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Thai Vietnam
  • Bryan Smithson
  • Patti Smithson
  • Jana Smithson
  • Bryan Smithson
  • Patti Smithson
  • Jana Smithson

Thai Vietnam

8 flights and many new places Lue lisää
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  • Matkan aloitus
    13. tammikuuta 2025
    Thai Vietnam
    1

    Unofficial start of trip

    12. tammikuuta 2025, Kanada ⋅ ⛅ -2 °C

    Unofficial start of our trip. Off to Kelowna, BC to drop off LuLu at Uncle Ken and Aunt Karen’s kitty spa. LuLu is especially vocal this trip-maybe recalling her recent vet visit. Dunno, but the constant cat calling is a lot of fun. Six hours to go! Then we fly out of Kelowna tomorrow.Lue lisää

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  • Thai Vietnam
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    Palaces, temples…touristy stuff

    15. tammikuuta 2025, Thaimaa ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    We were good tourists today. We figured out the transit system and made our way to a couple of major tourists attractions using trains and the local water taxi, which was a lot of fun. Many of the photos are places unknown viewed from the water taxi. We made our way to the Grand Palace, which is pretty darned grand, indeed. It has been the official residence of the King of Siam, later Thailand since the 1700s. It’s crazy opulent, but you’ve got to appreciate the intricate artwork of the buildings. We also visited Wat Pho, a Buddhist temple with a HUGE reclining Buddha. Our feet are tired, sore and swollen, and we currently kind of resemble that reclining Buddha, but I’m sure we’ll be recovered enough to go find some fine Thai street food for dinner in a bit. It was hot today, but not sooo bad. I did not think the humidity was awful at all. Bright sun and heat are generally ok by me.Lue lisää

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  • Thai Vietnam

    We made it!!

    15. tammikuuta 2025, Thaimaa ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    I’m here to say it was a long and grueling flight, but here we are this morning, waking up in Bangkok. (After a long 3 1/2 hour sleep-thank you jet lag!) Big shout out to Cathay Pacific Airways for being probably the very best airline I’ve ever flown-good service, good food, real cutlery even back in Econo Light.. (Cathay, you especially shine after the horrible Condor flight last fall to Europe. Cathay best-Condor worst!).) The air quality is bad here, but I’m looking forward to exploring the city. We’ll be here a few days then heading North to Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, before settling into the islands for several days.Lue lisää

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  • Thai Vietnam
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    Geez my feet hurt!

    16. tammikuuta 2025, Thaimaa ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    We didn’t much feel like walking yesterday, given our painful feet. My new Keen’s, which I was in love with back home, are rubbing my heat-swollen feet. Bryan’s Merrill hiking sandals rubbed blisters (he ended up going to a mall and buying Dad sneakers) and Patti’s Keen’s aren’t much better. Sooooo-we biked around two lovely parks, then spent time lazing about the hotel pool. Later however, we headed to a very cool night market, intending to take the train. Somehow we missed finding the train and ended up walking the 2 1/2 miles there. Aaaaargh! Sooooorrrrrre feeeeeet!!!! But cool food! Insects anyone?

    Meanwhile-Bangkok is a crazy place. Reminds me a bit of Times Square. So much traffic-so many Vespas and motorcycles, and pedestrians be damned. NOBODY waits for you at crosswalks. It’s a game of frogger .    Lue lisää

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  • Thai Vietnam

    So long, Bangkok

    17. tammikuuta 2025, Thaimaa ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    We are now waiting at the airport for our flight to Chiang Mai. Yesterday we visited a huge flower market which was really more like the whole neighborhood. It wasn’t as cool as it sounds, but still interesting. Then we took a canal tour on a longboat, which was, frankly, pretty sketchy. It was a bit of a rip off in that they weren’t completely honest with us. Also, it wasn’t really fun…but that said, I’m glad we did it. It showed us a different side of Bangkok, and felt authentic-Ostentatious Wats juxtaposed with falling down shacks along the canals, numerous water monitors-they must get into houses there frequently (said as shivers run down her spine). In the evening, we had a fantastic meal at a Korean barbecue in Korea Town, and walked through the Terminal 21 Mall, a very cool mall where each floor was decorated like a different world city-Paris, London,Istanbul, San Fran, etc. My photos were disappointing. Didn’t catch anything well yesterday.Lue lisää

