Travel Diary: Vietnam Part II

I know what you’re thinking, how could Vietnam get any better than Sa Pa? And I’d be thinking the same thing too…

(But if you do want to check out my 16 mile hike in Sa Pa, click HERE)

BUT there is SO MUCH MORE IN VIETNAM!!!! This is why, I’m telling you I know better and you should just trust me and put it on your bucket list… go ahead, I’ll wait.

Day 3: Ha Long Bay

I’m 99% sure that none of us really moved the night in the hotel after Sa Pa, we it was too much work. It was also a lot of work getting our butts up and ready for our car to take us to our yacht cruise, we live a rough life I know.

(I know what you’re thinking again, what the heck is she doing? She lives on a cruise ship and when she has the opportunity to get off she gets on a different boat? Blasphemy, I KNOW)

Fun fact: the company sent us a Vietnamese limo, which is basically a crazy nice car that has massage chair and WiFi…Josey was having a heck of a time!!!

We even got to stop and get snacks, where Sara took FULL advantage (I mean I can’t say much my bag looked the same)…she had all her priorities in one bag!!!!

SO LET ME TELL YOU. This yacht that we were on? Pretty much the coolest one in Ha Long Bay (okay we actually were in Long Ha Bay which is part of it, but same difference), I can pretty much guarantee that. BUT ALSO HA LONG FREAKING BAY!!!JUST LOOK AT THIS!!

I just need to talk about the room for a second, first it’s beautiful. Second LOOK AT THE TUB. And third LOOK AT THE VIEW FROM MY BALCONY.

When we got there we were running around so excited about everything… and then. Josey found the crocs. Yes, every room came with complimentary crocs and this object alone made the trip with it for her (hotels take notes). Just wait for the later pictures of her in them, they REALLY add to the pictures, seriously.

After we figured out our room, was cave exploring… again look out for the crocs.

Then we all decided massages were the best idea yet. In theory, FANTASTIC idea. Real life? It was different than the massages I’ve gotten in the US, that’s the best way to put it!!!

That plus a bath in the tub I was talking about, dang I’ve never been so relaxed in my life!!! (Could you imagine how much we needed it after the 16+ mile hike)

This was a FANCY little thing we had going on, you even got warm towels before every meal. Please see Josey again, taking full advantage (we try not to let her off the ship much, yeesh ).

The food, pretty much could talk about it for the whole post, but I’ll just leave you with some pictures of the highlights…You might drool, just a forewarning (and yes the steak was better than it looked, but no, Dad yours is still better)!!

We ended up hot tubing (with a view like this, what could be better) for a while before taking FULL advantage of the karaoke room. Like WHAT?! They have a whole room dedicated to it!!! Somehow we ended up exploring the gym too, but who works out at a time like this?

The best part of kareoke is that there was a family and a couple who were there as well. Ann, one of the woman was THRILLED to do karaoke with us and told us we just HAD to do Its Raining Men with her, it was our song.

We taught Ann (who was English and probably 65) how we do karaoke. We ended up singing and dancing to ABBA for over an hour (and by singing I mean screaming) before they came and shut us down… honestly this was a highlight for me!!!! (P.S. can you tell we take it seriously & P.P.S extra points for whoever knows what pose we’re recreating)

By the end of the night we had exercised full use of 90% of our yacht… including the included robes and crocs. I don’t think they have had people our age running around in swimsuits, robes, and crocs before (we got lots of stares and laughs)!!! (Also Josey on the floor…. she was “locked out” for a while and the door was open… it was a look of defeat)

The view from our balcony that night….

Day 4: Ha Long Bay

The next morning we woke up bright and early to go KAYAKING!!!!!! At home in Minnesota I have a kayak and take every single opportunity to go out either by myself or with friends… it’s one of my favorite things ever. SO, this was 100% my kinda thing.

You cannot tell me that you don’t instantly want to go out there when you see this? Ha Long Bay is truly one of a kind…

We spend over an hour kayaking between the mountains and exploring before heading back to the island dock. How could you not wanna spend like a month here?

Sara and I were waiting for everyone else to come back but they went missing. Our little commuter boat went out to fetch Josey, Caroline, Amanda, and JuJu… OF COURSE THEY GOT LOST IN HA LONG BAY!!!! (Lost is used loosely, they were fine & just lost track of time)

Something was going around in Vietnam because by the time we got back for lunch, down went two more… JuJu and I were the only ones who didn’t get sick. Seems like Vietnam got the best of us!!! Luckily everyone got to do the activities this time!!!

After our dream of a cruise, we headed back to Hanoi for the night. We ended up getting the two things in Vietnam we hadn’t tried yet: egg coffee (an espresso dessert) and Bhon Mi sandwiches (a sandwich with meat and who knows what else). BOTH WERE SO GOOD!!!!!

Day 5: Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

Our last day, Josey and I (everyone else had to get back earlier for a class) flew out early in the morning to make it back to the ship. Let me just tell ya the Vietnamese LOVED Josey and I traveling together. People were taking pictures of us left and right, especially at the airport!!!

We made it back just in time to head out to the markets. The big one Ben than, is exactly what we were looking for. We met up with some of our friends there and there was a major bartering war going on in that place, it was like a movie!!

However when you do buy something, they are incredibly hospitable… especially with these tiny chairs!!

Before we got back on the ship, we grabbed dinner and enjoyed being on land for a while longer…

I’ll do more or what Vietnam was like aside from pictures, but until then two words describe Vietnam: absolutely incredible.

Please note, there are a TON of enriching, exciting, and unbelievable things about Vietnam and I only did .1% of them, so clearly there’s more to see that just this!! Also a lot more to eat, the food was fantastic and I didn’t even show you all I got!!

If you didn’t see my hike click HERE

Okay, until then!!!!

Katelyn