We woke up around 9ish ready for our full day of exploring Hanoi, Vietnam! We opted for another bowl of pho for breakfast (they eat it for every meal, so we decided to join them). This time we got to sit at a tiny little table with a bunch of locals, adding to the experience. We wandered the streets some, Lonely Planet in hand, and found a couple sites we were searching for, like the Bach Ma temple.
Then we decided to squeeze into a bicycle tuk tuk for a 30 minute ride. We weren't sure what we got ourselves into as this guy peddled us through crowded streets of motorbikes and buses, but after a day, the rules of the road kind of make sense to us. 
It is basically like a small river, and just like boats, you tend to stick to the right side but other than that you can weave and swerve and avoid pedestrians when possible.We were dropped off at the lake area and walked a little to the Ngoc Son temple in the middle of the Hoan Kiem lake (the center-point of Hanoi). 
We rested a while, enjoying the views of the lake and then walked some more to our next destination on the map: the Hoa Lo prison. It was the prison in which John McCain was kept when he was a POW. Very educational and interesting to see- crazy to think of all the things that happened inside those walls.
We rested a while, enjoying the views of the lake and then walked some more to our next destination on the map: the Hoa Lo prison. It was the prison in which John McCain was kept when he was a POW. Very educational and interesting to see- crazy to think of all the things that happened inside those walls.Then we had some ice cream as we walked around the lake, towards St. Joseph's cathedral. We weren't able to go inside, just view it from the outside, but it was so unique sitting there in Hanoi. Much of Vietnam is French-influenced, but this in particular was very European, and somewhat out of place.
Then we wandered through a food market- filled with crazy foods, meats, HUGE cucumbers, chicken guts, animal brain & heart, and lots of other bizarre delicacies. 
After a stop for snacks, & enjoying the atmosphere of Hanoi a bit more, we headed back to the hotel for a rest, and showers before meeting our Canadian friends at 7:30 for dinner. We walked to a place where there were Hot Pot places lined up back-to-back in a street. Partly covered by an awning, but mostly just in a street- so we negotiated a price for the 4 of us and sat down to enjoy a delicious vegetarian hot pot! 
As the pot boiled we threw in veggies, noodles, tofu... all so good! We decided, along with Heather and Sara to find a fun place to relax for the night, and as we wandered we found the "Bia Hoi" section of town our Lonely Planet had raved about. These shops basically put out little children's chairs on the street and you could sit amongst locals and travellers and drink 20 cent beer.
There was one intersection where each corner had a couple, so the whole place was filled with fun people. We met 2 older couples from Amsterdam who had great travelling advice, then a couple guys from Denmark, then we met this guy from Russia and 2 guys from New Zealand who we hung out with for a while. So fun to meet people from all over the world on a side street in Hanoi! We followed the Russian guy (who had lived in Vietnam for 15 years) to a couple places after that- he knew all the local hangout. After a while we called it a night, knowing we had another full day ahead of us!THURSDAY, July 3:
Our bus left around 8:00 for a 2-day, 1-night trip to Halong Bay. It is a gorgeous part of Vietnam on the coast where over 300 limestone rocks jut out of the bay! We crammed on a mini-bus with about 20 other travellers, and 3 hours later arrived at Halong Bay. 
As we unloaded from the bus with all the bags, we stood amongst tons of other bus loads of people ready to board boats as well. It all felt a little like cattle herding onto the hundreds of boats in the harbour in front of us. But somehow our guide singled us out and told us to follow him, and put us in a group of 14 Vietnamese people. We were then escorted with them to a ship... just us and Vietnamese people. We have no idea where all the crowds of tourist went, we just knew they were out of sight. We had a good laugh about it, and talked to our new tour guide, Chung, who was really cool. We were a little weary about the whole thing since no one seemed to speak English, the old man in the group laughed at us, and we weren't served lunch for a while after them... hmm. 
