Ho Chi Minh City

I parted from Pam at the Hanoi airport. She was headed back home to Texas and I was headed off to Ho Chi Minh City. I made it there without difficulty. I actually had the entire row to myself until a father and his baby decided to switch seats. No biggie except the baby had no pants on. All I could picture is the boy having to pee and it getting all over me. Put some pants on. I mean the kid was cute but come on. I also babysat it for 5 minutes when the dad used the restroom. I had to make sure the baby didn't roll off the seat. And I was successful. 

I didn't have long in Ho Chi Minh City, and I really didn't do too much. I had a few priorities, such as get laundry done, play catchup on my scrapbook, and run some miles. It would be great to have all clean laundry at once. But it typically takes time to get it done, and I don't have enough clothes with me to wear something clean while it's being done. However, it was at least pretty cheap to get it done and it came back all dry and folded. Of course, it didn't last very long as I now have more sweaty clothes. Mostly from running, but also from walking around in the humidity.

The afternoon I arrived, I planted myself at a nearby cafe and spent some time catching up on my scrapbook. There was a guy that had noticed and said he was also behind on his scrapbook. So I felt a bit better. I'm about 10 days behind now. Well maybe more now at this point. So not too terrible, but I definitely want to catch up soon. Trying to keep close behind with my blog updates would be ideal.

The first day I arrived, I couldn't go for a run because I ran out of clean clothes and they were with someone else getting washed. But once my clothes were clean on Thanksgiving, I went for an evening run. It wasn't a Turkey Trot, but it was good to get a few miles in, even in the humidity. I ran along the canal and Saigon River, which was quite pleasant. On my run the following morning, I narrowly missed getting hit by a bus. It was a little too close for comfort and I will be paying even more attention when crossing streets. It really is no joke that lights aren't not followed here. Motorbikes usually can get out of the way, but buses are a whole other story.

Very pretty underpass by the canal.

My birthday was the first of many upcoming holidays that I'm spending abroad. Spending that somewhere fun and exotic is a good way to spend my birthday. However, with Thanksgiving usually so close behind, I knew that would be slightly different. This is the 3rd Thanksgiving away. The first was when I studied abroad in London. My flatmates and I all came together to make our Thanksgiving dinner after we finished classes. And since it wasn't a holiday in the UK, we went out to the bars that night. A few years ago, my sisters and I were in Portugal and the family that hosted us made Thanksgiving dinner and it was a very suitable replacement. Warmer than most years, and my sisters were with me that time.

This year, no family, and pretty far from home where no one really knows what Thanksgiving is. It definitely wasn't a typical holiday for sure. Fortunately for me, every day is like a holiday for me. On this particular day, it was the only opportunity that I had to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels. Going to see where Vietnamese soldiers tried to kill American soldiers on Thanksgiving was a little weird. But it was interesting to see the other side of the war. I obviously wasn't alive during the Vietnam War and I can't say what side I would have supported. I am glad that my dad and uncles were all too young to be drafted though. Otherwise, my experience may have been slightly different. So I spent a couple of hours with my tour group seeing the various traps and tunnels the Viet Cong had used. The tunnels have been made bigger in order to fit tourists, but even so, they can be very claustrophobic. I went into 2 different tunnels, but only for a short distance and it was fine. But I can't imagine living down there and using the tunnels to get around. At the end of the tour, there was a video that we watched. We had sat down part of the way through it, but I didn't need to see the beginning. They called Americans 'devils' and all we did was kill their children. Not biased at all. I didn't need to see the first part. But we did. I honestly probably zoned out. Of all the time I was in Vietnam, that was the only instance of clear dislike of Americans. But it was from a video that was made decades ago from the looks of it. So I'll let it go. I had also heard the War Remnants Museum was very biased, but I didn't get a chance to visit it. 

The tunnels.

After getting our fill, we headed back to Ho Chi Minh City. Since it was Thanksgiving, I got my run and then hung out with a German girl I met in the hostel. We went to grab dinner (not turkey and stuffing) and some cocktails. Which were quite yummy. She also humored me while I went to get pumpkin pie. The one Thanksgiving item I had. I was a little skeptical, but it ended up being pretty delicious. 

Pumpkin pie in Vietnam.

We headed to a nearby bar, where all the Westerners hang out, and got a few beers. And people watched. That's one of the things that's great about Vietnam, all the people watching. So many times where Pam and I, or just I, sat on the sidewalk on tiny stools and took in all the motorbikes and people. Very entertaining. 

Bars galore.

