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Dad, Khanh + Mum
Hang Dieu Street, Hanoi I was counting down the days till it was time for Mum and Dad to arrive, I was so overly excited that I couldn’t sleep the night before. I had all these grand plans to spend all day sitting in a park with Mum reading, going on Xe Om rides with Dad, getting Mum to teach me to use my Sewing Machine Luke gave me for my birthday, the list went on.
I arrived at the airport nice and early and became more nervous and anxious by the second. All of a sudden I felt so vulnerable to have them coming and seeing my new life in Vietnam. Wondering if they would like it, what they would think of the crazy traffic, the streets, my hotel, the pollution, my school, etc. I bought them a bunch of flowers and started to get all emotional as I waited and watched other families meet at the gate. The tears started to flow when I saw them, still waiting to get their bags, the three of us waved like crazy, it had been almost 6mths since I’d last seen them.
They stayed for two weeks, and it was great fun. They loved
our hotel, and our staff - and likewise our staff loved them. We went to nice restaurants and ate delicious Western food with them - a novelty for mine and Luke’s all Vietnamese rice diet. I spent some time over different days showing them the streets of Hanoi, they went off on a Moto Tour with a Vietnamese Tour Guide who was previously our receptionist, Mum came to school with me and gave some of my students Koala toys - they loved it so much. We all went to see The Water Puppet Show together, where Dad fell asleep, and we out for a really lovely dinner thanks to Grandma. The two weeks flew by though, and with being full on at the hotel, teaching every day, and getting over our Laos / Bangkok trip, time went a little too quick and so my sewing machine still sits untouched with a broken needle.
Two nights before Mum and Dad were leaving, Kathy, Steve and Charlie and Antoinette arrived. Luke and I were so excited at more visitors and having his parents with us too, we couldn’t wait to get on Paloma Junk in Ha Long Bay and leave the
Staff + Family
Chien, Phuong, Charlie, Antoinette, Van, Kathy, Ha, and Anh hotel for a few days. We all left for Paloma on the Sunday, Mum and Dad for one night, and the rest of us two nights - Mum and Dad flew out while we were on our last day.
The boat was so beautiful, Luke and I have been on one other boat together and it doesn’t come close in comparison to Paloma. There’s a red carpet on the dock that connects to the small charter boat when you first arrive. Just beautiful.
Unfortunately, Luke fell sick as soon as we got on the boat, as he left the hotel and relaxed, his body really wanted to rest, and he spent most of the three days asleep in bed. I stayed and slept too, but definitely didn’t suffer from the fever and high temperatures that Luke did.
We had a really good first night though, after a full afternoon in row boats on Ha Long Bay taking in all the scenery and visiting a fishing village, we had dinner together and enjoyed a few drinks. Kath, Mum and I stayed up just that bit later with more drinks and finished with a night cap.
While Steve,
Kathy, Charlie and Antoinette went off kayaking for the day, Mum and Dad went to Surprise Cave and I nursed the patient. Mum and Dad left just after lunch, such a sad goodbye - 6mths till the next catch up.
The day out Kayaking was really beautiful for Steve, Kath, Charlie and Antoinette, they loved it. They stopped at a secluded beach for a big BBQ seafood lunch, where the staff set up the tables and chairs just the same as on Paloma itself. Luke and I enjoyed the food on the boat looking out of our windows.
We spent the next few days together catching up in Hanoi, then Steve, Charlie and Antoinette took a short three night trip to Sapa. This was a little more adventurous than normal with no running water the whole time as some village people had broken the water pipe before it reached Sapa town so they could water their crops. Guests staying with us a full week later said it was still not running. Kath made the right choice and stayed with us in Hanoi where the water ran freely.
Their 10 days in Hanoi came and went by so
quickly, we were out the front of our Hotel taking photos of them and our staff when the taxi pulled up and all of a sudden we were waving goodbye.
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