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Vietnam
  • Penny Patterson

Vietnam

A 28-day adventure by Penny Read more
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  • Trip start
    February 11, 2024
    Penny PattersonVietnamTraveler

    Here we go!

    February 11, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    Rough start to the trip with a six and a half hour visit to DFW.... Had a weather delay which caused me to miss my connection and I think the picture of Luke Combs's twin and the couple behind him says it all. The line snaked back several gates. But I was chill, found a lounge, and read my book. Then worked a little over at Sally's, and had to take a shot of Vashon and Southworth beyond, thinking of my friend Kathy. After I got to Seattle, the actual trip the next day was smooth, all 31 hours of it. Added bonus was window shopping in the Firefly gift shop at SeaTac, snapping photos of catchy phrases that I'm going to reimagine on t-shirts for my new business. First leg getting from Springfield to Seattle, then Sally and I start out Monday night on the red eye from Seattle to Vancouver, to Taipei, to Hanoi.Read more

  • Penny PattersonVietnamTraveler

    First Pho

    February 14, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    We dropped our bags after landing, did a quick freshen up, and hit the streets. There seems to be some kind of outdoor pho eating establishment every 10 stores and our guy took us to one that he's very familiar with. Quite the introduction to Vietnam... These shops have a tiny kitchen with low tables and chairs right on the sidewalk. Apparently when you are done with your napkin, your lime rind, or really any trash at all, you just throw it on the ground. I was pretty horrified but as we found out the next day, I think the mess we saw may have been caused by people being off work because of Tet. As we walked by it the next day, it did not look like this... But we enjoyed hanging out with the locals, every single seat was taken, and the pho was delicious.Read more

  • Penny PattersonVietnamTraveler

    Ngoc Son Temple

    February 15, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    First full day in Hanoi, after breakfast headed straight out to Hoan Kiem Lake to watch the locals do their Tai Chi. Lots of ladies in beautiful dresses taking pictures in front of the decorations that are still up for Tet, which ended yesterday. Walked through Ngoc Son Temple, which was also decorated for Tet and super busy with lots of people coming to pray. It holds significant historical and cultural significance as it was built in the 18th century to honor Vietnamese national hero Tran Hung Dao, who successfully resisted Mongol invasions during the 13th century. Temple also pays tribute to several other prominent figures of Vietnam's history.Read more

  • Penny PattersonVietnamTraveler

    Ly Thai To

    February 15, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    As Sally and I were walking around Hoan Kiem Lake, I saw a giant statue with lots of landscaping across the street and we had to check it out. Enormous bronze of Ly Thai To, the founder and first emperor of the Ly Dynasty in Vietnam. He ruled from 1009 to 1028. He successfully ended over a millennium of Chinese dominance and established an independent Vietnamese kingdom. He moved the capital from Hoa Lu to Thang Long (present-day Hanoi), which became a significant political and cultural center. Ly Thai To is remembered for his contributions to Vietnamese statehood, his administrative reforms, and the promotion of Confucian principles. His reign marked a significant era in Vietnam's history, and he is celebrated as a national hero. The statue was in a beautiful park with the biggest bonsai I've ever seen, probably 2x bigger than the bonsai in Pacific Bonsai Museum in Federal Way. Also, including an example of the French influence on the architecture around the park area.Read more

  • Penny PattersonVietnamTraveler

    Vietnamese Women's Museum

    February 15, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    We spent over 2 hours in the Vietnamese Women's Museum after our walk around the lake. An inspiring and eye-opening tribute to the resilience, strength, and contributions of women throughout Vietnam's history. The museum tells the stories of Vietnamese women from various walks of life, showcasing their roles in the country's development, culture, and family life. From the struggles of female revolutionaries to the artistry of traditional crafts, the museum offers a profound insight into the experiences and achievements of Vietnamese women. I studied so much history about Vietnam before this trip, but I never read a single word about women's involvement and I was blown away by the educational displays here. They were a pivotal part of the numerous internal civil struggles and the American war. The textiles and traditions from all the different tribal areas were mesmerizing. What struck me were the "Three Responsibilities" that women aspire to during the American war: taking care of the family back home while their husbands were fighting, working in the fields and factories to keep the men fed, clothed and supplied, and fighting themselves. One of the pictures is a broom that was used to smuggle documents. The female revolutionary had a crafty plan to make poorly made brooms that concealed secret documents. As she traveled as an alleged broom salesman, no one would buy them because they were so poorly made and she went undetected.Read more

