I’ve been home for three weeks now. Amongst all the reunions, I forgot to post about the final stop on my trip: Vietnam. The country with my favorite food and prettiest views. The cities where we drank $0.50 beer and biked through a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Vietnam blew me away. However, it was in Vietnam we ran into the most problems while we were traveling. Maybe that is why I found this article difficult to publish. For now, I’m highlighting the experiences I will remember most, the stories I told friends and family. In my next post, I hope to unpack some of the bitter realities I faced as a tourist.
We visited three places in Vietnam: Ha Long Bay, Ninh Binh, and Hanoi. Each was spectacular in a unique way.
At 7:00 am in the morning, a moped came to a jolting halt at the front door of our Airbnb in Hanoi Old Quarter. “Ms. Clark?” he asked. Confused and uncaffeinated, I nodded before he waved us down the street to a large bus that clearly couldn’t fit down the tight alleys. My friend and I dragged our bags onto the bus before snagging the last two seats in the back. We were off to Ha Long Bay.
I will never forget how lucky we were with the weather.
It’s winter in Vietnam, and although they have dry winters, it's usually colder and cloudy. When we boarded the boat, the sun was already breaking through the thin clouds that covered the sky. We threw our bags into the small cabin and headed to the dining area to meet the twenty-eight other passengers. After quickly debriefing our plan for the next twenty-four hours, we headed to the top deck. We basked in the sun and enjoyed the outspending views as the boat maneuvered through the 1,969 islands that comprise Ha Long Bay.
We spent the afternoon exploring the Sung Sot Cave and hiking to the temple on top of Titov Island. We marveled at the views from above the bay and returned to the beach for a quick dip before the sun disappeared below the horizon. At night, they served a lavish dinner family-style. They brought countless plates of fish, vegetables, curry, tempura, and noodles. We passed around the beautifully plated dishes so everyone could try each one. Before bed, we participated in a cooking class where we learned to make spring rolls and chatted with everyone on our boat. Every group came from a different country. We spoke with people from Singapore, Sweden, Norway, Canada, Italy, and China.
The next morning, we kayaked around a pearl farm and learned the basics of cultured pearls. After another elaborate lunch, the boat returned to the dock for disembarkment. By noon, we were already on a bus to Ninh Binh. I was absolutely knocked out on the bus ride there. I think the exhaustion associated with traveling had finally caught up with me.
Even after my five-hour nap, I was still groggy around dinner time. Following check-in at our Mountainside Homestay, we opted to walk to the closest place for dinner. We slurped up pho alongside the river while the sun cast a golden glow on the surrounding mountains. On our walk home, the sky was black but dotted with magnificent stars. We screamed in unison as a shooting star darted across the sky above our heads.
We spent the next few days biking to the countless temples in Ninh Binh, taking a boat tour in Trang An, and hiking to the Hang Mua viewpoint. At night, we biked fifteen minutes into Tam Coc for dinner and $0.05 local beers known as Bia Hoi. It wasn’t until the day before we left that the rain and cold weather crept in. Every local shared the weather was abnormal for this time of year, so we felt very fortunate. The rain persisted through the night. By the next day, we were ready to get on our bus back to Hanoi.
Hanoi was one of the most lively cities we visited all trip. The markets were bustling with so many people I felt like a fish swimming upstream. The bahn mi and pho at every spot was less than $1.00 and still delicious. The twenty-cent bia hoi on Beer Street was irresistible. We drank local egg coffee along Train Street and had far too many near misses with mopeds. Traffic laws don’t seem to exist in Hanoi.
Three days was the perfect time to stay in Hanoi Old Quarter. When December 18th arrived, I was ready to go home. Vietnam was such a special place that definitely won my award for the best food. One day, I hope to return and explore more than just northern Vietnam. I know my parents will be easily swayed when I mention the food and cheap beer.