Episode #192 - Vietnam

Welcome to the Mastering Midlife Podcast, where we talk about all the crazy fun things that happen when you are a midlife mama. I'm your host, Heather London. Let's dig in. Hola guapas. Okay, two years ago when I was traveling in Costa Rica, I was talking to this guy. I'm going to say...

You know, he's in his 30s, early 30s, mid 30s. So not a young guy. Now, I mean, not like a teenager, like a party guy. And this is... why it's relevant i make a point of asking people who travel a lot where's the best place you've been to what's the most amazing thing you've ever done and this guy has traveled the world and he seemed like a reasonable person right like just normal kind of person

And I asked him this million dollar question. And he said, by far, the most fabulous experience I've ever had was I did the Ha Gai Ang loop in northern Vietnam. boom, that just stuck in my brain. Like it was in there because of his experience, because of who he was, like, and how passionate he was when he was talking about it. He's like...

Far and away, I've traveled the whole entire world. And this is the most amazing thing that I've ever done. And so this to this day has lived in my brain. And as I... Enter into Vietnam my whole trip in Vietnam was based on this loop Because I had to do it. It was just two years later. I'm still thinking about this. And so when I started planning my trip to Vietnam, it was all about this loop. Everything else was just, I'm putting it around this loop.

I flew in, I flew from Shanghai into Hanoi. And then I got on the bus right from the airport and took a six hour bus. So it's called, it's called a luxury.

VIP so the seats recline and you know like it's a nice bus and it's six hours because you got to go up north to get to this loop and so I just hop on this bus and it's funny because as soon as you get on the bus the bus driver starts like yelling at me I'm like what's he saying because not a lot of people speak English here and he's like you have to take your shoes off and put them in a bag and so when I go in there there's like the bus is full already because I picked him up in the

in hanoi in the city center and they're just stopping by the airport to pick me up and it's already full so i gotta find a seat and people's stuff is in the aisle nobody moves anything and and you gotta like carry your shoes and your backpack and you don't like you don't know what's going on this is why I love it because it's just like every single thing is an adventure if you're getting water it's an adventure and so I find um

my seat and then off we go like crazy driving for six hours and you try to fall asleep because then you know it makes the time go by faster but you literally don't know where you are and i'm gonna tell you as crazy as like the scooter people were in shanghai all the drivers are crazy here but it's a different kind of crazy It's an organized chaos. And it's very polite. I'm like, what am I even saying right now? It's mayhem, but it's polite mayhem. And there's honking.

going on. It's a language. So people are giving certain kind of honks to be like, I'm coming through, I'm not stopping and like all these things, but it sounds chaotic. It looks chaotic. It feels chaotic and it just works. And so this was kind of my welcome to Vietnam. You just hop on this bus and go, God, he said my name. I saw my name. So I guess I'm going to end up in the right spot eventually. You just trust. And then a couple hours later, the bus stops.

He was like, get out 20 minutes, you get a break. And then you're like, okay, where am I? What's going on? And you have some rice and you have a bathroom break. And the bathroom, the first bathroom was one of those squat toilets, meaning like it's just got like the toilet right on the ground with your feet. And I'm like.

I don't even know how to use this, but I'm just going to aim and hope for the best. And it's funny because I carry a pouch with me and in the pouch I have a little thing of hand sanitizer and tissues because... once you get to these countries you never know what's waiting for you in that bathroom and a lot of the times it's not toilet paper like there is no toilet paper and even if you're

you know, washing your hands with the water. You just, you just never know. So you've got to like have your own back. You got to have your own butt, literally. So back on the bus we go and more hours of driving. And then, and then they just. like go like bb hostel here you go heather heather heather this is your stop go and they kind of throw you off the bus and i'm like where is it and they're like it's right there see you later and then they drive off and so this is like

I don't know, 11 o'clock at night and it's pitch dark. I don't even know where I am. And there's just this teeny little sign that says BB Hostel, but it's not. I never would have known that except the bus driver said, that's it right there. And on the map, it was showing a different place. So I'm like, oh, I think he dropped me at the wrong spot. Now I got to walk around at 11 o'clock at night. I don't know where I am. I don't know where I'm going. But it turns out he was right.

