Cooling Down in the North
Vietnam – Halong Bay
Note: We are still alive, despite the late posting! We had some weird internet issues early in the week and couldn’t get connected. But all is well and we are back on line.
This week was full of changes. First, we experienced record low temperatures in northern Vietnam. It’s normally around 60 degrees Fahrenheit but it was only 40 for the most of this week. Brr! Considering that we have spent months at 80 and above, the cold was a welcome (if slightly shocking) change. Our second big change was meeting up with Lindsey’s parents for ten days of travel. Traveling Chadwick-style is slightly more luxurious than Nomadic Cadence-style. We have been really lucky because they have planned nearly everything – they even had lunch reservations!
1. Go
- Bus – 115 km. We took a crowded tourist bus in the rain from Ninh Binh to Hanoi. Our second bus was slightly less crowded, but no more comfortable from Hanoi to Halong Bay.
- Taxi – 72 km. Most of this was our private car tour around Ninh Binh, but we did take a few taxi rides around Hanoi.
- Boat – 50 km. In and around Halong Bay for our cruise.
- Foot – 78,000 steps in 7 days (approx. 39 miles)
2. See
We started the week in the Ninh Binh province. We stayed in the tiny town of Tam Coc (if that name makes you giggle, just wait). It’s close enough to Hanoi to be done as a long day trip so the middle of the day was slightly busy, but any time before 11:00 and after 15:00 was delightful. The area is described as Halong Bay on land with huge limestone karsts scattered amidst the rice paddies. To explore the area, we used the high quality, free mountain bikes from our hotel for several days and even did a full day tour by car of some places slightly further out. We visited a few temples, starting with the small Bich Dong temple located in a cave with a spectacular hike up the karst behind it. We spent several hours wandering around the Bai Dinh Temple complex which is one kilometer long with a twelve story pagoda (with an elevator), corridors with 500 statues, and huge temples. Our visit to the old capitol of Hao Lu was most memorable because of all the school kids wanting to take selfies with us. But our favorite thing about Ninh Binh was the mild temperatures and the time we spent biking, hiking, and boating – much of it to, through, and around caves. We rode a small boat through the Trang An grottos which are caves along a river that required us to duck to avoid hitting our heads. We spent an entire day exploring the caves, ponds, and other sites of the Bird Sanctuary a few kilometers from our hotel. And the endless climb up the steps to Hang Mua peak was especially spectacular.
Midweek we arrived in Hanoi to meet up with Lindsey’s parents. The Chadwick’s are very good travelers who appreciate culture, natural beauty, and delicious food… all things that we love too! We had a delightful day in Hanoi touring the Museum of Ethnology, eating tasty French-Vietnamese food, and watching a water puppet show. The Museum of Ethnology focuses on the minority tribes throughout Vietnam. There were lots of artifacts, photos, and videos showing the customs, clothing, and environment of the tribes. Outside the museum were reconstructed traditional homes of the tribes including a house on ten foot stilts with a springy bamboo floor. The water puppet show was surprisingly entertaining. There was a lot of physical comedy, variation, color, and live music.
At the end of the week, we made the journey to Halong Bay for a two night cruise. This is when the weather really turned and we experienced record breaking low temperatures. The weather was so bad that the government was not allowing any ships to cruise the bay. As a result we were stranded on land for the night. They weren’t sure if we would be able to cruise the following day, but we decided to try and wait it out. The next day, they originally said they would not be able to cruise, but at the last minute we got the OK! Although it was cold, it was beautiful. We got to kayak through caves, hike to viewpoints and through caves, learn to make spring rolls, enjoy a seven course meal, and dress up like kings and queens. We did it all!
3. Eat
Traveling through Vietnam has been a culinary delight. It is easily one of our favorite food countries. Specifically, we love the regional specialties. Every region has a dish that they make better than everyone else. This week we had grilled goat in Ninh Binh and jellyfish salad and squid cake in Halong bay. They were all much better than their names sound!
Wow! Traveling with the Chadwick’s has opened us up to a whole new level of Vietnamese food. We still love our $1 pho on the street, but we are enjoying the gourmet Vietnamese fusion too. Our favorite restaurant was the Green Tangerine in Hanoi. It is French cooking with Vietnamese flavors and we would eat it for every meal if we could. Not only was it beyond tasty, it was beautifully plated and the building was a charming 1928 colonial villa.
Vietnam – Hanoi – Green Tangerine – Ying Yang soup, candy shaped pasta, fish and apple tart, and pork ribs
4. Drink
We may have a caffeine problem and we blame it on the Vietnamese coffee. It’s just so delicious that we can’t help ordering it at breakfast, then again before noon, then again at lunch. It takes nearly all our willpower not to order more at dinner.
5. Sleep
Our hotel in Tam Coc was on the main road, but was still pretty sleepy. The guy running the place seemed so excited to see us every time we walked by. He served us ginger tea every time we tried to leave and then again when we came back – even when we were gone five minutes at the convenience store down the road.
With Lindsey’s parents, we are staying at what we like to call “real hotels” – you know, the ones with room service, a safe, a shower curtain, great service, and food safety standards. The beds are like fluffy marshmallows with lumbar support and the showers have good pressure and hot water at the same time. We feel like the king and queen!
6. Move
This week was what we expected all our weeks to look like! We biked around Ninh Binh for two days. We hiked to view points, through caves, around museums, and down city streets. We even got a chance to kayak in Halong Bay. Lindsey and Glenn shared a kayak, while Pat had to pilot a two person kayak by himself. It was only about 40 degrees and our guide looked miserably cold. Our hands were pretty stiff after using the metal paddles held together with packing tape, but kayaking through the limestone cave made it all worth it.
Check out Pat’s CADENCE Week 34 post (coming soon) for details about this week.
7. Etcetera
Lindsey’s parents have expressed surprise that we don’t look tattered and exhausted and to be honest we are too! We thought after nearly eight months of wearing the same four shirts and two pants and washing them with bar soap in the hotel sink, that they would be falling apart. Surprisingly, all our gear and clothes are in really good shape. We’ve only replaced a few items and only for climate changes, not wear and tear. To combat travel fatigue, we are very deliberate and thoughtful about taking rest days where we don’t do anything touristy. We spend the day reading, watching movies, shopping, eating, or working out. We try to get in at least one rest day per week. We also have found that we do well when we have hard and easy days (lots of touristing and little touristing) instead of lots of medium days. Traveling can be exhausting and it’s easy to get burnt out, so we focus on a nomadic cadence that makes us happy.
Check out our Flickr album to see all our photos from this week.
Nomadic Cadence 
When this last message was abit late, I worried you might have stopped the travelogue for some reason, glad to see it came thru and that the Senior Chadwicks made it for a get together.
Betty
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