One month in Vietnam, Saigon to Hanoi

We spent a month traveling from south to north through Vietnam starting in Saigon, Da Lat, Hoi An, Da Nang, Hue, Phong Nha, Ninh Bing (Tam Coc), Ha Long Bay & Ha Noi. We had the good fortune to experience both New Years Eve and TET. Vietnam surprised us at every turn and ended up being one of our favorite countries.

Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) December 28 - January 2, 2023

Bright lights big city. Wow, we did not expect such a cosmopolitan city. This was our first time being in a large city in Asia and Saigon did not disappoint. We landed in Saigon and went to our hotel, Myst Dong Khoi and checked in for the next 5 nights. I chose this hotel because of its location in District 1, close to New Year’s Eve festivities and fireworks, and because we got an incredible deal on the room. After a long travel day, I was still feeling under the weather so I decided to relax in the room while Jordan set out to explore the city. We had 5 nights in Saigon, so there was plenty of time to explore. After a solid nap, Jordan came back very excited about the city. He said it was chaotic but like an orchestra, it all worked, and he loved it. I was thrilled, and couldn’t wait to check it out.

Our first full day we set out to explore, but first I had to enjoy my first Vietnamese coffee (iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk). We grabbed one from the hotel Bason Cafe.. It was delicious. After some caffeine fuel, our first task was to find a place for our laundry. We walked out the door of our hotel with laundry bag in hand, and were immediately approached by a woman on a moped wearing the most amazing 90’s style track suit. She busted out a digital scale, told us our 6 kilos of laundry would be $17 USD to wash. Say no more, we handed over our clothes. She said they’d be ready tomorrow, packed up her scale and was off! We hoped we’d see our clothes again. Looking around, traffic was INTENSE. There were no stoplights, let alone crosswalks so I was pretty nervous about how to not get killed crossing the street. Jordan, being the seasoned pro, gave me the key advice - start walking in a straight line, and whatever you do, do not stop or hesitate. Mopeds, cars, buses and trucks will anticipate your movement and will go around you. I held his hand and followed, and we were off. First stop, Little Hanoi Egg Coffee for breakfast and yes, egg coffee. The only way to describe egg coffee is that it’s creamy, best served hot, and tastes a little like creme brûlée. Quite yummy. After a delicious meal, we went to the Bitexco Financial Tower to get a view of the city, then headed back to our hotel to relax by the rooftop pool. On our way, a guy stopped us for a shoe shine. Jordan gladly accepted. His Hokas never looked so good. Laundry & shoe shines on demand, what a great city. I turned in early (stomach still churning), and Jordan went out for some food and some Saigon beer.

After a month of hard & salt water in the Philippines, my hair was ready for some serious help. I’d done a bunch of research prior to leaving the US on salons for western hair. I landed on Hair Bar, which was an awesome experience. I’ve never had 2 stylists work on my hair at the same time, very efficient. Turned out awesome, I felt like myself again. While I was being pampered, Jordan set out to purchase his first drone, he was soooo excited to use it but sadly, there was nowhere in Saigon he could fly it, strict rules. That afternoon, we headed to Independence Palace but it was closed so we wandered over to the War Remnants Museum, a sobering must visit site that details out the history of the war, and includes displays, tanks, bombs, jets and other artifacts. Definitely worth a visit. While walking around the palace and museum, a guy carrying two coolers dangling from a bamboo stick walked up to us and said Jordan looked strong enough to carry it. Of course we fell for it, he carried the pole while I took pictures. Then he offered us a coconut water, which we obliged since he’d been so ‘nice’ to us.. Of course we got ripped off paying $10 USD for 2 coconut waters. Live and learn, and we laughed. We set out so I could finally experience some delicious Pho at a place that I’d heard had some good stuff, Pho Ha. I ordered beef pho and patient waited.. I was not disappointed, Jordan let out a sigh of relief. We wandered to a rooftop bar after the successful meal to Broma not a Bar to grab a drink & watch the light & sound check for the filling night NYE festivities. Based on what we saw, NYE was going to be a sight!

Day four we got up early for a visit to the Cu Chi Tunnels, a historic complex of tunnels that were a big part of the War. Instead of taking a long bus ride, we joined a tour and took a speed boat up the Saigon River. After about an hour of twists, turns and haycinth we arrived at the tunnels. Our guide shared a lot of very interesting information about the war from a south perspective. The Vietnamese were very cunning with their war tactics and good at staying hidden. The tunnels were incredibly small (for big westerners), Jordan had to crawl. Just thinking about the reality, pitch black, crawling around bends not knowing if there’s a bamboo hole waiting for you to fall in and get spiked to death or if someone will shoot or stab you with a bayonet… Terrifying! After the tunnel experience, we had the opportunity to shoot guns. We chose the M60 auto and M16. The M60 was a big bastard. Full auto. Jordan channeled Jesse Ventura from the movie Predator… He did ok, but the instructor said I was a better shot 😂. After a nice ride back, we were pool bound to chill before NYE. We went to an amazing steak house for dinner - Stoker Woodfired Grill, a little touch of home. So delicious! After dinner we headed into the city center, where a complete crush of humanity awaited us. I imagined this is what Times Square in NY felt like. It was a total mob scene, we got stuck in the crowd for 20 minutes trying to move. In the end we turned around & went back to our hotel and watched the fireworks from our balcony. Goodbye 2022!

