VIETNAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!-Livy

Listen, I know you have never heard of it, therefor have no interest in reading it, but Lombok was my favorite place of the whole trip, so if you have not read it, read it now. 

We were only in Vietnam for 10 days, so it will probably only be one post. We were meeting my moms best friend Annie. She would be joining us for our Vietnam adventure. One of the things I was most exited about Vietnam was the food. I LOVE Vietnamese food. It is my favorite type. First we were going to Hanoi. It was a crazy city, traffic was mental.

This lady walks up and down the street everyday selling flowers

Traffic everyday

I really did not care for it. We did not have any great meals. As some of you may know, in northern Vietnam, some cultures eat dog. I have a problem with that because I have a dog and he is my best friend. We did not mean to see it, we were just walking down the street and it was being barbecued. Me and my parents talked about a lot and I have realized that, if we are going to eat chicken and pork, then who are we to tell them they cannot eat what they want. It still makes me a little sad, but it mite make them sad that we eat pork. Who knows. 
Next place we went was Ha Long bay. You go there on a boat and sleep on it for 3 nights, 4 days. Sadly the whether was not cooperating, and it was really cloudy all day.

Were we were parked for the night

This is how cloudy it was

We all felt so bad for Annie because this is her Vacation. Out of this whole trip we have only had about 5 days of rain. The grown ups went canoeing for an hour, and me and Anneka stayed and played on the boat. The next day we went on a different boat for the day. First we went on a bike ride to a small village o'n the island. There were puppies everywhere!!! They were all so cute! We could not stop though, we were following a guide. We stopped at a restaurant, had a drink and went for a hike. First we went to a National park. It was really pretty. There was no water, but it was all grassy and there was a lot of trees. Next we went to a old cave. It was really cool. We needed flashlights or else we would have tripped 1000 times. We went back and rode the bikes to the ferry dock. We were having a race back, and Annie got in a accident. We think she broke her rib. For the rest of the day she was resting on the boat. We also went to a fish market. It is basically floating shacks and bridges across pens with fish in them.  There was a pen with giant fish in them. It was crazy how big they were! 

The fish market

The fish market again

We then went back to the boat. The next day we had breakfast and lunch, then left. We took the boat back and took a 3 hour bus to the next stop. 
Next place we went to was Hoi An. It was our third last stop in Vietnam. To get there we had to take a overnight train. We got on at around 10:00 and it left at about 11:30. The beds were really hard and the train was bumpy. It was hard to fall asleep, but once I was out, I was out. When we got up in the morning we still had 5 hours to go. We got a 6 person room, so it was really cramped.

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You could't sit up at all! Our necks were pretty sore when we got there, but it was worth sleeping in the beds. Otherwise we would have had to sit in chairs all night! And trust me, that ain't fun. We finally got there at around 1:30 and all we had had for breakfast was bread so we were all starving! The first thing we did when we got to Hoi An was get lunch. I can't even remember what it was, only that we felt so good after we ate. It is a small city in northern Vietnam. When we got there we all immediately felt good about it. Everything was built when the Europeans ruled, so it was like Asia meets Europe at the same time. The whole city was beautiful buildings and lanterns throughout the streets.

The night market

This is what every street looked like. 

The first day we were there, we spent the day roaming around the city. We went to a tailor were my parents and Annie were going to get suits made. We were there about an hour. We went to get lunch, and it was really good. They had the most amazing noodle soup in the world. The food in Vietnam had not been going very well. The food in Toronto was so much better. This though, this was awesome. We then went back to the hotel and walked down to the market area. Me, my mom and Annie all got scarfs. Mine is white with blue butterflies on it. I love it!!! After that we went for dinner. We just decided to eat at a place next to the hotel. It was OK. The place at lunch was so much better. the next day, me and my dad rented bikes and my mom, Annie and Anneka went to the beach.  We went to a little island that had a bridge going across it. I Would not really consider it as a island though. You could easily swim from the"main land" to the "island". Anyway, we went to one side of it and there was a little pen half in the water and half out. that was full of little baby ducks! They were so cute! I wanted to pet them so bad, but my dad said no. We went for lunch at a small restaurant. The food was pretty good but they had the most awesome chocolate shake ever! We got one to share, but I could have easily had one to myself. We then went to meet my mom at the beach. Me and Anneka played in the water (the waves were the perfect size to play in) and the sand the whole time.

