Unfortunately, I didn't take many photos of Ho Chi Minh City, which was our first stop. One of my highlights from HCMC was a street food tour through Saigon Street Eats. A friendly guide took Will, myself and 6 others to street-side "restaurants" in a residential area away from the tourist district we were staying in. The guide gave us tips for ordering, what to look for when choosing a street stand and introduced us to some local dishes that I've never seen at Vietnamese restaurants in Canada. The food was amazing! Thankfully I took a couple of photos from that experience.
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| Our first stop, where they make salad rolls and banh xeo (a delicious, savory egg-crepe dish) |
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| A seafood restaurant from Saigon Street Eats |
Our next stop was Hoi An, a town located about half-way up the east coast of Vietnam. A portion of Hoi An, known as Old Town, is a UNESCO Heritage Site. Architecture influenced by Vietnamese, French and Japanese culture has been well preserved. It's very touristy, but still beautiful, and a relaxing spot after HCMC.
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| Quon Cong Temple - Hoi An |
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| Afternoon rest while touring Old Town for a classic Vietnamese coffee. |
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| Hoi An from a bridge over Thu Bon River |
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| Hoi An from across the Thu Bon River at night |
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| This photo isn't the best quality, but this is the view from our guesthouse balcony and shows some of Hoi An's European architecture |
From Hoi An we took a day tour to the Marble Mountains and Son Tra Mountain (Monkey Mountain), both near Da Nang. According to our tour guide, the Lady Buddha on Monkey Mountain is the largest Buddha in Vietnam.
We only explored one of the Marble Mountains, but there are five in the area. The Marble Mountains used to be a key source of marble (surprise!), but most marble is now imported to the area where it is carved into statues or furniture and re-sold. Stores selling marble statues lined the roads near the Marble Mountains.
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| Buddha on one of the Marble Mountains. |
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| Buddha and dragons on Marble Mountains. |
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| Peaking through the wall at a Buddha in a neighbouring cave |
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| Viewing the other Marble Mountains from ours. |
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| Exploring the caves of the Marble Mountains. |
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| The Lady Buddha on Son Tra Mountain. |
Next up was Hanoi! One of my favourite places in Vietnam.
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| Amazingly narrow and beautiful architecture in Hanoi |
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| The Hanoi Opera House. Unfortunately we didn't plan ahead and weren't able to catch a performance here. |
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| The Night Market in Hanoi's Old Quarter |
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| Beer Corner in Hanoi's Old Quarter, where you can sit outside with "fresh beer" on tiny plastic chairs and people watch. |
From Hanoi we took a day trip to Hoa Lu. Hoa Lu is a former capitals of Vietnam (from 968 to 1010 AD). On that same tour we went on a boat ride along the river and cycled around neighbouring rice farms.
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| The entrance to Hoa Lu |
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| Characters on an old wall in Hoa Lu. |
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| A tributary off of the river in front of Hoa Lu. This photo doesn't do justice to the beautiful surroundings. |
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| Our river ride. |
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| Somewhat hard to tell, but this rower is rowing with his feet, as were most of the rowers guiding the boats for our tour group. |
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| Coming out from under a tunnel that the river carved through a hill. |
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| They also happened to be filming a movie (it looked like a historical movie) on the river. |
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| Cycling along rice fields and rivers. |
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