Haiphong--Really nice, clean city
Trip Start
Apr 15, 2012
1
22
24
Trip End
Jun 06, 2012
Haiphong, Vietnam
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Parks everywhere, tree lined streets, clean air, no litter, just lovely. Easily walked. No ripoff hustle like Cat Ba.
In Saigon it was 50/50 motorcycles v. cars. Here almost all motos or bicycles. Many of the bicycles were equipped with a car battery--an electric powered bike.
WM was the only white guy in town. I mean the ONLY one. People were staring like WM was a panda in a zoo. One guy was walking down the street and did a double take. "Where you from?". "US". "I am from Taiwan. I come here to get a wife."
In Vietnamese the word for chicken is "ga". The word for train station is "ga". Go figure.
20,000 dong = $1 USD
Arrived on a 1 hour ferry from Cat Ba (145,000 dong), stayed one night, morning train to Hanoi 65,000 dong, 2.5 hours). Went to Ho's mauseleum and it was closed--still. Luxury sleeper train to Sapa in the NW mountains tonight, for a couple of days, then on to the 20th Century French Waterloo--Dien Bien Phu..
