Vietnam & Laos 2019
February 12 - March 3, 2019
To celebrate our 22nd wedding anniversary, we decided to do another trip to Asia (which is one of our favorite areas of the world), this time to Vietnam and Laos.
We spent 16 nights making our way from south to north with Laos in between.
We started with 3 nights in Ho Chi Minh City. We were surprised how much we liked this city! The architecture was impressive, the food was delicious, the people were welcoming and friendly.
One of our most favorite experiences of the entire trip was our day trip on a boat down the Mekong Delta where we bicycled through small villages and met with locals in their homes. They taught us how they make their livings doing things like making rice wine, incense and rice paper and let us have a try at it ourselves!
We also visited a brick making factory and a coconut processing plant.
The resourcefulness and ingenuity of the Vietnamese people was incredible!
Each of these people welcomed us warmly and despite the language barrier, their happiness and hospitality was obvious. And they didn't expect anything in return...didn't try to sell us a thing. They just gave us an experience we won't soon forget!
Next, we flew to the central Vietnam city of Huế for 2 nights. While there we visited the Imperial Citadel and took a half-day tour along the Perfume River to visit some of the most famous and elaborate Royal Tombs of the Emperors.
We left Huế and headed south with a private driver who took us from Huế to Hội An. While just seventy five miles and only a 2.5 hour drive, we made a half-day of it by stopping at the many picturesque places along the way, such as
Lập An Lagoon, Lăng Cô Beach, and over the Hải Vân pass. We stopped at the stunning Linh Ung Pagoda and the gorgeous, gleaming white Lady Buddha statue. We drove through the bustling city of Danang on to the Marble Mountains, home to several Buddhist and Hindu grottoes.
Once we arrived in Hội An, we spent 3 nights exploring this charming and picturesque former port city and its surroundings.
Dating back to the 15th century, it has a rich, melting-pot history that includes Chinese, Japanese and French influences which are reflected in the Old Town's dazzling and well-preserved architecture.
We ventured 30 miles outside of Old Town Hội An to explore the ruins of Mỹ Sơn (pronounced "me son”), a cluster of abandoned ruins constructed between the 4th and 14th centuries by the kings of Champa.
We ended our time there with a little relaxation on Hội An’s An Bàng Beach.
Our itinerary then took us on a flight through Hanoi to the city of Luang Prabang, Laos.
This was one of the highlights of our trip!
Situated in the center of northern Laos, Luang Prabang is a charming gem of a town, encircled by mountains at the confluence of the Nam Khan and Mekong Rivers.
The old town center is deservedly a UNESCO heritage site.
Its French colonial buildings, peaceful vibe, fabulous wats (temples) and monasteries on nearly every other corner, make this little town an unforgettably beautiful destination. We only stayed 3 nights but I wish we could’ve stayed longer!
While in Luang Prabang we had another of our “Top 2” experiences of the whole trip with a half-day visit to the Living Land Rice Farm.
It was an authentic, hands-on endeavor and a fascinating insight into what it takes to get rice to your plate.
A short flight took us back to Hanoi where we spent 3 nights.
It is congested, busy, dirty, noisy...your typical big city.
The chaos and hectic pace wasn't really to our liking compared to some of the charm and quaintness of Luang Prabang and Hội An.
But we saw some interesting sights (Ho Chi Minh's dead body, for one) and an outdoor display of the wreckage of a B-52D shot down during the Vietnam War. It was fun exploring the maze-like streets of the Old Quarter. We even tried some new things (like egg coffee!)
Our final days in Vietnam were spent on a 2 night cruise in the karst-filled and dramatically scenic Halong Bay on the Gulf of Tonkin about 2.5 hours east of Hanoi.
The bay is filled with thousands of islands, some of which are inhabited and we had the opportunity to visit one where we bicycled to a local village and explored some cool caves.
There was so much I loved about this trip!
Luang Prabang, Laos was a particular favorite and I highly recommend visiting if you can…followed by the towns of
Hội An, Huế and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).
The people were so polite, welcoming and friendly.
One of the things that tickled me most was how, by me simply learning 3 or 4 general phrases (hello, goodbye, please and thank you), they just lit up when I tried to speak their language and I was almost always met with a “You speak Vietnamese!!!!!”
The ingenuity, cooperative spirit and hard-working nature of both the Vietnamese and Laotian people inspired me and I will remember that most about them.
I am humbled by their resiliency despite their devastating history, and uplifted by their perseverance and their welcoming hospitality towards us.
