We just returned home after spending six weeks in Vietnam and Japan. People asked, “Which country did you like better?” It’s impossible to answer because it is like having two children who are very different. Both kids share qualities like being kind, polite and respectful but their personalities couldn’t be more different. One wears bright colours and believes rules are meant to be broken. They are loud, are the life of the party and they always ensure guests are offered delicious refreshments. The other is quiet, excels at school, likes structure where rules are followed, and their closet is full of monochromatic well pressed clothes.
We started off in Hanoi, and stayed in the Old Quarter. It was baptism by fire as the traffic is chaotic and walking onto a road with the hope cars and scooters really would weave around us took a leap of faith. As the days went on, we got into the rhythm and fell in love with the colours, the energy and the people.
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First day in the middle of the Old Quarter
and feeling the absolute wonder of it all. |
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| This was amazing. A row of about 20 gentlemen who bring their birds to this park each morning. The birds learn new songs and the men chat amongst friends. The sound of the birds was beautiful. |
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| The first of many pagodas |
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The Halflington in Hanoi is the coolest bar we’ve been to.
Named one of the Top 50 bars in Asia in 2024 and 2025. |
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Train Street — you have to see it to believe it. One minute you’re sipping a
coffee, and the next, tables are flattened and you’re told to turn sideways
as a train whizzes by mere inches from you. |
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| Holy moly. |
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I felt like a scientist and had a great time taking a perfume making workshop.
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One of the first (of several) interactions with school children
who wanted to practice their English with us. One question we often got asked,
“How old are you?” |
After a few days in Hanoi, we travelled east to Halong Bay where we took a two night cruise aboard a boat that only had 20 cabins. With wall to wall windows, we could easily watch the stunning views of Halong Bay and Lan Ha Bay. While we were happy to laze around the boat, we did take a neat tour where we got on a smaller row boat for a trip through caves.
Back in Hanoi, we met up with friends Nev and Jane who we met while living in Alice Springs, Australia in 2013. Since then, we had only seen each other for a couple of hours while they were in Vancouver several years ago. The way we all reconnected made us feel like we had been neighbours for years.
The next day we were driven two hours south to Nimh Binh. Our nephew and his fiancé told us last year it had to be on our itinerary, and we’re glad we listened to them. The area was quiet, and had a peaceful vibe to it. Over the next three days we toured pagodas, the boys rented e-bikes for the day, and we went on a three hour boat trip through a series of caves and pagoda lined waterways. Nev and Jane then flew to Ho Chi Minh City, and we continued exploring on our own.
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| Our hotel’s main building and we were in smaller cottages around the lake. |
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| On the boat at Trang An with Nev and Jane |
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| Our rower was lovely and although she didn’t speak English, we managed to communicate. |
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| The caves were endless and simply breathtaking. |
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My face was a mix of terror and joy.
We were sitting precariously on an ancient narrow ledge with a very long drop! |
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| What a great friend to have! |
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I was so glad when Nev said he wanted to bike with Roger.
Roger really wanted to do it, and I was afraid I’d end up in a rice paddy if I went with him!
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After Nev and Jane left, we visited the Bai Dinh Pagoda, one of the largest Buddhist temples in Vietnam. It spans nearly 800 hectares and was built about 20 years ago.
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| Each temple was spectacular. |
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| Gold is everywhere. |
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| A stunning walk back to our hotel at the end of the day. |
We took the night train in a private cabin to Hoi An, and it was a fun experience (although after about 13 hours we were ready to get off and have a shower!). We loved the view when we woke up and saw the beautiful countryside give way to a rugged coastline.
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| Our train rounding a corner |
We loved Hoi An, also known as the city of lanterns. It was colourful, had great coffee shops and it was fun to walk around.
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To honour Roger’s brother, Colin who passed away in November,
we lit these lanterns and set them in the water. It was very meaningful to us
and such a beautiful experience. |
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| Our boat driver who helped make our trip so memorable. |
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| At night the river is lit up with colourful boats. |
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| View from the Market Bar |
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At the Market Bar, I had gin and tonic with mango and cucumber —
A new cocktail but one worth repeating! |
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Roger found the best cafes. He found this one by Googling “best cafes down a back alley.”
The Hoi An Coffee Hub looked like it could be a movie set, and it was our favourite. |
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Taking a coconut boat tour should be filed under “if you’re here, you should do it.”
It is very touristy, but honestly, it was hilarious. There was even a karaoke boat in the middle of a lake and Korean tourists were jumping on it and belting out tunes.
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After Hoi An, we flew to Ho Chi Minh City just as the Vietnamese lunar new year (TET) was getting into full gear. During our four days there, we took a tour of the Cu Chi Tunnels, and walked around to experience the colourful TET celebrations.
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The cave system of the Cu Chi tunnels were impressive to say the least. Three levels
that housed special areas for women and children, cooking, a hospital, military headquarters and much more. The caves were designed to ensure smoke and food smells didn’t escape, and fresh air was let in. |
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Entering the cave. I was laughing but admit to being worried I’d get lost in the maze.
The stairs were steep, narrow and there was nothing to hang on to. Glad I did
it, but I was glad when I got out! |
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| Roger and his two new knees went down two of the caves and did well! |
After Ho Chi Minh, we took a high speed ferry to the resort town of Vung Tau. With the TET holiday, many Vietnamese families were spending the holidays together and it was great to see multigenerational families having fun. Our hotel was beautiful, we ate delicious seafood, and met interesting people.
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| View from our hotel balcony |
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| Our hotel lit up at night, and the ever present scooters! |
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It was so hot, I started drinking beer with ice cubes.
