My Son Sanctuary

My Son Sanctuary is a UNESCO world heritage site with the ruins of some beautiful Hindu temples that were built over a span of 10 centuries (between the 4th and 13th centuries). During that timeframe, My Son was the religious and political capital of the Champa Kingdom, as well as a burial site for Cham royalty. At one time, the sanctuary had over 70 temples, but many things have destroyed those over the years - erosion, fires, and even bombs during the Vietnam war.

We made the trip out on the motorbike, it was just over an hour to get there (through some really authentic villages 👍🏻). “My Son” translates to “Beautiful Mountain”, and you can see why in the background of these temples. 

The heritage site runs between a mountain range and spans about 2km wide. So there was lots of space to walk the trails and admire the plants, ponds, and scenery. It’s such dense jungle and everything is so green and lush…especially compared to the dry prairies of southern Alberta we are used to  😂

There’s so much history about My Son, but the thing that stuck out to me was the craters you can still see caused by bomb raids. During the Vietnam War, My Son was used by the Vietcong as a field headquarters and it resulted in a bombing raid in 1969 that destroyed some temples. This picture shows a crater, now turned pond 🐸🪷 

We had a really fun day exploring a new area and learning some more ancient history 🇻🇳 

“Vietnamese people are very friendly” 🛵

We had a fun little “adventure” the other evening. We were out on the motorbike, pretty far from our hotel, and must have ran over a nail or something and got a flat tire. Honestly, we expected something like this to happen at some point 🤷🏼‍♀️ The roads can be a bit ratchety, especially when you get off the beaten path. 

We googled services stations, but most were closed or too far away. We saw a group of 3 Grab Drivers, just waiting to be called out on jobs. We asked them where we could take the bike to get it fixed, and they offered to call someone to come repair the tire on the spot. We communicated entirely through Google Translate because not one of them knew any English. It’s fairly common for Vietnamese people who work in hospitality (hotels, restaurants) near tourist areas to know English, but once you get away from those areas English is more rare. So anyways, we made friends with these men and had a good long conversation while waiting.  We talked about differences between Vietnam and Canada, and their families. Once the repairman arrived, the Grab Driver named Minh told me “ I have turned off my Grab app and will stay with you to make sure you don’t get frauded”. Minh made sure the repairman plugged/patched the tire properly and charged us the agreed upon price of 70,000 VND (which is less than $4 CAD lol). Cheapest mechanic bill we’ve ever had! 😂

We tried a few times to give Minh some money (or buy him a drink/meal) in return for his help. He refused repeatedly saying “Vietnamese people are very friendly”

We got a selfie with Minh and his coworker, he gave us a big hug, and went on our way! The whole experience was so heartwarming and wholesome. It’s sometimes hard inserting yourself into another culture but experiences like this remind me there are good kind people all over the world 🙂

 

When in Rome…or Vietnam!

We’ve been trying a lot of fun foods obviously! I took this video at a market where we first tried Bánh Xèo, my new personal favourite! It’s essentially a crepe, made with rice batter and fried on a skillet. Inside there is meat like chicken, pork or fish. Then you can add any veggies you want: lettuce, cukes, bean sprouts and some fresh mint. Then wrap it up in more rice paper and dip in sweet chili sauce. Chef’s kiss! 

 

Lady Buddha

We took a trip up to see “Lady Buddha”, a 67 metre tall statue of the Goddess of Compassion. It’s the tallest Buddha statue in all of Vietnam, and visible from most anywhere in Da Nang.  

It threatened to rain most of our visit, but held off for the most part. The temple at the top of this mountain was a beautiful and peaceful space. The gardens had perfectly manicured bonsai trees and koi ponds. 

At most of the temples here, they ask you to cover your knees and shoulders when going inside. Here’s a picture of Jared and his fancy skirt, lent to him by a monk working at the temple 👗

Inside every temple, there are Buddha statues, places to light incense, and around the statues people leave offerings. The offerings range from glasses of water/juice, to pieces of fruit, to flowers, to packaged treats (typically these specific Wagon Wheel type snacks).  

The mountainous area around is a nature preserve for monkeys and they were everywhere! I could have watched them all day. The little babies were my favourite. Enjoy these videos of the cute little creatures 🐒

Hot Dang, Da Nang!

The day we dropped Hayley off at the airport to fly home to Canada, we also boarded a flight! ✈️ We are now in Da Nang, a coastal town in the middle of Vietnam. It’s on the South China Sea, at the mouth of the Han River. It’s a bit of a beach destination place for the Vietnamese, as well as some other Asian countries like China and Korea. The best part about Da Nang is the beach is sooooo long and expansive. You can walk for miles along the ocean and never run out of beautiful sandy beach. 

A huge difference from other places we’ve previously visited is: Curb Appeal! There are massive buildings with beautiful lights, and Da Nang is just lit up and vibrant at night. 

We went to a harbour to watch some fishing boats come in, and met this security guard. He didn’t speak any English so our conversation was entirely through Google Translate. He was born and raised in Da Nang. He insisted Jared wear his helmet for a picture together 😂

Something about Vietnam that is hard to explain is the crazy traffic!!!! I have been trying to get a good video, but I only dare pull out my phone to record during the calmer times! There are road signs and lines on the road that give the impression of rules….but no one follows them! Especially the scooters. Scooter riders just weave in and out of all the traffic and do whatever they want, even driving on the wrong side of the road. Here’s a few videos, but like I said; these were only the times slow enough to let go of Jared and pull out my phone to film. 

I was trying to film this dog, just napping at his owners feet while cruising on the scooter through traffic. How cute. 🐕 

Hanoi 🌸

 We had a lovely hotel right by the lake in Hanoi. When we weren’t petting cats or relaxing by the pool, we were exploring the city. True to our J-Walking name, we got our steps in every day and saw some incredible sites: 

Before coming to Vietnam, I thought these “conical” hats were just something the Vietnamese wore in the olden days, or like a gimmicky souvenir hat. Nope. These cute hats are worn every single day by the majority of locals here. Especially when they have to work in the hot sun. 

Flowers are a huge part of their culture. They are a symbol of luck and prosperity, and are given freely as gifts and even carried to worship services. 

We celebrated my birthday together a couple days early while Hayley was with us. We went to a cafe that had ceramic painting and did a little crafting together 🎨 

Then we went for supper and found a pool table 🎱 Jared beat us in every game. Obviously. 

Also, I got birthday flowers 🥰🥰🥰