Hosting My Family

It's only about a week until I leave Vietnam and it's really starting to hit home that this great past year is coming to an end. But I'll save the introspective ending blog for another time because I still have to talk about this past month when my parents and aunt came to visit me here in Vietnam. I won't be delving too deep in all the emotions and observational aspects that occurred, mainly because I have a lot to cover and I'm also currently sick.  Therefore, for the time being, I will just cover all the main things that happened.

The first weekend we visited Ha Long Bay, which is Northwest of Hanoi. The trip included a boat tour through amazing rock formations jutting out of the water. In the bay, there are many small floating houses where fishermen (and women) live. We also visited a cave which was pretty spectacular. The only downside was that there were tons of people walking through the cave so there was really no time to stop and look around. We stayed at Cat Ba City on Cat Ba Island. While the island itself was lush and green and pretty, the city was somewhat crowded and noisy. Note to future travelers: if you like peace and quiet, when coming to Ha Long Bay be sure to stay in one of the many little bungalows on the smaller islands.

The next week we flew to Cambodia to visit the Angkor ruins around Siem Reap. It was interesting to see the differences between Cambodia and Vietnam. Cambodia seemed much more small and quite. Of course, we were only at Siem Reap and just came from the second largest city in Vietnam. The ruins were--surprise!--also very spectacular.

However, while the ruins were very cool, after seeing them for a couple days I got kind of ruined out. I was glad when on the last day we did a change of pace and visited a floating village. All the village houses were on stilts because every year the lake nearby floods and the villages become like the houses we saw in Ha Long Bay. Also, the day before we had visited a museum that showed the deadly affects of the landmines used during the era when the Khmer Rouge were in power.

But the best part of the trip was going out for dinner with my family and my friends and host family. I let my aunt take all the pictures for those occasions, so once I get them from her I will have them posted.

All in all, it was a great time and I enjoyed being the tour guide for my family in Hanoi.