Day nine

December 31 2012... Spent some time reminiscing about our year and all the wonderful things we have experienced. To be honest I'm not sorry to see it end...but our boys have had a wonderful year.

Today we had a wonderful day cycling through the countryside. Out our guide took us through local villages, along the riverside, through herb farms, into a Buddhist temple and through rice paddy's. We encountered local farmers up to their knees in muddy water, children playing in the front of their small, simple houses. Fishermen (and women) throwing nets high into the air...and we even came across a rather large water buffalo sitting across our path (we nervously cycled by but he didn't give us a second glance :)

 

We visited the beach which was wild and windy, then enjoyed a boat ride back to Hoi An. A home cooked lunch and foot massage were a perfect end to the tour..

 

I stupidly promised the boys they could stay up until midnight NYE if they had a nap in the afternoon...now our boys NEVER nap...but of course Harry and Charlie slept for over 2 hours. I would pay for that later on!

NYE Vietnam style...what can I say. It was probably a bit like being on a cruise. Compulsory gala dinner including karaoke style entertainment...singing, dancing gangam style and lots of loud music. We managed to convince the boys it was time for bed at 11pm...but once back in the room there was pretty much a mutany and we ended back back at the party for the final countdown and just a few few more rounds of gangam style. We only just made it for breakfast the next morning :)

 

Happy New Year everyone xxx

 

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Day six, last day in Hanoi

We are starting to feel a bit tired and weary. The noise and chaos here, while exciting and new, can be exhausting at times. We enjoyed our breakfast then spent most of the morning relaxing in our room. The boys have been fantastic but they do start going a bit stir crazy -all together in the one room!

Being a fan of beautiful hotels we visited one of Hanoi's best, the Metropole. This grand white building has been around for over 100 years so I guess it has survived pretty well considering the history of ongoing wars in this country. We enjoyed a drink in the bamboo bar beside the pool....what a beautiful place (and maybe where we will stay sometime in the future...without the boys :)

 

We spent the rest of the day wandering through different parts of the city. We ate lunch in a local cafe...chicken rice is a basic dish...cheap and delicious. We paid about $2.50 for a plate.

The architecture here is pretty amazing. A mix of run down, dilapidated buildings, all very narrow (a result of very high land taxes) and several stories high...with the occasional beautiful, resorted French colonial in the mix....the streets are mostly tree lined and quite pretty considering this is a big busy city..

We visited the history museum which was pretty good, I always enjoy the photographs which (for me anyway) are a more significant historical record than items and artifacts. Some of the wartime photos were fairly graphic and not really great for the kids. The boys we especially shocked by the huge guillotine.

For our final evening we ate at a restaurant overlooking Hoan Kiem lake. The food in Hanoi hasn't been as great as we expected. The local dish 'pho' is delicious, a hot noodle broth with either beef or chicken. It is eaten here all day, but after having it once for breakfast I couldn't imagine eating it again for lunch...I guess our western diet has us far too spoilt!

The weather here has been fairly cool, some days quite cold. The city is clouded in white smog/fog and I haven't worn sunglasses once...very unusual for me! We are looking forward to some warmer weather, and hopefully blue skies once we arrive in Hoi An.

 

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Day four, Halong Bay

One of the main reasons for visiting Hanoi was to see Halong Bay. We booked an overnight cruise which gave us just enough time to experience the area...without going crazy on a smallish boat with three active boys!

The trip from Hanoi was over three hours in a car. We had expected the thick white fog/smog to clear as we left the city behind but it actually seemed to get worse. The fumes and smoke became a little overwhelming...and even the kids started looking a bit foggy by the time we arrived.

Day three Hanoi

Merry Christmas!

We woke early as may just be the norm while we are here :)

Charlie was very surprised that Santa had found us and all three boys were thrilled with their Vietnamese Lego sets!

 

Today was spent exploring some of the French quarter. We visited the women's museum which was really fascinating. We watched a moving short video about street vendors which brought tears to my eyes. The women interview explained why they had to leave their families behind in rural areas to sell goods (fruit, vegetables, flowers) in Hanoi. Most had small children and families that they only see every couple of weeks. They live in dorm rooms and work very long hours, often buying their goods from the market before dawn and selling until late in the day....all to help support their family. They take home around $10 per week. When we bought donuts later that day we didn't haggle on the price...knowing we paid too much, but also knowing the girl selling them needed it much more than we ever will.

