Teacher Getting Hit By Culture: Christmas Break Part 2: Northern Vietnam (Sapa, Hanoi, Ha Long Bay)

So after spending the Christmas season together with several other TIS teachers and their families, we headed up north for the second leg of our trip. We used Hanoi as a sort of home base during this second leg while we took short trips out of town to places like Sapa and Ha Long Bay.

After arriving in Hanoi and dropping off some of our belongings, we took the overnight train up into the mountainous northern edge of Vietnam. Sapa is known for a very scenic view of the rugged northern Vietnamese landscape and is also home to a wide array of different ethnic minority groups, most notably the H'Mong and Dao people. It was definitely the coldest portion of our journey and the traversing the mountainous terrain was at times treacherous. We arrived back in the town of Sapa in a mud covered mess and didn't really have time to clean off before heading back to Hanoi on the bus.

Arriving back in the capital of Hanoi, we had a day to roam the busy streets of the Old Quarter. Here, pedestrian and road traffic was one. There was very little room on the sidewalks and often times we had to walk alongside motor vehicles and a mass of motorbikes. Crossing the roads was an experience in itself as you simply couldn't wait for a break in the traffic (there never would be one), and simply had to plod across the road and have dozens motorbikes zip around you.

Then finally, it was time to head out to one of the seven natural wonders of the world, Ha Long Bay. Ha Long Bay is an area with thousands of tiny (and some not so tiny) limestone rock islands scattered across the sea. The blend of rock, vegetation, and water was indeed a truly unique sight to behold. We booked ourselves a cozy junk cruise through the archipelago islands where we delved into massive caves, went ashore of uninhabited islands, kayaked, and visited a pearl farm. In the evening, plopped down in the middle of the bay and socialized with the rest of our boat-mates over drinks, karaoke, and a round of squid fishing.

Arriving back in Hanoi one last time from Ha Long Bay, we had one final day where we ventured to the ethnology museum to find out more about the Vietnamese people and their culture. There we learnt even more about some of the other minority groups that we didn't see up during our time in Sapa. We also managed to squeeze in a stop at Hoa Lo prison. This prison gained infamy for housing important Vietnamese revolutionary leaders during the uprising against the colonial French who occupied Vietnam prior to the second World War. The prison continue to be used during the Vietnam War, when American pilots shot down over Hanoi would be transferred to Hoa Lo.

After one final dinner, we turned back towards the airport and came home. What an incredible two weeks! It was definitely a very eye-opening and educational trip and hopefully someday, I'll get the chance to head back to sample even more wonderful Vietnamese food and visit southern Vietnam to check out Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong river delta.