onslaught of rock pics

The first thing that made me want to come to Vietnam was Halong Bay. I'd seen photos and knew I needed to see it in person. Even with a migraine, it did not disappoint. I'd prepared myself for the masses of people and boats there, but honestly that in itself was kind of cool. It was less cool when I was off the boat, looking around the beach and cave that every boat stops at. But when I was on my boat, with just 20 other passengers, it was cool seeing all of the boats. It was amazing to me that they didn't crash into each other because they came extremely close, much like the streets here.

My room on the V'Spirit Classic 

Each day around 12:30 the boats load up with a new group of passengers and head out

 The cruise was basically 2 days of this. They had some very canned cruise like activities (such as a "cooking class" that was just watching their "chef" make a bird out of pieces of radish, then rolling some precut ingredients into a spring roll), but mostly all I wanted to do was sit on the top deck of the boat and look at rocks. 

 Once we anchored for the night, these women appeared from no where, in tiny not sea worthy boats full of stuff, they'd come up to the big boats and beg the passengers to "buy something please." I saw one woman who had her very small child sitting under her feet. I almost bought something from her because it broke my heart

 Boats boats and more boats

It seemed like a dream

Hmm...this photo is almost identical to the one above it, but I'm going to leave it anyway 

 The dining room on the boat. I was at a table with a South African couple and two German guys. The meals were mostly seafood, which isn't my favorite, and still isn't. But I ate a lot of it on this trip. 

More rocks

 One of the places we stopped at was a cave. It was cool, except I always get a bit freaked out in a cave. I believe this comes from an episode of the Andy Griffith Show that I watched as a child, where Andy and Helen are in a cave when it collapses, trapping them inside. 

a gem

I'm in Hoian. This was the stop on my trip I wasn't sure about. I knew I wanted to see Halong Bay and I knew I wanted to see some of the Vietnam War stuff around Saigon. I read about a couple of different cities to visit, and decided on Hoian. And that decision gets two thumbs up because Hoian is an absolute treasure. It's full of tourists, but even with the hoards of people, its history and charm are not lost.

Hoian is on the coast, and while the beach is two miles up the road, the entire city has a beach feel and an ocean smell. 

 There is a lot of Chinese and Japanese influence in the buildings. I don't know much about Japanese architecture, as my time in Japan is limited to an overnight layover at a hotel near the Tokyo airport. But the Chinese influence was very obvious. Hoian is cool because unlike a lot of other cities in Vietnam, it was more or less untouched (thanks to cooperation from both sides) during the Vietnam War, or the American War as they call it here. So the center of the city is full of historic buildings

I need to read up on the significance of them and how it started, but Hoian is filled with lanterns

Kind of a repeat of the earlier photo, but c'mon now. This city is beautiful

One of Hoian's main attraction are the old homes. You pay about $6 for an admission ticket that gets you into the old part of the city. Then with that ticket you are given access to 5 of Hoian's old buildings, which include several private homes that are still lived in by the original families. It was a tad strange to think that these people are still living there and there are hundreds of tourists marching through their houses every day, but I never turn down the opportunity to look in someone else's house, so I liked it so much I bought two tickets so that I could go into ten old buildings

The two greatest words in the human language are "food tour" and this one did not disappoint. We started with this bahn mi

 At night there are giant illuminated statues (lanterns? no clue). I don't know the significance but they are pretty 

Tomorrow morning I am headed up to Hanoi, and Thursday I am going to Halong Bay. I read that as of Sunday, they no longer allow kayaking around the Bay, which is the biggest bummer of my year. But I am still excited. 

Good Morning Vietnam!

I couldn't make it through this whole trip without saying that at least once. I'm surprised I made it this long.

But Vietnam is amazing so far!

Ignoring the "I hope there's not any scorpions or snakes in here" face I'm making, this was climbing in one of the entrances of the Cu Chi Tunnels. The guide said Cu Chi was 95% communist, despite being Southern Vietnam, and the whole thing was very anti American. 

Another entrance. These holes were covered with lids and leaves, and all but impossible to find 

Our guide said killing Americans brought a lot of pride to the people in Cu Chi. They are very proud of destroying this American tank

Inside the tunnel. It was hot, and unbelievably cramped. I had to hunch over to walk through. Some of the taller guys in my group had to walk through on their knees. I can't imagine there being thousands of people hiding down here. No thank you. Three of the seven people in our group didn't make it through this part of the tour. They freaked and had to go back. It was creepy and freak out inducing.  

I tried my hand at making rice paper. I sucked at it. 

I visited a rubber tree plantation

 A family's vegetable garden

 I always said insects were the one food I wouldn't try. But I finally did yesterday. I visited a cricket farm, and they gave us fried crickets after the tour. We turned them into spring rolls. They didn't taste like much because the other ingredients in the spring rolls were so flavorful, but they definitely had a texture. I could feel the ridges of their abdomens on my tongue, and the little hairs on its legs, and I was done. Check that off the list and never again. 

 I'd read that the streets here were insane, and that was no lie. I've never seen anything that comes close to this level of crazy, except maybe the streets in India. This photo doesn't do it justice, but there are motorbikes everywhere. EVERYWHERE. I don't know how I haven't seen an accident yet because much like India, there doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to the traffic movement. If your motorbike fits, it's legal. I did ride one to and from dinner yesterday. Motorbikes are an option for Uber here, and I felt like I hadn't experience Saigon unless I'd ridden on a motorbike. It was terrifying. But what would have easily have been a $15 cab ride at home was 50 cents on the back of some guy's motorbike. 

The Saigon River in the morning

I took a 1.5 hour boat ride to get to the Cu Chi Tunnels. It was gorgeous. There is a lot of green in this country. 

That's pretty much it from day 1. I'm flying out in a few hours to go to Hoian, in central Vietnam. The weather is HOT. The coffee is amazing. The food is amazing. So far I only wish that I was staying here longer, otherwise all is good.