Last Day in Vietnam

11/15/2008

Where did the last 2 weeks go??? Waking up this morning was a little difficult for 2 reasons. First I caught the flu (not bird flu) and was nauseous all day with a huge migraine and second our vacation was coming to an end and the thought of sitting on a plane for 17 hours with an 8 hour layover in Korea did not sound all that pleasing.

We spent the afternoon hitting up the open markets and then decided to go to the mall because it was super hot and humid and we needed somewhere with air conditioning. From my observations this mall was super expensive, looks like everything is imported so the price was the same as back in the states. (NO DEALS!)

After arriving back to my uncle's house we started packing for our departure and Sarah wanted to try a few other native fruits.

Off to the airport we go... When we got to the International Terminal, I found out that this was brand new and has only been open in the past year. It was very nice none the least. Once in the air I pretty much passed out until we arrived in Seoul, Korea. We flew on Asiana Airlines and I must say they are top notched in their customer service. When we arrived in Korea we had an eight hour layover. What is cool is when you fly Asiana and have an extended layover what they will do is either offer you a guided tour around the city or give you a room at a nearby hotel. We opted for the room because I was still feeling under the weather. Anyways the rest of the flights were uneventful (which is what you expect when you fly) and glad to be back in 60 degree weather.

View the complete Vietnam - Day 9 photo album

Vietnam - Day 7 - 8 (Saigon)

11/13-14

We made it to Saigon at 6 PM and was greeted at the airport by my aunt and uncle on my mom's side and a bunch of new cousins. We spotted my aunt right away because she looks so similar to my mom. After hoping in a cab we took a short ride over to my uncle's house. The history of this house goes back 3 generations. Prior to it being completely rebuilt it was the same house where my grandparents lived and where my mom grew up in.

Once settled in at my Uncle's house we decided to take an evening cruise around the city on one of their many motorbikes. This was so much fun. I thought it would be scary but it felt safer than in one of those crazy cab rides.

Saigon is so different than Hanoi. First off the streets are a little wider and a few people do follow the street signals. But for me Saigon kind of looks like San Francisco. Big chain hotels that could rival Las Vegas and named brand stores like Louis Vuitton that take up a whole street corner. It seemed like every other block had a construction project of high rise office building or luxury apartments being raised.

The following morning we all rode on motor bikes down to the former presidents palace to gain some historic knowledge. This presidential palace was the home to the president before the occupation of the north. In the 2nd week of April back in 1975 my dad worked 2 blocks away from the palace when 2 bombs were dropped directly on the palace. My dad recalls hearing the blast and seeing the smoke stacks bellowing out of the roof top. Two weeks later from this event my dad and mom fled to the US. You can see in the pics where the bombs landed.

The rest of the afternoon was spent driving around so we can visit distant relatives. We even stopped by where my dad and mom lived after they got married. My dad couldn't remember the exact location, but he walked up to this really little old women sitting in the alley and asked if she knew who so and so was and immediate she responded with of course I do, the house is right there. My dad stopped by a neighbors house and visited the kids that he used to hang out with. This one women recalls when my dad was about 20 years old and she was about 5 years old that my dad came up to her grabbed her hand and said you are going to make it someday and that your smarts and knowledge will get you by. She said for some reason those words stuck in her head for her whole life. and it has probably been 35 years since my dad came into contact with any of these people.

After taking a quick rest at the house my cousin took us out to a bar at the top of the Caravelle Hotel. This hotel was decked out, the patrons looked at me funny for coming in with a t-shirt. When we got to the bar/lounge this Cuban live band was playing and they were awesome. After a few salsa songs the lead singer sung a rendition of Bob Marley's "No Women, No Cry" that I must stay almost topped Bob Marley himself. The drinks was super pricey, more expensive then the US. A bottle of Stella was $11 USD and a Mojito was $13. After a few of these we split and called it a night.

View the complete Vietnam - Day 7-8 photo album

Vietnam - Day 6 (Cultural Enrichment)

11/12

This morning our tour guide took us to the village where the Muong people live. After a short ride and beautiful scenery we arrive and was swarmed by Muong's trying to sell everything under the sun to us. We hiked around the trail for 3 hours and took in the vistas and stories from our guide about the culture of the Muong's.

