Top Takeaways - Seventeen (Vietnam)

Sadly our time in Vietnam ended on a bit of a sour note: Alex is struggling with a cold, the Banh Mi place we wanted to grab sandwiches from wasn't open, our substitute lunch spot took forever (making us late to the airport) and our taxi driver - pissed that the car in front of him wouldn't make a right on red - started screaming in Vietnamese and swerving while pulling out SCISSORS to threaten the guy with. On top of all that, Alex and I both started having intense stomach pains during our whirlwind cab ride - probably from eating too quickly - and became even more desperate to get to the airport (bathroom). Despite all that, we really did enjoy our time here! Below are our top takeaways.

A smoothie and sandwich I found at a juice bar in Hoi An.  Sometimes the familiar is best.

1. "Hey lady you buy something?" Hawkers are everywhere in Vietnam and offer everything from manicures to scarves to coconuts. Most of them speak some English and often shout at you to buy something. We always needed to say no at least twice to let them know we really weren't interested and sometimes actually had to change course on the sidewalk just to get by!

2. Coffee is big here. Just like Thai iced tea, it's usually served with sweet condensed milk and it's delicious. We didn't know that Vietnam is the second-largest exporter of coffee but it makes sense now!

3. Scooters really are everywhere and they have their own set of rules (i.e. anything goes!) we saw scooters transporting everything from goldfish to bricks to families of five and frequently driving in between cars and on sidewalks.

4. The country itself is really run-down in most areas. Saigon definitely stood out as more modern, but most areas in Hanoi, Halong Bay and Hue were underdeveloped and poorly maintained.

5. The "nicer" areas are much more touristy - which I suppose is to be expected, but we found it very eye-opening to see so much of the development directed toward the uber-wealthy, expat and tourist communities.

6. Call us naive but Alex and I really didn't know many details about the war before arriving in Vietnam. We took it upon ourselves to learn more and have been watching various documentaries but there is no denying the devastating impact left upon the country and its citizens - both from the war and leadership afterward.

7. What's up with cities starting with "H?" We realized every single place we visited started with the same letter: Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City! 

8. I wish we needed nice new work clothes because great tailors really are everywhere. Alex and I could have taken in magazine clippings of literally any outfit, been measured a few times and had a perfectly fitted wardrobe in a matter of hours! Next time...

9. Banh Mi is our new favorite food. I think this sandwich really is the best thing we've both enjoyed since Japan.

10. Weather varies! We assumed that the weather would generally be pretty warm (like Thailand), but we were wrong! Hanoi was cold - it's winter after all - but Saigon was sweltering. The temperatures from north to south vary as much as the US east coast!

Peak: Cruising through Halong Bay

Pit: Alex's ongoing cold

Next Stop: Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Ho Chi Minh City

Still known as and referred to as Saigon by almost everyone we spoke to, Ho Chi Minh City is by far the most cosmopolitan place we visited in Vietnam – which makes sense, since it is the country’s largest city with an estimated ten million residents. Though larger and more modern, Saigon still feels distinctly Vietnamese with newer hotels and restaurants tucked in between older buildings and street vendors.

Alex and I arrived late on Sunday afternoon after a quick flight from Da Nang airport and headed straight to Chill SkyBar for a drink and sunset views.

Sunset was actually behind us but still a pretty nice view!

Dusk in Saigon.

Great views of the city.

A very different skyline compared to the rest of Vietnam.

After watching a beautiful sunset (which really never gets old; we enjoy this activity in pretty much every place we visit), we headed to Ciao Bella to satisfy our craving for NY-style Italian food. The meal was awesome and just what we needed – the owner even chatted with us on the way out and handed us a free wine card for his new sister restaurant next door. It’s going to be very difficult to pass on that tomorrow night!

After dinner we walked past the famous Saigon Opera House.

Alex woke up today still feeling pretty lousy – he just can’t seem to kick this cold – so he decided to lay low at the hotel while I did a bit of sightseeing. I started with coffee and salad at L’Usine, a popular café with a Brooklyn vibe, and then slowly meandered through downtown Saigon.

Saigon Notre-Dame Cathedral.

Just passing by the Saigon Central Post Office.

I made my way to the War Remnants Museum hoping to learn a bit more about the Vietnam War and the impact on the country. Unfortunately, the museum was really just a collection of pictures, quotes and propaganda with a very one-sided spin. As it is often said, the "winners" of wars get to write the history, but the museum seemed much more designed to criticize than to accurately depict the harrowing stories that defined the war.

I guess I'm also not the type to be impressed by helicopters and tanks staged outside of the museum.

After an underwhelming visit to the museum, I passed on going inside Independence Palace.

Somewhat disappointed, I headed back to the hotel to meet up with Alex and head to dinner. To no one’s surprise, we headed to Portofino, the aforementioned sister-restaurant, and had another amazing meal of Italian small plates (that makes it different, right?).

Tomorrow we are leaving Vietnam to spend ten days in Cambodia. Here’s hoping that Alex starts to feel better soon!

