One morning on our trip, we actually had a little extra time before we needed to run out the door. I thought the kids looked super cute so I decided to take some pictures of just them. Aren't they adorable?!
Showing posts with label Vietnam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vietnam. Show all posts
Monday, May 4, 2015
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Vietnam
Vietnam:
Why/how I picked Vietnam:
I wanted to go to Asia. We had a set time that we were going to travel, so I researched where the weather was best but also where we could go and not take Malaria pills since they aren't recommended for kids under 2. That's basically how Vietnam was picked!
*before we boarded our flight from Doha to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) Micah and I noticed 2 couples from our church waiting with us. Funnily enough, we ended up running into them multiple times throughout our trip. It was very entertaining.
Saigon:
I was probably the most hesitant about Saigon. I had read about how dangerous and crazy the streets are with motorcycles flying everywhere. Also about Vietnam in general that the people weren't friendly and didn't like Americans, they try to scam you all the time, etc, etc. However I found that I actually enjoyed Saigon. Granted we weren't there long but almost everyone we met was friendly. Crossing the streets was crazy, but kind of entertaining, too. I compared it to a live-action game of Frogger.
Our first day we arrived at 1 pm and made it to our hotel by around 3:30pm. We spent a little time resting and regrouping before heading out for dinner. We knew that all of our lunches were going to be traditional Vietnamese food so we opted for a highly rated Mexican restaurant. The owner was fun to talk to and the pulled pork tacos were excellent. As was the pitcher of margarita!
The next day started bright and early. We met our guide and driver in the lobby and headed out to the war tunnels at Chu Chi. I was prepared for this day to be very anti-American. It was difficult to sit and listen to the video that over and over again said people were heroes for killing Americans. While that was hard, I just kept telling myself that war is hell and of course this was their government propaganda side of the story. Beyond that aspect it was pretty fascinating to see how the VC would fight and their tactics of war. They had dug a tunnel system that basically could house entire villages. They also connected villages with places to pop out and attack the "enemy". We were also able to climb into a tunnel and crawl through. Lunch was on a floating dock on a branch of the Mekong River. It was amazing how dense the floating green plants were. It made us feel like we were moving since all of the plants were floating by us. After lunch we headed back to Saigon for a city tour with the first stop at the war museum. Once again I was prepared and to be honest I don't think I let most of it sink in. There were lots of pictures of the war, protests in other countries of the war and about "agent orange" and how it affected the people (awful!). We went, we saw, and we never need to go back.
Also, it was 1 week before the 40th anniversary of the reunification of north & south Vietnam (Apr 30). This made everyone talk about it more and there was propaganda everywhere.
From the museum we went to the reunification palace where the president lived during the war. There really wasn't much remarkable about it. After the palace we walked by Notre Dame cathedral but we couldn't go in due to a special mass being held. Then we headed over to the largest post office in southeast Asia. It looked more like a train station. At last we had enough of the sweating and we headed to our hotel pool for a little break. We finished up our night with dinner at Soul Burger. Which once again had a fun owner and excellent food. On the way back to the hotel we wandered the market area some and I did a little shopping. I honestly think having Hailey helped keep the shop owners friendly and less annoying.
Our last day in the Saigon area, we headed further south to the Mekong delta. This was a really fun day! Our first stop was at a Buddhist temple. I have to admit, we werent overly interested but it was still worth stopping and seeing.
After the temple, our day continued on a motorized boat took us to a little area in the middle of the delta that raised bees for honey, had crocodiles, played traditional music for us and gave us some yummy local fruit. We all know I was terrified of the bees!
I quickly realized in Vietnam that Hailey is basically a celebrity. I don't think Jennifer Aniston would have this much attention or this many pictures of her taken. We were constantly having people stop to talk to her, take her picture, and workers ask to hold her. Honestly I believe it made our trip more enjoyable since everyone was super friendly to us!
Anyway, after our stop at the bee farm area we got back on our motorized boat and boated over to an area where we got on a paddle boat and headed down a small inlet. That boat took us to a small village area and we rode on a carriage pulled by a donkey to where they make coconut candy. Micah doesn't like coconut so we didn't spend too much time there but it was still neat to see. After that the motorized boat picked us up and took us to lunch. We had lunch at a nice restaurant in the middle of the delta. Since we had a flight to catch that evening, this was the last of our Mekong delta tour. That evening we caught a domestic flight to DaNang and then drove about 40 minutes to Hoi An, arriving at our hotel late that night.
