More Adventures in Vietnam: Ninh Binh

Stage 2 of our adventure!

Following our overnight boat cruise, we boarded a bus that took us to Ninh Binh Province, a piece of countryside so beautiful that it's been called "Ha Long Bay on land." Feeling frugal, I'd opted for a mid-level ride instead of paying a few dollars more for the "limousine bus." I was rather regretting our decision until the bus arranged for drop-off right to our AirBnB instead of ditching us in the center of town.

Our Ninh Binh Greenland Homestay was fantastic--I would highly recommend it to anyone traveling in the area. Our host Long was helpful, our room was comfortable, and the views from our balcony were remarkable. There was a lovely pool and breakfast made to order every day. Free bike rentals were available, plus you could opt to dine with the other guests in the evening for a small extra charge. We felt so pampered!

Here we are sharing a meal with a fun couple from Australia. Many of the tourists we met were traveling for extensive periods of time, often for months on end.

While not busy, the surrounding neighborhood definitely catered to tourists with massage parlors on every corner. Fun as it looked, we never pampered ourselves. After all, I was a bit nervous about getting my hells heels rubbed.

Our view of the mountains in the morning.

Our homestay was just a short bike ride from Trang An, another UNESCO World Heritage Site. Knowing that the lines can get long, we arrived around 7:30 am and hopped aboard a boat rowed by the sweetest woman. After I spoke to her a tiny bit in Vietnamese, she assumed I could understand most everything. I certainly didn't, so the rest of the ride included some extensive games of charade.

While our boat guide didn't speak much English, she had mastered one phrase: head down! She used it often as we journeyed through the various different caves, including Dot Cave which spans more than a kilometer. Considering how often we needed to duck, I can only imagine what it must be like when the water level is higher.

There are actually three different rowboat tours you can take at Trang An. We opted for Route 3 since it included the longest cave, plus it rows past the set for King Kong: Skull Island. Still, it makes me excited to think that if I ever go back, we could opt for an entirely different experience.

Truthfully, no matter what route you pick, the journey will be stunning.

Photography at Ninh Binh was huge. Soooo many people (including our boatmates) were dressed to the nines so they could have their picture taken.

My Mom and I may not have been fancy, but we sure were happy!

Plus apparently it's not just romantic couples that give smooches.

With so many boats on the lake, it was incredible that when we went through the 1000m cave, it felt like we had the entire place to ourself. Our entry was timed such that we hardly saw another boat for the entire journey,

Amazing.

Toward the end of our tour it started to rain so we pulled out the umbrellas--such a picturesque ending. It's easy to understand why Ninh Binh is so popular with both locals and tourists alike.

Also, kudos to my Mom for hopping on a bike and cycling through traffic in the rain. That takes courage for anyone, but especially for a person who hasn't ridden a bike in quite a while. Her hair may be silver, but my Mom is an adventurer at heart!

On the way back, we encountered this woman riding her horse along the shore. The experience felt majestic. Back in the year 1000, Ninh Binh was the capitol of Viet Nam. Witnessing this ride, it felt like I was peering back through time at royalty. 

Later in the day I climbed 500 cragged stone steps to the top of Hang Mua Mountain and peered down at the terrian we rowed.

There is a lying stone dragon atop this panoramic overlook that is both awesome and ridiculously crowded.

Fortunately the crowds disperse if you work your way farther down the spine.

From the top, you could see that the wooden walkways below had been shaped like a lotus.

I even spied workers caring for the fields with their conical bamboo hats.

While we'd ordered a "Grab" to get to Hang Mua, my Mom and I decided to walk home instead. Imagine our surprise when a herd of water buffalo popped out of the alley right in front of us, completely blocking traffic for a time! Sometimes life is so unexpected that all you can do is laugh.

For dinner, we stopped at a cute little place called Riverside Restaurant Thien De where we enjoyed some delicious spring rolls and papaya salad. Plus a mango smoothie, of course.

