One of the Boys in Vietnam

I think the best thing I’ve done for myself while traveling, besides putting an AirTag in my wallet, is deciding to go with the flow of things and take up opportunities as they present themselves. Lloyd is from the UK and I met him in Sri Lanka. We frequented the same breakfast spot and he was a gem in our little beach crew. Lloyd left Sri Lanka before I did to do some traveling in Malaysia and then make his way up to Vietnam. Vietnam was beginning to form on my horizon as well and we decided that I would meet Lloyd and his friend Jake there for a few weeks. Unfortunately there was a bump in the road for me while trying to leave Sri Lanka. My name was formatted wrong on my Visa application and my Vietnam visa wasn’t approved before my flight out of Sri Lanka. I had a scheduled layover in Bangkok, and I somehow convinced the airline worker to allow me to go to Thailand until my visa gets approved. This mildly expensive and annoying setback put me in a dingy hotel room in Bangkok for two days before I could get my visa approved for a flight to Hanoi. 

Ninh Binh, Vietnam

I finally made it to Vietnam and joined the guys. Jake and Lloyd met during their masters program in the UK where they studied human geography. I can gratefully say that I learned 10x more about the history and culture of Vietnam with these two than I would’ve if I was alone. We spent our first week exploring Cat Ba, an island off the northeast side of Vietnam and then Ninh Binh, a UNESCO world heritage site with surreal landscapes south of Hanoi. One mistake I made before coming to Vietnam was not checking the weather. I just assumed it’d be warm and sunny, just like how Thailand was but I was dead wrong. I arrived and somehow brought Minnesota weather with me. There was a 10 day cold streak, with lows down to mid-thirties. It’s rare for homes, restaurants, hostels and even hotels to have heat. This would be fine had I packed for it. Everyday I layered the majority of the clothes I had in my backpack on until I finally gave in and bought pants, socks, mittens, a sweatshirt, and two jackets for under $30. This was definitely not a fashion tour but at least I was warm. 

The weather didn’t stop us. We went on hikes through the Cat Ba National Park and Cuc Phuong National park. We rented scooters to cruise around and explore caves and the Bai Den monuments and temples. We took a chilly boat trip in the Ha Long Bay. We explored the Mua Cave and climbed to the top of the Lying Dragon Mountain. We also ate our body weight Pho and looked forward to creamy egg coffees to warm us up throughout the day. 

'Da cau', or foot badminton, is a national sport in Vietnam

We decided to camp out in Hanoi for a few days until the sun came out for our motorcycle adventure through the Ha Giang Loop. We explored different restaurants, saw a spectacular water puppet show, and visited the Hanoi Natural History Museum. I was given a whole new perspective on Vietnamese history that wasn’t taught in U.S schools. Did you know in Vietnam they call what we know as the Vietnam war, the American war? There were a lot of parallels forming as I walked through the museum and reflected on what’s going on in the world today. It’s dangerous and interesting how history seems to repeat itself. 

Me freezing in our hotel room

Lloyd bargaining with the bus drivers

This sweet man insisted he'd clean my disgusting shoes

After Hanoi we took an overnight bus to the north to ride motorcycles through the Ha Giang Loop. I have a separate post about this whirlwind of an adventure here. Here’s me in my little pod in the bus.