Asia, Stop 3 & 4: Hanoi, Ha Long Bay

We left from HoiAn on Christmas Day and headed north to the capital of Vietnam, Hanoi. We arrived to drizzle and an old town packed full of motos and nonstop honking. We struggled to get in the "Christmas spirit", but with our few hours out exploring in the evening, we did find an amazing little coffee shop where the entire place was covered in post-it notes! They even had pens and pencils for writing and posting your own around the place. It was a very western cafe, complete with peppermint hot chocolate on the menu. That was the only thing that day that did feel like Christmas. Our time in Hanoi was short, because we were really just based there before going on our cruise through Ha Long Bay. On the morning of the 26th, we headed out to sea.

Ha Long Bay, located in northeast Vietnam, is one of the new 7 natural wonders of the world. After being there, it is no question to us why that is! The emerald waters and limestone islands are truly a sight to see! Based on recommendations from friends, we chose to do a two night, three day cruise around the bay (which is the longest option.) There is a large variety of quality of cruise companies that offer to take tourists throughout the bay. We chose a mid-range one, which included all meals, a cave tour, an island visit, and multiple opportunities to kayak. 

This cave has only been accessible to tourists for about 50 years. The formations inside were all carved by water, making them uniquely shaped. Though neither of us would say we are especially interested in seeing caves, we both really enjoyed walking through this one!

Since we did the longer cruise option, we were taken further back into the bay where there were less tourists and boats around. We got to kayak through small tunnels into beautiful lagoons, stop at pristine beaches, and lay on the sunbeds on top of the boat (although not in the sun...) as the boat cruised through the large limestone formations. We even stumbled upon a family of monkeys and were entertained for a while just watching them play and scurry along the side of the rock.

It was overcast for almost our entire time on the sea, but we got about 7 minutes of sunshine one afternoon.

As always, one of the highlights of traveling is the people you meet along the way. On the cruise, we just so happened to be seated next to two Australian couples who were also traveling through Vietnam. We immediately "clicked" with them and stayed up late talking and laughing around the dinner table. The next morning, we went kayaking together and then spent the four hour drive back to Hanoi chatting as if we were old friends! Once we returned to Hanoi, we realized that our hotels were only a few doors down from each other (what are the odds?). This was great, as we all wanted to continue hanging out, so we hit up the well-known Cong Caphe to try the infamous Coconut Coffee Smoothie, and then joined the locals at a corner bar for fresh beer (16 cents/pint!!). We loved starting a friendship with them, learning about their lives and experiences, and have now officially put visiting them in Australia at the top of our "to-do" list.

 

Overall, our experience in Ha Long Bay confirmed that it is indeed one of the most beautiful spots on Earth. We would recommend going in warmer weather to take advantage of the opportunities in the bay, but any time of year it is guaranteed to be breathtaking.

 At this point, our time in Vietnam had come to an end, and we were ready for our third asian country, Malaysia. Tune in next time!

Asia, Stop 2: Hoi An, Vietnam

After a grueling flight path with no sleep for about 30 hours, we got to our first Vietnamese city, the quaint country town of Hoi An.  We visited moutaintop temples with interesting mixtures of Hindu and Buddhist influences, walked the colorful crowded streets of the very small downtown section while drinking coffee here and there, haggling over small items in stores, and eating street food. The Vietnamese diet is about half white steamed rice, or some kind of rice noodle, with some basic vegetable or meat to go along with it, in either a broth or stew of some kind, often without any strong flavor. That means it's your job to spice things up with added sauces and toppings! 

View from the mountaintop temple.

We walked along the rice fields, then rode to the beach on the the free bikes provided by our homestay.

We went on a tour to some famous temple ruins outside the city, and observed the unique style of brick architecture and religious practices of the local brand of Hinduism from long ago.

Our homestay recommended a cooking class by a company called Eco Cooking Class. The class took place at a family's home, which was accessible only by riverboat.

We learned how to work the machine that turned rice into rice milk, which we used to make rice paper for Spring rolls.

A beautiful banana flower salad.

Christmas Eve coincided with the Full Moon festival, which was a really unique experience. The streets were lit up with candles and alive with street food and celebration. To appeal to the tourists who celebrate Christmas, Hoi An even had children dressed in Santa costumes, and many hotels offered large Christmas Eve dinners. We didn't take part in this, as they were quite touristic, but it was nice to at least see some Christmas trees in hotel lobbies that we passed on the street.

Hoi An was a wonderful experience as a more "rural" part of Vietnam while still being enough of a city with plenty of shops, restaurants, coffee bars, culture and life... the perfect mixture those wanting a full schedule without the hassle of a big city. This is definitely on the re-visit list!

Asia, Stop 1: Beijing

Our Asian winter adventure began with a day in China. Although we were headed for SE Asia, we had the option of choosing a flight with a long layover in Beijing. We loved the idea of getting a free day there to see The Great Wall and bit of downtown. We looked into a few different organizations that do layover tours, but eventually got in touch with a local friend who graciously offered to pick us up and show us around the place. She even brought us coats and hot coffee, since it was about 20F at the time, and our backpacks were filled with clothes suited for the other 99% of our journey to tropical beaches and other hot places. We took a taxi to a section of the wall just outside the city, and climbed the many steps up the hillside to the base of the wall and up onto the elevated path which snakes along the vast mountain range. From there, we enjoyed panoramic views and an incredible sense of scale, taking in just how extensive the wall truly is. It was much like staring at the ocean and realizing that even the farthest visible point is only the beginning. We were amazed at how they managed to build a 5,000 mile wall so long ago which still stands today.

Enjoying the beautiful writing of this language, printed on a rock near our entrance to the Great Wall.

Inside one of the many fortresses built into the wall.

With our sweet friend, Maggie.

After a few hours at the wall, we drove back into town and braved the metro systems, unbelievably packed with busy people all wearing dust masks because of the pollution, and eventually popped up in downtown Beijing, ready for some food!

A busy street in downtown Beijing.

Our Chinese meal, dipping raw ingredients into hot flavored oils.

Overall, we were very impressed with what we saw in such a short amount of time, and greatly enjoyed getting to better know a local person. We would definitely come back for a longer stay to see more of the city and experience more of Chinese cuisine and culture. But for now, it was back onto an airplane, and headed to warmer weather! Next stop: Vietnam.