The next morning we were up bright and early for a tour of My Son ruins. I have to say that originally I was excited about this, however it was SO STINKIN HOT! I had Hailey in the front carrier and Micah had Jacob in the backpack carrier which greatly intensified the heat. Plus there was a very long walk to the start of the ruins. We were dripping! I think our guide could sense our feelings so we didn't stay as long as I would have thought, but we were ok with that.
Finally back in the car and in air conditioning, we headed to a place where they made basically everything touristy in Hoi An -- silk, embroidery, and tailored clothes. I had read about tailoring being very popular here so I really wanted to have something made. Unfortunately Jacob was misbehaving and in a terrible mood so I only ended up with a skirt. I think I could have spent a lot more there so maybe Jacob's misbehaving saved Micah some money! After leaving the store we had another nice Vietnamese lunch.
Our afternoon was left open for us to have some free time which was needed. We spent some time at the pool and relaxed in the room a little before heading out for dinner and to explore the historic city. Hoi An is popular for the floating "wish" lanterns on the river. Of course we had to do it, so we bought 3 and each set a lantern off down the river. Surprisingly Jacob thought it was really fun. He wished for Mac and Cheese and Tom and jerry. They both came true!
The following morning we once again had some free time in Hoi An. It was so nice to let everyone get a much needed goodnight's sleep. We woke up late and then went to the pool for some playtime before packing up and heading to our next destination, Hue. The drive to Hue took about 3.5 hours. The drive is supposed to be beautiful, stretching along coastal and inland green mountains, but it was cloudy and foggy for most of the trip (disappointing!). That evening we checked into our hotel and went out to a fun hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese place "My Family Restaurant". The food was good and the beer was about .80 cents! Then we walked along to river before heading back to the hotel for the night.
The next morning we met our guide to explore Hue. Our day started with a dragon boat ride along the river stopping at a Buddhist Pagoda. Although it was a beautiful setting, it's still so hard to understand the Buddhist faith.
Up next was the Imperial City. Hue was the old politIcal capital of Vietnam and the emperor had his special city built here with a Royal Palace and Citadel. The city is enclosed by 2x2 kilometers of wall and surrounded by a moat with water diverted from the Huong (Perfume) River. There was a lot of walking involved seeing this sight and it started raining on us so we probably rushed through more than we would have otherwise.
The rest of our day was spent visiting mausoleums. It's so strange to me that people spend this much money and effort on something for their dead bodies. At least one of the emperors used their mausoleum as a retreat since it was actually finished before he died. Each mausoleum was unique and beautiful. After a very full day in Hue we had a late night flight to Hanoi.
Bright and early the next morning we were picked up from our hotel in Hanoi to be transferred to our boat for an overnight cruise in Ha Long Bay. The drive was about 4 hours but then we boarded our boat for a beautiful cruise through Ha Long Bay. I had upgraded us to a family suite on the cruise and it was fantastic. We had lots of room and our own private deck with lounge chairs. Once everyone was settled on the boat we stopped at an area with a tiny floating village. The people who live in this village make a living from either fishing or pearl farming, except for the few that make money rowing the tourist around. This was one of the only times in Ha Long that we saw (some) sun.
When we returned from the village they gave us some time to take a swim but Micah, Jacob and I were the only ones brave enough. I just love this picture of Micah jumping off the boat and how big Jacob is smiling!
The next morning we went off the boat to explore the "surprising cave". They call it this because the ladies who found it were surprised at how beautiful it was...original?!?? I accidentally left Hailey's carrier our luggage in Hanoi so I had to use a make shift sling and Micah of course had Jacob on his back. There were lots of steps! Let's just say we were both sore the next day. But the cave was beautiful and totally worth the hassle and effort.
Unfortunately our weather the whole time wasn't great but it was still probably our favorite time of the trip. My only regret is not booking a 2 night cruise!
After the cruise, we were transported back to Hanoi. We arrived in time to take showers and then to head out to a Water Puppet show before dinner. However, Jacob decided the water puppets were scary and immediately started crying so we left early (Micah was happy to leave). Although I hoped he would enjoy the show, it didn't appear as though the quality was going to be that great so we weren't that sad to leave. From there we started wandering the crazy streets of Hanoi. It was Friday night and absolute craziness on the streets. People and motorbikes were everywhere but we enjoyed the people watching and wandering. We ended up at a Pub called Moose and Roo Pub & Grill and both had excellent pulled pork sandwiches. This was basically the end to our Vietnam adventures.