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  • Thai Vietnam

    Chiang Mai and the elephants

    18. tammikuuta 2025, Thaimaa ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We arrived in Chiang Mai yesterday and immediately loved it. Can’t really tell you why-just a good vibe. Apparently we aren’t alone. There are lots of foreigners here, especially young, hip hostel types. We went to a crazy night market last night and ate more good food (no bugs that I’m aware of) then today visited an elephant sanctuary that is also home to many rescued dogs, cats, water buffalo, etc. We researched a bit to make sure we found an ethical rescue, as some aren’t. It was very cool to see these majestic animals up close, but so sad to see their evidence of years of hard labor and abuse. The elephants can’t be rescued until owners are willing to sell them-which means once they are injured or become too old to work. Many come from Myanmar. It was evident how much the workers love these elephants and know them each by name, and it felt like we got to know the animals and their stories a bit as well.Lue lisää

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  • Thai Vietnam
    Clock tower
    Prettiest bathroom in Thailand1

    Chiang Rai color tour

    21. tammikuuta 2025, Thaimaa ⋅ 🌙 23 °C

    So what to say about Chiang Rai. It definitely does not have the charm of old town Chiang Mai. Nontheless, we found a driver who took us to 3 temples-informally the White and Blue temples and the black museum. These are less temples and more art museums, with the actual artists footing the bill from what I understand…or maybe part of the bill. The architect of the white temple (which really is fairly magnificent and not yet finished) has a gallery of his paintings and sculptures, whimsical and intricate all. He also designed a very intricate clock tower in the middle of the city. The Black museum was interesting in that there were various buildings in the styles of different peoples and hill tribes of northern Thailand. Our “tour guide” clearly knew very little about the art.

    I would be remiss if I didn’t write about me screwing up the electronic lock on our Airbnb. There is a mosquito door that apparently you can’t close and also close and lock the main door. Of course I did. The door would not open and now somehow (coincidence maybe?) the electronics on the door are all screwed up. Not sure why the mosquito screen would affect the door except maybe because it was jammed? Dunno. The poor owner had to climb in through the window (which frankly wasn’t very hard, so not too sure about security, but oh well. Now someone from the door lock company has to come all the way from Bangkok to fix it. I feel pretty terrible about it. Sigh.    Lue lisää

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  • Thai Vietnam
    2First time I've ever been denied entry because of my gender. Didn't like it.The smoothies are so good here2LotusThese little guys are Thai eggplant1

    Last day in Chiang Mai

    21. tammikuuta 2025, Thaimaa ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    This morning, I am waking up in a new city-Chiang Rai, we capped off our last day in Chiang Mai by visiting another Wat, and the highlight, a cooking class at a local farm outside of Chiang Mai. I must say, my compliments to the chef! The food we made was so good!! Today it’s off to visit some very famous Wats. Wats are Buddhist temples, but in Thailand, they mix in a lot of Hinduism. Many of the Wats are named for Hindu deities, in fact. The statues are sometimes of these dieties and they pray to them.Lue lisää

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  • Thai Vietnam
    Looking across the Mekong into LaosLooking toward Myanmar. To the right of the split in the river is LaosLaosLooks sketchy, but actually felt pretty soldFunky Thai barbeque buffet

    It was a good last day in Chiang Rai

    23. tammikuuta 2025, Thaimaa ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

    Today we hired a driver (cheaper than a tour and we got to do what we wanted to do) and headed North to an area known as The Golden Triangle, where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet, separated only by the Mekong River. The area is historically significant for its role in the Opium trade. We visited the Opium Hall, a museum that was surprisingly well done and interesting, showing the history of Opium, its effects on countries, wars and more recently the many steps being taken to stop the selling of opium both in this area and worldwide. Following that, we went to Lam Nam Kok National Park and hiked through the jungle to a lovely waterfall. This evening, we ate at a place that was sort of a cross between a buffet and Korean Barbeque. Tons of food, including all kinds of seafood which we cooked at our table. We weren’t sure what everything was, or how to prepare it, so it was quite an adventure. The place seemed very popular with families.Lue lisää

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  • Thai Vietnam
    On the longtail just in time
    Fancy resort transportation from the dockLuxury transportation Thai Island styleCool bird-Google says it's a Caracas321Sunset on the Andeman Sea

