The last time we left you, we were leaving India. But India just couldn’t let us go. Can you blame it? We had quite the travel day planned to get to our next stop of Vietnam. From Goa, we had to fly to Hyderabad and from Hyderabad we had to fly to Cochin where we would spend the night and get up super early for our flight to Kuala Lumpur and then finally, Hanoi. Easy, right? Sure. Because everything is easy in India…

After we sadly said goodbye to Goa, we took a shuttle bus to our rather small airplane waiting on the tarmac. And as we patiently waited for the doors of the stuffy bus to open, we saw some drama unfold. A lot of arm-waving as the pilot yelled at the ground crew. A lot of grabbing his head and waving towards us passengers on the bus. After a good 5 minutes of awkwardly staring at mom and dad fighting…the door opened and someone got on and told us the flight was grounded.  Maybe the plane didn’t clean his room? Whatever the case, dad was pissed. As were we.

Back to the terminal we go with the chance of catching our connecting flight diminishing before our eyes. After 30 minutes of following people around, staring at screens, we finally were put on a different airline’s flight to Hyderabad. Score. We arrived in Hyderabad to find our connecting flight to Cochin was delayed a few hours. Thank you, India. We’re gonna make it to Vietnam, baby. But not until after our plane from Kuala Lumpur to Hanoi seemed to drop from the sky and the entire cabin screamed. Yes, that happened. Moving on.

We arrived in Hanoi late at night so headed directly to our hotel in the Old Quarter. Come to me, bed. The next day we met up with Craig’s BFF who has been living in Hanoi for the last 7-ish years. Tour guide! He took us to yummy local food/drink spots…and helped us order food. Vietnamese is not an easy language to pick up.

The big activity on our Vietnam list was a 3-day cruise in Ha Long Bay. There are boatloads of companies out there and we did our research and took the advice of many of our friends (thanks) to not cheap out. We found Indochina Junk and never looked back. We chose them for two main reasons. One, they are rated the number one cruise company on TripAdvisor. And two, they are one of the few companies that don’t take you into the clusterfuck of the main bay, but venture to Bai Tu Long, a more private area made for the likes of Bayoncé. We honestly felt like we were the only people in the entire bay. It was so peaceful. We spent our days soaking in the breathtaking views.

We were on a fairly small boat compared to some of the other companies. Only 15 guests aboard the Dragon’s Pearl. It was amazing, because everyone on the boat was amazing and super chill.

When I wasn’t busy saying “it’s so pretty” every five seconds, we were kayaking in the tranquil bay.

Or jumping off the boat into the you’ll-get-used-t0-the-temp water. I’m convinced Craig was a fish in his past life.

We witnessed some amazing sunsets.

We simply enjoyed boat life.

And met some rad new friends that live in Sweden. Wanna see a cute pic of them…and the least flattering pic of me?

After our wonderful cruise, we ventured back to Hanoi for two nights before flying down to Hoi An to meet up with Craig’s friend again for the Tet holiday (aka Vietnamese Lunar New Year). Hoi An was beautifully situated by the beach and amongst all the rice paddy fields. We stayed at an adorable place called Golden Rice Villa for six nights. They welcomed us with the biggest smiles I’ve ever seen and treated us to a New Year’s lunch right when we checked in. They treated us like family, not guests.

We loved that the villa was situated in a local neighborhood, not near the hustle and bustle of Hoi An and all the hotels. It was so peaceful.

They also had free bikes for us to use, so we biked everywhere.

And again, the sunsets didn’t disappoint.

And the architecture in the historic old town was gorgeous.

From Hoi An, we took a 30-minute cab north to the modern city of Da Nang. So many shiny lights and tall buildings. It was the opposite of everything we’ve been exposed to the last few months in India and Nepal. They even had a dragon bridge that breathed fire every Saturday. Talk about hot.

