Vietnam: Motorbikes, Adrenaline and the American War

Click here for Vietnam Photo Highlight Album

It has been almost exactly 41 years since the Fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam war and Liberation Day at the end of the American War, which correspond to the same event and place, depending on who you ask.  It’s incredible to think about the transformation Vietnam has undergone in our lifetimes…  from an impoverished and politically isolated (the US trade embargo lasted until 1994) to one of the fastest growing economies in the world.  We feel fortunate to be at a time in history where could have the opportunity to experience this amazing country—from the vibrant controlled chaos of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city, to the stunning beauty of Halong Bay and plunging canyon waterfalls in the central highlands—traveling through Vietnam was fantastic, and even better because Tracey (Carolyn’s sister) was with us.

We started our trip in Hanoi (the capital) in the north part of the country.  Our first night we braved the chaos of the old quarter streets to sit on tiny plastic chairs at a roadside shop and eat some Pho (pronounced “fuh”—who knew?) and get some of the cheapest beer in the world (~$0.50 at a restaurant). Lesson learned in crossing the bustling streets teeming with honking motorbikes—just keep walking, and whatever you do- don’t stop or run.  The controlled chaos flow is almost magical.  

The next day Tracey arrived-   Hooray!  We introduced her to the excitement that is a walk around town and went to a water puppet theatre- a cultural program that included singing, indigenous instruments and the most bizarre and charming puppet show we’ve ever seen.  Who wouldn’t like puppets without pants dancing in water along with fire breathing dragons?  (video clip here)

The next day we left early for a cruise on Ha Long Bay to Bai Tu Long bay where we spent a relaxing two days cruising and kayaking around one of the  new natural wonders of the world and eating some of the best food of the entire trip so far. Liam and Xander have come a long way from our Thailand trip 3 years ago when they only ate rice.  Now they eat pretty much everything and are chopstick experts to boot. The kids went squid fishing at night and we had the wondrous surprise of the water being bioluminescent and leaving a fluorescent trail wherever we splashed (!). We woke up early to learn Tai Chi on the boat deck while we slipped by the limestone karsts in the still water.  Unreal.  (video clip here) 

Tomb Mosiac

After returning from Halong Bay it was back to Hanoi for a motorbike tour of the city before catching an overnight train to the “Imperial City” of Hue about 13 hours south.  On the motorbikes, we didn’t even flinch (that much) going through the round-abouts.  After resting in the hotel for a bit, we headed out to explore the Citadel ruins—the North Vietnamese army seized most of the city during the Tet offensive (1968).  The US initially didn’t bomb the area because of its religious and cultural significance but eventually the restrictions were lifted and many of the structures were destroyed further.  You can still see the bomb craters and bullet holes in the remaining walls.  Because the city is now a UNESCO site, the area is being restored and preserved.  The next day we went hiking in Bach Ma national park—“hiking” is a bit of a euphemism for the rock scaling and cliff crossings we navigated to make our way down to the gorgeous rhododendron waterfall.   The last day we braved the oppressive heat and toured the emperors’ tombs and pagoda before sweating it out at the steamy train station waiting for a delayed late night train to Nha Trang.   For both trains we were in the “hard sleeper” bunks with 3 bunks on each side.  The trips were surprisingly not bad, although poor Tracey powered through somehow getting over 40 blistering bug bites on her legs (we think at dinner).  Hooray for anti itch cream. 

Nha Trang is a party beach town full of (of all things) over weight and sunburnt Russians in small swim suits.  We enjoyed bobbing around in the South China Sea until the tide (and the trash) came in.  We walked to the Po Nagar Cham towers (built in 700s) and enjoyed a mud bath and pools at a local hot springs.  We also watched “Good Morning Vietnam” where we empathized with Robin William’s description of the weather: 

"Fool, it's hot! I told you again! Were you born on the sun? It's damn hot! It's so damn hot, I saw little guys, their orange robes burst into flames. It's that hot!”

