Raising Flowers and Skids

Hanoi

Posted on April 5, 2017 by Leah

We slept in a bit and got all our stuff organized so we could check the kids out of their rooms. We had our last breakfast:

Our guide picked us up and we spent the day exploring Hanoi:

First, we went to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.

We couldn’t go in as it was closed, but we walked the grounds and still got to see the other buildings (his homes, the house on stilts, the government building).

We then went to “One Pillar Pagoda”.

After that, we headed to the “temple of literature”.

There was a high school graduation happening!

We took a break and had some yummy drinks at a local coffee shop – Hanoi has a ton of these shops! Not sure where my pics are though…

After a quick break, we headed to Ho Loa prison (Hilton hotel prison), where it was interesting to see the perspectives (as well as the propoganda). It is always great to talk to the kids about history and learn more.

A little brotherly play:

Finally, we headed to the West Lake Pagoda. I think that was my favourite. So beautiful!

Turtles are considered to be very sacred offerings:

Getting a little tired!:

Our final pictures:

Our guide dropped us off at the hotel and we wanted to head out to try some famous Vietnamese sandwiches (Banh Mi). We asked for directions from front desk, but she said we would get lost – so ordered them for us from a local place (Banh Mi 25). They were awesome! (Porc and chicken).

The kids hung out in the room, all cozied up in our bed and watched movies on tv. Rob had I had a hot stone massage (kids opted for no massages; traumatized by the differences from Western massages experienced in Siem Reap!) Their loss! It was really amazing!

We decided to have dinner again at the top floor restaurant of our hotel. Ashamed to say we were all craving Western food and had burgers (although a few of us had Pho to start!).

After dinner, we bid farewell, and headed to the airport for our 12:30am flight. Zach set a timer from door to door and it took us: 25 hours and 47 minutes.

Wowzer.

Back to reality, forever changed by our travels.

Halong Bay to Hanoi

Posted on April 2, 2017 by Leah

The next morning we were up bright and early at 6:15 and up on deck to do some tai chi.

We then had a light breakfast before heading off to explore “Surprise Cave”. There were about 500 stairs to climb – but the caves were worth it!

We went back to the boat to get ready and then had a nice brunch.

The boys continued their chess and Zandra and I relaxed!

We checked out and were collected back by our driver for the long drive back to Hanoi.

When we arrived at our hotel, they had upgraded our room to a suite (knowing we would need to keep a room for late check out due to a late night flight the next day). So nice of them. Awesome hotel (Siesta Diamond).

We had a guide meet us in the late afternoon for a street food tour. The hustle and bustle of Hanoi was incredible. Crossing the street, weaving through traffic was quite an experience! We really had to stick close to our guide, but getting all 6 across was no easy task!

Our guide took us to some really local places. We had actually tasted many of the things already as we really had been trying to eat local specialties the whole way (except for our Italian Cambodian meals!). But it was an experience sitting with the locals in the teeny plastic chairs and tables on the sidewalk!

Zach also wanted to find a pin for his collection. We had to hunt for that! But eventually found it!

We headed back to the hotel after the tour and every headed to bed early. One more day….

Halong Bay

Posted on March 30, 2017 by Leah

I was especially looking forward to Halong Bay so was concerned that the forecast was calling for thunder and lightning storms. Our driver was to pick us up early for the 4 hour drive, so I didn’t want to drive and arrive and find out our tour was cancelled.

We hoped for the best and drove through little towns and villages. Such a different life.

We arrived a bit early and had to wait around. No wifi was available either!! So, we played some cards.

We boarded our private junk boat and were impressed with the cabins and space to ourselves!

We had to take a 30 sec boat ride to board our junk boat:

We got some information about where we were heading:

They served us lunch, and we spent most time on deck, oohing and ahhing at the beauty! It was cloudy, but it was pretty magical too with all the mist:

The boys found some chess sets and that became a highlight.

