Arrivatissima

Good golly, my mother's in Vietnam! She reminds me of this fact multiple times a day, battling through knots of speeding motorbikes, walking through a market where everything is still wiggling, or kayaking through sheer limestone cliffs on glassy-smooth ocean water. It's a far cry from previous vacations but I think she's enjoying it so far (she hasn't disowned me, at least).

Our one day of touring Hanoi has left us sated with the city - our itinerary requires at least one more trip through. Despite the noise and craziness it's much more accessible than Bangkok. The buildings are shorter, as are the blocks, giving the city a more human scale. Certain shops cluster together selling the same wares on appropriately named streets: Shoe Street, Watch Street, Flower Street, and apparently Eyeware Street. We visited the extensive courtyards of the Temple of Literature, walked past Ho Chi Minh's empty mausoleum to watch the changing of the guard, and sat through the colorfully cheesy, yet highly entertaining water puppet show with all the other tourists in town.

The traffic of Hanoi is as jarring as ever after an overnight trip to Halong Bay. Our boat was beautifully tripped out in dark wood and slept eight; only three of the cabins were actually occupied and we lucked out with the honey moon suite in the bow. Once we got done ogling the boat there was plenty of scenery to drool over. The limestone formations are similar to southern Thailand or Khao Sok National Park, except the rows of islands just kept disappearing into the blue horizon. Our path took us away from the more touristed areas, so for company we had a couple other junks, some floating fishing villages, and the sea eagles.

As we sat down for lunch we were unprepared for the 6 course bonanza that followed. The unexpected bounty left us even more vulnerable to the onslaught of dinner, where each course was presented with ornately carved fruits and vegetables. There were water buffalo made from potatoes, eagles carved from squash, and a glowing model of our boat from a watermelon, with wafer-thin slices of carrot for sails. Apparently the chef had a lot of time on his hands as we were cruising along the bay, rowing among floating houses, and kayaking past limestone cliffs.

Next step: the mountain town of Sapa, and hopefully some cooler climates. Bring on the train!