PHO!!!! Pho is a traditional Vietnamese dish. You can find it literally everywhere in Hanoi and for $3 or less. You have to eat it with a spoon and chopsticks, there is just no other way to eat it.
This is the outside of Hoa Lo Prison in Hanoi. The sign is in French because Vietnam was a French Colony.
This is John McCains suit. They have a whole display about John McCain and his role in the Vietnam War and his time at Hoa Lo.
The streets of Hanoi. I took this sitting on a teeny tiny plastic stool while drinking Saigon Beer. This street corner is jam packed with locals and tourists drinking beer and eating snacks. PSA: Asians love Minions...
The streets of Hanoi.
This is the entrance of the Temple of Learning. This was the first university in Vietnam back in the 1070s, that's why it looks like I am in China.
Shoutout to the fisheye lens from Aunt Melissa. The Temple was beautiful. Since we went in the late afternoon there weren't that many people there which made the experience a lot more enjoyable.
The university was started around Confucius. There are lots of Confucius statues all around the Temple. I don't know much about Confucius or the beliefs around him, but it was really fascinating seeing a completely different type of worship
BAHN MI. This was my sandwich that was my breakfast one morning. We sat on the side of the road and ate it while it POURED rain.
Traditional wedding outfits of Vietnamese people. This was at the Vietnamese Women's Museum.
Vietnamese women carry their babies like a backpack.
I obviously was fascinated by the fashion exhibit.
My bed in the overnight train!!!! Just thought it would be fun to document this lol. It was really hard and the blanket was like a potato sack, but it was about the experience.
The start of our two day trek in Sapa. We got to trek with the local women who were kind and helped us through the trek.
This is one of the women who trekked part of the first day with us.
The pictures just don't do it justice. The rice terraces make Sapa famous, and a place tourists want to travel to.
Just observing nature.
Water buffalo are everywhere. They are really valuable for the farmers in Sapa since they can do a lot of the work for the farmers.
One of the Red Dao women. You can tell she is part of the Red Dao tribe because of the red turbin/wrap on her head. The women carry goods and crops in these woven basket backpacks.
The group!!! Kristen, Amanda, and Me!! It was really cold and slightly rainy. We were really poorly prepared for the weather. I had to buy two coats....
I just had to share this. The Red Dao women are known for their herbal medicine remedies. This is me in a herbal tea bath. You can literally see the steam coming off of it...It was BOILING hot, but felt and smelled really nice.
Just enjoying life. Shoutout to my backpack!!! That thing is fabulous.
LAMB!!! Lamb was our trek guide. She was so knowledgable and kind. Here she is standing in front of a bucket of indigo dye. The Vietnamese women dye fabrics indigo, and make the traditional costumes from that fabric.
The kids in the village were absolutely amazing. Seeing how they are growing up was fascinating.
This women made our 6 course dinner, and let us all stay in her home. She was amazing. She is holding her grandson who was adorable.
So much green scenery.
It was unreal.
Just proving we were there.
We just missed the big rice harvesting season. The rice terraces were empty when we were there. All of the rice had been harvested about 3 weeks earlier.
This girl made me laugh. I was going to give her a high five. I also really like her outfit...
YANGON, MYANMAR!!! I made it.
The buildings and infrastructure in the city was crazy.
Taking in the architecture in the city.
The entrance to the Schwedagon Pagoda!
Walking into the pagoda was breathtaking.
There I am!! Of course I am in another rented skirt.
Places like this just don't exist in the US or anywhere in the world other then SE Asia. Seeing places like this is why you come to SE Asia as an American.
So much golddddd
Taking it all in.
The group!!!! All of our skirts (longyi) made the Burmese people laugh. I think seeing Westerners in their traditional outfit was funny to them, but they also thought we looked beautiful. The whole experience was unique.
The intense gold of the pagoda made the sky look purple at night. The pagoda looks even more opulent at night.
The big white tower is the National Monument in downtown Yangon.
This is the big public park in the center of the city. The big white building is the City Hall. The architecture looked very Spanish. The building was beautiful and really old.
I couldn't get over the sky. Coming from cold, rainy Vietnam, Myanmar was really hot. The sun was really intense. Also those are two of the most modern buildings in the city.
The streets were filled with fruit. SO MANY PEOPLE AND FRUIT. I spent my 2 days in Yangon basically walking the streets and taking in the culture. It was unlike any of the other places I have traveled to in SE Asia.
All of these experiences feel like they were months and months ago. In actuality, they were 3 weeks ago.
Happy Mischief Night from Thailand.
This is just a snapshot.
Love
xoxo
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