The country most outsiders think of as Viet Nam only became a unified, independent, “country” in the early 1700s after 1500 years of occupation of one part or another since the Nam Viet Empire from around the time when our calender switched from BC to AD. But even in the 1700s there were still frequent regime (and capital) changes until 1802 when the first Emperor of the Nguyen (pronounced “WIN”) Dynasty expelled the Chinese for good and declared himself Emperor Gia Long. After finally ending CENTURIES of foreign occupation of one or more parts of the region , young Gia Long (he was a teenager when he proclaimed himself emperor) established his capital at Hue (pronounced “HWAY”) in the Central region establishing an unprecedented era of stability, prosperity and cultural advances.

Central Viet Nam, called Annam by the French, had been the site of a separate, Hindu influenced kingdom called Champa until the early 1700s, whose ancient capital My Son (pronounced “me sone” ) is Viet Nam’s equivalent of Angkor (albeit smaller and less impressive). The Southern Region, called Coinchina by the French, was part of the Khmer Empire (based at Angkor) for many centuries until that empire declined and the Chams took some of the territory Anybody who has been to Angkor will recall that many of the bas reliefs celebrate military victory over the Chams. But more on those places later as this part 2 of my report is about the North, the true heart of Viet Nam (although I would not advise putting it that way to a Southerner .

North Viet Nam, or Tonkin as the French named it, is the cradle of Vietnamese culture. Almost all of the ancient heros and legends are from here, and the movement that came to reunify the country originated here (the Viet Minh.) The Viet Minh, later renamed Viet Cong by the CIA because of the cache associated with the old name after it defeated the French in 1954, the force of Vietnamese nationalists that Ho assembled to implement his vision of an independent, and communist, Viet Nam, drew its numbers primarily from northerners. These men, vastly under gunned and equipped, vanquished the French at the decisive battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, leading to the departure of the French, leading to the arrival of you know who. But enough history for now.

I arrived in the North by air at Ha Noi’s Noi Bai Airport which, unlike Sai Gon’s, is spacious and new. Ha Noi is only a 1 hour flight from Hong Kong while Sai Gon is 2 hours flight from either. When I was there, the weather was beautiful with highs of 70 and clear skies, but it is often cold  (though rarely rainy) in December. Summer is oppressively hot and humid, so November-December, and March-April are the suggested times for visiting (unless you like hot and muggy).

The airport is about 35kms from the city on Ha Noi, a city which has had close to a dozen names over its lifetime, Thang Long having been the most durable and famous. There is a freeway that begins right outside the airport (one of only 2 or 3 true freeways in the country) making it pretty quick to the outskirts of the city (40 minutes if no traffic). Taxi fare is $10, agree in advance of course, but you can take the Viet Nam Airlines bus to the center for $2. Now this freeway with 100kph speed limit (highest in the entire country) has crossings for oxcarts, bicycles and pedestrians. Suffice to say that things that crossed slowly that met fast moving vehicles created MUCH roadkill when the freeway opened (reputedly 5 fatalities on very first DAY!) . While some measures have been taken to reduce the carnage, I suspect it is still quite high and offer anecdotal evidence to support this hypothesis. Riding mopeds or cyclos are MUCH more of a danger than commies.

On the way in from the airport I saw my first dead body. Ever. Uncovered. A middleaged lady laying in the road two mangled mopeds nearby. Neither the police nor ambulance had arrived yet. It was no matter. The mental picture still makes me upset to my stomach if I think back to that day. As an adolescent boy I liked the idea of working with lots of promiscuous nurses, but I never really considered being a doctor as I dislike blood and guts. Nuff said.

Many prefer Ha Noi's more genteel nature and say Sai Gon is not the real Viet Nam (like Laguito is not the real Colombia). While many say the charm of Ha Noi is more the novelty of exploring a city which, until recently, had been on a firmly socialist path to development very insulated from the West, but thee are several “must see’ Attractions. For example, the internationally famous Water Puppets of Thang Long as well as Uncle Ho's mausoleum, the Armed Forces Museum, and the uniquely well preserved old quarter are all “must sees” attractions. Throw in lots of large lakes (particularly Hoan Kiem which is on the edge of the Old Quarter and right in the middle of the City), many parks, plus more trees than just about any large city, and add to that great restaurants and a thriving nightclub scene and you have a seriously happening and exotic place to visit.

