chào bạn (hello) from Vietnam 💝
Population: 94 M (July 2016)
Cities we visited: Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon, Hue, Hoi An (drove through Da Nang), Hanoi, Ha Long Bay
Oh my heavens!! Vietnam was an incredible feast for the senses! Never have we experienced anything like that. Morocco was a close second for completely different way of life than what we, as Canadians, are used to.
Prepare yourself... this is a long post. 😉
First, I have to tell a story about the trip there. Russians, on overnight flights, want to lay down (so do I) and they will be quite aggressive about getting their spots. So, when we first got on, there was a 4-seater available at the very back of the plane. I sat there right away as I had hoped to sleep (after our trip to Ottawa just days before). I watched a movie at first - while I was watching it a lady approached me - basically she wanted the 4 seats. I said I was here first (why should I give it up to her just because she asks??). She left - I was proud to have stood my ground. Then, after I was laying down (on 3 of the 4 seats) - someone came and sat ON my feet! I don't know who because I had an eye mask on and I was determined to hold firm and win this battle. My feet started to hurt a bit, but I stayed still. Then, they physically MOVED my feet! I remained still. Eventually, because I was too ticked off, I sat up. She said something about me "kicking" her. Brutal. I was wide awake, so I know for a fact I did not. Needless to say, neither of us got any sleep. Craig moved to the 4-seater and I moved to our 3-seater where I did manage to get maybe an hour sleep.
Sights: from the moment we hit the ground in HCMC (Ho Chi Minh City - Saigon) our senses were bombarded with everything. First thing was the heat and humidity - hits you like a wave. The traffic was the biggest change for me. Apparently there are about 37 million motorbikes in Vietnam - and 2 million cars (population is over 94 million as of 2016). The most we saw on a bike was 5 people, but that is "unconfirmed" as we do not have photographic evidence. 4 was very common. You would see anything and everything being transported on bikes. Things we would think impossible to do! Forgive me for all the motorbike photos, but they just simply amazed me!
The traffic to me was like a dance - everyone knows their part and they seem to easily navigate the dance floor - the road. It's one thing to be in a car in this traffic, but a motorbike? A whole other ball game as we discovered on the XO Scooter/foodie tour we did in HCMC. They get SO close to one another and just when it seems they will crash into one another, one backs off. I used my "brake" a few times, but I tried to be calm because these ladies who drove us really, really know what they're doing. I could, while moving, reach out and touch about 5 different people. Keep your cameras and purses close or someone could easily snatch it and take off. Just google "Youtube Vietnam motorbike traffic" and see what comes up. I like this one - it shows how crazy an intersection - in particular, is. Especially when you add in cars, bikes and pedestrians. The sound is crazy also! Crossing the street in Vietnam as a pedestrian is an art form that I can't say we mastered, but I'd say we're now intermediate level.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=utube+vietnam+motorbike+intersection&&view=detail&mid=7B6A20FE6DD6542F62F07B6A20FE6DD6542F62F0&FORM=VRDGAR
Other sites that will stick with me include people sitting on the side of the narrow roads cooking things or on these tiny little plastic stools eating and drinking. Sometimes there's nobody there during the day and then these places magically pop up at night when the cities come alive. Of course, there's also the narrow little streets with all the shops and homes and the markets. Then there's the natural beauty of Marble Mountain and Halong Bay and the man-made beauty in the pagodas and Buddhist temples.
Sounds: the sound is a bit deafening. People honk a LOT in Vietnam. I thought UAE was bad for that, but it has nothing on Vietnam! They honk for every occasion. Mostly just the short honks to say "hey, I'm here, watch out". No matter where we were - well, maybe there were a few quiet areas - we heard honking. We heard some karaoke in the streets of HCMC sung by a lady boy - Craig liked that - some traditional singers in our hotel and on the Mekong Delta tour (not really a fan of traditional Vietnamese music) and a street violin performance directly outside our hotel room in Hanoi as well as music for a funeral another night. They erected this tent-like structure in front of one of the vendors stalls - very interesting. We did not take any photos out of respect.
