Harris World Tour

Friday, April 26th, 2019. Today we went downstairs for breakfast with our suitcases because the bus was going to pick us up early. It didn't. It came at 9:00am instead of 8:00. The good thing is that we only had to take one bus. That same bus rode inside the ferry. After the bus boarded, we got out and went upstairs to enjoy the view. In 20 minutes or so we were in Haiphong and on our way to Ninh Binh. The ride was smooth and the bus made two quick stops where we got snacks and went to the bathroom. One bathroom just had stalls with squat toilets and no doors. Sunshine and I looked at each other and then luckily, a lady pointed out two Western toilets with doors! We made it to Ninh Binh in four hours. I get a little anxious when the bus stops because we never know if it's time to get off but here in Vietnam, the buses seemed very well organized and you tell the driver or the assistant the name of your hotel and then they drive you or they tell you where to get off. We were tol...

Thursday, April 25th, 2019. Today we took a cruise in Ha Long Bay. It was amazing, fun and I highly recommend it. We also met cool people on board. [Gregory's quick description:] Basically, they picked us up at the hotel at 9, drove us to the port, and we boarded a boat. There were about 20 of us on the cruise, mostly Anglos (Canada, Australia, England) and one Russian family. A guy that could have been an extra in Pirates of the Caribbean was our "tour guide" and an English girl helped him. They told us, for example, not to stand up in the water, just to float over the razor-sharp rocks in the bay, they led our kayaking expedition through caves to hidden bays, and they warned us about the nasty monkeys on Monkey Island where they led a hike up to viewpoints. We all felt the cruise took a little too long. Even though the scenery was gorgeous, it was the same great views for hour after hour. The cruise ended at 6, and the bus let everyone off at a local bar in Ca...

Wednesday, April 24, 2019. Today we followed a guy who took us from our hotel to the corner to catch our bus. It was a small bus and I thought it was the ride to a big bus but I was wrong. That was our bus to Haiphong where we would catch a boat to the island. The ride wasn't bad, it only took around 3 hours but the bummer was that the seats were narrow and we didn't have enough space for our legs. Poor Daniel had to put his legs sideways. Definitely, a bus made for Vietnamese people. When we arrived, we had to get out of the bus, grab our suitcases and walk to the jetty to take a ferry to the island. I guess we missed the first ride waiting for our suitcases. I told the driver and he told me to wait five minutes. We saw another boat pull up and a bunch of people got on but they wouldn't let us on board. I started to worry about how we were going to get to the island and how long we would have to wait. Well, a few minutes later, another boat pulled up. It was the same ...

Tuesday, April 23, 2019. Today we just wanted to rest, so we decided to stay at the hotel all morning. The staff is super friendly and every time they see us, Smiley says "Isabella, Lili hello." We also enjoy the breakfast here, they offer so much food and variety compared to other hotels where we have stayed. When hunger strikes, one of the members of the family starts calling the others and it is time to go out hunting for food. [ Gregory's note: I wanted to make it to "Beer Street" in the old quarter, a 15-minute walk, but Lili got too hangry along the way.] We settled for banh mi (sandwiches) in a tiny place on the second floor with AC. Afterward, Gregory wanted to drink a beer on Beer Street. It was noisy with scooters beeping everywhere. We found a little place with a plastic table and stools and we sat for a drink. Later, we walked around the old quarter taking pictures and videos of all the stores and the busy streets of Hanoi. We noticed that each are...

Monday, April 22nd, 2019. Of course, we slept in, after all that  waking up early  and trekking for two days! It was great to be able to get up at 9:30. I was the last one to wake up! We spent all morning in the room, we even skipped breakfast. We checked out at noon, left our backpacks, and went out looking for a place to eat. It is a bad idea to look for a restaurant to please four hungry people. We were all very "hangry", as Daniel likes to say, and we could not agree on a place. The kids wanted Western food, I wanted a nice clean place, and Gregory could eat anything, anywhere! We finally found a cute and delicious place that had everything that we wanted. The name of the restaurant was Good Luck and I highly recommend it if you want Vietnamese food or Western food! After our lovely meal, we walked around the lake and sat underneath a tree. We stopped at a grocery store to grab snacks for the bus and then we stopped for coffee near the bus stop to kill time. We went ba...

