Good Morning Vietnam

Hi Guys,

A few of our friends have travelled around Vietnam and had lots of recommendations for things for us to do and see so we left Chiang Mai very excited and ready to get on with then next leg of our journey. Two flights later and a short taxi ride we were checking into a  ‘Chien Hostel’ in Hanoi. To our horror it was a 20 bed dorm room, essentially a chicken coup.

Hanoi was a sprawling metropolis, street food vendors everywhere you looked, small tables and stools everywhere outside of restaurants and hundreds of motorbikes racing past you at every junction. We had a great day wondering around the sites and taking it all in. We stopped by at the prison or now quite commonly called ‘Hanoi Hilton'. It was used during the French Revolution to capture Vietnamese rebels and imprison them in the worst conditions you could imagine, bound by the ankles unable to move. The prison was again used in the Vietnam war, captured American pilots were taken from all over northern Vietnam and placed in jail but this time in a remarkable show of forgiveness and showing no want to repeat atrocities that the French did to the Vietnamese people before, the Americans were treated like guests. Imprisoned but fed well, educated on Vietnamese culture, wide spaces to play sports and encouraged to write home regularly. It was a very interesting place and the Vietnamese way of thought would be well served across other regions.

During the afternoon we saw Ho Chi Min’s tomb and wandered around the gardens of the late rulers home. For dinner that evening we stopped buy ‘The Greatest Bun Cha’ in Hanoi. A nice fresh noodle soup, with pork and some crab spring rolls. A tasty end to a good day on the step count.

The next morning we headed off to Ha Long Bay, number 2 on Lonely Planet’s top 20 things to see in SE Asia. Due to our limited time and want to see so much more we decided to take a cruise and stay over night rather than travel to the beaches there and stay for a few days. This is something that with hind site we would have definitely done differently. The cruise we booked on didn’t have anyone else, so they ‘up-graded’ us and we joined only 3 other people on a boat that’s fit for 60. There were 25 staff and 5 of us, it was a very weird evening. The views on the boat were absolutely incredible, the afternoon spent kayaking is up there as one of the highlights of the trip.

We travelled to Hue over night, Luke was too stingy to buy beds so we sat in rather uncomfortable chairs with no aircon for the 14 hour ride. To make things worse, Lily started feeling unwell just as the train departed. Once we arrived we made a quick stop by the hospital where blood tests and an ultrasound later Gastroenteritis  was diagnosed. Two days in bed for me, Luke went off for an explore of the town.

I toddled off over the bridge to wander around the citadel in the centre of Hue. A massive complex of temples, pagodas and ponds I didn’t really take in much of the history of the place just fancied a stroll it was nice. I left the citadel and had a beer and a WhatsApp catch up with the patient before ambling round a local military museum loads of memorbillia from the Vietnam war planes, tanks and helicoptors proper interesting little saunter. My last stops on my whistle stop walking tour was the mental market which must of been selling thousands and thousands of flip flops never seen so many. A slow saunter back to the guesthouse I was told in no uncertain terms to not bring food back so I stopped for a fast becoming favourite of mine in the evenings the Banh Mi. A baguette filled with pate, bbq pork, salted pork fat, pickled veg and chilli its amazing, proper comforting and interesting this should be what’s eaten after a night out back home way better than any kebab.

Lily made it out the next morning once the antibiotics kicked in a bit, before the next train so we checked out a local abandoned waterpark that Luke’s brother recommended, it was an amazing place to visit and it didn’t disappoint a weird, eerie place like something from a horror film smashed up aquariums, weird animal sculptures and slides entwined in branches. A great stop if you are ever in Hue, would really recommend.

Our first few days in Vietnam certainly weren’t ideal but we made the best out of it we could. Ha Long Bay was incredible along with our day out in Hanoi. Looking forward to the rest of the time we have here.

Next stop, Hoi An.

Luke and Lily