Next it was up the windy hillside to the Da Lat in the central highlands.  Oh, heavenly cooler altitude.  We took a countryside tour where we checked out flower farms, scaled slippery rocks to a waterfall, ate crickets, saw a huge happy Buddha and Jim drank some weasel poo coffee.  Seriously, they make coffee from beans eaten and pooped by weasels (some of the most expensive in the world.) I’ll stick with crickets. 

family bonding

Xander jumps after a waterfall rappel

The following day was one of the most exciting of the trip—we went canyoning. The trip involved rappelling down cliff faces and waterfalls, rock sliding backwards over rapids, cliff jumping and going through the “washing machine” where you abseil down a waterfall until the cliff face disappears then you have to drop down on the rope vertically until the rope runs out, at which point you’re dropped into a narrow canyon where you’re whipped around underwater for several seconds until you pop out downstream. Wow.  The guides got some great pictures of the trip—one memorable one of Xander ½ way down the waterfall.  I told him he should put the picture up in his locker so he can remember how brave he is.  “Middle school is a different kind of hard,” he responded.     

Filling out our planes, trains and automobile checklist, for our final stop we flew to Ho Chi Minh city (formerly Saigon) that was even more insane than Hanoi (and broiling to boot.) We were psyched to meet up with some friends that we met on the Great Barrier reef and we all went on a tour to the Cu Chi tunnels.  The Cu Chi tunnels are a vast network of (extremely small and narrow) connected underground tunnels cover over 200 km used by the Viet Cong (video clip here). Part of the tour included a documentary/propaganda film from the early 70s that talks about the “evil Americans” that leveled the area with bombs and the brave guerillas (including a “little girl whose father was killed in an American attack”) who earned championship titles for killing American soldiers.  We also saw the many innovative and horrifying traps that the guerillas created to hurt and kill soldiers.  I won’t even get into what we learned about Agent Orange.  It was very sad to be where so many villagers and young soldiers killed each other.  I’m pretty sure the kids are going to struggle in  American history when they get to the Vietnam war because of the different facts they’ll read in US textbooks.  We found the Vietnamese people to be some of the most friendly and hospitable we’ve met on the trip so far.  What a difference a few decades makes.  I wonder if Xander and Liam will make a similar trip to North Korea, Iraq or Iran when they have kids?

Ho Chi Minh cross walk

It was wonderful to travel with intrepid Tracey, who could not have been more easy going/ fantastic travel planner.  Not only did she not complain about the gazillions of awful bug bites and an impressive bruise on the butt from falling on the rocks at the elephant waterfall, but she forgave me for slipping and falling and knocking her back into the river when we were canyoning (hey, I stayed up).  That’s what sisters are for, right?  The coolest part of the trip was seeing her “break through the fourth wall” with the kids because she got (had?) to spend so much time with them.  Best memory from the trip was watching Tracey and Liam laughing so hard that tears were streaming down their faces because of a faceswap snapchat picture they took of themselves.  Great minds, and all that J

Now we’re back on our own and in Cambodia exploring temples at Angor Wat.  They’re so cool it makes up for the fact that it’s 105 degrees!  Hard to believe we’re over ¾ done.

Senses:

Carolyn: Slowly moving my arms through Tai Chi poses as we glide through the serene still waters of Bai Long Bay, cruising by tree covered limestone karsts; grasping tightly to the frayed cord as I scale my way down a slippery cliff to make it to the gorgeous waterfalls and lakes in Bach Ma national park; the pitch black of the top of the Po Nagar Cham tower seemingly going up forever within the ancient temple filled with reverent bowing worshippers and fragrant incense; the quick crunch of the cricket in my mouth followed by the many minutes of trying to dislodge its spiny legs from between my teeth

Jim: The peaceful hum of the gong reverberating high over the many shades of green of the dense rain forest as we walk in the Bach Ma national park to the helicopter lookout built by the Americans in the "American" war; the brilliant colors of the ornate decoration of the emperors tomb completed by his successor using mosaics made from ceramics, glass, and bottles; climbing up the dragon stairs to the bonzi lined Buddhist temple with the three peaceful buddahs inside and then meandering to the back to find the electric blue giant happy buddah towering above us wishing us happiness and good fortune; the awfulness of war shown at the cu chi tunnels through human traps, tunnels, repurposed bombs, and other “innovations” that the Vietnam communists developed to fight against the French and then the Americans to maximize killing and minimize direct fighting.  