The primary place that visitors will want to stay (unless on business or on expense account) is the old quarter. Not all the open boozing or breast baring of New Orleans’ French Quarter, but 5 times older and 100 times more exotic, the Old Quarter is like a living museum. Certain streets in the old quarter are somewhat touristy, but compared to most Asian destinations on the roundeye circuit you will be a novelty. This is especially true for Americans which are still a small percentage of the foreign visitors. Met folks from Malaysia, South Africa and all over Europe, but very few yankees I HIGHLY recommend the PRINCE or PRINCE 2 Hotels (no more than 1 minute walk between them). They offered $15 per day for a clean aircon double, with cable TV (CNN etc.), hot water shower, free internet (in lobby of Prince 1). I had no problem bringing unregistered guests in after midnight (we woke up night guard). It is customary to tip the guard for letting you past (all I had was a 100K note so he scored). I think they’d be thrilled with 50K. More expensive hotels are more difficult. Asia travel lists Prince 2 at $30, whereas walk in rate is half that. The web page has more
details including contact information. 42B Hang Giay Street.

Www.hanoiprincehotel.com Asiatravel’s booking page: http://www.asiatravel.com/vietnam/prepaid/prince2/

I also need to mention two restaurants of note, one VERY traditional Vietnamese and one very Untraditional. The traditional one, Bit Tet (Beefsteak), is right around the corner from the Hotel at 51 Hang Buom-look for sign pointing you down a long hallway in back of a house. Last order at 9pm (Ha Noi is NOT a late night city), this place is so unpretentious you write your order on a slip of paper they provide (steak with fries is the speciality and it comes with a baguette). About $2. VERY authentic family style restaurant (you may have to share a table, MUST pay cash, and will likely not see other rouyndeye).

The other place I recommend could not be more different. Very Western menu, quite pricey, but for American or Italian food in a comfy setting with many expat clients, Al Fresco’s is the place. Located at 23L Hai Ba Trung near the large, plush, mall just South of the Lake, both the ribs and lasagna are excellent. 826-7782 (they even deliver!)

Finally, I did NOT try Ha Noi’s most famous delicacy, cooked dog (prepared 7 different ways) .For good luck you only eat dog at end of the month (some restaurants go through 30 days per day at end of month). The wholesale price is about $1 per kilo (CHEAP!) Those who are more adventurous, culinary speaking, may want to try it.

Before showing naked girls or discussing hobbying in Ha Noi (nice ring to that), I need to briefly describe Tube Houses (Nha ong). Because the French imposed taxis based on street frontage, the Vietnamese constructed very long, narrow, houses with only about 3 meters of street frontage despite sometimes being 50 meters deep. This design creates a windtunnel effect that acts as natural air conditioning (great in summer but exacerbates the cold in winter).

Also, no house could be as tall as the Emperor’s Palace hence three or four stories is the de facto height limit within the Old Quarter (enforced to this day helping preserve the antiquated feel of the neighborhood). To REALLY preserve it they need to ban private vehicles from the Quarter. New Century disco is THE hotspot, but you better have a high tolerance for 3 digit decibel levels and second hand smoke (read: a brew of 1,000s of carcinogens) in concentrations that are clearly harmful to health. God Bless California's ABSOLUTE PROHIBITION on smoking in ANY enclosure except a private residence or hotel room. To breath fresh air again softens the sting of returning to America the Repressed!

Just Southwest of the Lake, no more than 10 minutes taxi ride from the Old Quarter (should be no more than 20,000dong taxi fare), this HUGE, dark, two story, disco is somewhat reminiscent of Jakarta’s Stadium (though no firebreathing dragon). HUGE numbers of unfriendly bouncers and drink pourers (cute girls who wander around looking for empty glasses which they promptly refill from the purchased bottles of Johnny Walker that are stocked on most every table) provide a major employment center. The patrons appreciate it so they can keep hands free for lighting cigarettes and fiddling with cellphones. Add to this tremendous crowds of people bumping into you all the time and it should not surprise that I HATED these aspects of it.

However, the pairs of HOT dancers in sexy outfits dancing up on the bar downstairs in the middle, who look like they are on X (anybody who knows Jakarta should think of the professional dancers at Tanamur’s or JJ’s ), add more appeal. Plus there were a fairly large number of lookers there for the taking although most were in groups with at least one or two guys. Free lockers outside are a nice touch for storing your fannypack or whatever. No cover, but drinks are $3 or $4. I saw only 2 other roundeye, who were old and ugly, hanging by the exit looking for stragglers. Beware fleecing by taxi drivers on the way home late at night (seems to close at 1am despite local rule requiring midnight closure). I made good eye contact wit a few but the earsplitting noise coupled with the difficulty of understanding Vietnamese made it challenging to communicate. To put it mildly.

