North-side! (Peace fingers)

Hey all!

I haven't had access to a computer in any of the hostels we've been staying at so....sorry for the silence!

A lot has happened since the last update and a lot of Vietnam has been covered.  First of all, I'm no longer sore from canyoning.  It was a solid 3 days of soreness though...yikes!  But totally worth every second of it.

Saying "bye" to Dalat was tough.  The hostel was amazing--did I mention before that they cooked family dinners each night for those who wanted to join?  Yeah, and one of the owners (Lin) even took everyone for karaoke our last night in town!  We could have stayed in Dalat the whole time but knew we had to press on to our first beach town...Nha Trang.

The bus ride from Dalat to Nha Trang was absolutely stunning as we spiraled down the mountains to the beach.  Pictures cannot possibly caputre the full beauty, but here's my best shot.

Bus ride to Nha Trang

We had heard rumors about Nha Trang from other backpackers and Lin ("Do you like to watch Russians play?") but nothing truely prepared us for the shock that was Nha Trang.  It really was FULL of Russians.  There was a beautiful Miami-like beach and boardwalk lined with resorts, and everywhere was FILLED with Russians.  Most signs were in Vietnamese and Russian, and when I asked questions to street vendors in English, often the vendors answered in Russian (Me-Do you have avocados? Vendor-Nyet!).  It was surreal!

The hostel we stayed at had a lovely rooftop area where we were serenaded with English cover songs by the bartender (Max) and other hostel workers.  One worker, Tony, took us on a night tour of the city, and when we stopped for a bit after being caught in the rain, he admitted as we watched a foreigner walk past with a bag of groceries, "Before, I would take that, so easy."  He used to prey on foreigners.  That is until he met bartender Max on the beach playing guitar a year and a half before.  Tony had always wanted to play guitar.  Max graciously taught him guitar (and English!) and got him a job at the hostel where he now befriends instead of preys on foreigners every day.  It was a sweet story of how friendship can transform a life.  Hearing his story made me, once again, so grateful for all the sweet friendships I have in my life that have molded and transformed me into a better person. Love you all! 

From Nha Trang, we moved on to Hoi An.  Hoi An is a charming little port city (UNESCO Heritage site) with influences from Europe and all over Asia.

Hoi An port

Hoi An is famous for tailor shops.  Tailor made suits run between $50 and $80 USD.  I could have gone crazy getting tailor made dresses and shirts, but I didn't.  Luke did, however, get a few shirts.  We stayed at a cute, bugalow type hostel along An Bang beach which was quite perfect until...dun dun  duuuunn....the typhoon!  It downpoured for 3 days straight, friends.  Nothing to report for those days really except a sour mood.

For the last day of the typhoon, we were in Hue.  Hue is the site of the old imperial city and very close to Vietnam's DMZ.  

Citadel

From Hue, we took a bus to Phong Nha National Park, famous for the best caves in Vietnam (and the world).  We had heard that everything was closed due to flooding from the typhoon, but we went anyway with hopes the rain would clear up.  And it did!  The first day, nothing was open still because of the flooding but we were able to experience a rare day of motorbiking in the park, free of tour buses and tourists.

Phong Nha National Park

Following a day of rest (both Luke and I caught colds), we were able to explore Paradise Cave and the Botanical Gardens in the park.  In the gardens, we trekked to a waterfall where ropes were set up to climb down it, and we went for a refreshing swim.  We were the only ones there!

We climbed down this

Botanical Gardens waterfall

It was absolutely beautiful, ranking as my top day in Vietnam so far (tied with canyoning)!  Again, I feel like we could have stayed in Phong Nha forever, but we knew we had to press on to Hanoi.  We took another night bus and arrived yesterday morning.  It's shell-shocking to be back in a big city again!  The good news is we are here in time for the chaos of Mid-Autumn festival!  Last night the streets were packed with children, festival dancers, and couples shopping and walking around the lake.

Mid Autumn traffic

As chaotic as it was last night, it was heartwarming to see all the love and excitement flowing from the couples and children.  

Tonight we will take the night train to Sapa, the northwestern mountainous region.  This is the area I have been most looking forward to visiting, so I'm really excited!  There we hope to do some trekking and a homestay---I'm not sure about Intenet in that area, so you might have to wait til we're back in Hanoi for pictures/updates from Sapa!  Ahh, I have to go pack up now!  

Cheers!  Xoxo

P.S.  All the fall pictures on Facebook make me a bit homesick, but I love seeing them!  Drink some extra pumpkin beer and apple cider for me! :)

Oh, and I've started documenting some of the inspirational clothing quotes I've seen, so here's one last thought for the day: