Vietnam
“Be Open to experience. Be willing to try new things. Don’t have a rigid plan. Accept random acts of hospitality without judgement or fear. Don’t be afraid to wander. Don’t be afraid to eat a bad meal. If you don’t take the risk to eat a bad meal, you’ll never get the magical one. But I think most important, be humble, be grateful. Be aware of the fact that you are probably the stupidest person in the room, that you are the least prepared and the least equipped to know what’s going on” -Anthony Bourdaine
Vietnam felt like an equal balance of city life and rural life, a balance of local/authentic eats with the luxuries/comforts of western foods, a balance of hot and cold temperatures, and even a balance of enjoying the trip while settling into the excitement of heading home.
From Cambodia, it took a little bit of stress, a long bus ride, a brief but chaotic stop in Ho Chi Minh, a taxi, a short flight, and another taxi to get us to Da Nang, Vietnam. Ahhh the joys of travel. Our first stop, Da Nang… also known as “The Miami of Vietnam”. It’s much like a perfectly constructed carnival, with every bridge, boat, and high rise building sharply brightened in neon lights…flashy, but also sleek and tasteful. We struggled with the language barrier but managed to find some delicious local meals, (that didn’t consist of snails or chicken feet), but we also enjoyed the comforts of craft beer and smash burgers. Just as enjoyable as indulging in the new flavors of Vietnam, it was so nice to get some familiar flavors after traveling for so long.
For Christmas, we traveled to the ancient town of Hoi An. Mustard colored buildings lined the river, with lanterns hanging along the alleyways and storefronts. The locals celebrated the holiday with Mariah Carey’s “All I want for Christmas” blasting loudly through speakers and seemingly most famillies gathered for endless hours of karaoke. The town is well known for its myriad of tailors where a custom-made suit, outfit, or fancy dress can be created for you within a matter of a couple of days. With the recommendation from close friends, we opted to partake in this experience and perused many tailors with different fabrics and patterns. Justin is officially ready to dance in his new threads and instead of a fancy dress, I opted for a couple new linen tops. It was truly impressive how quickly and affordably they could create or replicate any item of clothing.
I’ll admit that I was feeling a little “citied-out” but spending New Year’s in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, was the best decision we could’ve made and we had an absolute blast. This city of lakes, leafy boulevards, and open parks was lined with Vietnamese coffee shops and French cafes and the New Years Eve celebrations felt like Times Square in New York City. Roads were closed off and stages were built, there were massive parties in the streets with fireworks and drones creating artwork in the sky, and the famous “Bar Street” illegally stayed open and lively until the wee hours of the morning…even after the cops came and tried to shut it down, but that’s a story all in itself. When we weren’t indulging in city life, our time was spent out in nature on the island of Cat Ba, on the pristine lake in Ba Be National park, and high in the mountains of Sa Pa.
It’s seemingly wrong to be in Northern Vietnam without taking the very famous Halong Bay cruise but we, however, decided on the quieter and less touristy option of staying on Cat Ba island in Lan Ha Bay instead. With similar beauty, we took a day cruise from the island where we passed floating villages where people live and found open water with huge limestone karsts. We kayaked through caves, ate a delicious seafood feast, and took in the incredible surroundings. There was an option to swim, and although everyone else on the boat found it too be too cold, Justin jumped right in…off our thirty foot boat…only to find himself injured from the impact of his body hitting the water. “Poor old man” became a bit of a joke of ours, and nearly two weeks later he’s still feeling the outcome of his decision, but we took a couple of days to rest and then headed back to the mainland and into the mountains.
Ba Be National Park was a peaceful retreat and we were possibly the only tourists there in our few days visit. All the restaurants were closed and we were the only guests staying in our hotel but the owner, Luan, and his wife took really good care of us. Luan took us out trekking and onto a boat to enjoy the beauty of Ba Be Lake and at night his wife would cook us delicious home cooked meals. We visited caves, walked through the countryside, and were invited into a kind woman’s home where she offered us bananas, potatoes, and tea. Our time there was brief, but it was a perfect few days “off the beaten track” in Northern Vietnam.
It took some long and winding roads to reach the mountains of Sa Pa, which has become high on my list of most beautiful places I have been blessed to experience. We immediately fell in love with this cozy mountain town and walked up and down the steep roads, taking in the views and the town around us. We visited Cat Cat village, which felt like some magical land out of a story book. We spent another day trekking with four Hmong women through rice paddies to their villages. Most memorable though, we made it to the top of Fansipan, the highest peak in Indochina… standing above the clouds…views for miles and miles…incense burning in the highest pagoda in the world…bronze statues of Quran Yin and Buddha overlooking the Hoang Lien Son mountain range…pure bliss!
We have now made it to Laos, the country that was the impetus of this entire trip, and lets just say that Laos…feels different. Only two days in and it’s difficult to explain this deep love and deep connection I feel for this country. We are officially in our final weeks of this incredible journey but with joy and gratitude we are savoring every moment of this beautiful place and these beautiful people.
