Week 9 ~ Final Vietnam Post

Happy Mother's Day to the new moms, old(er) moms, and grand-moms!

We have spent 3.5 wonderful weeks in Vietnam. While week 9 is technically being split between Thailand and Vietnam, for this post, I am just going to write about our experience in our final days of Vietnam. Our favorite guest writer is going to add his food notes at the end. :)

Week 9 started on my 29th birthday, so HBD 2 Me! 

The only people who might like celebrating birthdays more than Kath Gibbons are the Vietnamese, specifically those working in hospitality. I might not have received any ‘surprise’ confetti, but I still felt VERY celebrated. The staff at the Acoustic Hotel in Hanoi noticed I was checking out on my birthday when they were reviewing my passport at check-in. They ended up surprising me with a fully decorated room and dessert the day before we left. Both Nick and I were SO surprised.

Shout out to Kim & Luca at Acoustic Hotel for being the best hosts ever. We hugged at least 3 times when I departed lol.

The surprises kept coming on my actual birthday. Nick had taken over planning for a few days starting the morning of May 7th. We were picked up in a fancy VIP bus and taken to Ha Long Bay after breakfast. At the port, I was told my birthday surprise included an overnight cruise in Ha Long Bay and a mystery activity on Cat Ba Island on the 8th. 

The staff and amenities on the cruise were amazing. During our lunch, we overheard a couple on a 2 night cruise telling the director that they enjoyed skipping the cave tour and relaxing on the boat as if they were Jeff Bezos. Nick and I locked eyes and simultaneously decided we had seen enough caves in Vietnam.

Me, immediately after lunch searching the boat for the best kept secrets.

Nick, simultaneously scoping out the boat as everyone else dons their lifejackets and heads to their cave exploration.

The correct decision was made. Conveniently the sun came out as soon as we put on our bathing suits. I didn't think my birthday could get any better; however, the fun did not stop when the sun went down, and neither did the surprises.

 The staff on the cruise ship had decorated our dinner table for my birthday. I thought this was the end of the surprises until dessert came around.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/24cfbc_14f2ae46d5c94adf8075eb9d18eea008/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

The lights, dancing, techno BDAY remix & bouquet of roses - just wow!

The birthday singing and celebration in this video makes the sombrero in Mexican restaurants for fiestas de cumpleanos look like nothing. 

A final activity that I definitely was not expecting to do on my birthday was squid fishing. But here I found myself on the back of the boat with lights, bamboo rods, fish hooks, and no bait. The technique is flipping the hook up very quickly, almost similar technique to fly fishing. We were informed that someone had just caught a foot long squid prior to us arriving. Our friends from France that we made showed the picture proof of the clear squid. 

Unfortunately no birthday luck for my fishing. In fact, we were informed the next day that we were actually bad luck. According to our friends from France, Carolen, who was sitting next to me, had caught a squid within two minutes of us leaving and going to bed. Now I may have a goal to catch a squid before I turn 30. 

Waking up the next morning with limestone islands peaking through our window felt like a dream. 

We had a delicious breakfast and was on way to our next activity, kayaking.

We were informed by the crew members of cruise that we’d be kayaking through another cave and getting views of the limestone. While we were tempted to just stay on the boat for round 2, we decided to get some physical activity with the kayaks. 

I Spy........

What the crew members decided to not share with us was a super fun surprise, monkeys!

We were pleasantly surprised to have front row seats to the wildlife on our kayaks. We saw 25+ monkeys, all ages including cute little babies. The monkeys were VERY active and fun to watch.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/24cfbc_98071bc4ffa643a5a73f380dd4e69e18/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Rewatching this video a week later had me laughing at my own reaction to the vid... as I said, VERY active monkeys! Ironically later in the day we'd be having a guide asking us to channel our inner monkey.

Kayak tour over, cruise completed. Now it’s time for a water taxi to Cat Ba Island for our next surprise activity. Slightly different views and perspective of the limestone islands on this water taxi.

Nothing like a little bit of a rain storm to spice up a 10 minute water taxi! Funny to compare these photos below, all taken within 24 hours... Is this where they say instagram vs reality? Do people still say that? Regardless what a contrast lol.

And just like that, we are onto our next activity. We had been playing a little game guessing what my surprise bday gift was.. here were my hints:

“We’ve never done it before.”