Hoi An

We definitely enjoyed walking along the beautiful streets of Hoi An, though I will admit the city turned out to be a bit of a disappointment for me (Alex doesn't feel as strongly but he's sick and making me write this post so I can say what I want!). We had heard such amazing things about the city ("Favorite spot in SE Asia," "Best part of Vietnam") that I suppose my expectations were a little high, but mostly I just felt like we'd stumbled into a tourist trap.

Yes, that is a Chinese tour group on tuk-tuks. There were nearly 30 of them and they all demanded that the drivers take their picture together.

The city is definitely charming - old, historic houses line the streets winding next to the river and at night every shop and restaurant is illuminated with paper lanterns - but it has also become a tourism hub and the authenticity that remains exists underneath many layers of commercialism.

I did love the shops selling lanterns. Not pictured: the twenty other tourists also taking pictures but not buying anything.

Ok, so at night the river views are very romantic.

View of the Covered Japanese Bridge.

Because Alex was feeling under the weather, we mostly just explored the area on foot, pausing to check out the homes, temples and storefronts. Every shop - and there are hundreds - either sells the same trinkets and souvenirs or silk and tailoring services (there are allegedly over 500 tailors in Hoi An) and every restaurant has an English and Western menu available. Walking the streets one does not encounter many locals (save for the shop owners screaming "hey buy something!") but rather herds of backpackers and tour groups from all around the world.

Despite all of this, the views are beautiful and Hoi An deserves its place as a must-see destination in Vietnam (though I would temper those lofty expectations of a town untouched by the modern world!).

Standing in front of Chua Phap Bao.

Close-up from inside the temple.

Standing in front of the Assembly Hall of the Fujian Chinese Congregation.

An idyllic scene along the waterfront.

Inside the Tran Family Chapel.

Sunset view over the river.

The "magic hour."

A total surprise - we found a quiet, local Japanese restaurant owned by a family from Osaka and enjoyed a delicious meal and paper crane-making lesson! Definitely worth stopping by Samurai Kitchen if you are craving a non-Vietnamese meal and Japanese hospitality!

Late at night the streets are quietly beautiful.

Overall I'm really glad we stopped here - the sunset and night views alone were worth it - but I think we will continue to try and follow the road-less-traveled from time to time. (We often find ourselves constantly debating the trade offs of visiting more vs. less popular destinations. On the one hand, many tourist locations are popular for a reason; on the other hand, these places can sometimes lack a truly unique cultural experience. Likewise, we have to weigh the cost, effort and time required to actually visit places "off the beaten path." We try to balance all of this when making travel decisions and so far I think we've done pretty well - there's always more to see and only so much time!)

A Day in Hue

I swear the title of this post rhymes - we'd been mispronouncing "Hue" for a while before someone kindly corrected us (sounds like "hway").

The 13-hour train ride from Hanoi was pretty bumpy and neither of us managed to get much sleep. The "beds" in the "soft berth" cabin we stayed in were so uncomfortable I shudder to imagine what the other cabins are like! Once we arrived, we went straight to our hotel where we were grateful to receive breakfast and fast WiFi in the lobby. After relaxing for a bit and booking a few more trip reservations we headed to our room to shower and rest.

Perfect surprise after a long, tiring journey! I've been noting in our online reservations that we are on our honeymoon because sometimes we end up with two twin beds, but I wasn't expecting this!

We were moving pretty slowly but since we only had 24 hours to see the city we motivated and headed out for lunch. We chose Golden Rice and experienced the traditional Vietnamese hot pot, which was awesome - piping hot soup with fresh veggies and beef you cook in the broth. Definitely a good thing to have when you are starting to come down with a cold (uh oh...).

After lunch we set off to explore the Imperial City. Similar to Chiang Mai, the old quarter of Hue is surrounded by walls and a moat. We enjoyed checking out the former palace and grounds but were somewhat surprised at the state of disrepair (the whole area was damaged by the Vietnam War but it doesn't seem like much effort has gone into its restoration since).

Crossing the bridge into the Imperial City.

Looking across the moat at another gate within the Imperial City.

We almost had the entire place to ourselves!

Sun peeking through the open-air hallways by The Mieu Temple.

Looking out over the entire grounds of The Citadel.

Basically a secret garden...with a moat!

Peeking back at the gate before dusk.

One of the most beautiful - and well maintained - spots within the gated area.

We liked that there weren't too many people around but it also didn't feel like there was a ton to see. Tomorrow we are visiting some of the sites outside of the city, en route to Hoi An, so perhaps we will find them more impressive.

After touring the old city we headed back to our hotel, did a little shopping and then picked a spot for dinner. We had Mexican at nearby Jalapeno's, which wasn't anything special but still a welcome change from the local cuisine.

We woke up this morning to pouring rain - not the best way to start a day of sightseeing -  but hoped that the weather would clear as we got closer to Hoi An.

Sadly, the misty weather never cleared up. We thought it was pretty cool that the Reunification Express ran right along the coast (though we passed on the additional 20-hour trip from Hue to Ho Chi Min).

Due to the weather, we ended up passing on some of the scenic sights between Hue and Hoi An - much of them alongside the beach - but we were happy to arrive in Hoi An by early afternoon. We are going to rest for a bit (these colds are starting to wear on us) and hopefully explore the town more later today.