It was pure relaxation and soaking in nature:

We made our way to some caves (light and dark caves) and set out on some kayaks. Our guide told us to leave the cameras behind because they would get wet. I was so so bummed (and I really would have been fine with my camera). Especially since the kayaking was one of my favourite parts of the trip! I guess I’ll just have to hold it all in my memory. Sam and Josh paired up and were pretty speedy and smooth sailing leading the way. It was so cute to see how quick and in sync they were. They are a good little pair, full of adventure and enthusiasm for anything sporty. Rob and Zandra were in another kayak. Zach and I held up the rear most of the time, talking and soaking up the scenery and appreciating the moment. Zach is pretty good at appreciating beauty and often points it out to me.

At one point our three kayaks went through a cave and emerged on the other side to a little bay. It was just us. We could hear ourselves echo, and then we all stayed silent for a few minutes and just listened to nature. My heart definitely took a picture then. Thin moment.

We continued to kayak a bit and then the little boys wanted to go for a quick swim. It was pretty misty and cool, but they really wanted to!

We headed back to our boat and then continued on to a pearl farm, where we saw how pearls are made. I bought a small pearly pendant to remind me of this trip forever:)

Back at the boat we were able to just lounge and relax. The boys played more chess and Zandra and I read.

Our butler then showed us how to make spring rolls.

It was drizzling, so chess moved indoors a bit:

We had a nice dinner (including the spring rolls) consisting of fish soup, spring rolls, shrimp, squid and oysters. We had good chuckles at Zach’s description of what oysters taste like….

We did a lot of squid fishing off the side of the boat (but caught nothing).

By then it was raining, thundering and lightning. We all piled in our room and played cards until bed. Ah, the perks of no wifi.

What an incredible day. One of my favourites…..

In between days

Posted on March 26, 2017 by Leah

I knew we were doing a lot of tiring things on this trip, so we decide to work in a couple of down days in Hoian.

I’m so glad we did!

The first day, we headed to the beach in the morning and the kids went into the not-so-warm South China Sea.

They decided it was too rough and too cold so off to the pool they went.

The kids always come up with some great pool games!

But also enjoy getting some drinks and lounging:

Some get a little sunned out and head off on their own:

The kids also played some ping pong (with Rob).

We all went to relax in our rooms and then headed out to dinner.

(Our hotel ^^^)

We found a great little restaurant called CaoCao Grasshopper close by (who also did our laundry) and had a good meal.

Rob and I headed back out to Hoian while the kids went to bed early.

The next day we had the last of the amazing breakfasts and headed into Hoian again. We wandered the streets and shopped for souvenirs and picked up Rob’s suit:

It was so hot, that when we stopped to go into an ATM machine, we all wanted to go in because it was air conditioned (but it was tiny!)

We headed back to relax a bit in our room, and the sadly had to say goodbye to our beautiful view:

We headed to the airport and then flew to Hanoi. Everyone was exhausted!

We arrived to a cooler, rainier city:(

Our driver ended up dropping us off at the wrong hotel (a sister hotel) and that was a bit of a fiasco! They couldn’t find a taxi to take us all to the right hotel so Rob and Josh walked over in the rain while a couple of guys took our bags over on scooters!

We settled in and then went for dinner at the hotel’s restaurant (it is supposed to be excellent and no one wanted to venture out into the rain). It was a decent meal.

Bed earlyish in preparation for heading to Halong Bay!

Exploring Hoi An

Posted on March 26, 2017 by Leah

We flew into Da Nang and immediately transferred to Hoi An.

We slept in a teeny bit before heading to our buffet breakfast (so nice that it’s always included). It was delicious!

Our guide, Lee, met us in the lobby and had brought bikes for us all to ride. He also had helmets and I think was surprised when I said we would use them!

I was about concerned about riding bikes but he had assured me that it was quiet where we rode.

And it was. In most areas. But there were some interesting moments too! Of course the really hairy ones I couldn’t capture as I needed to concentrate on not crashing!

He took is through side paths, between rice fields and then to a couple little villages.

We continued on (in the heat) to get to our final destination: the lake:

There, we stopped to rest and then he paired us up to go into “coracles”- these little round baskets that looked so easy to tip!

Each basket had a little driver who brought us through some swamp land (which apparently was where the North Vietnamese had hid out during the war).

