Thursday, February 11th we had a morning at sea. I used some of the time to work on this blog and attended a shore excursion lecture and a cooking demonstration. We arrived at the entrance to Ha Long Bay around noon. Coming into the bay we observed fog wreathed rocks and small islands projecting from the water. It is definitely not somewhere a ship wants to go without a local pilot, good radar and charts. As we got farther into the bay we saw ships anchored among the rocks and islands. The fog gradually lifted. By the time we approached our anchorage, the fog had lifted and we could see a city stretched along the shore.
The Silver Whisper's guests had all been invited to board "junks" for an afternoon "champagne" sail in the bay. The "junks", really motorized replicas of the Chinese style sailing vessels, took thirty passengers each. Staff from the Silver Whisper provided and served the champagne, beer and soft drinks. The afternoon turned sunny and we motored through the peaceful waters looking at the amazing rock formations that made up the myriad islands of Ha Long Bay. The most spectacular portion of the islands has been made a World Heritage Site. Our local guide told us the legend that a thousand years ago a dragon appeared from heaven to help the local people prevail against Chinese invaders. The dragon and its young stayed in the form of rocky islands to protect the people from further foreign invasion. The name Ha Long means dragons descending to the sea. The bay is studded with limestone formations in fantastic shapes, some as much as 900 feet high. There are a few fishing villages and fish farms among the rocky islands. The buildings are built on stilts over the water. We returned to our ship after a relaxing 3 hour cruise.
The quiet seascape contrasted with the new city along the mainland shore. Tall hotels and beachfront development was on one side. Across a brand new suspension bridge, an older town with modest homes and various industries had a small but busy cargo port. Ships were anchored in the bay awaiting their turn to dock. The only other passenger vessel we saw was a Chinese cruise ship with what looked like a mosque on its rear. The ship had rust on its hull and had a noticeable list to port (left.) The Chinese still have something to learn about ship maintenance. When Michael visited this area fourteen years ago he saw only a small town. The area is experiencing tremendous growth. The islands in the bay are a great tourist attraction. The bridge is part of a new roadway connecting Ha Long City with Hanoi and China. It would appear that China is putting a lot of money into the development of northern Vietnam.
Michael and I stayed up until past midnight watching the sail out from Ha Long. The fog closed in again. We could see bright lights here and there in the distance. The small fishing fleet was using very intense lights to attract fish. Passing among the rocks was eerie as well as beautiful. We really couldn't see them until we were very close. I don't know how people sailed here before radar and GPS.
Friday morning dawned gray, overcast and a lot cooler as we docked at Haiphong, the northern Vietnamese city that serves as Hanoi's port. Ha Long Bay had been in the 70s, Haiphong was in the 60s. Michael and I had originally planned to take the all day tour to Hanoi. It would have been a two and a half hour bus ride each way. We would have had only a short time to explore Hanoi as the trip included a long lunch at a western style hotel. We opted instead for the Haiphong Highlights tour of just over three hours in the port city. We later took the ship's contracted shuttle bus back for an additional look in the afternoon.
Tet, the lunar new year holiday, began Saturday. On Friday, most of Haiphong's residents were off work and shopping for the coming five day holiday. The streets were full of motorbikes. Here, unlike Saigon, there were also quite a few bicycles and fewer cars and trucks. Haiphong was heavily bombed during the Vietnam War yet many French Colonial buildings survive. Many have been repaired, some rebuilt from a single wall, others, demolished, rebuilt to the original plan. The city was vibrant with holiday traffic. We saw many people with Kumquat trees on the back of their motor bikes. Tet tradition is to bring live trees into the home to celebrate the holiday. Flowering peach trees and branches were also for sale everywhere.
We visited the Trang Kenh Communal House. This was apparently a Chinese enclave long ago. It is a very old structure filled with intricate carvings and sculptures. It was a peaceful preserve on a small pond in the heart of the city. The compound is not in active use but is preserved as a tourist attraction.
