North To South — Under New Skies

You only have two options for which to travel in Vietnam; from the south to the north or from the north to the south. Vietnam is a skinny sliver geographically, a splinter of a country that covers a lot of land vertically. Jeremy and I are gallivanting north to south, with Ninh Binh as our first stop following Hanoi. Ninh Binh is a dream. It is known as the “Ha Long Bay of Land,” and as we’re sitting on a boat, rowed impressively by the feet of a local, with only the sound of the paddles dipping in and out of the water, I realize I prefer this to the actual Ha Long Bay by ten fold. We stayed at a homestay, which is a family-run, bungalow-type accommodation, and I adored this family. The youngest of the family, a two-year-old boy, and the oldest, a great-grandmother who would leisurely waddle around with a cane in her hand and a Vietnamese hat on her head, usually sitting in the hammock all day, smiling big and broad when you passed.

We took a night bus to our next stop, Phong Nha. The bus departed at 9 PM and arrived at 4 AM, and I gotta tell you, that was one, wild ride. It pulls up, a double-decker of horizontal seats, neon lights blinding the inside like the Vegas strip. We climb a side ladder to the upper row, lie down, and very quickly discover the driver is a maniac. He lays on the horn non-stop, makes turns so tight you nearly fall out of your seat, and brakes so abruptly you think this may be your last ride... ever.

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We safely arrived close to 4, the sky still like coal and the stars still like embers, barely having slept. We drove down a country road, completely darkened with no street lights, just like the Connecticut roads from my childhood. The air was silent except for the buzzing song of crickets and the night wind sweeping through. We crawled into a tent that was generously set up for us by our homestay hosts because our bungalow wasn’t available yet. We fell asleep upon the hard ground and awoke with our hair matted from sweat. That afternoon, Jeremy and I hopped on a scooter and off we went discovering Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park, feeling free on the road and swallowing sunshine, any lingering notes of weariness sweeping right off our skin with the wind.

Phong Nha is a green, countryside village, with very little tourists, known for its extraordinary caves. Caves the size of oceans, hidden within the limestone walls of its dense mountains. Cathedral-sized stalagmites and stalactites, formed one drop of water at a time, millions of years old, all with different details, shapes, and striations of color. The Vietnamese hid inside these caves during the war, even using one as a working hospital. Phong Nha houses the biggest cave in the world, Son Doong Cave, and its size is so gargantuan that an entire New York City block can fit inside, even fitting 40 story tall skyscrapers.

Next, we ventured to Hue, only a 4 hour bus ride, at 7 in the morning. I was already melting from the heat, my skin coated with molasses-like humidity. We celebrated my birthday with an evening of birthday cake and candles, dinner at a local joint for a whopping total of $4, a full-moon walk through town, happy hour cocktails, sitting by the riverside, and a packet of Oreos. I am 33 years old and I am happy to be alive. Another year laughing, crying, singing, dancing, drinking, eating, growing, exploring, and experiencing this magical, spinning earth is nothing more than a privilege. It is an honor and a gift to grow older. Age is something that’s not granted to everyone, and it is something to be celebrated, esteemed, and embraced always.