Eating and Exploring Our Way through Vietnam

Exploring Vietnam's unique cities and history-rich culture has been incredible. Slowly making our way from north to south Vietnam, we experienced the diversity of Hanoi, Hue, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City.

Taking the 14 hour night train from Hanoi to Hue was definitely one of the most interesting means of transport we have used here so far. From the fear of possibly being robbed if we were to leave the door unlocked, to the conductor's rough wake-up call ("Hue Hue, Hue Hue") 2 minutes before we arrived at the train station, the train ride was exciting to say the least.

After the bustling turmolt of Hanoi's streets, the calmer Hue was a welcome sight. We were taken on the back of motocycles to some of Hue's incredible sights. These included Hue's Imperial Enclosure, a Pagoda, the last intact fighting arena Ho Quyen from 1830 (where we traced the claw marks tigers had left in their cages before they were sent to fight the elephants), bunkers, and the Tomb of Tu Duc. We finished the tour with a scenic ride through the beautiful rice fields outside of the city to the oldest bridge in Hue, built in 1776.

Not being a big fan of motorcycles myself, especially after several near-death experiences as a pedestrian in Hanoi, I was a little nervous starting the moto tour. It definitely pushed me into my stretch zone! However, spending the day on the back of the moto, gaining more and more trust in my driver's ability to navigate through the chaos with every ride, I really enjoyed it by the end of our tour.

The next day we continued to Hoi An via bus. The atmospheric old-town character was the complete opposite of what we had witnessed in Hanoi. With most of the time being free for us to explore the town, everyone spent the first afternoon going through at least a dozen of the seemingly endless small tailor shops, selecting fabrics, patterns and colors, and showing our vague pictures of the designs we wanted to get made. The excruciating 24-hour wait, with mixed feelings of excitement, worry, and even regret at having possibly made the wrong decisions, made the results presented at the end in our very own fashion show even more incredible then expected. Our tailored items included Hobbit cloaks, dresses, shirts, pants, night gowns and rompers.

Leaving the tranquility of Hoi An, we continued our drive to Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City. Even though the population is double the number of Hanoi, Saigon was not nearly as hectic, but very much reminded me of a large western city. We visited both the famous Cu Chi Tunnels and the War Remnants Museum. Having only ever seen the war through western eyes, it was particularly thought-provoking to see the conflict presented from a Vietnamese perspective.

Now that our fantastic time in Vietnam has come to an end, I am very excited for out time in Cambodia!

Anna