The rest of the day was a free for all and we could do what ever we wanted to do in Sapa. I went up and down main street looking for things to buy, but couldn't find anything worth while.

At 6 pm we headed back down to the train station to once again catch a 9 hour train ride back to Ha Noi so that we can catch a plane to Saigon.

View the complete Vietnam - Day 6 photo album

Vietnam - Day 5 (Sapa)

11/11

Here's where the city meets the country side. The night before we packed up and went down to the train station to catch a 9 hour overnight ride to Sapa. Sapa is an old French built village that is home to a native tribe called the Hmong people. They are indigenous to the area and are considered like the aborigines of Australia or the native Indians of North America.

I've never been on a real train on an extended ride so this was very exciting for me. Once we got on board and settled down in our cabin we departed at 8:30 pm and headed to Sapa. I couldn't go to sleep yet so Tam and I headed over to car 1 to have a few drinks. After that, I turned in with my iPod on high to drown out the sound of the train over the tracks. Even though it was a bumpy and loud ride I slept like a baby. We were than woken up at 5:30am by the train operator that we'll be arriving soon. After departure we meet up with our tour operator and took a bus up the mountain. We checked into our hotel at 7:30 am and grabbed breakfast. Sapa is also a central meeting point for backpackers as there was probably several hundred European and American backpackers in this little town prepping for their trek.

At 9 am our operator took us on a 2.5 hour morning hike to go look at some waterfalls and tour around Sapa, after lunch we again went on another 3 hour hike up a mountain near town. I was very impressed with my dad and the others for completing this hike. I was exhausted after this hike but for an 83, 75, and 63 year old in our group to make it with me I was very proud of them.

Over and out!

View the complete
Vietnam - Day 5 photo album

Vietnam - Day 4 (Down & Dirty)

GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!!! After another pho breakfast we grabbed a taxi to the US Embassy so that Tam can obtain another passport and visa. This whole process took almost the whole day with a lot of paperwork and lets just say "monetary compensation", I'll explain later... When we got to the Embassy we got instructions on what needs to be done. My Aunt stayed with Tam to finish the passport stuff while My dad and Sarah went around the town again. We went inside the Ho Chi Minh Museum and then want to go see the "Hilton Hotel" which was a P.O.W. camp where soldiers were held during the war. What we found out is that everything shuts down between 11am - 2pm for lunch/rest. We ended up walking around Hoan Kiem Lake before grabbing lunch.

Oh what I forgot to mention is that to get to Hoan Kiem Lake we had to hail a taxi. On the way to the lake Sarah saw something suspicious with the meter. So my dad watched and saw that whenever the guy would tap his breaks twice the meter would jump dramatically. My dad called him out and tore him a new one and that's putting it mildly.

In the meanwhile my Aunt and Tam needed to go obtain a police report to get her new passport. Long story short it took some greasing before they were able to get a police report, get a new photo taken and return back to the Embassy to get her new passport only to give the passport right back to the Vietnamese consulate to now apply for a visa.

Sarah wanted me to mention that we ordered lunch for 5 people with plenty of food left over and it only cost us $10 dollars.

View the complete Vietnam - Day 4 photo album

Vietnam - Day 3 (Ha Nam)

Last night my dad, great aunt, and a cousin arrive. I was to tired so I didn't get a chance to see them until this morning (we woke up at 3 am, still not use to the time change). So we all meet up this morning for a quick breakfast and waited for our motorcoach to arrive. We decided that it would be more cost efficient if we hire a private coach to drive us around all day instead of taxi or any other mode of transportation.

The main agenda for today is to drive down to a small French village about 50 miles south of Hanoi named Ha Nam. Ha Nam is where my dad and great aunt was born and raised until their teens. There's a lot of history here in this town. I was told that this village sits on Highway 1 which was a main artery during the war for the northern army to make it's way to invade the south. During the war US bombed this town almost to non-existent and the bridges to try to stop the invasion.

