Hong Kong & Vietnam

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Hong Kong & Vietnam- Erin

Our journey to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon,) Vietnam started with a series of long and taxing flights. After a smooth departure from Lima, Peru our first stop was back in the good ol’ US of A, for a 4 hour layover in San Francisco. We used that time to find the best burger “joint” in the international terminal, enjoy a typical American lunch, and watch some of the Olympics. It was sure nice to be back on our home soil for even such a short amount of time!! We then boarded our hefty jet (the largest airplane I have ever been on) and we were on our way to Asia. After forcing ourselves to sleep for a while, indulging in every (very tasty) inflight meal, and watching many episodes of Modern Family that we have missed this last year, we landed about 7 p.m. in Hong Kong.

We were able to keep our daypacks & guitar in luggage storage while we then boarded a train that would take us to the Soho district of Hong Kong. We first rode the longest escalator in the world (literally the longest) around a bit before exiting to find our first restaurant. Jeff had his heart set on authentic dim sum served in a Hong Kong teahouse, but sadly we were unable to order the tasty steamed dumplings in the evening. We then learned dim sum is most often served only for breakfast or lunch. So we chose a restaurant whose menu seemed very authentic, and ordered a large beer to share along with pork belly. Due to the décor of the restaurant; the entire ceiling was covered in sparkly crystal chandeliers and the walls were equally as gleaming, we felt a little underdressed after our two international flights. We felt very silly at this first restaurant because we were the only “falangs” or foreigners in the room, and we happened to be seated in front of two very elaborate hearts painted on the wall behind us. Needless to say, after many stares and some laughter, we finished the excellent pork belly, and decided to keep moving to sample another restaurant. We decided our next restaurant should be a little more authentic and on our level. Therefore, we ended up in an alley restaurant run by a local family, seated outside next other shirtless locals at plastic tables and chairs, underneath the neon lights and pictures of the local cuisines offered. Again we went with another dish of pork, and were not disappointed! It was also nice to relax in an atmosphere that most locals would identify with, a place not many tourists would choose to stop. After our second dinner was complete, we had just enough time to walk around the streets to see a little more of the city before getting back on the train to the airport by 12:45 a.m. We were very surprised with how lively Hong Kong was on a Wednesday night! We were also surprised by how unaffected we were by the culture shock we were expecting to receive upon arrival in Asia. Hong Kong is seemingly very westernized, almost everyone we tried to speak to spoke English, and it is a designer shopper’s paradise. Gucci, Prada, ect…everywhere!! We were very glad to experience it, and sad we did not have more than those few hours to explore. After picking up our bags in time from the airport storage, we curled up on a row of seats in the gate to try to catch some sleep before our 8 a.m. flight.

Thankfully the last leg of our long journey was only a two hour flight, and we arrived in Saigon with visas approved and all of our luggage in hand! We found a taxi service that knew where our guesthouse was, and we were sped into the culture shock of all culture shocks. First of all, Latin American driving/traffic was scary, but the traffic in Saigon was terrifying. I have never seen so many motorbikes and scooters in my born days. After a 15 minute ride to District 1 (a backpacker, tourist area,) our driver pulled over on a busy road and said we had arrived. Our guesthouse was nowhere in sight, so he clarified to us that it was located by the smoothie shop across the street. It took him a good 5 minutes of convincing us that we indeed in the correct location before we realized he was pointing at a very small alley adjacent to the smoothie shop. We reluctantly pulled our bags out of the trunk, and braced ourselves for our first street crossing. Our driver proved to be correct, and we ambled our way down the very crowded alley dodging food stands, more passing motorbikes, and other passersby. Our guesthouse, thankfully, had a flashing sign out front, and we were invited to take off our shoes and set our bags down while we registered for our room. The peanut of a girl who worked the reception “desk” is quite possibly the sweetest and kindest person I have met in my lifetime. She spoke to us in decent English about local activities, went over a map of downtown Saigon, and assured us that anything we needed or if we had any questions please do not hesitate to ask. What a change of pace from Latin America!! We were so used to being shown our room, handed a key, and then never speaking to anyone who worked at the hotel unless we needed to beg for more toilet paper or new towels. We then ventured back out into the busy alley to find somewhere to eat.