So after enjoying watching the scene inside for an hour or so, when an English speaking woman with a trim and hard body hit on me in very forward fashion near the door of the Club, instead of spending some time feeling the vibe I rashly agreed to go to her minihotel. She merely asked “we go hotel I massage you” while stroking my stick. I had taken the Vitamin upon arriving, so I was ready to go. :O Also, truth be told I could no longer tolerate either the smoke or the techno blasting at 120db. First warning signal should have been when I got fleeced for 200K at the hotel desk (place was a dark dump). We went upstairs, never having discussed money, then got a good massage and good (but not great) boomboom. All was finished within an hour. So I gave her a generous $30, but she threw a "you give me fifty dollah" hissyfit. She tried every trick in the book, but I refused to yield and after saying "if I man I boxing you"while her face was red with anger, she stormed out. I then grabbed a taxi for the 3 minute ride back and he demands "$5 Dollah". I offered the $2 in my pocket, double the rate I had paid on the way over when the guy used the meter. Again, an ugly scene requiring me to get the clerk of my hotel to come out to the street to play mediator while the driver bitched and moaned for a good 15 minutes before grudgingly accepting double the true fare. An ugly pair of back to back confrontations that I do not look forward to repeating and among the uglier incidents I have had in YEARS of mongering, however, would not dissuade me from the White skinned beauties for which Ha Noi is famous.

For less hedonistic, or dangerous, nighttime entertainment, the Number One draw would be the World Famous Water Puppets of Thang Long. This unique form of theater has toured the World in recent years, but the ancient art originated in the Red River Valley as a way for farmers to have some entertainment in otherwise quite dull lives. Tickets cost 40,000 and seating is reserved so buy them early for best seats, especially for the most popular 8pm show. The theater is on the edge of the Lake closest to the Old Quarter and is very easy to find just by walking towards the Lake. The theater is fairly small, and the seating is not steeply inclined meaning having a tall person in front of you is bad. Even worse is having some clown who stands up to take pictures blocking the view of those behind. Two rows in front of us we had one such scofflaw to whom I eventually blurted out “sit down pops” to much appreciation from the people seated near me (two middle aged American women in particular). He persisted. After the performance I approached him and said, rudely, “we really enjoyed watching your back while you were standing up taking fotos”. He replied to his wife saying “Nur zwei mal” (only two times in German) while acting like it was no big deal. I replied ‘funf mal, zehn mal, zwanzig mal. Dumkopf”) 5, 10 , 20 times idiot -literally stupid head (although I think dum may not mean stupid auf Duetsch.) Other people told me about similar incidents when they attended.

The show consists of about a dozen vignettes lasting a total of about an hour, each being based on a traditional story. Traditional instrumental music accompanies the performance. Some stories were about fishing and farming, and another about young love (resulting in a baby). The most interesting one was about Emperor Le Loi and the Restored Sword (after whom the Lake at the edge of the old quarter, Hoan Koam, is named). During yet another period of Chinese occupation in the mid 1400s, a particularly wise and charismatic leader named Le Loi led a campaign to eject the Chinese. Combining surprise, effective guerilla tactics and effective use of propaganda to convince the defending Ming troops of the futility of fighting back, Le Loi succeeded. But local legend has it that Le Loi had a magical sword which was integral to the victory. Some time later while Le Loi was boating on the lake, a Golden Turtle appeared to reclaim the magic sword and restore it to its divine owners at the bottom of the Lake.

While the official name of the lake is Hoan Kiem, most locals call it Ho Guom (meaning Lake of the Restored Sword). There is a monument to Lei Loi on Le Loi Street, which runs along the West edge of the Lake. In the middle of the lake is a small island with the Tortoise Tower, in honor of that special turtle.

On the corner of the lake closest to the Old Quarter, right across from the Water Puppet Theater, there is an old bridge leading to a small temple (Ngoc Son) on an island in the lake.

The ancient name is Pho Phuong (36 streets), and in the irregular maze of narrow streets with sidewalk vending from narrow shopfronts, each street represented a certain type of product. For example, foodstuffs on one street, including some familiar looking items being sold in an unfamiliar setting. Then cookware on the next Christmas lights and decorations had their own street. Counterfeit money, used at Buddhist funerals for offerings to the spirits, has a street. Even headstones have their own street (well gotta remember those motorbike riders).