they have two hostels and this one is for the tour that I'm going on and so you go into the hostel and of course somebody's there they're like somebody will be here for you no matter what time you show up and he just shows me to uh the hostel there's like um bunk beds like um one two three four four bunk beds so there's eight beds and and the kid doesn't speak english so he's just like there you go pick one

And so I pick a bed and I see like there's a whole bunch of luggage at another bed. I'm like, I don't know if that's one or two people, but somebody else is here and they're going to go on the trip. The reason I chose this. group to do the hagong lu is because they do small groups so eight or less because there are groups that do 20 people and it's chaotic and there's just too much and they're the party groups like they're drinking their faces off and i'm like that's not me so i

purposely picked this tour group because I watched some videos on YouTube and done a lot of research and so there I am in in northern Vietnam and just trying to organize my stuff. So I got to take all, I have a, I have this small suitcase, like my small carry on suitcase and a backpack and that's it for however long I go. Like I'm gone for a long time and I've, my packing is.

height like I nailed it this time because my last time I went I took stuff I never used I was so mad at myself because it's like a waste of space so I was really like bringing my a packing game and I'm like this fantastic and the way I did that is I got a bunch of merino wool glows because you can wear them for days or weeks in a row and not have to wash them and they don't smell they're antibacterial and trust me

i have been putting it to the test but this merino wool um not only don't you have to wash it it packs up really really small and it doesn't wrinkle so it takes up minimal space so i got I got the basics of my wardrobe all based on merino wool. Like a white tank top, black tank top, white t-shirt, black t-shirt, a dress, and then a little hoodie, a super light hoodie.

And that's what everything is based on. So those are all my staples. I did not bring a jacket. And in hindsight, I found out in Japan that that was a mistake because... It was darn cold there. Even in Shanghai, cold. And when I'm doing this loop, I'm on the back of a motorcycle. It's going to be cold. So I miss packed.

But the good news is, when I was in Japan, they have that store, Uniqlo. It's Japanese and it's everywhere. And so I got a really... small puffer jacket that folds up into like this, like into the palm of your hand. And I used that and that saved my life. The first night in Japan, I was freezing. I didn't even want to go out because I was so cold. And then I got this, put on this thin, super thin puffer jacket and life was amazing. Like I ran into somebody.

who did the same thing he's like i bought a jacket he goes i don't know what this japanese fabric magic is but it just works and i'm like i don't know what i was thinking not bringing a jacket especially because i'm going to be going around the mountains on a motorcycle even if it is in vietnam it's going to be warmer but so i added that to my wardrobe and it was a game changer it was like

saved my life anyway there was some suitcases there so an hour or two later when I'm trying to like I gotta repack my suitcase so I gotta take my suitcase which is gonna stay at the hostel and I could just take a backpack

a small backpack that I'm going to use for three days and only put the essentials in it. And the backpack gets put on the bicycle and we carry it with us through the whole trip. So I have to be really particular about what I take. So I'm repacking my suitcase and then in comes a couple from... and I'm like I've never met anybody from Lithuania they were super funny super awesome young couple and they're doing like the four day I don't know what they were doing but the

The girl has traveled a lot and the guy hasn't, but they were funny and they were a lot of fun. And so we find our beds, go to sleep. We're getting up the next morning. They're going to feed us breakfast and then off we go. That's all we know.

in the middle of the night of course the door opens somebody else comes in and then four in the morning the door opens somebody else comes in so I don't know who's in there at this point and I don't know until the morning when we wake up and it turns out there was a girl from Norway there um she was like

43 and then there was a younger guy from Mexico and Then we all had breakfast and we're getting ready to go. We're super excited our bags are packed We're gonna meet our drivers. So basically what the loop is you travel through I don't

um the loop and you're it's you're on the back of a motorcycle so they're called easy riders so what happens is you got a driver and you just sit on the back and you enjoy the view that's your job is just to be in the moment and to look around and see all of the gorgeousness that is And on your motorcycle, you carry everything that you need and that's it. And so we had our breakfast and the next thing I know, um,

The couple, they're going a different direction because they're doing a different tour and the guy from Mexico is going somewhere else. So it's just me and the girl from Norway. And we ended up waiting and waiting. What are we waiting for? Like everybody else had left and they're like, oh, there's another couple coming on this.

on the two days. So they're going to start with you. So we're going to spend a day together. And then on day two, you guys will separate. And then this lovely French couple comes again, younger, like maybe in their thirties. And so the four of us are, and our guides are easy riders.

are headed off on this fabulous thing and again it's like if the first day it was drizzly and it had stopped raining but it was wet so we had to put like plastic on our feet and our legs and we had elbow pads and we had a helmet and We were done upright. Although I knew if we got in an accident, the helmet wasn't going to be helping us. But it gave me a sense of feeling protected.

And so off we go on our big adventure. And so for three days and two nights, We're traveling throughout northern Vietnam on the trail and we're stopping every 30 minutes or less to see these spectacular views only to be outdone at the next stop by another spectacular view.

You stop for coffee and you stop for lunch. And then the first night we had a hotel, so we each had our own room. And then the next night we stayed at... a homestay so the first night okay I can't even like I don't even know where to start they feed us they fed us breakfast we got on the bikes and then when we stopped for lunch it was just like

this whole table of food and we all shared this food it was so delicious so delicious and then when we stopped for dinner we've got our hotel and then we met at seven o'clock so we could shower and all that and then we had hot pot and we all sat together and they're showing us how to cook this hot pot and it was just so I love the family meals just talking and chatting and eating together

And then they broke out what they call the happy water. So it's pretty much northern Vietnam version of like sake or rice wine. And it's got some kick to it. We do our cheer. We learn the local cheer. And we're eating and eating. And then we walk about the town. just the cutest little town and there's dancing going on and oh my gosh it was just so fun and then of course you're exhausted but here's the thing here's what I didn't realize until the second I got on the motorcycle now my

easy rider. His name was Mikey. It looked like he was 12, but I was checking him out. I'm like, Mikey, how old are you? He's 23. So I'm like, okay, he's got a son, eight months. Okay. Okay. So He's not 12. I think I'm going to be okay. He's been doing this for a couple years. Okay, I'm feeling confident. Mikey was amazing.

Mikey would be the guy who would fall behind just so he could zoom to speed up and catch everybody, like go super fast. Mikey was the one who would like... almost run into a car and then every time he'd do something might be the one who like start driving and his kickstand's still down and he would laugh and he would just go sorry sorry and he would just laugh his face off so

we had the best experience he also like stalled out the bike once and somebody had to come and get us like this is just mikey but he was the kindest most fun guy it was just a good match and so off we go And as soon as I got on the motorcycle and I put my left neck, now I have this knee thing going on and my knee can only bend 90 degrees. But what I didn't think is that when you put your foot on the, on the post.

to rest it it's like past 90 degrees and it was so hard to get my leg there and i could only get like the tip of my heel on this stupid thing and so every time we turn or went over a bump and trust me this is a bumpy ride i'm talking like bumpy ride windy roads pothole city so basically what i had to do was hold on behind me for dear life because

Normally when you're sitting on a motorcycle, you're stabilizing yourself when your feet are on those pedals. But my left leg, it was just the heel. So I couldn't balance myself. So I had to... hold on for dear life, like the death grip on the back of the motorcycle. And every time I went over my butt, I had to like push myself back or like, it was so uncomfortable. I thought, oh my God, this is going to be the longest three days of my life. It was so hard.

Our first day was the longest day. We went for 115 kilometers. Now remember, we're stopping every like 30 minutes. We're having coffee. There's view posts all along there. And the leader decides where you're going to stop. based on how busy it is or who the group is. And so we had a great leader. His name was who, and he just picked the best spots all the time. But I was struggling because it was a long day. We had stopped for this.

fabulous lunch. And at the end of the day, I'm like, I don't know if I can do this. I think I, I don't think I could do two more days. It's just. so hard it hurts my knee my my my arms are so like i'm literally holding on for dear life because when we turn i can't balance with my legs so i have to use my arms to hold on

And at the end of the day, I said to Mikey, I'm like, Mikey, I can't do this. My knee isn't bending enough. But then I saw his post and I'm like, I saw that he just put his heel on his post. And I said, Mikey.

