Hanoi, Vietnam

We thought Dubai was the hottest city, but Hanoi takes the win.. That place is HOT!!!! Other than that, it's really a beautiful city with friendly, beautiful people! 

We mainly went through Hanoi as a gateway to get to Sa Pa and Halong Bay but got plenty of time to explore Hanoi.. It's full of culture and history from the war.. We went to the Hanoi Hilton which was waaaaay more creepy than Alcatraz! There were rooms I didn't even want to go into.. We also went to a women's museum to learn about Vietnamese women's history and also a museum about all the tribes of Vietnam which was really interesting.. They had tribal houses we could go into which was pretty cool to see how different tribes and regions built their houses.. We also went to a water puppet show that dates back about 1000 years, a night market, and beer street where the locals sit on teeny tiny plastic stools on the sidewalk and drink beer.. 

The city is full of incredible foliage and incredible traffic! There are really no traffic laws from the way it looks.. Tons of cars and motorcycles pack the streets, and you just walk slowly and pray they dodge you.. 

All in all, we're happy we saw Hanoi.. It's beautiful, and the people there are so kind! 

Halong Bay, Vietnam

After an overnight train from Sa Pa, a bus picked us up from Hanoi to take us on a 3.5hr ride to Halong Bay.. Halong Bay is the largest bay in Vietnam made up of 2000 limestone mountains standing tall above the waters.. There are around 30 floating fishing villages throughout the bay, and many of the people there never live on land their whole lives.. They have floating schools for ages 5-15 to mainly teach reading and writing.. 

First, we are not the cruising type, but we are in Halong Bay.. There were maybe 10 cabins on our boat with a dining room and a sun deck.. On our first day of our one night/two day adventure, we left the harbor and headed to the karsts.. We got to go inside a huge cave and kayak around the mountains.. They had a sunset wine party on deck and a huge dinner for us.. The second day was a bit shorter, and we just sailed around to bask in the beauty.. 

We sat together on the sun deck amazed at creation and thankful for our experience to see the world. 

Sa Pa, Vietnam

Sa Pa was the main reason we wanted to go to Vietnam.. The northern regions of Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand have many hills that are full of tribes that live off the land.. Sa Pa looked to be very beautiful, and I read the tribes welcome tourist to show around.. 

So we flew into the capital, Hanoi, and rode and overnight train to far northwest Vietnam to meet these tribal people and to trek with them on their land.. The overnight train was a first for us.. It's not like the trains in Europe.. Imagine being on a boat that sways and and airplane going through turbulance at the same time.. It was a bumpy ride, but we slept well..  

I had arranged for a black h'mong guide to trek with before we arrived, and she met us at our hotel once we checked in.. Her name was Maya, 26 years old, and married with two kids.. There are several tribes in the mountains, but the black h'mong tribe is the largest..

Maya's plan for us the first day was a light trek.. She took us through Cat Cat Village where we got to go inside a home.. A lady was there making rice wine in her kitchen and let us try a sip.. Rice wine isn't a good name for her concoction.. Rice moonshine would be much more appropriate.. It was so strong! Her house was made of wood and bamboo from the mountains.. She had a hundred or more ears of corn hanging from her ceiling for her family to eat  on for the whole year.. We thanked her, took pictures of her kids and headed to our guide's house.

Maya's house was very nice compared to others in the area.. She said it cost about $3k usd.. Her husband went into the mountains to chop trees down for the frame which took 10 men to carry down.. 

Our next day was a tough trek! It started raining during the night so everything was very, very slick.. Climbing narrow, muddy paths was pretty scary because one wrong step would send us tumbling down the steep mountain.. Luckily, Maya brought other h'mong women to help us.. They are seriously part mountain goat! They zipped through the muddy hills with ease.. At some parts, I had the ladies on each side of me holding both of my hands to make sure I didn't slip..  Those tiny women even had to help Joshua a couple times.. It was really rough but so very worth the amazing views of the mountains, rice terraces, and also to experience the company of the tribe ladies.. They really loved showing us around.. They were so proud of their land and culture.. They hand make their clothes from hemp, dye them with indigo plants and embroider beautiful patterns on them.. We purchased a couple of their handmade things, and they even gave us gifts as well- bracelets and small tokens they made from grass, flowers, and weeds along our trek.. 

Saying goodbye was a little more difficult than I thought it would be.. We will never see them again, but the memories they helped us make will always be cherished.

Wine Country in the Winter.. Cheers!

     We usually land in SFO for layovers to and from Asia, but this time we actually stopped for a second trip to the Wine Country- Napa and Sonoma.  Read about our first trip here.  Once we landed, we picked up our rental car and headed across San Francisco to drive over the Golden Gate.  The drive was beautiful, sunny and fog-free! 

     After the stop for a few pictures, we headed into Sonoma and spent the day there.  We were able to fit in 4 stops which included a couple we had visited before Viansa, a great place for a little picnic, and Jacuzzi which also has olive oil tastings. Both have incredibly beautiful grounds!  Joshua's favorite pinot noir is DeLoach Vineyards so we headed out there with a stop at BR Cohn along the way.  After a day in Sonoma, we were starving so we stopped at Super Burger in Santa Rosa on the way to Napa to finally check into our hotel. Super Burger has been voted best burger in Sonoma County, and we'd say the award is much deserved.  I honestly think it's the best veggie burger I've ever had, and Joshua loved his chicken sandwich too.  It's very worth the stop if you're in the area!  Later in the evening we headed to Oxbow Market to hang out at the Ca'Momi bar and wind down.  Also, another very highly recommended place. 

     Our next 2 days consisted of tasting wine, eating, tasting wine, and eating.  Here are the places we went: Markham, Merryvale, St. Clement, V. Sattui, Louis Martini, Whitehall Lane, Beringer, Franciscan, Girard, and Domaine Carneros, all mainly in the Rutherford and St. Helena areas.  All of those were just wonderful, but the ones not to miss are St. Clement for its setting, V. Sattui for a fabulous picnic lunch, Domaine Carneros for a bubbly tasting, and Girard for an amazing tasting experince.  Rick at Girard poured way more than the basic tasting menu and let us try several more unique wines while teaching us so much about it.  We loved the experience and the wine so much that we signed up for their club!  We also hit up Rutherford Grill which is a place we ate at last time and said we couldn't miss again.  

   Obviously, this post is mainly for our friends that ask about going as well so I'll share just a bit more.   3 days is plenty.  Seriously, plenty!  You will eat and drink so much that you think you can't anymore.  Rent a car and drive, but do it safely.  There's no need for the train, trolley or driver.  Just space out your tastings, eat plenty, and know your limit.  A lot of people ask which is better- Napa or Sonoma.  They're both great but very different.  Sonoma has a more country feel and has an abundance of low production wines that are really great.  If you do any tours, sometimes in Sonoma, the actual owner may be the one showing you around.  It can also cost less than Napa.  We love Sonoma because of the laid back atmosphere and the friendliness of the hosts.  They seem a bit more welcoming.  The only downside in our opinion is there can be a bit more drive time between wineries and less restaurants.  Napa has the bigger name wineries that you can find locally.  However, most of the big names do have a reserve tasting menu for their low productions wines, but expect those to be about $60/bottle if you plan on taking any home.  The wineries and restaurants are just everywhere and easy to find.  It is a bit pricier as well.  They're both fabulous and wonderful in their own way so make a stop to both since they're so close to each other.  A great planning tool I used was this site for printable maps and coupons to wineries.  Lastly, pack towels or throw blankets in your check in bag so you can take wine home!!   Happy planning!  Cheers!

From one side of the Middle East to the other...

Istanbul, Turkey!
Istanbul wasn't a destination we had dreams of visiting.  Basically, another traveler friend told us Turkish Airlines was running great deals so we jumped on it..then did our research to see what we were in for.
Istanbul is such a unique city in that it is sitting on two continents, Europe and Asia, which are divided by the Bosphorus River.  It's the largest city in the Middle East and is full of fascinating history and beautiful Ottoman architecture.  Another fabulous thing was Istanbul gave us a break from the insane heat of Dubai so we were able to enjoy temps in the 70's-80's. 
We started our tour with a breathtaking cruise down the Bosphorus River.  Our boat lined the European side heading up and then the Asian side heading back so we could get great views of both.  Both sides were full of beautiful mosques with their minarets beaming up from all the other buildings and bright red Turkish flags flying all over.  We also visited the historical Aya Sofya, a once mosque turned Catholic Church turned museum, and the Blue Mosque which I had to cover my hair for.  Topaki Palace was another hot spot we toured which I didn't know much about going into, but it turned out to be a highlight for us.  We actually saw Moses' staff!!  I was very suspicious if it was the real deal so I had to do research, and supposedly, it's actually the staff of Moses! Whoa!  It was supposed to have been passed through generations and was brought to the Topaki Palace from Egypt in the early 1500's.  Istanbul is full of amazing history, and I feel like we barely touched the surface.
It's also full of great food and people.  We ate lots of fresh fruit and vegetables and found a great spicy tomato dip, aicili ezme, that we ordered at just about every meal.  One thing we noticed about the people was that they seem so connected to each other.  Women and women and men and men link arms to walk which you rarely see in America, especially between men.  It impressed us that they don't have that invisible wall up and link arms with friends while walking.  How sweet that was to see!  And lastly, I mention the Grand Bazaar because it was my favorite thing to do.  We don't typically shop while vacationing, but we do try to get a few local goods to bring back, and the Grand Bazaar was the place to look!  I believe Joshua found it covered 61 streets which we only saw a very small portion of.  But we got our share of shopping for evil eye things, lamps, and embroidery for the house!
Istanbul is also a very walkable city if you're there touring the historical sites.  Everything from our hotel was within walking distance.  We took no other modes of transportation besides the river cruise, and we took a ferry to Kadikoy on the Asia side for a rooftop lunch.  Speaking of, the city is full of amazing views everywhere and has tons of rooftop terraces on top of restaurants to take in the views which we fully took advantage of!  The streets are also full of unique bohemian-looking cafes with men gathering for tea and conversation.  Turkish tea was everywhere!  That was the thing to do, gather around the table in the afternoon for tea and sweets with friends.  And at night, tea and shisha which is known as hookah to us. 
Overall, we both loved Istanbul- the city we didn't know much about but, luckily, bought tickets to anyway.