 

Unfortunately I have struggled with back pain since the early hours and even my combination of pain killers and anti-inflams didn't do the trick. I had a much needed massage but spent most of the day in a drugged fog!

Later in the afternoon we visited the army museum which the kids loved. Tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of the 'christmas bombing of Hanoi' Over 1500 civilians were killed.

We have been fairly vigilant with our belongings and are learning to always negotiate the price before picking anything up or accepting any type of service. We decided to catch a pedicab back to our hotel. We negotiated the price (70,000 dong each) and enjoyed a hair-raising trip! We weren't worried about both men stopping well before our hotel but now realize this was so they could scam us! Cheeky buggers took the money from our hands promising to give us the change...then quickly took off! It was only a few dollars...but another lesson learnt!

 

Merry Christmas all xxxxx

 

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Hanoi - day one

Some things never change...not even in Vietnam.
Tom wakes at 6am and in his search for the toilet door, somehow sets off a loud alarm on our hotel door...waking everyone and causing a few minutes of panic as we try to figure out how to stop the noise!
We manage to keep everyone in bed until daylight but we are all excited to check out our new view....

We have been pretty impressed with the boys today...they have taken everything in their stride, even confidently crossing the roads (look straight ahead and just walk into the path of cars and bikes...scary stuff!)
We spent most of the day walking and exploring. Experiencing the different sights, smells and sounds is always a highlight for me, it's what I love about traveling...and the boys seemed to enjoy it too. We wandered through the old quarter with its tiny streets, tiny shops and tooting motorbikes. We were only slightly scammed once when a guy took Toms shoe off his foot and proceeded to repair it (almost made him a new shoe). There are so many things for sale it's hard to know what to buy. Lots of beautiful silk...from lovely scarves to beautiful handmade bed covers.
I bought some beautiful scarves and some art prints.
We walked around the Hoan Kiem lake, a bit of a central hub in this part of town. Tom had his photo taken with some Japanese tourists which he was slightly embarrassed about! I had an overwhelming sense of joy as we wandered though this new place..experiencing it for the first time, I have so missed traveling....and I'm so glad to be here.
The boys enjoyed some time out in the afternoon while Grant and I shopped for some replacement gifts (I somehow put them in the bin instead of our suitcase...in the mad rush before leaving!)
The weather today has been cool but tomorrow should be a bit warmer...Christmas day will be a little different :)
Heading out for dinner soon...sitting on the bed now listening to the constant tooting of mopeds outside...and loving it.

We made it

Sunday December 23 seemed like a great time to head off on our very first overseas family adventure...maximizing the Christmas break and escaping some of the end of year rush. In reality it was just as much a rush...made slightly busier with organizing Christmas and leaving our house to friends and family.
We left home before 9am and arrived in Hanoi about 17 hours later...a little overwhelmed and absolutely exhausted! The flight from Melbourne to Ho Chi Minh was great...after reading many poor reviews about Vietnam airlines we were expecting the worst...but have no complaints at all (except perhaps for the state of the toilets...but maybe this was just a sign of things to come :)
The boys were entertained the entire flight with their own tv screens and there was plenty of food and drink on offer (Grant and I even enjoyed a Bloody Mary on the way)
The real test came with the transit...queuing up over and over again, waiting, waiting, delayed flight and very tired kids and us!
An extraordinary thing happened not long before we boarded our flight...a family with three boys walked by and Grant recognized them from our trip around Australia over 2 years ago! Pete and Alison and their boys are living in Hoi An and were on their way back after a trip to Cambodia! What a coincidence...not only to be in the same country, but the same city and airport on the same day and at the same time...we couldn't believe it! We are looking forward to catching up with them next week.
It was hot and steamy when we left Ho Chi Minh...so it was funny to arrive in Hanoi just two hours later to see the locals in puffer jackets and scarves!

We finally arrived at our lovely hotel at 11pm (3am our time)...and all collapsed into bed!