  • Penny PattersonVietnamTraveler

    Huong Lien

    February 15, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Had my third bowl of Pho in 24 hours at the place where Anthony Bourdain took Obama. Sat with the locals, whose kids practiced their English on us, super cute. My experience in the US is that pho is really any protein in a rich broth with rice noodles, lots of green leafy herbs, and fun condiments like sriracha, red chilies, garlic, and fish sauce. However, pho is only beef, so what we had here was Bun Cha. Sure looked like pho to me but it was pork 🙂 Regardless of what it was called, it was really good. Bonus points that we found it , and have not had an accident yet after crossing the street multiple times by ourselves.Read more

  • Penny PattersonVietnamTraveler

    Cha Ca & Night Stroll

    February 15, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    We did not have pho tonight! Mixed it up and had grilled fish that is served with a pile of fresh dill on a one burner stove in the middle of the table. Very similar idea to the pho though, with bowls of condiments of herbs, red chilies, rice noodles, kumquat, fish sauce, and a new addition of peanuts. We met all but one of our group tonight and had a very nice dinner and got to know some of them. Afterwards 4 of us took a walk to enjoy some of the lights that have been hung in the streets for Tet.Read more

  • Penny PattersonVietnamTraveler

    Architecture

    February 16, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Had my eye open for French influenced architecture, I'm very excited to learn more about this topic. Some examples are easily recognizable, with balconies and French doors that remind me of when the French rebuilt the French quarter after the Great Fire in the late 1700s, and also my travels in France. Young pointed out this older house, and the historical significance that people were forced to move there years ago.Read more

  • Penny PattersonVietnamTraveler

    Local brewery

    February 16, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Sally, Mark, Debbie and I took off after breakfast and hit the lake again today. We took a different way back and got to see more of the neighborhood and met the group back at the hotel at 11 am. Several in the group got in late yesterday, one even after midnight, so we had a small orientation walk for the full crowd. We went to a local brewery where the owner was yelling and screaming at the employees which was really quite funny. We grabbed plastic chairs, had some beer, peanuts, and fried tofu for a snack. It was a little lighter than the Hanoi Beer we've been drinking but nice. We also passed by the hotel that's on the same block called the Ann, and made us think of Ann and Ron who we wish were with us 🙂Read more

  • Penny PattersonVietnamTraveler

    Rickshaw

    February 16, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    My first rickshaw ride! Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam and it is really busy at quitting time! These people are so coordinated, I do not understand how there aren't more accidents. Cars, bicycles, motorcycles, Vespa's, rickshaws, all zip around in harmony while completely ignoring traffic signals. Traffic signals are merely a suggestion here. These pictures do not explain the chaos but it seems to work. The experience was really quite nice, as we saw a different part of the city with a 30 minute ride to our restaurant of the evening. Dinner was delicious, with several courses of split pea soup, grilled fish, grilled chicken, veggie slaw, all with sweet and spicy sauces.Read more

  • Penny PattersonVietnamTraveler

    Market run for host lunch

    February 17, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Today we headed to the market to pick up a few things for lunch with a local village family. We broke up into groups and had to pick out what we wanted and conduct the transactions without any translation help. I know a few words and pointing usually works. My curiosity and facial expressions earned me a bag of shaved banana blossoms and the lady just gave them to me with a big smile. The next stand I procured a custard apple and a guava and that lady simply wrote the price on her hand so that worked well. The lack of flies in the city and in the open market were markedly absent, which is a stark difference from Morocco and the Laiki Agora in Athens. If it weren't for the continuous flow of scooters, I'd say this market was calm and peaceful. Overall, a really nice experience. The custom here is to go to the market daily for groceries and many of the vendors have a very early start to the day to bring things in from outside the city.Read more

  • Penny PattersonVietnamTraveler

    Rice paper!