Read MoreTo celebrate our 22nd wedding anniversary, we decided to do another trip to Asia (which is one of our favorite areas of the world), this time to Vietnam and Laos.
We spent 16 nights making our way from south to north with Laos in between.
We started with 3 nights in Ho Chi Minh City. We were surprised how much we liked this city! The architecture was impressive, the food was delicious, the people were welcoming and friendly.
One of our most favorite experiences of the entire trip was our day trip on a boat down the Mekong Delta where we bicycled through small villages and met with locals in their homes. They taught us how they make their livings doing things like making rice wine, incense and rice paper and let us have a try at it ourselves!
We also visited a brick making factory and a coconut processing plant.
The resourcefulness and ingenuity of the Vietnamese people was incredible!
Each of these people welcomed us warmly and despite the language barrier, their happiness and hospitality was obvious. And they didn't expect anything in return...didn't try to sell us a thing. They just gave us an experience we won't soon forget!
Next, we flew to the central Vietnam city of Huế for 2 nights. While there we visited the Imperial Citadel and took a half-day tour along the Perfume River to visit some of the most famous and elaborate Royal Tombs of the Emperors.
We left Huế and headed south with a private driver who took us from Huế to Hội An. While just seventy five miles and only a 2.5 hour drive, we made a half-day of it by stopping at the many picturesque places along the way, such as
Lập An Lagoon, Lăng Cô Beach, and over the Hải Vân pass. We stopped at the stunning Linh Ung Pagoda and the gorgeous, gleaming white Lady Buddha statue. We drove through the bustling city of Danang on to the Marble Mountains, home to several Buddhist and Hindu grottoes.
Once we arrived in Hội An, we spent 3 nights exploring this charming and picturesque former port city and its surroundings.
Dating back to the 15th century, it has a rich, melting-pot history that includes Chinese, Japanese and French influences which are reflected in the Old Town's dazzling and well-preserved architecture.
We ventured 30 miles outside of Old Town Hội An to explore the ruins of Mỹ Sơn (pronounced "me son”), a cluster of abandoned ruins constructed between the 4th and 14th centuries by the kings of Champa.
We ended our time there with a little relaxation on Hội An’s An Bàng Beach.
Our itinerary then took us on a flight through Hanoi to the city of Luang Prabang, Laos.
This was one of the highlights of our trip!
Situated in the center of northern Laos, Luang Prabang is a charming gem of a town, encircled by mountains at the confluence of the Nam Khan and Mekong Rivers.
The old town center is deservedly a UNESCO heritage site.
Its French colonial buildings, peaceful vibe, fabulous wats (temples) and monasteries on nearly every other corner, make this little town an unforgettably beautiful destination. We only stayed 3 nights but I wish we could’ve stayed longer!
While in Luang Prabang we had another of our “Top 2” experiences of the whole trip with a half-day visit to the Living Land Rice Farm.
It was an authentic, hands-on endeavor and a fascinating insight into what it takes to get rice to your plate.
A short flight took us back to Hanoi where we spent 3 nights.
It is congested, busy, dirty, noisy...your typical big city.
The chaos and hectic pace wasn't really to our liking compared to some of the charm and quaintness of Luang Prabang and Hội An.
But we saw some interesting sights (Ho Chi Minh's dead body, for one) and an outdoor display of the wreckage of a B-52D shot down during the Vietnam War. It was fun exploring the maze-like streets of the Old Quarter. We even tried some new things (like egg coffee!)
Our final days in Vietnam were spent on a 2 night cruise in the karst-filled and dramatically scenic Halong Bay on the Gulf of Tonkin about 2.5 hours east of Hanoi.
The bay is filled with thousands of islands, some of which are inhabited and we had the opportunity to visit one where we bicycled to a local village and explored some cool caves.
There was so much I loved about this trip!
Luang Prabang, Laos was a particular favorite and I highly recommend visiting if you can…followed by the towns of
Hội An, Huế and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).
The people were so polite, welcoming and friendly.
One of the things that tickled me most was how, by me simply learning 3 or 4 general phrases (hello, goodbye, please and thank you), they just lit up when I tried to speak their language and I was almost always met with a “You speak Vietnamese!!!!!”
The ingenuity, cooperative spirit and hard-working nature of both the Vietnamese and Laotian people inspired me and I will remember that most about them.
I am humbled by their resiliency despite their devastating history, and uplifted by their perseverance and their welcoming hospitality towards us.
