Hoi An, Vietnam

After a relatively uneventful four-hour bus ride, we arrived in Hoi An in the evening. Though we had some time to explore that night, the distance of our hotel from the city combined with our lack of knowledge about the city's layout made for some fun but aimless wandering that evening, until we decided to retreat back to the hotel for a fresh start the next morning.

When we awoke, we ventured into town again. Hoi An is a city famous for, among other things, it's abundance of tailors that handmake clothes for very cheap prices. With this in mind, we made the tailor shop one of our first stops, so we could be measured and pick out the patterns of some of the clothes we were having made. For the next couple of days, our routine would consist of stopping by the tailor in the morning to check on the progress and quality (or sometimes lack there of) of our clothes. Though its no Neeman Marcus, Thao Nguyen Grassland, our tailor shop made some clothes that we were pretty happy with, especially for the inexpensive prices paid. While our interactions with the tailors took up between 30-60 minutes each morning, we spent the rest of our time during the days exploring Hoi An and its surroundings.

Jessica and our giggly tailors. They were very nice, despite a discrepancy over a "10% dicount" they promised us if we bought more clothes from them. (They later claimed they had taken the 10% off long ago--news to us.)

A typical street in Hoi An. This city reminded us a lot of Luang Prabang.

On the afternoon of our second day in town, we rented bicycles and took a ten mile ride, which on bikes with no gears and in the 100º heat was no easy task, and so we booked it eastwards towards the beach and the comforts of the cooler marine air. The beach was gorgeous and a much needed refuge from the heat of the city. Despite having the beach mainly to ourselves and some other tourists, around sunset seemingly every single inhabitant of Hoi An arrived at the beach, and the scene was so crowded that we lost site of the ocean entirely, even though our spot was only about 30 yards from the water! With this mass overcrowding and slightly cooler evening temperatures, we decided it was time to sneak back into the city and call it a night.

Though the beach was literally too crowded to take ocean view pictures by the time we had the camera out, this is a view of the area at which we spent the day, next to a small seafood restaruant.

Depsite escaping to the beach and checking out some distant attractions, we also spent a lot of time just wandering around the city, sampling its cuisine, and exploring its landmarks. Hoi An is a charming city full of old french colonial homes, converted into restaruants and tailor shops today. As a trading hub for centuries, Hoi An today is an interesting mix of French, Chinese, and Japanese influences.

The main bridge that crossed the Thu Bon river was about the center of town, and well adorned with decorations.

A paper lantern vendor in town

The Japanese bridge. In the 16th and 17th century, when Hoi An was an important port town (it's bisected by the Thu Bon River), this bridge led to the Japanese quarter of town.

On our last full day in the town, we headed out for the biggest adventure of our time in Hoi An. We decided to visit the 'Cham' ruins known as the My Son ruins (mee sun), about a 55-mile round-trip excursion. After the brutal experience biking just 10 miles to the beach the day before, peddle bikes were out of the question. We mounted up on a couple of Honda scooters, and made our way out of the city and towards the jungle to see the ruins. Though we had a rough hand-drawn map of how to get there, the trip took about three times as long as it should have on the way there, as we had to stop and ask just about every person that we came across if we were still going the right way. This consisted of us pulling our bikes over to every unsuspecting bystander and farmer we passed, pointing up the road in the direction we were traveling, and posing the question "My Son?" over and over again. Eventually, we arrived....

Just as we pulled into the parking lot, some of the darkest storm clouds we have ever seen blew overhead, instantly blocking out the sunlight, turning the 100º sunny dark and blustery. As we were about to enter the jungle to see some centuries-old ruins, this ominous weather felt strangely appropriate and intriguing, and thankfully scared away all the of the other visitors, leaving the ruins to empty. After about a half an hour of clouds, lightining, and wind, the skies finally opened, drenching us with monsoon rains that instantly flooded the ruins. However, being armed with 50-cent rain ponchos and the spirit of adventure, we spent a great afternoon running from ruin to ruin to dodge the rain and wind.

Despite how fun the storm made the afternoon at the ruins, it made for a highly stressful 25+ mile journey home that evening...

50 cent plastic ponchos: Check.

Thumbs up: Check.

The Cham ruled southern Vietnam from as early as 200 AD - the mid 1600s, when it finally fell to the  Khmer (builders of Angkor Wat) and the Vietnamese. In its height, the Cham was an great empire, with the My Son ruins acting as impressive tangible evidence of its might.

The monsoon rain water flooded the ruins instantly

 

After the rain refused to stop after a couple of hours, we realized the trek home would be a wet one.

After making it home alive and calling it a night, Jessica and I had one last day in Hoi An before our bus picked us up the following evening to take us to Nha Trang. We spent the time doing final checks on our clothes from the tailors, and taking in all the sites and sound of the city on last time. Though ready to move on, Hoi An is a city we both enjoyed and will miss!

