A Trip to the Country

The ‘free time’ on this trip is not anything like being on a Cruise!

We are on the go (so far) most of the day, but then, we didn’t come here to just sit around. Hence, my ‘reporting’ time to work on this Blog is much smaller than usual! Forgiveness please!

            The day before yesterday we spent at a museum in Hanoi dedicated to the 54 different ethnicities that exist here in Vietnam. Phil recommended that we experience than before venturing up into the Hills for the next few days when we would visit several of those ethnicities or tribes. Thankfully Phil was there to interpret all of what we saw in the museum, being able to put it in context and then compare them all to each other learning their differences and similarities, which depended on where the particular tribe traced its origins to.

Here are some of the rules having to do with driving/walking/or being run over on the streets.

            A. There are no rules

            B. If you try and follow any rules you will be run over.

            C. The horns work just fine over here.

            D. The one with the loudest horn wins.

            E. Swerving is an artform.

            F. There are thousands of “Artists” here.

            G. Sidewalks are for the parking of scooters.

            H. Streets are for the parking of larger vehicles, wherever you want to.

J. Pedestrians are moving targets that are to be avoided, but only by enough to cause heart attacks.

K. Intersections are high-speed free-for-alls to be navigated with horns and accelerator pedals only!

If you can adhere to these guidelines then you will survive nicely!

Overland to the Mai Chau Valley and Pom Coong

   Yesterday we ventured out of the city, headed way up to the north and west of Hanoi, into the Hill Country to have the opportunity to visit some indigenous folks and experience their customs. Now, I believe that a clarification is in order here…. we will not be gathered around a fire with a boiling cauldron over it wondering what (or who) is in the soup! No different than our own indigenous peoples, modern times have infiltrated their daily lives, but still, they try their nest to cling to some of their traditions and customs, keeping their heritage alive. And turning that Heritage into a very sustainable form of tourism. The issue for anyone would be to try and sift through these experiences and separate the wheat from the chaff and not get bamboozled and then end up buying the plastic dinosaur made in China. Here is where our Tour Group comes in as Overseas Adventure Travel excels in this kind of experience as we and you will soon find out!

On our way to the village, we stopped at a broom ‘factory’ on the side of the road. Each broom sells for about a dollar. The average income of a Vietnamese worker is about $600.00 per month.

After a delicious dinner that included some interesting rice whiskey, we were entertained by some local young folk with traditional dances and music.

A visit to another village is in store for tomorrow before we return to our hotel in Hanoi.

Thanks for traveling with us…. lots more to come!