Good Morning Vietnam!

First Day of Vacation in Vietnam...Good Morning!!!

In late Feb. 2017, we made our last major trip during our time living in South Korea to Vietnam, and it truly was a good morning! (Kevin's a little too excited in the picture because Jennifer had yet to drink her coffee).

Vietnam certainly does have a history, and beyond the obvious war stories brought up, the country really is very pretty and the people nice. Some of the best experiences we have during our time in Asia is in the food markets. A lot of the food is still grown locally by families and sold at the neighborhood market. The advantage is that you are constantly eating fresh, locally grown seasonal food, bought directly from the farmer. In Korea this forces us to make dishes that use the seasonal food available. The only downside is that if it's not grown locally, or out of season, it's extremely expensive and sometimes impossible to get.

Vietnamese woman carrying food back from the market

We did a food tour in Hoi An (central Vietnam) which took us around the local markets, shops, and ended at the owners' house where he had a tasting lunch prepared. Overall it was an amazing experience learning about the history of food in Vietnam - they eat constantly from morning to night - and if you're ever in the area we would highly recommend it!

Next we went to a temple that has the tallest Buddha statue in Vietnam at a height of 67 meters (220 feet, ~30 stories tall). Miles seemed to enjoy himself getting out in the sun and laying about. At the time of the trip he was 5 months old and still learning how his arms and legs worked so sometimes he definitely was a handful! In the temple courtyard they had a series of banyan bonsai trees that Kevin found extremely interesting.

One of things they stressed during the food tour is the different tastes each food brings (ie: Sweet, Sour, Salty, Bitter, Umami, etc.). Vietnamese food combines different flavors to make truely fantastic food.

A banyan bonsai tree in the temple courtyard

Outside of the city we stayed (Danang, Vietnam) was a group of mountains made of marble. You could purchase statues made from the local marble as well as climb the mountain, which we did (with Jennifer carrying Miles the entire way!!!). The view from the top was amazing and well worth the climb!

View from the top of Danang's Marble Mountain

At night we usually ended up in Hoi An at the river which they light up with lanterns. The combination of the traditional architecture and heritage made our last trip a truly unique and special experience.

We spent the next few months after this trip wrapping up our time in South Korea and getting ready for our move back to Texas!!!

For more pictures from this trip take a gander through our Vietnam Gallery, and if that's not enough for you check out our other Travels.