Part 2, Week 27: July 22-28
- Katie and Webster
- Jul 28, 2019
- 7 min read
We woke up on Monday morning and started our day with a noodle making and tasting class. We walked to Streets which is a non-profit organization that provides hospitality training for at risk youth. The program offers English classes, safe housing, healthy meals, and career opportunities. When we arrived we immediately began on our noodle tasting tour! Our two guides, who were students in the Streets program, took us to three different food stands to try three different noodles. We tried cao lau, pho, and bun noodles. Each stand was owned and operated by a local family, so the tour supported those families but also the students. Between each stand we stopped at a few markets to learn about traditional Vietnamese produce. Then, we returned to Streets to make our own noodles. Webster was brave and was the first of our group to try making noodles. He used a mixture of rice and water, poured onto a sheet overtop of a pot of boiling water. The mixture immediately turned into a thin paper like substance that once removed was a sheet of noodles. Then he put them through a cutter to get small noodles. Afterwards, we each had a chance to try making our own noodles. It was a great way to start the day!
Then we headed back to Yaly to order some clothes! We visited Yaly when we first arrived in Hoi An and didn’t know if we wanted to have anything custom made. But after sleeping on it...we decided to go for it! Webster picked out some really fun anchor pattern material to make a dress shirt. I designed a dress and picked out some royal blue silk material. We were fitted and told to come back 24 hours later to try the outfits on!
Then we spent the afternoon wandering around Hoi An enjoying all the history. We walked across the Japanese covered bridge, into some old churches and congregation spaces, and through some old restored traditional homes.
We enjoyed a quiet evening by the river watching all the lanterns.
On Tuesday morning we headed to the Life Start Foundation to make traditional lanterns. The Vietnamese lanterns that are now seen throughout the country were brought from China. The design and traditional materials used for the lanterns have now been adapted by the Vietnamese. We made the entire lantern on our own! We started with sticks of bamboo, and bent them to form the shape of the lantern. Then we attached the top and base to the sticks to make the frame. Finally, we covered the frame with material. It was much harder than it looked...we were glad to have help from some local experts who work with the foundation. The final result was extremely successful!
In the afternoon we headed back to Yaly for some finishing touches on our outfits. They made some last minute alterations and then sent us on our way. Yaly delivered our dress and shirt to the hotel for us!
We spent most of the late afternoon exploring the beach about 10km from Hoi An. It was packed with people who had the same idea that we did and wanted a nice ocean breeze! We managed to find two chairs, have a great lunch and enjoy a relaxing afternoon lounging by the water.
In the evening we met the rest of our big group to celebrate another travellers birthday! We went for dinner at a local restaurant. It was nice to hear about what others had done in Hoi An.
On Wednesday we boarded the bus to head to the airport in DaNang. We left the hotel a little later than expected but still made our flight in plenty of time. We flew 1 short hour down to Ho Chi Minh City, which is traditionally referred to as Saigon by the local people.
Upon arrival in Saigon we headed to our beautiful hotel, the Hotel Continental. The Hotel Continental is the oldest French owned hotel in Vietnam. Many books and TV shows have taken place in the hotel. We spent the afternoon wandering around the historical sites in the city amid all the rain. We visited the Post Office, Notre Dame, the Opera House and Independence Square. The traffic was just as bad in Saigon as we expected. Motorbikes everywhere!
In the evening we got all dressed up and headed up to the Chill Sky Bar for a 360 degree view of the city. It was spectacular.
Then we headed to Ben Thang Street Food Market. We had some delicious food with a few people from our group.
