Vietnam : Post #3 Back in Hanoi (Friday)

I returned to Hanoi after spending 2 nights in a town called Ninh Binh. The town is located 90 km south of Hanoi. Like many towns in Vietnam it is an utterly charmless place filled with shops with grey concrete walls. Here most of the buildings or shops are not painted - the concrete is left bare. You can imagine what a town consisting of grey concrete buildings. At Ninh Binh, most of the shops are closed by 8.00 pm It gets dark in Northenrn Vietnam by 5.30 pm.

Last night I went for a massage to repair my aching body after a motor bike ride througg bone jarring back country roads. I sat pillion while the motor driver as we rode among the rice fields and villages. The ride was very scenic as the area is dotted with limestone formation and hills. Like Ipoh but with lots of rice fields, villages and buffaloes.

Earlier in the morning, I took a 2 hour boat ride to Khenh Ga floating village. Unfortunately the houses near the river banks which the travel guide books said were on stilts were nowehere to be seen. Instead there were brick or stone houses along the river banks. There were plenty of things to see and photograph like ; farmers planting rice, people ccathing fish but one sight stood out.

At two different places, there were several men, women and even children breaking rocks and carrying them to boats. The source of the rocks is the limestone hills. It must a dangerous work to do as I saw huge rocks and earth raining down down some slopes.

I should mention that women work very hard here in Hanoi and all over Vietnam. At the above 2 sites, women carry the rocks in baskets placed over their head. In Hanoi, there are many women selling fruits, food, slippers and many other things. They carry the products on a long bamboo stick with the goods tied to the ends. Sometimes they carry their products on bicycles. The most common product sold by the women is fruits. They start work very early and continue until 9.00 or 10.00 pm. I cannot imagine aMalaysian woman doing these things.

Today the skies in Hanoi are sunny. I will be sure to run around Hoan Kiem lake this evening.

That's all for today. I wil be flying to Hue , 1000 km south of Hanoi tomorrow afternoon.