While we would have loved to stay longer in Ninh Binh, we had flights booked for Cambodia and needed to get back to the airport in Hanoi. Our final adventure was figuring out how to wash laundry. Even the simplest tasks can take quite a bit of problem solving in an unfamiliar setting. The washers and dryers hadn't been connected in the first laundromat I found, so I had to bike for a while in the rain before I found a new place that  was open. Much to my surprise, this laundromat even accepted credit cards.  In general, credit cards are rarely used in Vietnam, so most of the time we exchanged US Dollars for Vietnamese Dong.

With clothes that were both clean and dry (the laundry on our balcony had gotten soaked overnight), we were ready for the next stage of our journey. After three shuttles and a plane flight, we showed our Cambodian visas and arrived at Siem Reap International airport. It was still another hour drive before we made it to our AirBnB in the yellow house, but certainly worth the effort. Can't wait to tell you all about Angkor!

Forging a Vietnamese Adventure: Lan Ha Bay

Hey world, I did a thing! Or more accurately stated, we did a thing. Together, my Mom and I adventured to Vietnam and Cambodia. The experience was so expansive that I am still grappling to process it, let alone blog about it. But since writing helps me sort out my thoughts, I think I'll give it a go. As for the photos, I haven't figured out an easy way to edit them en masse, so please forgive the slanted horizons etc. Sometimes perfection is the enemy of progress, and right now I just need to move forward.

Our journey started out well on Tuesday, September 29th. Together we flew to Los Angeles in the afternoon since our super cheap flights were out of LAX the next day. I didn't want to risk a same-day flight since a delay could cause us to miss our international flight. Instead, we booked an odd little room in someone's house, rented a car, and drove to Redondo beach to watch the sunset.

The water is my Mom's happy place.

For dinner, we even got in the Asian spirit by eating at the Juicy Dumpling Factory. Tasty! 

My Mom was amazing and humored me when I insisted that we pack light. She fit everything inside a carry-on sized Rick Steves backpack we borrowed from the Wilhoits. I had to chuckle when I saw the number of bags inside the bag, with each one labeled. Organization might be my Mom's second-greatest delight.

All was going splendidly until we returned the rental car and I checked my messages while on the shuttle to the airport. Having already asked for a copy of our passports, our first AirBnB in Vietnam was requesting a copy of our visa as well. Visa? Holy shnikey, osstafrigglerazzleschnitz, did we need visas??? I'd worked through so many details--plane flights, lodging, trains, shuttles, busses, boats, tours and more. How in the world had I neglected something as basic (and essential) as visas?

I still can't answer that question except to say that I've been exceptionally busy and clearly dropped the ball. Enter full-blown panic mode. Hopping online, I discovered that it was indeed possible to apply for an urgent visa that could be approved within 15 minutes to an hour. It would just cost a pretty penny (and most likely grease the pocket of some official willing to work in the middle of the night.) With few other options available aside from cancelling our trip, we paid for the expedited visas and got them e-mailed to us as we made our way through the long line for check-in with Philippine Airlines.

Once we'd made our way through security, I told my Mom that we needed to take a selfie that reflected the terror of this experience.

As difficult as it was, I also felt a glimmer of pride when she told me that I seemed so calm handling this crisis. As a healthcare professional, this is something I've consciously been working on--how to stay cool and collected, even when my adrenaline is spiking. I've made progress, but apparently I still have a ways to go...more on that later.

Landing in Manila for our layover, I thought we'd made our way through the worst of the drama. That is, until I connected to Wifi and discovered more troubling messages. AirBnb was asking me to review our first night's lodging. Huh? We hadn't even checked in yet. Then on WhatsApp I found a message from the bus company asking us where we were because the bus was about to depart without us. Umm, yeah. Something was definitely wrong. And we definitely weren't going to make that bus.