Touch: Not too many things here except trying to perfect the use of chopsticks. We all got quite good at this. Also, people in Vietnam touch you a lot. You have to get used to not having much personal space - especially in a line. They could take a step back, but instead they are touching you while in a line up. Not appealing for me. They touch you while they talk to you quite a bit - this I'm ok with. It takes some getting used to, but I can get used to. I found it so funny that people, without warning, would rub the belly of our friend Alain and say "buddha"....it was hilarious (more for us than Alain). We were sometimes grabbed by people and asked if we'd pose in a picture with them. That was totally strange for me - kinda weird - but cute also. I'm not sure the reason for it - I didn't quite get it, but I went along with it! 😎
Taste: Some of our favorites were pho and fried spring rolls and what was really interesting to me was they serve those at breakfast in all our hotels (along with many other interesting things). Alain was the most adventurous of us all - he tried duck embryo (not for breakfast, but on the XO Scooter/foodie tour). We all tried frogs legs and goat! The frogs legs were ok - really does taste similar to chicken, but the goat was weird - a strange rubbery texture. We even tried the "street donuts" with no issues.
Day 1: HCMC
Our pitstop for lunch - no, we didn't eat these guys
Alain feeding a porcupine - not often you can say that right?
Craig obviously got a kick out of how low these urinals are (sorry Alain, I just had to include this)!
We don't exactly know what they meant with the sign - but we avoided eating fish at lunch.
Alain saying "what is my wife doing"??
The night market area in HCMC
Eating at a really authentic, local restaurant 5KU - bbq your own - interesting hotpot!
While Francine & I went for massages, the boys went to the War Remnants Museum. We had a very interesting experience trying to get let into the massage place (it had a nondescript, large metal door and a faint sign that said to ring the doorbell, but it took us a while to find it). Francine had two ladies working on her - climbing up on top of her and giving her a very deep tissue massage while I had Hieu (Shirly's massage therapist). Such amazing touch and techniques. Afterwards, they called us an Uber cab, but a moped showed up! We had a laugh and then I said - why not? They called a 2nd one (because although a family of 5 can fit on one of these - Francine & I were not going to both fit on one with the driver). That was our first experience on the scooters and it was fun! They had negotiated 50,000 at the massage place for both scooters and then when we arrived they tried to get 250,000 out of us - buggers! They tried, but failed.
Apparently, according to the boys, the museum was quite graphic and anti-American (obviously).
Not only in a cell, but feet chained
I must admit... I got pretty excited/nervous when I spotted the girls from the XO tour waiting for us downstairs! We went through District 1 (the busiest district where we stayed), 5 (China town), 6 (wholesale district), 8 , 7 (Canadian International school is in this district) it is a new urban area and isn't like the rest of the districts at all, and finally, #4 has a bit of a bad reputation - probably the most authentic area. There are 24 districts (including the rural ones) with 12 in the urban area.
1st stop on the tour after a crazy drive there. Pho on the menu here
These girls were SO awesome! Such friendly, fun people to hang out with for the evening. They know how to cater to us and entertain us - excellent tour - highly recommend them.
XO Tour
That is goat above - Francine perfecting her chopstick technique. We also had beef and prawns on the BBQ here.
The food was excellent - well, not all of it, but most of it - especially the shrimp - they even peeled them all for us.
The gang - I should have known better than to repeat whatever word the photographer was telling us to say - thus the facial expressions on everyone
Loved these two - such characters
Alain won the "transfer the peanut into the water bottle with chopsticks competition (over Francine)
Alain was willing to try everything
Lady boy karaoke singer across the street
Alain was even willing to try duck embryo - just like on Fear Factor!
Francine was not impressed! lol
That really is so disgusting and sad
We weren't really able to drive the scooters, but it was fun to pose as if we were
Jack & Shirly highly recommended this tour and we're SO happy we took their advice because it was a really fun night.
Day 4: Fly Vietnam Airlines from HCMC to Hue (Hotel - Serene Palace)
The narrow alley our hotel was on - too funny
Rub the Buddha belly for luck...
DMZ Bar in Hue - great spot for people watching - and for being bugged by people selling art and cards. Happy Hour!
Hue has a much quieter, calmer feel to it from HCMC - a slower pace (but still busy - especially at night)
We assume this is "I love Hue"
Day 5: Hue - Perfume River Tour, Pagodas & tombs
Getting ready to board our dragon boat with our guide for the day
A family of 4 lives on this boat and generates income by transporting us tourists to the sites and selling some things on board
Back there is where their kitchen area is
I presume we are sitting in their living and sleeping area
Posing "Moscow style" on the front of the boat
The cute little girl who lived on board the dragon boat with her parents and older brother. We gave them some sweet tarts (wish we had something more to give them) - and money at the end along with their parents)
Our first stop on the tour for the day was Thien Mu Pagoda (meaning "heavenly lady temple") - the oldest pagoda in Hue and considered the symbol of the city. Built in 1601.
