Asia – Hong Kong & Vietnam

Happy Holidays!  Better late than never.

We met up with our friends, Christine and Paul, in Hong Kong on December 16th.  The city had a lot going on – some of it extremely fast-paced and at other times so tranquil and meditative.

We took a day trip to Macau, which used to be a Portuguese colony from the mid-16th century up until 1999.  It is a gambler’s haven with lots of casinos.  And although very small compared to Vegas, it generates the most revenue from gambling of anywhere in the world.  We were told that many of the HK residents make the trip to Macau for the shopping and better quality products, even milk which is imported from Europe due to poor quality in China.  The trip there and back alone was an experience.  It takes an hour by ferry but you go through customs.  And because of the casinos the ferries run 24 hours a day.  Although we were told that no one any longer speaks Portuguese you can still see the evidence with the street names and the beautiful stone sidewalks in places.  The day we were there visiting the church ruins we could hardly move because of the volume of people.

After 4 days in HK we flew into Hanoi, Vietnam.  Really enjoyed Hanoi, and although it’s quite hectic you don’t get the sense that people are rushing around like in HK.  The people are really lovely.  One day we took a little guided tour with an organization called Hanoi Kids.  They take you to sites of your choice or they will suggest a tour.  We picked The Temple of Literature, which is the oldest university in Vietnam (not running now) and the prison.  The two guides, Lee and Joy, also took us through the streets where the veggie markets were.  This was free; you only had to pay for their transportation back to where they needed to go.  The streets in the old quarter were absolutely fascinating.  You could buy pretty much anything – there was the “Christmas” street, the “bag” street, the “barber” street (Gary contemplated getting his hair cut on this street, right on the street), the “flower” street, “car mechanics” street, and the list goes on.  Speaking of streets, crossing the street was the greatest challenge but somehow we managed.  And no one actually wants to hit you (like in other countries) so they will do anything in their power to avoid doing so.  Whew! Temple of Literature with our young guides, Hanoi[/caption]

After 4 days in Hanoi we went to HaLong Bay for an overnight cruise on December 24.  It was absolutely magical, and it was a full moon which apparently hasn’t happened at this time of year for about 30 years.

We then flew a little further south and spent 3 nights in the beautiful village of Hoi An, one of many UNESCO sites in Vietnam.  This is the place where you can also have just about anything custom tailored.  The four of us could not resist.  You get measured one day and the next morning you go for a fitting and then you pick it up later that day.  We all couldn’t wait to pick up our linen clothing.  It was like Christmas presents.  Until we went to get fitted and nothing seemed to fit.  In the end we all had some clothing but unfortunately Christine wasn’t as fortunate (they really messed hers up and she didn’t take any of it).  The rest of us weren’t all that thrilled with ours either.  Oh, well, live and learn – we were all in the moment of it.  Then we went on to looking at some scarves and other clothing items already made, and our favourite label was “100% silk feeling”.  Before we had seen the label I was asking if it was real silk or nylon, and I was assured that it was Vietnamese silk.  I think we should have done a little bit more research, but oh well.

Here are some quirky Christmas pictures from our travels in general.We’re heading to Bangkok, Thailand on December 31st, so see you soon.