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What a day. At 6 am, I stood on the sun deck of the La Paci cruise boat and took in the spectacular scene. Moon dropping on one side of the South China sea, sun rising on the other. Clearer blue skies than the day before showed the massive jagged rock formations in the Bay in even greater relief. We set out in the little “tender” motor boat to La Hah Bay, a more secluded part of Halong Bay (and the reason I chose this particular cruise.)
We parked at a dock and piled into bamboo boats, each with an oarsmen (or in one case, oarswoman). We glided through an opening in one of the massive rocks with giant rock pieces hanging down after passing about 7 monkeys jumping around on the rock. They were black bodied with golden heads, lumpars according to our chipper guide “Anthony” and endangered. I envied the kayakers near us.
After lunch (not good), we ferried back to land and waited amidst a sea of international travelers for our bus back to Hanoi. Reminded me of our long gone days as young travelers and I can see how this trip might be a little strenuous for older folks (older than us 😚) although we have seen several hardly older European travelers.
Back to the rush of Hanoi, where we immediately made up for lost dining time on the boat (I mostly skipped the boat food) and went around the corner from Hotel Anise to one of the best Bun Cha (grilled pork) stalls in the city at 34 Hang Than. (it was among several recommendations our street food guide Mark kindly sent us for Hanoi and beyond. How great!)
We happily sat on plastic stools at a metal table to eat bowls of salty crisp bbq grilled pork slices and pork cakes in a broth served with noodles, greens and chilis and crispy spring rolls. Later we found Ca Phe Pho Co, a famous coffee house we had missed the first time…turns out it’s way in the back of a deep narrow building that is a worn former merchants mansion, You walk into a storefront gallery and silk shop, down a corridor and then up and up and up a narrow spiral staircase to an outdoor deck was with a surprisingly view — of Hoam Kiem Lake, with its famous red bridge and pagoda. Wow.
We got caught in a sudden downpour (we have yet to have our raincoats in hand at the right time) and ended up shopping along Hang Buc, the silk shop street, finding several gifts, all very reasonable. We are supposed to bargain, I think, but are not good at it. The prices are already so cheap. We had a late dinner trying another Hanoi speciality- Cha Ca, a savory catfish that you finish at your table, throwing scallion greens and dill from a big bowl into a skillet with pieces of fish atop a table Cooker. The restaurant (Cha Ca Thang Long) serves only this dish. After the fish is cooked, you bung it in a bowl with noodles, greens, peanuts, chilis and dipping sauce. Fresh and delicious. And dinner (Cha ca, a beer, watermelon for dessert and tea) cost $8. Each. We later realized we were charged less, maybe because we didn’t get as much fish because we arrived shortly before closing. This was our first sit down restaurant.
I swam in the South China Sea this afternoon. The water was surprisingly warm and very salty and a dark murky green. Huge jagged limestone rock formations surrounded us then and now, popping up out of the sea like steep mountains, yellow and black limestone and covered at the tops in thick green vegetation resembling kudzu.
We drove out of the hectic city into countryside that was both old world and very new – rice fields, water buffalo, Palm trees, bicyclists on dirt lanes and then huge new high rise developments and the occasional modern factory.
This was my kind of day. Lots of adventures, Fantastic street food, a foot/arm massage /paraffin foot wrap and mani/pedi ($24), a beguiling water puppet show and we did not get run over by a motorcycle, motorbike, bike, truck or car (seemingly defying the odds). As expected, Hanoi is a chaotic, exotic place, full of commotion and life and energy.
We appear to have the only room with a balcony at the sweet little Hotel Anise, just north of the market on the northern edge of the Old District and it is a kick to sit on it, looking down and out from the 7th floor at the rush of activity day and night on the streets.
After all that, I stumbled into one of the many, many massage/nail salons and found it full of very nice American tourists from Philly, Chicago and Tampa. I had some sort of foot treatment that was very involved – I soaked my feet in a bucket with brown powder I was told (by the Chicagoan) is cinnamon, then the woman started cutting and scrapping in a podiatrist-like fashion, and placed each foot in a vat of very hot paraffin wax and each waxed foot was wrapped in cellophane (to soften the skin.)
Some new and old dining in the Detroit area this trip. New included a very lively ( for a Monday night) Mexican Restaurant in a humble, post-industrial neighborhood of downtown Detroit near the Ambassador Bridge (to Canada) called Mi Pueblo. I had good steak and shrimp Fajitas and a cheap margarita.
The next night we celebrated my birthday ( yes, the one in April, again) at Bella Piatti in snazzy Birmingham near the Townsend Hotel . I had excellent Scaloppine Saltimbocca (veal medallions, Parma prosciutto, fresh sage, white wine, lemon crushed potatoes). We shared a delicious Involtini Di Melanzane (Grilled eggplant rolls, seasoned ricotta cheese, tomato sauce.)
The old favorite was The Stage Deli in West Bloomfield, where I had a delicious “small” Mark beltaire salad ( with strips, on request, of corned beef, turkey and Swiss cheese with a creamy white ranch dressing and a bowl of kreplach soup. Yum!
The Iowa countryside was a welcome tonic yesterday after a few weeks of being cooped up in my office. The hills of central and west-central Iowa were covered in a thick blanket of tall green corn and looked lush against the blue sky.
Young and gorgeous Maggie Rogers also put on a high-spirited show, dancing exuberantly across the stage during almost every well-sung song. The folk rock group Dawes (a favorite of our son’s) and The War and The Treaty — a wife/husband soul group and one of the few Hinterland non-white groups — also threw everything they had into their show. Well done!