Sunday, April 21st, 2019. Today there was a knock on our door around 7:40am. It was the man I call Grumpy, wanting to know if we were awake. We told him we would be ready at 8:00am for breakfast. When we came downstairs, I assumed that breakfast was going to be on the table. We had talked last night, over and over about what we wanted for breakfast. Apparently, he didn’t get it and we had to start the process of ordering again! He wanted to serve chicken noodles for breakfast but we explained to him that we didn’t like that for breakfast and if he could please just serve us plain eggs and bread. I also felt like I had to beg for coffee and his response was that he was trying to do his best to serve our family. It really didn’t feel that way, plus he always seemed to be upset. He brought egg sandwiches in paper bags and coffee from next door. When he asked if we needed any else with a proud face. I said: “yes, we need napkins”. We were the only people eating breakfast, there was no kit...

Saturday, April 20th, 2019. Today we woke up at 6:30 am because we are taking a bus to Sa Pa. I was actually relieved that Gregory paid for the tour to save the hassle of making our way on our own, plus we were advised by friends to buy directly from the hotel because there are a lot of fake travel agencies. [ Gregory's note: actually, people warned us that if you don't buy a tour from the hotel, they will steal things from you and that the prices are about the same as what you would find on your own.] The manager had told us that they would have breakfast ready for us, but when we went downstairs, they were actually making us breakfast. We ate quickly and packed half of the breakfast because a guy came to pick us up at 6:45am. We followed him as he rode on his motorcycle (it crossed my mind that it was a scam) and he stopped in front of a minivan that made stops to pick up other guests. We arrived at a bus stop and we saw our bus there. Our English friends that we met on th...

Friday, April 19, 2019. Today I just don’t feel like writing. All I can remember is that the heat was unbearable and we still manage to visit the Temple of Literature and the Imperial Citadel. [ Gregory's note: and the planes and tanks of the Military History museum.] The Temple of Literature is a Temple of Confucius in Hanoi. The temple hosts the Imperial Academy, Vietnam's first national university. The temple was built in 1070 at the time of Emperor Lý Thánh Tông. It is one of several temples in Vietnam which is dedicated to Confucius, sages and scholars. Wikipedia After we visited the temple, we walked towards the citadel but we first stopped to get a cold drink. It was a nice, American style cafe called Highlands and we had cold ice tea and rested for a while. Afterwards we walked to the Citadel. Daniel decided to stay in the restaurant to wait for us. It was so hot that we let him sit there with his phone. Gregory, Sunshine and I walked in the sun towards the palace. We...

Thursday, April 18, 2019 Today after breakfast, we walked to the Hoa Lo Prison, well known as the "Hanoi Hilton" by the American POWs who were imprisoned there. It was interesting to learn about how many invasions the Vietnamese people had over time. Almost no breaks from one invader to the next. I didn't like the vibe in some of the rooms, especially where they had the guillotine and the basket in which they carried the severed heads. I like to go to these places and learn but it is emotionally draining. It was also interesting to see how they described themselves when they were invaded [ Gregory's note: that was the word they used for "colonized"] by the French and how well they treated the Americans when they were their prisoners. Gregory kept laughing and saying how this was all propaganda, I just kept quiet and reminded him where he was! [ Gregory's note: the winner gets to write history.] In any case, it was a good experience to show the kids ho...

Wednesday, April 17th, 2019. Today was a very frustrating day because we spent most of the day doing research and looking for a place to stay for a week. We kind of wanted to stay in an apartment but in the Hoan Kiem district where there are a lot of restaurants and cafes but most of the nice apartments were on the other side of the lake and far away. Gregory is not happy with Vietnam, its vibe and its tourists and when he is in that mood, there is nothing I can do to cheer him up. [ Gregory's note: like I've ever been like that before? In fact, after the tranquility and friendliness of Myanmar, Hanoi was a rough jolt.] I was frustrated that we couldn't find a decent place to stay in the area. I suggested to stay in the hotel where we are and just stay fewer days instead of a week. When we finally agreed to that, we all relaxed and went back to our hotel. Since Gregory was not in the mood for anything, Sunshine and I walked to the convenience store for snacks. I spe...

Tuesday, April 16th, 2019. Today we got up late, went for breakfast and said goodbye to the new staff at our Hotel Vista. Everyone was so friendly and we gave them tips and they were even happier. At our rooms, we caught up with our writing and pretty much finished getting ready to check out at noon. We left our suitcases at the front desk and then we went outside for lunch. We were careful not to get wet because we can't change our clothes and we have to go to the airport around 3:00pm. We could probably go later but since we don't have anything else to do and we all love spending time at the airport lounge! Daniel found a Thai restaurant where we could eat. The food was delicious but the place was extremely hot. We stopped at a convenience store and bought more thanaka, the special powder so we can sell it in the US. Gregory is always thinking about how to make money. On our way back to the hotel, they wanted to get us wet but we screamed "no, please, we are leavi...

