Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City, the Mekong Delta, and Hoi An

We began our time in Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), a city with 8 million people and 4.5 million moto-bikes which, at times, it seemed must all have be on the road at once! While we were at first overwhelmed with the prospect of crossing the streets amidst all the motos, we soon mastered (almost) the art of walking directly out into a street with motos and cars speeding by. Our quickly-adopted theory of "follow the locals" also helped, although we undoubtedly unnerved a few of the people that we hovered behind to get across the larger intersections.

We spent most of our time in Ho Chi Minh City just walking around - past many of the historical attractions, such as the Reunification Palace, but also exploring neighborhoods off the beaten tourist track. We really loved the city and all its activity and energy, and we also found some amazing Vietnamese cuisine in our wanderings.

As part of our time in Ho Chi Minh City, we visited the War Remnants Museum, a reflection on the Vietnam War (known as the American War here) that is fairly one-sided and obviously from a different side than we as Americans normally experience. Sides aside, the museum shows the horrors of war for everyone involved. We were left wondering if our own kids will someday be visiting a similar museum in Iraq.

From Ho Chi Minh City, we set out on a two-day tour of the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. Previously not knowing that the Mekong Delta is one of the most populated regions of Vietnam, we had expected to see only rural river life. Instead, we saw how, in many places, city life coexists with traditional ways of life like rice farming and floating markets. We also saw how much the river is a part of people's daily lives, from transportation to a food source to a place for tasks like washing clothes.

Now we are in Hoi An, a lovely town alongside the vast stretch of beach that comprises Vietnam's eastern coast. We have very much enjoyed a few days of relaxing in the sunshine and wandering around the charming old town area of Hoi An. Today we biked out of town and into some of the smaller villages nearby. We got a few surprised looks when we pedaled through neigborhoods that don't get many tourist visitors but almost all of the kids shouted an enthusiastic "Hello," to which we responded with a butchered "Xin Chao."

Tet, the major Vietnamese holiday, is on the 17th of February, and so there is an extra sense of excitement right now in each place we have visited. Tet is like New Year's and 4th of July all rolled into one, along with the celebration of every single Vietnamese birthday! (We've also noticed many signs reading, "Merry Christmas & Happy New Year," but we think that is more likely attributed to the bargain costs of acquiring Western holiday paraphanalia in January than to anything else.) So, needless to say, people are gearing up for their celebrations, and it's a fun time to be here.

Chuc Mung Nam Moi! (Happy New Year!) Enjoy the pictures below.

Sarah doing her best "Old Hollywood" pose in front of Ho Chi Minh City's Reunification Palace.

On a canoe trip down a side canal on the Mekong River. Sarah wore her borrowed hat very well, don't you think?

Boats big and small ply the Mekong river buying goods from farmers and co-ops and bring them to the Cai Rai floating market near Can Tho to sell to everyone from restaurants to wholesalers. There are literally hundreds of boats tied up to each other selling everything imaginable.

Gus gets schooled by the Mekong Delta's top foosball team.


The view from our hotel in Hoi An. Rice paddies one direction, fish farms the other, and the beach right down the road.

There is no doubt that Vietnam is an amazing vacation spot. All you need to do is look down the 60 mile long beach from Danang south (we're taking this from Hoi An), to see why.


A little afternoon bike ride outside of Hoi An took us through palm swamps where locals were raising fish and cutting fronds for thatching. We interrupted a Vietnamese couple trying to get some time away for this photo. We doubt they were too happy.