Such intricate details. Contrasts brightly to the grandeur, pretentious Catholic churches I am used to attending. Going inside, one can see the walls cover in icons, each telling a story. The men of the party entered without any problems, however my female companion was required to wear a hijab before entering. Barely any seating, it was understood this is a stand only building. Packed, but silent.
Sunset viewed at one of the highest points in Da Lat.
Look Ma, I’m one of those War Elephant units in Age of Empires. Sorry, having flashbacks of AoE gaming sessions with friends back in college.
Out in Da Lat, we took a boat ride to a secluded island that specializes in food and relaxation. On the menu? Forest critters.
I love food, so I believe in trying everything at least once. Let’s just say on that day I’ve eaten things whose names I don’t want to mention here. Anthony Bourdain shares a similar experience (start at the four minute mark).
Đại Nam Văn Hiến. The result of indirect government spending. What a waste.
Early morning rise to visit the Can Tho (Mom’s hometown) boat market.
The sunset at Phu Quoc, where I beach-bummed for two days.
Taking a break from the Hanoi heat.
Cat Ba is a touristy place, similar to the boardwalks of the U.S.. Hotels and shops line the strip. House boats can be spotted if one looks out towards the waters. No doubt they belong to the locals.
A fairly common shot if you have seen pictures of Ha Long Bay. Our cruise on a Ha Long Bay junk ship led us to a small cove, where a popular cave is situated. Hiking up to the cave revealed the shot shown.
Ha Long means descending dragon. The bay consists of around two-thousand islands of various sizes. Folklore states that the gods sent dragons to assist the Vietnamese against the invading Chinese. These dragons would spit out jade and create a barrier. The jade would eventually become the little islands that now dot Ha Long Bay. The dragons liked earth so much, they decided to make it their home. Ha Long gets its name from when the mother dragon descended into the bay and making it her home.
A little trivia bit is that Hanoi went by many names in the past, one of which is Thang Long. Thang Long translated in English is ascending dragon.
This is one popular old man.
During our twelve mile hike through Sapa, we passed through the village of Cat Cat. Situated in Sapa, this is where some of the Hmong reside. The Hmong are an Asian ethnic group that reside in the mountain regions of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Burma. You may have also seen them in Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by little girls who were trying to sell off their “handmade” trinkets. Handmade is in quotes because now-a-days these things are machine mass produced. I tell you, these little kids were the cutest kids ever. I’m sure if given the chance they would take over the world by their cuteness. Heck, they can speak a lot of languages: Vietnamese, Hmong, English, French, Russian, Czech, Portuguese, just to name a few. It is what they learn for their trade as vendors that caters to tourists. You have to be careful though. If you buy something from one of them, ten more will appear to try to pawn their wares. My dad said when he visited back in the 90s, all this vendor-tourist activities didn’t exist.
Which makes you think that as a tourist, by visiting are you giving a helping hand in destroying their culture?
One thing stood out during my three day stay in Sapa: where are the Hmong men? The women, it seems, are doing the vending and hard labor, but none of the men were in sight. Well… I did see two Hmong boys having a cold Tiger, but they don’t count.
Taking a break from the twelve plus mile hike. Although leading a difficult life, their smiles are genuine.
Hmong boys enjoying the morning with a forty of Tiger.
A little groggy, we got off the run-down government train (we paid for the high-end Golden train, but was dealt with our first and only scam of the trip) and was met with this. Lo Cai men on motor bikes assertively offering their taxi services, specifically targeting foreigners, Viet Kieus, basically anyone that looked wealthy. This is a common sight throughout Vietnam.
Fighting through the crowd and turning down offers, we manage to find our reserved taxi van, which bore a Mercedes logo. Luggage in the trunk, we started our 25 mile/1 hour ride to Sapa.