New years day, we slept in a little then hit the gym & pool to work off the decadent dinner & cocktails from the night before. After we headed to The Melbourne Cafe for some brunch.. Great breakfast spot recommended by our frenchie friends Camille and Paul. With full bellies we set out to visit Independence Palace again. This time we made it inside. The palace was built in 1866, was bombed out in 1962 & was rebuilt in 1966… The mid-century modern vibes are strong inside. A complete time capsule. I loved it. After a wandering the city we headed back to our hotel and got awesome hand and foot massages for like $20.. The best. That evening, we followed a long standing new years day tradition and went to a movie.. Avatar 2 at Cinestar.. The theater was packed with people, and the popcorn was good. The fun quirk in Vietnam for movies was everyone getting up and walking in front of the projector… Full shadow screen, too funny. The highlight of the day was dinner at Pizza 4P… We visited the Hai Ba Trung location, awesome vibe. The highlight, smoked burrata bolognese, I am in love!! This was one of the best meals we had during our entire trip. We found out they had locations in Da Nang & Hanoi, we’d be visiting again for certain! This was definitely one of the best new years days we’d had.. ever.

Last day in Saigon, sad to leave! Went Nextdoor to Le Comptoir Bistro for breakfast, ordered some rautoulle, Jordan was not a fan. Said goodbye to our awesome little hotel, grabbed our last set of fresh clothes from fabulous laundry lady and headed to the airport for a quick flight to our next destination.

Da Lat January 2-6. 2023

This city is known as the ‘weekend getaway’ for locals.. Such a fun & quirky place to visit. The drive from the airport to the hotel was beautiful, up into the hills we went. Arrived at our place for the next four nights, the adorable Pi Hostel. We were greeted by koi fish & upon stepping inside we were surrounded by beautiful greenery, and intricate wood work… Good vibes here. After unpacking, we went into town for some food. I’d heard about a place near the flower park that had good noodles, plastic short stools, and a low key atmosphere, Quan Bun Ho Hue. I was not disappointed, ordered something like beef Pho, delicious. After, we wandered over to the street market and tried some street food, Jordan wasn’t a fan so he ended up finding some pizza, the international go-to food.

The next day we grabbed some iced coffee and went to the Da Lat Railway Station, with the intent of taking the Da Lat Plateau Railway scenic train up to Trai Mat. We took a taxi to the station, bought our ticket for the 7km journey and wandered around. Cool building built in 1922, like something out of a Wes Anderson movie. The train ride was really cool, like stepping into a time machine while watching the countryside go by. When we arrived at the station, we ditched the rest of the passengers and wandered up to the Cao Dai Temple. We lucked out and had the entire place to ourselves. After we took the train back to Da Lat, we headed over to the Crazy House. There is really not a good way to explain or describe this place, it was insane.. Like Antoni Gaudi and Salvador Dali had a baby that took LSD. Staircases, winding bridges, and rooms everywhere. This is also a hotel, but I don’t think staying here would be very enjoyable with people wandering past your room peeping in all day long. After about an hour, we’d tripped out enough and went back into town for a quick bite. Found a small place where a kid was whipping up food in a giant wok. Chicken fried rice (com chien) & a coke for $2. It was excellent. Jordan opted for a massage, apparently the lady was tiny but strong, she crawled all over Jordan like a spider monkey, well worth $20. Went to a cool little place called An CaFe, had coffee & read a book. That night we went to a tiny little Thai bistro called Rakkhun. We sat upstairs & ordered pad thai & mango sticky rice, grand total was $8.29… Loving the delicious and cheap eats in this country!

On day 3, we went full tourist and went to Datanla Alpine Coasters & Waterfall. It was like an amusement park, the alpine slides were quite fast… Thought I was gonna fly off the rails a few times, but it was actually very safe. We tried our aim with shooting a bow & arrow, and wandered around the ‘sculptures’… Totally corny but a blast. Afterward we walked about 2km to the Truc Lam Buddhist Monastery. Really beautiful temples, lots of Buddhists wandering around, gorgeous flowers everywhere. After the temple, we wandered around Tuyen Lam Lake for a while, and then ran into some issues trying to get a taxi back into town… We were kind of in the middle of nowhere. Luckily the locals in Vietnam are incredibly kind, so one of them stopped and helped us call one. Back in town, we walked around Xuan Hong Lake to check out some interesting giant glass sculptures.. Upon closer inspection, we found out one of them had an entrance to a giant underground mall! We had no idea this gem called GO! Da Lat was hidden under the city. So of course we ventured inside, two floors of all things SE Asia mall, including kids arcade and food court. Good times. After a quick rip through the mall, we headed over to the Maze Bar.. Yet another oddity in the wondrous city of Da Lat. It was worth a visit, twisting tunnels, stairs and climbing to find a bar. We had a drink, and set off to find a burger. No luck with that, but we stumbled across a little Italian place (weird I know) called Primavera Italian. We sat out on the veranda, enjoyed some delicious food and conversation with a couple from Oxford England, Paul & Danielle.

