The Beauty of Vietnam

 Our travels in SE Asia continued on Sunday, February 12th when we flew from Kuala Lumpur to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.  Our plan: to have no plans at all.  We knew two things for sure - we had to reach Hanoi (in the north) in exactly two weeks, and that we had a place to stay for the night when we arrived in HCMC.  Beyond that, the rest was going to be a spontaneous adventure! 

Two weeks isn't a long time to spend in one country, especially when you're trying to cover pretty much the whole place from top to bottom. It's unfortunate we didn't have more time...there's certainly more on our list that we wanted to do.  But, regardless of what little time we did have, we were able to learn a bit more about the beautiful country of Vietnam - it's rich culture, fascinating people, and deep history...and yes, of course, try some greasy, yet tasty, Vietnamese food. 

What did we have for our first meal in Vietnam?  I enjoyed a delicious plate of Vietnamese fried noodles with veggies and shrimp, while Guillaume devoured a plate of spaghetti sauce atop french fries.  He said it was the closest thing to a poutine as he was going to get.  :)

Not only was breakfast included at our hotel/hostel, so was supper!  And, for being free, it wasn't too bad...fried spring rolls with noodle soup. 

Beer is extremely cheap in Vietnam, and not too bad, either (we actually got one for $.80!).  Why buy water when beer's cheaper?!  ;)  Above picture: out for a drink near our hotel.

Here's a joke for you: How do an American and a Canadian cross the street in Saigon?  Answer: the Canadian leads as the American either holds on to his arm for dear life or takes pictures as they're crossing.  Take a city of over seven million people, add some cars, motorbikes, and cyclos, a lack of traffic lights and signs, pedestrians (and travellers uneducated about how to cross the street), and what do you get?  An entangled web of loud, honking vehicles and motorbikes that somehow know exactly what the other moving vehicle will do and when they'll do it.  Crossing the street is a science.  If you take slow, steady steps, and watch the traffic intently, you'll most likely make it to the other side.   

A picture drawn by a 12-year-old at the War Remnant's Museum in Saigon.  I thought it was a great representation of peace through a child's eyes. 

What did we do during our one day in Saigon?  We visited the War Remnants Museum which is all about the American (Vietnam) War.  In all the museums I've visited, I've never been impacted more by a museum than I was by this one.  It showed a side of the Vietnam War I've never really known... things that we don't learn in history books, stories that they don't tell us, pictures we've never seen. I think the pictures were what made it the hardest. 

We used nearly every mode of transportation there is to use in Vietnam, except the trains (I hear we're not missing much anyway).  Between planes and cars and boats, we had quite the two weeks just moving throughout the country!  The above picture doesn't do our bus ride any justice...twice, we rode a double-decker, overnight bus for 12 hours.  It doesn't look bad, you say?  Guess again - we were stuck on the top in the very back in a row of five seats....all right next to each other.  Luckily, our seats reclined all the way back unlike the ones in the picture.  However, the bus driver was horrible at driving - he drove way too fast down twisting roads; we literally bounced up and down on the seats all night long.  Let's just say we didn't get much sleep that night. 

We finally made it from Saigon to Nha Trang - a lovely beach town about 12 hours north of Saigon.  It was so nice to be out of the busy city and into a place a bit more relaxing (although very touristy). We spent three nights in Nha Trang.  Our days were filled with naps, beach time, reading, and walking. Above picture: Guillaume swimming in the South China Sea. 

Ah, so relaxing.  The weather was absolutely perfect the whole time!  Around 80-85 degrees F with a slight breeze and cloudy periods to break the heat from the warm sun. 

While in Nha Trang, we decided to visit an orphanage on our last day there.  We organized the trip through a restaurant close to our hotel - Lanterns.  The restaurant tries to support local charities by either providing food and meals on a regular basis, raising awareness through their monthly newsletter, or organizing trips to visit the charities such as the one we did. 

We played with the 12-15 children (ages 2 months - six years) for about an hour and a half.  The kids were wonderful...we had so much fun playing with them!!  We learnt that many of the children are sent to the orphanage right from birth not because their mothers don't want them, but because their often single, (very) young mothers that have little education and no jobs; they simply cannot afford to take care of them.  Some of the mothers are so scared, they can't even tell their families about their pregnancies.  Some still come to visit their children with the hopes that one day, once they either have well-enough paying jobs and more education, their children will be able to live with them.  But, until then, the children remain in the orphanage.  Both Guillaume and I thought that the orphanage seemed just like a daycare...with one stark difference - the constant attention that all the children wanted.  They were so excited to see us...most of the time, both Guillaume and I were holding anywhere between one to three kids...they literally clung to us.  The caregivers seem to do a wonderful job, but it seems so difficult to provide all the attention that each child needs to grow and develop as a child should.  It was definitely an experience that will remain ingrained in our minds and hearts forever....a true highlight of our trip. 

In all the places we've been so far, we haven't missed any of our Western 'favourites' from back home - ie: Starbucks and Facebook.  But, they were no where to be found in Vietnam (I've gone through some pretty major withdrawals, especially of the latter!).  But, we came to enjoy some other local favourites rather than always defaulting to the things we're comfortable with.  Picture above: coffee - Vietnamese-style, known as hot white coffee (espresso dripping through a filter on top of a glass with sweetened condensed milk on the bottom).  We grew rather fond of the concoction! 

