Vietnam - Hanoi Food Tour!

All three of us had been anticipating the trip to Halong Bay and as we approached Friends Travel Vietnam we were so excited - only to be quickly disappointed! Due to the weather several trips to Halong Bay had already been cancelled by the coast guard. When we walked into FTV, we were told all of the other companies had given notice of cancellation, except a few, including the boat operation we were meant to go on. Still some hope! We jumped into the van, risking the possibility of them cancelling during the 3 hour journey to Halong from Hanoi. I suppose luckily for us the cancellation call was made only a few blocks out which meant not wasting time having to drive back. We were completely devastated but it was out of our hands and we still made the best of our time.

Sidney gave us a great recommendation for massages nearby and they were fantastic! Aside from the part when the lady ran a scratchy towel down my sunburn - ouch!! As a result of being so sunburnt, I was wearing all of the long clothes I had with me - cotton pants and a hoodie, which in the heat of a Vietnamese summer, was too much! So for the rest of the afternoon I opted to relax in our hostel room, hoping my body would heal out of the sun. Sara and Mel spent the afternoon at some museums. When the sun went down and it was safer for me to be outside (ha! How have I not learned by now!!) we went on a food tour, also organized by FTV. We all expected it to be a big group of people with one guide, but to our surprise it was more intimate, only the three of us with our guide Elly. This was a perfect evening. She told us that they set up the food tours this way so that it feels more like friends going and discovering food together, we loved it and we loved her!

The food!! Hands down, some of the best food I've had in my life. I'd go back to Hanoi just to eat the food again and again.

1. Bahn Xeo, similar to a fried rice pancake filled with veggies. The best.

2. Banh Cuon Thit and Bahn Cuon Trung - rice paper mixed with egg/pork. The texture of these are soft and a bit slippery, they were good but for me the texture was a bit off putting. 

3. Che Do Den - a red bean dessert with tapioca, jelly, coconut and rice. Given that in Korea many desserts incorporate red bean, I was very accustomed to this and loved it. Not the prettiest but so delicious and so refreshing on a hot day/night! We enjoyed it on little red stools in the street just like the locals. 

4. Spring rolls!!! Another one of my favourites! We had a selection:

Nem Cua Be - sea crab springroll 

Banh Goi - pillow cake?

Banh Tom - shrimp cake

Nem Chua Ran - fried sour springroll 

After this Elly took us for a little walk to this pretty church!

5. Kem Chanh Bac Ha - mint lemon ice cream!! Amazing. We went back the next night for more! What a great combination of flavours. Here we are with Elly! 

6. Cafe Trung - the famous egg coffee. Sounds awful but delicious and sweet. Yes, it really does have egg yolk in it! It had a warm eggnog/coffee taste!

7. Hoa Qua Dam - fresh fruit with coconut milk. Really how could you go wrong with this dessert? This was my first time eating jackfruit too! We were sat outside in the dark for this one, so sorry for the poor picture!

Then we ran into a lady creating a fire in the street...

8. Bo Bai - rice paper mixed with coconut, sugar cane and black sesame. This was far too sweet for me, but I'm sure kids go crazy for it!

   
                                       

With that, the food tour was over! We never expected to eat as much as we did or to eat as many great dishes as we did. We were all very pleased with the experience. The downside for me was that the entire evening I was not feeling well at all because of my sunburn. I probably had some sort of sun poisoning as the next morning I still felt awful so I made the decision to forgo the day trip we planned and spend another day resting indoors.

Sunburn four days later 

The view from the hostel restaurant 

I met up with Mel and Sara once they returned from the day trip and we had dinner and went on a search for coconut coffee, another specialty in the area that Elly told us about. So good! I preferred this coconut coffee to the egg coffee, but it's a must to try both!

Next stop: Nha Trang!

<3

Vietnam - Sapa Valley

Vietnam was never high up on my list of places to go in Southeast Asia as there were other places that I was more interested in going to - but I'm so glad I went! Really I have Mel to thank as Vietnam had been the one spot she had been wanting to go to all along. So we packed our bags and headed off on another adventure together, this time accompanied by our friend Sara. I am so thankful for their company on this trip, on my flight leaving Korea after living there for two years.

