We apologise to anyone who reads this blog (Amy’s mom and Nick’s parents ;)) for our hopeless posting schedule. We have been so busy enjoying our time in Southeast Asia that we have had little opportunity to reflect on and share our adventures. To be honest, Asia seemed so far away when we were first planning that we only loosely sketched out our trip, so a lot of our travels have been inspired by our own research (on the fly) and recommendations from locals/friends/travellers, which has kept us busy booking, planning and rebooking!
Wow, I don’t know what we thought Vietnam would be like, but whatever expectations we had they have been far exceeded. Our original plan was to go from the north to the south of the county, but to try and get the warmest possible weather in the mountains, we decided to start in the south and finish in Hanoi. Our trip began in Ho Chi Minh City, also known as Saigon. Saigon is big and busy and everyone we met said to stay for as little time as possible, so we booked a hotel in District 1 with the thought of quick sightseeing and hunkering down, but it turns out we kind of liked the city – we had great food, met a lovely cafe owner who connected us with a magical street cobbler (who fixed Nick’s sandals for 58 cents) and just walked around and explored the city.
On the recommendation of a friend from home we decided to take a tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels, an extensive network of 200 km of tunnels that were used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. The tunnels are a fascinating engineering feat, and we learned a lot about the history and tactics of the war during our visit, which gave us an opportunity to discuss war with the kids. We saw the craters/divots left from B52 dropped bombs and we were even given the chance to shoot an AK47 and other military artillery – no thank you. The noise was actually so disturbing that we asked if we could walk the kids further down the path away from the shooting range. A primary draw of this tour is of course the chance to crawl through some of the narrow tunnels. Picture crawling on your hands and knees through zigzag tubes that were designed to disorient and literally squeeze out larger soldiers from pursuit. The kids had no problem rushing through, the parents struggled a little more in the narrow passages.
Midway up Vietnam you find yourself in gorgeous Hoi An, a city that is a photographer’s dream!! Waterways, narrow streets, vibrant coloured buildings, lanterns, bridges, rice fields…the beauty is everywhere. We loved wandering through the Old Town, found an American owned bagel shop (Dave the owner claimed the best bagels in Asia) and a local craft beer garden where we enjoyed a yummy hazy IPA. Our days in Hoi An started with sipping Vietnamese coffee in local French inspired cafes in the mornings, followed by renting bikes that took us into the adjacent rice fields surrounding the city and onto beaches for swimming in the afternoons. Wash, Spin and Repeat. Really rough. One night, we splurged and went to see this Disneylandesk Hoi An Memories Land show. It was like nothing we had ever seen before. Not only was it an interesting story, which captured the 400 year history of Hoi An, highlighting its multicultural and trading past, it was a fantastic spectacle. The stage was out of doors and maybe the size of two football fields – with layed sets that replicated the old town and its connection to the river. Water and lights dazzled the audience as the story unfolded before our eyes. Truly unique.
Perhaps the most special surprise in Hoi An was meeting our dear friend, who hosted us in Corsica, by chance on the street. It was total fate and we enjoyed a lovely long breakfast together catching up on family and travels over smoothie bowls and coffee before we both had to continue our journeys in opposite directions in Vietnam. Hoi An stands out for us and the kids as a must see in Vietnam.
Continuing north, we headed to the capital city of Hanoi. Hanoi is a busy, busy city, filled with scooters (so many scooters), eclectic neighbourhoods and a maze of streets just inviting someone to get lost in them. The kids quickly resharpened their traffic dodging skills and settled back into urban life fast. We stayed in the vibrant Old Quarter, such amazing food (Pho was found almost immediately) and not long afterwards we tracked down a delicious Banh Mi shop and discovered some new vietnamese delights like pancakes and Bun Cha. When we were not eating we explored some incredible museums (and as luck would have it met another lovely Canadian Family from Gatineau travelling for 4 months), participated in a free walking tour (highly recommended if you are ever in Hanoi), wandered down the ‘train street’ (only accessible with the purchase of a drink), and even had a chance to take in a water puppet show – which was really fun. The puppets are all controlled from under the water – how have we never seen something like this before?!!!
From Hanoi we ventured to Cat Ba Island for a few nights to explore Lan Ha and Halong Bay. Cat Ba is considered to be less touristy than Halong Bay proper, but still boasts unique islands and caves and floating fishing villages. The day of our boat tour was cloudy and a bit cool, which was disappointing, but also kind of lent a magic to the tour – made us believe a little more in the legends of emperors, gods and dragons. The tour included some kayaking, swimming and jumping from the boat. Nick and Addy swam to a small island to explore a cave and Jake delighted in jumping and flipping and flopping from the upper deck of the boat into the deep waters.
We really wanted to go to northern Vietnam. We had heard and read that it was a beautiful escape from the busy cities, but also an awesome place to hike and experience local culture. Most folks head to Sapa, it is a hiking hub and situated in the middle of iconic terraced rice fields, but we decided to settle in the sleepy town of Bac Ha that is most well known for its huge Sunday market. The market does attract tourists, however it has held on to its very local feel and purpose, with individuals and families coming down from nearby villages to buy and sell their wares. The ethnic groups in this region include the Hmong, Tay, and Dao, and each has its own unique customs and traditions. The Hmong wear layered colourful attire – when we were at the market admiring some of the clothing for sale, a stall owner grabbed Addy and delighted in dressing her up in traditional costume. We did not buy anything, but everyone thought it was amusing/cute and Addy posed for photos with many other market goers.
