To celebrate the Chinese New Year, the Ince family decided to head to Northern Vietnam. We took a two and a half hour flight from Taipei directly to Hanoi. Upon boarding the flight, we immediately began to sense the excitement and anticipation that folks were feeling as they were getting closer to being with their families to celebrate the holiday. Many a gift bag was being pushed and squeezed into the plane's tiny overhead compartments. It was fun vicariously feel, via our fellow passengers, the joy that often accompanies a long awaited home coming.
Once we arrived in Hanoi, we discovered a noisy, bustling, somewhat crowded city whose colorfully decorated, store-lined streets entice the visitor to explore. We discovered a fantastic vegetarian restaurant in the Old Quarter and enjoyed many a cyclo ride to the establishment for any of breakfast, lunch or dinner. The highlight of our time in Hanoi was certainly the visit to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. We learned a lot about Vietnam's modern day history and were struck at how much of this recent history the country had spent in the throes of one war after another.
After a couple of days in Hanoi, we headed for a day trip to the mystical Halong Bay. The scenery from our boat was breathtaking as we weaved around the bay's 400 plus limestone formations that rose from below the water's placid surface and towered high above us. We had a lovely ship board meal, freshly prepared by the ship captain's wife. The girls really enjoyed visiting one of the bay's floating villages, fully outfitted with a floating market, school, and hospital.
Once we arrived in Hanoi, we discovered a noisy, bustling, somewhat crowded city whose colorfully decorated, store-lined streets entice the visitor to explore. We discovered a fantastic vegetarian restaurant in the Old Quarter and enjoyed many a cyclo ride to the establishment for any of breakfast, lunch or dinner. The highlight of our time in Hanoi was certainly the visit to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. We learned a lot about Vietnam's modern day history and were struck at how much of this recent history the country had spent in the throes of one war after another.
After a couple of days in Hanoi, we headed for a day trip to the mystical Halong Bay. The scenery from our boat was breathtaking as we weaved around the bay's 400 plus limestone formations that rose from below the water's placid surface and towered high above us. We had a lovely ship board meal, freshly prepared by the ship captain's wife. The girls really enjoyed visiting one of the bay's floating villages, fully outfitted with a floating market, school, and hospital.
The final day's of our Vietnam journey were spent in the northern mountain town of Sapa. Getting to Sapa from Hanoi involved an overnight train trip. Six of us stayed in one sleeper berth, with two sets of "bunk bed" style cots. It was a tight fit and the ride slightly terrifying, as the train often felt like it was flying off, if not over, some very bumpy, mountainside tracks.
We spent a day trekking into a hillside tribal village belonging to a Black H'Mong community. Everyone was welcoming, immediately willing to serve as our guides, and our girls made some fast friends a long the way!
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