Category: Vietnam

Making the Most of Our Final Days in Vietnam

On By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Vietnam2 Comments

As our trip to Hanoi, Vietnam came to a close, we took several tours that took us to the countryside outside of Hanoi. We even did an overnight tour of Halong Bay with its amazing scenery. Each of the tours was special in its own way and we’ll detail them in full once we return home. We look forward to describing each of the tours once we return home, but here a few photographs to provide a slight glimpse into the beauty that this country has to offer.

Many Ships in Halong Bay
Pagoda Building in the Perfume Pagoda Complex
Going Through a Cave in Ninh Binh
Amazing Views on Halong Bay
Inside the Cave of Perfume Pagoda
View of the Mountains of Ninh Binh Provence
Unique Rock Formations on Halong Bay
Enjoying a Boat Ride near Perfume Pagoda
River with the Three Caves of Tam Coc in Ninh Binh

 

Enjoying Our First Few Days in Hanoi, Vietnam

On By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Vietnam4 Comments

It has been a hectic and yet satisfying start to our trip to Vietnam and Laos. We have only scratched the surface of all that we will see, but it is already an amazing experience. Until we get home and have time to provide all of the details, a few pictures of our first couple of days will have to do. We will do our best to share more over the coming days.

Inside of the Temple of Literature
Egg Coffee
Temple on Sword Lake
Saint Joseph’s Cathedral
Enjoying Our First Full Day
Entrance to the Temple on Sword

 

General Itinerary for Our Vietnam/Laos Trip

On By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Hong Kong, Laos, Vietnam5 Comments

We are one day away from heading to the airport to depart for Vietnam. We have several tours scheduled in order to maximize our time, but also have some time to explore on our own. Needless to say, we are really looking forward to our experiences. It will be a busy trip, but we are looking forward to seeing as much as possible. Here is a brief outline of what we’ll be doing over the next couple of weeks.

  1.  Hong Kong Tour – We purposely chose a long layover in Hong Kong and have lined up a 6 hour tour to explore the city. We fly from Hong Kong to Hanoi in the early evening after our tour.
  2.  After spending the night in Hanoi, we will have a full day to ourselves to explore the Old Quarter and Sword Lake. There will certainly be plenty of opportunities to enjoy different types of street food and restaurants.
  3.  We have the first part of the day to continue to explore Hanoi on our own, but meet a chef in the afternoon where we’ll go to a local market to pick up ingredients and then learn to cook an authentic 5 course Vietnamese meal.
  4.  The following day, we fly from Hanoi to Vientiane, Laos where we have an Airbnb. After getting settled, a guide will pick us up to take us to the famous Buddha Park.
  5.  After a good night sleep, we will have a guided tour of Vientiane and see a variety of temples and other famous sites.
  6.  Our flight back to Hanoi doesn’t leave until the evening on the next day, so we will have a pretty full day to explore Vientiane on our own and make sure that we experience as much of the food and culture as we can.
  7.  Having arrived back in Hanoi, things get even busier for our next four days. First we will do a Hao Lu – Tam Coc – Mua Cave Tour. This is a full day tour that features temples, bicycling through the countryside, taking a sampan on the Ngo Dong river, and visiting 3 different caves and seeing panoramic views of the countryside.
  8.  The next day we will travel four hours to the marina of Ha Long Bay where we will embark on a two day cruise that features amazing views of the islands as well as exploring more caves in the bay.
  9.  After two days exploring Ha Long Bay, we do our final tour in Vietnam and visit Perfume Pagoda. We’ll take another boat ride on a river and see the unique pagoda that is actually inside of a cave.
  10.  Finally, we start our return trip where we again have a long layover in Hong Kong and will be spending the night there before finally getting on our long flight back to the United States.

It should be an amazing trip, but as busy as we’ll be our opportunities to post will be limited. We look forward to sharing all of our experiences upon our return.