Stellar trip planner that I am, it turns out that I had misread our itinerary. Instead of leaving LAX on Wednesday and arriving on Thursday, we'd lost an entire day in travel. Our connecting flight was leaving on Thursday and arriving in Vietnam in the wee hours of Friday morning. While we were in the air, we'd missed both our first night's stay and the bus to Cat Ba island where we were supposed to stay the second night. 

By this point, I was completely humbled.  Any self-concept of being a capable travel organizer was shattered. But since I was more than 7000 miles from home, the only thing to do was keep problem solving. I let our Cat Ba host know that we wouldn't make it that evening. The bus company was amazing and allowed us to rebook for 7am the next morning, getting us to our cruise boat just in time. Plus, I found a new AirBnB with flexble check-in located in old town Ha Noi just a couple blocks from where the bus would depart. At least we'd have a place to sleep for a few hours when we finally arrived.  As a small consolation, the cost of lodging in Vietnam is minimal, so our missed AirBnB reservations would only cost us $20-$30. 

Arriving in Ha Noi, we had specific instructions to look for someone holding a placard with our names. He proceeded to take our photos and gave us a paper copy of our visas along with a notice that our electronic copies would no longer work. Then he walked us to a non-standard immigration line typically reserved for "crew" and disappeared. It all felt super suspicious, but the immigration agent stamped our passports without any questions. Again, I wonder how much was made on that transaction...

I'd like to say it was "easy" from there, but my cell service wasn't working and I couldn't connect to the Noi Bai airport wifi, meaning that I couldn't order car service from "Grab" like I planned. My Mom and I walked out of the airport terminal and were completely overcome: first, by the oppressive heat and humidity, and second, by the hoardes of men offering to drive us to our hotel. By this point, it was 1:00 am in Vietnam, and we were completely exhausted. I knew that the prices being quoted were likely exorbitant, but we didn't have a lot of options. We agreed to a ride downtown for 500,000 VND ($20 USD), somewhat less than the original ask of 700,000. But then when we arrived, the driver said we needed to pay the 500,000 plus a 200,000 airport fee! I'm not quite sure where the bravery came from, but I refused. This was courageous indeed because we were being dropped off at this random address on this street where I had absolutely no idea how to get into the apartment. Fortunately, a kind young man suddenly appeared to help us. I think he was the bell hop for a nearby hotel. He shooed the taxi away and helped us figure out where to find the lockbox for our AirBnB. Even though the air had been turned off and the apartment was steaming as we opened the door, I was so grateful for our tiny refuge! A bunkbed has never looked so good.

I'd love to say that I slept well, but I didn't. Not only were our days and nights reversed from the 13 hour time difference, but I was still concerned about our visas. Remember when I told you that my mind didn't work as well under pressure as I thought it had? Well, it turns out that I toggled the very first urgent visa request option for a "single entry" visa, completely forgetting that we had tickets to Cambodia and would need to enter Vietnam again. While it would take another day for me to confirm the error, I was already feeling unsettled about it.

And how about that moment when I verified that I had screwed up again? All I wanted to do was cry and go home. Even though I was lounging on a boat in one of the most beautiful places I've ever been, I wished I could bury myself in blankets in my own bed. Not only did we not have visas to re-enter Vietnam, we couldn't even apply for new visas until we had left the country. If I could have snapped my fingers and had it all be over, I might have.

I'm so glad that I didn't. In talking about this trip with my Mom, I've often said that it was more wonderful than the beginning was hard. And trust me, the beginning was hard. But it all worked out. Yes, we ended up applying for a second round of expedited visas, but this time it only cost an extra $60 pp versus the $300 additional we'd paid earlier. And hey, as hard as all of these troubles were, I could still see the blessings. While I was frustrated by my itinerary mix-up, without it we wouldn't have figured out that we needed visas until we were at the airline check-in counter.  Thirty minutes wasn't much time to get things sorted, but it was definitely better than nothing. Also, I'm grateful that at the end of the day, all of our problems were challenges that could be solved with a checkbook. Getting sick or injured would have been so much harder.