Halong Bay

Listed as one of the New Seven Natural Wonders of the World, Halong Bay is definitely a magical place that is rightfully included on many bucket lists. Most tourists visit Halong Bay on an overnight cruise (though there are day trips available) since the trip from Hanoi is almost four hours by bus and there are no hotels or resorts by the bay itself. We chose the Halong Glory after Sarah did some extensive research - apparently the bait-and-switch tactics by the tour agencies here are widespread as we found many reviews from other tourists who ended up on a different boat than they'd booked. Fortunately we had no issues and our journey began at 7:30am when we were promptly picked up from our hotel by our guide

From Hanoi, the drive took the entire (as advertised) four hours even though we only traveled 170 kilometers (traffic everywhere around Hanoi is bad, apparently). We arrived at the harbor around noon and waited about half an hour before boarding our tender boat to the Halong Glory. Like I said, there are no hotels or resorts here...only the harbor. So it was busy with activity while we were there, but I imagine once the tour companies get their passengers on board (all the tours are on approximately the same schedule) the harbor shuts down.

Busy time at the harbor as passengers were loaded on the boats.

Our first impressions of our cruising accommodations were excellent - the boat looked really clean and modern, the staff was very friendly and our room was an actual cabin with a balcony (as compared to the bunk bed situation with my parents in New Zealand).

Pretty nice set up for the next two nights!

As we were settling in, our biggest concern became the weather. Since Halong Bay is a "must-do" for anyone spending time traveling through Vietnam, Alex and I didn't think twice about booking our trip there, despite visiting during the thick of winter (which almost always means cloudy weather around here...).

The first day of sailing was windy, grey and dreary, but the limestone islands and calm waters still created a pretty surreal landscape. After a hearty lunch on board we spent the afternoon sailing around the bay and checking out a few nearby sights.

Our view from lunch - grey but still pretty amazing.

We hopped into a smaller boat for a tour of this cave and lagoon.

Then headed up Ti Top Mountain for a panoramic view of the bay.

Returning to the Halong Glory.

Done exploring the bay for now, we headed back to our cabins to clean up for Happy Hour and the pre-dinner activity: spring roll cooking lessons. We were surprised to learn that raw meat goes into these Vietnamese rolls - they are deep fried for almost ten minutes - and that they are so easy to make (especially when all the ingredients are chopped and prepared for you!).

Sarah was a champ (though I think our recent cooking class in Chiang Mai may have given her a slight advantage over the others)!

Dinner was a four course meal of traditional Vietnamese food and Sarah and I were pretty content with all of the (nut-free) offerings. We went to bed tired after a long day but excited for another day of cruising on Tuesday.

Anchored among other ships for the night.

Our second day of cruising began early - even though we passed on the 6am tai chi, we still had to be ready to go by 7am! We were shuttled from the Halong Glory to another boat where we would spend most of the day.

Bit of a side note here: our biggest complaint about the entire experience is that the Halong Glory operates both one- and two-night cruise packages simultaneously. So we had to leave the "main" boat for the day so the one-night passengers could be taken back to the harbor and new passengers could be picked up. It also led to confusion on board about who had to be where at what times - I think everyone on board (including the crew!) would've been less confused if everyone were on the same schedule.

Once on board our "day boat," we got a safety briefing from the crew and headed out to see a floating fishing village and more of the bay's islands.

Some locals' boats among the bigger cruise ships.

Floating fishing village - well, really more of a former fishing village. Most locals return to harbor each night these days; the floating village is just a tourist attraction.

The sun came out briefly, just in time for us to kayak to a secluded beach.

Post-kayaking, drying off on board.

When we were all back on the "day boat," we were ready for some lunch. The crew prepared an excellent, multi-course Vietnamese lunch (with seafood as a part of each course) that we both really enjoyed. I thought we'd be sick of Vietnamese food at this point - since we've had it for every single meal since arriving in Hanoi - but we're still loving it!

We sat and watched the islands float by as we cruised back to the Halong Glory. When we re-joined our original crew (and new group of tourists), we decided not to participate in the same activities we did yesterday. (Again, trying to accommodate one- and two-night itineraries with one boat and one crew is problematic.) Instead, we opted for a massage. I've gotten more massages in the last couple weeks than I've gotten in my whole life before this...but when they're so cheap it's hard to say no!

Feeling limber, we got cleaned up and relaxed on deck before dinner. The crew prepared a Western-style steak for us tonight, but it wasn't very good. Stick to what you do best, guys!

Dusk on deck.

Moonrise on Halong Bay.

After dinner we headed back to our cabin to get some sleep.

Today we had one more activity before heading back to harbor and making the long drive back to Hanoi: exploring the "Secret" Cave. Obviously this cave hasn't been a secret in quite some time since every tourist in Halong Bay was there at the same time we were! It was still cool to see such a massive cave though (both Sarah and I had trouble remembering when we were last in a cave like this).

Sarah in the "Secret" Cave.

"Natural" lighting in the "Secret" Cave.

We're back in Hanoi now, about to board our overnight train to Hue. Hopefully this one works out just as well as the train to Chiang Mai!