Alain was "Buddha" on this trip - several people just came right up to him and rubbed his belly!
Cities we visited: Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon, Hue, Hoi An (drove through Da Nang), Hanoi, Ha Long Bay
Oh my heavens!! Vietnam was an incredible feast for the senses! Never have we experienced anything like that. Morocco was a close second for completely different way of life than what we, as Canadians, are used to.
Prepare yourself... this is a long post. 😉
First, I have to tell a story about the trip there. Russians, on overnight flights, want to lay down (so do I) and they will be quite aggressive about getting their spots. So, when we first got on, there was a 4-seater available at the very back of the plane. I sat there right away as I had hoped to sleep (after our trip to Ottawa just days before). I watched a movie at first - while I was watching it a lady approached me - basically she wanted the 4 seats. I said I was here first (why should I give it up to her just because she asks??). She left - I was proud to have stood my ground. Then, after I was laying down (on 3 of the 4 seats) - someone came and sat ON my feet! I don't know who because I had an eye mask on and I was determined to hold firm and win this battle. My feet started to hurt a bit, but I stayed still. Then, they physically MOVED my feet! I remained still. Eventually, because I was too ticked off, I sat up. She said something about me "kicking" her. Brutal. I was wide awake, so I know for a fact I did not. Needless to say, neither of us got any sleep. Craig moved to the 4-seater and I moved to our 3-seater where I did manage to get maybe an hour sleep.
Sights: from the moment we hit the ground in HCMC (Ho Chi Minh City - Saigon) our senses were bombarded with everything. First thing was the heat and humidity - hits you like a wave. The traffic was the biggest change for me. Apparently there are about 37 million motorbikes in Vietnam - and 2 million cars (population is over 94 million as of 2016). The most we saw on a bike was 5 people, but that is "unconfirmed" as we do not have photographic evidence. 4 was very common. You would see anything and everything being transported on bikes. Things we would think impossible to do! Forgive me for all the motorbike photos, but they just simply amazed me!
 |
| Ok, this one is kind of cheating because it's an actual trailer - most are just attached somehow to the bike itself without a trailer, but still... |
 |
| Some items seemed more secure than others... seriously? How does this stay on? |
 |
| Sometimes they're selling things from their bikes/cages (poor little puppies - so sad to see and how does the one on the top not tumble off? Maybe I don't want to know). Other animals we saw on the back of motorbikes include ducks, pigs, chickens and once even a cow. |
 |
| We saw lots of these flower arrangements being transported by motorbike. |
 |
| Going to sell their wares at market I presume |
 |
| They are experts at packing it on - they find a way to make it work! |
 |
| This shot, taken in Hue is my favorite of a family of 4 on a bike (which is illegal - only 2 are legal). The casual and relaxed way Mom is sitting - how does she not fall backwards? Her feet are just dangling in the air and she's holding her baby with just one hand - amazed me every time I saw it! Adults wear helmets (mandatory age 14 and up), but children don't??? |
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=utube+vietnam+motorbike+intersection&&view=detail&mid=7B6A20FE6DD6542F62F07B6A20FE6DD6542F62F0&FORM=VRDGAR
Other sites that will stick with me include people sitting on the side of the narrow roads cooking things or on these tiny little plastic stools eating and drinking. Sometimes there's nobody there during the day and then these places magically pop up at night when the cities come alive. Of course, there's also the narrow little streets with all the shops and homes and the markets. Then there's the natural beauty of Marble Mountain and Halong Bay and the man-made beauty in the pagodas and Buddhist temples.
Sounds: the sound is a bit deafening. People honk a LOT in Vietnam. I thought UAE was bad for that, but it has nothing on Vietnam! They honk for every occasion. Mostly just the short honks to say "hey, I'm here, watch out". No matter where we were - well, maybe there were a few quiet areas - we heard honking. We heard some karaoke in the streets of HCMC sung by a lady boy - Craig liked that - some traditional singers in our hotel and on the Mekong Delta tour (not really a fan of traditional Vietnamese music) and a street violin performance directly outside our hotel room in Hanoi as well as music for a funeral another night. They erected this tent-like structure in front of one of the vendors stalls - very interesting. We did not take any photos out of respect.
