Southeast Asia - Vietnam

Inside the Temple of Literature

Writing about our Southeast Asia trip is a bit daunting. We did so much over the 21 days we were there. But I wanted to carry on the tradition of writing about our travels so here goes!

I'll start with Vietnam since that's where the journey began. We left our house at 3:15 am for an early flight to Los Angeles. Our first flight of three. When we left our house, Jim set a timer on his phone that would run continuously while we traveled. We got to our hotel in Hanoi thirty three (33!) hours later. What a journey!

We arrived at night so all we got to see of the city was the ride to the hotel. It was amazing. Sensory overload! The colors, the smells, the noise! I was so excited but also extremely tired. Sleeping on a plane is not really sleeping so I needed to be in a bed.

The next morning we woke to a beautiful day. Seeing Hanoi in the daylight was even more beautiful. Even the view out the front of our hotel was fun! Below is one of the hotel workers looking out at traffic and another of Jim looking out while no traffic was going by. This was our first real insight as to what life in Hanoi was like. It seemed a little busy but not too bad.

Then we headed out and saw what Hanoi is really like on a weekday morning.

Little bit of traffic

Motorbikes, cars, buses and bicycles everywhere! Believe it or not, we got used to it. We were told when we needed to cross the street, we just stepped out into traffic. I thought it was a joke. It wasn't. The first time we did it, we were both a little nervous but we found out it works! The only rules are: 1) don't stop once you have committed and 2) don't run. So we didn't. As you step out, the vehicles all adjust their driving and go around you. It's like a dance. No one freaks out, no one stops, they just steer around you. It's actually quite beautiful

We spent a couple days in Hanoi visiting different temples and other sites.

The Temple of Literature was on of the places. The oldest University in Vietnam build it 1070. It's a symbol for Vietnamese tradition and culture. The scholars that study Confucius study there and you can see groups of school age children visiting and wanting to attend when they get older.

Another site was the "Hanoi Hilton". The historical prison. I didn't take a lot of photos there. The educational aspect was exceptionally good. That stories we read and the fact that all of this happened was exceptionally horrific. We learned a lot about how people tried to survive during these times. It was not a pleasant tour but as I said, it was very educational and I'm glad we visited. Below is a photo from 1972 of some of the 400,000 individual bomb shelters in Hanoi. Each person had access to at least 3. One in their home, one at work and one outside.

I forgot to mention rickshaw's when it comes to traffic. They are also everywhere and just a normal part of the scenery. We took a rickshaw ride through the city and it was almost as frightening as the first time I stepped off the curb in traffic. No one pays attention to lanes (in fact, there really aren't any). They just drive. Everyone (cars, buses, motorbikes, pedestrians, bicycles, and rickshaws) go wherever they need to go and wherever they fit. Below is a short video from my seat in a rickshaw riding around the city.

Hold on!

Some other fun photos from our rickshaw ride!

Next up - Ninh Binh

Wow! We spent a few hours travelling to Ninh Binh’s Tam Coc village, hopping on a row boat and floating around paradise. “Ha Long Bay on Land.” We traveled down the river, passing magnificent mountains that seem to just pip up out of the rice paddies. It was so peaceful and so beautiful

At this point in our journey, I had already felt like we had completed a vacation. In reality, we were only on Day 5.

I'm going to stop for now. This will be part 1 of our Vietnam experience. Part 2 will begin with our overnight excursion on Ha Long Bay then on to Ho Chi Minh City.

Peace and love to all!

☮️ ❤️