Our final morning we attempted to sleep in and then just relaxed in bed while slowly packing up. We went out for an early lunch before heading back to the hotel to shower and get ready for our flight back to Doha.
We had a great time in Vietnam and are really glad we decided to visit this beautiful country.
Why/how I picked Vietnam:
I wanted to go to Asia. We had a set time that we were going to travel, so I researched where the weather was best but also where we could go and not take Malaria pills since they aren't recommended for kids under 2. That's basically how Vietnam was picked!
*before we boarded our flight from Doha to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) Micah and I noticed 2 couples from our church waiting with us. Funnily enough, we ended up running into them multiple times throughout our trip. It was very entertaining.
Saigon:
I was probably the most hesitant about Saigon. I had read about how dangerous and crazy the streets are with motorcycles flying everywhere. Also about Vietnam in general that the people weren't friendly and didn't like Americans, they try to scam you all the time, etc, etc. However I found that I actually enjoyed Saigon. Granted we weren't there long but almost everyone we met was friendly. Crossing the streets was crazy, but kind of entertaining, too. I compared it to a live-action game of Frogger.
Our first day we arrived at 1 pm and made it to our hotel by around 3:30pm. We spent a little time resting and regrouping before heading out for dinner. We knew that all of our lunches were going to be traditional Vietnamese food so we opted for a highly rated Mexican restaurant. The owner was fun to talk to and the pulled pork tacos were excellent. As was the pitcher of margarita!
The next day started bright and early. We met our guide and driver in the lobby and headed out to the war tunnels at Chu Chi. I was prepared for this day to be very anti-American. It was difficult to sit and listen to the video that over and over again said people were heroes for killing Americans. While that was hard, I just kept telling myself that war is hell and of course this was their government propaganda side of the story. Beyond that aspect it was pretty fascinating to see how the VC would fight and their tactics of war. They had dug a tunnel system that basically could house entire villages. They also connected villages with places to pop out and attack the "enemy". We were also able to climb into a tunnel and crawl through. Lunch was on a floating dock on a branch of the Mekong River. It was amazing how dense the floating green plants were. It made us feel like we were moving since all of the plants were floating by us. After lunch we headed back to Saigon for a city tour with the first stop at the war museum. Once again I was prepared and to be honest I don't think I let most of it sink in. There were lots of pictures of the war, protests in other countries of the war and about "agent orange" and how it affected the people (awful!). We went, we saw, and we never need to go back.
Also, it was 1 week before the 40th anniversary of the reunification of north & south Vietnam (Apr 30). This made everyone talk about it more and there was propaganda everywhere.
From the museum we went to the reunification palace where the president lived during the war. There really wasn't much remarkable about it. After the palace we walked by Notre Dame cathedral but we couldn't go in due to a special mass being held. Then we headed over to the largest post office in southeast Asia. It looked more like a train station. At last we had enough of the sweating and we headed to our hotel pool for a little break. We finished up our night with dinner at Soul Burger. Which once again had a fun owner and excellent food. On the way back to the hotel we wandered the market area some and I did a little shopping. I honestly think having Hailey helped keep the shop owners friendly and less annoying.
I quickly realized in Vietnam that Hailey is basically a celebrity. I don't think Jennifer Aniston would have this much attention or this many pictures of her taken. We were constantly having people stop to talk to her, take her picture, and workers ask to hold her. Honestly I believe it made our trip more enjoyable since everyone was super friendly to us!
Anyway, after our stop at the bee farm area we got back on our motorized boat and boated over to an area where we got on a paddle boat and headed down a small inlet. That boat took us to a small village area and we rode on a carriage pulled by a donkey to where they make coconut candy. Micah doesn't like coconut so we didn't spend too much time there but it was still neat to see. After that the motorized boat picked us up and took us to lunch. We had lunch at a nice restaurant in the middle of the delta. Since we had a flight to catch that evening, this was the last of our Mekong delta tour. That evening we caught a domestic flight to DaNang and then drove about 40 minutes to Hoi An, arriving at our hotel late that night.
The next morning we were up bright and early for a tour of My Son ruins. I have to say that originally I was excited about this, however it was SO STINKIN HOT! I had Hailey in the front carrier and Micah had Jacob in the backpack carrier which greatly intensified the heat. Plus there was a very long walk to the start of the ruins. We were dripping! I think our guide could sense our feelings so we didn't stay as long as I would have thought, but we were ok with that.
