Hoi An- Vietnam

Hoi An is a city of about 150,000 people and half-way point between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The city dates back to the 15th century when it was the largest harbour in South East Asia and major trading hub for the Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Portuguese, French and English. Many of its original streets and buildings are still preserved intact and there's a major effort in preserving this site. It has become quite a tourist attraction, especially at night:

We found a "Clinton Foundation" restaurant called Streets in old Hoi Ann that we frequented twice as the food was so good:

The foundation helps vulnerable, disadvantaged youth by training them in the food and hotel industry. There were trainees working when we were there including our waitress (who was superb) and the program helps with secure accommodation, health care and daily nutritious meals. I must say their food was the best I've had in all of Vietnam so far.

A few kilometres down the road are some of the best beaches along the Pacific coast:

Those round tub boats by the shore are actually fishing boats the Vietnamese have used for centuries. Thinking back, just 50 years ago U.S. marines were landing on these beaches to keep the Da Nang airport from the Viet Cong. It's sad to think that so many were killed in that war. Luckily, the people here do not dwell on the past nor do they dislike Americans. Rather they are looking to the future and have big plans for this part of the country. For miles along the beaches from Da Nang there are- without exaggeration- probably a hundred large hotels in development- a massive construction site! It's remarkable how quickly time has changed this part of the world.

Ha Long Bay- Vietnam

They say you should try your best to get to Ha Long Bay if you're in Vietnam for the beauty of the landscape and we did just that. It's in the northeast of Vietnam, known for its emerald waters and thousands of towering limestone islands topped by rainforests:

We did a boat cruise and the beauty is breath-taking. Apparently the limestone in this bay has gone through 500 million years of formation in different conditions and environments. Some of the islands are hollow, with enormous caves and we had a dinner barbeque in one of them:

There's an observation tower on one of these 'islands' called Ti Top Island where you can climb to the top (which we did) for an aerial view of the bay:

Here's a bit of trivia- there are two seasons in this part of Vietnam, a hot and moist summer, and a dry and cold winter- care to guess which one we're in? Answer- it's so hot and humid here I couldn't tell you the difference between standing in a full shower or just standing for that picture.

We also had fun kayaking through some of the islands with Cathy taking the charge:

We're now headed for some more train travel (please stop my beating heart) on our way down to Hoi An.

Touring Sa Pa Mountains- Vietnam

We took an overnight train to get here, about 50 km from China's border. This train was not your Cary Grant/ Eva Marie Saint rom-com type of ride though; here's what we got:

If you look closely, our two bags had to fit under the small table and we slept in bunkers. When our guide told us to make sure we lock our door for the night, I had visions of robbers patrolling once lights were out. Fortunately we got to Sa Pa in tact with no items missing, but the ride was incredibly bumping making sleep difficult and a 5:20 am disembark.

But it was so worth it!! Sa Pa is a quaint city where there are terraced rice fields all along the valley. Some of the views look as if Van Gogh brushed magic on canvas as the hillsides are stunning:

You get a sense of time standing still here. Farming is plowed by water buffalos because of the steepness of the terrain and harvested by hand:

The rice here is not exported; there is only one harvest per year and a family of five eats 2- 3 kg per day; all is consumed by the people living here.

There are five different indigenous tribes living in the valley with their main employment being farming, hawking handmade gifts and if you're lucky, getting a job in the tourist industry:

We were told by our guide not to buy from the children who were selling bracelets per government request in attempts to discourage them from selling as they should be in school. 

On our 15 km hike (yup- hiking boots, trekking up and down mountains, barefoot through rivers), we ate in a small village and were treated to the best meal we've had since arriving in Vietnam:

The locals don't eat this much and we think it was just to show the kinds of food they prepare; the spring rolls with chicken, carrots, onion and glass noodles were absolutely delicious. This food is also served at breakfast in vietnamese restaurants.