Monday, April 15, 2019. Today we slept in, went upstairs for breakfast, noticed that there is new personnel or maybe the others are on vacation. We spent all morning catching up with emails, taxes (poor Gregorio) and homework. We left the room around 2:30pm for lunch. The Water Festival is still going on. Gregory and Sunshine got wet, I managed to run and escape. It is fun for one day but this festival goes on for 3 or 4 days! We didn't do much that day, almost everything was closed and I regretted not buying my longyi (traditional skirt) for women. Tomorrow we leave Myanmar to go to Vietnam. Pictures here https://photos.app.goo.gl/XQzQtf5m8GnSA7Et8

Sunday, April 14th, 2019. Well, nothing exciting to write about today. We pretty much spend all day on the road from Myanmar to Yangon. We were happily surprised by our nice VIP bus with 3 seats across and plenty of space to recline! It also had entertainment and Wifi. The ride was smooth and we only made two break stops. The bad ride was from the bus station, which was outside Yangon, to our hotel. We called Grab. At first, the driver was going fast because the streets were empty but then he tried to take a shortcut and that’s when traffic got bad. It was fun to watch and pass all the people throwing water at the motorcycles and light trucks filled with people on the back, but after an hour sitting on plastic-covered seats, we were done! Gregory tried to tell the driver to take the main road because Google Maps said that there was no traffic there but the driver just ignored him. I could tell that he was in a rush to get to a party and he spent a lot of the time on his cell phone. Da...

Saturday, April 13th, 2019. Today after breakfast, Sunshine and I stayed to chat with a group of young international travelers. Pablo from Mexico asked me if I was Mexican, then he introduced me to his Italian girlfriend Melina and then we met the rest of the French people. I was just going to give them our card but we ended up chatting for more than an hour. I thought Gregory was going to come upstairs to the restaurant but he was busy writing his blog. Anyway, we were so happy to meet them because we got some very good tips for our next destinations. We also gave some tips for India, since that’s where they are going next. I was honest and gave my impressions about India, which I still have love/hate feelings for. We promised to check their Youtube channel and blog and follow them. We came back to our rooms and I found Gregory writing his new blog. It will not be a competition but he will be writing here from time to time to help out, plus his writing is super fun. I always laugh at...

Friday, April 12th, 2019. Today we slept in and had a late breakfast. The dining room was packed, it seemed that they filled up the hotel overnight. I had to ask the manager for dishes, forks, and more coffee. I’m getting tired of having fried noodles for breakfast. I will try something else tomorrow. After breakfast, Gregory and I got ready to visit the Shwenandaw Monastery that we missed the first day. In case I haven’t mentioned, Grab has tuk-tuk service which my husband chose in a very hot morning. His only comment was that he didn’t think it was that far but anyway, we got there and it was worthwhile the trip. Again, we regretted not bringing the kids because this is the only architecture piece that is 100% original and was built in 1880. The whole monastery is built of teak and there are thousands of figures carved on the wood doors. The Monastery was in a different place but the last king of Mandalay, king Thibaw had it dismantled and moved to a different area and that’s what s...

Wednesday, April 10th, 2019. Today we had breakfast on the top floor of our hotel. I eat whatever there is, but I’m still not thrilled with rice, noodles or fried vegetables in the morning. The kids eat their American breakfast of eggs, toast, and watermelon. Gregory and I try almost everything, except the soup. After breakfast, the kids went downstairs to get some homework done while Gregory and I went looking for antimalaria medicine. We first walked to a small clinic and we were surprised to talk to a female doctor who spoke English. She told us that it would be better to prevent it than to buy the antimalarial. She directed us to the Pharmacy across the street that looks more promising than the ones we had seen in Ngwe Saung or in Bagan. Luckily for us, there was a little girl who spoke English. They didn’t have the medicine we were looking for but the did have the doxycycline so we bought some just in case we didn’t find the other one at the Hospital. We took a tuk-tuk to the Hos...

