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    Vietnam: Sights Uncovered - Travel With Tessa
    Vietnam: Sights Uncovered - Travel With Tessa
    Vietnam: Sights Uncovered - Travel With Tessa
    Ebook95 pages1 hour

    Vietnam: Sights Uncovered - Travel With Tessa

    By Tessa Ingel

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    About this ebook

    Vietnam has a rich history of art, architecture, ceramics, hand-woven fabrics, magnificently crafted jewelry, antiquities, and breathtaking scenery. From the cool of the mountains and terraced rice paddies to the steaming hot Mekong; from the hill-tribes to exotic Ha Long Bay dotted with limestone pillars and islands; from the sub-tropical center to bustling Ho Chi Minh City; and the colorful fishing villages of Mui Ne; Vietnam is an interesting dichotomy between enduring communist beliefs and a thriving, entrepreneurial, capitalistic society. Join me on a journey across a country where I so often had the feeling that I had landed in the midst of a living, breathing painting.

    Author’s Note: The Sights Uncovered series are travelogues of my personal travels and adventures. They are not intended to be comprehensive guidebooks of the countries that I visit. It is my goal to take you, the reader, with me on my journey and make the sights that we uncover come alive. To let you feel the pulse, the rhythms, and the colors; and to meet the people.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTessa Ingel
    Release dateDec 20, 2017
    ISBN9781370531509
    Vietnam: Sights Uncovered - Travel With Tessa
    Author

    Tessa Ingel

    Welcome to Sights Uncovered. I hope that you will travel with me regularly to uncover wonderful sights around the world. When we travel every day is a new adventure; around every corner lies a new sight; every encounter with the local people enriches us; every meal is a delight, and sometimes a challenge to the palate and the digestive system. When traveling I feel so present, so in the moment, so alive. I look forward to sharing the magic of travel with each of you. Andiamo! Vamonos! Allons-y! Yalla! Laat ons loop! Lass uns gehen! Chalie Chalate Hain! Vamos! Yuko! Let's Go! Happy Travels. Tessa.

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      Book preview

      Vietnam - Tessa Ingel

      CHAPTER 1

      DON CHÀO DEN VIETNAM - Welcome to Vietnam

      Northern Vietnam

      HaNoi [Ha-river/Noi-inside]

      The drive from HaNoi airport to the city introduces one to the unusual, typical Northern Vietnamese style of architecture common outside the big cities. Homes – both ancient and new, only as wide as one room across, but generally four stories high and very deep – stand with their entrances facing the main road (which is considered prestigious) and the back of the house overlooking rice paddies and fields. The more modern homes are painted in vibrant pinks, shades of green, blues and yellows. In the fields, men and women wearing conical shaped hats are harvesting and ploughing with the aid of strong, sturdy buffalo. White egrets dot the rich fertile soil. I felt as though we had stepped into the midst of a serene Asian oil painting.

      Our cab delivered us to the Army Hotel located on a quiet street, lined with shady old trees. It’s a stone’s throw from the Hilton Hotel and the Opera House and a twenty minute walk to Hoan Kiem Lake and the Old Quarter.

      Owned by the Vietnamese military, the Army Hotel is spotlessly clean and the staff efficient and helpful. The suites are large. We had two bedrooms, a living room, and a large bathroom, all for the equivalent of $80.00 U.S. dollars per night. The décor and furniture, however, are tired looking and in need of updating. Our bedroom patio overlooked gardens and a sparkling pool, which was perfect for lap swimming. The breakfast room sparkled. It was furnished in gleaming highly polished wood, boasted sculpted colored glass light fixtures, and the tables were always set with crisp, spotless white tablecloths, and bowls of freshly cut flowers. The staff was dressed in black slacks and white starched jackets with shining buttons befitting an army establishment. The breakfasts were a hearty and healthy buffet that catered to all tastes, both Western and Asian.

      Our first walk out of the hotel in the direction of the Opera, destination: The Old Quarter – was an unforgettable experience. Three blocks from our quiet, secluded Army Hotel, we turned a corner into the ever-moving jungle and mayhem of HaNoi traffic. At most intersections, there are no traffic lights. Pedestrian crossings are a rare sight and luxury.