We searched for crab, spun around, and then eventually came to some fishing boats where the boys got their try with casting the nets.

We made our way back and had the most fabulous lunch ever. We didn’t order, they just brought food. Love this kind of meal! We had spring rolls, shrimp mango salad, Calamari, shrimp, pancakes (specialty of the area) wraps and a type of curry and rice. Best meal so far!

After lunch we took a boat ride from e little village into old Hoian.

Our tour guide then showed us around the city, which is really very cute. But we were melting!

The famous Japanese covered bridge

We stopped in a store where silk is made and saw the process from start to finish… Of course it finishes up in a store.

Hoian is known for their tailoring and Rob decided to be adventurous and had a suit made! The boys got ties, and Zandra got a kimona. Great souvenirs from our awesome trip!

We headed back to our hotel where we needed to cool down and rest! Some of us explored the beach a bit and dipped our toes in the South China Sea!

A few hours later, we went back to Hoian. Our guide found us a boat that would take us into the water where we could light the lanterns, make a wish and send them floating down the river. It was so pretty!

After our little boat ride, we were zonked. We all decided to skip dinner even! Good thing too, because the whole little town lost its power! I had heard that was common, but it was a little eerie. We made our In the dark to where we thought the hotel shuttle picked up, but it didn’t. We finally found a cab and headed back to the hotel.

A truly amazing day!

A day in the life at Kompheim Village

Posted on March 23, 2017 by Leah

We headed back to our hotel for our final breakfast in Siem Reap.

To take a break from the temples and learn about the culture of the Cambodian people we decided to try something a bit different. The travel agent we booked with had recommended a program run by an organization called Husk. It’s a way that we could learn as well as help in a tiny, responsible way.
Here’s what they say on their website www.Huskcambodia.org:

“The Day in a Life Tour has been created in conjunction with Beyond Unique Escapes. It allows you to experience life in a Cambodian village. Learn about the local people, their customs and culture. Work with a host family and help them on a specific project. Enjoyed a guided tour of the village and a delicious hot Cambodian lunch.”

And that’s exactly what we did.

First, we met our guide Lee, who explained to us what life was like in the village and took us on a tour of the monastery where the children go to school. He talked about the poverty in the country and how many children are unable to go to school because their parents can’t afford their uniform, or the bike required to travel to school. Many children are sent to become “novice monks”, as their parents can’t afford them, but want their kids to get an education. That is exactly what happened to our guide Lee. His education allowed him then to break out of the poverty cycle.

We then travelled by Oxcart to one of our host families. How it works is we pay for the private tour, and then the money we pay gets divided up to help multiple families. So, 3 families were paid $4US to take us on the 20 min ride through the village. They are happy to do this work, since they would only be getting $2-2.50US per whole day in the rice field. Then the host family is paid to have us come help them with a chore or project. Another family is paid to allow us to use their bathroom (which we all passed on!). Another one to cook us lunch etc…. All in all, a family gets a few days of pay to “host” you.

This first family we met wanted us to help build panels from bamboo to help extend the roof of their house for shade. It is wicked hot in the sun. The mother is 8 months pregnant and needs to build 400 panels. She showed us how to do them, and then we each were able to do 3 each in the time we were there. Not much help, but a little.

She then showed us her humble home. Eye opening for the kids (and me) to see. These are the homes Husk builds for them.

Their water purification system:

Bathroom:

Homes for these families have all been provided by the HUSK organization. They take care of about 80 families from what I understood. They use water bottles to help build – water bottles filled with garbage, actually.

Cambodia has a terrible problem with garbage. So, they encourage the people to fill the water bottles with garbage and these get used to help build the walls of their buildings. Each family can earn “points” to be traded for supplies for bringing in water bottles.

We walked through the village – in the blazing heat- as we learned through seeing what the village is like. We met a couple of other families and heard about the challenges with lack of education and the poverty cycle which is difficult to break.

We then arrived at a hut where a family was cooking our lunch. All the food and cooking supplies are brought in by HUSK – for sanitary reason, and to cover the cost. The family gets paid to cook for us. We helped a little chopping some veggies and pounding into paste. We then had an incredible meal of fish cakes and curry. By far, the best meal in Cambodia!