    February 17, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Took a ferry to the village of Tho Ha, where the economy consists of rice paper (for spring rolls), rice crackers, and rice whiskey. The mayor met us and walked us through the village to introduce us to families that made these 3 products The rice paper was drying on racks everywhere.... Stacked against the walls as you're walking through the town, propped up on walls, up above over alleyways, everywhere. Some is handmade and some is made on a commercial belt in sheets.Read more

  • Penny PattersonVietnamTraveler

    Rice Whiskey

    February 17, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    While in Tho Ha we visited a husband and wife team that is responsible for the rice whiskey production in the village. Very simple operation where they cook rice, ferment it, then distill it, very much like bourbon. It was really delicious. Initial burn, with a sweet aftertaste. They sell a gallon of it for $12 and it's 40 proof...Read more

  • Penny PattersonVietnamTraveler

    Spring Rolls & lunch with the Mayor

    February 17, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    The mayor brought us to his home, where his wife and daughter taught us how to make rice paper for spring rolls by hand. We all had a turn and it was very fun, reminded me of when we made bread at the community oven in Morocco. We then made pork spring rolls, with some of us rolling perfect little tight rolls and others not so much. Luckily the ladies took over and made an amazing lunch with several dishes: spring rolls, noodles, beef stir fry, fermented fruit salad, broccoli raw, sticky buns, and I'm sure I'm forgetting something else. Between making a mess with the spring rolls and actually eating, we had a real treat with the mayor. After a shot of rice whiskey, he pulled a lute off the wall that was over 100 years old and sang for us in front of the family altar. A fun jovial guy, he was a delight to be around. He spends the majority of his time teaching the youth in the village how to play traditional music.Read more

  • Penny PattersonVietnamTraveler

    Herbalist

    February 17, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    The mayor's next door neighbor is an herbalist, so we made a quick stop there before hitting the ferry. Super nice gentleman, his home is also over 100 years old and he learned herbalism from his grandfather. He served us some medicinal tea, which I'm sure we needed after all of that food and talked us through some of the common medicines that they source locally versus ones that are imported from China.Read more

  • Penny PattersonVietnamTraveler

    Rice crackers!

    February 17, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    First stop off the ferry in Tho Ha village was watching a family make giant rice crackers. They make a slurry with the rice in a very manual process to get it into a circle, very much like a crepe. They then sprinkle it with sesame seeds, coconut, peanuts, and a touch of brown sugar. It's then dried on racks, and finally cooked over a charcoal fire by hand. The younger girl who had cooking duty was home from university, and works 10 hours a day at the fire. I imagine that makes her study extra hard when she leaves there. The ferry does not appear to run on a schedule, but instead simply go to the other side of the river once they see people. No buzzer, no calling, just get on and get off when people need it.Read more

  • Penny PattersonVietnamTraveler

    Night motorcycle tour - Hanoi

    February 18, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Such a thrill physically and sobering, as well. Took a night tour on a vintage Russian Minsk motorcycle and survived to tell the tale. Drove out of the city into the country to see family farms and illegal house boats where some poor live on the Red River. Beautiful but really understanding the hard life many of the locals live. Went to a middle class neighborhood where 6 people, 3 generations live in 100-300 sq ft. This living situation means no furniture, you sleep on the floor, eat on the floor, and use a community bathroom shared with numerous neighbors. I think this explains the cafe culture where people eat and drink outside at sidewalk cafes and restaurants. We stopped for egg coffee, which is expresso with frothed egg yolk and sugar.Read more

  • Penny PattersonVietnamTraveler

    Train Street!

    February 18, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    As the motorcycle tour continued, our jovial guide made a stop and told us we would watch a train go by. We proceeded to sit on stools by the track, order beers, and proceeded to talk and enjoy ourselves. Half way through our beer, we heard a horn and our guide said to turn to the left and turn our knees in. That's it...the only warning, but other people started to jump the fence and the locals cleared out. The train appeared around the bend, came barrelling towards us, and proceeded to blast by us with mere inches to spare. I was terrified and Debbie said I had an iron grip on her shoulder as I tried to melt into the wall. Completely bananas. After surviving that, we regrouped for 7 minutes, and then another came from the opposite direction....but this side had iron steps that stuck out even further. Absolutely crazy, but we all survived and celebrated life with dinner afterwards.Read more

  • Penny PattersonVietnamTraveler

    Bat Trang Ceramic Village

    February 19, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Visited the personal home of a ceramics factory owner on the Red River, whose grandfather was impacted by the land reform program 1953-1956. The program involved confiscating and redistributing land owned by landlords to poor and landless peasants. The program resulted in resistance, including rioting, in the countryside. His family lost 18 properties but hid gold in the well. They left 1 son behind and the rest dispersed to France and South Vietnam for many years, finally returning to rebuild. Very different from Morocco ceramics visit, with an aggressive sales push, the owner served us tea in his living room, shared his story, and then gave us each a bud vase as a gift. We then ventured further into the village, where another family showed us how they make the ceramics. We all got to get dirty and play with the clay...mine was the best, but the owner gave the prize to Sally. :)Read more

