Vietnam

Wrapping up SE Asia in Hanoi

written by Travis

If you haven’t been to Hanoi, put it on your list if you make it to Vietnam. The city is bustling, but far less chaotic than Ho Chi Minh City. It also has a great central area where you can find any kind of food or drink you’re after. We stayed in two separate hotels while here, but both with the same chain, Splendid. The hotels were AWESOME. They were smaller boutique hotels with nice and comfortable rooms, fast wi-fi and free breakfast where you can order anything and eat as much of anything as you want. If I wanted pancakes, a crepe, an omelet and a smoothie, I could get it all fresh made. It was pretty impressive especially considering it was $40 a night!

The highlight of our time in Hanoi was the food tour we did with our German friends, Michael and Marina. The tour took us to a bunch of local establishments and we tried a ton of really good food. The bonus is many of the places were hole in the wall types you probably wouldn’t think to go to yourselves. But many of the spots were so good that Katie and I went back to them in the days following to eat the dishes again. The tour was very different than the fear factor style ones. This just gave fan favorite Vietnamese dishes which meant people were pretty pleased by the end.

We originally planned to go to Halong Bay after a few days in Hanoi, but everyone we talked to who had been in recent weeks said it was a giant tourist trap. I remember lot of tourists when I went eight years ago, so I can only imagine it now with all of the Chinese tourists who have been flooding into SE Asia cities.

Cue us deciding to forgo it and instead staying a few more days in Hanoi and doing a day excursion to the “Halong Bay on land,” Hoa Lu and Tam Coc. You bus there and take a small, two person boat up a river which runs through massive limestone cliffs and rice fields. Also has some caves. The whole day was pretty good as the rides weren’t too long and once there we got to bike around for an hour or on the boat ride through the beautiful surroundings. Crazy thing about the boats is they are all rowed by women who use their legs/feet to row. It is wild to watch as they are straight up relaxing but somehow their legs and feet are rowing normal oars. Blew our minds.

Our biggest accomplishment while in Hanoi was getting our Chinese visas at the local embassy, which was a pain point for months. Getting a visa requires you to surrender your passport as part of the application and turn in tons of paperwork such as bank statements, booked reservations for all travel in the country, plane tickets, proof of travel insurance, etc. It usually takes 4+ business days to process. We first tried in London in Oct. since we were there for a week, but the embassy wouldn’t accept our application because our travel was too far off. Then we were about to rearrange our Laos plans to be in Luang Prabang during the week, but realized it was right after Chinese New Year so the entire week was deemed a holiday and the embassy would be closed. So Hanoi it was, otherwise we decided mainland China just wasn’t meant to be.

So after not having passport for a few days we went to the embassy during the appropriate two-hour block of time the were open to first ensure our visas were granted. They were (YEAH!), so our next order of business was to get an Uber and go to a specific Chinese bank where you have to pay for the visas and get a receipt in order to collect them. Katie waited in the car while I ran in but turns out they don’t accept the local currency of Vietnamese dong, all they will accept is USD (which makes no sense). We usually keep $150-$200 USD for emergencies but it wasn’t enough to cover the $320 in visas costs. An employee at the bank in limited English directed me to a nearby “jewelry store” to get USD (which also made no sense) but after walking in the direction he pointed, found nothing. So at this point we had to let the Uber driver go which was devastating as Katie’s phone didn’t have service in Vietnam and taxis were often scams and we were cutting our two our window extremely short. So we’re left in a random area of the city with no idea of where to get money exchanged and the clock was ticking. Luckily we just picked a direction and ended up finding the jewelry store or at least a jewelry store. They exchanged our money (for no fee which made again no sense) and we were off sprinting back to the bank with the clock ticking. After getting our receipt we then went outside and hailed a local motorcycle taxi and both hopped on the back and directed him by pointing and using the iPhone back to the embassy. We made it just in time before they closed to get the passports and the victory! Basically we felt like we won the show Amazing Race.

April 27, 2017 0 comment

Vietnam

Loving Laid Back Hôi An

written by Travis

While leaving our Airbnb in Ho Chi Minh City we ran into a German couple, Michael and Marina, in our building who also were headed to the airport and ironically, Hôi An. We all had the same idea of sharing a ride so they jumped in our Uber. We also shared the hour ride with them from the Na Trang airport to Hoi An after landing. Cue this creating a friendship between all of us and leading to meeting up not only in Hôi An, but for a food tour a week later in Hanoi. It really is crazy how quickly people bond while traveling and how easy it can be to meet great people.

We got a room at an awesome little place, Phu Thinh Boutique Resort, which had a pool, huge buffet breakfast and nice rooms. We figured while in a cheap country like Vietnam we could “splurge” aka spend what we usually do per night in other countries but get much nicer accommodations. While we could have stayed cheaper, a little upgrade was a nice break.

