Today after breakfast we met our guide to go on a bike ride. We
went through the country side of Hoi An and passed lots of rice fields
and just got to enjoy the country side. Then we got onto a boat with our
bikes (I was surprised that they could actually fit) and went to an
Island. We biked through the country side there and I almost had a
wreck! This is what happened I was riding and some cows were running in
the field then they suddenly bolted out right in front of me! It looked like
a mama and a baby playing tag!
Today we drove to Hoi An. On the way we got into a traffic jam. One side
of th road was completely stopped but the other side was sill flowing
normally. We found out that there was some construction and they were
letting people on one side through for thirty minutes and then the other
side for thirty minutes. Well we got through and then our guide asked if
we wanted to go on the pass over the mountains or through the tunnel.
the drive over the pass was going to take forty-five minutes whereas the
tunnel would only take fifteen. It was hazy and we had heard that the
roads were a little scary. So we decided to give it a miss because we
really didn’t want to crash off the side of the road and there wouldn’t
be much of a view because of the haze. The tunnel was six kilometers
long (three miles). Twice a long as Eisenhower (the big tunnel) in
Colorado. It also seemed longer because we were going slower (only about
forty M/H) instead of seventy. After going a little way we arrived at Da
Nang We drove to a museum with many statues from the Cham people. Many
were pulled from some Cham towers that we are going to see tomorrow. We
then went drove along the beach where the Americans first landed during
the war. We stopped and took some photos and then we saw some of the
hangars that we used. Then we went back to the car and drove to Hoi
An. We went to the market and saw many people selling things and then we
went to the fish part of the market. I to this day haven’t figured out
how people with stand the smell! It’s absolutely terrible even in the
regular market! Anyway we went to a restaurant that was pretty nice
compared to some of the places that we have eaten at. It was good food
but we were kinda disappointing that we hadn’t gotten to eat good street
food. Then the guide showed us a bridge that in times past separated the
Chinese and the Japanese parts of town. It was just a small covered
bridge but it had, in the middle, an area that issues were resolved
between the two sides of the bridge. Then Phong showed us a shop that
sold custom made clothing so we went in and were just going to look
around but then dad decided to get a suit. I just waited
downstairs while they were upstairs looking at designs but I got bored
after a while so I went up to see what they were doing. Dad was looking
at the many different designs of suits but they all looked the same to
him so he just picked one and a color. Then they measured him. They
took lots of measurements and then went downstairs to take pictures of
him. I guess they did that so that they could see what his body looked
like. Then we drove to the hotel. When we arrived at the hotel we went
to a little gazebo where we went through all the stuff and had a drink.
Then we went to our room, got settled in and then rented some bikes from
the hotel and went wandering on the back roads for a while. On our
explorations we ordered mom some jeans at the place that one of the
employee recommended After our bike ride we had dinner at the hotel and
then went to bed.
Today we had our first day in Hue. We had a buffet breakfast in the
restaurant and then met our guide at the front gate. His name was Phong,
the same name as the guy that took us on our tour of Ba Be Lake and Phu
Tho. We got into the car and went into town and went on a boat trip to a
pagoda. It was like all pagodas basically lots of altars and incense and
buildings. Then we went to the old palace of the emperor of Vietnam.
(FYI, Hue was the old capital city of Vietnam.) On the outside was a
mote system and a wall that was supposed to look like a star (I didn’t
look like a star to me but it must have to someone). Then there was
another mote system with another wall that enclosed the palaces. We went
inside through the gate. One interesting thing was that there were three
gates. One for the mandarins (government officials), one for the king,
one for the commoners, and one for the elephants and tigers and wild
animals. We went through the mandarins gate. We got in and there were
two pools with fish on either side of the path. You could buy some food
to feed them. It was amazing when you did because literally hundreds of
fish fought for the food! Then we went up above the gate where the king
would give speeches to his people. Then we went down and went to some
palaces. It was sad but allot of the palace was bombed during the war.
Since it was only one hundred kilo form the DMZ it got bombed from both
sides. We toured around all the palaces and saw where they were trying
to restore it. I was glad that we had a guide because we would have been
clueless on where to go and what everything was. After touring the
grounds we went back outside (this time through the elephants gate) and
saw nine “sacred cannons.” They were sacred because they were never used
and nine is a lucky number. After seeing the palace we went to a tomb of
one of the kings. there was a lake and a nice island in the middle. We
learned that this tomb was not only a tomb but before the king died he
used to come to his tomb to wright poetry and just enjoy the area. Then
we went to a place that had some statues and had an autobiography of the
king. After seeing that we went to the place where the coffin was.