Last full day in Da Lat. I spent most of the day in the cute little lobby at our hostel editing photos and video. Later on, we went to what I believe is the only Mexican restaurant in Da Lat, the Blue Parrot Mexican Grill. And yes, there is a resident parrot in the restaurant. The owner came out and talked to us for a while, turns out he lived in Sandstone Minnesota when he was a kid. He said he lived in Mexico for a while, which explains a Mexican restaurant in Vietnam. Anyway, the food was really good. We wandered over into the center of town and grabbed a beer at a massive random bar & nightclub with outdoor seating & great views.

Last day, we said goodbye to the koi, and our adorable Pi Hostel. Off to the airport to continue our journey north. Our flight was delayed a little, so we tried out those airport massage chairs for the first time… Loved it, and for 50 cents, see you again soon airport massage chairs!

Hoi An & Da Nang January 6-9, 2023

Venturing further north, we were starting to see a difference in the landscape and richness of Vietnamese culture. We’d heard so much about Hoi An, and were excited to visit. Da Nang also was a place we were curious about since it was a hub of American activity during the War. After a quick flight, we checked into the Mulberry Collection Silk Eco. It was a cute hotel, $45/night with lots of greenery around the pool, and good basic rooms. The location was perfect… Walking distance to the historic center of Hoi An, but far enough to avoid the insane crowds. We were hungry, so decided to try a go at the hotel restaurant for lunch… We never seem to learn our lesson. Breakfast ONLY at hotels is the rule. Especially when there are soooo many delicious food options at our fingertips. Oh well. Grabbed dinner at the Flower Restaurant, had some tasty wontons and a few Larue beers. The woman running the place was really sweet. After dark, we walked into the main area of the city to see all the lanterns. Really pretty, but a total zoo of tourists and influencers in red dresses.

The next morning we’d arranged a small group tour of Da Nang, including the Marble Mountains and Son Tra Mountain (or Monkey Mountain as it’s commonly called). Our guide picked us up, and we were off. Started at the Marble Mountain, walked up 1000 steps to get to the top (or heaven as our guide called it). Along the way, there were so many interesting things to see, Tam Thai Pagoda, Buddhist Temples, temples in caves, and finally at the very top, the incredibly impressive Huyen Khong Cave complete with a 50 foot giant buddha. My father was a medic in the War, he was stationed near Da Nang. I couldn’t help but sit at the top looking out at the beautiful countryside thinking about what different experiences with this country we each had. After we were done at the mountain, our guide took us to where my dad was stationed… Original buildings were non-existent, but there was a fence, hangars and an air field. We tried to look around, but a guard came by and asked us to leave. So we were now off to Monkey Mountain. More pagodas, temples a giant Lady Buddha and as the name says, monkeys EVERYWHERE! We wandered around, watched the monkeys take sunglasses off tourists heads that tried to get too close for a photo, and took in the views of Da Nang & its beaches from high above. Again, I was having a hard time wrapping my head around this being a place of war when it was so beautiful and peaceful. After a full day of adventure, history and beauty we headed back to our hotel, I took a nap while Jordan set off to get a haircut… He ended up with a pretty intense cut in the back, I didn’t have the heart to tell him quite yet because he told the cutest story about going to this guys house, puppies everywhere and how he thought the guy had a lazy eye, hmmmm that explains the cut 🤣🤣 After a good giggle, I changed and we went back into Hoi A for more lanterns & madness. It was busier this time, sweet Jesus. I think for this reason alone, Hoi An ended up being a place that I was glad to see, but wouldn’t return to. We walked across the Chua Cau bridge (built in the 1700’s), paid a few dong to a woman for a lantern & good luck and headed back into the neighborhoods to a cute little restaurant called Bamboo Wood. Loved it.

Our last full day, we decided to use some bicycles to go to the beach. We rode past rice fields, where a farmer was hanging out with his water buffalo, and waved us over.. He talked Jordan into putting a traditional straw hat on and sitting on the beast. We took pictures and laughed, but of course immediately realized what this was and felt bad. This guy was clearly not a farmer, and of course asked us for $20. We gave him $10 and said goodbye. Back on the road, we pedaled all the way to A Bang Beach, dipped our toes in the water and then grabbed breakfast at The Deckhouse and watched the waves crash. Headed back to our hotel, it started to rain a little so we chilled out and then went to Ellies Cafe for lunch… Sooo good, we’d be back. It was still raining, so we chilled out a the hotel for a while, then wandered back into town later on. First stop was Lenco Cafe & Bar, a funky place with records and hi-fi and surprisingly tasty cocktails! I had an espresso martini, Jordan opted for a fancy fruity one. The bartender came over and chatted with us for quite a while, super nice guy, determined to get ahead… Based on his plan, I believed him! This place was right next to the to Ba Mu Temple, which had a completely different look during the evening. Loved it. After a nice little buzz, we headed over to Babas Kitchen for some Indian food.. Had to start preparing Jordan for this tasty cuisine before we were actually in India. This was his first experience & he actually liked it, I was impressed!