Touch: Not too many things here except trying to perfect the use of chopsticks. We all got quite good at this. Also, people in Vietnam touch you a lot. You have to get used to not having much personal space - especially in a line. They could take a step back, but instead they are touching you while in a line up. Not appealing for me. They touch you while they talk to you quite a bit - this I'm ok with. It takes some getting used to, but I can get used to. I found it so funny that people, without warning, would rub the belly of our friend Alain and say "buddha"....it was hilarious (more for us than Alain). We were sometimes grabbed by people and asked if we'd pose in a picture with them. That was totally strange for me - kinda weird - but cute also. I'm not sure the reason for it - I didn't quite get it, but I went along with it! 😎
Taste: Some of our favorites were pho and fried spring rolls and what was really interesting to me was they serve those at breakfast in all our hotels (along with many other interesting things). Alain was the most adventurous of us all - he tried duck embryo (not for breakfast, but on the XO Scooter/foodie tour). We all tried frogs legs and goat! The frogs legs were ok - really does taste similar to chicken, but the goat was weird - a strange rubbery texture. We even tried the "street donuts" with no issues.
Day 1: HCMC
 |
| Yum! 👍 Our first stop was 4P Pizza for lunch (recommended by Jack & Shirly who lived there). Awesome and authentic food. |
 |
| We walked around town to meet up with our guide for a free walking tour - it started in the Cho Ben Thanh market, but we just walked through and never managed to get back there to shop - it was torture for Francine & I, but we certainly made up for it in other locations. |
 |
| HCMC City Hall |
 |
| The post office |
 |
| Saigon (HCMC) Notre-Dame Basilica |
 |
| Independence Palace |
 |
| Traditional Vietnamese music in our hotel |
 | ||
| Our awesome boutique hotel in District 2 - Silverland Sakyo Hotel (there are a few Silverland hotels in town).
Day 2: Mekong Delta Tour
Just as we were about to board our boat we decided to purchase some of the traditional Vietnamese conical hats - Non la - made of palm leaves or bamboo (ours are bamboo although we only have 3 now - Craig gave his away because when it got wet, the dye dripped all over. These hats were created from a legend related to the rain-shielding goddess and history of rice growing in Vietnam and you see them worn everywhere.
                        |
Two big men in one little boat! lol
Day 3: Massages, museum and
XO Scooter/Foodie tour
XO Tour
 |
| The poor little goat - it was also kind of rubbery - tried it once - never need to again |
She's so adorable - such a sweet soul
 |
I won the same challenge against Craig - not sure what was so funny for Craig - a good time was had by all |
 |
| This gives a decent view of the street and shows how close we are sitting to it and how small the table and chairs are when you see Craig's knees. We had clams and scallops here. |
This was "dessert" - ya, it was about as appetizing as it looks. The clear one is coconut jelly and the other one is creme caramel.
Jack & Shirly highly recommended this tour and we're SO happy we took their advice because it was a really fun night.
Day 4: Fly Vietnam Airlines from HCMC to Hue (Hotel - Serene Palace)
The narrow alley our hotel was on - too funny 
Day 5: Hue - Perfume River Tour, Pagodas & tombs
Above the car is a photo of him on fire - an incredibly dedicated human-being
The next pictures are of the Citadel (also referred to as the Imperial City) which was a capital city of the Nguyen Dynasty from 1805 to 1945. The building was built in 1602 and took 203 years to complete!
The next pictures are of the Citadel (also referred to as the Imperial City) which was a capital city of the Nguyen Dynasty from 1805 to 1945. The building was built in 1602 and took 203 years to complete!
Thien Dinh Palace
This palace holds the first tomb that we visited - the Khai Dinh Tomb - it was very elaborate.
It was a market filled with narrow passageways filled with various things for sale
Day 6: Drive from Hue to Hoi An
stopping @ Lang Co Beach, Lap An Lagoon, Hai Van pass, Marble Mountain and My Son Imperial City (UNESCO) along the way.
Breakfasts at all our hotels was excellent!
Pho for breakfast anyone? (this one with chicken)
There's one - but from the internet
Part of Hai Van pass (above & below)
doopy do... just walking along the busy mountain road, don't mind me...
Just before we hit Marble Mountain we hit "marble city" - this amazing store filled with mostly marble product - Craig bought himself a dragon here
I wanted one of these marble lamps - just a wee bit too heavy for the suitcase
I loved this laughing Buddha! His little friend wanted my hat.
Alain - posing with his brother
Absolutely gorgeous marble products here
Gorgeous stuff ... the statues too!