“You’ll need shorts, a sports bra, and you might get a little wet.”

Me: “Is it dangerous?” Nick: “I ran it by some friends for approval.”

I was relieved, thinking Nick had probably ran it by Helen… later to be informed the friends he was referring to were his adrenaline junky, adventure crazy friends, Will and Perry. Nick finally informed me what my next surprise bday activity was, Deep Water Free Solo Climb. After being explained what it was, I was excited.. I think? A little nerves were fine? What is Deep Water Free Solo Climb you ask?

According to google, Deep water free soloing (DWS) “is a form of ropeless climbing where the climber ascends a cliff face over deep water, using the water below as their only protection against injury in a fall. Considered a pure form of climbing, it involves ascending sea cliffs, reservoirs, or specialized artificial walls without ropes or harnesses, often on difficult routes.”

Refusing to let the nerves of cliff jumping get the best of me, I determined I was excited.

We showed up, me dressed in a bathing suit and sunnies, as if I was going to an Ibiza yacht party, and everyone else in their Chacos and climbing gear, as if they knew what they were doing prior to two hours before. We didn’t just roll up to a tour company, we arrived to a miniature climbing gym with a group of guys competing on who could hold themselves horizontal for the longest on the boulder wall, while others competed in a very lengthy competition of one arm hangs. Nerves started to set it. I desperately wished I had swapped out my thin black sunnies for my gooder sunglasses. At least I could’ve looked the part.

There were some girls though, I reminded myself. I was talking myself down until I witnessed 9 perfect pull-ups by this fit girl with incredible arms. Gulp. Climbing terminology being thrown out that I had never heard of. Fidgeting began at this moment, as it was time to sign the waivers. 

Nick is notorious for pushing our (my) physical abilities when it comes to tours. Our first time ever rock climbing (an anniversary gift), we were in Joshua Tree with the famous last words of “I’d be disappointed if I left here today and didn’t feel challenged.” ... Or how about our first time mountain biking (my 26th bday gift), on the Shafer trail in Canyonlands NP, with Nick ensuring our guide, “we bike”… excluding the fact we’d only ever biked with beach cruisers and were about to head on a trail where a mistake had you fall off a cliff. I was getting flashbacks to my heli ski Christmas gift where I was informed I was placed in the “expert” group with two other solo dude snowboarders who definitely shred.

There is definitely a theme here.. Nick taking me on extreme adventure activities, that typically have me questioning EVERYTHING during the waiver process… and Nick gifting me with elaborately active gifts that always end up being, a “once in a lifetime” activity that I'm so grateful to experience.

A trip down memory lane... Climbing, Mt Biking & Heli Skiing (Did not jump out of the helicopter on my board @ Beth ;) lol).

Back to Cat Ba, Vietnam…. Thankfully our group consisted of some of the nicest people in the world, Canadians and Dutch climbers. After the first 5 minutes on the boat, I knew we were going to have a great day, even if I was absolutely horrible at this new activity. We started with some warm up climbs to ‘shake out the legs’ and get comfortable with the jumps.

Our super awesome crew & guide!

Traverse warm-up climb - You will not see us in this specific photo because we were on the boat taking this photo but we were apart of the second group to complete this ‘warm up’ climb that definitely inducted some shaky legs.

Watching the other climbers was like watching Picasso paint, it was art. More conversing happened and turns out the 8 Canadians all met as coaches at a climbing gym a couple years back. To top it off, they all were on a 5 week climbing excursion through Asia. Definitely not beginners or intermediates in this group. It was right around this discovery that we started hearing the word, “knee bar” being thrown out. 

Nick side eye at me. Me returning the look. What is a knee bar? Welp we found out shortly. 

... And that my friends is a knee bar..

I wish more than anything I could’ve said Nick and I whipped out a knee bar flex, but we have not quite mastered this skill in our less than 10 times of climbing. 

The Canadians did. Our guide did, and so did one of the Guys from the Netherlands while his girlfriend simultaneously climbed a 7C. ART!

So I got to talking with the Dutch couple, “How long have you guys been climbing for? Is that how you met?" Their response, “Oh, we both met when we were on the National Bouldering Team for the Netherlands”. …. LOL. Olympics? She hurt her back but if that at all puts in the perspective of the type of climbers we were with.

