GOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING, VIETNAM!

Despite the title, we actually got to Vietnam late in the evening ... and later then we expected due to a canceled flight.  Stephanie, being the superstitious one, was worried that our canceled flight was a bad omen, but our three fantastic weeks (March 17-April 6) in Vietnam proved her wrong. 

Our visit to Vietnam was momentous for a couple of reasons.

• On March 18 we celebrated being abroad for 6 months (and Stephanie's brother's birthday!).
• We got to visit Danang, where Stephanie's grandfather was stationed during the Vietnam War.
• We toured the "Hanoi Hilton," where Brian's great uncle was a POW with Senator McCain during the Vietnam War.
• Stephanie remembered why her teachers told her to never judge a book by its cover (Vietnam being the "book" and the "cover" being a post we read titled Why I'll Never Return to Vietnam by one of our favorite travel bloggers, Nomadic Matt).

HOW WE CELEBRATED 6 MONTHS ON THE ROAD

We were blessed with beautiful weather and enjoyed some time on China Beach in Danang. 

We also indulged in our very first cups of Vietnamese coffee!  

DANANG

Because of the beauty of Danang's beaches, many five-star, all-inclusive resorts are being built along the shore.  We didn't stay at one of those resorts and so we had the privilege of watching the locals play beach football after work every day.  We'll take this over a heated swimming pool any day.

We rented a motorbike and drove along the beach and to Marble Mountain.  Steph, who calls herself Brian's "Old Lady" after watching the show Sons of Anarchy about a motorcycle club, refused to take her helmet off even when we were no longer on the bike.

Brian on our motorbike outside of Marble Mountain.  The marble you see behind him is harvested from the mountain and carved into pretty spectacular statues.  

The pagodas atop Marble Mountain.

HANOI HILTON

Brian at the main gate of the Hilton.

Inside one of the cells.  Before the Vietnamese used the prison to detain POWs during the Vietnam War, the French used it to imprison Vietnamese revolutionaries.

A picture of John McCain being treated after being captured.

The "uniform" of American POWs.

DON'T JUDGE A BOOK...

Before arriving in Vietnam, we had heard and read some stories from fellow travelers that prepared us for the worst.  We were expecting to be repeatedly ripped off, hassled, and pick pocketed.  Instead, we experienced the opposite.

Our first night in Hanoi, we were out looking for something to eat when we noticed a sandwich cart that looked enticing.  While we were devouring our delicious banh mi sandwiches, a woman walked up to us selling what looked like donut holes.  Stephanie indicated that she wanted one and the woman quickly filled a bag with seven and told us it would cost the equivalent of $5.  Considering that our sandwiches cost $1, we knew that was too much.  Stephanie was trying to bargain with the woman when the sandwich stand owner came over and asked us how much the donut seller was charging us.  When we told her, the sandwich stand owner started yelling at the donut seller and a minute later we had three donut holes for the local price of $0.50.  That definitely warmed our hearts.

Stephanie with her hero, the banh mi sandwich stand owner.  Needless to say, we went there every day that we were in Hanoi.