We loved our trip last winter to SE Asia so much that we decided to do it all over again! The plan is to see things we missed & hoping to add new locations. Again this is all self organized, using Airbnb & Agoda for accommodation, itinerary mostly made up as we go.
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| Carry on luggage only with daypacks |
Our summer at home in Alberta was spent in our motorhome in a campground near Edmonton, no markets, minimal crafting but lots of time spent with our family. It was strange to not be doing markets & tradeshows, but it was actually a nice break. We got to celebrate birthdays with 2 of our grandkids, as well as some great family visits. My brother Olav & my sister-in-law May even surprised us with a visit from Norway!
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| Our campground site |
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| Adam & Emma |
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| Ty’s birthday |
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| Emma |
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| Shane, Sara, Rosemary |
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| Scott |
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| Rosemary’s birthday |
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| May, Olav, Karen, Robin |
October 18, 2025 we put our motorhome in storage & October 19 we began a 30 hour journey - Air Canada flight Edmonton to Vancouver, time in the premium lounge, China Airlines flight to Taipei, Taiwan then on to Hanoi, Vietnam. We arrived October 21, let the fun begin!
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| Vancouver premium lounge food |
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| Pretty tasty, 2 full meals, middle of the night! |
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| Arriving in Hanoi |
Being budget minded we opted for the public bus to get into the city, quite acceptable except we accidentally left our compact camera with the 40x zoom on the bus. Our Airbnb host was very helpful in contacting the bus company hoping some kind soul had turned it in, but unfortunately not. We were able to find the same camera, definitely more expensive than back home, but just part of the experience.
We had booked an apartment on Airbnb for 2 weeks & it is lovely! We are in the same area as last year, close to a large park & more restaurants than we could visit. And the food - so good & so well priced!
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| 7th floor |
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| Jetted tub & fancy bidet toilet! |
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| Home for 2 weeks |
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| View from the tiny balcony |
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| Tasty restaurant a block away! |
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| Bun Cha - grilled pork, rice noodles, greens, crab spring rolls |
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| Crazy big dragon fruit |
We headed down to the Old Quarter for some people watching, beers & more food.
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| Typical buildings |
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| Hoan Kiem Lake |
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| Bahn Cuon - steamed rice rolls with pork |
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| Literally sitting on the street at Zo 26 |
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| Halloween decor |
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| Anything & everything for sale on bicycles |
The large park with a lake, Thong Nhat Park, nearby is my spot for my morning run/walk - about 5 minutes from the apartment. We are trying to stay in shape so morning exercise & lots of steps.
We booked a food tour in the Old Quarter, luckily we started off good & hungry because we had 6 stops, 4 food dishes, egg coffee & a dessert! We had a great host who walked us back & forth thru the narrow streets to her favourite places over a 3 hour period. And just 4 guests which was perfect as most of the places were tiny.
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| Seen along the way - given as offerings at weddings |
We spent an afternoon at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology - learning about the 54 ethnic minorities that make up Vietnam. Beautiful traditional clothing & tapestries, an outdoor garden with full size traditional houses, maps where people came from & where they settled, farming & handcrafting displays. And to make the day even more fun there were huge groups of school kids there, many wanting to say hello & exchange fist bumps & hi 5’s.
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| Conical hat making |
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| Actual bicycle used to deliver baskets |
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| Shrine to ancestors, found in many homes & businesses |
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| Traditional stilt house |
More time wandering in the Old Quarter area - checked out the night market, more beers at Zo 26, getting up close to a working train on Train Street, meeting folks from all over the world, of course more food & a visit to the Ngoc Son Temple on an island in Hoan Kiem Lake.
This year we are using Grab (like Uber) to get to & from the Old Quarter instead of tiring ourselves out walking 30 minutes just to get there. A typical ride costs $2-$5.
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| Meats on sticks |
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| Dong Xuan market |
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| Market, just about anything for sale |
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| Beer Street |
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| Waiting for the train |
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| Ngoc Son Temple |
Unfortunately there have been several typhoons hit Vietnam this season, luckily we have not been affected but seeing the devastation online was shocking. Here are a few photos.
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| The city of Hue in central Vietnam, the Citadel, totally flooded |
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| Hoi An, ancient town, totally flooded |
We have been lucky with the weather here, temperatures in the high 20’s, cloudy but warm. Now we are having rain, still out running in the park (almost had it to myself), enjoying just relaxing in the apartment watching Netflix & catching up on Facebook & doing the blog. We can’t believe that we have over 5 months left to explore, eat & meet interesting folk. Definitely “Living the Dream”!
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| Gray, rainy day |
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| Motorbikes with rain ponchos |
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| Having pho - not a favourite |
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| Bahn mi |
Love the photos, enjoy
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