Thursday, April 11th, 2019. Today, I will leave the pen to my professional writer husband who has started his own travel blog. We hired a taxi driver to take us to three different towns and it was just too much to describe. Please read Gregory’s blog at: https://gregorysharrisauthor.com/travel-blog/

Tuesday, April 9th, 2019. Today I woke up with my bed trembling. I’m a deep sleeper but somehow the trembling woke me up and I thought it was an earthquake. I woke up Gregory and he only said, “maybe” then he rolled over. I got out of bed and opened the door to see if everything was OK. The guard was standing right there with a flashlight and waved at me. I asked if everything was ok and he only waved his hand. Hmm. I came back in and I was ready to go back to bed when Gregory asked, "do you want to see the sunrise?" I said yes and asked him to come but he only grunted. The hotel has a sunrise viewpoint so I walked toward that direction. Once I found it, I stood there wondering when was the sun going to come out since it was already getting lighter and lighter. I appreciated the quiet and the birds chirping. I thanked God for giving me the opportunity to appreciate this. Even if I wanted to see the sunrise, the mosquitoes were eating me alive so I decided to leave. When I tu...

Monday, April 8th - More Pagodas We decided to stay one more day in Bagan since we like the hotel and our bungalows. We have a very nice view of the pool, some pagodas, and many trees. I love to sit by the window inside mostly because the temperature has been ranging from 85 to 100 F. Today we slept in until 8:30am. Sunshine knocked on the door to remind us that breakfast is served until 9:00am. After breakfast, we were feeling a little lazy about going to see more pagodas -- it's our third day after all! Sunshine and Daniel stayed in the hotel to get some homework done and just relax. Gregory and I rented only one e-bike and it was great because I really got to see all the pagodas instead of watching the road! We only made two stops but we spent more time. Our first stop was an unnamed pagoda, but there were also other three more just a stone's throw from each other, so we visited all of them. Each one was different in size but all of them had the huge Buddha in the center a...

Sunday, April 7th, 2019. Today we left around 9:30am to visit more Pagodas. It was already hot but we put sunscreen, thanaka, and wore long sleeve. We first visited a Pagoda that had a river view. It was beautiful! We enjoyed seeing only locals and no tourists. Whole families with monks taking pictures in front of the Pagoda and the Buddha statues. Our second stop was to visit another big Pagoda. Sunshine wasn't feeling that well so she waited outside for us while we saw the interior. This Pagoda was like a labyrinth and we kept going around and around until we finally came back to the entrance. We were tired so we decided to sit in the grassy area and rest for a little bit. After that, the kids were done and ready to go back to the hotel but we decided to make one last stop to visit another Pagoda. I'm glad we did because it was empty and quiet. The kids stayed by the entrance but Gregory and I went inside and I immediately felt a cool breeze and peaceful energy. I wal...

Saturday, April 6th, 2019. After breakfast, we practiced riding the e-bikes before we ventured  outside. Let me clarify, rather than practice, I needed to try it for the first time before we went out on the road. Gregory was happy and confident. It was easy to drive but I was nervous because I had a kid on the back and the balancing was a little different. I can not remember how many Pagodas we visited today but we stopped at one of the main ones to buy the tickets. You can probably get away without the ticket if you plan to visit many of the small pagodas but at the main and popular pagodas, you were asked to show your ticket. They fine you if you get caught visiting without a ticket so we ended up buying the ticket, which is good for four days! There are only 2,200 Pagodas left in the town now. At some point there were over 10,000 pagodas that different kings commissioned over the years. Unesco declared Bagan a patrimony of humanity for its architectural value. It is impressive ...

Friday, April 5th, 2019. Surprise! We made it to Bagan on time. We arrived at 6:30am and took a taxi (after some negotiation) to our hotel where we checked in and went to our rooms and back to sleep! [ Gregory's note:  once again, my theory that taxi drivers rank right up there with lawyers held true: the taxi mafia here says, "Oh, your hotel very far away, very expensive! $20." I had done some research, and I knew the hotel was only 10km. I told them that and they had the nerve to say, no, no, no, it's 20km! I showed them Google Maps, but of course, they told me Google is wrong. Anyway, I negotiated down to 12,000 kyats, around $7. Then, on the way out of the parking lot, we passed the sign that had the prices clearly written: New Bagan, 8,500 kyats. I told the driver to stop. He didn't want to, but he did. I pointed to the sign. He just shrugged so I pulled the bags out of the trunk. Miraculously Lili didn't yell or complain. She and the kids stood qu...