Very refreshing, and apparently a common thing to do in Asia! |
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We were having coffee one morning and two young brothers (the younger one is
sitting out of sight by the grandmother) came up and asked if they
could practice English with us. This happened before on our trip, and we
always enjoyed these interactions. After our chat, the boys returned to their mom
and grandmother. I walked over and gave them Canadian key chains
that I brought from home to give to people, and the kids loved them.
Although the grandmother had a mask on, I could clearly see how happy she was. |
Our original plan was to spend five days in Cambodia after our stay in Vung Tau. In December, the war between Thailand and Cambodia heated up again, so we decided to just return to Ho Chi Minh. While we still stayed in District 1, our new hotel was in a better area and we loved it. Nev and Jane had taken a half day tour of the city in a 1980 open air Russian jeep and recommended it to us. We had a fabulous and very informative time, with a 21 year old guide with encyclopedic knowledge of the city and the war.
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The skyline is beautiful and even more amazing knowing what
has been accomplished in just over 50 years. |
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| A beautiful 400 year old Chinese temple |
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| Spaghetti wires everywhere! |
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| The famous Saigon Post Office |
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| Inside the post office. |
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I heard music so ran in the direction of it just in time to see
these dragons entertaining the crowd. |
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Our waiter, Harry, knew our order and by the time we walked from the
elevator to our seats, he was on his way! |
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We went to the War Remnants Museum but chose not to see all the areas.
Roger and I are old enough to remember the fall of Saigon and
the rush of people to the helicopters and the gruesome reports of brutality. Some things
cannot be unseen, and after speaking to Vietnamese people during our stay it confirmed
to us there were no winners in the Vietnam war. |
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| The City Hall at night. |
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| Another “pinch myself moment”. |
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| Ho Chi Minh has a population with 14 million people with 9 million scooters. |
After 32 days in Vietnam, we flew to Osaka, Japan and then took a train to Kyoto where we stayed for five days. It was relaxing not to hear cars and scooters honking, to walk where traffic signals were obeyed and where the streets were narrow and quiet. There was definitely a Zen feel to the city, and a new adventure began.
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| The Kinkaku-ju (Golden Pavillion) was beautiful. |
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| Caught the mirror image of the trees. |
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| Arashiyama Bamboo Forest |
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| Fushimi Inari Shrine |
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| Samurai and Ninja Museum was really worth going to. |
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| Roger got a bullseye when throwing a plastic throwing star! |
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Having a delicious lunch at the Kyoto Nishiki Market. We basically ate
our way through it and loved ever bite (and sip). |
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| Sake tasting! |
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| More seafood! |
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Roger and I went our separate ways one day as we wanted to do different things.
I went to the Kyoto Team Lab Biovortex, a very high tech art museum. |
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| One of the rooms where crystals changed colour |
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| This room made me feel like I was walking in space! |
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Roger took a knife making class, which he loved doing. In two hours he took a piece of metal
and turned it into a knife by a lot of pounding, heat, more pounding, and grinding.
We are thrilled to hang on our wall of masks we’ve collected on our travels.
Our favourite souvenir! |
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| The finished product! |
From Kyoto, we took the Bullet Train to Tokyo. There we visited some of the iconic sites, ate amazing food, and got ready to fly home.
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The Shinkansen, better known as the Bullet Train. The average delay
for the whole Shinkansen train system is less than one minute per YEAR! |
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| The train travels at about 300 kph and is so smooth, you hardly feel it move. |
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| Mt Fuji was hiding amongst the clouds |
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Brad recommended this conveyor belt sushi restaurant. It was great fun ordering on a screen
and then have the dishes whiz up to you a few minutes later. |
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| There were a couple mystery dishes, but we enjoyed it all! |
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The famous Shibuya Crossing where up to 2500 people use
the crossing every two minutes! |
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| The iconic Godzilla! |
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| He found us! |
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| We had delicious ramen throughout our stay in Japan. This was no exception. |
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| Skyscrapers were incredible |
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| Such a super view for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building! |
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Husband Day Care. Gotta love it.
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Found this place by mistake, and we’re glad we did! We bbq’d
A5 Wagyu beef at our table and it was delicious! |
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| The stunning Torii gates at the Hie Shrine in Akasaka near where we stayed. |
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We were tired on our last day, so we took a cab to Yebisu Brewery.
We’ve never seen such a beautiful place to have a beer and sandwich!
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| A flight was definitely the way to go. |
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| Another happy customer. |
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While walking by our hotel, we both commented on what a beautiful sign this was.
We decided to try thr restaurant out on our last night.
For 6 weeks we had eaten like kings, but this meal was off the charts.
We had Wagyu beef, duck, scallops, asparagus and potatoes — all grilled in front of
us on dried grasses. We topped the meal off with crème brûlée. |
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| A perfect ending. |
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Heading home
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Our favourite way to understand a new place is to walk in it and talk to those who call it home. The architecture, food, drinks and customs tells the story of who came. Who stayed. Who left their mark. We don’t take a lot of organized tours, and our adage is always that “we can’t see it all.”
But after 6 weeks, 5 flights, 12 hotels, 4 ferries, 1 cruise, 3 trains, thousands upon thousands of steps and countless taxi rides we feel like we got a great taste of Vietnam, and a sampling of Japan. Every leg of the itinerary was different, there were incredibly no glitches or travel nightmares, and we just loved the whole experience. At times we felt like four year olds who didn’t know how to read and struggled to figure things out, but when we did it felt like a victory!
Both countries were very different, but like your children, you love them for who they are.
“Everyone smiles in the same language”
George Carlin
