Days 40-49: Vietnam

Ha Long Bay

           The night before leaving for Vietnam, I was a bit paranoid. I had heard some negative things about Vietnam, and was starting to question my decision to travel through there. But in the end, my pessimistic expectations turned out to not be that accurate.
           I flew into Hanoi and went to my first hotel. With everything I had heard about Vietnam, I was really cautious with them and paranoid about being taken advantage. However they ended up being really nice and got me setup with an overnight tour cruise of Ha Long Bay for a decent price and even got me a free upgrade to the “deluxe package” for free.
           I was picked up early the next morning for 5-hour drive to Ha Long Bay.  Being on a fully catered cruise was a bit different experience compared to the way I had been traveling the past month, but a welcome break. The landscape in Ha Long Bay was amazing, although the weather was a bit cloudy and foggy at times, and made it hard to see the entire view.  As a part of the package, we got a tour of a large cave in the Ha Long Bay area, a stop to climb to the top of one of the islands and get a really nice view of the bay, a tour of an oyster farm, and kayaking around the bay area.  At night they set up fishing lines in case we wanted to fish for small squids in the water.
           After the cruise I explored Hanoi for a bit, had my first authentic Vietnamese meal, which was mind blowingly amazing and was by far the best meal I had so far on my journey.

Mussels Porridge
Fried Rice with Bean
Fried Crab Spring Rolls

Hoi An

           With the help of the hotel staff who gave me a motorcycle ride to the train station and lead me all the way onto the train and even showed me which bunk was mine, I was on my way on my first overnight train to Hoi An. Being able to just lie down in your bed in a train and wake up the next morning almost at your destination was really nice.
           Hoi An was a nice and peaceful small town in Vietnam, but a very tourist filled city. After settling in my hotel I rented a bicycle and peddled through the rice patty filled countryside to the nearby beach to relax for the afternoon with some random dogs that decided to befriend me.
           Since I loved the food so much in Vietnam, I decided I had to take a cooking class and learn how to make it myself. The class brought me through a tour of the food market where they pointed out all the vegetables and fruits that are unique to Southeast Asia. Next we went through and they taught us how to make vietnam style country pancakes, a fresh spring roll, a chicken dish, and beef pho. All the foods made were delicious, and at the end they gave us a cookbook for all the dishes we made. Hopefully I’ll remember how to make them by the time I make it home.
           My second day was really rainy, and let me with little to do, but despite the rain, I went and rented a motocycle for just a few dollars and drove it around, exploring the small town. I'm not sure what was going through the mind of the women I rented from, as I clearly had no idea what I was doing, having never actually driven a motocycle before. The rain made it a bit less enjoyable, but a really wanted to be able to try it here since everyone gets everywhere in Vietnam on motocycle, and trying to drive in the small town of Hoi An would be a whole lot safer then trying to do it in the chaos of the major cities.
           My train ride to Saigon was a little less pleasant thanks to an annoying loud child, but I still found it more pleasant then being stuck in a Chinese airport waiting for several hours for a delayed flight.

Lee

           In Saigon, I was able to get a free tour guide through someone who I met through Couchsurfing named Lee. He told me how he had gone on vacation to Cambodia and had such a good time, he wanted to be able to continue at home by providing a free service to other travelers to give them tour of his city. He showed me a couple of interesting churches and temples in Saigon, and brought me to several street vendors to get me local Vietnam food for pennies. One of the more interesting things we got was a sweet drink made from daisies, that was really good. He also helped me get my bus ticket to Cambodia figured out.
           Early my last day in Vietnam, I boarded the bus for an 11 hour bus ride to my next city: Siem Reap.