Last day, we went back to Ellies Cafe for breakfast, stopped by the house where Jordan got his ‘haircut’ to say hi to the puppies, then headed over to the train station for our journey over the Hai Van Pass to our next destination. Goodbye Hoi An & Da Nang!

Hai Van Pass Jan 9, 2023

The best way to get to Hue was via the scenic Hai Van Pass, we decided on taking the train. It was about 2.5 hours, and an awesome experience. We chose a 4 berth cabin, and shared it with a local family of three, a father & two sons. The older one stayed up top with his phone, but little one cruised around the car & cabin eyeballing us weird large westerners.. He was adorable. The train was comfortable, and the windows in the halls opened so we could feel the fresh air, and see the rolling hills and sea.

Hue January 9-10, 2023

After our scenic train ride, we hopped off in Hue, the former capital of Vietnam, to spend 24 hours exploring. We dropped our bags at our cute little hotel Soliel Boutique, grabbed an iced coffee and immediately walked over to the Imperial City complex to explore the all the wonders of this Unesco World Heritage site that was built in the 13th century. There were so many historic monuments and buildings spread across this vast complex, one day would be enough but it was all we had. We loved our afternoon wandering through the city, and exploring all the nooks & crannies of the buildings, but it was time for it to come to an end. We grabbed some coffee, then took a taxi into the main part of Hue so I could try some Bun Bo Hue, the famous beef noodle dish of Hue. Sadly, I cannot recall the name of where we ate, but it was delicious! Jordan of course was not a fan, so after we went to another place to find some western food… Quesadillas & mozzarella cheese sticks. We turned in early because the next day we were headed on a long drive to Phong Nha with stops at the DMZ & Vin Moc Tunnels along the way.

DMZ & Vinh Moc Tunnels Jan 10, 2023

Renting a self drive private car is not allowed for foreigners (or at least we were not able to find a rental agency) so we lined up a private transfer / tour to take us from Hue to Phong Nha. The drive was about 4 hours, but we added stops along the way which included the 17th parallel & DMZ (Vietnamese demilitarized zone) and the Vinh Moc Tunnels. Our driver dropped us off on at the Hien Luong bridge near the Memorial Park on the south side, gave us a little info about the area and told us he’d meet us on the north side in about an hour. We walked slowly across the blue & yellow bridge, toward the museum and flag monument on the other side. We had the area almost to ourselves, it was a little eerie. After spending a little time in the museum, we were off again headed north toward Vinh Moc to learn more about this village and its survival story. We arrived and were the only folks there other than the few people that lived onsite. We started to wander around and tried to go into a few tunnels to explore ourselves but quickly realized the tunnels were very dark and incredibly long. There was a local guy lingering around and we finally realized he was there to take us into he tunnels. Approximately 60 families lived in the tunnel complex to survive the bombing campaign that was taking place during the war, estimates are that 9000 bombs were dropped in the area from 1965 - 1973. It was such an intricate system, 3 stories deep, kitchens, bedrooms, school areas and well hidden exits, even one to the ocean. It was truly impressive, because of these tunnels, not one villager died during the war due to bombing. The craters from the bombs were still everywhere, but green grass had grown over them so they just looked like small rolling but you could still see the tell tale ring and indent. After spending about ab hour in the tunnels, we headed back to have lunch with our driver & the family that lived at the complex. After some yummy noodles and a few beers we were off to our destination for the next few days.

Phong Nha January 10-14, 2023

We were excited to spend some time in the self proclaimed ‘adventure capital of Asia’ home of the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park which houses the world’s largest caves with rivers & waterfalls. Our main purpose of visiting this area was to trek to the worlds 3rd largest cave system Hang En which is technically on the way to the largest is Hang Son Doong.. More on that in a bit. We checked into our adorable little rustic Carambola Bungalow for the next few days, met the resident puppies Ding & Dong, and wandered down to the river to check out the scene. A huge river, kayaks and cows… Loved it. We decided to eat dinner at the hotel, an iffy choice, but turned out ok this time.. Jordan was set on having wine with dinner, so he wandered down the street before dinner to find a bottle.. Came back with some old ass looking Da Lat red wine, it was not good.

The next morning we were off to explore Paradise Cave, a moderate warm up for the big Hang En adventure. The drive to the cave was amazing, vines on the trees looked like a giant carpet covering the entire jungle… Intensely lush. The journey to the entrance and 250 stairs down into the cave was not difficult, and it was very quiet because we arrived very early. The entire path through the cave was covered by a nice boardwalk. The interior was massive and went on for about a mile or so. It was so quiet you could hear voices echo, so of course Jordan farted to hear his echo 😂. Made it to the end, and walked back to the exit & started up the stairs only to be greeted by about 500 Korean people. Just missed the crowd, thank sweet baby Jesus. Back at the bungalow, Jordan jumped into the river and tried to snorkel, but couldn’t see a thing. So we hopped into the kayaks and headed up river to explore. There was a pack of dogs and goats running along the hillside near shore, and we realized there was a monkey chasing them.. We laughed so hard, was this place for real? After our adventures we took naps and headed into town later on for dinner. The host of the bungalows drove us into town and gave us his number to pick us back up later… Such a wonderful human. We ended up eating at the Treehouse Restaurant & Cafe, pretty tasty pizza, pasta and even had a bottle of French red wine to celebrate our 4 year wedding anniversary (14 years together but who’s counting?). Afterwards we wandered further into town to find some t-shirts, no luck for our larger than life American sizes. Turned in early to prepare for our 2 day trek. We woke up, told the host we’d be gone overnight, packed up our overnight packs and headed over to Oxalis Adventure tour operator for the big trek.