Nobody really knows if the body is actually there because nobody has
opened it. After the tomb we got back int the car and he asked if we
wanted to see another tomb. We had had enough tombs so we said that we
just wanted to go back to the hotel. Then dad, Hannah, and I went
swimming and then we hung out for a while in the resort. When it became
tome for dinner we went to the hotel’s restaurant for dinner. Time to
hit the sack!
Well today is our last few hours in Hanoi. After breakfast we went to
the air port for our flight to Hue. (Hue is located in the central part
of Vietnam.) It took only one hour to get there and when we did we had
to show our baggage claim tickets. Mom was so unused to having to do
this so she had to dig for the tickets! Anyway the airport was extremely
small so we just walked outside and people with signs were there waiting
to pick people up. We found our guy and then got into the car to go to
our hotel. As soon as you walked in there was a great atmosphere, trees,
grass… The first things that you saw were some handcraft shops where
you could buy things. Then the lobby. Behind the lobby was a restaurant
for lunch and dinner and to the left of that was the internet cafe.
Behind this were rows of rooms set up with little houses that made it
feel like a neighborhood. There were two swimming pools and another
restaurant that served breakfast. There were spas and beauty salons and
all sorts of other stuff. We were greeted and then sat down and an
employee talked to us about the services. Then we were shown to our
room. It looked on the outside like it wasn’t a connecting room but when
we got inside we saw that is was. The rooms were mirror to one another
so I will take you on a tour of one and you will just have to switch it
around in you head to have an idea of what it was like. I’ll tell you
about our room just because I want to. When you entered into your room
you were in a little corridor that if you walked forward a little bit
and looked to you right would be a huge bathroom that I will tell you
about in just a minute. If you keep on walking you would in the main
room and to you left would be the door to the other room and your right
the bed that I slept in. Walk a little further and you would be in the
center of the room with a steep right in front of you and a sofa. To
your left is the mini bar and the closet. If you went around the sofa
and down the steep you would be right next to a desk. Walk a little
further and the TV would be to your left. Look right now and you would
be looking over a coffee table at the bed that Hannah slept in In front
of you just a little to the right are the doors to go outside onto the
balcony. Outside were some chairs and a little lounge thing. OK now I
will tell you about the bathroom. As soon as you walked in you would see
yourself in the mirror and underneath the mirror the sink and amenities.
Turn right and you would be looking at the shower and then tub. The
water from the shower just flowed down to a sunken area with rocks and
went to the drain. Go forward and do a right turn you wold be seeing
yourself in another mirror. Look in the opposite direction and you would
be facing a towel rack. Walk a little further and turn left you would be
facing the toilet. Well that’s all, the only difference between the two
rooms is that mom’s and dad’s didn’t have the extra bed like the one
that Hannah slept on. Then we walked around enjoying the nice atmosphere
and finding the pools and restaurants and the spa ext. Then we had
dinner at the restaurant. Dad had hot pot. (By the way what I ate at the
Kangaroo Cafe wasn’t hot pot it was clay pot.) Basically hot pot is a
big wok set up on a little burner. You had some broth and some other
vegetables. Then you have to add all sorts of different ingredients to
the mix to cook them. Once cooked you would roll it up in a piece of
rice paper. I forgot what I had but dad’s meal was memorable. After
dinner we went to bed.
Sorry I have not been able to post my blogs. But I will tell you all
about our adventures at Halong Bay. First we had a four hour drive to
Halong Bay. ( Not a bad drive.) We arrived at a place that sold a lot of
different stuff. It went from Jewelry to food. Of course we did not buy
anything. I felt sorry for the driver because my dad had spilled some
red juice on the floor.( I do not know why he brought the juice in the
car in the first place.) So the poor guy had to clean up the mess. He
had said we would have a 15 minute break. I think that was his lunch
break.Then when dad thought the 15 minutes were up, we started looking
for our driver. We found out that he was still in the middle of eating
his lunch, so we started out again. When we got there. we were welcomed
with wet towels,( that’s the custom in Vietnam.)and tea. We waited for a
while and then got ushered to the HUMONGOUS boat. Well it was big, but
since I am small, it seemed that big. We had a warm welcome of rose
pedals falling on our heads.( Pretty fancy stuff huh?) Then we got
directed to the dining room. It was set with fancy glasses,plates, and
the napkins were folded into the shape of a kind of bird.We had a speech
from the manager, and then got our keys to our rooms. Sumner and I
shared a room together.( Away from the adults.) We looked at our room,
and then headed back upstairs for a yummy buffet lunch. I do not
remember what there was, but it was good anyway. The first thing we did
was go on a boat to this really cool cave. It had three different
chambers in it. The first chamber was 300 square meters, the second
chamber was 400 square meters, and the third one was 900 square meters.