  • Penny PattersonVietnamTraveler

    Military Cemetery

    February 20, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Nghia Trang Liet sy Gia Lam, 1,480 graves from three wars: French, American, and the Chinese war in the north and the 1980s. The majority are young men who served in these wars, but there's also a section for the mothers who lost their only son(s).Read more

  • Penny PattersonVietnamTraveler

    The Citadel

    February 22, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We spent the morning walking around the Citadel in Hue, including the forbidden Purple City, representing the imperial legacy of the Nguyen Dynasty. Constructed in the early 19th century, it served as the political and administrative center for Vietnamese Emperors. This UNESCO World Heritage site has an intricate layout, surrounded by formidable walls and moats, demonstrating the harmonious fusion of traditional Vietnamese and French colonial architectural styles. Like every other Park in public space we have visited in Vietnam, the gardens are absolutely gorgeous. With this humid climate, I imagine they could grow anything here plumerias were towering probably up to 20 ft, explosions of color everywhere. I've seen many mosaics, but they were always broken tiles, this was the first example of a mosaic where they actually recycled everyday products, like a tea cup, beer bottles, China, etc.Read more

  • Penny PattersonVietnamTraveler

    Barely Nod Nunnery

    February 22, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Enjoyed a vegan lunch at a local Buddhist nunnery and chatted with a 55-year-old woman who has been here since she was 16. Four nuns live here full time, and several other locals work there to help maintain the grounds. The food was great, the grounds were very simple and calming. There are close to 200 nunneries in Hue. We were able to learn more about her life there that starts at 3:30 am and ends at 9:30 pm, all revolving around maintaining the grounds, meditating, and service work in the community. She ended our visit with a chant, very peaceful. Yes, I had my shoes off for the visit, and then forgot to take them back off when I went in for the last photo with her. There were a few specimens of the most incredible mature bonsai that had been formed around petrified wood.Read more

  • Penny PattersonVietnamTraveler

    Craft beer in Hue

    February 22, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Hot hot day today, went for a walkabout and stumbled upon not only a craft brew house, but they had IPA! Super nice local guy to chat with and rest our feet after a morning exploring the Citadel. They had a great selection of whiskeys for our buddy Mark, but he was getting a massage. They also had a fun collection of coasters, including Stone brewery, my favorite from back home. Snapped a picture of the local firehouse, for our buddies Matt and John back home.Read more

  • Penny PattersonVietnamTraveler

    Minh Tu Orphanage

    February 22, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Wow, amazing energy in this place. Buddhist nuns and other staff take care of a little over 167 orphans in a beautiful part of the outskirts of Hue. Majority of the children range in age from a few months old to 17 years old. If they are disabled, they can stay their entire lives. We were able to sit with the head nun who answered our questions about how the children got there and how that has changed over the years. During the American war and later in the Chinese war, the majority came to them because they lost their families either from fighting in the wars or at home in bombings. Several are from losing families in floods, which apparently are common with heavy seasonal monsoons. More recently, children have come to them from unwed mothers whose families cannot afford to take care of them. When we asked about adoption, the Vietnamese have a very different take on this topic. Once children arrive at the orphanage, they are part of a family. They take care of each other, which is how only 23 total staff take care of so many kids, as the older ones are assigned responsibility to help look after, feed, and bathe younger children. They become educated, go to school, start working, and become self-sufficient adults. They shared many stories of those that go on to become doctors and lawyers or simply go on to marry and start their own families and have a successful life. Some even come back to the orphanage as workers or volunteers. One of the nuns had a radiant smile the entire time, and after talking with her, she shared that she herself came to the orphanage as a small child and ended up staying, finishing her studies to become a Buddhist nun with three ordination scars on her head. Several young girls around 7 years old came out to greet us, freshly showered, and immediately grabbed all the ladies who had an Apple watch and started taking pictures, pressing buttons, it was the cutest thing ever. Two of the little girls followed the shortest lady in the group for another 10 minutes as we walk through the the compound. They absolutely would not let go of her arm. One latched on to me, but I don't have a watch so not quite sure what was going on there. I came away from this experience, thinking of what a beautiful concept this is.... and thought about adoption placement in other orphanages being a point of friction, jealousy, envy with other kids as children are adopted around them. The kids all seemed happy, communally eating, very clean, sleeping quarters, and beautiful, and simple grounds. Definitely a place that if I lived there, would want to do more to contribute and support their cause.Read more

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