We stayed for two nights in a mediocre hotel, but who cares because it was like $20. We spent most days getting back into our walking routine of our earlier travels. We even stumbled upon a rooftop pool/bar. Ok, I googled it, but you get the idea.

Just north of Da Nang lies the old capital of Vietnam, Hue. So we hopped on a semi-double-decker bus (I sat on the floor, while someone climbed a ladder and sat above me) and made our way to the city of castles and tombs.

Hue actually ended up surprising me. I knew very little about it, but it ended up being one of my favorite spots in Vietnam. The first full day we spent walking around. We visited the old Imperial Palace that was a lot bigger than I expected and filled with pretty gardens…and tourists.

The next day is when the real fun started. We really wanted to tour around on motorbikes since it’s such an iconic Vietnam thing to do, but we really didn’t trust ourselves driving them and navigating the no-rule traffic rules. So Craig found a company called Hue Riders to take us around the city and to some war sites. Husband of the year.

Riding on the back of a motorbike is just like when you were young and your parents drove you everywhere and all you had to do was look out the window, but this was WAY better. We booked them initially for just two days, and loved them so much, we booked another day.

The first day was our Hue city tour. They picked us up from our hotel and drove us all around. We went to the City of Tombs and it was like nothing I’ve seen before. Picture a cemetery filled with a bunch of rich Vietnamese people that spend over $100,000 USD on their own tomb. Can’t picture it? Well, here’s a picture of it.

Very modest, of course.

Our guide informed us that if a family sees that another tomb is better (aka bigger) than their family tomb, they will tear down their current tomb and build a bigger and better one. Size queens.

After our brush with death, we slowly made our way towards the beach. The Vietnamese countryside is truly beautiful. Photo opps everywhere.

Once we arrived at the beach for lunch, we discovered tone-deaf karaoke singers were here too. So we enjoyed the “peaceful” beach while right behind us, people screamed into a microphone. One thing we learned during our stay in Vietnam, they love them some karaoke. And it’s usually real bad.

Maybe I should find something to throw at the loud singers ruining our lunch? I’m totally going to shell.

Before our day ended, we visited the tomb of the former King (who also had tombs for all his mistresses). This isn’t one of them.

Then we stopped by a local village and watched how incense is made. I wonder if they like Nag Champa?

The next day was our longest motorbike adventure yet. We were heading up to the DMZ. Not to be confused with the DMV, the Demilitarized Zone used to separate North and South Vietnam. During our tour, we learned that thousands of bombs were dropped on the surrounding villages. Many bombs didn’t detonate until after the war when they were accidentally dug up or stumbled upon, and ended up killing over 4,000 civilians. After the damn war. Sigh.

No trip to Vietnam is complete without some war sites and the feeling of embarrassment for being from a country that bombed the shit out of the very country you’re visiting. Can I just say I’m from Canada? And, that I’m sorry.

From the DMZ, we headed to the Vinh Moc tunnels. This area was also heavily bombed during the war, so locals created a complex system of tunnels to live in…for four years. Four years of living underground and only coming out to fish and gather food. Dozens of children were born in those tunnels, went to school in those tunnels. All to escape the bombing happening directly above them. And as someone that went in those tunnels for a mere 15 minutes, I can’t even imagine what that life would be like.

The tunnels had three levels reaching depths of 98ft/30m . The entrances were all hidden so planes couldn’t spot them. Fuck. War.

At least we got to end our heavy day by spotting hundreds and hundreds of baby ducks having a bit of a playtime. Glitter.

Our third and final day with Hue Riders, they took us from Hue back to Da Nang (instead of us taking the “double decker” bus again). If you’ve ever seen Top Gear, you’ll know the route. It was one of my favorite days. We drove off the highway and took the road less traveled (or more traveled, whatevs) and stopped a lot along the way.

Like at this fishing village where people live on these boats, wake up at 1am to go fish, come back around 6am, and sleep in the afternoon.