There are also monuments celebrating the Martyrs and Heros of Independence, almost always including women. In this regard, Viet Nam is a much less sexist society than many. Having discussed Ho at length in Part 1, to further explain the history and philosophy of all Vietnamese I must now explain Hai Ba Trung (pronounced Choong) These legendary ladies figure prominently in Ha Noi’s, indeed Viet Nam’s, origins. To give the short version-applause from the peanut gallery thinking “get to the girls already-the Chinese had occupied Ton Kin for much of
its history, although the Vietnamese periodically managed to expel their nettlesome Northern neighbors on a temporary basis. The first locals to vanquish the hated Han were, according to legend, a group of women led by the Trung Sisters (Hai Ba Trung) one of whose husband’s had been killed by the chinese. While EVERY city has a street named in their honor and celebrates an annual holiday in their honor, only Ha Noi has their temple.

The glory of liberation, like it would be so many more times in VN’s history, was short-lived. You see the numerically superior Han regrouped and returned, one story claiming the soldiers attacked naked because they knew Tonkinese woman felt it a horrible tabu to look at a naked man other than their husband. If true, I say the prescience of the Han in predicting their prudishness was brilliant military strategy worthy of Sun Tszu. In any event, the sisters were so mortified at the thought of the return of their hated Han overlords that they cast themselves a river where they drowned.

Just as the area with high population density in the South is the Mekong delta, the heartland of the North is the Red River Valley, where Ha Noi is located. This is the number 2 rice basket (after the Mekong area) and before the war VN used to be the World’s top rice exporter (it is now 2nd to LOS). The great river Song Hong is both the lifeblood, and the transport network of the Northern region.

The bridge over the river, called Long Bien, was built by the French at the turn of the 20th Century and was a favorite target of US bombers. We bombed it repeatedly, and they quickly restored it. Nowadays, there is a large, modern bridge for vehicles about a km to the South but Long Bien is still used by a VERY few peds and VERY many mopeds. Despite Ha Noi being VERY different than Southern California in many respects, I am reminded of the old Missing Persons song “Only a Nobody walks in LA”.

On my second night, I walked along the lake looking for xe om girls but saw none. I did have 2 guys ask me if I was interested in going to some bar where there were girls, but I eventually just sought a non hustling taxi driver. Found one who spoke a bit if English. First he drove me to 2 casas (they exist in Ha Noi) in a rich area North along West Lake (Ho Tay) near the London School of Design (I recall that sign) where they presented a lineup of about 12 girls in the same way it is done in Colombia. The quality was soso, none better than a 7. After perusing all of them several times, noticing which made eye contact and smiled at me, I eventually picked one of the 7s. She was a 19Yo looking spinner with porcelain skin (no boobs though) and she got a huge grin when I picked her. But then the negotiations began thorough the taxi driver as interpreter. The pimp (a guy about 30) wanted me to use an onsite room for the assignation (and wanted $40). I countered with $40 but at my hotel fir several hours. A first he was adamant that she could not leave, but then the girl said something to him (like she wanted to go with me) and he said OK. Things were looking up. But then the negotiations began, and he insisted on $100 for take out. I balked and we bailed. The driver said locals would pay 150,000 ($10) He said take out is rare (because expensive and few locals have private rooms for sex.)

He said he had a girl in mind and kept calling her until he ran out of credits on his cell. Eventually she called and we went down to the South (residential) part of the city to meet her. She turned out to be VERY GFE, but she speaks ZERO English (and he VERY little). We agreed on 800,000VND ($50) for all night, she gave him 300,000. Despite difficulty in communication, we sat at a local style restaurant while she ate something, then we crossed the street and knocked on the metal shudders to wake the guard. He lets us in, then tapped his pillow suggesting a tip. The night it turned out great and as soon as she saw the camera she stripped down and started posing suggestively. What a welcome change from times when you have to battle to get a risque foto (plus pay extra). VERY responsive and agreeable. Fun girl who smiled and acted happy. I have her number and her permission to give it to friends who might visit (perhaps easiest through the taxi driver, Bao, who can be reached at 0912-217230). She did not want to leave in the morning. VERY accommodating girl, but my Vietnamese is better than her English (which should tell you something).