    A unique travel day

    24. tammikuuta 2025, Thaimaa ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Today was a bit of an adventure. We flew from Chiang Rai to Krabi via Bangkok. Once in Krabi, we called a Grab (like an Uber)- nothing particularly unusual about that. Our Grab driver took awhile to get there, and by that time, we were running very short on time to get to our little ferry on time (1/2 hour trip). Our driver initially was on island time and wanted to chat-we emphatically told her we were in a big hurry to get to the ferry. She acted like she didn’t know where we were going and then tried to tell us there were no more ferries today, and also that we would have to pay more money. Finally, Bryan told her he used to live here (letting her know we knew better) and he would give her a tip if she got us to the ferry on time. It worked and she hustled, getting us to the longtail just in time. We sat on the floor of the longtail and our resort pickup was the back of a pickup truck with some benches. It was fun! The little resort is fine-we are in a little bungalow without air conditioning, but we have a good fan. Adds to the adventure.Lue lisää

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  • Thai Vietnam
    Monitor lizard visited our picnicReally funky hippie bar built into the cliff by our "resort" (I use that term loosely)Typical island restaurant-May look pretty basic, but the food is good!!! (And cheap)At the very spot where Bryan got electrocuted helping his friend put the pump in for this pond.Garden at Koh Jum Beach VillasOne of the houses at Koh Jum Beach Villas-they are beautiful

    This and that

    26. tammikuuta 2025, Thaimaa ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Quiet day today…a bit too much sun these past two days, so we’re trying to lay low, and I’m trying to heal my moderate sunburn. Doesn’t take long to burn here. Yesterday we took an awesome snorkeling trip, and while I haven’t snorkeled a lot, I must say it was by far the most fish and the biggest variety I’ve ever seen. I didn’t take my camera down into the water so no pics…just didn’t trust the Amazon-purchased “waterproof “ bag or myself. I’ve included a couple of pics from the company website that may or may not be me. (I don’t think so). Wish there were pics of the amazing fish instead of tons of the Chinese tourist doing insta poses. Whatever! Also, we had lunch at a beautiful beach at a National Park with the softest sand I’ve ever seen. So a good day. I think I mentioned Bryan’s friend’s beautiful (and very upscale/expensive) resort next door. They have an incredible organic garden. I just want to work in the garden! Oh-and monkeys…more monkeys right outside our room.Lue lisää

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  • Thai Vietnam
    1Lots of pretty sunsets. We tried to always be at the beach as the sun set.
    Long tails are just cool boatsLong tail at sunsetFeral mom and puppies outside our bungalow. The stole our shoes and scattered them around the yard.More monkeysApparently a chair for the kids1The camera made the color more intense, but it was still a pretty sunsetGas stationTaxi1The very best cinnamon rolls by the only baker on the island. He makes only 30 each day.

    Goodbye Koh Jum

    29. tammikuuta 2025, Thaimaa ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    I haven’t journaled about our trip in awhile, because, well, there hasn’t been much to say. Largely, we’ve been lazy, sitting by the pool/beach, reading, one day of bike riding, a bit of snorkeling, kayaking, and eating excellent, inexpensive food. I’ve included random photos of Koh Jum. Koh Jum has one main road across the island, that can get pretty busy, mostly with mopeds, some resort trucks and no cars. Otherwise, though, it’s pretty sleepy. There are mostly bars, restaurants, the occasional island clothing store ( but no swimsuits-quite a modest island) and a handful of small markets. We decided what we liked best about the island was the people-hard working and friendly. We left Koh Jum today and headed north to Koh Yao Noi. We will just be here a couple of days, but so far, it’s a pretty cool place. But more on Koh Yao Noi later.Lue lisää

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  • Thai Vietnam
    The back porch of our house
    Inside...obviouslyBeach restaurantBorn to be wild-ishChill out barOur house at high tideSunset at low tideLong tails and fishing boats

    Hello Koh Yao Noi

    2. helmikuuta 2025, Thaimaa ⋅ 🌙 27 °C

    Loving our new island-Koh Yao Noi (Noi = North). There is a Koh Yao Yai (Yai=South) which apparently you can walk to in low tide. Tide is a thing here-our house, which is a rustic traditional Thai house, has water under it in high tide, but the water is far away in low tide.The house is fun-kinda camp like, but comfortable. The island is lovely-bigger than Koh Jum with more amenities, but much more spread out. So by necessity, we rented two mopeds, the most popular mode of travel here. (It’s not uncommon to see dozens of mopeds parked in front of a business, all with the keys still in them.) I was nervous at first, but it was fun. We explored the island, then had some beach time. Tomorrow we’re touring the area via long tail. Then on to Vietnam.