Well, our train awaits us- it's amazing how quickly the fun and adventure of train travel escapes us!

Hanoi

We've been surprised and delighted with how beautiful the city is. But the driving is absolutely crazy with cars and motorbikes not paying any attention whatsoever to pedestrians and their right of way! At the start, I was running across green lights even though I had the right of way but then it became normal to just to let the traffic dart around you (death defying but normal):

The Independence Day celebration that started Sept. 2nd continued throughout the weekend. For the first time, old downtown Hanoi was shut down to traffic so that they could celebrate:

                    

We also visited Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum, a major attraction in Hanoi. He is the father of communism and revered here:

Ho Chi Minh's body is preserved in a cool, central hall protected by a military honour guard. The body lies in a glass case with dim lights and the lineup is huge, stretching outside and around the corner. Just as an aside, the body is flown to Russia every year for a complete embalming overhaul, much like China's Mao embalmed body in Tiananmen Square.

This is a communist country and over 75% of the people here have no religious affiliation at all. After being bombarded by the thousands and thousands of temples and shrines we saw in the last 4 countries, it was a different feeling seeing so little of it here in Hanoi; maybe there will be more in other parts of the country.

Vietnam

I've been fascinated by Vietnam since I was a kid and the U.S. were helping South Vietnam fight for freedom against the communist North. In first year university, my roommate was a bona fide draft dodger- he'd tell us stories of how evil the North Vietcong were and how the U.S. needed to save the south (and the whole world, come to think about it). Communism was bad and America was good. But by 1975, the U.S. was losing big time, there was huge resistance back home and they pulled out. The war took the lives of over a million Vietnamese soldiers and civilians and over 200,000 American casualties before it ended and the communist flag was raised:

Fast forward 41 years- what's it like today? I think you would find it hard to describe it different from a lot of capitalistic countries. When you look at the street merchants, it seems cash is king and privately owned businesses are everywhere:

It's true that Vietnam is a one party state ruled by the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV). And the government has strict control on dissension and freedom of speech and press. That said, it's business as usual.

In doing some research, I was actually amazed at how aggressive the country has become. Vietnam started its transition from a centrally planned to a market economy in 1986 and economic growth averaged 6.7% a year up to 2011 After a brief lull, growth is back. It now has the fastest-growing middle-class in South East Asia and the government plans on becoming a modern and industrialized nation by 2020.

Some other interesting facts. Population wise, Vietnam is a very 'young' country, even compared to Canada:

About 44% of the population are under 24 years of age and another 44% are 25-48 years of age i.e. nearly 90% are under 50 (compared to about 60% in Canada).

We arrived in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam on the eve of their National Independence holiday:

Did you know that Vietnam was ruled from the 18th century by the French till 1945?  Hanoi has a population of 7.7 million with Vietnam as a whole having 90 million. We're right downtown, in the Old Quarter. The narrow streets are every which way and getting lost has become easy even with a map on your iPhone and good old paper maps. Still, there is so much to see and do, it's a fascinating city- more to follow.

Yangon- Myanmar

We are in Yangon, the capital of Myanmar and a population of 5.2 million. It has a totally different 'feel' of a city compared to both Mandalay and Bagan. It's definitely more cosmopolitan but it is still rich in old customs. One of the practices is releasing 'free' birds:

                                 

There are vendors who have birds for sale for 1,000 Kyats (about $1) and as a buddhist custom, you can 'free' the bird as a good omen and fortune. We've seen in other places where you could 'free' fish, birds, etc as buddhists love all things living.

Also, we found a lot of people in this city wearing the thanaka powder in daily life, actually more so than other parts of the country:

As well, when we've visited the pagodas here in Yangon, the prayers and meditation that we've seen people engage in is quite extraordinary:

There is a huge temple complex in Yangon called the Shwedagon Pagoda and there are hundreds of shrines and stupas; it's Yangon’s most famous landmark:

The massive 99 meter high gold plated pagoda in the middle has a diamond studded spire (actually 4531 diamonds; the largest of which is a 72 carat diamond) set on top:

Built over 2500 years ago and many shrines added throughout the years, it's also Myanmar’s most important Buddhist pilgrimage site. At night, it's lit up with spotlights and can be seen around the city.

