On our final full day in Vietnam, we made a day trip from Hanoi to Halong Bay for a cruise to see the extraordinary limestone outcroppings that jut out of the sea.
Needless to say, we were not the only tourists plying these waters.
We have now bid farewell to Vietnam, having just arrived in Laos (where we will be off in the jungle for the next two days). We all found Vietnam to be fascinating. It was Sophie's favorite country so far (cheap shopping??); others of us found it to be exhausting after a while, particularly the noise and traffic. In any event, the country is extraordinary in two respects. First, one cannot be here without contemplating the Vietnam War at every turn: how we got here; how awful it would have been to fight; the cost to civilians; and so on. Second, and more optimistic, the degree of vitality and development is extraordinary given the decimation that happened just a little more than a generation ago.
Needless to say, we were not the only tourists plying these waters.
We have now bid farewell to Vietnam, having just arrived in Laos (where we will be off in the jungle for the next two days). We all found Vietnam to be fascinating. It was Sophie's favorite country so far (cheap shopping??); others of us found it to be exhausting after a while, particularly the noise and traffic. In any event, the country is extraordinary in two respects. First, one cannot be here without contemplating the Vietnam War at every turn: how we got here; how awful it would have been to fight; the cost to civilians; and so on. Second, and more optimistic, the degree of vitality and development is extraordinary given the decimation that happened just a little more than a generation ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment