Vietnam

The four Steeves agreed Vietnam has definitely been our favorite destination in Asia so far. We really loved how well-preserved the country's culture is, which made for a unique, interesting travel experience unlike any we have had before. Plus, Vietnam has natural beauty, friendly people, wonderful food and cheap shopping. We recently spent two weeks in three areas: Hoi An, Halong Bay and Hanoi. The highlights below are abundant. 

Vietnam Fast Facts:

population: 90 million 

socioeconomics: developing country; relies on the exports of clothes, shoes, seafood, oil, rice, coffee
religion: Buddhism
language: Vietnamese
food: ah-mazing; banh mi sandwiches, pho noodle soup, spring rolls, noodle and rice dishes
climate: tropical
claims to fame: mountains and beaches, traditional food, maintaining its cultural traditions, Vietnamese coffee
influences: France, China
people: incredibly friendly, genuinely sweet, LOVE caucasian children
noteworthy: Vietnam is a single-party Communist country, and the propaganda is everywhere -- flags with the star and hammer / sickle, as well as posters of Ho Chi Minh and military soldiers line the streets and people's houses. 

Hoi An:

This city is located on the coast of the South China Sea in the southern, central area of the country. Canals run through Hoi An and there is a lake situated in the heart of the old town. We spent a week here and didn't want to leave.

A truly seasoned traveler, Eri laid down on the table where tourists
fill out immigration forms and slept through the long line to enter the country.
She woke up refreshed and ready to sightsee. 

Other caucasian tourists we encounter are almost always Australian.
This fellow American is a Utah native and was excited
to hear Geoff has an "Idaho, No Udaho" t-shirt. 

One of our favorite parts of Hoi An
was biking around town and through the rice fields.
(Both children want to ride with Geoff because I am
"slow" and "not as fast as Daddy.")

Communism propoganda is everywhere. 

Brye and Uncle Ho

The South China Sea

We biked just outside the city of Hoi An through a small village,
where locals fish and do woodworking.

Awesome, right?

She was kind enough to let us give it a try, too.

We took a boat ride around the lake in the heart of the city one night.
The Vietnamese make wishes by lighting candles to float on the water.

Eri and Leo: Your mom and dad hope all your greatest wishes come true.

Love this city.

Parts of Vietnam are renowned for marble carvings.
We hiked around the appropriately-named Marble Mountain
to see crazy dragons, shrines and lots of Buddhas.

Paths wind through caves within and around Marble Mountain,
where pretty much every dead end has some type of shrine along with offerings.

This sweet lady helped Eri and Leo light incense sticks
at one of the shrines.

We also visited a village where artisans make pottery
either by hand or manual-powered pottery wheels,
which means someone spins the wheel with his or her foot. 

They let us try.

Maintaining speed is the key.

Ha Long Bay:
This area is made up of almost 2,000 tiny islands and steep rock formations. It is the most-naturally beautiful place we've ever seen. We spent three days and two night on a lovely cruise ship. Eri and Leo loved sleeping on a boat, and we were able to take fun mini excursions during the day around the bay. Definitely one of the best parts of all of our time in Asia.

This is our cruise ship anchored in the bay. This traditional
style is called a "junk" boat, though it was actually pretty luxurious.

Eri and I took a cooking class taught by one of
the chefs on board.

Awe, dinner with my two Vietnamese princesses!
What a good sport Eri's dad is.

Anything for his girl! 

Ahoy, Eri.

Our room on the ship had its own little deck.

These boats row up alongside the cruise ships to sell beer,
wine and snacks to guests lounging on the decks at cheaper
prices that the cruise ships' snack bars. Sounds more like capitalism than communism
to me, but I'm not the economist in the family.

We took several excursions on small boats from the main ship.
This was a small floating village that can only be accessed by water.

The following day, Geoff paddled us around teeny tiny islands in the bay,
one of which we had to stop at when we figured out our kayak was taking
in water and we were slowly sinking. Likely looking to avoid an
international incident, the rescue boat came looking for us.

Our shipwrecked selfie!

So beautiful.

Spelunking in Halong Bay.

Hanoi:
Vietnam's capital city is known for its architecture, rich culture, and Chinese and French influences. In the heart of the city is the French Quarter, the "Hanoi Hilton" prison, the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum and lots of lively activity. It's a big, bustling city and we loved our week here.

Look out, Hanoi!

Vietnamese people really do wear these hats ...

... Leo, however, wouldn't go for it and chose instead a birthday party
hat with Santa and some silver tinsel on it.
He happily wore it all around town.

We rode around in cyclos (passenger carts attached to the front of a bike slowly
peddled by old Vietnamese men who don't know any
English other than the word "tip.")

Traffic in Hanoi is the scariest I've seen in both Asia and South America.
It is a chaotic mix of cars, cyclos, pedestrians and lots and lots of motorbikes,
without any lanes or, seemingly, fear from the drivers and passengers.

Water puppet show performances are a long-time tradition throughout
Vietnam as a tribute to farming rice and flooding fields.

The puppets are controlled by people standing waist-deep in the water
 behind the curtain, while musicians tell stories through songs.
 

The front of the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum,
where the former president is lying in state. A continually moving
line of visitors is allowed to walk around the perimeter of the small room
where he is kept in a glass coffin. His body is surrounded by guards and the room was
completely silent, except for when Leo said, "Look, mama!"

Ho Chi Minh lying in state. (Clarification: I did not take this photo;
there is no photography allowed inside, but Uncle Ho looks exactly
like this and is incredibly well-preserved.)

The "Hanoi Hilton" was built during France's colonization of Vietnam.
Then it was used by the North Vietnamese during the Vietnam
War for American POWs, including John McCain.
Most of the actual prison has been demolished and
what remains is now a museum.

The exhibits and displays throughout the prison depicted the
French's harsh treatment of Vietnamese prisoners.
 Later, the Vietnamese treated American prisoners in a similar manner,
though all the videos and plaques in the museum say otherwise.

We took a day trip outside the city to see some of rural
Vietnam, hiking around and on a boat.

This tiny woman rowed our family and our guide around
for four hours, stopping at pagodas and shrines, and steering us through cave tunnels.

Total enlightenment

Food:

We didn't miss a meal during our entire time in Vietnam.

Tofu curry soup

Banh mi sandwiches in Hanoi are like hot dogs in New York (except not gross).
Our favorite was a veggie tofu with spicy sauce on fresh baguette.

Lots of noodle dishes

Lots of fresh herbs and spices

Pho chicken soup: Probably the most famous Vietnamese dish.

Tofu peanut salad

Egg coffee
 (strong Vietnamese coffee with sweetened condensed milk and whipped eggs whites).

Vietnamese cooking uses a lot of spices and fresh ingredients.

Vietnamese barbecue.

The People:
Traveling around Asia and living in South Korea, we have become accustomed to a certain amount of interest from people based solely on our appearance, which is obviously very different from Asians'. That said, we have never received so much attention as we did in Vietnam.
The Vietnamese people are accustomed to seeing caucasians, but really only adults, not small children. Pretty much everywhere we went, people would take our picture, ask to have pictures taken with us, want to hold our children, touch our children, feel our children's hair, etc. As we came out of a shrine in a somewhat remote area, a mob ran toward us with their cameras. I thought maybe they thought we were someone else, but they waited in line to take pictures with Eri and Leo. At first this was amusing, but after a while, the kids didn't like so much attention and Leo told people to "go away." It was hard to explain to our children that people are excited to have them as visitors in their country.

Really hoping this is on a nightstand or mantle somewhere in Asia.
We know we'll always remember it! 

Vietnam!
#banhmime