We set out for Hanoi, our last destination on our itinerary before heading back home. We flew from Hue airport to Hanoi. Upon landing we heading straight out to the east cost towards Halong Bay. We'll be back tomorrow in Hanoi. Today was a travel day with very little sight seeing.
Around 1pm or so we stopped at a Humanities Center for lunch. This is an establishment that provides work for people with various kinds of disabilities. People without disabilities are also employed, but the purpose of the establishment is for those with disabilities. For lunch we had noodle soup. We having been having noodle soup quite a bit and I have become a fan. I don't know if we'll get the same quality back in Seattle, but we'll see.
We also stopped over at a farm and walked over into the field. An interesting technique that they use is to have raised beds to plant various kinds of vegetables. Also, the farmers, mostly women, were watering the plants by hand. They had a pair of water cans hanging by a pole that they carried on their shoulders. The would fill the cans in the nearby pond walk back with the filled-up cans and water the beds.
Our guide explained that the reason watering was done manually and not with a powerful hose was that the hose would destroy the raised beds. But it wasn't a big deal because the farmers only watered those beds that belonged to them (as decided by the government). These allocations were not that large. The watering could be completed in a couple of hours.
One of the guys from the group trying out the watering process--he is having a hard time!
We then continued on to Halong Bay. We turned into the touristy part. It was spectacular. The roads were surrounded by a boulevard. The whole place was pristine.
We are looking forward to the cruise in Halong Bay tomorrow.
Hanoi Airport
Halong Bay is a designated World Heritage Site and is very popular with tourists. I'll describe Halong Bay in more detail in tomorrow's blog.
Halong Bay is about 190 Km or around 4 hours from Hanoi. It is all country-side from Hanoi to Halong Bay. The first thing that strikes you is the number of rice fields stretching right up to Halong Bay. Another curious thing is the number of Karaoke establishments on the outskirts of Hanoi. I asked the guide why this was so and he said that it was because the Vietnamese love Karaoke. Karaoke was introduced to Vietnam by the Japanese Fascists (as the guide liked to refer to them) during the second world war.
Although we did not get to see many sights other than the country-side that passed by us, we did get interesting narrations from the guide during the ride to Halong Bay. There was much that we learnt. For instance, in education, the only portion that is mandatory is primary school and it is free. Middle school, high school, college are all to be paid for. The only exceptions are for students with extra-ordinary talent who get to go to government-subsidized middle school and high school. To get to the next level of school from a lower level, say from primary to middle, the students must pass an exam. Failure leads to either dropping out or going to vocational school.
All agricultural land belongs to the government. Land is allocated to peasants on a case by case basis and is decided by the village elder. An interesting concept they have is 'use it or lose it'. If a peasant doesn't till the land, the peasant loses the rights to grow on the land. The land then goes to the next one on the waiting list.
The area around Hanoi is very rural. Rows and rows of wet-rice fields with farmers in conical hats laboring away on the rice field.
 |
 |
Wet-rice Fields on the way to Halong Bay
Around 1pm or so we stopped at a Humanities Center for lunch. This is an establishment that provides work for people with various kinds of disabilities. People without disabilities are also employed, but the purpose of the establishment is for those with disabilities. For lunch we had noodle soup. We having been having noodle soup quite a bit and I have become a fan. I don't know if we'll get the same quality back in Seattle, but we'll see.
We also stopped over at a farm and walked over into the field. An interesting technique that they use is to have raised beds to plant various kinds of vegetables. Also, the farmers, mostly women, were watering the plants by hand. They had a pair of water cans hanging by a pole that they carried on their shoulders. The would fill the cans in the nearby pond walk back with the filled-up cans and water the beds.
 |
 |
The woman farmer watering her vegetable beds
Our guide explained that the reason watering was done manually and not with a powerful hose was that the hose would destroy the raised beds. But it wasn't a big deal because the farmers only watered those beds that belonged to them (as decided by the government). These allocations were not that large. The watering could be completed in a couple of hours.
One of the guys from the group trying out the watering process--he is having a hard time!
We then continued on to Halong Bay. We turned into the touristy part. It was spectacular. The roads were surrounded by a boulevard. The whole place was pristine.
We are looking forward to the cruise in Halong Bay tomorrow.
 |
 |
View from our hotel in Halong Bay
No comments:
Post a Comment