Ginny Tonkin

Originally posted on October 6, 2010 on Girl Meets World, which chronicled my travels in Vietnam and South East Asia.

This classic icon of Hanoi, Huc Bridge in Hoan Kiem Lake, was packed with visitors for the 1,000 Year Anniversary of Hanoi.

Traveling anywhere in Hanoi its impossible to ignore the signs: Hanoi 1,000 Years. October 2010 marks the 1,000-year anniversary for the Vietnamese capital, and this city is going to make sure everybody knows it. From October 1 to October 10, the city is celebrating with street-side entertainment, performances, speeches–and the people are abuzz with excitement.

This city is beautiful without all the extra gussy for the celebration. Trees grow up out of street cracks to bring much needed green to this haze-chocked city. French influence is felt through surviving colonial buildings that, tree-lined boulevards, and the fresh bread sold at every street corner. But there is something extra beautiful when a city comes together to celebrate what makes it special.

Yesterday I ventured to explore the area around Hoan Kiem Lake, and celebrations were in full swing. The most similar parallel I can draw is a 10-day long 4^th of July celebration, complete with street demonstrations, parades, and small-scale entertainment at every corner. Vietnamese love taking pictures of each other, and seeing couples in wedding outfits in parks around the country with a photographer is a common scene. Today, everybody from gobs of teens, families, and couples decked to the nines were posing by the iconic symbols that surrounded Hoan Kiem.

Starting at the historical Ngoc Son Temple, I just aimed to meander around the water.  But when I first stepped onto the path riming the lake, a teen came up to me with a sheet of red, heart-shaped stickers that looked like the Vietnamese flag. She placed one on my cheek, then one on my hand. She then asked me for 20,000 VND ($1). Slightly annoyed, I thought, “When in Rome,” and paid, thinking at least I looked ready to celebrate with the rest of Hanoi.

Not two seconds later, a wedding photographer who’d been taking shots of a soon-to-be groom paused to ask to take a picture of me. I then asked if I could get a shot of him, and the groom came over to take a shot of the two us! As all of this scene is happening, crowds of gaggling teens surround, taking their own pictures for the occasion. Apparently, with the sticker on my face, I was offering another photo opportunity for these party-ready Hanoians.

These guys politely asked to sit down next to me. I think they wanted to practice their English.

However, what was truly great about yesterday is that I believe I was seeing the best of Hanoi and of Hanoians. Everybody was out in full patriotic swing to celebrate and love the city together. A woman was pushing her husband in a wheelchair on the sidewalk and was looking to get down into the street to watch the performance. As soon as the first wheel edged off the walk, six from the crowd immediately sprang up to aid this couple.

I took to the time to recognize what a special and unique position I was in myself. In the capital of the country mine own was at war with not forty years ago, I was walking around, carefree, happily greeted by all I came across. As a developing country with an easily bribed government, Vietnam has many things it’s working out. However, a lot is going right in Vietnam, and the country has a right to celebrate.

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Find more pictures from my Picasa photo gallery: Hanoi.

Originally posted on October 10, 2010 on Girl Meets World, which chronicled my travels in Vietnam and South East Asia.

This shot of Hoi An's sleepy river life hides the numerous vendors hawking goods to crowds of international tourists.

Simply put, South East Asia is the new Europe when it comes to backpacking popularity. Tourism is booming; it’s a leading industry in the rapidly developing country. And it’s not just the wild American co-ed who’s exploring the rich beauty of Vietnam–the country attracts a large cross-section of Asian tourists, European backpackers, and families from Australia on holiday.

Everyone from European tourists to Chinese businessmen use English in Vietnam as the lingua franca, requiring anybody who wants to make a dong to know the new international business language.

It’s funny—just by traveling to Vietnam, now a key vacation destination, I am experiencing a large diversity of Asian peoples, Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, South Koreans, albeit very superficially.

Everywhere I go, I see tourists and backpackers alike clutching the traveler’s  tome, Lonely Planet. Be careful where you purchase your guide; I picked up my copy of the wayfarer’s bible and realized it was just that: a copy.

Eager to earn an extra couple thousand dong or two (one USD about 20,00 VND), many street vendors hawking books sell photocopies bound in what may seem like legitimate covers. What you may find inside may disappoint when the text runs grainy and the pages detach from the binding.

Jumping onto the backpacking bandwagon, I am spending two weeks before my CELTA, traveling up the coast of Vietnam to get acquainted with this no-longer-sleeping beauty.

The plan?

Three days in HCMC. Settle, and explore the town I’ll be living in for the next four weeks.

Two days in Nha Trang. Made famous when it hosted the Miss Universe Pageant in 2008, Nha Trang is known for it’s world-class beach—where you can find me.

Three days in Hoi An. Once the “it” port for international commerce, attracting trade from Japan, China, and Europe during the 16th century, Hoi An was slowly forgotten as the French set up in nearby Da Nang. Today, it’s historic streets flood with tourists looking for its traditional charms.

Four days in Hanoi. Hanoi, the capitol of Vietnam, is celebrating its 1,000th anniversary this October. For the first 10 days of the month the northern metropolis will be packed with tourists, domestic and international, to participate in designated festivities.

Back to HCMC. Settle from my backpacking venture, and prepare for the CELTA.

More to come. I’m trying not to be attached to my laptop—who needs the internet where there’s exploring to do?

Read more about each of the places I visited, including the best day ever in HCMC—meeting and greeting with travelers and locals in Saigon, Nha Trang’s comical “#1 Lady”—a beachside fruit hawker, my cooking class in sleepy Hoi An during monsoon season, and tips on traveling through Vietnam.