      We stood like pillars of stone embedded in the sidewalk, looking at the chaos and tumult of thousands of scooters, bicycles, and cars whizzing by like hornets let out of a nest. When we spotted a diminutive Vietnamese couple who looked like they were about to step off into the madness, we stood as close behind them as we possibly could – as though we were stuck to them with glue – then without looking left, right or anywhere for that matter, keeping our eyes focused on the top of their heads – kept walking as long as they did. When by some miracle we stepped safely onto the opposite sidewalk, they turned to us bowing and laughing, their faces crinkled with child-like smiles. And so it was, on that first outing that we learned the dizzying, gut-wrenching technique of crossing the streets in Vietnam. You have to step out, keep your eyes on your destination and just keep walking slowly towards it like a lunatic in a dream state, never stopping because that confuses the drivers who don’t know what you’re doing or where you are heading. Somehow they weave their way around you, missing you by inches.

      In the late afternoon, we reached Hoan Kiem Lake, which is very much the city center of HaNoi. Encircled by pedestrian paths, wispy hanging willow trees, and park benches, it’s the place where locals come to engage in all manner of exercise from Thai Chi, to jogging, to bench pressing, to aerobics, to ballroom dancing and other strange creative and unusual forms of exercise. Young lovers stroll hand in hand and cuddle on park benches; friends meet to socialize and stroll around the lake. The tiny Tortoise Pagoda rests in the center of the lake and to the north, is Ngoc Son Pagoda (Temple of The Jade Mountain), which one reaches by crossing the Bridge of the Rising Sun. It’s an enchanting sight, which provides a respite from the noise and traffic surrounding it. A place to linger, observe the daily rituals of life in HaNoi and rest one’s weary legs.

      From the lake, it takes another nail biting, nerve-racking, courageous street crossing maneuver to reach the Old Quarter with its warren of narrow lanes and streets brimming with color and noise - a hive of activity and commerce.

      For our first Vietnamese dinner, we chose a tiny sidewalk restaurant on a side street where we sat spellbound watching the locals going about their everyday activities. Women wearing conical shaped hats, balanced long poles across their shoulders with baskets of fruit and vegetables hanging off both ends, while others had piled their baskets with laundry. Vendors were pushing along bicycles laden with exotic looking fruits, like mini fruit stalls. Scooters were loaded so high with merchandise, that when viewed from behind they appeared to be driverless. The streets were lined with traditional tall, narrow tube houses, where families operate their businesses and stores on street level and maintain their living quarters on the upper levels. One has to remember to keep looking up to see the unique beauty and charm of these well-worn skinny structures.

      It was in the Old Quarter that we had one of those memorable culinary experiences that one has once in a blue moon and never forgets. On that first night in HaNoi, we happened upon the Green Tangerine, attracted by its flowering garden courtyard. We noted the address in the event that we might find ourselves back in the Old Quarter over the next few weeks. Subsequently, it was highly recommended to us on two separate occasions.

      The chef, a young Vietnamese woman who spent several years cooking in Paris, returned to HaNoi and created her unique brand of French-Vietnamese fusion cuisine. It’s rare that one picks up a menu where the dishes sound so delectable and the plates coming out of the kitchen look so mouthwatering – that it’s tough to make one's selection.

      We started with little round balls of the thinnest pastry filled with a melt in the mouth, feather light, mushroom mousse. Next, an hors d'oeuvre of duck pâté mousse, prepared with Cointreau, layered in a tall glass bowl with fluffy parmesan cheese mousse, a touch of amaretto and a crunchy topping that we could not identify – served with thin slices of lightly toasted French bread. Sublime! We followed with deboned chicken legs stuffed with a fruity, nutty concoction, flavored with herbs, cooked and browned in alcohol and served with candied carrots. Tender, juicy, and the layering of flavors a treat for the palate. Next, we ordered a platter of three vegetarian dishes: A hollowed out crisp bread roll stuffed with grilled vegetables, nuts and grains; a large roasted red tomato bursting

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