According to their ancient history, in 588 BC, 8 strands of Buddha's hair were given to two merchants as blessings and they were enshrined with relics from two other buddhas. There is also a shrine with Buddha's sacred tooth relic (like Sri Lanka) which is revered here. 

It's been estimated that the umbrella atop the Shwedagon Pagoda is worth nearly US$3 billion. Its main stupa alone is plated with nearly 22,000 solid gold bars, and estimates of the pagoda’s total gold range from 9 to 60 tonnes. Its main spire boasts 2300 rubies, sapphires, and other gems, and 4000 golden bells. And none of this includes the gold, jewels, and 21st-century LED displays that swirl around many of the Buddhas and hundreds of other buildings on the pagoda platform:

It's said that the Pagoda complex has more gold than all the vaults in England and it absolutely dazzles your eyes and imagination in having so much gold in a religious complex like this.

We also visited the home of Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's current Prime Minister elect (April 2016) who was under house arrest for 15 of the last 20 odd years:

                                

She was elected in 1990 as the Prime Minister of Burma but the governing military, since 1962, did not let her political party, the National League for Democracy join the government. After elections in Burma in 2010, she was released from house arrest in November 2010 but she was not allowed to take part in the 2010 election as the government banned anyone who had been arrested. That is why she has the title of Prime Minister elect.

There is a President for Myanmar and theoretically he is to institute the direction and strategy of "Mother Suu" as affectionately known by her people. There is mixed reviews, however, on how autonomous she can be and the recent 'agreements' with the military is raising some eyebrows internationally.

Next up- Vietnam

Earthquake Impact on Bagan- Myanmar

When I told my friend Tom that we were going to Bagan which was in the epicenter of the earthquake in Myanmar the day after it hit, he emailed back saying:

 "Heading to the epicenter. So your IQ remains unchanged by the shock"... 

You got to love your friends, right? Just so you know, we're not complete quackerjacks! We checked the news at our hotel about after shocks, etc. and Bagan wasn't hit nearly as hard as Italy so we decided to go. 

When the earthquake hit Myanmar, we were in our hotel in Mandalay and the whole building was moving back and forth, a surreal experience. We went downstairs and out to the road but you could still feel the earth moving and there's very little you can do except pray until it stops. Thankfully, nothing collapsed in Mandalay. Bagan is another story- it WAS in the epicenter and there is visible damage (but again nothing like Italy). 

Some history on Bagan, this is an old city and has a spectacular landscape of more than 2,200 pagodas, temples and monasteries all built between the 11th and 13th centuries. So these buildings are 700- 900 years old.

Our guide in Bagan was actually on a tour that day and said it was like jumping up and down except the earth was doing the moving! The most major damage was at the Sulamani temple. Here's a shot from the Internet of what it looked like before the quake and then our shot when we arrived:

There was also damage to other temples and stupas:

Thank goodness most of the pagodas remain standing. It was kind of an eerie feeling walking into some of the buildings though. There were some buildings completely closed with police around to ensure you wouldn't go in. And you couldn't climb any of the temples and police patrolled all of those. Still for some, it just didn't feel safe and we avoided going in. But the beauty is awesome:

On our tour, the last temple we went to was called the Ananda Phay which is a spectacular renovated buddhist temple from 1090 A.D.:

There are 4 remarkable buddhas made of wood (single trees) and measuring 30 feet high, one each representing the north, south, east and west entrance:

The pictures might not show the incredible beauty of these masterpieces. Just thinking how the artists could figure out the lighting (when there was no electricity) and show the beauty of these statues, it just boggles the mind!