Xander: The mist shrouding the limestone karsts as we peacefully motor along the rubbish filled water Halong bay; My hands grasping the back seat handles as my motor guide weaves through traffic like a spider weaving its web in Hanoi; the fiery heat of the sun absorbed by the blackened dragons lining the stairs as we climb up to the tomb in Hue; My ears popping as we drive along the windy mountain road leaving the white sand and red Russians behind in Na Trang; The water pounding down on my shaking body as I repel/slide down the 20 meter waterfall to a 10 ft drop into the river's abyss

Liam: The giant waves of red and yellow fabric creating a gargantuous vietnam flag perched atop its noble black cement stand at the Citadel in Hue; My knuckle whitening grip on the frayed plastic rope loosening as I look at the golden shafts of sunshine piercing the body of the emerald green lake on our venturesome hike in Bach Ma national park; The small brown grass top umbrellas scattered across the white sand beach as turquoise blue waves crash onto the shore at nha trang beach; The small gritty mud granules pushing up against my teeth as I dunk my head once again into liquid silk mud; The great glowing red aura of the burnt orange orb slowly falling behind the pollution/clouds to create an amazing scene at the Ho chi Minh airport

Tracey: The feeling of warmth and joy overtaking my exhaustion as I see my family come down the stairs after traveling for 24 hours to arrive at the hotel in Hanoi; the surge of fear quickly replaced by amusement as we zip through the roundabout with countless other motorbikes from various directions; My skepticism melting into relaxation as the chocolate milky mud filled up the tub and soothed my fiery bug bite ridden leg; the exhilarating drop off the first waterfall abseil rewarding the hard work put in to get down to the final pitch

China: Industrialization, Wonders and Weirdness

ChinaPhoto Highlights

After over 2 ½ months in easy and familiar Australia and New Zealand, we took a deep breath (possibly the last one we’ll be able to take for the next 2 ½ months) and headed for China.  China was Jim’s country choice for “must see” on the trip, and like Iceland (Xander’s choice) and Madagascar (Liam’s choice) it didn’t disappoint.
We started our trip in Hong Kong for a short visit during which we went to Hong Kong Disneyland—possibly the only place in China that is less crowded than the equivalent in US.   We had fun on the “it’s a small world” ride trying to pick out places we’ve been.  Next we flew to Beijing to anxiously await Carol’s (Jim’s mom) arrival.  We ended up booking a guided tour back in November (!) to facilitate getting our visa (one of the many onerous requirements (including getting the visa in person in Chicago) was that we had to know exactly when and where we were staying throughout our trip).  It turned out to be a welcome respite from travel planning and a smooth and efficient trip.  If we had been in charge of all of the logistics on our own, it would’ve taken us at least 3 times as long to fit in all we did—of course our per day cost for China will likely be the highest of anywhere on the whole trip, but it was worth it.

Good eats at the Beijing snack market

Jim and I remember Beijing from our trip to China 14 years ago as full of bikes and a little 3^rd-worldy.  Not anymore.  It’s a buzzing metropolis filled with endless high-rise apartment buildings, huge shopping malls, countless cars and almost more people than all of Australia (20+ million).  We were thrilled when Carol arrived and we could show her the “snack market” we discovered—complete with wriggling scorpions on a stick and fried cockroaches. Yum.

Posing for some of the many fans

Our first day on tour in Beijing included Tienanmen square, the Forbidden City, a bike tour through the Hunan district and a visit to the Llama temple (told you we couldn’t have done all that on our own.)  The Forbidden city was the imperial palace from the early 1400s until the early 1900s (and the setting for the movie “The Last Emperor”). 500 years in China is kind of like the age of humans in geologic time-  China has had dynasties since before 2000 BC (and we thought remembering 250 years of US history was hard.) We marveled in the colorful nail-free buildings, lion statues (turns out that the boy lion is on the left and has its paw on a ball, the girl lion has its paw on a baby lion, and is on the right- because, of course, women are always right) and hordes of Chinese tourists.  It also turns out that Liam is rock star with Chinese tourists—everyone wanted to take a picture with him.

