It is amazing to think that despite my parents age, they have such vivid memories of their youth. Some of the stories I hear from them, especially those of their time living in Vietnam and their first memories upon immigrating to the United States have always been the most fascinating to me. This summer, my parents decided they wanted to go back to Vietnam to visit relatives and relive their childhood memories in real life.
Our first meal in Hanoi was at a very nice, rustic looking restaurant.
I have never had Northern Vietnamese food before, but it was very tasty!
After spending a few days in Hanoi, we took a mini cruise to Ha Long Bay. This view greeted us at the top of Ti Top Island. It was a very long and steep walk up hundreds of stairs in extremely humid and hot weather.
A view from an opening in one of Ha Long Bay's famous caverns.
Outside the exit of the caverns looking back. I was standing along the boardwalk that you see in the bottom left corner of the previous picture. The smell of sun-dried squid was very pungent here. Mmmm.
One of the cool things I got to do during my last days back in Hanoi was ride on a cyclo. Quite an interesting experience (and scary I might add).
Next destination after Hanoi was the beautiful coastal town of Nha Trang.
Xom Bong bridge in Nha Trang.
The view out of my hotel room's balcony. A storm looming in the distance.
After only spending one night in Nha Trang, we then traveled further inland to the city of Da Lat. The weather here was much colder and rainier due to the city being nestled high up in the mountains.
The final leg of our Vietnam trip was Ho Chi Minh city. Here is where my parents grew up and where my distant relatives/family friends still reside. In this picture, we drove an hour to the city of My Tho, where my mother grew up and were walking around her old neighborhood.
Interesting to see so much graffiti in the most rural of areas.
I was challenged to cross this bridge that was literally comprised of a single log, the consequences of falling would be falling into a shallow river down below. Good fun.
Roadside Vietnamese iced coffee before the one hour drive back to our hotel. Such a funny bag hehe.
We went to visit one of my father's uncles, I could not help but notice their very adorable dog laying sleepily on the floor.
My father and his aunt looking into what used to be my grandfather's storefront. A very emotional moment for him.
During our last night in Ho Chi Minh city, a decent sized storm rolled in and made for a pretty awesome shot!
This was a pretty lengthy post, but I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Time to recover from the jet lag now.. Until next time!