We finally continued on our way and stopped at the private school run by HUSK where the children, who would ordinarily not be able to learn English due to no money for education (and public system is limited) are taught. Learning English is one of the only chances people have to get out of the poverty cycle – they can get involved in tourism and start to earn a better wage.

It was pretty sweet to hear the kids counting in English and singing cute songs.

We continued trekking and ended up finishing our tour a bit earlier than anticipated. We were completely dying of heat and exhausted. It was a great day, definitely worthwhile. It was very sobering, and hopefully changed something in each of us. It definitely made me want to give more to this great organization and spread the word!

The plan was to head to the airport directly, but since we finished early, our guide, Happy, arranged for us to get a couple of rooms at a guesthouse. We rested up and they then took us to the airport:

We were all completely exhausted after being in the heat all day and everyone crashed on the short flight to Da Nang, Vietnam. Rob and I talked about how we felt guilty and could not stop thinking about how we were on a plane heading to a new destination, great hotel, completely taken care of, while those families were still in the heat, lying in their one rooms with the hard mats. It just really isn’t fair. We are so so so blessed.

We arrived in Vietnam and laughed so hard at the sign to greet us:

Could it be any more priceless!?

We checked in to our hotel and checked out the closets and found some attire:

Pure awesome.

We crawled into bed and with prayers of gratitude, fell asleep.

Another Sunrise at Angkor Wat

Posted on March 22, 2017 by Leah

We were determined to get to the top of the Angkhor Wat temple. So, we woke up at 5:30 AM and went again via Tuk Tuk. The crowds were still there:

Waiting to get in:

Once in, we ended up being the first people in line to get to the top of the temple.

We explored on the main levels while some waited in line:

We climbed to the top and got some amazing views of the sunrise. Definitely worth getting up early for.

Back to the front:

Amazing.

Tonle Sap Lake and Fish Pedicures!

Posted on March 20, 2017 by Leah

After a long day of visiting temples, and a short rest, we headed out to Tonle Sap Lake to view the sunset, and visit a floating village (Kampong Phluk Village).

Just driving there was eye opening as you saw so much poverty. And other interesting things:

Then the village on the lake is a whole other level.

We headed out on boat:

As we travelled down the lake, there was quite a lot to see:

We stopped at a floating restaurant, more to take in the surrounding area:

There was a Chinese couple that had a drone that we watched:

We headed back and our guide dropped us off for dinner.

It was pretty funny that we all felt like Italian again. I guess we aren’t used to all the Asian flavours and craved some more comfort:

But we quickly stepped out of our comfort zones and got “fish pedicures”.

At first I was the only one who wanted one, but then everyone joined in. Soon we were all laughing hysterically. It sort of pinches and tickles!

It was another awesome day.

Other temple visits

Posted on March 19, 2017 by Leah

Once we met up with Happy, we set out.

First stop: Ta Prohm, which was a beautiful temple in the jungle where the trees dominate. I took a ton of pictures, combined then with what Zach was taking, and Rob! But, on a trip like this, you can’t take too many pictures!

We then headed to headed to two other temples.

The first one, we were able to climb, Pre Rup:

We continued along our way, enjoying the signs of every day life:

Next, was Preach Khan:

Our guide picked up the resident cat… we weren’t so sure about it, but the cat didn’t seem to mind:

Our last temple was Banteay Srei (and yes, we were exhausted!).

We had lunch at the temple but were really overcome with the heat!

These signs were everywhere over the toilets:

Pretty funny!

We headed back to the hotel and everyone just chilled for a couple of hours.

Sunrise at Angkor Wat

Posted on March 19, 2017 by Leah

You can’t go to Angkor Wat and not go for the famous sunrise.

Of course, you can’t go alone either.

Hundreds go end up going too, so we arranged for two tuk tuk’s to pick us up at 5:00am to try to get there early.

We arrived and got “second row standing” – not so bad.

It was pretty crazy how everyone takes every inch of space and is sort of pushing and wedging their way in there. We tried to stand our ground, and got some great pics. (Sorry if they all look the same! But which ones to choose?!?!)