Advi's 5th Birthday

Our Vietnam Experience

So we are just back from our week long trip to Vietnam and I decided to log our travel experience. Not that I do a travel log after every vacation, this one is just special as it is our first long vacation with our kid.

It all started with Anand’s friend asking us if we could have a vacation together. Though I have been pestering Anand for some time for a long vacation, he was always apprehensive if it was too early for Advi to travel. But after some thinking, we decided we were in.

We zeroed in on Cox and Kings and the itinerary was ironed out.  We finalized on a 7N/8D tour starting from Hanoi to Halong Bay and finally to Da nang. We decided to travel in the last week of Feb as North Vietnam tends to be colder till mid of Feb. Next came the mad shopping and packing which I don’t even want to get into. We packed a lot of food from ready-to-eat noodles to biscuits as we read its real hard to get Veg food in Vietnam. Plus, with a young kid, it only makes sense to stuff in as much food as you can.

Finally, the D-day came. We boarded our cab to the airport and throughout my commute I was feeling something amiss.  It was only when I got into the queue for baggage drop, I checked my camera and BOOM!!! I forgot the battery for my DSLR camera. My world came crashing down ☹☹ I was just so upset that I had packed even the stupidest of things but missed my camera battery. (My mind voice - God this is not fair!!)  After the security clearance, we had our dinner and finally boarded our flight to Bangkok. 

We had a two-hour layover at Bangkok airport before our connecting flight to Hanoi. Though we expected the kids to be cranky, they were all chirpy and had a gala time at the airport. Food wise Veg options were very limited at the airport. I was shown French fries as the only Veg option at McDonalds.  Fortunately, Subway had a Veggie sub and we packed that for breakfast.  I was disappointed that there were no electronics shops at Bangkok airport. I did a bit of searching for Nikon batteries in Hanoi and the results weren’t giving me any hope.

We boarded an Air Asia flight to Hanoi around 7Am Bangkok time.  All along I was annoying my husband over how we can get our camera working 😊 We landed around 9AM at Hanoi. I just peeked out of the plane window and to my horror, it was all dark, gloomy and drizzling. The pilot announced the weather as 17 degrees Celsius. This is nothing like the Hanoi I had imagined.  Popular filmy dialogue flashed in my mind – “I was not ready da”. Yes, expecting hot and humid weather, I had packed for a perfect beach vacation sans any warm clothes. Me and Advi had at least a thin jacket but Anand had none. We were totally not ready to face this weather.

After an hour of immigration formalities, we finally reached our cab that was waiting for us with our guide to take us to our hotel.  Our guide was talking about how unpredictable Hanoi’s weather was and overnight it had drastically dipped to a cold 17 degrees from a very warm 25 degrees. Unlike Bangalore, where temperature dip happens during night, Hanoi was mostly at constant temperature of 17 degrees during the day and the night. The kids were happily munching on their favorite food (read junk) which is otherwise not allowed back home. It took us around 45 minutes to reach our hotel “Thang Lang Opera”. It was close to 12PM by the time we got there.

After checking-in and refreshing ourselves, we started for lunch to a restaurant called “Little India”. Lunch was good with usual North Indian delicacies. The kids managed with Naan and curd. Post lunch our agenda for the day was to go for a city tour in the signature Vietnamese “Cyclo” and then go for the Water puppet show.

Our Cyclos were waiting near our hotel when we came back from lunch. Cyclo is the usual pedal rickshaw type vehicle but just that the passenger sits in the front instead of back.  We went around the old city market where we could spot shops selling a wide variety of things - souvenirs to jewelry to street food. Though I was freezing, it was truly enjoyable. The old man who was riding my cyclo was constantly tapping me on the back to click pics. That’s some motivation to click pics I must say (as though I need any :P). I managed to take a few pics/videos using my phone.

Water Puppet show & Cyclo ride

After the cyclo, we went to the water puppet theatre that was close to Hoan Kiem Lake. Water Puppet is Vietnam’s traditional art form where the puppet elements come from under the water. There was also live music with musicians performing on traditional instruments. Puppetry portrayed the life of people like farming, fishing and a couple of eye catching dragon fights.  

Once the show was over, we took a stroll around the lake. Our guide took me to a shop where I was finally able to get a battery for my Nikon DSLR. My happiness knew no bounds and I couldn’t thank him enough :D Post some more strolling, we stopped for a hot cuppa at the famous “Highlands Coffee” for some Vietnamese coffee.

By now, the kids and us were all exhausted and we called it a day with a takeaway from “Tandoor”. The next day’s plan was to experience the cruise at Halong Bay (an UNESCO Heritage site).

First day was so tiring, that we were all late for breakfast. We scanned the buffet & found a few interesting veg. items like Rice pancake, sweet potato dumpling, Vietnamese vermicelli noodles along with the usual continental spread. After a quick breakfast, we hopped into the cab that was going to take us to Halong Bay.

Enroute Halong Bay, we rode on the really loooong Nhat Tan cable bridge that runs over Red River. This bridge connects the rural farming areas with the much urban Hanoi city.  We had a stopover at the Pearl farm where different varieties of pearl are harvested from Oysters. We got to envision the complete process and it was pretty interesting. Honestly, I didn’t know that it takes so much to get a pearl. The process goes like this – A rounded artificial ball gets inserted into the ovary of a living oyster. A piece of mucus membrane from the donor oyster then gets added. This round ball then gets covered by the secretion from the membrane over time, which becomes a pearl. It takes around 2 to 5 years for the pearl to form. We got to see every step from harvesting baby oysters, to cutting membranes from donor oysters to surgically inserting the rounded ball & membrane into living oysters. 

At Pearl Farm

It took around 3 hours to reach Halong Bay. We waited for around half an hour for our boat “Pelican Cruise” to reach the harbor. The Kids somehow managed to engage themselves by playing hide-and-seek in the small waiting area.

Finally, we boarded the cruise and checked into our rooms. Our room was in the bottom most deck and it was such a breath-taking sight with enormous turquoise ocean and mammoth hills engulfing us. I just wanted to sit there and idle out for hours, but we had a long busy schedule ahead of us.

Soon after checking in, we went to the restaurant for lunch. The crew were very hospitable, and we were told the menu would be customized for us to include veg items. We had a great 5 course meal in typical Vietnamese style.  After lunch, we anchored and went in another small boat to a pearl farm. It was similar to the one we had visited earlier. Post that, we went for kayaking around the island. I was initially afraid of taking Advi in the kayak, but it all went well, and she had so much fun.

We went to back to the big boat, and after some refreshments we left to the “Ti Top” Island. It was a very small island (quite touristy though) that had a view point atop a steep hill, which offers a 360 view of Halong Bay. There were also swimming areas near the island.  Due to the steep climb, me and Archana stayed back with the kids while Anand & Murali climbed up the hill for some panoramic view and nice photography. And of course, kids had so much messy play fun with the beach sand that they wanted to stay there forever, in spite of the freezing weather.

Halong Bay

It was getting darker and we retired to our big boat. We were told it was “happy hours” at the bar. Though we were in the mood for some hot chocolate, we decided to stay back and laze around in the room & Enjoy the beautiful view outside the window. We also had some Maggi that we got from India to soothe our growling tummy.

Next up, there was a cooking class happening in the top deck. They were demonstrating some sort of spring rolls with typical Vietnamese ingredients like rice paper and vermicelli. We were lounging around the top deck for some time and clicking pics. And man, it was getting REALLLLLLLLLY cold.  Bangalore winter seemed nothing to me compared to this and I was feeling bad for cursing Bangalore all these days :P

It was 7:30 pm and time for dinner. Kids were happy having French fries and spaghetti for dinner. Unlike lunch, we had a continental spread for dinner. It was great and the crew on board made sure we got a decent number of vegetarian options in the menu. After the sumptuous dinner, Anand and Advi went for squid fishing for some time while I returned to the room as the cold was getting too much for me (yeah, poor me).  The room was warmed, and it was quite cozy and comfortable. 

Next day morning there was a “Tai chi” (a form of Chinese martial art) class on the top deck at freaking 5:30 AM. Anand being Anand (read enthusiastic) did attend it. He was telling it was quite refreshing and good. Around 7:00Am, the ship’s captain woke us up for breakfast. Our ship was already anchored and I just had half an hour to get ready and have breakfast before the next pit stop.

After a quick breakfast, we hopped into the small boat with the still very-much-sleeping kid, that took us to the “Sung Sot Cave”, also called the “Surprise Cave” in a nearby island.  There were around 400 steps to climb before we arrived at the entrance of the cave. Honestly, I was expecting a small cave of sorts (like in Guna movie 😊) on seeing the entrance. But as we moved further inside the cave, I was awestruck by its magnificence.  It was not only wider and wider, but it also had mineral formations from the ceiling that looked like stuff-that-froze-while-dripping (called stalactites). Even the lighting inside the cave was quite unique. We would have spent about an hour inside the cave before we came to the view point to the top of the hill.  The morning panoramic view of the Bay was quite amazing, and we stopped there for some group snaps before retiring to our big boat.

Surprise cave

 We then checked out of our room before the brunch at 10 AM. In another hour, we would be reaching the harbor.  What amazed me about the cruise was the crew’s hospitality. Right from customizing the menu (which is otherwise fixed), they made sure we were comfortable at every point. Not once did we feel stuck in a foreign land with two young kids. One of the crew even went to the extent of giving away a cupcakes pack from her personal stash, as I couldn’t pack bread for Advi during breakfast (as bread was over).

Emerald waters to Towering limestone hills to Sleeping in a boat – It was a one of a kind magical experience that we will never forget.

After a bit of waiting, we boarded our cab back to our hotel in Hanoi city. The rest of the day was at leisure for us. But we decided to hang around “Hoan Kiem Lake” after lunch.  As Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un were visiting Hanoi that time, there were decorations and posters everywhere. We had our lunch at “S’Patisserie”, a café near Hanoi lake that’s known for delicious European food. Post lunch, we went for a stroll around the huge lake which offered us a variety of sights – from locals strolling with their dressed-up dogs to elderly people indulging in some sort of laughter therapy to interesting shops and decors on the pavement.  The Views of the lake were a visual treat and we stopped for some snaps around the lake.  

There was also a market area nearby (that we had anyway seen during our “cyclo” ride on the first day).  We went around a few streets and stopped for some quick souvenir shopping. We packed our dinner from “Tandoor” Indian restaurant and headed back to our hotel.

Next day morning, we checked out of our room after breakfast. The plan for the day was to have a city tour of Hanoi and depart to Danang by flight later in the evening.  Our first stop was at the “Tran Quoc Pagoda” which is one the oldest Pagodas in Vietnam nestled on the banks of the West lake. It had a huge “Bodhi tree” (our vinayagar arasa maram) that was taken as a cutting of the original tree in Bodhgaya, India under which Buddha sat and achieved enlightenment. The calmness in the shrine combined with the aroma from incense sticks was just serene. Our next stopover was at the Ho chi Complex which has a one pillar pagoda (place of worship), museum and mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh (One of the ex-presidents of Vietnam). Unfortunately, it was closed that day due to security restrictions as the summit was going to happen. We were a bit disappointed as it was the among the top places to visit in Hanoi, particularly the mausoleum. Our guide took us through another side entrance where were able to visit the one pillar pagoda but were denied access for the rest ☹ The complex was very beautiful with a no-vehicle policy. Kids really enjoyed running around the vast complex freely. We took a stroll around the complex. There were a variety of shops in the open area around the complex selling clothes, souvenirs to even food. After some shopping, we hopped on to our cab for the next place.  

Our next stop was at the “Temple of Literature” – Vietnam’s first national university. This vast picturesque campus with Vietnamese traditional architecture, built as a dedication to Confucius, scholars and sages, was extremely well preserved. This ancient site had a lake (known as “lake of literature”) and several small ponds with lilies (signifying knowledge) along with landscaped gardens.

Once we were done strolling around the campus, we realized it was lunch time. We had lunch at the “Koto Restaurant” that specializes in European cuisine.  Kids enjoyed the burgers and French fries.

One Pillar Pagoda, Ho Chi Minh Complex, Temple of Litrerature & Ho Loa Prison

One notable thing about Hanoi was we never saw “shining sun” in the 4 days we had been there. It was always gloomy and cold. There were no increase/decrease in temperature.  It was mostly the same throughout.

Post lunch, we headed to “Hoa Lo” prison – the prison used by French colonists for political prisoners and later by Vietnam for US prisoners during Vietnam war. It was all decked up to “Welcome” Kim Jong Un, as he had plans to visit later that day. We even saw huge cannons stationed outside the prison for additional safety for Kim.  A tour inside the prison, gave us a picture of the lives of the prisoners in the pre-independence era. The cells had exhibits depicting the treatment meted out to the prisoners. There was also a small museum that showcased Vietnamese history, communism and politics during the colonial era.

After spending about an hour inside the prison, it was time to head to the airport. We had our flight later in the evening to Danang. All of us were excited were about going to the warm and beachy Danang.

We reached “No Bai” International airport in Hanoi around 5:30 PM. We had more than an hour for the flight.  It had shops like any other international airport but what caught our attention was the excellent play area. As expected, the kids got into it in no time.

We reached Danang around 9:30 PM. I was feeling super happy that weather was just perfect. Our guide was already waiting at the airport with the cab. We were to stay at Hoi An for the next couple of nights. On a side note, we settled for Maggi dinner that day as we wanted to put Archana’s induction stove to good use :P

Hoi An, about a 45-minute drive from Danang, is an ancient town and extremely well preserved. It was once a French colony and we can still see French architecture ingrained in the buildings. It amazed me how clean and unpolluted the city was, despite it being very touristy.  We stayed at the “Little Beach Boutique Hotel” overlooking the sea.  We were in for a surprise when we found that our hotel room was upgraded due to unavailability of the rooms we had booked.  The Hotel was decked up with “lanterns” - a specialty of Hanoi and it was such an awesome sight particularly at night.

The next day, after breakfast, we departed to “My son sanctuary”. It’s a UNESCO world heritage site and about an hour’s drive from Hoi An. My Son is a bunch of abandoned and partially ruined Hindu temples in Vietnam constructed by the Champa dynasty. The temples are dedicated to Lord Shiva and most of the statues depict him in “Linga” form. Apparently, India is funding some of the archaeological work in these temples. Lord Shiva is referred by name “Bhadreshvara” here.

I liked the electric vans that they used to take tourists inside the forest.   We were dropped at the entrance to the forest and from there, it’s a 3 km walk inside the jungle (including the distance to walk back). My Son temples are located in a valley surrounded by tall picturesque mountains.  Most of the temples were destroyed by US bombing during Vietnam war. The Govt had done a great job preserving whatever had remained.  We could still see the craters from the bombing at few places. The serene view made up for the scorching sun. What amazed me about these temples were that – they are built completely using red bricks and the carvings are ingrained in them. Also, we don’t see any glue binding these bricks. They just looked stuck to each other with no gaps.  This is Vietnam’s Angkor Wat and it’s a must visit I should say.

My Son Sanctuary

After 3 hours of tiring walk, we were all exhausted and had no thoughts other than lunch- though the kids had taken few snack breaks in between and gorged on the cakes & breads we had packed for them from the buffet breakfast in the morning. We had our lunch at “Ganesh Indian Restaurant” and it was super yummy. It was close to the city’s central market.

Post lunch, we visited the “Japanese Bridge” that was built in 18^th century. The bridge features a dog in one end and monkey in the other, signifying the Chinese years in which the construction started and ended respectively. It’s amazing that the “tile roofed” bridge stands as good as new even after centuries. We also visited an ancient house that was built by the Chinese around the same time.

Post that, we stopped by a few shrines and strolled into the market located by the “Thu Bon” river. It was a shopper’s paradise I should say. It had shops selling varieties of items – like Lanterns, Soft silk, Raw silk and leather goods. We could even get our clothes tailored within a day here.

As we were exhausted, we decided to come back later in the evening to the market.  After some resting at our hotel room, we decided to tour around the beaches on the road our hotel was located in. The hotel had bicycles for the guests (some even with baby seats). So, we decided to cycle around for some time, before our shuttle to the market at 7 PM. It was nice, breezy ride. We stopped at a couple of beaches for snaps before we hopped on to our shuttle.

Hoi An Market & Beach

The night view of Hoi An market was just splendid with colorful lanterns everywhere. There were shops selling accessories, clothes, shoes, hand bags and the very colorful lanterns. The lanterns are a specialty of Hoi An and I couldn’t resist buying one for my foyer.  The night view of the river was breathtaking with boats lit up with colorful lights.

After some photography, we settled for dinner at the “Ganesh Restaurant” and called it a day.

The next day (Day 6), after breakfast, we checked out our hotel room and headed to Ba Na hills. It’s a hill station & resort located in the “Truong Son” mountains, located west of the city of Danang. We took the “Worlds longest cable car ride” (17 minutes approx) to the top of the hill.  Needless to say, the ride was exhilarating. 

There are many attractions in Ba Na hills. First one we visited was the fantasy park. It’s a clone of universal studios (not close though). It was filled with attractive rides and games, some even based on Hollywood movies. There were also dance shows, 5D cinema and Wax museum. The kids had a lovely time in the rides and games. 

