Reader Ride: Northern Vietnam

My husband, Josh, and I decided before starting a family that we really needed a BIG bike vacation. We wanted culture shock. Yet without a lot of money to spend and no previous adventure travel experience, we found it.

Toronto to New York, west to Seoul, then arriving in Hanoi after dark—it was the longest flight we ever experienced. We were excited, anxious, and a little apprehensive as we rode by taxi to our hotel in the Old Quarter. We passed shops, homes, parks, and open markets where the flurry of activity led us to believe that it must be a party of gang activity. There were so many people, so much noise so late at night. This was definitely foreign to us and very scary. Little did we know the locals were simply bartering over seafood, farm animals, and fresh fruit.

Arriving at our hotel, which was very deep and very tall, about as wide as a double garage, we were exhausted and hot and happy to get our room for a night, including breakfast.