Monday, August 31, 2026
Week 3, Ninh Binh, Vietnam
Another week in Vietnam
I feel like we change locations every 4 days so I haven’t established the kind of routine I like for keeping track of time. The constants have been excursions, morning meals, & laundering outfits in our accommodation to alternate until we move on to the next place. I imagined Vietnam as 3 month long stays with some day trips or weekend getaways mixed in. I’m not sure why I thought that was possible. I fear I’m shit at planning.
This place is casually picturesque, with beautiful skies and limestone karsts interrupted by things people have made like temples, roads, bits of agriculture, old towns, & new solitary neighborhoods between the whole collection.
We came here to see the Trang An landscape park, but were rained out (the water level was too high in the caves), so the only tours available were caveless. It was still lovely, getting paddled around the water & looking at the scenery, but I don't think we'll see any of Vietnam's really impressive caves this trip.
While in the area we saw the Emperor of the Reeds show. It reminded me of a Cirque du Soleil production or the kinds of circus we used to take Ahsaan to @ the New Victory Theatre in NYC. It was a nice outing with song, acrobatics, & fireworks. I hope we see some more shows before we leave Vietnam.
We rented bikes from our homestay a few times & it was great. The area is pretty flat & the traffic wasn't terribly hectic, so it's nice biking. I've missed biking. We went down quiet streets, rices paddies, & washed out roads in some pretty good weather & some amazingly refreshing downpours. We would have done more, but I am delicate & used to riding a noseless saddle, so 3 days of regular bike seat up in my business was my limit.
On our way out of town we did a few interviews with local children. I don't think I've ever had an 8 year old ask me "May I speak with you for a little while?" Let alone follow up with a series of basic conversation questions "Where are you from?" "What is your favorite animal?" "What sports do you like?" I thought the kids were traveling as well, but they weren't. Parents bring them to the train station at night to practice their English with the tourists. Being chatted up by a child is very cute & a little confusing at first. By the end, Ellie & I had friends & very appreciative parents who wanted photos of us.
Sidenotes:
I've been making body products for our household since Ahsaan was small. For this trip we only packed some scented oil & a little body butter trying not to overpack. I should have packed my homebrew deodorant, the 'natural' deodorant we brought with us is not cutting it here.
Foods: Vietnamese sticky rice is yummy, it's like a broken rice version of a tamale. I had a delicious green bean stir-fry that we were assured had no meat in it after we asked 3 times & being told there was only garlic and olives. I checked the Chinese translation & recipe. It was pork tossed in green beans. My veggie inspired version of green beans will feature a mince of mushrooms, olives, & peanuts garnished with chilis & fried onions once I get around to making it. I REALLY like tofu here, which is kinda amazing because contempt best describes my feelings for it in the US. The tofu here is going to be fresher, made in small batches, and coagulated with acidified soy whey, "sour water" not industrially produced and coagulated with gypsum like in the US (which I suspect is why tofu normally tastes chalky to me). Ellie really likes Vietnamese sour fish soup (which I think is more sweet & sour? There's pineapple & tamarind in the broth). We had some tasty Indian food in town one day. I suspect all the Indian food is gonna be more tasty in Asia than in the US... & finally I unlocked salted coconut foam iced cocoa coffee. I don't know if it's the final coffee boss, but it's beating everything else so far.