Our first days in Asia were spent recovering from our jet lag, trying new foods, smelling new smells, and venturing out to see the sights of downtown Saigon on foot. We managed to conquer our fear of crossing the street by adhering to a helpful online tip…crossing VERY slowly so the motorbikes can adjust their position according to where WE were in the street. If you cross to fast, you risk an ugly accident! After a breakfast of Pho Bo, a spicy noodle soup with beef and garnished with fresh herbs, chilies, limes, bean sprouts, which you season, and add to your individual liking, we set off to the American War Museum. Upon our arrival we were greeted by lots of people in big furry animal costumes, and of course we were very confused. When we walked inside we then realized the museum was hosting an event for children who were Agent Orange victims. It was quite gut wrenching to see the poor children with deformities due to the atrocities of war; second and third generation victims which are still common in many areas of Vietnam. Unfortunately, the rest of our visit at the War Museum was equally as difficult. We both fought tears as we saw pictures, read first-hand accounts, and gained an insight into what the war was really like for the countries on both sides. It was a very humbling experience.

Another highlight of our stay in Saigon was a dinner with some friends that have been living in Saigon for the past 2-4 years. We enjoyed an amazing dinner, drinks, and great conversation about what it has been like to live and work in Asia. Two of the girls are also teaching English, and had some great tips for Jeff and I. Of course, they will continue to be a great resource once we begin our first contract. We had such a great evening!! The next day we visited the Cu Chi Tunnels located about an hour outside of the city. Our very animated Vietnamese tour guide, who called himself “John Wayne,” showed us first the many different homemade weapons by the local people of this region to fight Americans, as well as examples of the traps they would set in the ground and in their homes. The highlight of the tour was a visit inside the tunnels themselves. Only three of the tunnels are open to tourists, but they continue for many kilometers underground… quite an amazing thing for those people to have built for protection. Overall a great tour, minus some of the pushy European tourists that also accompanied us, ha!

Our next stop in Vietnam was a series of bus rides up the coast to the small town of Hoi An. First we had a daytime “layover” between night busses in Nha Trang. Decidedly the best layover we have ever had! We enjoyed another great breakfast of seafood Pho soup, and then hit the beach. We rented two padded chairs under an umbrella for the day, and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. That evening we had one of Jeff’s favorite meals he had while in the country, stuffed squid! The next day we arrived in Hoi An a little sunburnt, but ready to see the highly recommended historic quarter. We also were very excited to check into the nicest hotel we have had yet on the entire trip, and cheaper yet than some of the cheapest rooms we had in Latin America! Marble and tile floors, balcony that overlooked the pool and outdoor bar, TV, minibar, and of course air conditioning (it is VERY hot!) We started our days with the included breakfast buffet, and enjoyed touring the beach on our bicycles, and walking the historic quarter to see many temples and ornate bridges. We also continued to enjoy the cheap and fantastic cuisines of Vietnam, stir fried vegetables, noodles soups, and many rice dishes.

After saying goodbye to Hoi An, we only had a short 3 hour bus ride to our next destination north, Hue. I don’t saying we have been disappointed with some locations of our travels, but that would be the word that describes our feeling upon arrival. The city was larger than Hoi An, dirtier, and I think we were hoping for the same charm we had found in Hoi An. Regardless, we hit the ground running, and after our first lunch we walked over to the Imperial City. The city of Hue may have been a little disappointing, but the Imperial City was amazing. Construction started in 1804 under the Nguyễn dynasty, and the size, architecture, and of course the elephants available for rides astounded us. It took us all afternoon to walk the grounds, and when it was over we decided to see one more sight of the city before the day’s end, the Perfume River. After haggling with some very insistent owners of the elaborately decorated boats, we enjoyed a 1 hour slow cruise on the river before returning to our hotel.

