Holiday in the 'Nam Part I

Amazing! Is the one word I could use to sum up my trip. Vietnam is a country of so much culture and personality, lush green country sides, a beautiful coast and more delicious food! 4 other VSO volunteers and I set out on our first holiday adventure for 8 days in the 'Nam and was definitely not enough time!

We started on a bus journey leaving Phnom Penh Saturday, April 11th headed to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) because flights were around a quarter of the price to Hanoi from there. Originally, we were going to jump the gun and book a flight a few hours after we arrived but instead we booked the flight to Hanoi for the following day. Since its Khmer New Year most everyone heads to their provinces for the week resulting in horrendous traffic that was backed up like you wouldn't believe. A narrow river runs through Neak Leung but there is no bridge, only a ferry transporting vehicles from one side to the other (someone please get these people a bridge!) Our 6 hour bus ride turned in to 10 hours since we had to wait so long at the river. Good thing we didn't book our flight for that day!

After arriving in Ho Chi Minh, it was time for dinner. We set our stuff down at our guest house, Yellow House Hotel and headed out to an amazing restaurant ‘Asian Kitchen’ recommended in a book I had. It had all types of food from Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese and Western food. I enjoyed giant, delicious fresh spring rolls and some Vietnamese tea. That night, we walked around the streets near our guest house and called it a night since we had an early flight the next morning.

Once we arrived in Hanoi, we were greeted by the most helpful girl that worked at Thu Giang Guest House. She sat us down, offered tea, showed us the places that we wanted to visit that day on a map, places to eat and also booked our travel arrangements for us to Halong Bay. One of my fellow travelers even asked about taking a taxi to certain areas and she let us know that they'd just rip us off! She was amazing! We set out on our own walking tour in the Old Quarter. We saw a few Pagoda’s, Hoan Kiem Lake that also had the Ngoc Son Temple on a small island in the middle, St. Joseph’s Cathedral (it was Easter so I went in for a few minutes), and more! We had amazing lunch at The Avalon that overlooked the lake and had breath taking views. Also spotted a few things I wanted to purchase on our way back through from Halong Bay :) We went to Hua Sua School Restaurant, a training center for disadvantaged youth for dinner which was absolutely delicious. The setting looked like a French style home with foliage surrounding all areas. The meal was delicious and a perfect ending to the day.

The next morning we awoke and headed out on the bus to Halong Bay. It was the first time we were able to see the country side of Vietnam and boy is it beautiful! The rice fields were so green with workers in their triangular hats made some great photo opp’s. Once we got to the bay, we unloaded and had lunch served on the boat as we sailed away from shore. There were many different Vietnamese dishes with seafood and vegetables that were divine. That afternoon the weather was a little gloomy which made everything look very mysterious like out of a movie. There are about 3,000 tiny islands peaking out of the water which is truly a sight to see. Most aren’t really “islands” as we know it with sandy beaches, but more like rock sculptures. We lounged on the top deck with remarkable views of bamboo boats cruising along, some even with motors, floating cities and also toured through a cave. As we journeyed through, there were some areas where the sun would peak through making it feel very majestic and the stalactite and stalagmite were nothing like I’ve ever seen before.

That evening we had an hour for kayaking and exploring. Golli and I headed out and found a mini cave that we entered at our own risk, but it was so dark that we weren’t in there very long. If I’m scared of anything, its not snakes or spiders (thanks to my animal diversity and ecology class Tara and I took), but bats really freak me out! Out on the water, they even have boat vendors! So as we were cruising along, a vendor would sail up hoping to sell water, snacks and even alcohol to tourists. Since the boat trip was filled with more than a dozen tourists, we met and joined groups with 4 other girls from Canada that were all close to our age and shared traveling experiences with. We ended the evening with a romantic dinner (well, nobody really to romance with) and more gorgeous views with a few glasses of wine on the boat. As we thought the night was finishing up, the tour guide asked if we wanted to do karaoke! Knowing Meghan, you wouldn’t be surprised that I was the first to day “I’ll sing if you sing first” and he went right up there to sing a song from the Backstreet Boys! Since I gave him my word, I was up next. I sang a song from Ace of Base (oh yeah, bringing it back!) but after 3 hours and all of us ladies singing close to 25 different songs (usually all together), we were wiped. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wished he could take back his request to participate in the singing escapade because I think he got the microphone back only 1 or 2 times.

The next day we had a half day to swim and lounge around which is very relaxing knowing we have a lot of traveling ahead of us. Another 3 hour bus ride back to Hanoi and when we got there, although it was closed, still wanted to go see the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Complex. It was a huge open area, the grass laid out just like rice fields in the country side (although you can’t walk on the grass, only the areas between) and individuals doing Tai Chi and other traditional movements. We also saw the ‘One Pillar Pagoda’, that was so small and cute standing in the middle of a manmade moat. That evening was the first night of Pho, and it was delicious! I had to do the real thing so I ate the beef that was in the Pho and glad I did. We also went to the famous ‘Water Puppet Show’ which to be honest, wasn’t all what it was hyped up to be. Afterwards, we grabbed our belongings and set out on our first overnight train to Hue. With the ipod charged, I amazingly slept very well and got some more time to write in my journal. I couldn’t wait to see more of what already surpassed my expectations of the great Vietnam.