8-10 May 2018, Dong Hoi, Vietnam

8-10 May 2018
Dong Hoi, Vietnam

By Katie

We took a van from Sapa back to the airport in Hanoi. We arrived in plenty of time for our flight to Dong Hoi, because we had not realized the airport is closer to Sapa than the city of Hanoi, plus our van driver did not need two smoking breaks like our driver to Sapa needed. We had time to eat a lunch of Pho at an airport restaurant, and then took a 45 minute flight on VietJet to Dong Hoi. The reason for going to Dong Hoi was cool caves that Brian had discovered.



Phong Nha cave. To enter this cave, we took a boat about 30 minutes up a river. Once inside the cave, the boat drivers rowed us further in. We got to land, got out and walked around to look more closely at the stalagtites and stalagmites. During the rainy season, October to March, the water level is too high to enter the cave.



Next we went to the Dark Cave, about twenty minutes from Phong Nha. Hayden and Brian zip lined across the river, and the girls and I “kayaked,” because the girls were not big enough to zip line. The kayak was actually a inflatable boat, and one of the British guys who was in our boat with us had never paddled a boat, which made for a circuitous ride.



Swimming to the dark cave after the Zipline.



We walked into the Dark Cave, with the supplied helmet and headlamps, right into a MUD BATH! This was a lake with super muddy water.



The kids LOVED the mud! I, Katie, am not so sure because my bathing suit still has tiny dirt particles in it, several days later ; ) And the bottom of the mud lake was slippery and it was hard to walk, which is probably while everyone else was swimming and floating. We were extra-buoyant because of the mud.



Happy muddy boys!



Home schooling! On the porch of our AirBnB. The view was nice and the second day, after the cave visit, was breezy so we enjoyed sitting out here. The first night was stifling hot. We had the whole second floor, with three bedrooms, but it was open to a restaurant below. And the bathroom was down the hall, so not much privacy. The AC didn’t work well in one of the rooms and the trucks on the busy street were honking at 6 AM, plus a rooster calling out back and construction hammering at 6 AM. We were happy to move on to the next place! We took a 3.5 hour van ride to Hue.
P.S. The kids did like the pizza at this place!!

5-8 May 2018 Sapa, Vietnam

5-8 May 2018
Sapa, Vietnam

By Katie

We had the BEST couple of days in Sapa. We took a luxury limo van (orange leather captains chairs, ceiling lighting, wifi and charging stations) for the 5 hour drive to Sapa. All was awesome until Eliza got car sick as we drove the final miles on the very curvy road. Luckily, I had several empty plastic bags, and luckily for me, Brian was in the back seat near her and had quick reflexes to shout for a bag and catch!
It took a few hours to recover from the car ride, in our lovely hotel, The Sapa Mountain Hotel, right near the center town square. We ate a late lunch of pizza. We seem to be eating a lot of pizza on this trip! We had fun at the park, where they had exercise machines and a pit amphitheater where the kids danced on stage and made up a fencing game with their water bottles.
Then we walked about 2 miles to the market, along a nice park and lake. We saw many many things at the market, including all sorts of meat products. We bought bananas and some mangos, and ate them back in the hotel room.

 

Eliza trying out the elliptical machine at the park. She felt much better after her van ride experience, while Hayden and I needed rest at the hotel to recover!



A scenic spot to get our pics taken.



The Sapa market. Anything look appetizing?



Our mango dinner! We couldn’t be happier!



Ready to set out on our difficult-medium trek with our Sapa Sisters guide, Shu. All the Sapa Sisters are Hmong. We learned that Shu is 20-years old and has 4 sisters and 3 brothers. She lives in the village of Lao Chai with her parents and siblings, except two sisters who are married and live with their husbands’ families.

We walked through and ate lunch in her village, about 7 miles into our hike, on the way to our Homestay in the village of Tan Van.



Starting out the trek, first walking DOWN into this valley. There was a huge rainstorm the night before we left, so the trail was super muddy. We were wearing sandals so we wouldn’t get our sneakers muddy. Although, at first, it seemed too slippery for sandals, we were glad we wore them because we needed to wash off in every stream we walked through!



Taking a break and enjoying the baby. Two other Hmong women from Lao Chai village walked with us. One was the mother of this 6-month old baby girl, My. This picture was taken before I asked if I could hold her.



