Greetings from Vietnam! Right now, I am in Sapa, an area of Northwest Vietnam, enjoying a refreshing Coca-Cola Light and gazing into the beautiful lush valley in front of me. Sapa is a part of Vietnam well known for its green countrysides, large mountains and plethora of Vietnamese ethnic minorities... but we'll talk more about that later. (PS – I’ll post pictures when I get back to the US of A)
Last time I updated you all, I was in Beijing and a lot has happened since then. After Beijing, I took off for Hangzhou with the rest of my program. My stay there was short but filled with a trip to a tea plantation, a boat ride around the scenic West Lake - boasted to be the most beautiful lake in that region of China - and excursions to an ancient villa and a Buddhist temple. My personal favorite was the boat ride. From Hangzhou, our group ventured onward to Shanghai for our last stop of our trip. Shanghai is a bustling city, but although it is often compared to New York City, it did not feel that crowded. Because time in Shanghai was short, we only made short trips to the Bund - a waterfront area along a river that runs through Shanghai, a few shopping centers and the World EXPO. The Bund was beautiful, but I enjoyed the EXPO the most. Although the EXPO hosts about 400,000 people each day, it is spread out over an area of over two square miles. Throughout the site are pavilions for various countries or continents - some more impressive than others. Among the best pavilions were Saudi Arabia - with the world's largest IMAX, United Arab Emirates, China, Spain, United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Japan. Steve and I went to the Pacific Pavilion and chatted with the woman from Samoa for a few minutes. All the volunteers at the EXPO site are Chinese but almost all of the pavilions have at least one representative of the country on site. Continuing on, I explored North Korea, Iran, Vietnam, Slovenia and the African Pavilion. While it would have been fun to have had more time to explore more of the sites, it was definitely a worthwhile adventure.
On July 8th, the GYLC program in China wrapped up and I bid adieu to the last remaining scholars as they departed for home. Steve and I enjoyed an awesome 3-dollar-for-18-dumplings lunch with some of our friends and then took the train out the Suzhou, our last stop in China. Suzhou is a little (by Chinese standards) city about 45 minutes west of Shanghai. It was previously used by many Chinese aristocracy as a place for a country home outside of Shanghai, and it is sometimes today called the "Venice of the East" due to its system of canals that cut through the town. It was a wonderful stop-over before departing for Vietnam and very relaxing. We explored the canals and local shops and paid a visit to a seven story pagoda during our short stay there.
At long last, on July 10th, we made our way to the Pudong airport to leave for Vietnam. I was very excited but nervous due to lingering travel arrangement snafus. The first four days I spent in Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam that lies in the north. It is a dynamic city with a constant and sometimes terrifying hustle and bustle. We visited various cultural sites, including Ho Chi Minh mausoleum and museum, and took time to sample the delightful cuisine in our down time. Hanoi is well known for having many different cuisines at very affordable prices. Often a three course meal for two people with drinks will total 20 USD. Great city :)
My favorite part about Hanoi is simply being a part of the crazy city. Any given street is covered with street vendors, hotels and motorbikes. There are constantly 5 different smells in the air that direct you to different stalls. In the streets, there are buses, honking cars and motorbikes that whiz by you, weaving in and out of all the other traffic. The motorbikes are also a convenient (and cheap) mode of transportation, and I finally broke outside of my comfort zone and tried it. It is called a xe om and for about 1 USD for a fifteen minute ride, you hop on the back of a bike and hang on. Unnerving? Quite. Thrilling? You betcha.
After leaving Hanoi, Steve and I set our sites on two other areas before returning home to spend a final night in Hanoi. First, we went to Ha Long Bay, a beautiful cultural heritage site in northeastern Vietnam. Ha Long Bay is a bay of water that is spotted with hundreds of tiny limestone islands, spottily covered with any vegetation that can cling on. It is a stunning site to see, and in order to see it throughly, we took a boat cruise into the bay. The first day of our excursion was spent traveling on the boat, kayaking around some of the islands and then swimming by the boat. We also saw these dramatic caves that had been cut into the limestone by millions of years of erosion and weathering. It was an awesome site to see. On our second day, we landed at the largest island, Cat Ba Island, and hiked to the top of a peak. We spent the night at a hotel overlooking some of the other islands.
We finally departed from Ha Long Bay on the 16th, just in time for an impending typhoon warning to come to the area. The night of the 16th we took the overnight train from Hanoi to Sapa, and that's where I am today! Sapa is very relaxing, and also about 20-30 degrees cooler than the blistering heat of Hanoi. Hanoi tends to hover around a humid 93 degrees... not ideal. We got an awesome hotel right on the edge of town that has wonderful views overlooking the emerald valleys and rice fields below. After today, Steve and I will spend the next two days here before finally returning to Hanoi for our last night in Vietnam. Tomorrow should feature trekking and tours to explore the greater Sapa area.
I have loved every part of my trip so far. It has not been without its setbacks but every part has definitely been worth it. And, to add in the fun, we have manage to reschedule our flight back to Hawaii to allow for a 12-hour layover in Tokyo! Japan, here I come!
I hope you have enjoyed this update... and I apologize if it was patchy but I will fill you all in when I see you next. I am finally homeward bound on July 24th and should land in Boston on the morning of the 25th. Hope your summer is going well! See you all soon!
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