And then there was Nick & I .......LOL

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/24cfbc_2a73fd0b913941d58ff8a37b612fa78a/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

With volume on, "Can I go sideways? I don't want to climb any higher." ... Not afraid of heights, but definitely don’t love falling.. and I definitely had to overcome that dislike during this trip.

 Needless to say Nick and I were both very impressed by our peers and equally VERY humbled by the climbs.

I had a few friends ask logistically how we got on the rock. The boat pulls up, depending on the position, the guides help you on the rock. The boat pulls away, your climb starts and you either chose when to jump into the water or eventually fall.

 Our guide might've been the best climber in the group, scaling the walls barefoot with ease. We also had such talented and supportive group members on our DWS tour. Our guides, while jokesters, cared about safety and equally wanted to push everyone to their limits. They were very excited with our crew, explaining they normally don't get to visit the more challenging climbs. You can really appreciate the enthusiasm in this video of Nick climbing.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/24cfbc_993d0cd5e9764159a415142ea05e28ce/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Audio on.

The deep water free solo climbing has been a highlight of the trip so far. We met incredibly fun people, and definitely pushed ourselves both mentally and physically. S/o to Will & Perry for the helpful rec, and of course, Nick for always gifting me with extreme sports.

Before moving on, I wanted thank everyone for the birthday wishes! I also wanted to give a special shout out to my family for the epic birthday excursions (TYSM). Of course, I want to thank my husband for always planning such amazing birthday surprises, even though I usually question his judgement when he first surprises me. 

Also, Happy 30th Rachel & Abbey, my almost bday twins! Also, happy birthday to Patrick’s girlfriend, Korynne! What an awesome week for birthdays & celebrations of mothers. Happy Mother's Day to the new moms, old(er) moms, and grand-moms!

Oh and I almost forgot to share one of the coolest surprises we had at the end of our climbing trip!

We saw the super endangered species, Cat Ba Lengurs. With less than 70 in the world and only found on Cat Ba Island, it is extremely difficult to spot these primates. Prior to our trip to Cat Ba, I had mentioned to Nick how I'd love to see them, but didn't think a tour was worth it since it is so rare to see them. What an epic final surprise to add to our final hours in Vietnam.

Week 9: High, Low, Unexpected & Learned:

NICK:

HIGH: The entire climbing day.

LOW: How bad Cat Ba smells & almost getting attacked by a dog.

UNEXPECTED: Seeing the Cat Ba Lengur & rolling up to a mini rave in the town center of Cat Ba.

LEARNED: There are 60-70 Cat Ba Lengurs left in the world and they are considered critically endangered.

MK:

HIGH: Bday Ha Long Bay cruise & surprises.

LOW: Extreme hesitation towards deep water free solo climbing at the beginning.

UNEXPECTED: All of the birthday surprises, especially the dance & music with dessert.

LEARNED: Learned what DWS was & how to do it! Whoot Whoot!

And now..... What you've all been waiting for, our fan-favorite guest writer, International Chef, Nicholas King.

“Vietnamese coffee will turn you into an owl, homie. You’ll be your own street lamp” – Theo Von

I thought that might be the best way to start cuz I loved the Vietnamese coffee. Do me a favor, don’t google that quote.

Anyways, here are my thoughts on the food.

Nick’s Food Rating: 8.2

The food was good. Let me caveat this review with the fact that I faced 6 days of severe after-effects from some Vietnamese street meat.

Over the course of 3 & a half weeks, we ate our way up & down the country. Pho, Banh Mi, Banh Xeo, Com Tam, Goi Cuan, Bun Bo Hue, and Cao Lau.

What are these things?

Pho – noodle soup with beef.

• Nick Rating: 8.5

• Best Spot: Hanoi - Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su

• Originally from Hanoi, pho is kind of the only real Vietnamese food we had eaten before coming to Vietnam. We had pho for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In its purist form, it is broth, noodles, beef, and green onions. That is how it was served in Hanoi. In southern Vietnam, pho is served how we Americans are familiar with it - thai basil, bean sprouts, herbs, lime, hoisin sauce, sriracha, etc.

Banh Mi – bread.

• Nick Rating: 9.5

• Best Spot: Hoi An - Bánh Mì Phượng (Anthony Bourdain place)

• So, many of you may think that Banh Mi means a Vietnamese pork sandwich with veggies. In fact, Banh Mi, just means bread. You then have to clarify what you would like in your bread. We had Banh Mi for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You can pick up banh mi for 10k dong ($0.70). The bread, itself, in Vietnam was incredible. It competes with Patrick’s sourdough.