Next thing you know, Shu asked if Lydia wanted to carry her! Of course, the answer was YES! And then it was a fight about who was going to be next and for how long each kid got to carry her.





Hayden’s turn!




Eliza’s turn! Although Eliza kind of got jipped. She carried the baby around the lunch place but didn’t get to actually hike with her.

After Hayden’s turn, the baby needed to eat so her mom held her, fed her, and walked along the super slippery, very narrow trail at the edge of rice fields, all at the same time.

When we arrived at the lunch spot, the women said they were going to walk ahead to home. Eliza was mad, but she pulled herself together and enjoyed the few minutes she had with little My.

It turns out that the women who were walking with us, and holding

our hands during the extra slippery parts, wanted us to buy purses, wallets, and bracelets from

them. We didn’t particularly want anything, but it seemed worth $10 or whatever we spent for three little wallet things and bracelets, to be able to enjoy carrying the baby.






We walked down into this valley and back up again to the Homestay.



Our homestay! We were very happy to have arrived. It was actually a building for just Sapa Sisters tours and not actually someone’s home, although they lived nearby. We were happy to put our feet up and enjoy the view.



Playing cards before dinner. This is the room where we slept and ate. The kitchen, bathrooms and showers were across a covered patio. Our family took the beds in the background of this pic. Hayden had his own bed. Brian and Eliza shared, and Lydia and I shared. Our guide and another guide had the other two beds on the first floor. There were about 12 other beds upstairs. The kids were excited about using the mosquito nets, although we only saw one or two mosquitos!

The little boy of the family was playing with cicadas and a few other bugs during dinner.

The homestay was only a few months old. Very clean and nice. Less roughing it than we all expected. We all took a melatonin tablet because we weren’t sure how we’d sleep in a big open room, with a bunch of twenty-somethings staying up later than we did. Turns out we would have been fine since almost everyone went to bed at the same time and we were exhausted from our long hike!

The food was good too -- we enjoyed the french fries served before dinner and the banana crepes with honey for breakfast!



After dinner, our family played chopsticks (spoons) and eventually the whole group was playing! There were 6 other Americans, and one woman from Finland (who chose to read her book instead). One couple was from Boston and the other from San Francisco. We had some “home school” math lessons while playing, with the kids figuring out how old the group of four was if they met in middle school and have known each other as many years as the age they were when they met.

The game quickly turned to a drinking game in which the losers (we had two too few chopsticks) drank a shot of “happy water,” rice wine provided by the Sapa sisters. If the kids lost, they got to choose which adult would drink. Lydia won by being the first to get four of a kind most often, and I gave my shots to Brian- in my opinion, rice wine tastes like alcoholic dirty dish water.

Eliza was hilarious, making all the adults laugh, especially with her use of the word discombobulated.



Ready to head back out to trek another 4-5 miles back to Sapa town.



Petting the baby water buffalos. They start plowing the fields when they are strong enough, at 4-5 years old.



Brian had a spill in the mud. Unfortunately, he slipped and took Lydia out, and she fell into this lap. All fine but it really scared her.



Fun break from trekking, walking in the waterfall river. Fun UNTIL Lydia slipped and fell in TWICE!



Enjoying the scenery (with my “4-month pregnant-looking tummy,” which is actually our 5 passports in the money belt around my waist. Thankful for our three awesome kids that are grown enough to go on this family adventure!)

Another waterfall!



We were so hungry (I’m looking a little hangry), after the total of 14 miles of hiking through the mud, in sandals/Crocs for Hayden which don’t really have any grip, and then waiting an hour for our lunch. We arrived just after every other trekking group. Very happy to have an entire plate of fried noodle with pork or chicken for each of us. 

Eliza had a cold so we portioned off a section of her food with a chopstick, for her to start with, so that if Brian wanted to finish what she didn’t eat, it wouldn’t have her cold germs on it.

By now, we are pretty adept using chopsticks and prefer them to forks.

2-4 May 2018, Halong Bay, Vietnam

2-4 May 2018
Halong Bay, Vietnam

By Lydia:
This was our boat in Halong Bay.






We hiked to the top of a hill: Ti Top Island.