We stopped at Elephant Springs. Spoiler alert, there are no elephants here. Sigh. But there is a pretty waterfall and a rock elephant. And we got to swim in the chilly water.

I filmed a lot of cool videos while on the back of the bike going over the mountain pass, but since we’re cheap and don’t have a premium WordPress account, you’ll just have to imagine them. Here’s a picture of me wearing my helmet instead. You’re welcome, mom.

Before getting dropped off at our hotel, we zipped by Marble Mountain in Da Nang. It was pretty cool, but I was pretty tired and my ass was numb from being on the bike for three days straight. But, if you’re in Da Nang, it’s definitely worth a visit. Just be warned there are lots of tourists and children. I don’t know which is worse? So you just need to find quiet spots like this.

Just follow a monk, they know the chill zones.

I know what you’re thinking…when will this blog post end? Soon, I promise. But just two, ok, three, more stops.

We said our farewell to Da Nang and took a 40 minute flight to Dalat. Which we were told is where all the Vietnamese like to honeymoon. So perfect for the two least romantic people on the planet.

We had two days in the mountain city of Dalat. So much green. So little smog. We walked everywhere, including to The Crazy House. I’m pretty sure if Gaudi and Dr. Seuss had a baby, it would look like this. When can we move in?

We took a cable car through the pretty woods and ended up at an equally pretty temple. Craig loved it, I promise.

Maybe he’s just hungry?

There. That’s better. More enthusiastic photo.

Our second to last stop in Vietnam was in the beach town/city of Nha Trang. I would say 99% of the people we told we were going to Nha Trang all responded with “there are tons of Russians there.” Noted. To get to Russianville, we decided to bicycle our way there. Or at least try to bicycle there. When we left Dalat, it was sunny with a few clouds. Midway through our 70km ride, the fog swallowed us whole and spit right in our eyes. I have zero photos from the ride because I couldn’t see much. But I will say it was fun, in it’s own weird/terrifying way.

We made it to our hotel, a bit damp, but ready to rest. We treated ourselves to an Executive Room at Liberty Central after weeks/months of cheap hotel living (one room was $15 a night). Time to be VIP. And you know what? Mama liked. So much so, we barely left our room. Yes, we were a block from the beach. But the waves were epic and you couldn’t really swim. Besides, I was swimming in this amazing tub instead.

Oh wait. We did do one thing in Nha Trang. We got dirty. Mud baths are all the rage in this city. So we made our way to 100 Eggs and booked a private egg mud bath followed by a herbal bath. It was egg-cellent. Sorry not sorry.

Last stop! See, we’re almost there. We flew to Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City, whatever floats your boat.

We had one full day to explore so we did war things. As you do. It was Valentine’s Day and we were feeling romantic. So we explored the War Remnants Museum and I got teary-eyed as we looked at photos of children with birth defects because of all the Agent Orange the U.S. dropped on their country.

We also wanted to visit the war tunnels of Cu Chi. We found a great tour company that takes you there via boat instead of the boring road. Les Rives Authentic River Experience was great.  Our guide was funny, oddly enough, when talking about the war. In fact, most people at the war tunnels all had smiles on their faces like we were at an amusement park instead of looking at tunnels people hid and fought in. Well, I guess we should nervously smile and pose in the ever-so tiny tunnel.

And just like that, our time in Vietnam has come to an end. After four weeks of exploring and learning about this great country and welcoming culture, we had to leave. Overall, we had a blast. But food wise. Meh. Maybe I was a bit spoiled in India, the land of vegetarians, but I was Hanoi-ed with the lack of veggie options while traveling throughout Vietnam. But don’t worry, I’ll forgive you. There’s so much more to you than just food.

Up next we play house, I mean apartment, in Kuala Lumpur. For two whole weeks we will be renting an Airbnb with all the things you normal people have. You mean we don’t have to shower in our clothes to wash them? We can use a washing machine? Fancy. May you be everything we hope for, Malaysia.