Finally back in the car and in air conditioning, we headed to a place where they made basically everything touristy in Hoi An -- silk, embroidery, and tailored clothes. I had read about tailoring being very popular here so I really wanted to have something made. Unfortunately Jacob was misbehaving and in a terrible mood so I only ended up with a skirt. I think I could have spent a lot more there so maybe Jacob's misbehaving saved Micah some money! After leaving the store we had another nice Vietnamese lunch.
Our afternoon was left open for us to have some free time which was needed. We spent some time at the pool and relaxed in the room a little before heading out for dinner and to explore the historic city. Hoi An is popular for the floating "wish" lanterns on the river. Of course we had to do it, so we bought 3 and each set a lantern off down the river. Surprisingly Jacob thought it was really fun. He wished for Mac and Cheese and Tom and jerry. They both came true!
The following morning we once again had some free time in Hoi An. It was so nice to let everyone get a much needed goodnight's sleep. We woke up late and then went to the pool for some playtime before packing up and heading to our next destination, Hue. The drive to Hue took about 3.5 hours. The drive is supposed to be beautiful, stretching along coastal and inland green mountains, but it was cloudy and foggy for most of the trip (disappointing!). That evening we checked into our hotel and went out to a fun hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese place "My Family Restaurant". The food was good and the beer was about .80 cents! Then we walked along to river before heading back to the hotel for the night.
The next morning we met our guide to explore Hue. Our day started with a dragon boat ride along the river stopping at a Buddhist Pagoda. Although it was a beautiful setting, it's still so hard to understand the Buddhist faith.
Up next was the Imperial City. Hue was the old politIcal capital of Vietnam and the emperor had his special city built here with a Royal Palace and Citadel. The city is enclosed by 2x2 kilometers of wall and surrounded by a moat with water diverted from the Huong (Perfume) River. There was a lot of walking involved seeing this sight and it started raining on us so we probably rushed through more than we would have otherwise.
The rest of our day was spent visiting mausoleums. It's so strange to me that people spend this much money and effort on something for their dead bodies. At least one of the emperors used their mausoleum as a retreat since it was actually finished before he died. Each mausoleum was unique and beautiful. After a very full day in Hue we had a late night flight to Hanoi.
Bright and early the next morning we were picked up from our hotel in Hanoi to be transferred to our boat for an overnight cruise in Ha Long Bay. The drive was about 4 hours but then we boarded our boat for a beautiful cruise through Ha Long Bay. I had upgraded us to a family suite on the cruise and it was fantastic. We had lots of room and our own private deck with lounge chairs. Once everyone was settled on the boat we stopped at an area with a tiny floating village. The people who live in this village make a living from either fishing or pearl farming, except for the few that make money rowing the tourist around. This was one of the only times in Ha Long that we saw (some) sun.
When we returned from the village they gave us some time to take a swim but Micah, Jacob and I were the only ones brave enough. I just love this picture of Micah jumping off the boat and how big Jacob is smiling!
The next morning we went off the boat to explore the "surprising cave". They call it this because the ladies who found it were surprised at how beautiful it was...original?!?? I accidentally left Hailey's carrier our luggage in Hanoi so I had to use a make shift sling and Micah of course had Jacob on his back. There were lots of steps! Let's just say we were both sore the next day. But the cave was beautiful and totally worth the hassle and effort.
Unfortunately our weather the whole time wasn't great but it was still probably our favorite time of the trip. My only regret is not booking a 2 night cruise!
After the cruise, we were transported back to Hanoi. We arrived in time to take showers and then to head out to a Water Puppet show before dinner. However, Jacob decided the water puppets were scary and immediately started crying so we left early (Micah was happy to leave). Although I hoped he would enjoy the show, it didn't appear as though the quality was going to be that great so we weren't that sad to leave. From there we started wandering the crazy streets of Hanoi. It was Friday night and absolute craziness on the streets. People and motorbikes were everywhere but we enjoyed the people watching and wandering. We ended up at a Pub called Moose and Roo Pub & Grill and both had excellent pulled pork sandwiches. This was basically the end to our Vietnam adventures.
Our final morning we attempted to sleep in and then just relaxed in bed while slowly packing up. We went out for an early lunch before heading back to the hotel to shower and get ready for our flight back to Doha.
We had a great time in Vietnam and are really glad we decided to visit this beautiful country.
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