Realistic Asia

We had a pleasant but cold stay at Mu Cang Chai Ecolodge. The accommodations were charming and the hosts were very friendly and attentive to our needs, but the thin walls on our room were a big challenge for the cold front that brought temperatures down to the mid single digits. We would recommend a stay here, but be prepared if the weather turns cold!

Le Champ was one of the unexpected highlights of our trip. The location is magical, and it was such a delight to soak in the hot springs after a long day of travel. Extra points for having a beautiful cave to explore right on the resort grounds! We wish we had more time to enjoy this wonderful facility.

We loved this beautiful little resort on the outskirts of Sapa! The grounds and rooms are immaculate, the views are lovely and the food was terrific. We especially appreciated being outside the craziness that is Sapa town. Highly recommended!

We had a nice but brief stay at the Hue Ecolodge. The grounds were immaculate, the staff quite friendly, and the food was very good. We had a busy itinerary and poor weather, so didn't take advantage of the on-site amenities like the pool and spa, nor did we have a chance to explore the neighborhood. But as a place to spend a night it met our needs just fine.

We had a delightful homestay during our one night in Bac Ha. The grounds are pretty, the views are nice and the rooms were quite comfortable. We especially appreciate how they went out of their way to meet our food needs, driving us to a "tourist-friendly" restaurant for lunch and cooking us a delicious (and HUGE) dinner. We lingered around the dinner table late into the night getting to know our hosts using Google translate.

We had a delightful stay at the Chay Lap Farmstay. We loved the fact that the property is out in the country, away from the rapidly gentrifying Phong Nha town. We took advantage of the free bicycle rental to ride around the area, and the free kayak rental to escape the heat of the day out on the river. We also rented their e-bikes for a day at a very reasonable rate to explore the area. (A visit to Paradise Cave and a ride on the 'ferry' into town are both must-dos!) The Farmstay was an excellent place from which to see the amazing Phong Nha Ke Bang area.

We had a very nice 3-night stay at the Cozy An. We appreciated that it was in a quieter part of town while being close enough for us to walk to the more touristy areas. The rooms were nice, with a small balcony, and the food in the restaurant was plentiful and delicious. We took advantage of the free use of their bicycles to ride around town and ride out to the beach. We appreciated the one on one time we received from the concierge, and all her recommendations for what to see and where to shop. While in the end we didn't agree with all her assessments, they gave us a great place to start. We would definitely recommend staying here.

We spent our first full day in Vietnam on this tour of the Ba Vi. It was a nice introduction to Vietnam. The highlights of this tour were getting to speak with a former north Vietnam soldier about his experience during the American war and his perspectives on his country and relations with the US today, and the AMAZING lunch we had. However, the cooking class was a little disappointing - we were taught to make wraps for amazing spring rolls and got to make a salad, but the food was mostly prepped in advance and we didn't do any actual cooking. Also disappointing was the bike ride in the countryside, which was much shorter than we would have liked. Relative to some of the awesome days to come this tour was fine, just not one of the highlights.

The drive from Tu Le to Mu Cang Chai over the Khau Pha Pass was quite beautiful. Unfortunately, the March weather was hazy and overcast, so the views were not quite as lovely as they likely are at other times of the year. Once in Mu Cang Chai we had a tasty lunch and then headed into the hills for a walk through rice fields and a local village. We had a delightful encounter with a group of older Hmong women, from whom we bought textiles and crafts. After the long drive we were glad to stretch our legs and have a first person encounter with the countryside.

The drive from Mu Cang Chai to Sapa was long and winding. There were many sights along the way, though low clouds and hazy conditions detracted from some of the scenic beauty. We had a bit of trouble finding a place to stop for lunch, but in the end found a small restaurant that met our needs. We drove through the heart of the tourist area in Sapa town, getting enough of a sense for the place to be glad we were staying outside of town. We ended the day by walking from the edge of Sapa town to our homestay in the village of Sin Chai, which took about 90 minutes. It was a nice walk, but much less trekking than we had been led to believe. This was really more of a travel day than an activity day.

Our street food tour of Hoi An was an unexpected delight! After traveling for 3 weeks in vans and on bicycle it was such a delight to zip through the streets like a local on the back of a scooter. Our guide was soft spoken but informative, and he brought us to a nice mix of well-known and back alley food carts and restaurants. We got to try many kinds of foods. While not all were to our liking, we appreciated the opportunity to try them out. This was a great way to spend an evening in Hoi An.

Today's activity was the first for our highlight reel. The trek down from Sapa town through Cat Cat village and up into the hill villages was excellent. The route took us through cultivated fields, along jungle paths above a river, and into small villages where we could interact with the locals. The weather was cooperative - the haze even cleared a bit, allowing us to see the tall mountains across the valley - and it was great to have a day without car travel. We especially enjoyed our encounters with the local artists and artisans who produce the beautiful indigo-dyed batiks, embroidered clothing, incense, and other crafts.

Our time in Bac Ha was a bit mixed. After the morning drive from Sapa - in part along the Chinese border - we arrived in Bac Ha for lunch and then a trek into the hills near our homestay. It was interesting to see another mountainous landscape, though this trek lacked the interactions with local we had on previous treks. On Sunday we visited the famed Bac Ha market, which truly was an experience. It was a delight to see a bustling market whose focus was more on meeting the needs of locals than tourists. So many colors, sounds, smells and tastes - a true sensory delight! After market we had lunch at a roadside buffet restaurant that clearly was not geared towards tourists. The food was a little less beautiful than we'd seen elsewhere, but just as delicious. Then it was time for the long drive back to Hanoi.

Our caving experience with Oxalis was another trip highlight. We loved the physical activity, especially walking through the village to take in the sights, hiking through the mud in the rain, exploring caves with a headlamp, and swimming through the second cave. We had a great guide and an excellent cohort of fellow travelers to keep us company. The lunch provided on the trail, under a tent in the rain, was amazing considering the conditions it was served under. The only constructive criticism is that we would have liked more information in advance regarding what to bring with us and what clothing to wear. We were given the option of using our own footwear or the boots they provided and didn't understand the options well enough to make an informed decision. (Using their boots - assuming you can find ones that fit - is the clear correct choice.) Also, considering the weather, it would have been nice to have warmer clothing to put on when we stopped for lunch - a wool hat in our dry bag would have made a big difference.

We had a lovely dinner at the home of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Suong. It was very interesting to learn about the history of Hue and the Nguyen dynasty from an expert of that history. We were expecting a group dinner, and were pleasantly surprised that the table was set for only our host and the three of us. The food prepared by the host's 80+ year old mother was AWESOME, both in flavor and presentation. It was a meal we won't soon forget.

Of all the activities on our trip this one was our least favorite. In general we don't like packaged, pre-defined tours due to their impersonal nature and lack of autonomy, and this tour met our worst stereotypes. There were only 8 of us on the tour, but the jam-packed itinerary left no room for flexibility or meeting the particular needs of group members. Our guide was a lovely man, but he had marginal English skills. He had lots of information he wished to share with us, and it often felt like he was trying to force-feed it to us. It took a lot of energy to understand what he was trying to communicate - and after the first hour or so we stopped listening. We loved the imperial city, but didn't have the opportunity to explore it on our own terms. We liked seeing the pagoda and the tombs, but again would have appreciated more time to just see it at our pace. The lunch was a highlight for us, as the home restaurant had beautiful grounds and delicious food, but it was offset by the stop at the market (unnecessary) and the incense and hat making workshop (read: tourist store). In the end we mostly just felt tired and frustrated.