French colonial days which have seen better days. With restoration, they will be beautiful as most are solidly built. A few are boutique hotels, others are fine dining joints...I passed some grande dames but was not able to snap them from the bus...









French style cathedral in downtown Hanoi...

The image is wearing their national dress - we are products of conditioning.
I look at this Mother image as symbolic of the female Yin energy which is present in all Creation. She's aka as Kuan Yin

Hanoi does not hold much affection for me. Their Old Quarter would be where locals eat and shop, The French Quarter would be more upper crust. This city is nice for those who dine and wine for they do have some classy joints that's full of atmosphere.

This one is in Sapa...
















I thought I ordered pho, their famed noodle soup, it turned out to be shredded veggies with parts unknown - tasted good though, pray it wasn't doggie mince!

A more gracious joint, where table manners matter...

Like a lab with its collection of creepy crawlies

Sapa in the hills is comfortably cool. In Winter the mountains are clad in white giving this place a European look

There's tremendous amount of building going on, chiefly they are lodging houses, large and small, and restaurants. No work seems to be on the infrastructure, so we can expect flooding during the monsoons, possibly landslides - as has happened in Hoian and Danang. 

Street scenes tell interesting stories

He's peddling charcoal...

 

Their women are independent, resilient - most work - at the same time, appear gentle, softspoken. They seem to operate in a safe environment

She comes close to the cruise boats to sell her wares. The items are transported in her net tied to a pole up to the upper deck and you place cash into it. I'm sure she just gets by

This cable car took me to a show village that was put together for tourists. The terraced padi fields were nice, better pictures can be had from google, but than again, I've seen really beautiful fields in Bali and the Philippines.
9 years before, I walked through a more authentic village, it's people were going about their farming and cooking, a farmer's market was brilliant with handwork and food produced by their indigenous Hmongs

She lets me peek into her home where there was much corn strung up

Steps hewn out of a tree trunk led to the sleeping quarters in the loft (original loft living, how about that!)

Steps down into a valley and back up were more than 3000! This is no better than a trekking trip...!

More steps up - this will be the death of me...I survived to tell the tale

This 'muddy' waterfall is more likely iron ore/oxide...

Banana flowers are freely available and the colour is glorious

When one lives off the land, one harvests what Mother produces in the deep forests - Mother's body provides and to be sure, these are very likely more nutritious - food as medicine...

 


Their coconuts are divine - I had my fill every chance I had

Grin and bare it!

My main reason for this return trip - to spend a night in Halong Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Bay is huge, thank goodness for that, as it's now awful crowded with all manner of boats, junks, what have you.

Those are oyster beds in the water

 

After the irritant (a round bead) is introduced into the oyster, they go back into the water...

 

Titov or Ti Top island is this other large island with a so so beach and a fascinating cave

Titov is this Russian buddy of Ho Chi Minh. It's an open secret the Russians helped Ho in the Vietnam War against the Americans

To get to that viewing gallery there's 320 steps to negotiate and it cuts through a really nice cave. It's unusual to see a cave with so few pillars but it's ceiling is totally odd with formations that one sees on the beach or sand dunes in a desert (microcosm/macrocosm thingy?)

Whilst waiting, the boatcrew do their thing - they live so much in the moment with simple pleasures

These 2 earlybirds wait for the rest to show


















Life on the high seas - I could get used to this - for maybe 2 days...

A longer stay would be disastrous as I was just a couch potato 

Pampered with little touches
 




They must have run out of pumpkins after Halloween so a pineapple will do nicely

From valley to sea, now a mountain - Fansipan - 3.143m (Fancy Pants!)

Another big buddha - not too long ago I looked at one in Hong Kong

Their silk lanterns are unique to Vietnam -
so too their embroidered pictures... 

Chopsticks on display stands

The Chinese were in Vietnam more than a 1000 years. They would have left their mark everywhere including the DNA

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