Spring Break in Vietnam

We had a great 10 days in Vietnam over spring break. Flew directly into Hanoi, spent two days and one night, and then took the overnight train to Lao Cai. This year, the girls were big enough to get to sleep on the top bunks themselves (vice Christmas 2016 Beijing to Xian where we slept 2 to a bed!).  Hanoi is a beautiful city, but as the Vietnamese told us - even President Obama has said - the next time he comes to Vietnam he wants to learn how to cross the road in Hanoi.  :-)  It's tough and second guessing your path isn't allowed.

We spent 3 full days and 2 nights in the Lao Cai region.  We arrived at 5:30 AM by train, negotiated a day rate with a taxi in front, and he drove us 2 hours toward the China border for the Sunday Bac Ha market.  The market was full of different tribes - Hmong and Dao selling fruits, vegetables and clothing.  Morgan had a great time bargaining for a beautifully hand beaded color and hat (using her $20 straight A money from Grandparents!). Knowing she had $20 for the trip, she negotiated down to $15 so she could buy a few more souvenirs.  Jeff was brave and tried a multicolored rice packet with peanut dust that actually did taste like peanut butter!

From Lao Cai the driver took us to Sapa, another 3 hours and to our hotel.  The last time I was in Sapa was with my Dad in about 2000 and the town has grown!  The bus station had been it, but now there are loads of hotels and an additional permanent market square.

Monday was my birthday and we went for a hike to the 'make-believe' tourist town of Cat Cat.  It was lined with shopping stalls and built like a typical village.  It was neat to see and shopping was fun, despite the fact that it was down into the valley which meant a long walk back up.  Further from there we hiked on our own to a few other villages, paying the small toll to enter.  Wanted to keep going we decided to continue walking on our own for a few more miles up and down and across a river.  Hiking back up on a ridge line we got to a village that was definitely not for tourists and quickly learned that we were not at all allowed.  A few of them came out to block the road - nothing hostile, but we were happy to observe a 'real tribe' setting as compared to Cat Cat.

The next day in Sapa we hired a local guide to take us trekking.  Early in the morning the guides muster in front of the church square and negotiate hikes and fares.  This sweet 21-year old girl named Song took us on a 10 mile trek up to the top of a mountain and then through villages.  It was beautiful and a trip highlight!  That night we took a van back to Lao Cai to catch an overnight bus to Hanoi, and then another bus and ferry to Cat Ba Island.

Cat Ba island is the backpacker paradise within the Halong Bay area.  Full of budget travelers and rock climbers, it was a low-key place to chill and even rent a motor scooter for $4 a day!  The first day there we hit the beach.  The 2nd day was an all day boat tour into Halong Bay with kayaking, swimming, and seeing a fish farm - another big highlight of the trip!  The last day was spent renting a motor scooter and cruising around town.  Unfortunately this was the only day with bad weather - rain - but the girls still played at the beach and Jeff's got great bike handling skills so we were safe.  We road like locals with 4 of us on one scooter!

The next morning we headed back to Hanoi.  The tide was too low at the ferry point we had planned to cross, so we ended up getting taken to a 2nd place.  It wasn't too much of a delay and we were back in Hanoi by lunch time - yummy fresh spring rolls and papaya salad!  The girls again wanted to ride the tiny kids motorized bikes by the lake.  We headed there and spent our time in the Old Quarter.

Our last day in Hanoi was spent on a tour to Nimh Binh, the old capital of Hanoi. The kids liked hearing about the history of the kings being killed, and sons killing each other to be the next King.  Bella kept asking - "what about the Queens?!"  We saw two temples, went for a scenic boat ride through what is claimed to be the 'inland Halong Bay' and a short bicycle ride.   The bikes were too big for the kids, combined with the fact that they aren't used to hand breaks, so we bunked them on ours.

A 1 AM the next Monday we flew back to Fukuoka and drove straight into work and school!  What great travelling kids we have!  A fun spring break!