Hanoi, Mi Gals, and Halong Bay

 

Yes, it's been a long while since I've written, but we've been busy with some of my most favorite people in the world: Lauren and Shelbie. They are old-students-turned-good-friends type of people (and, note, the ONLY people who came out to visit us...tsk, tsk to the rest of you), and we spent a wonderful--but busy--two weeks with them.

Our adventures with them started in Hanoi, where (surprise, surprise) it was rainy pretty much the whole time. We managed to endure, though, and spent quite a few days exploring some museums, eating good food, and enjoying company other than ourselves (me, Sila, and Conan). 

From Hanoi, we took a very long (but quite fancy!) bus ride to northern Vietnam to get a little hike on and experience a quieter location. There, we were able to enjoy some scenic views, craft beer (!), ride a very long cable car, and hike to the highest man-made point in Vietnam (in what felt like the Arctic tundra). For all of us, this was definitely the highlight of Vietnam as it was so different and beautiful. 

Our final, major part of the trip was Halong Bay, which is your quintessential Vietnam experience. This also led to a semi-partial girls trip portion of the trip (no real pictures of that due to Conan having the phone, but I'll let your imagination go wild with what ya'll think happens on girls trips), so you only get to see what happened on the boys end because that's the only pictures we have!

What a two weeks it has been. One major realization I've had from this time is how much I love these two women. They make me think and act in different ways, and I (as well as the whole family) appreciate them making time to lift us all out of our travel slump and sprinkle some excitement and joy in our lives. Love you, mi gals!!

Hoi An and the Lunar New Year

 

After our quick stopover in Ho Chi Minh, we took off for Hoi An, THE place to be for Tet--Vietnamese Lunar New Year. It's the place you see with a lot of lanterns, and we spent the whole week here...where it rained the entire time and most everything was closed for, well, Tet. 

We still made the best of things, despite many breakdowns and wondering whether we should just pull the rip cord, but for now, plan A is still in motion. Most of what we did was captured in the visual, so enjoy the picture journey. 

I'll update again after Hue, where we're off to today for four days. After that, we're up to pick up the girls in Hanoi to start our adventure with them (if they can get into the country--the visa situation is confusing as heck and many people have stories of needing to fly elsewhere or delay their trip). Anyway, keep your fingers crossed for us all!!

Ho Chi Minh (for 1/2 a day)

 

After galavanting around Thailand beaches, we packed everything up (again) and made our voyage to Vietnam.

After a quick review of our visas from the airline agent, we boarded our one of two flights that would get us to where we needed to be by the start of the Lunar New Year. However, upon arriving in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, they informed us that Sila had to be on his own visa and not included on mine. Thankfully, they allowed us to get one upon arrival for him, and we then grabbed a car to our hotel so that we could sleep for the night and get up to catch our next flight to Da Nang, which would put us in the epic center of the celebration: Hoi An. 

We arrived nice and early back to the airport...only to be informed that our flight wasn't until 7:00 p.m. that night. VietJet (the budget, perhaps worst airline we have ever flown on) didn't give us any notification, so that was a surprise. Thankfully, they had luggage storage, so after some coffee and an all-American breakfast sandwich from McDonalds, we were off to spend the day in Ho Chi Minh.

Because all forms of schooling have really fallen to the wayside (forever to be known as the year Sila did NOT go to 6th grade), we decided to visit the Vietnam Remnants Museum to get a little knowledge about the Vietnam war from the Vietnamese perspective. It was an interesting and all-sides portrayal of the war, which was great. Sila's mind is a sponge, so I'm sure some of this all stuck. We'll see, though. Then, when hunger hit, we kept the American theme going by visiting Eddie's diner in Ho Chi Minh. Burgers, fries, a great beer, and a milkshake....ah!

Enjoy a few pictures below. And if you're wondering about our mental state, yup, we still want to go home. Home many days left, do you ask? 45. 45. Hugs to all!

So, Another Crazy Hair....

 

Well, being the privileged and impatient people that we are, we decided to ditch Borneo (a same-day decision) and fly to Thailand for a little beach time. This decision happened over the time span of a morning, and by the evening--for a whopping $7 total--we were flying to Thailand. Side note, Malaysia Airlines is AWESOME, and I highly recommend them. We rented ourselves a motto, and for the past few days, we've been just beaching it. 

What does it mean for our travel? Well, instead of being in Borneo until today and then flying into Ho Chi Minh, we flew out of Borneo on Saturday and have been in Thailand since then. On Friday, though, we fly to Ho Chi Minh for one night (where our visas are valid to enter through) and then fly to Da Nang the next morning to begin our time in Hoi An for the Vietnamese New Year! Woohoo. We'll be settled in Hoi An for a week, giving us time to catch up on a little work and get prepared to meet mi gals in Hanoi the next week. 

The light is ever-so-slight at the end of the tunnel. We can see it, but there is still a long way to go. Keep wishing us well, and we'll see you all soon!!