Outside of the Sunday market there is truly nothing going on here. The streets are empty and for the six nights we have been here we have seen very few westerners. It has been a dream.
To top it off, the air here is filled with the sweet smell of blossoms (we have a pomelo tree just outside our window) and we have had warm sunny days and beautiful cool nights. We are staying in this heavenly guest house – we have the ‘lovely room’ that has three beds (yes, the kids have their own beds!), two couches and two outdoor seating areas. We look out over the mountains in the evenings from our beds and enjoy the morning sunshine on the deck. This is a place to relax and experience rural Vietnamese life. It has actually been a welcome change for us and we have stayed long enough that some days we have even been a bit bored, we have read and journaled (and updated the blog!!). When we have been busy, it is doing active stuff like hiking through the rice terraces and into Hmong villages, and up mountainsides to watch the sunset. We have even taken a boat trip down the local river, which was not an activity on our radar at all, but was incredibly beautiful. Crystal clean, bright blue river water flowing between jungle shores and limestone cliffs (Karst topography). Jake has learned to play Vietnamese hacky sack – Da (I think it’s called ;)) and we even attended a local fair and saw a hula hoop and sword swallowing show! We left when they brought out the monkey in a suit. Blurg. Bac Ha has been an amazing off the beaten track escape and a perfect end to our Vietnam adventure.
And now, without further ado, we invite you to enjoy an entry by Addy.
Yo yo!!!
It’s Addy!!! I’m in Vietnam and really like it here! People are so nice and helpful and I REALLY recommend coming here. Mom and Dad (Amy and Nick) have been writing a lot so I’m not sure if they have already written stuff that I’m about to tell you or not so here goes! We took a bus from somewhere in Cambodia and got to Ho Chi Minh city (which is pretty busy!). We stayed there a couple nights and then went to Hoi An. REALLY nice! We stayed at a lovely home stay not too far from downtown and walked and biked EVERYWHERE! Our go to breakfast spots were Rosie’s Cafe and 9 Grains Bakery. After Hoi An we went to Hanoi! Really busy but nice. We walked A LOT and always came home with Mixue Ice Cream! Also our fav noodle place is My Noodle.Then we went to Cat Ba (city next to Halong Bay) and did a good tour of Halong Bay. Jake jumped off the boat A LOT of times!! I did it once or twice… The water was FREEZING!!! Then we took a bus back to Hanoi and stayed at the same hotel as last time. We went to lots of interesting museums including The Women’s Museum, The Hoa Lo Prison and The Vietnamese Museum of Ethnology. And then we took yet another bus to Bac Ha (that’s where we are now.). Bac Ha is a very cute little town in the mountains with lots of rice fields. We are staying in a VERY nice home stay here. We went on a hike for about 4 hours through villages and fields and even stopped at a really cute kindergarten!!! There were about 30 kids for 2 or 3 teachers!!! Our guide told us that the ages were 1 to 5! The kids were also very organised and would pass food down the table and pick up their chairs when told to move! My class would NEVER do that! 😉 Another day we all were going to go on a boat ride and when Jake got in the car he said his tummy hurt so he and Dad stayed back and me and Mom got to go without the boys! #GirlsDate! Don’t worry, he’s fine now. Anyway, me and Mom drove for a while with some French guys until we got to a “Local Market”. It had more tourists than locals! Mom for some weird reason bought a blanket that she’s attempting to carry… Then we went onto the really rickety boat and drove through crystal clear water! We also went into a cave! Then we swam and went back home. The next day we had fun but at night the owner of the home stay (also our guide) took us to a walk where we were gonna watch the sunset, half way up my tummy started killing me so I had to go back down but I’m better today. At our home stay there is a super cute puppy named Guchi but in Vietnamese it’s Nuchi and that means stupid! Also fun fact, Pho (a noodle dish) has 3 meanings! Number 1: Noodle dish. Number 2: Street. Number 3: The B word! After Vietnam we’re going to the Philippines!
Addy out!
Wow! Jake,Addy, Amy and Nick, What a trip! I had no idea that Vietnam would be so beautiful, so delicious, and so much fun! The name was connected with that horrible war for so many of my impressionable years that it’s a surprise, but a good one to see it differently.
Addy and Jake—you re having so many interesting experiences, you should never run out of ideas for those school essays: “What I did on my vacation”, or “Something new that I’ve learned”, etc. And you’ll know where to look on maps and globes, etc.
Addy, you’re already a good writer. Are you writing a journal? A travel guide? I hope you’ll write about various things as there’s so much to remember. Jake, do you do some writing too? It’s kinda easy to do, I think, when you have lots of interesting things to say.
Amy and Nick, it sounds so interesting, exciting, informative, fun, …and occasionally relaxing and peaceful? But I also imagine so much decision-making and responsibility and “looking out” to avoid problems or even glitches…You’re both exceptional to be able to do this and to keep everyone safe, happy, healthy, engaged, satisfied! Wow…good for you! Keep on with your amazing adventures…and keep on with the blog and photos if you can! Ive enjoyed my “trip” this dreary, wet afternoon here.
Wishing you many more weeks of this amazing adventure.
Eleanor. xoxoxoxo.