It was lunch time and we had lunch at one of the Italian restaurants, even higher on the hill. The view was fantastic and suddenly the weather changed. It started becoming foggy and it looked as though we were walking in between clouds. I am really short of words to describe the sight. It can only be experienced!

Second stop was the “Golden Bridge”.  It’s a 150m long bridge that connects the cable car station to the French Village.  What impressed us most was the giant hand covered in moss lifting the bridge. Oh, I should also mention the handrail that is beautifully glided.  We even saw couples having their wedding photoshoot on the bridge. The view of Danang city from the bridge was breathtaking and magical.

Ba Na Hills - Fantasy Park  & French Village

Our third and last stop, was the “French Village and Le’ Jardin Flower garden”.  There were different varieties of flowers from Roses to Tulips brimming in the neatly landscaped garden. There was an art work using different colored flowers, that resembled a peacock spreading its wings, which was quite impressive.  There was also a 100 year old wine cellar, built by the French in the French village, by digging through the mountain.  The French Village also had architecture illustrating the ancient French architecture like lofty churches, charming hotels and cottages.   There was also a Pagoda called “Linh Ung” Pagoda, that has a towering 27-meter tall statue of Buddha, looking forward to the city.

There were a few more attractions, but due to lack of time, we decided to head back to the cable car station.

Thirty minutes later, we were in the cab to Danang city. We had planned to visit the “Marble Mountain” also, but we were too tired and so we pushed it to the next day.

We checked into “Hotel Paris Deli” in Danang and spent some time lazing around at the beach later in the evening. We ended the day with a sumptuous dinner at the “Family Indian Restaurant”.

Next day (Day7), Post breakfast, we started to “Marble Mountain”. It’s a cluster of marble and limestone hills. We started hiking and there were around ten iconic spots that includes shrines, caves and viewpoints, that we could explore during our hike. The heat made the hiking a challenge. We made it to a few caves and pagodas.  We decided to visit the topmost viewpoint and drop the rest since we were running out of time and energy.  The breathtaking view of the ocean and the city made the hike worth it. After some snaps, we started descending.  This coastal area of Danang is famous for stone cutting and sculpture making, particularly from marble. There were shops selling women’s accessories made of marble. 

Marble Mountain

we returned to our hotel and after lunch, we started to the beach. We took turns in babysitting the kids and went for parasailing. Parasailing in Danang is unlike the ones I had done before. They take us for a round in a parachute tied to a boat and instead of descending on a landing platform in the end, they drop us in the middle of the ocean. Of course, we were floating only, but that sort of freaked me out as the sea was very wavy. Another speed boat came and brought us back to the shore. Honestly, I was thinking of backing out but there was no option as payment was done already.

The view from the parachute was fantabulous and have no words to describe it. I was just starting to feel comfortable with the height and that was it. The boat slowed down, and we dropped into the ocean. I was screaming at the top of my voice, the wavy sea made it difficult to climb on the speed boat and after few minutes of struggle I was finally on the boat. That was one adventurous experience I will never forget for life.

Da Nang Beaach & Parasailing

The kiddies were such darlings that they didn’t make a fuss about anything and were busy playing in the sand all the while. We were all soaking wet after parasailing that we decided to head back to the hotel.

After some swimming at the hotel pool, we headed out for dinner to “Omar’s Indian Restaurant”.  It was on the banks of Han river. We spent some time strolling on the Han bridge atop the river. It also offered a wonderful view of the “Dragon Bridge”, that was illuminated with colourful LED lights. As the name implies, the cables holding the bridge are shaped like a dragon. At night it resembled a dragon spitting fire out of its mouth. Such a unique design and architecture.

Han Bridge

Next day, we checked out of the hotel after breakfast and headed to the airport. Our flight to Bangkok was in a couple of hours. I was feeling happy and sad at the same time – happy that we were going home and sad that a wonderful vacation was coming to an end.  One noteworthy thing about Vietnam, everywhere people were very helpful and empathetic.  Since we were travelling with two kids, we got help at many places even without asking. Another thing that amazed me was the cleanliness – Right from roads to beaches, everything was so clean. 

Air Asia Lounge at Bangkok

We had a layover at Bangkok for 6 hours before our flight to Bangalore. We booked ourselves into one of the lounges there to kill time. It was worth the money I should say. They had non-stop mouthwatering food, relaxed seating and even a complimentary massage.  With Sashana’s company, Advika had a gala time during the vacation. Not just her, us too!

-Priya