I really enjoyed Vietnam. Hanoi was a great city. People were really nice. Loved all the motorbikes, even though there were a few near misses. I would go back and see more of the country, but glad I made the time to see what little I did. 

Next stop: Cambodia. 

Halong Bay

After spending a few days in Hanoi, it was time for Pam and I to head to Halong Bay. We both got our runs in, mine obviously for marathon training, and hers for her exercise streak, which was day 100! Way to go. We enjoyed our runs with fellow runners, walkers, and all the older women dancing. All at 6:30am. Love it. 

After packing, eating breakfast, and checking out, we boarded our bus to Halong Bay. I booked a tour through the hotel and was given several price points to choose from. Essentially the more money you paid, the nicer it would be. I decided on a mid-range point and hoped I made a good decision. If it was only me, I would put up with whatever it ended up being and learn from it. But since my friend was with me, I was a little nervous and hoped it was good. And I have to say, it ended up being great.

After about 4 hours on the bus, which included a rest stop at a massive tourist shop, we got on a small boat which took us to the big boat. We were happy to see that it looked clean and the food was yummy. We ate a very delicious lunch all while enjoying a Halong Bay beer as we made our way into Halong Bay. And it was beautiful. Although the haze and clouds definitely downplayed it a bit. We had 3 days in total, so we hoped it would get nicer. 

Hazy Halong Bay.

Once we had our fill on lunch, we made our first stop on the boat at Hang Sung Sot, a cave on one of the many islands. There were about 15 of us on the boat, which was a very manageable number as we did our various activities. Our guide, Peter, was pretty great and we had him for all 3 days and led us everywhere. Very enthusiastic and even though it took some time to understand him, pretty funny as well. We took the small boat to the caves and made our way through the various chambers, each getting bigger than the last. And each one more impressive than the last. 

One of the cave chambers.

After we had our fill of the cave and got some spectacular views of the area, we officially checked in on the boat. We were happy to find we had clean living arrangements, and I was excited to sleep on a boat. We made our way to where we were docking for the evening and went kayaking for a bit. Pam and I went into one of the coves, hoping to spot a monkey, with no luck. But we enjoyed being out on the water, even though I did want to go swimming. Apparently there were large jellyfish, so we weren't allowed. At least not there. 

Kayaking Luon Cave.

The food continued to be amazing and we chatted with our fellow passengers from Europe and Australia. A lot of boats advertise themselves as party boats, and in my old age, I wasn't interested in staying up all night and getting wasted. So I'm very happy that we found a good mix of people to hang out with and drink with, but also go to bed at a reasonable hour. So there wasn't any karaoke, but maybe another time. 

All about display.

The following morning, we got up early to eat breakfast, and make our way to Ti Top Island. This is where we did a small hike and went for a swim. It was a fairly quick stop, but instead of choosing between the 2, a lot of us chose to do both. Work up a sweat and then go for a swim (where there weren't any jellyfish apparently). 

View from Ti Top Island.

We got back on the boat and got ready to check out. There were 4 of us, including Pam and myself, that were headed to Cat Ba Island. We took the small boat to the island, got on a bus, and joined another group of people. We were glad to see that Peter was joining us. We made our way to Cat Ba National Park where we had a bit more strenuous hike ahead of us. Nothing that Pam and I couldn't handle, but for those who partied too much the night before, it would be a challenge. We climbed all the stairs and were rewarded with some amazing views. We couldn't even see the sea, which was amazing. The island was much bigger than I expected. I also rewarded myself with a post-hike beer. 

Made it to the top. 

The fun wasn't over yet. After lunch and checking into our hotel, Pam and I decided to check out the monkeys on Monkey Island. We read TripAdvisor reviews and had an idea of what to expect. Our expectations were met. The first thing we see when we arrive is a monkey stealing a banana from a small child (who, to the monkey's credit, was bigger than the monkey). And right after that, another monkey took off with a man's pringles. These monkeys weren't nice monkeys. I mean, I guess when humans are antagonizing them all day, they will get aggressive. I swam for a little bit, but I didn't want to leave our stuff unattended. The monkeys would probably run off with my purse. 

Keeping an eye on the monkey (that's not my stuff). 

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. We watched the sun go down and had another delicious meal. Oh and drank our Vietnamese wine that we bought at the tourist shop. It was ok. I figured I had to try it. 

The following day was probably the best day. Mostly since it was my birthday. I'm now a year older. And it was pretty cool to spend it in Vietnam doing a lot of my favorite things. And to have Pam there. We started off with a run around Cat Ba. Then made our way back to the boat where we had a spring roll lesson and had lunch. And of course had some birthday beverages. 