They were huge. And if you had a good imagination, you could see
different animals, and people in the rocks. Got to go! T.B.C
Today is our last day in Hallong Bay. We woke up a little later that
yesterday so we definitely didn’t see the sunrise. Breakfast was about
the same as yesterday but that’s OK. After breakfast we packed up our
things and then went to see the cooking demonstration. Today they showed
us how to make fresh spring rolls. You basically had to put the
ingredients on evenly and then roll it up. No need to pinch it in. Then
we went to Te Top Island, the island that we dropped off the two day
people yesterday. We hiked up to the top of the island and had a
wonderful view of Hallong Bay. Then after staying for a few minutes we
hiked back down and go onto the boat. We packed up as we sailed through
Hallong Bay and then went up to the sun deck to see our last views of
Hallong Bay It was so beautiful, islands with very steep bare sides and
then lush, greenery on the top. There were, it seamed, thousands of
islands. Then we arrived at port. We were all sad to leave such a pretty
bay but we have more great adventures to come! We got our luggage and
then got into the car to take us back to the Elegance for one more
night. On the way back we stopped at a place “conveniently at the half
way point” It was a place that sold all sorts of arts and crafts and a
restaurant. We ate some food and then got back in the car. When we
arrived at the Elegance we were welcomed warmly as always. We got some
pictures with the manager and the staff because the manager won’t be
here tomorrow. Then we walked around Hanoi for a wile and had
dinner. (Look near the bottom for what I meant to say.) I think that
it would be proper to decide the Elegance in more detail than I have
because it was such a memorable hotel. It had glass doors in the front
and to the right of the doors were a sofa and a coffee table. it you
walked in a little way to your right would be a travel desk where you
could organize a tour. Opposite of the travel desk was reception. If you
went to the right of reception were some chairs and a news paper stand.
Opposite of the chairs was an elevator and if you stood in the middle
and walked towards the back of the hotel you would be in the breakfast
room. Behind the tables on the back wall is a mural/painting that showed
a scene in Hanoi. The only thing missing was the multitudes of
motorcycles. To your right is the cooking area which has a stove and a
refrigerator and some counter space. It was extremely small only about
five, maybe six, square yards in total area. It must have been extremely
hard to cook because the squashed three sometimes four people in the
space! OK now if you walk back so that you are in the lobby facing the
travel desk you will see the bottom of the stairs. On the second floor
if you turned right you would be facing two rooms and if you tuned the
other direction on you left would be the elevator and if you walked just
a little further to you right would be a bathroom that guests waiting
for a room or those who have already checked out. In front of you is a
lobby with a TV and a few chairs and a sofa. It also has two computer
for guests to use. On the furthest side away from you is a little
overhang where you can see the first floor. If you kept on going up the
stairs you would be on the third floor which on you right would be tow
rooms and down the hall one more room. On of the ones that we stayed in.
The rest of the eight floors are basically the same so I will not bore
you any more with my explanations and move on to…Oops I made a
mistake. Right before the tour of the Elegance I said “Then we walked
around for a while and had dinner.” But really this is what happened. We had been wanting to do a cicilo ride but we hadn’t been able to. Did
I tell you what a cicilo is? If I did you get another explanation. A
cicilo is a cross between a stroller and a bicycle. The back wheel of
the bike and the seat are at the back and the stroller type thing is
front with a little bar at the back that the driver uses to pedal. The
stroller is just a metal thing that is sorta like a sofa just really
short. It also has a foot rest and two wheels on either side. We asked
the receptionist to call one so that we could tour the old quarter. They
came and we got in. Hannah and mom got into one and dad and me in
another. Then we toured around. I felt bad for our guy because he had
such a heavy load. We had asked for an hour tour but we only got a forty
minute tour. Oh well it was very net to do because we could really enjoy
the sights without having to dodge things on the sidewalk and cross
streets. When we got back we payed them and went back to the hotel. Then
we went out to dinner and went to bed.