Our next day in Hue was spent on a motorbike seeing the sites that were outside of the city limits. This being our first motorbike experience, Jeff decided to do a “test run” and get gas first before driving with me on the back. He turned out to be a champion motorbike driver, and we enjoyed the 15 km ride out of town to see the Khai Dinh Royal Tomb. Again, we were not disappointed with this site either. The tomb site was very elaborate, to say the least, and we enjoyed learning more about the Nguyễn dynasty. After an hour or so of exploration, we were both VERY hot and decided the beach was calling our names. We started our way back on our bike, and arrived to the beach about 30 minutes later. This beach was the strangest we have been to yet. It was not the most pleasing to the eye, and large shack structures lined the coast which were adjacent to run down looking restaurants. Apparently during high tourist season these shack structures are available to rent with tables and chairs underneath, but they seemed overpriced to us so we decided to pass. We did however listen to our stomachs and thought we would go for a seafood lunch before we left. We walked into the empty, open aired restaurant and asked about a menu, only to be led to a series of fish tanks in the back. The woman did not speak any English at all so we then negotiated price of our lunch by pointing and gesturing towards the fresh seafood in the tanks. After turning down crabs, squid, and many species of very large fish, we decided on prawns. They were grilled on skewers and serviced with lime, salt, and pepper, and tasted wonderful! It was a different dining experience for us in the vacant, strange restaurant, and we decided we definitely got overcharged due to the fact we are foreigners, but overall it was a great afternoon! That night we went to a wonderful Indian restaurant to appease Jeff’s very strong craving for naan. A craving that is growing stronger and more frequent the more time we spend in Asia. There are great Indian restaurants everywhere!

The next day we then took another overnight bus to Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam, just to stay one night en route to Halong Bay. Hanoi is not the type of place we enjoy to spend too much time in, and usually try to avoid if we can. It was a VERY loud, dirty, and bustling city. Although we did have a very nice hotel room with lots of English movie channels, so after braving the streets of Hanoi for breakfast, we ordered lunch and dinner from a great Vietnamese delivery service we found online. The next morning we woke very early to catch a mini bus to Halong Bay. We then would join a tour boat, where most passengers stay aboard for two to three days, but we decided to just “hitch a ride” to Cat Ba island, and stay there for a day or two. That turned out to be a great decision!! The tour boat was great because we were able to see the floating village of the Bay, and meet some other passengers while aboard. Cat Ba Island was beautiful and surrounded by the mysterious sights of Halong Bay. We were very excited to be able to stay there and not on the tour boat. We enjoyed more fresh seafood from the fish tanks of the local restaurants, and once again decided to rent another motorbike. We spent the day on our ride visiting the two beaches, Cat Ba National Park, and cruising the road which encompasses the little island. No worries about getting lost… it is just a complete circle! It was one of our favorite afternoons yet. We had a great time, even when it started to pour down rain. We found a little roadside house/café where they let us park our bikes and share some Vietnamese tea. Two local police officers and a group of 3 other locals also stopped to get out of the rain, and were interested in hearing about our travels and where we had been in Vietnam so far. It was one of those travel experiences we could not have paid any amount of money for, they just happen! Once the rain let up, we said our goodbyes and sped back into town to return our moto on time. It was the only time we have been cold in Asia…we took hot showers and bought a bottle of red wine to share to warm up!

Our travel back to Hanoi involved a bus, speedboat, mini bus, and then yet another bus to complete the 4 hour journey back to the capital. Again, we did not want brave the crazy streets so we ordered the same delivery service to our same room we had 3 days prior. We then mentally began to prepare ourselves for the grueling 30 hour bus in our near future which would bring us to Luang Prabang, Laos. It would prove to be a doozy!! We decided we will definitely be making a return trip to Vietnam while we will be teaching in Thailand. Knowing we will have the option to return always make goodbyes a little easier J

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