Banh Xeo – rice flour savory pancake

• Nick Rating: 6

• Best Spot: cooking class in Can Tho

• We had this too much. We had banh Xeo 3 different ways, learned to cook it, had it with many different toppings. I thought it was fine. There are many ways to make it. Some are like crepes, others are like mini cakes. The thing about Banh Xeo is that the Vietnamese love to serve it with shrimp. But, they leave everything on the shrimp (shell, tail, sometimes head). That is why this is a 6. Shrimp skin isn’t good. It takes like rotten shrimp, but with a crunch.

Com Tam – broken rice

• Nick Rating: 9

• Best Spot: Saigon

• A crowd-pleaser. Sometimes, you need a crowd pleaser, even for me. Rice, pork, sauce.

Goi Cuan – spring rolls

• Nick Rating: 8.5 / 6

• Best Spot: idk, they are everywhere

• You might look at that rating & say, wow, this guy has lost the plot. How can spring rolls be at a 6. Well, I learned that I like my shrimp to be stripped, tail removed, and sent to the guillotine before being served. Sue me. And, when you can’t read Vietnamese, you find yourself being served with too many spring rolls with shelled, headed, and tailed shrimp within them.

Bun Bo Hue – spicy noodle soup with beef

• Nick Rating: 8.5

• Best Spot: Hue

• I am pretty sure I had this. But, I think it was in my 6-day haze that was spent on a motorbike or in a bathroom.

Cao Lau – thick noodles with pork

• Nick Rating: 9.4

• Best Spot: Hoi An

• We had this in Hoi An. You can kinda only get it in Hoi An. Hoi An is a cool mix of Japanese, Chinese, and Vietnamese culture. This dish was that. Udon-style noodles courtesy of Japan, char-roasted pork, herbs, it was great. Probably one of my favorite meals that I had.

Fruit – passion fruit, mango, pomelo, durian, banana, coconut, and some mystery fruits

• Nick Rating: 10

• Best Spot: everywhere

• The fruit in Vietnam is amazing. We had at least one smoothie per day. We tried the polarizing durian, I liked it. And the smoothies were typically like $1.50.

Honorable Mention: Chin Su Chile Sauce.

Special Mention: Vietnamese Coffee

• Nick Rating: 10

• Best Spot: everywhere

• As I mentioned, this will turn you into an owl. I got it black the whole time, it is strong, but also has a sweetness that I like. Based on the region, you can find coffee served in different ways.

Regional Coffee Highlights

Southern Vietnam – Coconut Coffee

• Coconut cream, sometimes coconut milk, coffee, ice

Central Vietnam – Salt Coffee

• Condensed milk, salt, coffee, ice (tastes like caramel)

Northern Vietnam – Egg Coffee

• Egg yolk (whipped), coffee. It is almost like a custard.

High, Low, Unexpected, Learned

Nick

High: the food in Hoi An – Cau Lau & Banh Mi

Low: 6 days of this feeling every 15 minutes – someone is stabbing me, I need to go to the bathroom bad, or, I might throw up.

Unexpected: I actually really like chicken knee cartilage.

Learned: The way we eat Pho in the US is not the purist way. Shocker lol.

Mary Kate

High: The fruit, smoothies, and juices. Favorite was passion fruit.

Low: Shrimp with shell.. still having a tough time with shrimp now.

Unexpected: Various styles of noddles & soupes across the country

Learned: Coconut coffee is south, salt coffee is central, egg coffee is north

.... And that's a wrap!

My sister's BF, Andrew, asked us the other day: "9 weeks... how many countries have you visited so far?" Our response was "Only 3 but we're being reaaaaallly thorough or at least trying to be." -While also simultaneously feeling like there is never enough time to truly explore any of these countries-

Anyways, thank you for following along with our journey through Chile, Argentina, and Vietnam. Next stop, Thailand!

Missed a blog or two? Can't even remember how we got from Patagonia to Asia? Click HERE to see all of our posts from vagabonding.

Still not receiving emails? Click HERE to subscribe. Still not getting them? Check spam & reach out to my IT guy. Cheers!

Love,

MK & Nick