But then a couple people joined our table for lunch, and chatted with them in broken English to find out that the whole group was a family- we were literally crashing the Vin family reunion! haha. That is pronounced Vaughn, kind of like the Von Trapp family! So yes, we got to know a few of them, and they seemed nice. Then we docked to go touring through these huge caves up in a mountain. 
As we unloaded from the bus with all the bags, we stood amongst tons of other bus loads of people ready to board boats as well. It all felt a little like cattle herding onto the hundreds of boats in the harbour in front of us. But somehow our guide singled us out and told us to follow him, and put us in a group of 14 Vietnamese people. We were then escorted with them to a ship... just us and Vietnamese people. We have no idea where all the crowds of tourist went, we just knew they were out of sight. We had a good laugh about it, and talked to our new tour guide, Chung, who was really cool. We were a little weary about the whole thing since no one seemed to speak English, the old man in the group laughed at us, and we weren't served lunch for a while after them... hmm. But then a couple people joined our table for lunch, and chatted with them in broken English to find out that the whole group was a family- we were literally crashing the Vin family reunion! haha. That is pronounced Vaughn, kind of like the Von Trapp family! So yes, we got to know a few of them, and they seemed nice. Then we docked to go touring through these huge caves up in a mountain. Jennifer couldn't help but take a picture of another tiny foreign man holding Chris's hand :)
In there we ran into our New Zealand friends we met last night- so funny. 
After exploring the huge caves for a bit we returned to join the Vin family reunion. It was a gorgeous day with a few clouds and bright blue skies so we lounged on the top deck a while, soaking in our surroundings. 
That afternoon we arrived at a floating dock with kayaks! Jennifer was so excited, she had wanted to kayak around Halong Bay for weeks now. 
We paddled around for about 30 minutes, enjoying the view from down on the water- making the cliffs seem so much larger, putting things in perspective a bit. As we docked, the old man from the family was swimming so Jennifer decided to dive in and join him. He thought it was funny, and signaled that we should dive in together and race. Instead, just playing around, Jennifer did a flip into the water instead, which the whole family loved. So then the old man wanted a diving competition... so we continued to dive in, and the funniest one was when Jennifer did a back flip in and then he proceeded to do a huge back-flop! haha.
After exploring the huge caves for a bit we returned to join the Vin family reunion. It was a gorgeous day with a few clouds and bright blue skies so we lounged on the top deck a while, soaking in our surroundings. That afternoon we arrived at a floating dock with kayaks! Jennifer was so excited, she had wanted to kayak around Halong Bay for weeks now. We paddled around for about 30 minutes, enjoying the view from down on the water- making the cliffs seem so much larger, putting things in perspective a bit. As we docked, the old man from the family was swimming so Jennifer decided to dive in and join him. He thought it was funny, and signaled that we should dive in together and race. Instead, just playing around, Jennifer did a flip into the water instead, which the whole family loved. So then the old man wanted a diving competition... so we continued to dive in, and the funniest one was when Jennifer did a back flip in and then he proceeded to do a huge back-flop! haha.
After that the family loved us! And it turned out that a bunch of them did speak English. As the boat pulled away from the dock and into a little open water it was swimming time- more flips off the side of the boat, and jumping from the top deck. Tons of fun. As Jennifer swam near the ladder waiting to climb up at the end of swim-time, she felt a shock, and then another and hopped onto the ladder as fast as possible. The water cleared fast as 3 people on the ship were stung by jelly fish. 
(Seriously one of the most painful things I've ever encountered- and it got me twice!). So after resting a bit it felt a lot better, and our new family was so welcoming now! The old man even offered up some of his beer stash. 
Then it was dinner of plates full of food, where our table-mates were downing this really strong liquor they called wine which they were pouring from a 7-up bottle. 
Such a fun family! Then we relaxed after sunset beneath the stars and then headed to bed early.FRIDAY, July 4th:
Woke up at 7am and joined the family for breakfast in the dinning area. By 9am we docked at Cat Ba Island and said "Goodbye!" to the Vins, our wonderful Vietnamese family. 