Hang En Cave Jan 12-13, 2023

This cave system, Hang En’ Cave is the 3rd largest in the world and more than 3 million years old. You must pass through Hang En to reach the largest cave Hang Son Doong, which was a 5 day trek with some technical skills needed. So we opted for the 2 day 1 night Hang En Adventure, which required less experience, but was not a simple trek… Over two days it would be 25 kilometers (15 miles) round trip, 1900 foot elevation decent on day one and another 1900 climb on the way out, about 30 river crossings, and some scrambling over rocks once into the cave. Only one tour company, Oxalis Adventures, has permission to take people into the cave. We had to arrange this trek in advance, and answer many questions about our hiking experience and general health because of the physical nature of this trek. I booked this adventure in October of 2022 to guarantee our spot, and ended up going back and forth via email with the company after answering the questions about height and weight which they asked for the first time in kilograms and centimeters, and then again in pounds and inches when they got our first answer. Upon learning that we were in fact each well over 200 pounds and not 10 feet tall, they asked about our hiking experience. I shared the story of our latest hikes (both one day journeys); Iceland hike to Glymur Waterfall, about 5 miles length & 1300 feet of elevation gain, and our Madeira Portugal hike, PR1 Pico do Arieiro – Pico Ruivo which was about 6 miles & 1900 feet of elevation gain. They reviewed that information, and asked how long it took us to do, and asked for pictures of us hiking.. Omg hahaha. This was intense, but yes, on paper, we appear to be morbidly obese, fat Americans 🤣🤣. After reviewing the pictures, they agreed to let us join the adventure, but warned us that if at any time the guides thought we could not keep up, we would have to turn around and go back wit hno refund. …I assured the person behind the emails that we were indeed ‘fat-letes’ (fat athletes) and said we’d be ok. All that said, the picture below shows the overall difficulty level of the trek, so they were just doing their jobs to make sure we didn’t die or ruin the adventure for the other trekkers.

Flash forward and we are sitting in the Oxalis training area, meeting our guides and the 16 others who would be joining us on this adventure. We were briefed on the trail, told how to wear our socks and tuck pants into them because of the leeches we’d sure encounter, fitted with hard hats, and we were off. The van dropped us off at the starting point, our guides and sherpas loaded up with our packs and equipment (thankfully we were hiking with minimal gear), and we were off. It had been raining for the entire eve, and was still drizzling that morning so we slogged through the mud, crossed rivers, slipped and slid through the terrain until we made it to our lunch stop. It was a slow and steady journey until that point, mainly because it was so damn slippery. Sitting at the table eating, I looked over and Jordan has a tiny leech next to his eyeball.. He plucked it off like it was nothing and kept eating. We continued on after lunch, crossing rivers and getting stuck in the thick mud.. At one point my shoe was completely buried in mud, and when I went to pluck it out, my shoe strap broke, awesome. So I continued hiking gingerly with a broken shoe. Thankfully there were spare hiking shoes in the cave at our campsite. After what felt like hours, we spotted the immense cave entrance in the distance & got a 2nd wind. As we entered, we walked across a shallow river and were told to put our helmets on. We climbed over a few rocks and ended up at the top of a steep hill overlooking a gorgeous blue lagoon, and our campsite for the night below. We climbed down the hill of rocks, hopped onto a small raft and our guide pulled the rope to float us across the lagoon to our home for the eve. This cave was huge, really no way to describe it. The campsite consisted of several tents, a dining tent and two composted toilets. It was like nothing I’d ever experienced. We stripped off our wet clothes, leech ridden socks and shoes and took a dip in the lagoon, it was cold but felt amazing after the long day. Everyone on the trek was great, but we ended up befriending Lynn & Anthony, a brother & sister from California, they were super fun to chat with. The guides whipped up one of the best home cooked meals we’d had and we all sat around after just enjoying the scenery. The guides brought out some moonshine, Jordan ended up taking several shots with Anthony, but we all turned in early, completely exhausted. Getting up in the middle of the night to pee was scary as hell, considering I had to walk about 50 yards to the compost toilet in the pitch dark with only a headlamp… I would have paid money to have night vision camera watching me scramble to the toilet headlamp rapidly scanning back and forth to avoid the cave dwelling monster that doesn’t exist.. 🤣