Following a recommendation from Mike and Shannon, we continued to make our way up north to Hoi An after our visit to Nha Trang.  Hoi An is a lovely little community that has become a favourite among tourists throughout the past ten years, after it received Unesco World Heritage status in 1999.  Despite their recent influx of tourists, Hoi An has been well known to travellers for hundreds of years; for a long time, it was a major international port in SE Asia.  Today, Hoi An is the place to shop for all things silk.  It's too bad we didn't have more room (or the urge to ship things home)...beautiful, hand-made and hand-tailored clothing is extremely cheap in Hoi An.  But, have no fear, we did make a few big purchases while visiting Hoi An.  Going on another recommendation from Mike and Shannon (and Shannon's parents who also visited Hoi An last year), we bought four paintings (and got a fifth for free!).  We loved the paintings that they bought last year, we were determined to track down the same artist.  Above picture: in front of Hung Dong Gallery on Tran Phu Street in Hoi An.  Can't wait to get back home (and to have a home!) so we can hang our paintings! 

What's one good thing about having a late lunch?  Being ok with eating only dessert for supper!  This was one of the best desserts I have ever had in my entire life.  And, for those of you who know me, you know how much I like desserts (and how many I've probably eaten in my whole life!).  Passion fruit cheesecake with a scoop of chocolate ice cream....ALL homemade, including the cheese and the ice cream.  We loved it so much, we went back for seconds the next night.  :)

Not quite sure how these small women carry such large, heavy loads each day. 

Market in Hoi An.

Motorbikes, motorbikes...everywhere!

Our two night, three day trip to Hoi An was very relaxing.  We loved walking around town each day.  Picture above: the Japanese covered bridge, dating back to the 1590s. 

Such a beautiful town!  A must-stop if you're ever in Vietnam!

Such beautiful flowers! 

Spending some time in a Hoi An cafe. 

Hoi An lights up at night with hundreds of lanterns!  So beautiful!

Really wish we could have taken a few home.  Maybe next time...!

Our next stop?  Halong Bay!  After 12 hours of travel and eight different 'vehicles' (boats, buses, taxis and a plane), we finally reached Cat Ba Island in Halong Bay.  We were really looking forward to this part of our trip; we hoped to take advantage of some of the great trekking, kayaking, and/or rock-climbing adventures the island has to offer.  Unfortunately, our time in Cat Ba turned out quite differently than we anticipated...  Above picture: Guillaume relaxing on the balcony of our first hotel overlooking Halong Bay.  A few hours after this picture was taken, Guillaume came down with a bout of food poisoning which completely wiped him out for a few days. 

Our time on Cat Ba Island turned out to be very relaxing and low key...maybe it was just what we needed.  After the first night in a very noisy hotel, we upgraded to a more comfortable one (still with a great view of the bay).  While Guillaume recovered in bed, I enjoyed a few little walks around town.  It was so fun to watch the people on the water. 

We caught some amazing sunsets!

Another fisherman putting out his nets for the day. 

After a few days in bed (and with some great advice from his sister - thanks again, Dr. Catherine!), Guillaume was finally feeling better...just in time for our next move, this time to Hanoi.  Above picture: Guillaume in front of Hanoi's St. Joseph Cathedral which dates back to 1886.

We stayed in the historic Old Quarter of Hanoi where all the hustle and bustle is.  During our one day, two nights stay, we took a walking tour of the Old Quarter and spent a few hours at our new favourite coffee shop - Joma - which is coincidentally owned by a Canadian!  The coffee and sweets were absolutely delicious!  Way better than Starbucks...I've never had a heart on my latte there. 

Hanoi's Old Quarter is well-known for it's iconic street names.  Back in the day (and still a bit today), merchants were organized on each street by what they sold; eventually, the streets took on the names associated with what was most commonly sold there.  For example, Hang Glay roughly translates to Shoe Street which is where most of the shops sell shoes (like the picture above).  Kinda neat, eh?!

We enjoyed our walking tour, but the crazy traffic (not bad in the picture above), noise, dust and dirt, and horrible pollution, got to be a bit much.  It sure was fun to see a different part of Hanoi, though!  We're definitely not in North America anymore.

This must've been 'meat street'.

Hanoi and Saigon are famous for their street food.  The picture above shows a pretty large street kitchen; most of the ones we saw are a one-woman 'shop' (basically, a woman sitting on her tiny stool on the sidewalk) with a small, portable stove, one big pot, and two pails to carry her food, cooking utensils, cutlery for eating, and anything else she might need to make her one or two specialities.  After Guillaume's bout of food poisoning, we decided to stay away from street food. 

We had a great time in Vietnam, although our time went way too fast.  However, our two weeks did provide us with a tiny glimpse of a beautiful country that is being catapulted into the 21st century while still trying to hold on to their ancient ways and beliefs.  Cyclos are giving way to motorbikes, rice paddy fields are giving way to tourist shops, and the people are still reeling from the effects of a horrible war that never should have happened.  Despite all of this, the people, culture and landscape of Vietnam continue to be one of the most beautiful places on earth.