A close friend from Hanoi invited us on a Red River cruise. Excited by the prospect of a few hours on the water and sightseeing, we awoke at 5:30am. By 7:25am we were joined by our friends and boarded the boat. Our itinerary said we would leave at 7:30am and return to port by 4:30pm - a full day of fun??
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| Our friends |
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| Du Lich Song Hong (tourboat) |
The Red River is a largely commercial, industrial, brown river that courses its way through Hanoi. Any thoughts we had of peaceful blue water, like Lake Michigan, were quickly disspelled. For friends from Detroit...just think of a cruise past Zug island! The rest of you may think "Love Canal"!
River life in Vietnam is a way of life for many hardworking people. Boats become homes and the water is your garden, your yard, your daily bread, so to speak. As we left the city boundaries we saw acres of corn, sugar cane, and assorted vegetables growing on the banks while buffalo and cattle grazed on the wild grasses.
The cruise took us to 3 different historic temples and the famed pottery village of Bat Trang. Each stop required us to disembark on a narrow wooden gangplank to the rocky shoreline. The river is also bordered by very steep banks which we had to climb so we could then begin a hike to each site. Two boats carried a total of approx. 200 tourists, of which only 2 were foreigners!
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| The banks of the Red River |
I took about 140 pictures, so here I'll simply share some highlights. When we return home some of you can enjoy, or endure, the entire show!
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| onboard |
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| Pagoda Cows |
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| in Bat Trang |
We were hot, tired, and footsore when we returned to the pier. I don't think Susan will ever be able to sing "Red River Valley" again!
Mrs. Davenport, love the picture of you in the Bat Trang :) Great to hear you both had a chance to experience more of the culture and may He use that experience to bring glory to His name. Blessings.
ReplyDeleteHope your guys' week went well. Thinking of you much.
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