Southeast Asia: Same Same but Different

Ok, so as promised, some closing thoughts on Southeast Asia, but first a world geography refresher in case you are like me...


Prior to buying our "Southeast Asia on a Shoestring" guidebook I thought Southeast Asia was Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.  Flipping through the pages, however, I quickly learned that it is those four countries PLUS the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Myanmar/Burma, all of which we visited, as well as East Timor and Brunei, which we did not visit.  

And now my closing thoughts:

There's this saying in several Southeast Asian countries: "Same same but different."  We heard it used in a number of different contexts and situations.  Some were hilarious like when a girl tried to sell us a bracelet after we purchased some postcards and told us that the bracelet was same same but different.  Others were tragic like when our guide showed us before and after pictures of a village that had been bombed and explained that it was same same but different.

After spending four and a half months in Southeast Asian countries, we realized that the saying also applied to the region.  

There were things that were same same, like rice being a major staple and some countries had overlaps in traditions, language, cuisine, and architecture.  But there was so much that was different, like the economies, the dominant religions, and each country's history.  For example, Malaysia and Singapore have strong economies, especially in contrast with the rest of the region.  The Philippines is predominantly Catholic while Malaysia and Indonesia (which is the fourth largest country in the world) are largely Muslim countries.  Among the Buddhist countries (Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar/Burma) we observed differences in practice.  The longer we were in the area, the more nuances we observed. 

Although we've been out of Southeast Asia for almost two months now, I still find myself using the phrase.  I guess the whole world is same same but different.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOD EVENING, VIETNAM!

Don't worry -- you didn't miss the sequel to Robin Williams's movie.  We just thought this sounded cooler than labeling our posts "Part I" and "Part II" :-)

While our main reasons for going to Vietnam were to visit Danang and the Hanoi Hilton, considering that our Vietnam visa was the most expensive to date we made sure to pack as much as we could into our three weeks.  We toured Hue (the former capital city), the DMZ, Hanoi, Sapa, and Ha Long Bay. Hope you enjoy the photos!

HUE

The architecture of the Imperial City was so cool!

Stephanie thought this statue looked like our dog, Lana gets.  We later found out it's a dragon-horse.  Wishful thinking, Steph.

Kids will be kids -- Brian had a split in shorts and the kids were whispering and pointing at his butt.  As anyone would do in this scenario, Brian purposely dropped some change and bent over to pick it up.  The students burst out laughing and then clamored to get their picture taken with him.   

DMZ

The main tourist attraction at the DMZ are the Vinh Moc Tunnels.  The tunnels were built to shelter people from the bombing during the war, though American forces believed the tunnels were also being used to supply goods to the North.

The tunnels were tiny and dark!  Brian struggled to find room just to sit down.  It was hard to imagine people living in them for six years.

Before we went into the tunnels, our guide told us that there were family rooms and maternity rooms inside (something like 17 babies were born in the tunnels).  We imagined something much bigger than a room that could only fit one cot.

HANOI

One of our favorite things about Hanoi was the food.  Here's Stephanie digging in and wrapping her own spring rolls.

We saw a lot of barbers set up shop on the street.  Brian felt it was time for a haircut (the beard went untouched).  Stephanie served double duty, taking pictures for us and for the barber :-)

Look at all the coffee!!!!!!!!!

Stephanie perusing one of the many street markets in Hanoi.

One of our guilty pleasures on the road is watching the show "Cupcake Wars" online.  When we walked past this cupcake store we couldn't resist stopping in and trying (ok...devouring) their cupcakes!  Our favorites were their keylime pie and mocha cupcakes.  Yum! 

SAPA

After spending a couple days in crazy-busy Hanoi, it was refreshing to arrive in Sapa and be greeted by the mountains.

Sapa has amazing terraced rice fields.  We got to spend a whole day trekking through this beautiful landscape!

Stephanie trying to learn the names of all our guides.  There were 2 Su's, Ku, Tu, Bo, and Do...she thinks.  These lovely ladies are Hmong and are wearing traditional clothes (which they wear all the time...not just because we were there).

Their weavings were stunning.  And they dye the cloth using indigo!  

Spinning hemp yarn.

Brian & Bo.  They were besties by the end of the day.

Stephanie discovered that all those years of gymnastics did not prepare her for walking on rice terraces.

One of the women carrying bamboo shoots down to the village.  We just thought this was a cool picture.

Our group!  Our guide is in the middle.  In case you're wondering if she's a child, she's not - she's 20!

The next day we went to Bac Ha Market and got to see another Hmong people -- the Flower Hmong.  We loved the vibrant colors!

HA LONG BAY

(Ha Long Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site)

Here comes our boat!

You know you've got a skilled captain when he can steer a boat with his feet!

Our first glimpse at some of Ha Long Bay's 2,000ish limestone islets!

As beautiful as the karst is, the highlight for us was the fishing village.  This village is boasts 200 families and 800 people.

After failing miserably at kayaking in Laos, we were determined to succeed in Vietnam.  Mission accomplished!

One of the fishing boats.  The lights are for when the men go out at night and help them attract squid. 

It was wild to see houses floating on the water.  From what we understand, thirty years ago the fishermen's wives didn't want to live on the boats anymore but also didn't want to live in town as they would never get to see their husbands due to the distance.  So, they created these villages.   

How the villagers get their goods.

Brian and some of our shipmates swimming in the bay.  He's the one with the beard.

Brian doing some night squid fishing and catching everyone else's dinner.  The boat's crew was great about making him non-seafood :-)

Waking up to green water, karst, and the morning mist was magical!

We were also victorious on day 2 of kayaking around Ha Long Bay.  Score!

These rocks are the iconic Ha Long Bay rocks.  They're in a lot of pictures, posters, etc.  Naturally, we had to take a photo ourselves.

Night 2 of our Ha Long Bay adventure was spent with a family on one of the islands.  We learned how to prepare spring rolls.  Brian was assigned to cut glass noodles with little scissors.  Stephanie was given the big butcher knife to chop mushrooms.  Hmmm….

Brian enjoying the fruits of our labor.

The family was up & descaling fish bright and early.   

Before we left the island and Ha Long Bay, we got to ride bikes around the island. Stephanie was waiting for everyone to break out into songs from the "Sound of Music."

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.