Vietnam, Part 1

Hello everyone!  Here are some images from the first half of our trip in Vietnam.

Vietnamese currency is called "dong."  It is roughly 20,000 VND = 1 USD, so this bill is roughly $5.  The image is of their political hero, Ho Chi Minh.

Street food dinner from our first night in Saigon.

Vietnamese pho.

Ever seen a McDonalds with a motorbike parking lot?

For the first time in a long time, we felt like we were in a big city!

Custom tailoring is huge in Vietnam.

The historic post office in Saigon

The Notre Dame Cathedral in Saigon

Outside the War Remnants Museum, I took a picture with a US Army helicopter.

There were several galleries with pictures of the effects of Agent Orange on the people of Vietnam.  Typically it was mutations of the extremities like this child's hand.

A before and after shot of a riverbed before and after spraying Agent Orange.

A young US soldier in Vietnam during the war.

What?  Organized traffic signs?  Amazing!

The Reunification Palace

We were stopped by this group of young Vietnamese students who wanted to practice their English.  We got to have some interesting conversations about ourselves and about traveling in Vietnam and they even gifted us with scarves for our time!

On my side of the table: pho.  Look at that basket of fresh herbs!  Basil, mint, cilantro, lemongrass.  Green onions already in the soup.  So good.

A lotus flower

Temple

Two large Buddha statues.  One on the left is the chubby Chinese Buddha, on the left is the typical Buddha found in Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia (and possibly elsewhere).

Boat like the one we were in for our tour of the Mekong River Delta.

On our tour of the delta, we stopped to try some delicious honey tea...

... next we were serenaded by a group of traditional Vietnamese singers...

... and then we were paddled down a small river in an island...

... wearing traditional coconut hats.

Next we went to see how coconut candy was made, and got to sample some.

At the lunch stop, I crossed over this narrow bamboo bridge for funsies.

We also visited a crocodile farm.

Traffic in Saigon.  Soooooo many motorbikes.  It's incredible.

We visited the Cu Chi tunnels used by the locals during the wars.

A US tank that was left behind.

Bombs used by the US.  Emily's quote, "I just can't smile with a picture of bombs our country dropped on this area."

Climbing through the tunnels.  Our knees sure felt it the next day.

This is the average size of the people who used the tunnels.  The tunnels are not Emily-sized.

Banh mi, a famous Vietnamese sandwich.  The shop we were to had been visited by Anthony Bourdain, and he claimed it was the best banh mi in Vietnam.

Dorm bed in a hostel in Hoi An.  Pretty typical.

The beach in Hoi An.

Local dish of Hoi An called cao lau.

Boats in Vietnam.

Some strange bamboo trap things... we had no idea what they were for.

Our ride for the day.

Com ga, another typical dish in Hoi An.  It's a basic chicken and rice dish.

Love this.

Hoi An Old Town at night, all lit up with colorful lanterns.  The pictures don't do it justice.

Doubtful.  Haha.

A lantern booth.

It felt like we were walking through this market at naptime...

Pretty architecture in Hoi An.

This bridge is one of the national symbols for Vietnam - it's the Japanese Covered Bridge in Hoi An.

Vietnamese art.

I was taking a picture of Emily buying some snacks and these ladies posed for a photo.  I scurried away before they asked for money.

More lovely historic architecture in Hoi An.

Trying another local dish - this one was called quang mi, and was a delicious noodle and pork dish.

We must have landed on a holiday of some sort, because every shop had an offering/prayer table out front one night.

We took the train to Hue to see the lovely coastline.

It was hard to capture in a picture, but our room in Hue was amazing:  impeccably clean, with soft comfortable beds, air conditioning, a flatscreen TV, and big comfy blankets (in the cupboard).  All for about $13 for the room per night.

We were told to try a local dish called bun bo.  Here is Emily at the restaurant waiting for our food to arrive.

Bun bo

"Western" breakfast in the morning.  Two slices of bacon, tomato, banana pancake, and watermelon.

A building in the Imperial Enclosure in the old capital of Hue.

The Imperial Enclosure

Very little remains of the original Imperial Enclosure due to bombing during the wars.

Doorway to the Imperial Enclosure

Imperial Enclosure

Another gateway to the Imperial Enclosure

Thien Mu Pagoda, Hue

A view of the river in Hue

A statue along the entrance of the Thien Mu Pagoda

At the Thien Mu Pagoda

Hue was the capital during the Nguyen Dynasty.  The next pictures are of the Imperial Tomb of Emperor Minh Mang.

Imperial Tomb of Minh Mang

Imperial Tomb of Minh Mang

Imperial Tomb of Minh Mang

Imperial Tomb of Minh Mang

Imperial Tomb of Minh Mang

There was a lot more local food in Hue, so we went to this restaurant and tried a set menu of a bunch of different foods.  They say that during the Nguyen Dynasty, the emperors refused to eat the same dish twice in the same YEAR, so they had to come up with all sorts of new dishes to keep them satisfied.  I for one, thank them for that.

Banh khaoi - a rice pancake served with pork, shrimp, a quail egg, and bean sprouts.  Served with a sweet peanut sauce.  Soooooo good.

Nem lui - pork sausage cooked onto a lemongrass stick, which you wrap in rice paper with fresh herbs, pull out the lemongrass stick, and dip in peanut sauce.

We sort of demolished the set menu of local favorites in Hue.

Taking the train to Hanoi!

That's the first part of our trip in Vietnam!  Once in Hanoi we spent about a week enjoying the city and traveling to the northern mountains of Sapa and then to the beautiful islands in Halong Bay. More pictures coming soon!