Next we visited a Buddhist pagoda. This was located on a route through narrow streets that our tour bus could not negotiate. Our guided walk through the back streets of Haiphong was perhaps the most interesting part of the tour. The streets were lined with small storefronts. A whole other class of businesses used the space on the sidewalks. Any pedestrians, and there were very few, had to walk in the street dodging the ever present motor bikes. I saw chickens in cages. After making a sale, the seller butchered and plucked the chickens right on the street. The sidewalks were stained with chicken blood. All manner of meats and vegetables were displayed on mats set on the sidewalks. There was even a tradesman running metal cutting machinery using foot power right on the sidewalk. The Haiphong residents seem very entrepreneurial but very poor. They were, however, clean and reasonably well fed.
The Buddhist pagoda, when we finally got there, was clearly in current use. There were monks living there. Signage asked visitors not to go into their living and study areas. The parts of the shrine open to tourists were beautiful. There was also a sculpture garden with statues of famous Buddhist monks. We took lots of pictures. All too soon it was time to wend our way back through the busy streets.
Haiphong is clearly not as wealthy as Saigon. The buildings have a gray, little maintained look. Vietnam just celebrated the 80th birthday of the Communist Party. There were celebratory banners and lots of Vietnamese flags red with a yellow star, and Communist flags, red with a yellow hammer and sickle. Even though it was festive, it was not nearly as bright as Saigon. Our tour guide next took us to the park area in the center of town. For the holiday, there was an immense market set up along the edges of the park. Flowers decorated the streets. We walked, in the street again, past a four block long flower market. There were also displays of handicrafts and booths selling red and gold holiday ornaments. Balloon sellers were doing a brisk business selling large colorful animal shapes to the parents of small children. The most surprising sight in this area was a gas service station. All the cars pulling up to the pumps were luxury vehicles. We had to move out of the way of a young man in a new, shiny red Ferrari. I spotted a diamond encrusted watch on his wrist. I wondered if he was a Party official or a black marketeer.
It is worth mentioning that the only safe way to cross a street in a Vietnamese city is to wait for a small break in the motor bike packs and step out boldly. It's O.K. to stop if you are about to be run over, but never step back or someone will run into you from the rear. The bike riders only loosely follow any traffic rules. They go in any direction that suits them. There are traffic lights only on the main thoroughfares and those imperfectly obeyed.
When we returned on our own to this part of the city after lunch, I didn't feel nearly as safe and secure as I did while with the tourist group. We were the only westerners there. People were friendly and polite even though they spoke little English. There were fewer hawkers although on every block several old ladies tried to sell us trinkets. We walked in the direction opposite to that which we had taken in the formal tour. Within a block we came upon some military troops setting up a fireworks display for the Lunar New Year celebration. They had barricaded the area to keep the public out and were setting out the various pyrotechnics methodically. Not the Grucci Brothers. I hope rain didn't spoil the display on Monday.
It was starting to rain as we returned to the ship. In fact the Silver Whisper's planned poolside barbecue had to be moved indoors because it was pouring by dinner time. It was a metaphor for our whole Vietnam visit. Saigon and the south of Vietnam were hot and sunny. The north was cool and overcast. The south, while loosing the war is making progress and is increasingly prosperous. The north, after 80 years of Communism, is just starting to develop.
Our voyage would be over in another day. We had a sea day en route to Hong Kong. The day was spent packing and saying our goodbyes. Michael and I had dinner with the chief engineer on the last formal night the prior week. We had expressed interest in his job, and were invited to tour the engine room Saturday. The first engineer was delighted to show us the workings of the ship, especially when Michael engaged him in technical speak. See Michael's blog at http://cbu-sin.blogspot.com for a detailed explanation with pictures.
Sunday, February 14th was a VERY long day. It began at dawn with the sail into Hong Kong harbor. I would like to say that I have seen Hong Kong. Unfortunately, it was foggy and drizzly. The famous skyscrapers were visible for only a few stories before they were enveloped by the fog. Michael gave me an entertaining narration of what I would have seen had it been more clear. We disembarked and were bussed to the airport for a 12:40 flight to San Francisco. Following a twelve and a half hour flight we landed in the U.S. at 8:30 a.m. Sunday, February 14. We finally arrived in Boulder around 3:00 p.m.following another time zone change, or two and 20 minutes after we left Hong Kong!
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