We hopped back on the ship with the people we rode to Halong with, and sailed for a couple hours back to the docks. We met tons of new friends from England and Norway who we ate lunch with back on shore. Then we played hacky sac a bit with a little birdie disk thing, and then another 3 hour bus ride back to Hanoi. 
Back to the hotel around 4ish, where we had 2 hours to shower and rest before our overnight bus to Hoi An (south down the Vietnam coast). The Sleeper Bus wasn't bad- 3 rows of bunk beds all down the bus, big enough to barely sleep. 
Other than the loud Vietnamese music blasting from the speakers along with the music videos playing on the TV, and a neighbor who sang along, the trip wasn't too bad. Not the traditional way to spend 4th of July, but all in all a successful day of travelling.
We hopped back on the ship with the people we rode to Halong with, and sailed for a couple hours back to the docks. We met tons of new friends from England and Norway who we ate lunch with back on shore. Then we played hacky sac a bit with a little birdie disk thing, and then another 3 hour bus ride back to Hanoi. Back to the hotel around 4ish, where we had 2 hours to shower and rest before our overnight bus to Hoi An (south down the Vietnam coast). The Sleeper Bus wasn't bad- 3 rows of bunk beds all down the bus, big enough to barely sleep. Other than the loud Vietnamese music blasting from the speakers along with the music videos playing on the TV, and a neighbor who sang along, the trip wasn't too bad. Not the traditional way to spend 4th of July, but all in all a successful day of travelling.SATURDAY, July 5th:
After sleeping on and off throughout the night we finally arrived in Hue around 8:30am. Our plan to spend the day there and take the afternoon bus the rest of the way to Hoi An was changed when the afternoon bus was all booked up... so we jumped straight on another buss (seats, not sleeper) and headed towards Hoi An. This stretch of the coast was suppose to be gorgeous, so Jennifer was ready with camera in hand. 
Chris didn't luck out so much, as the bus filled up he was stuck with a tiny plastic stool to sit in the aisle. We travelled through the mountains, along the coast for 4 hours. 
Eventually we arrived in Hoi An around 1pm. We quickly figured out a place to stay and went out to explore the city a bit. This is the place where you can get any clothes custom-made, so Jennifer set out with vision in mind to get a dress made. After going to 3 different shops she made a decent deal and got measured. 
Hopefully it fits! Then we enjoyed the city, walking along the shore of the river, loving the peaceful streets of our first small town. 
It was quiet which we are not used to, but wonderful. The buildings are all worn around the edges which makes this city feel comfortable. 
After a snack and walked through their local food market, and then headed back to the hotel to shower and get ready for dinner. 
Then we sat outside a cafe for a couple hours as Jennifer updated her journal and we both enjoyed the street-side location, where they were playing Jack Johnson (a perfect touch!). A walk back over by the river for a noodle dinner, and then headed to bed before midnight.
Chris didn't luck out so much, as the bus filled up he was stuck with a tiny plastic stool to sit in the aisle. We travelled through the mountains, along the coast for 4 hours. Eventually we arrived in Hoi An around 1pm. We quickly figured out a place to stay and went out to explore the city a bit. This is the place where you can get any clothes custom-made, so Jennifer set out with vision in mind to get a dress made. After going to 3 different shops she made a decent deal and got measured. Hopefully it fits! Then we enjoyed the city, walking along the shore of the river, loving the peaceful streets of our first small town. It was quiet which we are not used to, but wonderful. The buildings are all worn around the edges which makes this city feel comfortable. After a snack and walked through their local food market, and then headed back to the hotel to shower and get ready for dinner. Then we sat outside a cafe for a couple hours as Jennifer updated her journal and we both enjoyed the street-side location, where they were playing Jack Johnson (a perfect touch!). A walk back over by the river for a noodle dinner, and then headed to bed before midnight.Much more to come... we're heading to Nha Trang tonight to spend Jennifer's birthday there! Can't wait to see what comes next :)
1 comment:
I love the Vin Family Reunion story! You are certainly taking in the local culture. Sounds wonderful.
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