Sensory Overload

Thursday, Nov. 6 -- A three-hour bus ride took us from the chaos of Hanoi on a road of sensory overload. I have five pages of notes, so unless you're really bored with a lot of time on your hands, you may want to skip or delete this. On the other hand, the place we reached at the end of the road is likely one of the most beautiful in the world. If you don't want to read, go to Google images of Halong Bay.

As usual in Viet Nam (every word in Vietnamese is one syllable; ie Hanoi is Ha Noi), the ride was like something right out of Disneyland. As one of our group said just after we survived a truck headed our way, "You haven't lived til you've faced on oncoming semi in the wrong lane." But we made it without colliding with any other vehicles, whether two- or four-wheeled. The trip through the countryside and a series of small towns was a kaleidescope of contrasts. Early on, we saw woman after woman standing next to a parked bicycle selling baguettes. We wondered if they each have their own turf and if every loaf costs the same. Further on was a series of rice paddies, where farmers wearing conical hats stood waist-deep in water, working their crops. Dozens of water buffalo grazed along the road. This primitive scene often takes place in front of a modern plant of some kind, one for manufacturing garments, one for making glass, a Canon plant for electronics. Each has a covered parking out front protecting literally hundreds of motorbikes. Little fruit stands display coconuts, baby pineapples, and durian, a big prickly fruit that reportedly tastes vile. (I later learned it smells vile: "Smells like hell, tastes like heaven.") Bananas grow wild on trees and hibiscus dot the landscape as well.

The houses are weird. They're generally no more than 12 feet wide and either three or four stories high, gaily painted (yellow, blue, lavender, yellow) and elaborately decorated with balconies, wide windows and Oriental finials on the rooves. But on the ground floor, the entry is guarded by metal retractable gates, similar to what you find on buildings in NY City or in San Francisco's Mission District. In addition, they're finished only on the front; the other three sides are solid concrete, unpainted and undecorated.

Our destination was Ha Long Bay, described in my tour book as "majestic and mysterious, inspiring and imperious." I would call it magical. It's truly one of the most beautiful places on earth and has been called the eighth wonder of the world. It is protected both by the Vietnamese government and UNESCO. We were blessed with good weather (finally) as opposed to the usual fog this time of year, so we could see clearly the 1,969 limestone "karsts" that jut from the bay. These islands are covered with trees and hide thousands of caves. In addition, about 2,000 fishermen live in one of the 16 floating fishing villages on the bay. An elderly couple in their 90s live in one of the villages, and have never left Halong Bay. Ever. Imagine that. In addition, floating grocery stores troll the waters and approach the tourist junks, selling everything from water to potato chips. Karen sprang for a box of Oreos.

We boarded the Hu'ong Hai, our junk for two days, and it was surprisingly luxurious. The boat is quite large, with three levels and a pagoda-style rattan roof. The main cabin is lined in teak and it accommodated 16 people. Quite elegant -- white tablecloths, real silverware, wine glasses. The bedrooms, also lined in teak, were on the first level and were quite comfortable. We each had our own bathroom as well.

Our guide was Thach (pronouced Tai), but he told us to call him Peter. Thach means "rock" in Vietnamese. After a sumptuous lunch of crab, clams, prawns, potatoes, veggies, squid and other dishes, he took us to an island with three chambers of caves called Hang Dau Go (Cave of Wooden Stakes). We hiked up 90 steps to get there and each chamber was filled with stalagmites and stalactites (I think), some of them making forms on the walls that looked like bears or snakes or dragons. We then went to an island called Tito, named by Ho Chi Minh in honor of Marshall Tito of Yugoslavia, one of Ho's favorites. There, we waded or swam in the very warm water. It's all part of the Gulf of Tonkin, if you remember your Vietnam War history.

On returning to the junk, we relaxed with Asian pears and dragonfruit, a large and quite beautiful pink fruit (about the size of a big grapefruit), with petal-like scales. Inside a thick rind is a white fruit with tiny black seeds, like a kiwi. You peel off the outer skin to get to the fruit, which is kind of a cross between a pear and a kiwi. Not a lot of flavor, but it was very refreshing. Dinner was a 10-course feast and after dinner, Thach told us his life story which, to Americans, is almost unbelievable. At the age of 13, he left Vietnam looking for a better life, but his boat sank off the coast of China, where he was rescued and spent five years in a refugee camp. He taught himself English and ultimately returned to Vietnam with the help of a sponsor. He's worked in the tourist industry for about a dozen years, after graduating from university as an artist. He's 32, but says he's too old to marry because most Vietnamese men are married by the age of 27 or 28. He was a wonderful guy. About 5'4", maybe 120 pounds. Standard size for Vietnamese men.

Up by 7 for a western style breakfast and after taking a ride on a smaller boat to some more caves and islands, we returned to the junk for yet another meal. This is ridiculous! Back on the bus for the return trip to Hanoi. We leave for Hue at 11 tonight; 12-hour train ride in a sleeper car, so that should be an experience.

Sorry this is so long, but the two days were positively fabulous. If the trip ended today, it would have been worth it for Halong Bay alone.

And on top of it all, Obama won!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!! He e-mailed me (and about 5 million other people) last night as he was leaving for Grant Park, so I e-mailed him back. I actually got a response. Boy, is that campaign organized. But it was the first e-mail that didn't ask for money...