I think that’s how the song goes. Or is it, “Do you know the way to San Jose?” Either way, today we’re leaving Hanoi and heading east. Hopefully our driver knows the way to Ha Long Bay. Let’s go!
Traffic on the way out of the city was thick, but if you’re riding along in a big, air-conditioned tour bus, who cares? Just means there’s more time to look around.
Getting Out of Town
As we made our way slowly out of town, we passed through a few neighborhoods that looked a bit sketchy to me. But what do I know? I know “sketchy” at home, but everything here is so foreign. I don’t really know anything about what I’m seeing.
Then we passed a development that was definitely the opposite of sketchy. It appeared to be a planned community, nicely landscaped, with modern buildings that looked like they’d just been washed and polished.
It reminded me of the city of Irvine in Southern California – wide, tree-lined streets, steel-and-glass office buildings, well-kept residential areas. We moved on, crossing the Red River, officially leaving the city of Hanoi.
Bac Ninh province, adjacent to, and east of Hanoi, is considered the cultural heart of Vietnam. We’re still in the Red River Valley, where Vietnam started. Started, but didn’t come into it’s own until the year 938 AD.
That was the year that a Vietnamese commander named Ngô Quyền put an end to 1,000 years of Chinese occupation. That’s 1,000 years, with three zeros. Hard to imagine.
Vietnam’s Golden Years
The next few centuries are known as Vietnam’s golden years. At the time, the country of Vietnam was called Dai Viet. (The name, “Vietnam,” wouldn’t come along for another 800 years).
Just as in most of mid-century Europe, Dai Viet was ruled by one royal family after another. In Asia, they’d say one dynasty after the other.
One of the longest lasting was the Ly Dynasty. Eight Ly kings came from one small town here in Bac Ninh province. During the Ly Dynasty, Vietnam flourished on all fronts. It was a time of renaissance for Vietnamese art and culture. Irrigation projects and technological advances in farming took hold.
That was then. This is now. But by the looks of things, this might be considered another golden age. Just east of Hanoi, we passed huge factories in an industrial park that stretched out as far as the eye can see.
Another Golden Age?
These weren’t aging factories belching out black smoke. Everything here looked relatively new. The layout formed a grid pattern. Organized, clean, and neat.
Heavyweights in consumer electronics like Samsung have factories here. A major semiconductor manufacturer and a key supplier for Apple are here. Canon builds printers in a factory here, and Honda builds motorcycles. (Of course they do!)
Truck traffic dominated roads between sprawling warehouses. I’d imagine that raw materials are being brought in and finished products are being shipped out, possibly to the nearby port of Haiphong.
The whole scene was impressive. It looked almost unreal, as if I was looking at a video game. I felt like I was looking into Vietnam’s future. And then, just like that, industry gave way to countryside.
Oops! Not so fast.
To be continued…
Great photo of Ha Long Bay. Credit: istockphoto/sanyanwuji
