Hiking, Sliding, and Shopping in Vietnam

Hi Everyone!

Hope this finds you all doing well. We (Jill, Kristen, Nicole, and I) have just returned from a 2 week vacation in Vietnam. It was quite nice; the weather was a bit of a change from Thailand (when we arrived, it was only 12c). And we saw a variety of landscapes as we made our way from Hanoi in the north down to Saigon, in the south. Here is a quick recap of our time away . . .

Week 1: Hanoi, Halong Bay, Sapa, Hue, and Hoi An

On Friday, March 9th, we walked around Hanoi . . . and bought a tonne of dvds. The motorcycle/scooter traffic was unbelievable! There were more motorbikes on the streets than the 4-wheeled variety! I’m not so sure if Vietnamese people believe in signalling . . . instead the horn is used as a warning – approaching other vehicles, passing vehicles, alerting pedestrians, saying ‘hello’, etc. The honking is mental, and not easy to ignore! We discovered the wonderful baguettes of Vietnam (we were having bread withdrawals in Thailand!). Street vendors sell baguette sandwiches made of eggs and veggies for under $1 – they were delicious! That night, we went to see a Water Puppet show. It was really amazing! The ‘puppeteers’ train for years and are world-renown . . . the puppets look as though they are dancing on water.
On Saturday, March 10th, we jumped on a minibus to Halong City. We stayed overnight on a boat in Halong Bay. It was quite chilly and overcast, which was a disappointment because the scenery was spectacular. The water was a wonderful blue and there were several rock formations, which reminded me of Krabi in southern Thailand. We visited a humongous cave, which was really neat to wander around in.
I experienced my first night-train on Sunday, March 11th. We returned to Hanoi from Halong Bay by minibus and then boarded the train for Sapa at 8:30pm.
We arrived in Sapa at 7am on Monday, March 12th and went on a 5km trek with a private guide who was wonderful. It was so beautiful to be outside in fresh air and lush surroundings. We walked through valleys and rice fields. It was so pretty, but misty - check out the pic above. We encountered some adorable puppies, and I bent down to play with them, asking our guide if they were safe to play with; and she replied, “not for playing, eating”. Ewwww. That was a reminder to me that Vietnam is quite different than Canada. Oh, how I missed Soda right then! (Needless to say, all my meals consisted of veggies, and only chicken occasionally!)
While eating breakfast on Tuesday, March 13th, we ran into 2 girls from another Lertlah building that were up in Sapa just for the day. The 6 of us trekked 14km and visited our guide’s village. It was neat to see. We took a night-train back to Hanoi that evening.
We arrived in Hanoi at 5am on Wednesday, March 14th. We tried to get a room at our hotel to rest up, but didn’t have much luck! We wandered around Hanoi for the majority of the day. We then took a night-train down to Hue.
On Thursday, March 15th, we arrived in Hue at 7am and found a hotel. The 6 of us then booked a van to take us out to the Vinh Moc Tunnels; used by Vietnamese people during the American War. It was surreal to be down underground.
On Friday, March 16th, the four of us took a bus from Hue to Hoi An, arriving around 1pm. We had heard from others that Hoi An is THE place to get custom-made clothing. We spent the afternoon overwhelmed by all the tailor shops in a town of 8 streets! Over the next couple of days, I ordered a bunch of clothes – partly for the deals, and also for the fact that clothing in Thailand is super tiny! I even got a pair of custom leather boots and a pair of red suede shoes! Ordering custom-made clothing can be quite the production . . . there was a beach only 3km away, and we didn’t even go near it! (We have returned to Bangkok with not much colour!)

Week 2: Nhatrang, Muine Beach, and Saigon

On Monday, March 19th, we spent our final day in Hoi An getting last-minute fittings, etc. We then jumped on a night bus at 6pm to head to Nhatrang. It was horrible – I hardly slept! We stopped in the middle of the night at a really sketchy roadside bathroom . . . it was straight out of a horror movie!
We arrived in Nhatrang at 6am on Tuesday, March 20th and found a wonderful hotel – really cheap ($10/night for the 4 of us; air con, hot water). It was quite overcast, but we wandered around the town. There was a terrific water-front park with beautiful sculptures.
The girls went to a mud spa for the afternoon of Wednesday, March 21st. I stayed back and had a pedicure and had high hopes of exploring the town on bike, but it rained!
On Thursday, March 22nd, we took a bus to Muine Beach, arriving at about 1pm. We stayed at a really cute resort that had resident dogs and birds, and beautiful grounds – neat trees and flowers. That afternoon, we went to visit Sand Dunes by jeep. (Check out the pic above) It was really amazing; we slid down them on Krazy Karpets! It was just like the winter . . . except a mouthful of sand isn’t quite as ‘refreshing’ as snow! It was so much fun!
For the morning of Friday, March 23rd, we hung out at the pool. We then took a bus to Saigon at 1pm. Our bus broke down just on the outskirts of the city! We found a hostel and hung out in an area popular with backpackers – very similar to Khoa San Road in Bangkok.
On Saturday, March 24th, we went on a tour to the Cuchi Tunnels for the morning. It was pretty amazing to see. We walked around the bush, with a guide that showed us various traps used during the war, and then we had the chance to crawl through part of the tunnels. For the afternoon, we went on a city tour of Saigon. We visited a War Monument Museum which was quite graphic – tonnes of photographs documenting the war and its aftermath. That night, we met up with 4 girls from another Lertlah building and celebrated Jill’s 25th birthday. It was fun.
Sunday, March 25th was spent travelling. We flew from Saigon up to Hanoi, and then from Hanoi back to Bangkok, arriving at 5:30pm. We had a wonderful dinner of Pad Thai at “the lady’s” . . . we were all having withdrawals and really looking forward to some spice!

I’m happy to be back in Thailand . . . Vietnam was beautiful, but the people weren’t as nice as Thais (although the majority of Vietnamese people could speak English quite well). There were so many hawkers on the street; selling books, gum, etc . . . and they wouldn’t stop at the street. While eating in restaurants, we were constantly approached and stared at! It was really annoying!

And now, I’m about to start a month of camp (it’s actually summer school, cleverly disguised as “camp”). I will be working with students at the grade 1 and 2 level. I’m looking forward to it . . . however, it’s only for 2 hours a day!

Well, thanks for reading . . . sorry it was such a long entry! Take care.