This is me and Eliza and my dad in a kayak. There was only 2 people allowed in one kayak but we could not have two kayaks and fit only 2 people in 2 kayaks, so the guide said we could fit Eliza and me in the front and my dad in the back.
Then they didn’t want us to have 3 people, but our guide said we could.
We got in the kayaks and my brother and mom were ahead of us.
We went through the cave/tunnel and came out on the other side. Motorboats were not allowed through the cave because it was so small.
When we got in the cove, my brother and my mom saw a jellyfish that looked like a wegmans bag in the water. My brother showed me a picture of the jellyfish.






We saw monkeys in the trees and on cliffs. There was a baby and mom playing and the baby almost fell off into the water. There was also a vine coming down from the tree that a baby monkey was climbing down. He almost fell into the water. My sister saw a splash when we thought the monkey fell.

Then we went back to the boat. We thought we were late, but we were not.





We visited a floating village where they live and fish. THis is a fishing boat and there are lights for catching squid. Hayden and Dad fished for squid off the back of our boat at night and the caught 6 squid. Then they cooked them and ate them. They said it was yummy!





We visited an oyster/pearl farm while in halong bay. They are showing us how to “implant” “starter” pearls in the oyster’s ovaries. Who knew there were male and female oysters??? The oysters were females, so they made pearls in their ovaries. The starter pearls look like orbies, but are plastics. They help the oyster make the pearls. It takes more than 5 years to make a pearl.

After that station, we went to another station where we opened an oyster that was ready to look for a pearl. She made a bet with us. If there was no pearl then she could take us home with her. If there was a pearl, then she would not. She was just kidding around. She kept saying that there was no pearl, but then she found one that was about the size of her ear ring.





My mom and dad before dinner.



This was me wearing a double hat on the way to the oyster/pearl farm. We were on a smaller boat.



This was a top of a hike we did.


Then we went to see a cave on the last day.



We left and went back to hanoi for a night. Then on to Sapa!

May 1-2, 2018, Hanoi

May 1-2, 2018
Hanoi

First day on our own and it has been very relaxing, although we are not used to the heat. We ventured out to the Prison Museum which was used by the French during the French War.  The stories of the imprisonment during this time were brutal. This was also used during the American War and was ultimately called Hanoi Hilton since the prisoners were treated so well (not sure how accurate that is).
This is where Senator John McCain was held during his POW time.
Hayden was excited to see his name on the sign.





This was a four day weekend, given the holiday and many of the roads were closed for pedestrians. Kids were riding the motorized vehicles through the street.



We walked for a good part of the day and the kids were wiped out. I guess they hold it together better when we have someone else in the mix, but we were hungry, hot, and tired, so we headed back to get a bite to eat, hit the hotel and relax in some AC and do some home schooling.




Kids are spent!



Dinner with our host Luan. We had some yummy eats and good company!



Heading to Halong Bay tomorrow!

29-30 April 2018 Yangshuo - Nanning, China to Hanoi, Vietnam

29-30 April 2018

Yangshuo - Nanning, China to Hanoi, Vietnam

We checked out of the Yangshuo Mountain Retreat where we had a chance to relax for the first time in our two weeks in China. Such a beautiful spot and a little hard to leave, especially because leaving meant venturing out on our own, sans tour guide, for the first time since the begining of our trip. Because of the fact that our first flight out of Guilin was cancelled (reason given was that all flights from Guilin to Guangzho cancelled with start of bullet train service), and then after hours of research, and turning down the Access Asia tour company’s solution of a train to Guangzhou and a $500 transfer from the railway station to the airport, I found a flight from Nanning, China to Hanoi on April 29. A few weeks later, that flight, too, cancelled. For a few days, I wasn’t so sure we were meant to get out of China at all. The final solution was finally that we would take a train from Guilin to Nanning and fly from Nanning to Hanoi on 30 April. The tour company owner said he didn’t even realize that there were trains from Guilin to Nanning, another bit of concerning information, but after several reminders Access Asia purchased our tickets (I couldn’t do this because they are not available for online purchase and needed to be purchased and sent to an address in China, plus 29 April was the start of a weeklong holiday in China so seats were not easy to come by). All this was set, followed by an email that announced another change in our flight reservation, which Molly saw for me on my gmail, since we couldn’t actually check gmail from China since Google in not allowed. Our tour guide Kenneth called China Eastern Airlines twice to confirm that all was okay and we really did have a flight for 30 April. But still, we were not entirely confident that we would get to Hanoi and the idea of free range traveling was a bit daunting. We had been the only Caucasians during most of our trip in China and very little English was spoken, except for our tour guides. Some of the signs were in Chinese and English, but very little spoken English. As we got onto our first flight in China Hayden said, “I waited for the English to follow, but it never came.”