Hue, Vietnam

From Ninh Binh we headed to a costal city in the center of Vietnam called Hue. We took a "sleeper bus" to get there, which is essentially a double-decker bus converted into three rows of tiny "bunk beds." When we boarded the bus at 10 pm, there wasn't a single bed open, and seeing this, the driver shooed a couple of locals from their beds (who then slept in the aisle) so we could sleep where they were. As weird as all of that sounds, the reality is that the bus company sells more tickets than they have beds, and foreigners pay four times as much for a ticket; it's only fair that we're not the ones sleeping in the aisles...

Hue is beautiful! It's a city that is just big enough that there is plenty to do, but small enough (350,000 people) that it doesn't feel overwhelming or unsafe like Hanoi could. It was the imperial capital of Vietnam up until 1945 when the last emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty passed, so the culture is rich, and there are tons of monuments and tombs to see. Hue also saw some of the most intense fighting during the Vietnamese-American War, as it's located smack dab in the middle of North and South Vietnam. Some of the most impressive monuments (like the Imperial City; see below) were almost completely destroyed. However, Hue is now a UNESCO World Heritage site, so renovation of those areas is extensive, with the goal of restoring their grandeur.

Our first day here--having gained a bit of confidence from our motorbiking in Ninh Binh--we decided to do round two in Hue. We motored around the city for a bit to get our bearings, then headed to the coast. After the sleeper bus, neither of us were up for a full day of sightseeing just yet, and with the beach only 20 minutes from town, we were easily sold on the idea. The beach was beautiful, and there were some decent body-surfing waves that Preston took full advantage of.

Through our hostel (Hue Backpacker's Hostel; great place) we booked a city tour for our second day. The main attractions are the Thien Mu Pagoda (the largest in Hue), the Forbidden Purple City (aka the Imperial City), and the tombs of the Nguyen Dynasty emperors, of which we saw the Tu Duc and Minh Mang. Hue is bisected by the Perfume River (which apparently at one point smelled of the wildflowers that grew on its banks... not the case when we were there), so we got to take a "dragon boat" ride down the river to see the Thien Mu Pagoda. Overall the tour was great, although Hue wasn't very forgiving climate-wise; for the past three days it was a cool 97 degrees... Ugh. At this point, though, we're used to it, although we can't help but wish it was Songkran everywhere, all the time...

Pres and the tomb of emperor Tu Duc.

The grounds of the Tu Duc tomb were beautiful. Apparently, this is not only where the emperor was buried, but it also served as his "country home".

The tomb of emperor Minh Mang. We were both surprised at how Chinese the architecture was throughout the city, but as our guide explained, Vietnam was under Chinese rule for a good part of it's early history, and these influences survive today. 

Jessica made a friend at the Minh Mang tomb.

More of Minh Mang.

Minh Mang again.

These are the "dragon boats" we took down the river to the Thien Mu Pagoda.

Thien Mu Pagoda. A very peaceful place to end to our tour day.

Entrance to the Forbidden Purple City. Fun fact: The central and largest gate you see here is reserved for the sole use of the emperor. No one else can walk through it.

Inside the Purple City.

One of the Purple City buildings that has been completely renovated and restored. We can only imagine what the rest of the place will look like when it's all done!

We loved Hue, but our Visas are running short (we may have to get them extended soon), so we headed to Hoi An today; the famed city of silk and custom tailoring. More on Hoi An soon!

Ninh Binh, Vietnam

In true backpacking spirit Jessica and I attempted to find the cheapest possible way to get from Hanoi to Ninh Binh, a small city several hours south of Hanoi. Our solution: a 3 hour local bus ride! Our driver, seemingly determined to not slow the bus below 60 miles an hour (just like Keanu Reeves in Speed!), honked, swerved, and sped past every goat, man, bike, and truck on a bumpy highway with approximately 1.5 lanes. Besides fearing for our lives, having locals become sick all over the bus (apparently the Vietnamese are quite prone to motion sickness), and sitting with some very strange luggage (living/recently dead animals), we made it to Ninh Binh!

Akin to stumbling upon an oasis in the desert, Jessica and I wandered aimlessly from the local bus stop with our packs on in the 95+º heat, until we finally found a traveling couple who pointed us in the direction of great hotel that was inexpensive and had a friendly staff. We quickly ditched our packs and got acquainted with the local landscape. Ninh Binh itself is not much of a town, but is a wonderful outpost for some truly stunning natural treasures. 

On our first full day in town, we rented some motorbikes and drove to Tam Coc, a river system that meanders through rice patties and beneath limestone caves that jut up everywhere across the landscape. In attempting to find the river, we got lost more than once, which ended up being a blessing in disguise; by the time we arrived at the river, the groups that are packed in daily from the tour buses had just left, leaving the often bustling river empty for Jessica and me. We got lucky--despite having a boat operator that insisted that we rowed the boat (what did we pay her for?), and then told us we didn't tip her enough.

Attempting to find Tam Coc led us down a bunch of small roads, and over some incredible landscape. Despite the omninous clouds, we remained dry (despite sweating) all day!

The Tam Coc River

The river took us through multiple limestone caves

Our nice but pushy boat 'co-driver' (we did a lot of the work).

