An entry in the TFS Travel Journal
Another restless Larium night. We went to breakfast, but there was no buffet, only ordering from their limpid menu.
We absorbed our last views of the other-worldly Halong Bay as we began the long drive back to Hanoi. The first two hours were the same grueling experience we remembered so well from two days ago. Then we got onto the paved roads, but that meant having to navigate around and through the endless stream of cyclists, a few of which were transporting large pigs tied to the back racks. We also saw many riders wearing Ho Chi Minh hats - green pith-helmuts - which are quite common, but only in the north, and are also sold at all the tourist shops. Another interesting local sight, as we passed through the center of the many small towns along the way, was the ever-present sidewalk barbers, always doing a brisk business. We were relieved when we arrived alive back at the Metropole around 1:30. As we had articulated our displeasure with our small room last time, we were graciously given a larger one this time (though not that large), which we appreciated. We agreed to meet Cheung for afternoon activities at 2:30, and we went to the hotel’s pub for lunch. We indulged our homesickness by enjoying a mushroom pizza and a cheeseburger with french fries.
We then headed over to the Fine Arts museum, housed in a beautiful French colonial building that was built as an office for the French government here. It was a small, manageable collection, with nice works from the stone age up to the present day. Our favorites were some fabulous embroidered scenes and their collection of silk paintings, which had a nice local flavor to them, and possessed richness and detail in depicting daily life and natural beauty, as they were painted by “artists with a sentimental soul”, as the museum’s printed guide stated. We also saw some recent paintings by Vietnamese artists, which were very impressionist in style as they captured the recent past and present. We were glad to be done with the guided sightseeing, and we went back to the hotel for a workout and some r and r.
In early evening, we went out for a walk around the small lake that is the center of the city. It was nice seeing the nightlife, the lights and the locals, but this city is quite dirty and just too damn humid! We returned to the hotel where we stopped in the restaurant (alleged to be the best in Hanoi) for a light dinner. We started with a salad of crisped basil, mozzerella, and tomato, and a Caesar salad, which was made to order at our tableside. Both were refreshingly fresh and tasty. Then a Tom Yung Kun soup for Wendy and the salmon sashimi for Milton, both of which we enjoyed tremendously. For dessert, we got the sampler which was a delicious medley.
Thus sated, we went back to our large room for the evening.