    Not gonna lie-the craziness happening in the States right now is dampening the mood a bit-but continues to remind me anyway to have fun while there is fun to be had. Trying to manage the anger for now…    Lue lisää

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  • Thai Vietnam
    1Back in Koh Jum...I just like this monkey pic
    1Bizarre bathroom at the beach-sitting in the middle of the room on a concrete pedestal.You could walk on this sandbar to the tiny island at low tide. Later it was hidden by water.Karsts in the backgroundLong tail docked right by our porch3Tonight's sunset

    Random thoughts/pics of Thailand

    3. helmikuuta 2025, Thaimaa ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Tonight is our last night in Thailand. Tomorrow we say goodbye to the “land of smiles,” and head to Vietnam. We had planned a long tail tour of some islands today. We thought we had set it up as a private tour, but that’s not what it was when we got to the dock. We had hoped we could go to some more secluded areas, or at least go to the popular areas in a different order than all the other boats, but no, apparently even that wasn’t an option. We had heard about crowds, so we opted out, and instead, rode our mopeds again and found a cool, kinda quiet little place to hang out, read, and have lunch.

    So thoughts on Thailand. What strikes me first are the people-very kind, friendly and apparently honest-at least on the islands. Houses aren’t locked, windows are wide open, usually no screens, keys are left in mopeds. We never felt the least bit unsafe, even in Bangkok. There are no guns and people are peaceful. Even with language barriers, people largely tried to be helpful. A sort of Hindu Buddhism is practiced on the mainland, but the islands we visited were Muslim, with frequent calls to prayer.

    People litter here. This makes me sad. I hope there comes a day when locals realize how beautiful their land is and make the effort to keep it clean. I think there are some efforts made to begin recycling.

    People work hard. Many have tiny businesses, be it bars, restaurants, little stores, smoothie stands that open early and close late. Often these are part of their homes. People don’t seem consumed by how they look or by their phones, either…at least not on the islands.

    Bathrooms…what can I say. Every bathroom has a sprayer (like the kind found on kitchen sinks in the US) attached to the toilet, which is frankly, brilliant. Kinda more efficient than a bidet. However, showers tend to be open in the bathroom, getting water all over the floor, sometimes on the TP…you get the idea. Then for several hours afterwards, you walk on a wet floor every time you enter the bathroom. You never wear shoes indoors, so it could be worse, but it’s not great. Then when the floor does dry, it’s kind of soap scummy. Houses and stores have more of an outdoor feel than indoors, so it’s not quite as bad as it sounds. Not much air conditioning although sometimes there are mini-splits in the bedrooms. Don’t know if that’s just for tourists.

    Mopeds are ubiquitous. Many have sort of a cage-like sidecar built on that can haul people, lumber, mattresses, you name it.

    We’ve really enjoyed it here. It’s a beautiful place with jungle, coastline, beaches and old ways of life still evident. 5 stars!    Lue lisää

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  • Thai Vietnam
    From our window

    1st-Ho Chi Minh City-part 1

    4. helmikuuta 2025, Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    I figured I had better do two footprints tonight, because we’ve just had two incredibly different experiences. So first, Ho Chi Minh City. This is part 1, because we have already left the city, but will be returning. And for the record, the city is big and it’s nuts! Traffic is crazy, with tons of mopeds traveling through the cars, veering all around, occasionally driving down the wrong side of the road. I saw a few cut across a roundabout. You see business people, women in high heels, whole families, moms with babies on these crazy streets. But we are told traffic is now better. Apparently the government has started cracking down on traffic rules, which in the past were seen more as suggestions. During rush hour, there would be mopeds riding down the sidewalks, and traffic lights? Meh, maybe, maybe not. At least now sidewalks are safe for pedestrians!