Could I put my toes on that other part of the post that you're not using? Because then my leg is almost straight. And he's like, for sure, no problem. I'm like, well... okay and then i did that and he didn't even put his foot on the post he gave me the whole post and he put his foot on like where you gear up and down because there was a little spot where he could rest his foot for that and so

I was like, Mikey, you could put it here and we'll share. He's like, no, no, you just have it. So the next, that night when we went to my hotel room, my ankle was like the size of an elephant ankle. It was insane. I thought I was going to have to like take the bus home because it was I've never seen my ankle that because just no circulation happening. It was horrible. So I thought I was going to have to.

I thought I was going to have to quit the loop. But when I talked to Mikey about it, he gave me that post and it felt so good. I was like, what is even happening the next day when I sat on the bike with my...

left leg almost straight on that post. I didn't even have to hold on at all. It was like easy rider. Then I understood the term easy rider because it was effortless, effortless for me to just sit there and I could take video and pictures and look all around me and I didn't even have to hold on it was just so amazing and that's what all the other people were experiencing and I'm like damn this is hard because I was holding on for dear life I thought that's what

It was like that for everybody, but it wasn't. It was because of my knee. So problem solved. And now this is like next level game changer. Fabulous. Now I can enjoy the experience instead of like, like being on a death trap for.

I don't know, like eight hours a day. It was, it was night and day. And so I had the best time. I would highly recommend this to anybody who, if you go to vietnam you have to do this loop it was one of the best things i've ever done in my life i could show you pictures but it won't do it justice because it's the whole experience just standing there on these on these lookouts

It's so peaceful. It's so gorgeous. It was just, oh my gosh, it was life-changing. And not only that, but the connection with the locals, like with our riders, and they're all a big family. And the next night we stayed at the homestay and it was this huge party it was like insane because you could hear everything you're sleeping on a mat on a floor with like a with like a mosquito net and the karaoke is

thumping like till all hours of the morning it was you got to bring earplugs when you go to these places but the coolest thing was like our guides were so good the girl that I was with announced at dinner hey guys I didn't tell you this but it's my birthday today

And 10 minutes later, before dinner was even done, our guide had found we're in the middle of nowhere. And he found that he came up with this birthday cake and personalized it with her name on it. And we all sang to her and had a happy birthday cake. And it was like the best cake I've

ever had i don't eat cake because i'm not eating sure best cake i've ever had but the cool part was that we're in the middle of nowhere i don't even know how he pulled this off but that's the kind of things they do right they make you feel welcome you're so taken care of there they just really, really look after you and you become part of the family. It was the, I just could go on forever about how life-changing it was and how amazing it was. And so...

That's probably why it stuck with me because the guy was explaining it how I'm explaining it to you like just Every viewpoint was more breathtaking than the one that we had just seen. And they took us down like on the side of a cliff because we were just a small group.

down the small little pass that nobody else you can't go down and they took us to these little villages and we went into somebody's house and they showed us around how they only eat corn that's all they eat because that's all that can grow in the rocks and it's just wow I'll be forever changed because of this experience. And I could go on and on. Like, I want to tell you all the things about it. It was phenomenal, and it was exhausting, and it was life-changing, and I would highly recommend it.

go to Vietnam? Have you come to Vietnam? You have to do the Hai Gaang loop. You just have to. And then I didn't even get to tell you about what happened next. I'm just going to finish this because it's so good.