So with that turbulent start in mind, may I now share pics of the fun? Welcome to paradise, otherwise known as Lan Ha bay.

One of the few thing I pre-paid before coming to Viet Nam was an overnight boat cruise through Lan Ha Bay, departing from Cat Ba island. Lan Ha Bay connects with the more well-known Ha Long Bay, but is little less touristy and attracts more of an adventure crowd. Lan Ha and Ha Long Bays are protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, featuring around 2000 beautiful limestone karsts.  Karsts are formed when slightly acidic rain dissolves bedrock, creating these dramatic cliffs that plunge into the beautiful water.

Getting to Lan Ha bay takes a bit of effort. From Ha Noi we boarded a bus that took us to a speed boat that shuttled us to Cat Ba island, where we boarded another bus that took us to the town of Cat Ba where we checked in with our tour company. From there it was a third shuttle that took us to the bay where we boarded a tiny boat that ferried us to our larger vessel. Whew! Good thing we packed light. Here we are aboard the tiny boat, seated next to our new friends and fellow passengers from Holland.

And here was our cruising vessel. I intentionally booked a smaller boat with fewer passengers. I liked the intimacy because we all got to know each other, dining together at one big table for every meal. Besides the Vietnamese crew, we had two couples from the Netherlands, two gals from France, a family of four where the Mom was from Austria and the Dad from Australia, two couples from Germany, a man from Turkey, plus my Mom and I. Throughout our entire trip, we were often the only Americans.

I was pretty excited about our accommodations. Not only were the beds comfortable, but we had huge windows looking out onto the water.

While many of the boats on the bay were toting tourists, there were also plenty of local fishing boats.

We also passed a floating village where the entire community lives on houseboats.

Crusing through the islands felt magical.

I was excited when they took us to a beach were we could swim. I was lexx excited, however, when I discovered there were jellyfish. OUCH! Both my Mom and I got stung. I must have been a particular target since I got stung twice--on the way out and on the way back. Three weeks later, and I still have scars.

Just wish I'd noticed these critters before jumping in. They may look gentle, but their stings last!

Late afternoon kayaking was more fun (and less painful). 

We paddled through this cool little cave to this lovely still lagoon. Paddling against the current of the tide was hard work, but worth it.

The sunset was spectacular as well.

That evening some of the group stayed up for squid fishing, but considering how jet lagged we were, my Mom and I opted to go to bed.

The next morning dawned beautiful and clear. My gorgeous Mom was all smiles.

Looking out at the bay, I was glad that we weren't on one of the giant cruise boats--their departure times were crazy early.

This Turkish fellow was funny--he made the mistake of asking my Mom how old she was, then spent the entire time trying to make it up to her,

More crusing through the islands.

Here's Captain Jack giving us a lecture on the history and local culture. Fascinating!

Kayaking Day 2: just as great as the first time around.

We kayaked over to a little cove with a small Buddhist temple. There was also a couple taking wedding pictures, so Jack told us quite a bit about Vietnamese wedding customs, including details about his own marriage six months ago. Even though marriage costs a lot, he considers himself pretty lucky to have tied the knot. Like China, Vietnam limited the number of children per family, causing an imbalance between men and women,

Afterward we braved a swim. Luckily no jellies at this beach.

Enjoying a final meal together. The food was both delicious and plentify with so much fresh seafood. Heaven!

Despite the rocky start, I'm so grateful we pushed through and made this beautiful adventure happen. I've wanted to travel to Vietnam ever since I got assigned to learn Vietnamese on my mission. Of all the places to visit here, this overnight cruise was at the very top of my bucket list. When Talia and I visited Dorli and Helmut in Austria, they talking about cruising Ha Long Bay and how incredible it was. Now I just hope that some day we can come back with the entire family.

One of the group members put together this great video. Enjoy!