Concentrating. 

Unfortunately, I did have to spend a few hours on a bus for my birthday. But I decided to nap a bit. We made it back to Hanoi in no time and continued to enjoy our last day in Hanoi. The hostel we stayed at surprised me with a birthday cake, which was so sweet of them. There's absolutely no reason they had to do that, but it just goes to show the hospitality of the country. I first thought Pam put them up to it, but then we figured they had my passport and knew. Regardless, it was so nice, and I got cake on my birthday! 

Birthday cake. 

After devouring the cake (we shared with others), we made our way out to do a little bit of shopping, drinking cocktails, eating bahn mi, and getting ice cream (yes, more dessert). All in all, a pretty great birthday. It would have been nice to celebrate with family and friends, but so thrilled that Pam was able to celebrate with me. And it feels like my birthday every day. 

Hanoi

I made it to Vietnam. And I'm a fan. People compared Hanoi to Delhi, but I don't see the comparison. Yes, it's also a very busy city and yes, you need to always be on the lookout when walking and crossing streets as there are motorbikes everywhere. But it's way cleaner, men aren't pissing on the side of the streets and hocking loogies, and people that are trying to sell you things are not in your face constantly. So it's sort of a relief to be here.

I only have about a week here unfortunately. I met some people in India that had driven a motor bike from one end of the country to the other. Which sounded kind of amazing. I'd like to think I'm adventurous, but it sounded a bit daunting. But seeing so many people on their motorbikes in Hanoi would give me a little bit of confidence. Although trying to avoid an accident would get a bit stressful. Well I'm not driving from one end of the country to the other, but I will be enjoying my short stay here as much as possible.

Parking lot for the motorbikes.

I thought about doing a day trip from Hanoi and there were some good options, but I was just too tired from 2 days of overnight travel. And unlike Delhi, I can find a lot of places to camp myself at, people watch, and take it all in, all while enjoying a cold beverage. I'm staying at a nice place in the Old City. It's called a hostel, but definitely more along the lines of a hotel. Maybe the name was lost in translation. I did have to switch rooms after the first night since they technically upgraded me the first night, but it worked out since my friend Pam was joining me!

Flower petals to welcome me.

The first thing I did when I arrived, was go get food. And I was successful in getting a yummy bahn mi, a baguette style sandwich. I also had to try some local beer, which actually turned out to not be local. It was Tiger and from Singapore. Oh well, since I'm not planning on going there, I'll at least drink the beer. I did end up trying some actual Vietnamese beer later on.

Bahn Mi 25.

I also found a super cute cafe, called Post-It Note. There were post-it notes all over the place. It was pretty great. I enjoyed a refreshing lemon juice (lemonade?) and tried to cool off a bit. I also was taking advantage of having a place to sit down and chill for a while. There haven't been too many of those recently and I took advantage. 

Post-it notes everywhere.

Running in Hanoi is also enjoyable. There's Ho Hoan Kiem less than half mile from the hotel, and another, much larger lake in the opposite direction about the same distance. There weren't as many people out running, but since there are so many walkers, and other people doing some sort of exercise, it's nice to be out there. There are so many groups of older women stretching, doing exercises, and dancing. It's amazing. The smaller lake is about 1 mile around, but that wasn't going to be enough for my long run. So I made my way to the much larger West Lake, which was around 8 or 9 miles around. Which is kind of crazy when you think that it's in the middle of a city. And there's a path and road all around it. At one point it did break off into another smaller lake and I got turned around, but a transplant from Mississippi got me in the right direction. 

Ho Hoan Kiem.

On Saturday, Pam arrived! So exciting. I love traveling by myself and have met so many great people. But so thrilled to have a friend join me for a part of my trip. She came in from China from her work trip, so luckily it was a short flight and she wasn't jet-lagged (or at least didn't seem like it). We spent the afternoon catching up on a cute balcony overlooking a busy street with some beverages. So not only did a friend come visit, but she brought me items that I ordered from home. Most importantly my phone. Boy am I glad I have a small handheld device again. Of course I had to download all my apps, but I'm happy to have a working phone again.  

Catching up.

We spent some time wandering around Hanoi and eating. And people watching. Hanoi is a great spot to people watch. You pull up a tiny stool or chair wherever you may be getting food, whether it's pho or ice cream, and sit back and relax. 

People watching.

Next stop is Halong Bay.