In Part 1 of my Viet Nam report, I showed a public sector image of Ho in his crypt. The grand edifice in which his crypt lies on the South shore of Ho Tay (West Lake), modeled after Lenin’s tomb in Moscow, and often described as the “best designed, best built, best maintained and best airconditioned (for obvious reasons) building in all of Viet Nam”.

This is a pilgrimage for all Vietnamese, and a must see for roundeye visitors with ANY interest in history. Closed on Mondays & Fridays, and open only from 8 until 12 (last admission at 11am), this is the most rigidly controlled “tour” outside North Korea. First you must leave EVERYTHING except cameras (including cellphones and cigarettes) at the first office area that you encounter upon entering the complex. Then at the second office which is the security checkpoint, you must leave cameras sealed in a locked bag (you get a claim check) before walking through the metal detector and having your attire checked for dress code compliance.

After the screening and vetting, but no paying as all is gratis here, you are then escorted in small groups along a permissible path no wider than 6 feet. Basically you walk singlefile as unsmiling guards, whistle at the ready, wait every ten paces. You then pass the HUGE Ho Chi Minh Museum, which I had no time to see, sadly, before turning a corner at the edge of a huge parade ground where you begin noticing the huge, dark grey leviathan that is Ho’s Mausoleum.

While carefully staying in line and not talking, you then solemnly walk up the red carpet ascending the stairs between the two honor guards in their snowy whites.When Ho beat the French in 1954, he immediately went about setting up a government for the North with its capital at Ha Noi, largest city in the North. Being a humble man, Ho refused to move into the former Governor’s Palace (a short walk from his mausoleum) saying it belonged to the people.

Instead, he chose to live in a servant’s quarters nearby from 1954 until 1959. While his lifestyle was austere, he did have the luxury of a private car (a French Puegot, meaning he had lots of repair bills). Ho had a small hardwood stilt house built just behind the palace that was completed in 1959. He held meetings downstairs at the open table and lived upstairs. Note Ho’s radio, telephones and VC Helmet.

While Sai Gon has another war museum focused on the American side, the Armed Forces Museum in Ha Noi is on the edge of the Citadel, the Vietnamese equivalent of the Pentagon (except its fortifications date back a Millenia). The flag tower is all that is left of the original Citadel. The part of the Citadel you can sneak a peak of from the back lot of the museum looks VERY impressive in both scale and opulence. Photography from the top of the flagtower is prohibited (I suspect they don’t want people to see how plush their digs are), but I was able to grab this shot showing a part of this grand parade ground with HUGE buildings on 3 sides. Conspicuously different than the fully intact MIG positioned at the entrance to the courtyard of the museum, there is lots of wreckage of US aircraft modeled into a large sculpture.

Starting in 1967 we began bombing Ha Noi. Ostensibly to interdict the movement of war materiel South along the infamous Ho Chi Minh trail, but more particularly to undermine the will to fight of the North, we pounded many targets over and over. This was the brainchild of General Curtis LeMay, head of Air Force operations, who had was frustrated at the limited efficacy of the air war in the South and wanted to expand the air war to the North. He complained to McNamara that “we are swatting at flies when we should be going after the manure pile”. He described the objective as being “to bomb them back intro the Stone Age.” Antiair missiles used to down B52s, often staffed by women, were a key component of Ha Noi’s air defenses but HO had also reduced the North’s vulnerability as discussed below.

But Ho predicted the coming air war back in the early 60's and he dispersed the industry and population by relocating them away from Ha Noi to positions more difficult to bomb. In particular, the North near the Chinese border (he knew we were preoccupied with not giving the PRC any pretext to intervene, having learned well the lesson of Korea.) Was much safer. So by the time the bombing began Ha Noi’s population had been reduced from close to a million to 250,000 essential people. We also would not bomb Hai Phong, the largest harbor in the North (we still controlled Cam Ranh Bay, North of Da Nang) because of fear of hitting a Russian ship (Macnamara did not want the Russians to have any more incentive for helping Ho). These Macnamara edicts of limited warfare infuriated the Pentagon which complained about “having to fight with one hand tied behind our backs.” The VC, meanwhile, were very industrious and tolerated great hardship and suffering while taking huge casualties. But after a millenia, on and off, of Chinese occupation, their spirit would not be easily bowed.

As OUR casualties mounted, however, enthusiasm for the war effort waned. This all started at universities in the Bay Area, my mother got hit with water cannon while protesting the war at UC Berkeley I was to learn YEARS later, but then spread like wildfire to college towns coast to coast.