The next day we went to the Temple of Heaven, a lovely park that is filled with tons of Chinese elders playing cards and “elder-cizing” (Carol’s term)—doing everything from tai chi, to line dancing, to hula hooping, to hacky sack.  We also walked through a crowded square where parents had “resumes” of their (~25-35 year old) children who they wanted to find a match for.  Who needs Eharmony when you’ve got parents in the park?  Later that day we drove out of town to the Great Wall of China.  Although it’s not really true that you can see the Great Wall from space, it’s definitely amazing from a ground view—watch towers dotting the peaks across the horizon as far as you can see.  Hats off to Carol who faced two of her greatest fears (riding a chairlift and tobogganing) and crossing an item off her bucket list in the same afternoon!

Our last day in Beijing we went to the Beijing zoo to see a bunch of extremely cute pandas (one of which was apparently responsible for charming the Olympic committee and getting Beijing selected as a host city.)  Then it was on to the summer palace, seasonal home of the “dragon lady” empress dowager Cixi who ruled china for about 50 years (!) in the late 1800s.  She used the money for China’s navy to build the summer palace, so she built a marble boat in the lake there.  She also had her nephew locked in a temple for decades and had his pregnant concubine thrown down a well.  Ah, the things you get to explain when homeschooling.  That afternoon we took a high speed train (over 300 km/hr) to Xian for 1200km.  When Jim and I took the same trip last time, it took over 12 hours.  Yay for technological advances.

Xian is the home of the famous terracotta warriors—a clay army built by over 700,000 workers as part of the tomb of the first emperor of China (~200BC). A farmer (who we met!) discovered the site in the 70s while digging a well (cool national geographic video here).  The excavation is about twice as big as when we were there before and they are literally uncovering more things every year.  Each of the 8000+ warriors have unique faces, clothes, and even shoes.  Archeologists haven’t even begun to excavate the actual tomb of emperor (that is another 1.5 km away!) because they don’t yet possess the technology to protect the unearthed artifacts from being destroyed nor deal with the contamination present from the rivers of mercury that were present in the tomb.  We also learned that concubines had to be buried (alive) with emperors when they died.  Yikes. Other highlights in Xian included walking through the chaotic muslim quarter that included all sorts of street bbq complete with half flayed dead animals, riding bikes atop the Xian city wall, and learning to make dumplings at a local Xian woman’s apartment.

Next we flew south to Guilin, home of the terraced rice fields and karst mountains of scroll painting fame.  It was great to see some trees after a week in the big cities—the scenery was gorgeous.  Liam and Xander bargained for treasures in the market and we went on a bike ride out to the “countryside” that involved a thrilling ride through the busy city street (“that was an experience,” deadpanned Liam). We celebrated Xander’s 13^th birthday overlooking a lake with beautiful lit pagodas and watched the nightly waterfall cascade from the top of our hotel (ah, weird and wonderful china).  The waterfall is in the Guinness book of world records (but we couldn’t quite figure out for what: biggest hotel with a waterfall running down it’s sides, the biggest man made waterfall for tourist value, the biggest waterfall inspired by a poem about a beautiful waterfall…).  The waterfall was wider than any waterfall we know of in Colorado and falls at least 12 stories.

We spent the last few days of the tour in Hong Kong, where we checked out Victoria peak, the incredible skyline and harbor, and the Hong Kong History museum. Hong Kong has the distinction of being number one tourist destination in the world, the most densely populated city, and one of the most important financial centers in the world.  Hong Kong was a British colony until June 1997, when the “99 year lease” was up and it became a part of China—but not really—Hong Kong is a “Special Administrative Region” of the People’s republic of China, and we actually had to go through Chinese and Hong Kong immigration to travel between the two.  What most characterized the difference between Hong Kong and China for us is that we didn’t have website restrictions in Hong Kong, like we did in China, where we couldn’t use sites like Google, Facebook and You Tube.   (The horror!  Wow did we figure out quick how much we rely on Google products once we couldn’t access email, search or Google Maps – which is perhaps one of our best travel companions.)