The great thing about Hôi An is everyone rolls around on bikes to get everywhere. Our hotel had a rack of them outside, so anytime we wanted to head into the main town we would grab one and ride the 4-5 minutes. The streets of the downtown area are full of strung lanterns and it just has an adorable feel to it. Streets are lined with cafes, restaurants and lots of tailors as Hôi An is a huge destination for custom clothing. All day you see people getting custom dresses, suits, bags, etc. made. We were probably the only people not buying something, but let’s be real, we don’t have room in our bags for more.

The city had great food options and we found ourselves frequenting the same places multiple times. Easily the best bánh mì sandwiches can be found for less than a dollar at Báhn mì Phurong. It’s even been endorsed by Anthony Bordain and I think I ate at least 6-7 while here. We also had a few meals/drinks at CocoBox where Katie could finally get some healthy smoothies she has been craving. Besides those two, I’d highly recommend eating at Nü Eatery and Morning Glory. Both have killer Vietnamese food and are well worth it.

The city itself isn’t huge on “attractions” to see and we were there in a bit of the off season (aka not crazy hot). So while we didn’t beach it up, we spent our days biking around the town and the nearby rice fields, strolling through the lantern-lined streets and frankly eating whenever we possibly could stuff more in.

April 26, 2017 0 comment

Vietnam

Back to Where it Began in Ho Chi Minh City

written by Travis

Ho Chi Minh City will always hold a special place in my heart. It’s the first international city I traveled to eight years ago and the one which ignited my passion for the travel and love for SE Asia. Coming back was a bit surreal and especially getting to see Vietnam again with Katie. Side note – the first picture below is a side by side image of me on a scooter right after I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City eight years ago and a picture from this trip.

We arrived via a six-hour bus from Siem Reap and were dropped off in the center of the city. Our Airbnb was only 1 km away, so we grabbed a taxi waiting there instead of calling an Uber. Rookie mistake as the cab scams are rampant here. We realized quickly we were in a shady cab when we arrived to the Airbnb after only a five-minute ride and the meter read the equivalent of $18 in local Vietnamese dong. Which obviously was a scam because Vietnam is ridiculously cheap. We might look like normal doe-eyed tourists, but let’s just say our mamas didn’t raise no fools. While many people would just pay because they feel they have to, we flat out said no and refused to get out of the car. After his protests and insistent pointing at the meter, I just gave him equivalent of $3 US. After realizing we weren’t falling for his shit and I was twice his size, he grudgingly said okay. This is where the second part of the dance comes in as you have to orchestrate a deliberate way of exiting the cab so he doesn’t drive off with our stuff in the trunk. Basically Katie had to get out and get both big backpacks out of the trunk while I stayed in the backseat. This means if he drives off I’m still in the car and would put an end to the getaway. It worked like a charm and scam averted. Cue us only using Ubers from here on out.

Our Airbnb was great and ironically managed by a younger couple from Spokane. Was pretty crazy to be able to talk with them about home and even Priest Lake (our favorite place in the states). They were really fun to hang out with and we ended up going out to grab drinks and food with them one of the nights.

Going out with them also teed up one of the craziest things we have done on the trip…drive a motor scooter in Ho Chi Minh City. For those of you who have been there, you get why that is nuts. For those of you who haven’t, the reason it is crazy is there are more than eight million motorcycles/scooters in the city alone and basically no road rules. Everything is up for game regardless of laws. When red lights hit people drive on sidewalks, everyone literally goes straight through roundabouts instead of around them and you only stop on red if your pack of motorcycles are smaller than the other coming. Combine this with the fact I have only driven a scooter a couple of days ever and never in any major city AND never driven one with a person on the back. Let’s just say it wasn’t the smartest idea. Admittedly the only reason we did is the peer pressure as the couple we were with had two scooters and that’s how they were getting to dinner, so we figured it was our only way too. For the record, we made it safely across the city and back without any issues. Though Katie and I might have lost a year off our lives out of pure fear the whole time we were driving. But hey, this trip is about pushing those boundaries!

We also lucked out while in Ho Chi Minh City as our friend Naomi was traveling through Vietnam and happened to be here the same time. So we got some much needed friend time. We went out the first night with her and her friend Lacey for Indian food and drinks. Then the next night we did a well-rated food tour. This had to be one of the best food tours we’ve done on the trip! It filled us to the brim with good eats and the foods ranged from vegetarian friendly (Katie’s happy place) to ice cream to fear factor style eating (my happy place). By far the most “interesting” thing I ate while on it was Balut. It is basically a fertilized duck egg which is cooked so you crack open the shell and it’s half egg and half baby duck. So you get some egg, some feathers, some bones, etc. Tasty.

After a few days in the city, we said goodbye to Naomi and Lacey and flew up the coast to Hoi An to get out of the big city scene and enjoy a more laid back vibe.