That was three days and two nights of life-changing experience. And then after that, I jumped on the sleeper bus. Again, you just wait there and they're like, I'll tell you when the bus is here and you get on it. all of a sudden the bus showed up and you get on it and it's a sleeper like it's like a bed and you just pull the curtain and go to sleep and hope that they like call you when it's your stop and they do they're like how long how long you're like

is this my stop oh my gosh like you're just figuring it out as you go and then and then you get kicked out of the bus and they throw your stuff at you and then it's like four in the morning and here you are in another city and you're like I don't know what to do I don't know where to go

and you could do a grab right to get to um your your boat but the thing is the boat doesn't um arrive it doesn't leave until 11 o'clock and this is four in the morning so this nice taxi guy is like hey i can take you there and you can get a little hotel for you know a couple hours and it'll be good just let me take you and he took me there and sure enough just as we pull up to the hotel the light's on and so they're friends and they do this all the time right the taxi guy will

and bring people to the hotel and it was like $15, best $15 I ever spent. The bed was so amazing and I had a couple hours sleep and then I could shower and it was just so good. And then... I walk to the ferry boat, and you're on this boat for one night. But it's packed full of fun things to do. And you're going, now you're going through Halong Bay, which is, now it's these mountains that are coming out of the water. And you go kayaking and you go swimming. Okay, I went swimming. Although...

It's not the cleanest water. Maybe not a good idea, but I couldn't not go swimming. And then you do, you make rice paper rolls and you do squid fishing. Like it was just... really well organized and it was that high end like I felt well taken care of and then it was such a good combination to to go with my Hagayang loop and then

After that, you're only two hours from Hanoi. And then I go into the city of Hanoi and I'm like, it's so dirty and it's so loud and it's so crazy. And I loved every second of it. I'm like... Oh my gosh, I don't like big cities, but this is my jam. I just fell in love with Hanoi. It was just, there's a chaos to the traffic, but you just, you just work your way.

in it it just makes sense but it's so chaotic and i loved every second of it i had i went and had their local pancake which is like you've got to learn how to eat the pancake it was a hot mess but it was so delicious and then I had the egg coffee which is another like mind-blowing experience and I just loved like at night all the

locals would come and they'd just sit on this little stew on the side street and they'd be eating dinner cooking and um like the little restaurants are just like hot pots everybody eats together it was just so much to see and do and so chaotic and went to train street and you sit where you're like two inches when the train comes blowing by you and it was like so much fun and met this cool family who runs a cafe there i just oh

So many cool stories to share. And I wasn't expecting to love Vietnam. But these three things that I did, like 10 out of 10. It was so amazing. But I'm not going to lie. I have not seen the sun since I got here. And it's all smog. Like there's the sun is up there somewhere, but it's so dirty because and smoggy because there's everybody burns everything. And there's just this thick, thick air that hangs and you can't.

really breathe deep and there is no sunshine. So it's very dirty, but the Vietnamese are hardworking people and they are doing their thing. And I really enjoyed it here. I really, really did. I didn't know what to expect. And I would just highly recommend if you do one thing where you're like, this is going to be life-changing, Hagayang Loop. Oh, I could go on and on, but I won't because the more I...

I'm telling you this story, the more I just thinking back to all the things that I had. And having said that, I was sick. So I was getting sick. And at first I thought it might be a cold. But it's strep throat because I've had it a couple times. So, you know, if you've had it, you know, you get a sore throat and you're not sure if it's a cold or that. But after a couple of days when you still get the sore throat and it never goes away.

I had to find my way to a pharmacy and the lady was so helpful. She could just give you antibiotics over the counter and so helpful and so kind. Because as much as I hate taking medications, you know, if you've had strep throat, the only way to get rid of it, because it's a bacterial infection, is you need antibiotics. So unfortunately, well fortunately, she could give them to me over the counter, and unfortunately I have to take them, but...

i just started today so i think i'll feel better because by the end of the day i was knackered but i couldn't stop going out i was feeling so horrible and at night my throat just felt so bad but i couldn't stop because there's so much to see and do i was just out all night walking and eating and visiting and it was just like I couldn't miss out on this because it was just so fabulous I love love love Hanoi and like I said I don't love big cities but

I think for one, like 24 hour stint, it was perfect. Anyway, I could just go on and on about this, but that's it. So I'm headed to my next destination. So I got to pack up because I got to go my, I got to get to the airport. But as always. Thank you for listening. Always, always, always love yourself first and have an amazing day.