The next morning we woke up, and to our surprise the sun made an appearance! We all hiked up to a viewing point and were able to see the sunbeam light up our campsite and the lagoon. Amazing. After staring at that beautiful sight, we continued further into the cave to the other side which was even more impressive that where we’d just been. This cave entrance/exit was insane. It had its own ecosystem and was enormous. When I was able to see the entire cave I was brought to tears, it was so intense. The group decided to journey down toward the floor, I stayed back and just sat on a rock and took it all in. Completely indescribable beauty. Apparently it’s been used as a movie location for films (Pan: In the Neverland) and featured in the BBC Planet Earth III Episode 6 - Extremes. We all spent about an hour in the large cave, then headed back to the campsite to pack up, eat breakfast & prepare for the journey back. Thankfully the sun was shining bright that day, so all the muddy mess had dried up and the trek was manageable (for now). We passed by water buffalo napping by the river, crossed back and forth over the river, and stopped along it for lunch. The journey was mostly flat until the end, when we got to small mountain we had climb to get up and out of the valley. It was 45 mins of straight uphill to the tune of 1900 feet of elevation gain. It was intense, and we were sweating like pigs. If I didn’t have my guide/boyfriend Chi holding my hand along the way for some of the steep parts, I probably would have died. …Kidding, but it would have taken me twice the amount of time. In the end, we made it up and out had a victory beer with the group, got some wooden medals for completing the trek. What an insane adventure. For a full experience of the hike with more photos and video, check out my Hang En Cave Reel on Instagram.

Later that evening, we met up with a few folks from the group for dinner at the Treehouse, had a few laughs, some more beers and wine then headed back home to bed. We packed up the next morning, bid farewell to our friends at Carambola Bungalows and Phong Nha and headed to the train station in Dong Hoi for our first overnight train experience. Our overnight train to Ninh Binh didn’t depart until 10pm, so we decided to grab an inexpensive room for the day at Rex Quang Binh Hotel. It was so fancy for $34. The rooftop pool had great views, and the rooms were nice. we went to the station early to grab a bite for dinner just up the street from the station at the Sophie Homey Cafe. As we ate, little kids ran up and down the street playing with a reluctant dog. Some delicious noodles and off to the train station, to sit, and wait, and wait with the loudest music videos playing on the televisions. The train was about 2 hours late, so naturally we were tired and cranky when we got onboard to find a family of 3 in our lower bunks we’d reserved. We asked them to hop up top, and we attempted to pass out. I slept ok, Jordan not so much. When we woke up, the teenage girl started asking me questions… She’d never met Americans before. So we chatted for a bit, took a few pics and bid farewell when we arrived at our stop.

Ninh Binh (Tam Coc Area) January 14-17, 2023

Our home for the next 3 nights was just southwest of Ninh Binh in a sleepy little area called Tam Coc. We opted for a guesthouse called Tam Coc Bungalow, which turned out to be a great choice. Our bungalow was right on the river, up against limestone cliffs, little bungalows and a cute pool & garden area. This place was inexpensive ($28/night), family run & great. It was early, so we decided to do the thing you do here which was take boat ride through the caves with a guide who paddles the ores with their feet. We went through three caves, passed a ton of hills (this place is known as Ha Long Bay on land), rice fields everywhere, lots of farmers, mostly women, replanting rice. Such a pretty scene. Luckily we went pretty early, so we missed the hoards of tourists. On our way back the river was packed with orange life vests. Back at our bungalow, we had a Ba Ha Noi beer and watched the boats row by. Later that eve we walked over to a place near by for some pizza & craft beer, Banana Tree Hostel. Right after we ordered, the power went out for the whole town, but luckily brick pizza ovens & beer taps are not affected. 😂. We ate & drank by candlelight, then walked home in the dark. The power came back on right when we got to our hotel, bedtime.

The next day, we woke up early to watch the Viking lose int eh playoffs, Jordan was FaceTiming with his brothers for the fiasco. After that disappointment, we attempted to ride bicycles to the Ming hau viewpoint… It was a bumpy ass ride with no gears so we rode back to our bungalows & rented 2 scooters… Neither of us are seasoned riders, and we definitely are not great at being passengers so we decided to roll solo on our own scooters. And for $4 dollars, no big deal! This was such a fun time, we instantly regretted not doing it sooner. We rode into Ninh Bin to find an ATM, which turned out to be quite a bit busier than Tam Coc. Now we were off… We grabbed some more egg coffee at the Monalisa Restaurant, then headed up the 500 steps to the Mua Cave viewpoint & dragon. Such a great view! Jordan was finally able to fly his drone, he was so excited. Thirsty & hungry again (a running theme) we stopped at Linh Chi Craft Beer Pub for some beers and a snack & ran into our Swiss friends from the Hang En Cave adventure, small banana backpacker trail here in Vietnam! Satiated, we took off for Bich Dong Pagoda, (yes, it is pronounced just like it is spelled 🤣) a buddhist temple build into the hillside, for some more exploration. We wandered around & met a fun honeymooning couple from California who were heading to Thailand after, so we made plans to meet up with Rachel & Mark Bart (his name is actually just Mark, but we thought his name was Bart so this is his new name now) in Chiang Mai. Had a great day scootin’ around town and adventuring. That night, we decided to not ruin a good thing and went back to Banana Tree Hostel for more za & drinks. On the walk home, someone was belting out awful yet fantastic karaoke from one of the houses around the lake, glorious. We had an early morning transfer set up for Ha Long Bay so we turned in early.. Another running theme, our days are so packed with adventures we are too exhausted to stay out late. But when we actually do stay out late to party, we are all in.

