Days 131-136: Vietnam

Many times in the past we have relied on Google Maps to locate our hotel. Unfortunately, Google Maps let us down this time. We arrived at the address listed on Hoang Deui (the hotel's website's listed address) to find ourselves at the Thailand Embassy. We rang the buzzer, but they were sure we did not have a reservation to stay there. We stopped at a restaurant to ask if they knew where it was. They didn't but were very nice and called the hotel to find out. When we finally made it to the correct street, which was Hang Deui, a girl from the hotel was out in the street looking for us. While we were not crazy about the busy city of Hanoi and its ridiculous traffic, the staff at our hotel were beyond friendly and very helpful.


While in Hanoi we walked around Hoan Kiem Lake, visited the Ho Chi Minh Museum, saw Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum and the One Pillar Pagoda. Interestingly, the museum did not really focus on the Vietnam War (or as they call it, the American War), but was more about the occupation by and war against the French.

Ngoc Son Temple, it extends out into the lake.

Tree at the temple

Bridge to the temple

The Turtle Tower in the middle of the lake.

Traffic is crazy in Hanoi. Unfortunately you have to walk in the streets because the sidewalks are full of parked mopeds and "restaurants." These restaurants consist of lots of little plastic stools and a camping stove.

Another view of the traffic. Since there are no stoplights or crosswalks, crossing the street involves playing a game of Frogger. There were some close calls, but we never got hit or caused anyone else to get hit.

Hanging out with Ho Chi Mihn in his museum.

The One Pillar Pagoda

The Mausoleum and Guards.

While walking through the city we passed a large cathedral where a huge wedding was taking place.

 We also witnessed a guy moving furniture using his moped.

One day we had lunch on a balcony overlooking a busy street. It was very interesting to watch the world below. There is actually a bike under this heap of plastic buckets and stools for sale.

Hanoi is famous for a fish dish called Cha Ca. We went to Cha Ca La Vong to get the full experience. After being seated at a large table with other people we were handed a card that said, "We only serve one dish, grilled fish". I guess this was the menu. They bring out a little stove with a pot of oil and fish frying on top. They also give you onions and some sort of herb to put into the oil. Along with that you get noodles, cilantro, peanuts and some sauces to mix up your own. This is the family that was sitting next to us. We watched them, and did what they did.

Unfortunately they only give you chopsticks, which I am not great at using, especially when hot, popping oil is involved.

We also took a three day trip out to Ha Long Bay. After hearing lots of horror stories of bad trips and doing lots of research on the internet about various companies, we decided to travel with Phoenix Cruises. They picked us up at our hotel and after a three hour drive we arrived at the harbor to find flames coming out of one of the many boats. We were all making comments in a joking manner that we hoped it wasn't our boat when the tour director started to cry, saying it was the company's other boat, the Phoenix 2. (Maybe Phoenix isn't a great name for a boat...) Thankfully the fire department arrived quickly and only the kitchen was damaged. After all the drama cleared we boarded the Phoenix 1 and headed out into the bay.

Our cabin

The bay, with beautiful rock formations and tons of boats.

The first day we all went to a cave called The Suprising Cave. I will not tell you what the surprise is in case you ever go.

Outside the cave, overlooking the bay. While we did not have the greatest weather, the rocks were amazing and the water had a beautiful green color. I can only imagine what it looks like when the sun is bright.

The second day we went out in a bamboo boat and visited a floating village. There were tons of floating houses, a temple and a school. Most of the houses had addresses on them and some of the families had dogs. We also saw lots of children in the village. 

Family at the floating village.

After the floating village, we went to a less touristy cave. This cave did not have electicity; our tour guide did not have a flashlight but thankfully the other couple with us did. After crawling through a couple of small spaces, the cave opened up to a little lake.

Todd at the wheel.

Our last day on the bay we climbed up to the top of one of the rocks for a great view. There were so many other boats around and this was the low season.

This is not the boat we were on but it looks a lot like ours. This was one of the few pictures we were able to take during the ten minutes that the sun came out during the three days. We had a great time on the bay and got to know some interesting people. It would have only been better if it were warm so we could swim and kayak.

We had originally planned to head south, down to Siagon/HCMC, but we realize we can't go everywhere. So, our next stop is Siem Reap, Cambodia. We are looking forward to getting away from a big city.