It’s that time of year again for the Horace family. It’s travel time! We have a large number of Thai holidays at the beginning of the year that Chris must take off work (they can’t be used as a floater holiday) so April and May are always a busy time for us. This year in planning our travels we are trying to stretch the budget as far as it can go and see as much as possible  before we move back to the states at the end of the year. Our first international stop of the year is Vietnam.

Vietnam has a lot to offer the explorer from beautiful beaches, busy cities, to mountain ranges that have been used as farming for centuries. I was a little ambitious with the trip planning at first and had it all worked out to see the entire country with multiple sleeper train adventures! Then we realized we are traveling with a toddler and as you all know toddlers need their rest and down time. So that trip quickly changed to three major areas over 9 days that I will cover in the next three posts.

• Halong Bay Cruise: With water as blue as the sky surrounded by limestone islands, we enjoyed a relaxing ride with Indochina Junk full of delicious food and well thought out excursions.
• Sapa: Our adventure continued with two days of trekking (not for the faint of heart) along the mountains and rice terraces, which is home to Fansipan Mountain the highest mountain in Indochina. We were able to catch a glimpse of ancient times where we discovered villages and their inhabitants that have made Sapa their home for hundreds of years.
• Hanoi: We wrapped up our trip with a tour of the capital of Vietnam to discover UNESCO World Heritage sites, temples, cafes and much more.

You can view our photography posts of Halong Bay, Sapa, and Hanoi by clicking on the links. We really enjoyed our time in Vietnam and with everything being so affordable it makes the time there that much sweeter. Enjoy the posts and if you have any questions about our trip just send a comment, we are happy to answer.