Part 1: Hanoi

If you read my previous post you already know that I'm on a 4 week trip through south east Asia. My first stop was Hanoi, Vietnam.

When I arrived it was wet and overcast. It would stay that way for the full 5 nights I was there. I stayed four of those nights in the Old Quarter of Hanoi; just to the north of Hoan Kiem Lake. My first impressions of the city were that it was dirty, crowded and insane. There was garbage in the streets (in fact I watched as at the end of the day businesses would sweep all their garbage into the gutter; it would later be picked up), people pissing in the streets and various other things.

My impression of the people is incomplete as all of those I met were either serving me, or trying to get me to buy something from them. I even had one guy follow me for 4 blocks trying to get me to take a ride on his motorbike (scooter actually and a popular form of taxi in the congested city). I had to duck into a restaurant so that he would leave, but in fact he still hung around for about 2-3 minutes seeing if I'd come back out.

In all I saw the Army Museum, the Ho Chi Minh Museum, the downed B-52, the Hanoi Hilton and a performance of water puppets. All of this was in the city.

For 2 days - 1 night, I took a boat cruise through Ha Long Bay. It was spectacular. The sun never shone but it wasn't hot and the boat was wonderful. Some the best food I've ever eaten was on that boat; all fresh seafood (and I'm not a fan of seafood) that was incedibly delicious. We toured through the bay, were taken to a floating fishing village and then to one of the many caves that dot the more than 1000 islands.

My impression of the city changed a bit as the days went by. I couldn't help but think of the city as being akin to a medieval city struggling with change. Hanoi even more so. Its hard to lay aside our western notions of modernity and right and wrong. It constantly shades how we (or at least me) see the world around us.

When I first got there I was unconsciously making comparisons between Hanoi and other western capitals; it paled in comparison. It was easy to forget that they had only been without war for the past 30 years. It was easy to forget that as early as 70 years ago they were wearing loin cloths and living in tribal villages. The west forced them modernize at the barrel of a gun and continuous wars that stretch as far back as the 1890s ending only in 1979 with their defeat of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.

Given this reality (?) its hard to judge the city and people of Hanoi (and perhaps Vietnam as a whole) harshly. They weren't given the opportunity to enter the "modern world" or interact with the western world on their own terms. Given this I'm actually surprised at how congenial and friendly the people of Vietnam were to westerns who come parading through their streets looking for cheap goods, cheap thrills or even worse. Sure one could argue that they are only that way in order to get money from us, but aren't we to blame for that?

A side note: During the tour of Ha Long we went to a floating fishing village. It was essentially a fish farm. Each house had an area that had a net and in that net they raised various fish. They would go out and actively fish the waters of Ha Long, using what they caught to eat, to supplement their farm stocks or to feed to their fish. This was a small village containing approximately 55 families. One of the highlights for me was seeing their school. It was explained to us that the school only goes up to grade 5, and that the children only go half days (morning or afternoon). The teachers lived on the main land and would boat out to the school a week at a time. We were told that the school was limited in this way as it was determined that the children really didn't need any more education considering the fact that they would live and most likely die in that village. One doesn't need calculus to raise fish. It was easy to look down your nose at such an attitude but it is the wrong reaction. Its really not all that different than the way we were even a hundred years ago. In fact the classroom was a huge improvement as only 7-10 years ago none of the people who grew up in that village ever went to school.

The one down side to my Hanoi experience was that my camera got stolen. I had just gotten back from my overnight cruise through Ha Long Bay and thought I'd grab a bite to eat. I took my camera with me to look over the pictures and videos that I had taken up to that point. I set it down and allowed my mind to wander. I lost track of it. When it was time to go, my camera was gone. An expensive lesson to be sure, but the real cost is in the loss of the pictures.

Next: Part 2 - Phnom Penh