Vietnam is a place of extreme contrasts; beautiful beaches, high plateaus of green fields, skinny four story houses painted bright colors, high rise buildings with a respect for the country's past, french bread sold by ladies on the roadside wearing conical hats and motorbikes
We arrived into Hanoi and I learned my first Vietnam travel experience: get you visa before leaving the states. When you arrive with a plane load of people who all need to get their visas upon arrival, you can stand in a line of 200+ folks all trying to figure out what those guys in the uniforms that have your passport are doing. Have exact change in US Dollars and things do progress, but that can be a mean intro to a country.
A Hanoi evening in November is clear with a coll breeze blowing and a temperature hovering around 75 degrees but the rainy season has ended and people are living their lives on the streets - joyfully. Everyone is either sitting in a sidewalk cafe, standing at a food vendors stand, trying to cross the street or riding the motorbike. The motorbike will become the unifying and most memorable factor on our Vietname trip. More about that later.
We did the Hanoi City Tour with the presidential palace, the lakes and the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. We ate in courtyard restaurants with exotic and delicious foods. The next day we set out for a tour of Ha Long Bay and learned an important lesson. Ha Long Bay is about a three-hour ride from Hanoi - each way. The boat ride into the bay is a 3 - 4 hour trip. Tourists are offered the option of doing the roundtrip in one day or staying the night on a boat in Ha Long Bay. Stay the night. The sunset and sunrise over Ha Long Bay should not be missed. The boats are comfortable, the other passengers are international, the food is excellent, but doing the trip in one day makes for a very long, long day.
Arriving in Ho Chi Minh City (called Saigon by the locals), we were met with an explosion of people, cars and more motorbikes than I ever thought possible. Motorbikes make crossing the streets in Saigon almost impossible but make for great stories about what you saw being carried on a motorbike. For me, the best was the six goats (with a driver).
One not to miss site in Saigon is the Museum of Ethnicity. Vietnam is made up of many groups/tribes of people and this museum is dedicated to showcasing all of the ethnic group prominent in Vietnam. The outdoor portion recreates the houses the different ethnic tribes still lives in -- think the Williamsburg of Vietnam.
The Museum of the American War (formerly Museum of War Atrocities) is extremely moving. While presented in a one-sided manner, it is an important reminder of the foreign involvement that ensnared Vietnam for more than 100 years. Later in our stay we took a trip to the Mekong Delta and had lunch on one of the many small islands. Once again the quality of the food was unbelievable.
Major investment in the Vietnamese hotels comes from Europe and the US. Sofitel, Hyatt, Marriott all have representative in the major cities keeping the standards you would expect.
Three important things while planning a trip to Vietnam. (1) bring lots of US currency in small bills. Things are not expensive in Vietnam and you will use those $1 and $5 bills to pay for almost anything. (2) eat in local restaurants. The food is unbelievably good with a local and French influence, the prices are unbelievably cheap and service is first class (3) don't try to walk across the street in Saigon without following a local. You will not make it across the street.
My next trip -- oh yes, I can't wait to go back -- will be to the beach areas, Da Nang and Hue. This is a country that has a lot of offer the visitors that are want to experience the unexpected.