The Blonde Squad in Auz: SOUTHEAST ASIA

WARNING: This is a long post, you may want to skip to the pictures.

As we have chatted as a family about our international adventure, we have loved all of the wonderful, amazing and different travel experiences we have shared. Each of us often has a smile on our face as we reminisce about these spectacular opportunities. Some of the experiences have been comical, some have been gut wrenching, literally, some have been eyeopening and some have been life-changing.

As we begin to think about where we will be living in 2017 and our future, we wanted to make sure we have completed our bucket list for this part of the world. There were many in the family that still longed to see various parts of Southeast Asia. Tom and I felt these desires and thought with school holidays coming up in late September, it would be the perfect time to have one last hoorah. We planned the trip to last about 13 days and within that quick time we would visit Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand (for the second time). We had heard fantastic things about all three countries.

HANOI, VIETNAM

We began our time in Hanoi, Vietnam! Getting there was a long haul. Our travel agent (me) made a small error but, let's just say my girls have had their FIRST official sleep in the Bangkok airport and did not LOVE it. They hope to NEVER, EVER repeat this again. It was something to remember and will be comical one day.

I have digressed, we arrived in Hanoi at 8:30 am not bright eyed or bushy tailed. We were exhausted from travel but, as Tom often tells the girls, you can rest when you are dead! We grabbed a quick lunch at our gorgeous boutique hotel and went out for a 4 hour motorbike tour through the streets of this manic, French inspired city of Hanoi. At times, I had to close my eyes because lanes, traffic lights and road signs are merely a suggestion. I was grateful to have my experienced 21 year-old motorbike driver who had been raised on a motorbike leading the way. I was thinking that I might be a bit crazy to have signed my entire family up for this tour as we sped through the city streets however, it was the perfect way to get an overall view of this incredible place. The people are so friendly and kind. The blonde girls were admired all over that city. I am quite certain they are the content of many tweets and texts that were sent to many natives during our five day adventure. We would often find young Vietnamese children captivated by our blonde squad. They could not get enough of them and would not break their gaze until we said hello or waved! I think that westerners visit Hanoi but, it is unusual to see young westerners.

The city was delightful and filled with history. We were able to visit the Temple of Literature, The Prison where John McCain was a POW, Hoàn Kiếm Lake, The Opera House, One Pillar Pagoda, and a water puppet show. It was a fantastic day and we looked forward to many more days in Hanoi. We loved doing a little street shopping and bartering at the local markets. We ate tons of unique foods and discovered we are fans of the cuisine. I cannot say enough about the gorgeous hospitality we received from our hotel and new friends.

After, a few days in Hanoi, we headed into the countryside to see Halong Bay (Dragon Bay). It is a stunner! We enjoyed our 2 day, 1 night cruise through this bay. We sea kayaked, hiked into a limestone cave, visited a floating fishing village, made rice paper rolls and learned about how a pearl farm operates. It was very educational as we admired the Vietnamese culture. Our lives are very different from theirs but, the simplicity in which they live is BEAUTIFUL! We would highly recommend a visit to Vietnam if you are given the opportunity :)