Macnamara, who had been ousted by LBJ in February of 1968 because he had become increasingly skeptical that the war could ever be won, recounts two separate occasions where we had established back channel negotiations with Ha Noi through intermediaries while LBJ had ordered much criticized “strategic pauses” in the bombing. The Pentagon argued that this merely allowed the enemy time to regroup and resupply and LBJ was VERY impatient because he needed visible concessions from Ha Noi to show he was getting something in return. So L:BJ quickly ordered resumption of the bombing which scotched those preliminary peace feelers.

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention Jane Fonda’s INFAMOUS visit to Ha Noi in 1972. The Paris Agreement leading to departure of US forces was finalized about 2 months later (in October of 1972 while her visit was in August) . In her speech, she decried US attacks on what she claimed were civilian targets and called Nixon a vicious murderer without scruples. Whether she was merely exercising her First Amendment right to express her personal opinion, or whether she was a disloyal publicity hound giving aid and comfort to the enemy is for each reader to decide for himself. Here is a link to her exact speech and several fotos from her visit.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.1stcavmedic.com/Jane_Fonda/Jangun4.jpg&i mgrefurl=http://www.1stcavmedic.com/jane_fonda.htm&h=186&w=275&sz=16&tbnid=srOtLetH bRGayM:&tbnh=73&tbnw=109&hl=en&start=20&prev=/images%3Fq%3Djane%2Bfonda%2Bha noi%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en- US:official_s%26sa%3DG

Of most interest to most readers would be her long forgotten comment lauding North Viet Nam for wiping out the hobby which she mentioned had been widespread under French rule. A Hollywood Liberal criticizing the French for being libertine. But then again, they DO say that “politics makes for strange bedfellows”

In December of 1972, Nixon resumed the bombing despite the fact that it was already apparent by that time that military victory was unattainable. Thinking this would pressure Ha Noi into a more favorable settlement (to allow US to withdraw in something other than utter defeat), the infamousChristmas Bombing Campaign instead antagonized the leadership of the North.

Hoa Lo prison, built by the French, was used to keep captured US pilots like John McCain and Pete Peterson, the first US Ambassador to Viet Nam once relations were restored in 1994 (by the great visionary William Jefferson Clinton). The Singaporeans built a sleek office tower (Hanoi Towers) on the site, although a small museums remains (focusing on French use of the prison to keep Viet prisoners, rather than its later use by the government). Also, John McCain was offered early release because his father was an Admiral, but he refused any special treatment to avoid giving the North a propaganda victory. How many think the current occupant of the White House would have shown such sacrifice and resolve, had his Texas National Guard unit been sent to Nam for active duty and had he been shot down and captured? The McCain of today, AKA the sellout, would likely have accepted release.

BRIEF DISCUSSION OF OTHER TOP TOURIST SITES IN THE NORTH

After Ha Noi, the next most important part of the North is The Gulf of Tonkin, the body of water where in 1964 North Vietnamese patrol craft shelled US destroyers (ostensibly in international waters). These events led to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, the much maligned Congressional authority LBJ used to put active duty forces in Viet Nam. Many accused LBJ of intentionally fabricating the incident to galvanize support for US intervention, a theory which Macnamara persuasively debunks in his book.”In Retrospect” . In any event, this was as close as we ever got to  formally “declaring war” on Viet Nam.

The Gulf of Tonkin includes Halong Bay, one of the most famous tourist sites in Viet Nam. The apex of a mongering visit to VN would be to find a couple GFEs and a buddy, then charter a junk to overnight amidst the crags of Ha Long (Dragon) Bay.

It was cold, my time was limited, and I did not go. Lame I know, but I will be back to do it right, with several days AND several girls Next trip. Further North is the border with southern China .

The other big draw of the North is trekking among the hill tribes (Hmong, who fought for the CIA against the VC, being the most famous). This is centered up in the mountains near the Chinese border around Sapa. Springtime, when flowers and butterflies are abundant and the weather is warm, is the preferred trekking season.

Halong Bay and Sapa will be my primary objectives on my next trip, although 3 days in Ha Noi was not enough and I plan to spend several more days exploring the city itself.

Part 3 of this report will cover the Central Region including Da Nang and Hue, the tomb filled capital of the Nguyen Dynasty, the apex of Vietnamese culture and influence. It will also cover the ancient Cham capital My Son, and the apsara dancers I encountered there (a highpoint of the trip really).
Click here for Part Two Photos