Ha Long Bay January 17-19, 2023

Of all the things we were told we must do in Vietnam, a cruise on Ha Long Bay topped all the lists. So we opted for a 3 day 2 night cruise with Orchid Cruises on a luxury ship to unwind and relax. It was a 4 hour private transfer from our place to Halong Bay. We arrived and checked in, there were lots of people, some very fancy in sport coats. This was going to be a little different than what we’d been used to so far.. But we were ready for the opulence. We boarded the boat, it was gorgeous. There were only 10 passengers including us which was great… Three American couples and one Austrian couple. The boat itinerary was packed with excursions wo we opted in the first day.. We hopped into the dingy and ventured into a cave.. It was ok, but since we’d just spent 2 days in the 3rd largest cave in the world, we were a little underwhelmed. Back on the boat, I headed up to the sundeck to meet up with Jordan, I fell ‘up’ the stairs and then proceeded to close the open glass door and then walk right into it with my forehead. Jordan, David & Karen saw this and doubled over laughing. Glass doors opening became a running them for the next 2 days. We all hopped into the hotter, had a few cocktals and enjoyed the views. After a little cooking demonstration, we all had dinner and enjoyed a few more drinks before turning in.

The next morning we opted for a quick dip into the bay, it was cold but refreshing. Jordan wanted to mess around with his drone, so I decided to go for a kayak. There was another excursion that day, but we opted to just lounge around on the boat and enjoy the luxury. We said our farewells to our new friends, then greeted the new passengers who joined. More cooking classes, this time spring rolls (yummmm!) and fancy dinner. All in all we probably could have just booked one night, but we really enjoyed just chilling out on the boat after trekking across Vietnam for the last 25 days.

Last day on the boat, I opted to try some Tai Chi, it was actually quite nice! Breakfast, and a slow cruise back to port to finish off our journey. We said farewell to the crew who were very excited to enjoy the TET holiday with their families.

For more Ha Long Bay pictures and video, check out my Reel on Instagram

Hanoi January 19-24, 2023

Gritty pretty city. I loved Hanoi, the charm, the chaos, everything. We had 5 nights in the city, so we treated ourselves to a centrally located luxury AirBNB fully quipped with a kitchen, laundry, tons of space and amazing views. We settled in, started some laundry and headed over to my obsession Pizza 4Ps for dinner. Yesssss, more smoked burrata bolognese please. Jordan was feeling kind of shitty, so we turned in early laid around and watched some movies.

The next morning I ran down to our street vendor to buy some flowers and a peach blossom branch (a traditional flower for TET) while Jordan cooked us breakfast… After a month and a half on the road with no ability to cook, I forgot how comforting it was, the breakfast was probably one of the best ever. Jordan wanted to rest some more so I headed out to check out The Hangout tattoo studio, a shop I’d researched to get some fresh ink. The walk was great, since it gave me some good orientation for the city, and more practice crossing the streets… Which I desperately needed. At one point I hesitated in the middle of the street while facing oncoming trucks, mopeds and cars… Not good. A guy on a bike swerved around me, and shot me a curious look, not mean of course because the Vietnamese are a kind people who thankfully do not tolerate violent actions, phew! ….After a few more near death street crossings, one involving me following an elderly lady as a guide and honestly a shield, I finally made it to the shop, went in grabbed a coffee and chatted it up with a girl who was oddly enough looking at colleges in Minnesota. Small world indeed. I made an appointment for a few days later and headed back to our AirBnB to grab Jordan. I was obsessed with Bun Cha, so of course I needed to learn how to make it. We signed up for a cooking class with Rose Kitchen, which included the experience of buying all of the ingredients from the local market, as well as cooking the meal. Absolutely loved this experience, the market had so many characters.. The woman in charge of the meat wasn’t taking any shit from anyone, she wielded her meat clever like a weapon. After all that we headed back to the kitchen, prepped the food and grilled the meats… I can still smell the deliciousness. The finale, oh my gawd, the meal… I can honestly say I’ve never had better bun cha, before or after. When we go back to Hanoi, Rose Kitchen will be getting another visit from me. With full bellies, we headed over to The Old Quarter & beer street to take in the sights and a few pints. We sat on tiny plastic stools drinking $1 pints watching the world go by, literally. Love you Hanoi.

