kaleidoscopic kate: A Viet Nam Visit: Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi

every year each april, cambodia celebrates khmer new year. while the holiday is officially only three days long, schools close for a duration much longer than that as everyone travels to their homeland to spend time with loved ones.

topher and i decided to take advantage of that time to spend time with our loved ones in cambodia- namely, each other.

a large group of volunteers in cambodia chose to visit vietnam during the break, but somehow each travel group managed to visit different cities at different times, and there was minimal random run-ins, which it's safe to say, surprised us all!

Vietnamese Dong

i'm officially a big fan of vietnam. beyond the delicious food like pho, spring rolls and crispy noodles, the weather in central and northern vietnam was gorgeous, and traveling around the country via train was a wonderful way to see the beautiful coastline.

chowing down on vietnamese food and beer at the night market in HCMC

chris and i started our trip down south, bussing it to ho chi minh city (or, saigon) and spending two great days bumming around with some fellow volunteers.

we spent the first full day visiting the near by cu chi tunnels, used by the vietcong to evade the american enemy during the american war.

tiger booby trap at the tunnels

an opening to the tunnels

i may look happy but i was actually disgusted by the sound of machine gun fire that littered our visit, as part of the experience can be to purchase rounds to fire them off, just as they did during the war. tourism at it's best, that is.

we even had the chance to walk 500 meters through one of the tunnels, widened for tourist use. i made it 100 yards, and chris went all the way!

while in ho chi minh, we got our first taste of subway in over nine months, enjoyed some delicious vietnamese and indian food, and even found cheap, familiar beer. i even enjoyed a personal pan pizza all by myself for lunch before we departed via plane to hanoi.

indian food where instead of lessening the heat, the chef accidentally added even more chillis. awesome.

chris: "beer with taste and then cheap american beer!"

kate: "i can drink my cheap heineken while eating a kit kat, yes i can!"

personal pan pizza and fountain coke. my personal version of heaven.

in hanoi, we spent three days enjoying chilly weather, gorging on pho, and downing as much bia hoi as we could.

crispy beef noodles.

crispy, delicious spring rolls

bia hoi

bia hoi is daily, freshly brewed light pilsner beer that small restaurants and stands sell beginning in the early evening and late into the night (as long as it lasts) for very, very cheap.