Moving to Hong Kong: Vietnam

We spent 7 days in Vietnam at the end of March. We went with our friends, the Hudgins family. It was a fantastic trip. We saw so much and it was so amazing it as hard to whittle down the photos to just these!

We started our trip by flying into Hanoi. We spent the night at a beautiful hotel downtown Hanoi. Upon arriving in our room and looking out the window for the first time....we realized we were actually looking down on the remains of the infamous Hanoi Hilton prison that held John McCain and Jeremiah Denton during the Vietnam War. Very surreal.

The Hanoi Hilton from our hotel window.

Our first night was just a quiet evening of supper and then hanging out in the hotel. We were up early the next morning for a van ride to the quiet village of Mai Chau. VERY Different from the craziness of Hanoi!

This is Hanoi. Scooters everywhere. Used for EVERYTHING.

Beginning to see the scenery change now.

So green! Rice fields as far as the eye can see.

We arrived at our hotel and this was our view.

Our room

We did a bicycle tour that same afternoon. They gave us nice hats to wear. Some of us liked them!!

This village has lots of weavers.

More scooters used as trucks.

This hotel was family owned and they fed us the most delicious meals.

We did a walking tour the next morning. Walked all around the village with a guide who explained village life and farming and showed us all around Mai Chau.

Fertilizing her fields.

This man was harvesting stink bugs....to eat.

These women were bringing baskets of rocks to the cement mixer.

Visiting a family, who shared their well water with us to wash our hands and face, before visiting with them in their home.

Our guide took us to visit this family, who are friends of his. He grew up in Mai Chau, only leaving to attend school. He works as a guide and he also works for a business in town as a translator. This house had three generations. Great-grandma, who reclined on her bed most of the day, playing with the children. Grandma who cares for the home and the children while her daughter in law worked. Number 1 Son and his wife and two children. The son worked out in the village and the wife handled farming of the rice fields.

They gave us a herbal tea...tasted like bitter hot water.

Kitchen...I won't complain anymore.

And then we left Mai Chau, returned to Hanoi, spent the night and the next morning, we did a walking tour with two sweet local college students who are in an English club. Learned a lot about Vietnam from their young eyes and enjoyed it very much. First stop, an ancient place of learning and a temple.

Local graduates having pictures made in the park.

Ho Chi Minh's grave...yep he's preserved in there. We didn't go in.

Our guides! That V sign is a universal Asian thing... Like duck lips in the US, I guess!

And yes...our resident rock star had young ladies just walking up and asking to take a photo with him! It was funny and sweet!

Then, A tour of the Hanoi Hilton. It was somber and sad.

Next morning, we loaded up to ride to our cruise departure destination.

Water taxis to our cruise ship

We sailed about an hour and this started to appear through the mist. Halong Bay is one of the new 7 natural wonders of the world. Just breathtaking. The pictures are good, but not able to capture it really.

A cave on the island!

Basket boat ride to a floating village

Evening on the ship showed how beautiful the woodwork is on board.

Our chef carved these from vegetables and fruits!

We returned to Hanoi and our friends journeyed on to south Vietnam. We spent another day touring Hanoi and then flew home to Hong Kong. I was slightly sick the last day, so Steve took three kids and toured a military museum in Hanoi.