The city was winding up and down for the evening festivities to celebrate the Tet Lunar New Year, the most important Vietnamese celebration signifying the beginning of spring. Most businesses are closed so families can go home (typically the countryside) to spend time with relatives. We grabbed a croissant & coffee (thank you French influence), passed by Train Street for a quick peek, and visited the Hoa Lo Prison, or Hanoi Hilton as it’s known by most Americans. It was a sobering look at the sad realities of war, highly recommend a visit. One of the things we noticed as traveling through Vietnam as Americans was that locals were very kind, curious to know more about America and also very open to sharing more about their experiences with the war and just in general about their country. There was always a part of us that felt like we should be apologetic for what happened well before either of us were born, but we were never once treated like we needed to be. The Vietnamese people were nothing short of kind, generous and helpful throughout our experience. Time for a drink after all that! We stopped by the Xofa Cafe & Bistro for some brunch, cute place. We wandered a bit more, and made our way to Train Street to take in the scene. Waiting for the train, people were all over the tracks taking selfies (we did too), posing in their best outfits and clamoring for a stool right alongside the tracks to feel the rush of adrenaline as the train passed. The whistle blew in the distance, and immediately 2 shop owners were all over the tracks shooing the people into their seats, making sure nobody was over the line. It was intense. When the train got closer you could hear the gasps as everyone saw how big it was in the narrow passage way. It definitely lived up to the hype, I’m a sucker for trains and this was cool as hell. After the adrenaline of feeling the train pass within a few feet of our heads wore off, we started to crash. We knew we were in it to win it that evening so decided to head back and take some naps… I love a good nap. We also had a great vantage point from our bedroom to watch the sun set, fiery red from the smog, over the city. Rested up, we headed back out into the city to the heart of the celebrations at Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Square. We stopped at a little cocktail bar, I had to toast the end of the Year of the Tiger with a proper old fashion… Because I’m a tiger, it was delicious. After, we made our way to Pizza 4P’s because it was the only place where we knew to make a reservation. Opted for some carbonara this time, mixed it up a little. People everywhere, ready to ring in the new year. The fireworks were set to go off over Hoan Lien Lake, so we walked around looking for a good spot. Similar to any fireworks celebration in the States, all the good seats had been taken long ago, so we just got as close as we could. In the end it really didnt matter because the smog & smoke were so intense, you could barely see the actual fireworks… The sky just lit up and changed colors every so often. It was still pretty cool to see though. We walked home after the main event, watching all the locals burn their paper money offerings outside of their homes to bring luck in the year ahead. New year number two in Vietnam complete… Farewell year of the tiger, until we meet again in 2034.

Per usual on New Years Day, we considered it a ‘lazy day’ and chilled out for a while before heading out in search of more adventures in the city.. I also used a little morning time to catch up on editing & cleaning up my growing stockpile of photos. The city was insanely quiet, everyone was off work and just walking around enjoying the quiet spaces. We stopped by a park, which like many in other countries had an outdoor gym of sorts.. Jordan screwed around on the equipment and we moved on. One regret I have is not taking more photos of the propaganda posters that were peppered all around the city, also in Saigon. They were really unique looking, all I managed to get was one. Oh well, next time. We went to West Lake to visit the John McCain Memorial. While on a bombing mission during Operation Rolling Thunder over Hanoi in October 1967, McCain was shot down, seriously injured, and captured by the North Vietnamese. He was a prisoner of war until 1973 at the Hanoi Hilton. The memorial was small but meaningful. It was nice to see him honored even though he was considered an enemy at one point. The Tran Quoc Pagoda was nearby, but it appeared to be a mob scene with people so we viewed from afar and kept walking toward home and stopped by the Street Murals in the old quarter. We’d passed by it several times, but I’d failed to take any pictures… Of course today it was packed with families, but these kids were so damn cute… Seriously adorable. With our fill of activities we headed home to Netflix & chill.

Last full day in Hanoi and Vietnam, we grabbed breakfast at Lifted Coffee.. Another recommendation from our Philippines Frenchie friends Camila & Paul. Good food and cute pups, one with a pink mohawk and the other with a topknot 🤣❤️ Off to the Hangout Tattoo Studio to get my fresh ink - a koi fish & diver flag placed nicely in my world map (a pre-trip tattoo inked by Jeff Marek at Uptown Tattoo). Good experience, loved the results.. Highly recommend if you’re in the market for ink in Hanoi. Our friends from Ha Long Bay David & Kate recommended we stop by the Metropole Hanoi for a drink, an ultra fancy hotel, originally built in 1909. We bellied up to the open air bar by the pool, chatted it up with the bartender and were delighted to find some French onion soup on the menu. Ordered a bow to share (which they split into two separate bowls, a nice touch), and some bubbles. Really nice, but expensive to we moved on before we blew our weekly food & drink budget in one afternoon. High on life, bubbles and French onion soup, I was bound and determined to get some more bun cha… Apparently I was too excited because I ended up tripping into a curb next to the table, as the diners looked on in shock. Bruised ego, I skipped the bun cha and we went back to the room to clean up a bit, and were back in action. We found a cute little wine bar close by, Tannin Wine Bar, and had a few glasses while watching a toddler chase a rooster outside the window, while his mom chased him. Next mission, find the Rabbit Habit speakeasy… We searched and searched, google mapped and wandered into several alleys and halls. I’m pretty certain we tried to open a few doors that were a home… Breaking and entering is fine if you’re looking for a bar right?? No luck finding it this time… We were near train street, so we went back for another round and a drink. Ended up sitting with three people and had a fun chat.. After telling them of our mission, one of them walked us back over to where it was supposed to be, still no luck even with a local expert. Oh well, next time. On to the next, Puku Cafe & Bar, espresso martini for me, rum & coke for old Jordo. After exchanging some choice messages & pics with our Philippines Swiss guys, we moved on to the last stop of the evening was another cocktail bar recommendation from our Ha Long Bay pals, The Hafflington. Loved this dark, glass & alchemy inspired place, complete with a small dinosaur skeleton hanging from the ceiling. Espresso martini for Jordan, old fashion for me… Cheers Hanoi, and goodnight Vietnam, we love you.