    The city is big and modern and overwhelming. We are staying in an area known as Vinhomes. There are multiple “vin” towers, one being the highest in Asia, I think.
    There is a Vin Hospital, Vin school…mall…all owned by the richest dude in Vietnam.    Lue lisää

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  • Thai Vietnam
    Dragon fruit farmCoconuts-they were anxious to share with us1Dragon fruitThe whole route was lush and beautiful-I really did a poor job capturing it in picsMaking rice paper-later it will become noodles and spring roll paperWe are told this is "future Buddha"Coffee is big in Vietnam. Lots of special coffees. These four cost just over $5 US total!Durian fruit-these are worth some money. Apparently Durian smells awful.Jackfruit2Snake wine. Yep, that's a cobra head1Bryan loved snake wineShe did it. Patti HATES snakes.And I did it too!1

    Life is better on a bicycle

    5. helmikuuta 2025, Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Today was a fantastic day! We left Ho Chi Minh City early and headed out of town for the 1st day of our 3 day bike tour of the Mekong Delta. We have our own tour guide, and he’s so great. We meandered through backroads, some not much more than a concrete barrier for a waterway and not much wider than the bike (a little nerve-wracking) , some roads unpaved, and all places we would have not seen had we been traveling in a vehicle. The area was so much more beautiful than I expected. As Bryan said, it was as if we were pedaling through a botanical garden all day. David (his English name), our guide, frequently stopped at interesting places and explained some item of interest or factoid about Vietnamese culture. We saw lots of different fruits. In fact, someone harvesting coconut by the side of the road insisted on opening coconuts so we could have coconut water fresh from the fruit. We saw rice paper being made, rice being popped, had the best soup of my life (not pho-something else) at a little hole in the wall sort of place-I even drank snake wine-oh yes I did! We capped the day off with a boat ride through the Mekong to our “homestay” where we had a little cooking lesson and ate more great food. Tomorrow the bike adventure continues…Lue lisää

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  • Thai Vietnam
    You can literally carry ANYTHING on a moped
    Getting on the ferryEverywhere feels like riding through a botanical gardenRiceDuck farm-babiesMore riceJackfruit sellerLive catfish, eels, you name it, at the marketLunch-we are fed well.Frog farm

    Life is better…part 2

    6. helmikuuta 2025, Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Ok, I am really tired. All my joints hurt. We rode 76 k today on mountain bikes. It probably would have been fine if I had been riding frequently, but it’s winter in North America and I haven’t been on a bike since October. Oh, and it was hot…and humid. Still…today we continued through our botanical garden called the Mekong Delta. There were were rice paddies in the mix as well. While there was no snake wine, we did share some sort of wine (although it seems very strong for wine) with our homestay host. We also had jackfruit (sort of chewy cantaloupe-not bad) and a delicious drink made with kumquats and sugar cane that they squeezed right there on the street. We rode through bigger towns and tiny villages, and got caught in the chaos of parents picking up their kids from school, I swear, on what must have been a million mopeds.

    We are quite the spectacle here-the only white people we’ve seen for a couple of days. Everywhere we go, people call out, “hello!” Kids get especially excited, waving and calling out, “hello! What your name? Or “Where you from?” It’s very fun, and the people are so kind and welcoming
    .
    A correction from yesterday (Penguins will only let me edit by rewriting the whole thing). Our very most excellent tour guide is Danny, not David. We got him through “Footprint Vietnam, “ but he freelances with multiple companies.    Lue lisää

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  • Thai Vietnam
    Cacao podsCacao seeds-we tasted them-there was a hint of cocoaLunch-hotpot. Def not our favoriteBaby and dad, and check out the woman riding sidesaddleOn the way home from work...in heelsCrazinessOn the 67th, of 81 floors.Doesn't begin to capture the craziness of the streets in the market2Bryan got conned into carrying this guys load, then of course, we had to buy some coconut waterHow much can you carry on your moped?Independence Palace-where the North took over the South and ended the war.

    Last day on the Mekong, & back in Saigon

    8. helmikuuta 2025, Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    So really, read Patti’s footprint. I’m lazy and “got nothin’ to add” really. Yesterday, I woke up feeling like I’d been run over by a truck, and the lack of coffee first thing didn’t help. (As a rule, I do nothing before coffee in the am-don’t even talk to me.) Therefore, I forgot my phone, so got no pics of the floating market. (We went at 6:30 am, I might add). Once back at the homestay, after coffee and Advil, I became human again and felt great. Riding the bike was happy again, and It was a good end to the bike portion of our trip. I’ll provide what photos I did take.

