We've made our way up the coast of Vietnam through Hoi An, Hue, Halong Bay and onto Hanoi tomorrow- Both the landscape and the people are fantastic up here, definitely a World different from the fast-paced, insanely populated cities of the South.
Hoi An is an artist's dream come true. The whole city has been dubbed an "ancient city" by UNESCO and as you stroll the streets, you feel an odd combination of French, Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese fusion. Everyone is extremely friendly and there are more art shops and pastry bakery's than you could count. Oh! And to top that, there are over 400 tailor shops and shoe-making shops as well (can you say shopper's paradise??).
Jesse and I bought some spectacular art work dne by an oooold Vietnamese man named Bng, who's apprently very famous among the locals for his work. We also paid a visit to what was touted as the "best tailor in Vietnam", Mr. Xe, and he certainly didn't disappoint. We were measured in every area possible, so meticulous we had no clue what we were getting in to; Jesse got two custom suits (cashmere, PIMPIN!) and 2 dress shirts, and I got an amazing spring/fall coat with satin piping and a black silk (satin?) dress that I literally picked out of a magazine. It was a fantastic experience and I will most defintely be contacting Mr. Xe to make my wedding dress in the years to come as he will happily ship overseas as long as he has your measurements. The price was astounding for what we got, about $330 for ALL of it, YES ALL! Even Jesse's cashmere/silk suits, ridonkulous!
Anyways, I'll stop rambling about the clothes as there was much more the city had to offer as well :p
Very laid back pace, we rented bikes and rode out into the country-side to a vegetable growing village. I should mention that the Chinese New Year is coming up this week so everywhere that we visit, there are lights strung up all over the place, people are excited and smiling, and celebrations of all sorts are in full swing.
We wish we could have stayed in Hoi An longer than the two days we were there, but I guess it gives us an excuse to come back again one day in the future :)
Jesse may disagree, but I think the atmospehere of Hoi An made the cockroach train ride totally worth it ;)
Hue was a bigger city than Hoi An, but definitely much more relaxed than Saigon and Nha Trang. The weather was drizzly, but we had some good eats with the group and managed to get out to the Chinese "Forbidden City" where emperors used to rule in the 18th and early 19th centuries. The Chinese influence is very evident in the Northern city's we've been in thus far and it adds a new culture and energy to the way of everyday Life. Forbidden City was pretty cool, it was HUGE, and apparently had an "old, sad elephant" but we weren't able to track him down... maybe he made it to the wild or his elephant heaven in the sky-
Anther overnight train ride that was... *gasp* 15 hours (!!!) got us into Hanoi this morning, and we hopped directly onto a bus headed 3 hours north to Halong Bay.
Halong Bay... how do I even put it into words... the best way I could describe it is "Avatar" minus terodactyls and dragons flying everywhere... although you almost half expect to see one leap off one of the limestone cliffs towering high in the sky above the East Sea. The water is turqoise and there are 1,969 separate limestone islands, all with unique shapes, flora and fauna, and many a cave to explore.
We got to go int one of the caves on a famous island called "Palace in the sky" and as soon as you step inside, you feel like you're in a different world. Stalagmites and Stalacites (sp?) EVERYWGERE! It almost looks too far out to be true.. but I guess that's how you would sum up Halong Bay as a whole.
Loving every minute of this trip, we were a bit jaded by the harsh and cold treatments we got in the South, but there's a raelly complex history here and our experiences so far in the North have wiped our slates clean again.
Some funny observations I forgot to blog about before:
- Jesse got pinched and "sized up" by an old Cambodian man at the bus stop who called him fat (as if! LOL!) Jesse pinched and sized him up in return and called him skinny, they both had a laugh, it was pretty funny.
- EVERYONE wears socks and sandals here, I think we're the freaks cause we don't :s!
- They play "wake up" music through the streets on PA speakers around 5:30am... every morning...
- We saw fields upon fields that were eerily lit up over night while riding the sleeper train, turns out they're dragon druit and grape fields that the workers need to heat and keep warm over night.
- 20,000 Vietnamese dong= $1 US (took a while to get used to the flash-calculating!)
- We have become pro-hagglers
That's all beloved friends and family, much Love from the East! Till next time :)
Misty & Jesse
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