Blog
Month: March 2020
March 29, 2020
Vietnam Family Vacation: Days 6-9 Hoi An
After our short stays in Halong Bay and Hue, we were all glad to slow down and spend three nights in our next stop, Hoi An.
Hoi An’s a port city half-way down the dragon-shaped country and it’s really the jewel of Vietnam. Vietnam is known as the “Ascending Dragon” due to its shape–we passed a famous bridge in Danang shaped like an undulating dragon.
Hoi An was spared bombing during the war and has emerged in the past twenty years as a must-see stop for with its beautiful shops and restaurants and relaxed feel where you can stroll without breathing exhaust fumes. In the 18th century, ships from China and Japan visited Hoi An for the spice trade, and you can see that legacy in the architecture.
Come dusk the old town is alight with thousands of lanterns glowing orange, red and yellow, draped over the streets and bridges. On those bridges people lower paper lanterns onto the river in a colorful regatta (though they’re discouraging this due to the trash it generates on the riverbanks).
March 26, 2020
Vietnam Family Vacation: Days 3-6, Ha Long Bay and Huế
After a few days exploring Hanoi, we traveled by bus northeast to check out Ha Long Bay, in the Gulf of Tonkin. Ha Long Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage site, home to thousands of small cone-shaped islands set in a blue-green sea…it’s one of the iconic Vietnam vistas you may have seen online.
Ha Long Bay is hardly undiscovered—thousands of tourists were vacationing along with us in the hundreds of boats dotting the bay. Still, it’s a big bay and we were able to see the natural beauty (even in the fog that was present during our entire visit!) while staying overnight on a junk boat with nice cabins. We got out onto the bay on kayaks, stopping to hike through a large cave, then paddled back at dusk to celebrate Christmas Eve with our new friends. Come Christmas day (in case you were wondering, yes Santa did come for those teenage boys…amazing), we toured a gigantic cave then took the long bus ride back to Hanoi where we enjoyed a nice banh mi with the boys in the Old Quarter before meeting with the group to board an overnight train to Huế.
March 21, 2020
Vietnam Family Vacation: Hanoi, Days 1-3
We feel so fortunate to have taken a family vacation to the beautiful and amazing country of Vietnam from Dec. 19 to Jan. 6, before the coronavirus outbreak. We posted iphone pics on instagram during the trip but now we have the time to edit and blog the rest of the images. We hope you enjoy this virtual vacation while stuck at home! We’ll be publishing several posts about our travels to Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Hue, Hoi An, Ho Chi Minh City, Mekong Delta and Phu Quoc island.
When we spoke with friends about our family trip to Vietnam, invariably they asked, “Why Vietnam?” The short answer is that Vietnam is “accessible Asia”. The country’s a manageable size with a pleasant climate (in December). Additionally, there were so many opportunities for adventure—kayaking, motor bike rides (as a passenger), sleeping on a junk boat— that would appeal to our 14 and 16 year old boys. The food was also a draw as we already loved pho, banh mi, bun, and summer rolls…savory, a bit sweet, salty, fresh—it’s a tasty, dynamic and healthy cuisine. And the Vietnamese like their bia hoi (fresh beer), which goes down so nice with all the food. Additionally, of course, our sad shared history with Vietnam—what they call the American War—was a major reason to visit.
