Ups and downs in Vietnam

Amy: A hot and humid Christmas morning in Cambodia shifted to a cool and rainy evening in northern Vietnam. Jon and I experienced our first two-country Christmas.

We were grateful to have made it to Vietnam that evening at all, as when we arrived to the small international terminal at Siem Reap, we were told that we had to wait to check-in until two hours before our flight. The time passed and no information about our flight showed on the screen. Jon tracked down a staff person and we learned our flight had been cancelled with no notice. We stayed calm and inquired about what to do, but inside I felt my stomach drop. For the very first time during our travels, I booked a pre-packaged, multi-day tour, which was starting early the next morning.

Thankfully, we were able to get on a flight late that evening without much hassle. After a short flight, we arrived outside of Hanoi and were whisked through the rain to the one hotel I selected myself in Vietnam.  It was $11/night, so we managed our expectations, but it was a decent place. Clean, safe, with good wifi so we could call our families on Christmas.

The next morning, we were picked up early to join our tour. I booked a 7-day, 6-night tour with visits to Halong Bay and Sapa (for some trekking through the mountains and rice terraces near the Chinese border). Throughout the rest of our travels, I have researched, selected and booked our flights, trains, guesthouses, hostels, and day tours. However, we knew we wanted a few days in Halong Bay (which is best with a tour), so I decided to package it all together for a week of pre-planned fun in Vietnam. This would be a little different…

After our pick up, we made signals with our eyebrows at one another, as we wondered where we were going. The driver had picked up a friend and we seemed to be headed away from our meet up point in Hanoi. We just decided to go with the flow and see where we were headed. He finally dropped off his friend at work and we were brought to the side of the highway to meet up with a bus filled with tourists.

Seeing the world from the car or bus window can be such a joy and we watched with interest as the world rolled by in the misty morning fog and rain. Tall and skinny concrete buildings, often adorned with bright colors, lined the towns and countryside. Scooters zipped passed with people in puffy coats, rain ponchos, and surgical-style masks. Workers in classic sampan hats tended to the rice fields and water buffalo grazed near the side of the road.

Once we arrived to the Halong Bay harbor, we were separated from the rest of the group that had booked the luxury tour. We booked the mid-range option and were brought to the Imperial Legacy Cruise boat. Most of the other passengers were from Asia, including Singapore, Thailand and Japan, with two other younger couples from Austria and the UK. Everyone was friendly and the boat, although aging a bit, was clean and comfortable.

The weather brought overcast skies, but it was clear enough to enjoy the hundreds of vegetation-covered formations and rocks jutting up into the bay. Our first stop was at a cave. I imagined visiting a dark little hole, but what we found was a huge and lit-up cavern. Even though packed with tourists, it was impressive in size and seemed a bit like a different planet. We then cruised through the bay, chatted with other tourists, and marveled at the beauty of the area. We passed barges, floating villages, and colorful fishing boats along the way.

 

The evening brought us a short (and pretty dark and wet) kayak trip around a floating village, a futile attempt to catch a squid, and some blaring karaoke in the dining area. The staff enjoyed singing Vietnamese ballots and Jon and I busted out some Bon Jovi and Neil Diamond. The best was Jon singing Country Roads by John Denver with Connie from Singapore. We also learned a few new card games from David and Elsa (some fellow long-term travelers from the UK) before heading into our cabin.

The next morning we cruised toward Nam Cat Island and our bungalows for the night. After lunch and a few card games on the island, we tracked down some aging kayaks and paddles and headed out around the island. Our fellow travelers from the UK also paddled along and we enjoyed the caves and the carved bases of the rock formations at low tide. Then we discovered the down side to low tide. The low water meant we were suddenly beached on the rocks and ground and we couldn’t move without getting out and wading in the water. Walking the shallow water while dragging the kayaks was fun, but I also wondered what sea creatures were lurking in the squishy bottom as my feet sunk into the ground. We went past a little fishing village with a none-to-happy looking fisherman. Around the corner we found our lodge and some deeper water. It was memorable and beautiful.

The next morning we headed out for our final cruise in the bay. We made some spring rolls on a boat with a whole new group of travelers. Another bus took us back to Hanoi so we could get on the night train to Sapa. Toward the end of the bus trip, Jon turned to me and said he felt sick. I thought it was probably just motion sickness. We had driven all over Hanoi in rush hour to drop off others at their hotels and it was a crazy drive. We stopped at the tour company office and his condition just worsened. Dang. It looked to be food poisoning. We were a few hours away from boarding the overnight train to Sapa. Not the best place to feel sick.

A guide at the tour office tried to help and shared some medicine. We headed to the train station and Jon camped out on the ground while we waited to get into our berth. A women came over with some ointment and our guide proceeded to lift up Jon’s shirt and rub it on his belly. I couldn’t help but giggle as he rubbed away, but he seemed to be genuine in his concern.

We finally got on the train and the cabins were nice, but small. The beds were small. It was small…and we shared it with a honeymooning couple who seemed upset to be bunking with others. We also had a very bumpy trip, like riding in a car with no suspension. I’m sure the banging, bumping, and jarring stops were terrible for Jon. Once we arrived we were picked up before dawn and loaded on a packed mini bus to take us into the mountains. More banging and jarring on the bus ride, which led to both Jon and I vomiting into plastics bags on the ride.

We arrived at the hotel and were pretty quickly given a room. We were supposed to trek that day, but that would not be happening. On the bright side, the weather was completely rainy with pea soup fog, so there was no trekking anyway. The next morning, we pulled it together and went with a new group on a trek that was modified for the weather. It consisted of us walking down the paved road (which turned into a waterfall in some places) down to the Cat Cat village. In the fog and the rain, there were no mountains or terraces to see. We handed out socks to the Hmong children, visited a local home, and saw a nice performance at the base of the village next to a gushing waterfall.

The rest of the group was done with walking in the rain, but Jon and I opted to hike back up to the town on our own. The guide was nervous. I don’t think people on these tours do much on their own. You are just told where to go and when to go there. It was sort of nice to not have to make decisions, but it also felt controlled with little autonomy. We liked our hike back up to the town and got a glimpse of the school and rice fields, but mostly just a dense white cloud of fog. We dried off and waited to get on another bus to take us back to the train.

Our train ride back was much smoother and we both had improving health. We checked into the Medallion Hotel in Hanoi and rested up before heading out to celebrate New Year’s Eve. We walked around the Old Quarter which was filled with music, mylar balloons for sale, and lots of people. We found a little street-side bar with pumping dance music and enjoyed watching the people, scooters, and bicycle rickshaws pass. We remarkably stayed up past midnight and watched streamers hit the air as we celebrated the arrival of 2016.

On New Year’s Day, we had a late flight to Australia. We spent the day exploring Hanoi and the Old Quarter on foot, and I finally got the perfect bahn mi sandwich for just one dollar. Our tour of Vietnam had some highs and lows, but it was an experience we won’t forget any time soon. I guess sometimes the low moments lead to some potent memories.

 

Let us know in the comments if you’ve had travel experiences that seemed tough at the moment, but led to good memories.

(Dates: December 25-January 1)

Side note: Before we finalized our plans to go to Vietnam, we did some research on how Americans are viewed in present day. We also brushed up a bit on our history to be sensitive during our travels. We found that the local people were very friendly and helpful. We had heard this was the case for many tourists, especially on the type of tour we did. Tourist’s dollars are needed and welcomed. Also, the war is viewed differently in Vietnam. It is the referred to as American War and the war they won. We didn’t tour the war museums, but we did take time to reflect and research on our own. What a complex time and situation. That we can safely travel there now and seem quite welcome is very interesting.