January 2017

On the 28th James and I rented scooters and drove the mountain pass between North and South Vietnam. It was stunning and apperently the South side of the pass is 20 degrees warmer. So we finally got some warm weather. The pass was a narrow road with crazy switchbacks and giant your buses going full speed. And in Vietnam: the bigger car wins. So we spent a good part of the drive dodging buses.

We stopped at the Marble Mountains. Which is an impressive Buddhist temple built into a mountain.

We finally got into Hoi An just in time for Chinese New year. Which had the city packed with families and tourists.

We spent the next couple days getting tailored suits and exploring the city.

We also went to a terracotta museum. Which was odd beyond explaining and was blasting smooth jazz but:

Finally we went to My Son, a UNESCO world heritage site that the US heavily bombed during the world. Note the bomb Crater in the first picture.

We are currently on a night bus bound for Dalat a mountain town in the South.

After James and I encountered a viscous bout of food poisoning on Tuesday night and had a travel day Wednesday, which vengeful stomachs made a bit more exciting, we made it to Hue. The old capital of Vietnam and home to plenty of tombs of old emperor's.

We started by exploring the old forbidden city. Which was half refurbished and nice:

And half was run down and abandoned. It was odd, but cool to see some original buildings.

The next day, we rented mopeds and explored some tombs and an abandoned water park. The water park was actually full (10-15) other backpackers and was very cool.

And James picked a fight with a cow in the middle of the road.

Tomorrow we will bike (moped) over a mountain pass (sorry mom!) Which is supposed to be one of the most spectacular views in the country. We will be in Hoi An at the end of the day.

Explored Hanoi and went to the resting place of Ho Chi Minh. Then we went to Halong Bay. Kayaked, we went to fish farms in the middle of the bay.

Today we rented mopeds ($4, all day, no questions asked, not even anything to make sure we returned them). Met some new friends at "Woodstock Beach Club" which was on the other side of the island and through an active mining camp (more great Vietnamese safety). Spent all day biking around the Island. Tomorrow we fly to hue which is supposed to be warmer and actually sunny.