Our first stop was Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. It took a long while to sort out our visas when we landed but was a simple process overall. Once everything was sorted we jumped in a taxi and headed to the old quarter of Hanoi to meet another Sarah we all knew from Korea then headed out in search of delicious food.

I must mention that not only did I have my travel backpack stuffed with essentials, I also had a duffel bag full of my scuba diving gear to lug around. I realized immediately that using a duffel bag had to be the worst idea I've ever had as it was HEAVY and cumbersome. Thank goodness for friends who helped me cart it around and for Sarah who let us stash all of our bags in her hotel room that first day in Hanoi!!

After having a delicious meal of spring rolls and pho, we stumbled upon Friends Travel Vietnam, a booking agency and honestly had the best experience with this company. The owner Sidney made our time in Hanoi seamless and easy. We were really hoping to book tours to both Sapa Valley (as we already had train tickets booked to Sapa for that night) and Halong Bay which we were able to do! Sidney talked us through all of the different options,answered our millions of questions, put up with our sleep deprived state, gave us so many recommendations for things in the area and even let me keep my dive bag at their office the entire time we were in Hanoi and Sapa! What a relief and huge help that was! 

That evening we made our way to the train station and eventually figured out where we needed to be for our sleeper train to Sapa. I have never slept on a train like this before so it was a neat experience. We booked a four bed cabin even though we were only three, the privacy and extra space was worth it. 

We arrived in Lo Cai really early, 5am, but we were using our time as efficiently as possible to make the most of the week we had in Vietnam. From there we got into a van and were brought to a hotel to have a quick breakfast and freshen up before starting our trek. Perhaps we were all too sleep deprived to realize what we had signed up for the day before but not one of us realized that we would be trekking 15km that day and were incredibly under prepared. It confused us when our guide looked at us funny as we were all wearing flip flops and didn't bother to put on sunscreen because it was extremely overcast (yes, I can hear you all, you definitely can still get burnt and we sure did!) but that all made more sense by the end of the day. 

Our guide, Shu, took us to the market first in order to get food for our meal later on in the day. We walked around purchasing different fruits, vegetables and meat then began our journey ... carrying said goods just purchased. Yes, Mel did carry a pineapple about 12km when we would have preferred to have eaten it after the 4km mark, or even at lunch time for that matter! Shu took us on a "real, everyday path" instead of the usual touristy paths. This meant trekking through mud and bushes. We were accompanied by two other women who helped us up muddy hills and across tree trunk bridges. We were surrounded by incredible beauty. 

At about 13km in, we arrived at Shu's home where her and her husband prepared food for us. It was really good food but this part of the day felt a bit awkward. We were put at a table in the middle of their home and left to eat by ourselves as Shu and her husband ate by themselves in the kitchen. The other two women approached us and tried to get us to buy their handmade goods. This part of the day was also a bit long, we seemed to have stayed in her home for a really long time. Long enough to realize how badly we had been burnt anyways! This realization made the next 2km a bit tough as we were in a bit of pain and didn't want to get more burnt than we already were. With no other options we pushed through. 

Despite our lack of preparation for the day, it was an incredible experience, the view of this region is unbelievable. Even just being able to talk with Shu and get to know her story was really interesting. She has lived in the same village her entire life, got married when she was 14 and had her first child when she was 16. Her and her husband harvest rice and she guides tourists through Sapa for a living. Her English is really good even though she has never had any formal training, she has learned everything through tourists. Truly a different way of life, one that I am grateful to have been able to get a glimpse of.

Upon arrival back at the hotel we managed to convince the front desk person to allow us use of one room in order to shower and get cleaned up as we would be heading back to the train station for another night train back to Hanoi. I could not imagine having to get onto that train and into those beds in the state that we were in! Not to mention when we arrived back in Hanoi the next morning we were meant to be going directly to Halong Bay! 

<3

From May To Goodbye

So what else happened in May?

Another thing I really wanted to do while being in Korea was visit the DMZ - the Korean Demilitarized Zone. We went to the joint security area, and were able to cross the demarcation lines which technically means we entered North Korea. It was an incredible experience. Kind of surreal as well as we had to sign waivers stating that participating could result in death - which makes sense as it is still the most heavily militarized border in the world and there is still immense tension between the two countries. As well, you could see armed North Korean soldiers therefore they could see us and technically could at any instant do harm if they wanted to. 

The JSA - halfway across these blue buildings is North Korea

Propaganda Village & Panmunjom (the world's 4th tallest flagpole) in North Korea

Bridge of No Return - prisoners were brought to this bridge and given the choice to choose and side. They could not change their minds once they crossed in South Korea. 

Dorasan - the subway that connects the North and South. It has been restored but is not in use.

A statue to represent unification of the North and South. This was at the tunnels (we were not allowed to take pictures inside). The tunnels were created by the North Korean army as a way to infiltrate into the South. You are only able to walk until third barricade although is goes all the way to the demarcation line and possible beyond. 

Of course I did a lot of diving in May as well since the weather warmed up! I also completed my rescue diver course!

Mel and I during her advanced course

We went on our hike field trip and celebrated Children's Day at school:

Haim

Daniel

Eunice

Lily and Eunice

Reid and I also went bike riding along the Han River on a night sunny day. I did not do that enough! Later in the month we said goodbye to Reid, it was a fun night but sad to say goodbye to another really good friend. 

Bag drinks!

Mel, Reid and I 

SY, Mel and I on the Subway the next morning going home. We spent the night having drinks and playing darts then went to and ate galbi (Korean BBQ), chatting until the sun came up.

Highlights of June:

The reality of leaving Korea really began to hit me in June. This is when I began selling my winter things and when I sold my suitcases. While I was excited to be heading into a new adventure, it was really sad to have to leave Korea. A place that I not only made my home, but a place where I grew in so many ways. 

June was an interesting month because spread of MERS made everyone panic, so much so that all of the schools were closed. My school closed for a week and a half. When school went back in session everyone who walked through the doors had to use hand sanitizer and their temperature was taken. I was happy to have the time off but it meant that many people had to make up the missed classes on Saturdays and one or both of the summer/winter vacations were shortened. Luckily for me, my contract was ending before any of that would affect me. During the week I decided to go to the salon to have my hair dyed back to match my roots. The end result being dark brown - not the same colour as my roots. It was a bit of a shock but as in all things, I got used to it. 

This month I also went to a language exchange meetup and to a baseball game! 

Noelia, Ashley, MJ, myself and Mel at the baseball game

With SY and Song Won at the language exchange

Highlights of July:

Ashley, Mel, MJ and I made a trip to Busan which was so nice! I love Busan and was so happy to go down there one last time before leaving Korea. It was sunny for half the time and the other half it rained but we still made the most of the time! We went to the beach, saw a movie and went to the best jimjilbang.

When you ask a stranger to take a photo!!

Chunk of frozen mango on a stick! The best!

We also celebrated Eunice and Daniel's birthdays!

Haim sleeping while the others play

I am pretty sure I spent most of the month crying, knowing that I was leaving. I have learned over and over again that I cry - at everything. I knew that about teaching though, you get so invested in the kids it's hard to say goodbye. I cried everyday the last week before leaving, the last day I was a mess. Thank goodness I wasn't going on the airplane by myself though! Thankfully Mel, Sara and I were headed to Vietnam together. It was so sad though to say goodbye to everyone at work, to leave my apartment, my home. I do not have words to explain how I feel about that country, so much of my heart is there, even still. Also, thank goodness for Mel otherwise I'm not sure I would have ever packed or been able to go through everything in my apartment! Even writing this post is challenging because it brings up so many emotions!!

Goodbye dinner with Laura, Ben, SY, Myan, Myan's friend

Grace, Sally, Diana and Michael on my last day with them, taught them since day 1

The weekend before I left, I went up to Paju one last time to the dive shop to collect my gear and say goodbye to Russ. The night before I left, I had my last bingsu with Mel and MJ, then MJ came over and helped me repack one last time. In the morning Shawn helped me carry everything and went to the airport with me to meet up with Mel and Sara. Oh, goodbyes are the worst! 

Next stop, Vietnam! <3