Vietnam was a great way to cap off our amazing experiences oversees. Partially because we have Ly’s family here and were excited to see them after so long, but also because we’ve been able to see some new cities in the central region that we’ve never visited before. The trip started off in Hanoi, then Hạ Long Bay, Đà Lạt, Nha Trang, Da Nang, Hội An, and back to Hạ Long Bay before heading home to the USA.
In years past we only had a chance to stay in Hanoi for a day or two, so this time around we wanted to stay longer to see the city. We got an Airbnb near the old quarter to make sure were in the center of it all. We were right next to Hoàn Kiếm Lake which had frequent passers by and where they shut off the streets to cars on weekends for people to walk around. There weren’t as many food vendors as we would have liked but it was still nice at night with the brightly lit decorations, and vendors selling toys for kids.
When you think of Vietnam, the first thing you usually think about is phở (beef or chicken noodle soup). We were on a mission to get the best, most authentic phở that ever existed. In Vietnam, locals eat phở for breakfast, which seemed weird to me at first but by the end of the month I loved it more than anything else in the morning.
Ly’s fruit game was also strong here, with plenty of 
mangosteen. A new fruit we encountered which was a cross between a mango and a plum (called plum mango…or plango, if you will) . It is bite size and you can eat the skin, but it tastes just like a mango! We could not stop eating these and may or may not have planted a few of these seeds in Indiana. 😛
For transportation we relied mostly on Uber in Hanoi, but had to cab it most everywhere else (other than when we were with family and had cars). The currency is the Vietnamese Dong ($23,000 Dong = $1 USD). By far this was the most inflated currency we have used during our trip…easily getting into the millions of Dong on certain purchases. We sure felt 
like millionaires carrying around all that cash….until the restaurant bills began surpassing a million ($44USD)!
Below is a rather large oil painting we bought from one of the many shops selling locally made art. It depicts Vietnamese women riding their bikes.
After spending a week in Hanoi, we were off to Hạ Long Bay to visit Ly’s family. The first stop – Thim Thu’s restaurant to eat some phở! Rare beef, fresh noodles, and a beef bone broth that was absolutely delicious. Catching up with the family took me right back to 2005 when I had last seen everybody. I couldn’t believe it had been 12 years! Here is a group picture of everyone standing in front of the beautiful iconic Hạ Long Bay water rock formations.
Ly climbed a popular mountain in Hạ Long Bay to get this awesome view. Many married couples make the climb for their wedding pictures.
Below is the home where Ly and her family grew up. Although they left Vietnam when she was 5 years old, the home is still owned by the family today.
After about a week, we were ready to take a mini-trip to see the rest of the country. Our first flig
ht went to Đà Lạt, which was quite a bit cooler but the air seemed much more fresh in the high altitudes. We ate these delicious egg souffles which were a Đà Lạt specialty. It was fun watching the lady pour the eggs into the mold and precisely flip them in rapid succession. At first we ordered a dozen, but quickly ordered 2 dozen more.
We went to a coffee plantation where the coffee beans were eaten by local weasels and then passed completely “through” them, after which they are collected, cleaned (I assume so 
anyways), and brewed. There is something about the natural process that is supposed to make the coffee taste better. I liked it, but didn’t think it was noticeably different than the normal stuff. On the left is a picture of a “fresh batch” of excrement coffee beans. Talk about shitty coffee. On the right is me getting thrown into a guitar circle with international travelers at the plantation. I was attempting to remember how to play Hotel California. Afterwards we enjoyed the “shitty” coffee with the beautiful mountainside view.
Nha Trang was quite the resort town, with our hotel just being opened that week. We were officially the first group in the hotel ever. The owner could be seen walking around the sprawling development saying hello to his guests. In fact it was so big, we had to call a golf cart to pick us up and take us to the different restaurants and pools within the complex.
The 2 huge heated pools were especially nice at night when the blue back light contrasted with the darkness around it. We did not want to leave!
But alas, we left to Da Nang, where we relaxed on the beach. From there, we took a quick 30 minute side trip to Hội An. Hội An is a historic town in central Vietna
m that has many of its outdoor buildings in tact from the 15th Century. It was the first time I had ever heard of a city requiring you to purchase tickets just to walk the streets. After we entered into the old town area, I could see why. Lanterns were hung as far as the eye could see, in all directions. Old town was so well preserved, it felt like walking back into time. At dusk all the lanterns lit up along the river and additional water lanterns were lit and left to float off for good luck. Bright yellow painted buildings and charming cafes lined the river as Venetian gondolas rowed tourists anywhere they wanted to go. We enjoyed it so much we decided to come back the ne
xt day for round two!
Before we knew it, our time in Asia had come to an end. Over 9 months abroad definitely made us home sick and excited to get back to Indianapolis. Bring on fresh air and water, and 120V electricity! On the other hand, not having 4G data became kind of nice in the end. We essentially had stopped incessantly looking at our phone screens (other than playing Word Cookie during long drives of course).
Looking back, I still can’t believe everywhere we managed to go and everything we managed to see. It was truly the trip of a lifetime and we loved being able to share it with all of you. 
We want to thank everyone for their support, american junk food care packages, visits, video calls, and messages during our trip and of course following along to this blog. While traveling with kids was definitely challenging, it was really amazing to share our adventures with Ellie and Vera and to get them exposed to so much culture. We hope they remember a little from the trip when they get older, but if not we have a back up plan….thousands of pictures to jog their memories! 😉
Until our next trip, you can catch us back in Indy!