    Today, we walked to the “War Remnants museum. The walk alone was quite an adventure, as we walked through busy market streets trying to avoid getting hit by multiple motor scooters. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there. We survived the craziness. The museum was well done, and sobering. War sucks and it’s crazy what people do to each other. Governments can really suck. All of us had just read “The Lotus Eaters,” about a female photojournalist during the war. Her character, while fictional, was based on a real person, and another main character was based on a compilation of photojournalists. We saw their photos and read some of their story there, which was exciting for us. (I highly recommend the book). Tomorrow we are off to Hoi An.    Lue lisää

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  • Thai Vietnam
    Banh Mi-yum!
    Anthony Bourdain was here once upon a timeNoodles drying by the riverMarket1Every business must have lanternsLantern boats on the riverDinner overlooking the river1Old house1Our pretty little place2

    Lights of Hoi An

    9. helmikuuta 2025, Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    We arrived in Hoi An this afternoon, to a very lovely Airbnb in the old city. It’s a gorgeous city filled with lights and lanterns and TOURISTS! A lot…a LOT of tourists. This place is famous both for its lanterns and for its tailors. Apparently you can get custom made clothes made in a day very cheaply. However, our first order of business was to find food, which we did, at Phuong Banh Mi, made famous by Anthony Bourdain. He wasn’t wrong-the Banh Mi was fantastic. We think we might have it breakfast, lunch and dinner. Later, after dark, we headed to the river where boats with lanterns sail up and down the river and people set little paper lanterns afloat to make wishes. It looked like some sort of huge festival, but this is every night here.Lue lisää

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  • Thai Vietnam
    Making rose dumplings1Rose dumplingsSort of a Vietnamese pizzaInfamous Banh Mi (the bread is light and crispy, made with wheat and rice flourQueen of Banh MiA special herbal tea-probably the best I've ever hadI don't even know what this is called.Local fruitsTraditional desserts made with a variety of beans, corn coconut and coconut milk. It was ok...Ancient well-many dishes require water from this one well.

    Hoi An…it’s complicated

    10. helmikuuta 2025, Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Today was our last day in Hoi An-tomorrow morning we board a plane for Hanoi, followed by a car to Ninh Binh area. So…Hoi An. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the town, mainly because it is just so incredibly crowded. At night, you are literally pressing your way through the crowds, at least along the river where the beautiful lantern boats float. Also, the old town is packed full of shops with tourist crap to sell. And there is the constant honking and dodging of mopeds until evening when they largely and magically disappear.

    But Hoi An is beautiful. In the old town, many buildings are 500 years old, and are painted golden yellow (we learned because the river floods and carries myrrh-coloring the buildings yellow-so they just paint them that color). At night, in the streets and river, hundreds of lanterns glow bright. And the food. Oh, the food. Often times in my experience, food served in highly touristy areas is terrible (lookin’ at you, Rome) and you need to get outside those areas to get the good stuff. Not so in Hoi An. The local dishes are mouthwateringly delicious, and there are awesome and unique dishes. The Vietnamese take coffee seriously, and again, there are regional specialties. Egg coffee and salt coffee are two of our favorites. They sound bad, I know, but they taste delicious.

    This afternoon, we took a food tour with a local guy. If you travel, a great way to learn about a place is to book a tour with a guide from a website called Withlocals. We’ve always had good luck, and they tend to take you off the beaten path much more than tour websites like Viator. They also tend to be quite affordable. But I digress. Our guide took us to his favorite places, and not only showed us his favorite traditional foods, but also how to put them together. In Vietnam, again, it’s complicated. You get brought plates and bowls of stuff, but now what? Well, sometimes things are assembled and rolled in rice paper, sometimes several foods are assembled into a bowl and mixed. Usually this is the case, and chili sauce is added to taste. The Vietnamese believe in yin and yang of flavors. You want sweet and salty or sour and/or bitter. Always rice or noodles. Or something made with rice. We appreciate anyone who takes their food this seriously! (I am so dreading the bathroom scale when I get home).

    Tomorrow we’ll make sure we leave time for a special coffee before we head to the airport. I’m thinking maybe an egg coffee.    Lue lisää

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  • Thai Vietnam
    11111

    Beautiful Trang An

    13. helmikuuta 2025, Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    We arrived in Trang An yesterday-after a flight to Hanoi followed by a longish car ride. The pollution in Hanoi was like none I’ve experienced-it was labeled “very dangerous.” I admit I was wondering how I was going to survive a week here. Ah-but now we are out in small town Vietnam once again, and this area is definitely a “Wow!” There are beautiful limestone karsts everywhere, with rivers running in between. Tourism and agriculture seem to be the main industries here, but it has not been overly crowded.

    We took a boat tour through the river, passing through some amazing caves. One must have been a good mile long. Later we climbed 500 steps to a temple at the top of a karst for some beautiful views.    Lue lisää

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