Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi

So much had happened since my iPod  was stolen and I have no pictures! I think that not having a camera was a major reason I have been slacking on writing. I finally bought a new iPod! It took me about a week and half to find one that was not crazily priced but I did!

A happy selfie because I have an iPod again!

Some of the things that I don’t have photos for include:

✈️I went on an overnight Mekong Delta trip. We drove about 4 hours from Ho Chi Minh city and did a whole lot! We went on boat tours, learned how to make coconut candy, listened to traditional music, went on a farm tour, saw a floating market and did a bunch of other things too! I stayed overnight in a city that I cannot remember the name of! I forget what I paid but I think it was only about $25.00 or less including the hotel. I felt it was worth the money. The tour was super organized and very busy. I don’t usually do organized tours so it was something new.

✈️The most exciting thing that I did was visit Vung Tau with Dorris. Dorris was the woman that had warned me not to take me purse out at night. She worked nights at the guesthouse and we became friends. She invited me to her family’s home in Vung Tau which was about 1 1/2 hours south (I think) of Ho Chi Minh. Her entire family were vegetarians and I had a blast making spring rolls with Dorris, her mother, and grandmother. I ate so much delicious food at her home!

✈️ I went to the war memorial museum and that was pretty intense. I wanted some photos so I walked around taking Photo Booth photos with my computer! (They are not very good and backwards!)  I wish I had thought to take some Photo Booth shots with Dorris!

Outside of the Vietnam War Memorial Museum

I needed to get out of Ho Chi Minh City and head to the North. I decided to spoil myself and fly because I did not feel like taking the 30 hour bus that was needed to get to Hanoi. I ended up paying about $85.00 and the flight was two hours. It was about 9:30 pm when I arrived in Hanoi and I was a bit concerned because I had not booked a guesthouse in advance. It was late and I still had a 45 minute shuttle ride into the city.  I had emailed Manu (the friend I met at the border) while I was still in Ho Chi Minh because I thought he might be in Hanoi. When I got off the plane I had an email from him with the name of a guesthouse. This just reinforced that when you have faith, things usually work out! I waited about 30 minutes for the shuttle and was off.

Manu and I

I was super excited to see Manu again! He had a flight to Bangkok the following morning so we almost missed each other. We spent the night wandering around the city. The night was filled with  meat markets, moped drag races, extremely drunk  taxi drivers, getting lost (we are both pretty awful at reading maps, dark alleys, needing to pee a lot, and lots of laughs!

Hanoi in the night

We made it back to the guesthouse at 7:00 am! We said our goodbyes, I went to bed and Manu went to Bangkok. Even with my bag being stolen, I love Vietnam, the people and the food!