Well today was our second day on the water. I woke up and was hoping to
see the sunrise but since it was so hazy you couldn’t see the sun. We
enjoyed the scenery that we could see and then went up for thirty
miniutes. It was interesting, kinda like a cross betwene yoga and
dancing and taekwondokarate (whatever you want to call
it). After tai chi we went down to breakfast. It was a buffet breakfast
with all sorts of bread and fruits and pancakes and french toast and egg
and pho and noodles and fried rice. They had a good mix of western and
Vietnamese food. Anyway we ate our breakfast and then sailed to Ti Top
Island where the people on the boat who were only going for two days got
off. By the way, there is a choice of a two of three day tour of Hallong
bay. We went with the three day tour because we could really expeirience
it. This is how it works. The big boats like the ones that we stayed in
come out of dock each day. Do all the things that we did on the first
day and then spend the night. In the morning the people going for a
three day tour get onto a day-boat and do the things that I will write
about in just a moment. The big ship goes back to port and gets more
people and then comes back to meet up with the day boat and picks the
people back up. Then the next day the three day people do what the tow
day people did the day before and the cycle starts over again. That way
they can two and three day people all on one boat. So because Te Top was
what we were going to do on the third day we didn’t go this time. After
we dropped them off we got into the tender and were taken to a day boat.
It wasn’t anything special, just six tables lined up along the sides
with wood benches on the fron and the back of them. The boat had life
jackets which is always a good sign. In the back there was a little
kitchen/nap room for the crew and if you went around that you would be
at the bathroom. All that I have described so far has been on the first
level so I will move to the top level and telll you what is up there.
Basicly it is just the captian’s area and a deck with a few chairs.
Anyway we sailed for a while at a good clip but about half way through
our journey to Cat Ba Island the engine had troubles and we slowed down
allot. We saw ships that were over the horison come and slowly overtake
us. We made it to Cat Ba island safely though. We got out of the boat
and were given a choice of going on a motorcycle or a bike. We went with
the bike because we could enjoy the scenery better. Then we biked to a
village. It wasn’t very big but we saw some activity. It was basicly
just three streets. One leading into the village and a road leading off
of that to another road. All around the village were rice patties.
Anyway we got to the end of the trail/road we got off our bikes and went
on a hike through the forest. It was almost as if we flew back to
Colorado in an instant and were hiking thorugh the forest. The only
diference was that it was very hot and had more exotic plants. It was
wierd but there were no birds! We didn’t see them flying of hear them
sining, there was absolutely no sign that there were any birds. We asked
the guide and hea said that they are hunted for food and that’s why
there aren’t any birds. We hiked up for a while and then got to a cave.
It wasn’t very big but it was still dark. After the cave we went back
down to our bikes and went back to the dock. Lunch was readdy for us so
we ate. The food was very good and we even got brave enough to eat some
squid! Dad tasted it and said it was like cucumber. I tried it and I
guess that I can see why he compaired it to cucumber because it is sorta
cruchy at the beginning. After the crunch though feels like you are
eating rubber. After lunch we sailed to a protected cove and got off to
kyak. Mom and I went togather and dad and Hannah went together. We went
to a big opening that led us to another open area. The tide was
obdviously going out bacause we had to paddle upstream to get to the
second area for kyaking. We paddled in the cove for a while looking at
the beautiful scenery . Mom and I even went into a fishing net on
accident! After we paddled for a while we went back through the tunnel
and to the day boat. We managed to get on safely without falling in but
one person in the group fell in. We then went back to the big boat and
then sailed to the docking place for the night. Then we had dinner which
was a set meal of all sorts of different seafoods. It was very fancy
everything was presented nicely, they never just plopped it on the
plate. It was also the first time that I was served a meal in courses
like that. We had many apitizers, a main meal and a desert. After dinner
we flopped into bed.
Today we woke up ate breakfast and then started to get ready for going
to Hallong Bay. Let me tell you what Hallong Bay is. Hallong Bay is
located on the east coast of Vietnam in the big part at the top. It is a
huge bay filled with big rocks called carsts which means that the sides
of the rocks go almost straight down. Anyway I’ll tell you more about it
later. We had organised the tour with the hotel so a hotel driver came
to pick us up. Then we drove to Hallong Bay, a four hour trip if I
remember corectly. We had decided to go with a company called Paridie
Cruises because the hotel had recomended it and it had it’s own dock so
it is much easier to goet on the boat. Anyway we got to the dock and
waited in the loby until we were called to go onto the boat. We walked
down the gangplank and then entered the boat. We walked in and were
greted by flowers falling on our heads! Then we were directed upstairs
to the eating room where the manager (his name is Jonas {pronounced
yo-nus}) introduced to the staff. Then we were given our keys and went
to our cabins. We had two cabins one for mom and dad and one for me and
Hannah. I’ll tell you more about them later. After settling into our
rooms we went back up tp the eating room for a buffet lunch. While we
had lunch we departed from the dock and sailed out into HallongBay. Once
lunch was done we went back down to the room for a miniute.
