Vietnam with the Family - Part I

Hi all, Happy New Year.  May the New Year bring you wealth, health and happiness.

I have just spent 3 weeks in Vietnam with John, Aaron, Renee, Hayden, Renee, Nikita and Ethan.  It was great fun and wonderful being able to spend time with John,  Aaron and Renee and of course the 4 grandchildren.

Renee had done all the work before leaving Aussie and had arranged for a very busy and exciting itinerary and all I had to do was just tag along.  Fantastic.

I left Siem Reap on Saturday the 11th leaving about 1 hour late at 7pm and Sandra had already left the school heavily laden down with 38 kg of luggage which was mainly gifts for her family for Christmas.   Sandra will be missed as she is certainly larger than life and dearly loved by her students as was shown during our end of term party.

I arrived at the Hanoi airport and did the airport taxi shuffle and travelled what seemed ages to be met by John at the door of the hotel we were staying at.  It was great to see him again and to catch up on what has been happening back in Australia.   The family had just returned from two days in Halong Bay where they spent time on a boat, looking at the sights, singing Karaoke and making spring rolls.

I had to wait until next morning before I could catch up with everyone and it was great eating breakfast (eggs & bacon) surrounded by everyone talking at once.
Sunday saw us going to the Thu Le Park and Zoo where the kids had a great time bouncing around in huge plastic balls and the older Doidge women chose to have a more sedate trip on the swans in the lake.

 

The next major event on the agenda was a trip to the water puppets which we have managed to see every time we have been to Hanoi.  There had been some changes to the program and it was only 20 minutes long but I must admit it was fantastic watching how much the grandchildren enjoyed the show especially when the puppets smoked, dragons spat water and rice grew.  Renee was absolutely taken with it and hardly moved during the whole show and of course wanted to 'do it again'.  She was told that we may have time when we come back from  Sapa or when we were in HCMC.

Later that evening, we were collected from our hotel and taken to the train station to head off to Sapa.  This was the trip that I had wanted to do for ages and Renee arranged it that I would be there to come along.

The train conditions were very basic but surprisingly comfortable, with  compartment for 4 passengers, the girls shared with John and myself.  We were rudely woken up about 5 am when we arrived at our destination and the guard told us to get off.  Fortunately, being good Scouts we had everything packed ready to go. 

We found ourselves at Lao Chai Railway, sheltering under a small verandah, freezing to death for ages before we relocated to a bus to wait some more before travelling up a number of very winding roads which were hidden by mist, our ears popping and the children snoring.  Our hotel was a blessed haven of heat and food.

Located in Vietnam's remote North West Mountains, Sapa is famous for both its fine, rugged scenery and also its rich cultural diversity. Sapa, at 1,600m above sea level, is an incredibly picturesque resort town that lies on the Hoang Lien Son mountain range near the Chinese border in northwestern Vietnam, known as "the Tonkinese Alps". Sapa and its surrounding region is host to many hill tribes, as well as rice terraces, lush vegetation and Fansipan (Phan Xi Phang), the highest peak in Vietnam at 3,143m. 
Sapa is home to a wealth of colorful, diverse hill tribes, who have steadfastly resisted integration into Vietnamese society and modern life.

At 9: 00am we left the hotel running the gauntlet of brightly dressed women who were wanting to sell their wares and start trekking. The grandchildren and I were wearing rubber boots that we had hired and I must admit that by the time the two days were over, I was pleased that I had them.  This trek was only 3 km long but down into a valley which consisted of many steps and when we reached the bottom we were given the option of walking back or hiring a motobike, yes, we all grabbed a bike and rider and took the easy way back up the hill.  I think that I would have had to been medivaced out!! 

The 12 km trek the next day will remain in my memory until I die. The first part is on the road but we soon turned to the right and walked on a small, slippery, muddy path down the valley to the Muong Hoa River and from there to the Black H’mong village Lao Chai. Black H’mong is one of the biggest minority groups in the Sapa area. They are proud of their culture and keep their traditions and way of living. They have their own language and wear traditional indigo blue clothing which is not colour fast as I found out.  I had bought a pair of pants and a top at the market the day before and by the end of the second day, my legs were a great shade of green. 

The kids had an absolute ball during the walk as they skated and skid through the mud, waded across rivers and ended up covered from head to toe in mud.  Us oldies took it much slower, John and Aaron were planning to take on the Kadoda trail next, Renee and I just mumbled!!

I am really pleased that we went to Sapa and I loved the colours and the mountains as I knew I would, it was just the cold and the slippery mud that wasn't a lot of fun. 

 

 

 

We were on the train returning to Hanoi before we knew it and packing to fly to Hue. The weather was just a litttle warmer in Hanoi.Huế is the capital city of Thừa Thiên - Huế province, Vietnam. Between 1802 and 1945, it was the imperial capital of the Nguyễn Dynasty.

The plane trip was a very short one and we were soon settled into our hotel and while we were booking in, Aaron went for a walk and said that he had found a restraunt for our evening meal. Well, it turned out that a delightful young lady called Nicki ran the restaurant and her father was the chef. We ate almost all our meals there and the kids loved being with Nicki.

John and I were determined that the granchildren spend some time to see the Citadel where we really enjoyed spending time during our first trip, so we hired a car for the day and set out to explore the old ruins for the morning. I started reading bits from the lonely planet and the time flew by and the kids had a ball reading and taking pictures. We could have spent more time there but we had other places to go.

 

The weather was still wet and cool but we were promised better weather soon.  After lunch we headed out to Thahn Tan Hot Springs, everyone taking their bathers hoping that the weather would change from cold and wet to hot and sunny. NO not today.

We still went in to the water as the water from the hot springs have been channelled out and you can slowly move your way up to the spring outlet where the water is a nice 45 degrees. The kids of course went off and tried out the water slides. I would recommend a visit to the springs but in the 'peak' tourist season as there was very little open and nothing happening. I would think it would be the place to be during the warmer months.

Where are the pictures you ask?

Well everyone was swimming except John who had his camera with him but forgot to use it!!!


We left Hue behind the next morning and travelled to Hoi An by private car, think it took about 4 hours.