The main buidling of the Yangshuo Mountain Retreat.

A visit to the Ludi Cave in Guilin before heading the train station. Our first lesson in stalagtites (coming down from the top of the cave), and stalagmites (coming up from the bottom, formed by the tiny drips of limestone falling with the drips of water, a millimeter or so per years, over billions of years).






A 5otm pic!



A view of Guilin from the men’s WC



Saying goodbye to Kenneth at the Guilin train station. The security police would not allow him to accompany us into the station. He had to leave us off at the passport check point. I think he was more nervous, at this point, than we were!

All the Chinese kids, and adults, did the V sign (like Lydia is doing here). We thought it was for peace, but it turns out it is V for Victory.



We found our waiting spot. On the platform, we need to wait at our specific train carriage number marked on the platform. It’s actually quite organized. And the trains leave and arrive EXACTLY on time. We also learned that to get onto the platform, you need to wait in a specific line depending on the color of your ticket. A nice girl in Xi’an showed us that we were in the wrong line. She was shy about speaking English with us, but she got her point across and we were thankful she did.

We arrived in Nanning!! This is the underground train station, with a McDonalds, and a shop called “As Cream,” which we think was selling ice cream!! We stayed at a pretty sketchy AirBnB in Nanning which took about an hour to find because there were 4 towers to the apartment building, not well marked. We dropped our stuff, went out to find the Airport bus shuttle, which was somewhere near, we just didn’t know where. After a lot of exploring in the underground railway station, we found a sign (in English) directing us to the shuttle. When we came up from underground, we realized we were literally across the street from the apartment building lobby. We bought ice cream for a convenience store (drumsticks and Katie’s favorite vanilla covered with chocolate with a chocolate bar and some white thing in the middle- YUM!). That was dinner and then we headed to bed on wooden beds with a thin foam cover. No mattresses. No one showered because it was kind of gross and there were no towels. Hoping things would improve from there in terms of our AirBnBs. We knew it wasn’t any place particularly nice but it was convenient to the railway station and airport shuttle. Seemed better than a $500 transfer in Guangzhou. Cheap AirBnB and $3 shuttle to airport.

We got up early just in case the Airport shuttle took longer than our AirBnB host told us. We got to the airport with no problem and were super early! We had to wait an hour before we could even check in. Our flight was easy and we made it to Hanoi!! Phew!

Lydia going through Vietnamese customs, barely able to see over the desk! And luckily I didn’t get arrested for taking the pic, since it was forbidden (which I temporarily forgot)!

Our Old Quarter Homestay host, in Hanoi, had arranged a car to pick us up. On the drive into the Old Quarter, we saw more Caucasians in the first 20 minutes than we had in two weeks in China!

Waiting for our check in at the homestay.


We spent our first night in Hanoi on a Street Food tour. Super fun, if not hot, and super crowded. Our guide was a 20 year old university student, Mimi, who was chatty and loved Eliza and Lydia. She told Eliza she wanted to bring her home to her mother and always had wanted a sister.



This place was on the third floor of a restaurant/home. Mimi told us that the building was worth a million USD because in the Old Quarter, the real estate has becoming so so expensive, especially with the explosion of tourism. The family serves food on the third floor, and then at night, moves the tables and chairs and sets up mattresses. There was a partition next to us, even while we ate, and an elderly was on the other side resting!



Getting tired, as we visit six different restaurants for six Vietnamese specialities.


Vietnamese egg coffee (egg yolk and sugar whisked together - tastes like meringue even though it is egg yolk). The story goes that this was found as an alternative to milk. The kids had egg hot chocolate. I am glad it was part of the tour because I never would have tried it otherwise. Super yummy.



Busy night in Hanoi. This was the middle of a four day weekend celebrating the Vietnam Independence (April 30) and Labor Day (May 1). The streets around the lake in the Old Quarter were closed to cars and scooters. So many people!

The kids in front of the Pagoda on Hoan Kiem Lake. Most pagodas are to worship Heaven but Mimi told us this pagoda is worshiped by the youth of Hanoi for “high test scores” (!!)