Our First Visitor in Hanoi

We have been overseas for two years and last month we had the pleasure of welcoming our first visitor, my father-in-law, Nat. Neither Douglas nor I expected anyone to visit us while stationed in Algiers. We thought that would change at our next duty station. Our expectations of anyone visiting us quickly diminished upon learning that Vietnam would be our next stop. It’s Vietnam – what are the odds that anyone has this country on their bucket list? After living here for the past 7 ½ months we can easily say that the visit is worth the trek, time, and money for those who are able. Before we left the US in 2012, Douglas’ dad told us to expect a visit from him. We did not think much of the words at the time because people say they will visit, but it is rare that they ever do. His dad kept his word and surprised us at the start of the year with the news that he would be paying us a visit in February. Within a few days, the details were confirmed and the ticket was purchased.

Upon receiving Nat’s flight itinerary I went into automatic planning mode. I wanted to give him a pleasant mixture of tourist activities, time with the three of us together, and a good amount of father-son time. My big challenge was working around the Vietnamese Tet Holiday when all businesses shut down for approximately five days. Thankfully my father-in-law is an extremely laid back and flexible man. Those qualities are absolutely necessary when visiting Hanoi, but especially when visiting during Tet. We could not have asked for a better visit. All was accomplished within the one week he was here. We did everything from visiting Ho Chi Minh’s Museum to going bowling at Asia's largest underground mall.

It may seem odd to thank a parent for coming to visit. One might consider that an automatic obligation for a parent to do, so why thank them? Well, nothing is automatic and regardless of our expectations, as adults I believe no one owes us anything, not even a parent. Therefore, I am very appreciative to my father-in-law for not only having the desire to visit, but for setting aside time in his schedule to spend just with us. Thanks for the memories!  

We came up with the fun idea of creating a welcome sign. Look at that lady's face!

He too got to experience what it's like to be a celebrity in Hanoi

Yes, it's seriously that crowded in this tiny market

Van Mieu - Temple of Literature

Hoa Lo Prison, the famous "Hanoi Hilton"

Douglas is finally learning how to play the game of spades...

Vincom Mega Mall

All is fair in love and bowling! (Douglas got lucky!)

Guess what time it is?

King's Island Golf Course where they were treated like royalty

The breakfast table - where they were also treated like royalty! : )

I think his heart skipped a beat when looking at how much beer could fit on a motor bike

The trip would not be complete without getting something tailor made

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

Ho Chi Minh Museum

Pho Ga - best chicken noodle soup ever!

people eating "street food"

Red bridge - Hoan Kiem Lake

One would think they were old friends - this stranger approached him for a photo.

Last stop before the airport - El Gaucho Restaurant

Temples of Angkor: Part 3 of 3

The hardest thing to do when touring the many different Wats is to keep yourself from getting “templed-out.” We tried to do other activities in between each day of touring. However, Douglas caught a bad stomach bug early on in our trip which caused us to rearrange our tour dates. It always seems one of us gets sick on every trip. We’re thankful that at least we have not been sick at the same time…knocking on wood now! We ended up doing our temple tours on back to back days which brought us very close to being templed-out. It helped that we did not spend any one entire day doing tours. It was all morning, all afternoon, or a little of both. By the third day though, all the temples were beginning to blend together. I started to take on the attitude of after you've seen one wat, you’ve seen them all. But in some way each temple had its own uniqueness; every temple told a different story. Our temple touring experience was like nothing we had done before, and we would not hesitate to do it again. 

Bayon Temple

 Pre-Rup

Preah Khan

Baphoun Temple

A television taping occurred while we were present

Banteay Samre

Banteay Srei Temple

 Ta Prohm

The man in the orange shirt requested a picture with Douglas. Then the man in the white ran up there to request a picture as well....the color of our skin automatically gives us celebrity status!

A lady beside me said, "Is he someone special?"

No, we did not need any of these trinkets, but it was nearly impossible to say 'No' to the kids...

As soon as Douglas pulled out his wallet several other kids came running over to sell their goods. The look on Douglas' face is hilarious! I think they emptied his wallet!