After a very bumpy ride we arrive into a run down village that looked like it's still trying to get out of the war torn era. We started walking around the village with our aunt who introduced us to relatives that I never have meet nor even heard of until now. One of the first houses we visited was my dad's great aunt where they have not seen each other for almost 60 years. They helped raise my dad until he was 5 years old. The second he stepped into the house his aunts immediately broke down in emotions and tears of joy ran down her face uncontrollably and lasted for many minutes. As I looked around the room there was not a dry eye anywhere.

We continued to visit a few more relatives before heading out to the cemetery where my dad's mother and grandmother was laid to rest. We continued to turn back time by stopping by where my aunt's house use to be and where my dad and aunt attended elementary school.

As sundown fast approached we headed back to our motorcoach and started our ride back to Hanoi. We all thought the excitement of the day was over until our cousin yelled out from the front of the car that she can't find her passport. we pulled over and looked everywhere but with no success. We tried to retrace her day but it looked like it must have fallen out of her backpack early in the day. They have all planned to head to Halong Bay tomorrow but have now cancelled it so that she can go to the US Embassy to obtain another passport and visa because we're all supposed to catch an overnight train tomorrow evening to head west into the mountains to the Sapa region. It's been another long and exhausting day so it's now nighty-time.

View the complete Vietnam - Day 3 photo album

Vietnam - Day 2 (Ha Long Bay)

Today we booked a tour with the hotel to go to Halong Bay. Halong Bay is currently up for vote to become one of the new wonders of the world so we definitely had to make it there and I had a few friends that has gone and said it's a must see. So our tour bus showed up at 7:30 am and we hit the road on a 3 hour journey east from Hanoi to Halong Bay. On the way we stopped for potty break at a textile strip mall that sold tea kettle, plates, and a variety of clay pots. What caught my eye was off to the side of this store their was about 30 handicapped kids making these beautiful works of tapestry. I was in awe as how they spend tens of hours to make one of these pieces of art that I bought one.

Once we arrived in Halong Bay we were meet with our junk boat. We boarded and headed out to these mystical columns of rock jetting out from the sea. There is nothing I can write and many have tried to convey how beautiful this bay is but there really is no words to describe it, so I leave it up to you to see for yourself.

We stopped and had lunch on the junk before we took a short cruise on a smaller boat to be able to get to some of the small caves that the junk can't make it in. After this we got back on the junk and disembarked on one of the big rock columns to do a little spelunking. It was a beautiful site. The whole bay is breathtaking. We headed back to the marina and headed back to Hanoi.

Vietnam Trip - Day 2

Vietnam - Day 1 (Hanoi)

Woke up at 7 am and headed downstairs to start venturing out and get our bearings. We decided to get a quick meal at the hotel, so we got pho of course :) We had a list of places we wanted to see, so we started walking only to find that walking in Hanoi is not as easy as it looks. There is no street signals, people are everywhere and there is tons of motor vehicles trying to run you over. Just crossing the street, which we had to do about 40 times today was like playing a game of frogger, move a few steps forward a step to the right, 2 steps back and then 4 steps forward again. So today we got a chance to see Ho Chi Minh's house, mausoleum, museum, place where a B-52 was shot down, Vietnam's 1st university, taste some street food, and a few other touristy sites.

Vietnam Trip - Day 1

Vietnam - Day of Departure (LAX/Seoul/Hanoi)

11/5 - We depart from LAX on a very long flight to Seoul Korea before heading over to Hanoi Vietnam. What we found out is that they sure feed you a lot of food on these international flights. Also what I found was you end up watching a lot of movies. I was able to catch up on all my movies that I haven't had a chance to watch like Dark Knight, Baby Mama, Secret Agent, Momma Mia, and Hancock.

11/6 - After 18 hours since we left LAX, We arrive into No Bai airport in Hanoi Vietnam. So we waited for our luggage, but after an hour no one was left around the carousel and still no luggage. So we went to the lost luggage desk and they tell us they know about our luggage, it seemed like it is still in LA. Whaaat?!?!? How does this happen? I don't get it... Anyways, we fill out the paper work and meet up with our driver to the hotel. After about half an hour driving in the rain we get to the hotel. From earlier reports in the week I thought the streets would still be flooded up to our waist. But it looks like the water has receded, in the north anyways. It's about 2 AM here now and I'm super tired so calling it a night.