Our next stop that day was the Hang Mua pagoda, set atop one of the tallest limestone formations in the middle of the rice paddies. The steps ascending hundreds of feet into the misty air were well worth it, as the view from the top was breathtaking! 

Preston nobley ascends the stairs

A dragon statue guarding the mountain.

From the top of the mountain--apparently a hang out for local teen sweethearts that play sad pop ballads on their cell phones--offers incredible views of the landscape below, including the Tam Coc river from which we had just arrived.

The way downs was just as steep as the way up! Needless to say, we were both sore the next day.

On our second day in Ninh Binh, we ditched the motorbikes for regular bikes (some exercise was nice after all the rice and noodles we've been eating in Vietnam...) and took about a 20 mile trek to Bia Dinh temple. The extreme heat made us unfortunately sweaty by the time we arrived and the lack of any English translations made the endless buddhist statues beautiful but vaguely unidentifiable to us.

A giant statue of Buddha sat impressively atop the Bia Dinh temple complex

After returning home, we showered, ate, and boarded the overnight bus to Hue!

Hanoi and Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

As much as we both loved Luang Prabang (and Laos in general), our 30-day visa for Vietnam started on the 20th of April, so it was time to head to Hanoi. We heard horror stories about the 28 hour bus ride from Luang Prabang to Hanoi (for one girl it turned out being a 48 hour journey), so we decided to shell out the extra money and fly Lao Airlines instead. The flight was painless, and we arrived at the Hanoi airport stress free--at least until we stepped out into the city. The second biggest city in Vietnam, Hanoi can give even the most experienced traveler a run for their money. A perfect example is crossing the street; with 6 million people, and over 4.5 million motorbikes, what would be a simple feat in the U.S. is more like a video game in which you have to avoid getting hit by a motorbike/car/bus 30 times before you reach the other side safely. We've found that if you keep to your path, and don't hesitate, you can usually cross without confrontation.

The street our hostel was on. April 30th is Vietnamese independence day, so their flag was flying wherever we looked.

.000001% of the motorbikes in Hanoi

Preston LOVES Pho (and Bia Ha Noi).

Local Vietnamese girls either mistook Preston for a celebrity or found him exceedingly handsome (neither would surprise him) and clambered for the opportunity to take pictures with him.

Jessica experiences the Temple of Literature (the oldest universtiy in Vietnam).

Conicidentaly, we were in Hanoi at the same time as one of Preston's childhood friends, Kelsey Mesher, and her boyfried, Stuart Jenkins. We spent our first day in Hanoi with them, and quickly decided that it was time to go to Ha Long Bay. We booked our 2 day-1 night boat tour through the (real) Sinh Cafe (there aren't copyright laws in Vietnam, so companies with reputable names are copied 100 times over), then headed out the next day. Although we booked our tour on the "regular" boat, we were (excitingly!) bumped up to the "luxury" boat, as not enough people were signed up for the cheaper option. Lucky us! We headed out the very next day, and although our fist morning was really misty, when the sun finally broke through, we realized we truly were in one of the most beautiful places on earth (it's in the running for one of the 7 wonders of the world). Our tour guide wasn't really sure on the details, but from what we hear, the 3,000 limestone islands of Ha Long Bay were once the ocean floor, and have since been erroded by wind and water, creating islands of all shapes and sizes.

A view of Ha Long Bay 

(we stayed in a ship very similar to those below)

We spent the afternoon kayaking with Stuart and Kelsey.

Pres jumping from the 4th floor of our boat (called "Junks" in Vietnamese). We all jumped a few times!

After dinner the crew got a Karaoke party started; even Preston and Stuart joined in.

Gooooooood morning, Vietnam! The sunrise as seen from the top deck of our boat.

Cat Ba island is the only inhabited island in Ha Long Bay, and Pres and I decided that we wanted to check it out. We left our tour, Kelsey, and Stuart, and headed off on our own to Cat Ba. It was difficult to actually find the local ferry, but we did, and at 30,000 Dong/ticket (about $1.50) we made it to Cat Ba the true backpacker way: as cheaply as possible. Cat Ba City itself isn't much to look at; a bay filled with what can only be described as a floating shanty town, and a coastline chock-full of cheap hotels. We stayed in the city our first night, but the next day we wandered upon the best accomidation we've had to date; just outside of Cat Ba City on the other side of a point is Cat Co 2, a beach that somehow eluded everyone but us and a few other lucky travelers. We rented a little cabana on the beach for U.S. $12/night, and we ended up being the ONLY guests the first night, and two of 8 guests the second night.

We found the ferry!!

On Cat Co 2, our private beach for the day.

Our bungalow.

Yet another beautiful sunset. 

We tried convincing ourselves to stay a few more nights on Cat Co 2, but we quickly realized that we only have a limited number of days on our visa, and we need to continue south. We organized a "Jump-on, Jump-off" bus ticket to Saigon, which essentially allows us to stop at 6 cities along the way, and stay for as long as we like, so we're heading to Ninh Binh this afternoon. Goodbye, Hanoi!