Marble Mountain (below) - loved that place!
Our guide - great guy (I thought his name was Chucky, but Craig says it was Jackie) - he modified our plans on the fly, which added about 4 hours to the day he thought he was going to have - no problem.
Awesome! I love this stuff. Should have worn more sensible shoes, and it was nearly 40 degrees, but otherwise it was one of my favorite stops!
Me crawling into the hole
Alain crawling out of the same hole
Alain posing with one of the many fruit vendors
Above - the famous Japanese bridge in Hoi An constructed in the early 1600's. It is a symbol of the town and even Monet was inspired to create a masterpiece based on this bridge
Happy Hour with bucket drinks! Love it!
The busy Hoi An streets at night
No blog including Hoi An is complete without the lantern shot!
Or two...
Or three...
Ok...four!
These pop-up cards were sold everywhere in Vietnam - we bought several - $1 USD each - sometimes $2 for the large ones. They're exquisite!
Doing our own walking tour - highly recommend doing this early in the day as a) it's not so hot and b) it's not at all crowded (compared to the evening)
Gorgeous structures - good photo Francine!
Craig getting measured for his new pants at "Van's" tailoring. We also had some clothes made at Bebe's - I had two shirts remade from a shirt I really like and Francine had 9 garments made! 3 pairs of pants, 3 pairs of capris and 3 tops
Of course, while I was waiting I saw a dress on another girl that I thought would be nice - so I asked that girl how much it was - she said $45 - so I got measured up for my new purple dress!
Lanterns being made below...
Mỹ Sơn - below ( UNESCO) - the abandoned ruins of Hindu Temples constructed between the 4th and 14th century AD - they worshiped the God Shiva. A large majority of the architecture was destroyed by the US carpet bombing during a single week of the Vietnam war in 1969. The surrounding area is still considered dangerous with unexploded land mines.
After driving the better part of the day and stopping along the way at all these wonderful site, we finally arrived at our lovely little boutique hotel - Lantana in Hoi An. Along the way, however, our driver hit a motorcycle! We were turning right and the motorcyclist was on our right, but going straight - he took off really fast so we continued on.
To pay for our hotel, we put Alain to work!
 |
| Bebe tailoring where I had 2 shirts made from one I already had and Francine did the same, but had 3 pairs of pants, 3 pairs of capris and 3 tops made from her favorite clothes. Just as I was thinking "we've hardly seen any bugs in Vietnam" - Craig & I both get our legs bit by some little bug at night - I think it's because we both walked on the grass. |
These were all along the river - maybe just for the International Food Festival that was going on when we were there
Day 7: Hoi An
Lanterns being made below...
my dress being fitted after only a few hours
Day 8: Leaving Hoi An and flying to Hanoi
The hotels staff of the Lantana in Hoi An waving good-bye to us - how sweet! Off to Hanoi in the North of Vietnam and then Halong Bay
Our lovely hotel "La Siesta" in Hanoi.
We had arranged a walking tour for our first full day in Hanoi, but they did not show up, so we did our own. It was really the only hiccup in the trip. The rest went so smoothly.
Craig likes getting haircuts in foreign countries
Day 9 - touring Hanoi
School children who just couldn't resist waving to us white tourists
We Canadians can never complain about living too close to the railroad tracks - this is crazy!
Craig liked the concierge hats
Day 10: From Hanoi by van to Halong Bay
Beautiful, but incredibly expensive things for sale at this rest stop for tourists on the way to Halong Bay
Day 11: Halong Bay on the ship
Francine & Alain's new embroidery art
Day 13: back home the next day with all our shopping treasures after a 10-hour flight the day before from Hanoi direct to Moscow
Lantern from Hoi An, 4 Northface jackets, a table runner for Craig's Mom, two embroidery art pieces, a jade bracelet, art and bookmarks from our dragon boat family, 4 t-shirts, an owl backpack, those pop-up cards and 6 Northface backpacks and a partridge in a pair tree...
What a fantastic adventure this was! We're so grateful to have had this opportunity and will remember it fondly forever. The Vietnamese people welcomed us, gave us fantastic service, smiled and posed for pictures with us, got up-close-and-personal with us (climbing on top of us for a massage and standing real close in line-ups)... these memories will stay with us for a very long time. What an experience.
Thank you to Francine & Alain for joining us and making it all the more enjoyable! You're a fantastic couple to be around!
💗