One part of the beach

The sign at the entrance to the beach

The next morning we went to the tailor to pick up my parents suits. This time we were only there for about 30 minutes. After we left Anneka my mom And Annie went to the beach and  I went with my dad again but this time we rented a motorbike. We went to a temple and we had lunch then went up. It was huge! It was on the top of the mountain and you basically went through paths and came out at different statue. There was one part of it that was a cave and when you came out of it you were on the second highest point on the mountain.

The view ( the sun was rite in my eyes)

One of the first statues we saw

This was my favorite

The cave

We then headed down. This was the funniest part of the day. It is super hot out. It is the middle of the day.  We go down the mountain at a different spot then where we came up. But the place we parked is only about 100 meters away. But my dad is looking at the map backwards so he thinks it is the other way. We walk about 200 meters the wrong way, we are both a sweaty mess and then realize that we are just going farther away from our bike. Finally we made it back and rode to the beach. That night we went to the island for dinner. Everything was lit up. There was a dragon statue which was really good.

The dragon statue

Us at dinner

We ate at a restaurant that had pretty good food. I got a chocolate shake after dinner. It was so good. 

We all loved Hoi An and are sad to leave. 
Next place we went to was Mui Ne. We went there specifically for my dad and Annie to kite surf. But Annie had a broken rib, so that was not going to happen. In the end, my dad did not go. That was the main reason to come to Mui Ne though. It was really boring over the next few days, mostly spent at the pool or at the beach, watching the kite surfers. 

One of the things we did there (Well, actually the only thing we did) was go to the sand dunes. We rented a driver for the day, and he took us to the white dunes and the red dunes. We first went to the white ones that were humongous!!! It was crazy! My dad went to the highest one while me, my mom and Anneka stayed at the smaller one. My and Anneka were running down one pf the hills and then climbing back up. 

Anneka in the wind. (She refuses to put her hair up)

Us walking in the desert

Climbing up the dunes

Me jumping into the sand

The only problem with the dunes was that it was scorching hot! We were all sweating buckets! It was so gross! Next we went to the red dunes. They were awful. The hills were tiny compared to the white dunes. We were at the white dunes for about 1 - 2 hours, we were at the red ones for 30 minutes. 

The red dunes

Us on the red dunes

We then rode the jeep back to the hotel. Overall I did not like Mui Ne. 

Next place we went was our last place in Vietnam. It was the city Ho Chi Minh. It was a big metropolitan city. Sadly, Annie would be leaving us and going back home. We miss you Annie!!! We were staying at a big apartment on the 28th floor. You can imagine the view. 

This is what we saw every night!

The first day we were there, we toured the city. We first went to a big church. It was really beautiful.

The church

Next we went to the old post office. It was really cool. It was built in the 18th century and is still running. 

The postoffice

We then walked to the Saigon Skytower. it is the tallest tower in Ho Chi Minh. 

The tower

Of course we went up to the observation deck and the view was amazing. I am a little scared of heights so I was pretty freaked out. I was ready to go down after about 1 minute. 

The view

After we came down, we went to a cafe and had some peach tea and a slice of carrot cake. It was so good!!! There was a big fountain that was turning on and off. Anneka and my dad ran through it, but me and my mom stayed out. 

The fountain

After walking around some more and walking through the market, we went back to the apartment. We hung out at the pool basically for the rest of the day. We did not do much for the rest of our time there. Just walked around and swam in the pool. We went to the park across the street and there was a giant playground. Me and Anneka were playing tag the whole time. That was it for Ho Chi Minh, though. And our last stop in Vietnam. 

Next stop THAILAND (again)