Vietnam

Language- Vietnamese

Hello- Xin Chao

Thank you- Cam on

Currency- Vietnamese Dong

Ho Chi Minh City- (march 2015) formally known as Saigon- Hon Chi Minh is busy- the food is delicious- we ate everything and got cheap massages- we had to learn how to cross the street cause it’s a never ending line of motorcycle and cars – they teach you to have a slow steady pace crossing the roads and motorcycles go around you- we booked two rickshaws to take us around to explore the city

I forget to take photos of food to share- but for some reason I remembered in Vietnam- so here you go

Cu Chi Tunnels- (march 2015) the tunnels are made up of a series of underground chambers that were used during the Vietnam war- they also show you boobie traps they used as well – you can crawl through a section of the tunnels – it was widened for tourist – the tunnels were actually crazy small and super narrow – there is also an area after the tour to shoot machine guns- you pay by bullet- joe and I shot an M-16

Hanoi- (October 2015) I love Vietnam- it doesn’t feel like you are in a tourist country when you are walking the streets- it feels like you see everyday life and are immersed in culture without trying- but the second you book a tour you feel like a tourist again- we stayed in the Old Quarter and the streets are narrow and full of people

Tam Coc River Boat Ride– (October 2015) the scenery is unbelievably beautiful – and they paddle with their feet!!! They have to take turns to be able to take tourist out and since there is a lot of people who want to do it they don’t get to make the money they want to so please tip! The woman who paddled our boat was amazing- she let us try to paddle with our feet but we stood no chance- it was joes 35th birthday!!! We also did a bike ride along rice terraces with new friends

Ban Gioc Waterfall– (October 2015) this waterfall is on the Vietnam/China border- this tour was a 3 day tour- we slowly spent 2 days to get there and on the third headed back to Hanoi – it was a super bumpy ride- we were hitting our heads on the roof of the van- we have been on some bumpy roads but this one took the cake – the first day we took a boat ride and stopped at a bat cave – where we saw boys with sling shots trying to catch bat for dinner

After the bat cave we headed to Ba Be Lake where we swam & hung out on bamboo rafts before heading to our home stay for the night – we walked on beams along rice fields to get to our place- we got these tiny cute rooms and had rice wine while looking over rice fields – it was really awesome day- we like the group we had which was good cause we were with them for 3 days!

Second day we headed to Ban Gioc Watefall!! This watefall is stunning- we also learned that there was even a small waterfall you can walk up to- to get to the main falls there are raft boats that take you close – and you can also walk around and explore- sadly you are not able to do any swimming which we didn’t know till that day

Third day was heading back to Hanoi with a few stops on the way home- it was such an awesome trip – and it only cost around $60 a person for all three days – with guide, food, transportation and overnight stays

Halong Bay- (October 2015) we did 2 days 1 night on Halong Bay- the waterfall trip was longer than we expected so had less time at Halong Bay- joe booked us the party cruise and we were by far the oldest by a long shot – everyone was wild and joe loves wild! The water is so salty that you can just float for hours- we floated and watched the sunset- it was so cool- we also kayaked around the bay and went to cave