Waterfall hotel

We were awed by the massive industrialization and urbanization (a small town is one with less than 5 million people; a few places we visited 14 years ago now have millions more people)and impressed by the industriousness of the people we met—Young people (including students as young as 5) work incredibly hard with high expectations and limited time off.  Even elders were extremely active.  The huge malls and tons of fancy cars belied any misconceptions about a country of peasant farmers but we still got glimpses of some of the differences between the countries.  For example, Chinese people need to apply to move between regions, and won’t necessarily get approved.  There’s no way parents could take their kids out of school for a year of travel (but that’s been true almost everywhere we’ve gone.)  Many families wouldn’t have “kids” because of the one child policy (which was just changed earlier this year.) Some cultural differences were a bit shocking-  mostly the fact that spitting is a big thing—any time we were walking down a (crowded) sidewalk you’d hear multiple people (including little old ladies) hocking up huge loogies and we’d flinch and watch our step.  Plus a ton of people smoke.  Everywhere.  Carol said it’s like the US in the 70s.   And you wouldn’t believe how many people will squish into an elevator—with 5 times the people than the US, personal space has different boundaries.

Even with the haze and crowds, China is beautiful and the people are vibrant and friendly.  The best thing about our trip was being with Carol—She inspired with her enthusiasm, impressed us with her intrepid sense of adventure, and charmed us with her wonder.

Now we’re in Vietnam with Tracey (Carolyn’s sister).  Yay for family who’s willing to travel J
Senses:
Jim: The crisscross of red and yellow cranes and trucks building an island outside our hotel window in the Hong Kong harbor; The stare of Chairman Mao over Tienanmen square capturing the reverence of the Chinese people and the iconic image I have of China; the warehouse sized buildings of terracotta warriors lined for battle representing the power of the emperors of old and pulling at my imagination of future; the kaleidoscope of colors lighting the path through the crystal reed flute cave and highlighting many wonderful creatures trapped in the stone

Xander: The rows of the different terracotta warriors surrounded by an aura of wonder and old musty air; the flooded terraces of the rice fields reflecting a perfect image of the cloudy sky in the Long Sheng village; the lush green peaks bordering the Li River framing the steep white limestone cliffs towering over our boat; the wind furiously blowing on our jackets on the top of Victoria Peek as I look over the towering skyscrapers in the Hong Kong Harbor

Xian city wall

Carolyn: The shocking sight of the wriggling skewered scorpions prepped for their roasting alongside cockroaches and centipedes at the Beijing night market; watching the burnished orange sun set in the haze as we speed past city after city of high-rises under construction on the high speed train from Beijing to Xian; the towering stalagmites and stalagmites reflecting the timed colored lights in the wacky and wonderful reed flute cave near Guilin; singing "just keep swimming" in my head as I bike my way through the seemingly frantic but surprisingly smooth flow of traffic, believing in my heart that I won't get run over by the bus honking 2 inches behind me.

Liam: Gazing at the small rectangular watchtowers spread across the peaks of the mountains in the horizon as I walk up the crooked but amazing great wall of china; the multitude of faces, arms, torsos and legs pieced together to make a magnificent scene of a terracotta army fit with horses, chariots, and generals; the long haired local girls suddenly jumping out from behind their costumes into what looked like bare skin as I gasp in surprise and confusion at the Guilin cultural show; the loud exhilarating blaring horns coming out of the multiple ramshackle trucks and motorbikes as I try desperately to navigate successfully across the round about

Carol: The crushing undulating crowd of humanity as each person vies to glimpse the unseen inner sanctum in the Forbidden City; tears streaming down my face as the first drops of "not that spicy" sauce scald my lips at dinner in Xian; the arresting grand canyon-like beauty of the Li river followed by the nerve racking energy of bargaining with the intense, hardworking, toothless vendors in the west street market in Yangshou; the heart stopping thrill of proving the axiom that there is more to balance than not falling down (on a bike) fact check… in China, carts, vendors, trucks, motorcycles, buses and cars all use the mostly one way bike lane.