So, today was dad’s first day in Vietnam. But thank goodness he made it
to Hanoi safe and sound. This morning we decided to do a walking tour
around the old quarter in Hanoi. (Without the crowds, Sumner was our
guide.) We started at Yen Thai. ( That is where our hotel is, 3 Yen
Thai.) and ended at the Ngoc Son Temple. (In the middle of a BIG lake.
During the tour around Hanoi, We stopped for lunch at a place called
Quan An Ngon. It is a place featuring various traditional Vietnamese
food. Me and mom ordered some Vegetarian Dumplings, but they turned out
to be basically hot steaming rolls. They were good though. Dad ordered
Shrimp with Lemongrass and Chilies. He was I guess expecting the nice
small shrimp that we Westerners eat. But instead, they were HUMUNGOUSLY
large shrimp, and they still had their skin,and feet, and so forth.
After lunch we went to the lake. WE were going to have a cyclo ride.
(That is were you go in basically a cart where the oldish men drive you
by peddling their bicycles.) But we never got to it. We are resting now
in our hotel room, waiting for the time that we will get dinner. (Well
at least me.) Sumner and I were going to really go right around the
corner to go pick up the stamps that we had ordered. But dad will not
let us. Now since dad is here, we have to be more cautious. I just
finished packing for the 2 day boat trip at Halong Bay. I am excited
because we get to go kayaking. For the first time!!! Boo Hoo, We only have basicly one more day in Hanoi! AND Sumner, Mom,
and I have been here for 3 weeks! (half of our trip!) I think I have
gotten too used to Hanoi. I have also met some really nice people here,
so I wish I could live here. (For a little time.) We just finished a scrumptiously yummy dinner. We all did not have
anything special, so I don’t need to tell you what we had for dinner.
Dad made it through the day without taking a nap.
Guess what? We went to church today. We went to a international church.
It felt I was in God’s family because there were people from more than
30 DIFFERENT nations attending church! Wow that is a lot of different
people. Church there was a lot different to our church at home.
(Foothills Bible Church.) It was an A LOT smaller group, and the
pastors seem to switch of every Sunday! Today their was a guest speaker
who I think was from the Philippines, but I am not 100% sure. But I am
sure that I did not fully understand the sermon, because his English was
hard to understand at times. Also they did not have a certain building
for the church. The sanctuary was a ballroom from a BIG hotel. After we
sang a lot of beautiful hymns, we did the offering. After the offering
we had the sermon of something. I did not fully understand the topic of
the sermon. Soon after the sermon, we finished church. We tried to hail
a taxi, but the first driver said we could not go to our destination.(
Which was to have lunch.)We finally hailed a taxi that would take us to
lunch. We had lunch at a place called KOTO’s ( Which means Know One
Teach One.) It was a school/restaurant that took in 30 students each
year. Those students were either street kids, or disadvantaged kids.
Such as the kid lived in a very, very, very, very, very, very, very,
very, very, very poor family, and could not afford for the kids to get
education. When we were at the H’mong Mountain Retreat, we did a cooking
class with a guy who came from a really, really, really, etc. And went
to KOTO’s. And now, he is the Master Chef at Sapa Rooms. (The place we
stayed a in Sapa.) We all had yummy lunches. Then we wandered our way to
our hotel. After 3 seconds in the hotel, we headed out to go see if we
could go get tickets at the Water Puppet Theatre. But when we got to the
place where you order your tickets, the lady at the desk just said NO in
the most rudest way. So finally we got her to give us some tickets for
9:00 tonight. I am really excited. Now we headed back to our hotel. But
then I remembered that we had ordered some beautiful hand carved stamps.
We got those back and finally went back to the hotel. now we are just
hanging out in room. AND Dad is on his way to Hanoi. I am SO excited.
But he comes in the hotel at 11-12:00 at night! Surely we will be
asleep! (hopefully!)
