From Hanoi upwards, and downwards, here’s a quick highilght reel of the last three weeks in Vietnam…

– Trekking to the H’mong villages in Sapa. Lucked out finding the clearest, bluest day to see the Vietnamese Alps on a slow trot down a hilly, undulated, irrigated, green mountainside dotted by rice fields, water buffalo and tribal peoples going about their business (trying to sell you things, non stop). Made a nice friend, Catherine, from Portland who is teaching Engilsh in Thailand for over a year.

– Chilling out in Bac Ha. Call it our mountain town retreat, only no spa, no amenities, and crisp hazy weather. A good place to recover our road weary bones (See Maya’s forthcoming post).

– Night bus from Bac Ha to Hanoi. So luxurious that we did more giggling than sleeping over the 10 hour journey.

– Cat Ba Island trekking and touring. A great base for us to explore Halong and Lan Ha Bays. A room with a stunning view out onto the harbour of what I’d call Vietnam’s Atlantic City. And a DIY tour to a national park where we hiked the hilltops to the peak (10 seconds of silent breathtaking views, then the touring hordes caught up), and saw the Hospital Cave where Vietnamese doctors and troops cured and trained during the war against the US. Fascinating construction, pure ingenuity.

– Hue, food, glorious food. Finally, the Vietnamese cuisine we’ve been dreaming of – delicious pho soups, crispy deep fried pancakes engulfed with rice paper, mint, all other means of greens, sprouts, minced pork, and chili, spring rolls that AREN’T deep fried. Also visitied the imperial citadel, strolled the grounds like latter-day royalty. Marvelled at how accessible the ground are (as in, step anywhere, jump everywhere, no staff will try to stop you, they’re all too busy playing tennis on the new court built inside UNESCO’s World Heritage Forbidden Purple City. Not to self: write letter to UNESCO about that).

– Hoi An, suits, glorious suits. So I needed four fittings, what can I say, I am particular. Maya got a lovely trenchcoat. We have eaten lunch and dinner at the same place many times over, Mrs. Chien, Chien menaing “fried”. Mr. Chien also helps. Spend the daytime lost on backroads on one gear bikes, and getting our skin deep fried in a matter of minutes on the Vietnamese beaches.