On Thursday morning we drove out to the Chu Chi Tunnels. The tunnels were about 2 hours outside the city in a local village. On the drive we learned about the history of the tunnels and why Vietnamese Communists from the North needed them when fighting against US soldiers. There are 20km of underground tunnels, bunkers, and hiding places 2 hours from Saigon. Because the Vietnamese didn’t have as much money as the US they had to be strategic in the way they operated. Living underground allowed them to get some rest, eat, repair uniforms, and rebuild weapons from pieces of other bombs/bullets. We wandered around the dense forest looking for entrance holes and ventilation. Everything was hidden in the mud, greenery, etc. It was quite impressive. Towards the end of our tour Webster was brave and went 40m through the tunnels. He had to climb down 3m deep to reach the first level of three that were still in tact. He said it was dark and very humid. It was a really interesting way to end our tour in Vietnam. Many of the people who lived in the areas surrounding the tunnels lived there during the war. They were around when the Americans moved into their communities and when Northern Vietnamese walked three months down south to fight. Many of the people are still facing the after effects of the war. In the community we visited, although very active, Americans dropped more than 500,000kg of bombs. They also used Agent Orange to kill the trees and expose the opposition. Agent Orange is still effecting this community. It is expected to have lasting effects on four generations through birth defects, disabilities, etc. It was hard to see but important to support the workers who make their only income from visitors to the tunnels.
In the evening we had one last dinner as a group to celebrate a great 13 days together. We said our goodbyes and made a Facebook group to keep in touch.
On Friday we spent the morning in the airport before catching a flight to Hong Kong. It was over 38 degrees when we left Saigon in the morning! Our flight was very quick, only 2 hours from Ho Chi Minh City to Hong Kong. Once we arrived we headed into the North East, to Sai Kung. Webster is lucky to have some family friends who live in Hong Kong. Jo, Kylie and Ezha are friends of Liz and Brian. Jo went to the University of Waterloo with them. We arrived and spent some time relaxing, getting some laundry done and enjoying a home cooked meal! It was so nice to just sit and chat, much different from our pace the past two weeks.
On Saturday we had a slow start to the morning with a nice sleep in, some more laundry and a great breakfast! In the afternoon we headed to Stanley Market to replace some well loved travel clothing. We wandered through the markets and along the waterfront.
Then we headed into the central area of the city to explore some more! We had intentions of making it up to the Victoria Peak but ended up getting lost. We explored some local neighbourhoods and found ourselves at the central-mid level escalators. This was something Webster really wanted to see in Hong Kong. It is the world's longest escalator! It is a little bit of a cheat because it’s broken up over many, many escalators but it was interesting nonetheless.
On Sunday we enjoyed one last morning with Jo, Kylie and Ezha. Then we packed up our things and moved into the city centre! We are so thankful for our time in Sai Kung to relax and recharge before our home stretch of this journey! Thank you Jo, Kylie and Ezha for welcoming us into your beautiful home!
In the afternoon we made our way to a Chinese Temple, called Wong Tai Sin Temple. It was absolutely beautiful to see. It was so detailed, and kept in a great state. It is actively in use so many local people were praying. It reminded us of the Chinese temple we saw in Kuala Lumpur a few weeks ago.
Afterwards we went to Yuen Po Street Bird Garden. It wasn’t actually a bird garden, or sanitary at all, it was a bird market. Many sellers had colourful birds on display for purchase. They also had bird feed, cages, everything you could need to keep a bird at home! It was an unexpected find. We hope all the birds are well kept and given some freedom of movement after the market closes.
Then, we stumbled upon a beautiful flower market! It reminded us of the Columbia Road Flower Market in London, but this market had tropical trees available! Many sellers were selling orange, lime and other fruit trees. Some were selling beautiful flowers and succulents.
Finally, we had to see the Goldfish Market. We had read countless articles about it and had to see it first hand. There were a bunch of shops all in a row that had bags of fish ready to sell and take home! They were all hung on hooks so you could look and pick your favourite one. It made us a little bit sad that the fish had such little room to live. Then..we stumbled upon buckets filled with turtles! It was very different than anything you would see at home.
For dinner we made a stop at Din Tai Fung. Din Tai Fung is very popular in Asia for their hand made dim sum. They even have a Michelin star for their dim sum! We had a great dinner after a long day!
This week we are exploring a bit more of Hong Kong before boarding a cruise ship for 9 days! We are so excited to relax and explore some more! Next week’s blog will be delayed until August 8 as cruise ship wifi isn’t very dependable!
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