Khong co chi - in Hanoi / Vietnam

Motorbikes, rice and red flags

Khong co chi (Welcome in Vietnamese)!

Vietnam is the country of motorbikes. Hanoi for example has 4 million inhabitants and 2 million motorbikes. That makes 2 persons per motorbike. But in fact you can see many of the motorbikes crammed with 3, 4 or even 5 people on one motorbike! Amazing!

Vietnam is also the country of rice production. The rice fields under water form a nice scenery- farmers working on them wearing the typical Vietnames hats. Vietnam even exports rice to China.

Hanoi, dirty capital

The streets of Hanoi were full of red flags - the national flag of Vietnam. The flag has a yellow star on it - the enblem of the Vietnamese communist party - and a red background - "the blood shed in the fight for Vietnamese independence". Vietnam is partying New Year at the same time as the Chinese do. It is called "Tet" there and people put national flags in front of their house for Tet. They also have new year's trees for decoration to ward off evil spirits. Kumquat trees and peach trees are highly appreciated as new year's trees.

Is Ho Chi Minh alive, embalmed or a wax copy?

Visiting Hanoi is quite interesting, but why is it not the most unique experience in the world?

1. Hanoi is dirty, very dirty indeed! This has some charme, but on the long run it is frustrating to always look on the floor to avoid stepping on garbage in the street.

2. Hanoi has many French style houses from the time the French colonialised Vietnam. But I still prefer France and Paris - real French stuff!

3. Visiting Ho Chi Minh mausoleum teaches you some manners: no shorts, no tank tops, no backback, no bag, no camera, no mobile phone, no talking, no hats and hands out of your pockets! Queue in pairs! It is interesting to see the man who somewhat freed Vietnam and established it as a Democratic Republic (which now it is not anymore), but aren't rumours going it isn't the real embalmed body but a copy from Madame Tussaud's?

Halong bay - where is my boat?

Halong is just out of Hanoi. Hanoi is a Chinese name and means: where the dragon descends into the sea. Halong is a nice rock-island formation in the sea. Legend says a dragon built it. It is UNESCO world heritage which is best to be visited on a boat and that's what we did! A little bit fog made it hard to see things clearly but this just added a mystical air to the place.

Of course too many tourists which made it hard after a land excursion with visit of a stalagmite - stalagtite hole to find our boat again...