Beautiful Vietnam

So…remember in one of our last blogs we said Laos may just be our favorite country? We’ve changed our minds; Vietnam is now our favorite! Well, in part.  We say this remembering we haven’t seen any country 100% and knowing each country is different from one another…From the parts we did see, we experienced more natural beauty in Laos. We loved, however, the city of Hanoi in Vietnam, the people, and the little bit of the bay we saw. Vietnam is one country we’ve visited that we both have said “Let’s come back here.”  Many backpackers take a month, or more, to travel across the entire country of Vietnam on a motorbike…we’d love to do that some day, but unfortunately this trip doesn’t allow the time for such fun.  But, back to what we did get to do!

Our hostel in Hanoi was located right next to a cathedral in the Old Quarter. We loved staying in that part of Hanoi; it was very beautiful and most of the tourist activities were close to there…but we still walked a lot! 

Our first day in the city, we met up with a Dutch guy named Joost that we had met in Cambodia. The fates aligned so that we were able to enjoy lunch together at a small, local restaurant. This local restaurant, however, famously hosted former President Obama for lunch! (Here is an article about his meal there. https://www.google.com.kh/amp/www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/23/barack-obama-treated-to-6-noodles-in-hanoi-by-anthony-bourdain/amp/ ) We had a bowl of bun cha, which is a Vietnamese noodle dish made with grilled pork. It was very good! After our meal Nicholas and I decided to go to the water puppet theater for an afternoon show. It was unique and quite different than anything we have ever seen! For dinner we decided to be adventurous and ate at a street restaurant. I got rice, but Nicholas ordered frog with vegetables! Maybe you'd be surprised, but it truly does taste like chicken. It came out as, basically, a full frog, little arms with webbed frog-fingers and everything.  It was very good and even I found myself surprised to enjoy it so much. But hey, you only live once right?? 

Our second day we went to see Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. His body is preserved in a glass coffin so people can pay their respects.  For those that may not know, he began communism in Vietnam.  Each year they ship him to Russia for "upkeep," and I must say they do a great job. He looks like a wax figure. It was amazing to us how much the Vietnamese people love him-we waited in line to visit for 2 hours. We met a sweet family with 5 kids and played with them while we waited. Afterwards, we went to the Hoa Lo Prison. That was interesting because of all the propaganda. They called it "The Hanoi Hilton" and showed videos of POWs playing sport games and describing the holiday meals they ate. The amount of propaganda throughout the country is crazy, but what's crazier is that people just don't know any differently. I've realized freedom of speech and the press is something for which we should be extremely grateful. In the states we take so much for granted; going on this trip has been eye opening in that way.

Our third day was Sunday. We went to a French mass in the cathedral in the morning. Mass was the only time the church was open, so we decided to stay so we could experience it. In the afternoon we went an International Christian Church. It's always fun to meet other believers! 

Each night in Hanoi we would walk around Sword Lake. There was a night market during the weekend, a beer corner, people playing games in the square, people performing and students wanting to practice their English. We ate way too many popsicles and had way too much fun. ;) It really was wonderful; Nicholas and I got to spend a lot of time talking and relaxing while experiencing local culture and learning. People in Hanoi were very kind, the coffee was very good and the city was sweet. It will always be a special place for us. 

Monday morning we left for a 2 day cruise in Halong Bay. We took a bus ride to the bay and boarded a Junk boat with 14 other people. It was very nice- one of the fanciest places we've stayed in. ;) During the cruise we kayaked, walked through a giant cave, and walked to the top of one of the karsts. The weather was slightly gloomy, unfortunately, more rain then sun, but Halong bay is definitely one of the most beautiful places we've been.  I would love to go back again. 

After getting back from our cruise we were both in need of some western food; we enjoy asian cuisine but tend to miss our proteins after a while! We found a restaurant called Moose and Roo Smokehouse. We ordered ribs, mac'n'cheese, fries with gravy and cheese (Putine), and cheesecake-don't judge. It was AMAZING. We met one of the owners, Tien, and she was so kind!  We learned that her husband was from Canada (which explains the Putine) and had a passion for food and Vietnam.  We greatly enjoyed talking and learning about Hanoi. If you ever find yourself in Hanoi, visit this restaurant for your western fix, you won't be disappointed. 

Our final day in Vietnam was spent wandering around and, finally, trying some famous egg coffee. We went to Giang cafe, founded in 1946, which is locally famous. Nicholas ordered egg coffee and I ordered egg hot chocolate. We didn't really know what to expect, because eggs in drinks is weird, but it was sooo good. Somehow the egg is sweetened and thickened, making the drink taste like it has marshmallows in it! That is something I would like to re-create! 

We missed a huge part of Vietnam and would love to go back someday. There was just something about it we adored. It's funny how that happens; you can't really describe it, but you just fall in love with a place. 

TTFN Ta-Ta For Now!

N & K

Here is a video of our time in Hanoi, Vietnam! And the 2nd video is of our time in Halong Bay.  Enjoy!