Ho Chi Minh•day 11

Today was a slow moving morning. Lindsay wanted to check out the war museum but Gabby and I had already done that so Lindsay got up early and went to the museum. Gabby and I got to sleep in while we waited for her to come back! I definitely think we got the good end of the deal. Check out wasn't until noon so I basically laid in bed all morning, reading and sleeping. I had breakfast upstairs with Lindsay before she left and then laid back down. 

 

She got back around 11:45 and we got our stuff together to check out. We left our bags down stairs and went out for lunch. We went to the same spot we ate at last night because it was THAT good! 

After lunch we decided to treat ourselves to a spa day! Lindsay got a much needed aloe vera massage, Gabby got a massage and I got a foot massage, scrub and pedicure. We all had such a good time! Feels so nice to be pampered! 

After our massages we went back to Royal Saigon for an early dinner. We just didn't want to risk a bad last meal when we knew we would be really happy with whatever we got there! We had about 45 minutes minutes to kill so we went to one of the bars on the strip and had a glass of champagne before heading back to the hostel to get our stuff and head to the airport. 

We called an uber and head out to the airport around 6:40. Gabby and I fly out at 9:35 and Lindsay doesn't leave until 11 something. Lindsay wasn't able to check in yet so we just hung out with her until about 8:15 and then decided to head through security. We said our goodbyes and gave hugs and we were on our way! Only a few more hours before our 2nd trip is finished and we are back in Saraburi! I'm sad that it's over already but excited to sleep in my bed tonight!! 😊

Hoi An✈️Ho Chi Minh•day 10

We didn't have to leave Hoi An until 1:00 which was nice because we had the whole morning to relax and take care of our last minute errands. We had to go back to the dress shop at 9:00 to try on our dresses. We were all extremely nervous and stressed out about it...would they be finished...would they fit...all of that jazz. We got up and moving, had breakfast and checked out of the hostel. We walked over to the dress shop and got there around 9:20. A couple of my dressss were already there but the other 5 were on there way apparently. Right off the bat we were like oh great, the dresses aren't even here yet! 😬 Two of mine were already there so I tried them on. I was so nervous to even put them on because I had no idea what the outcome was going to be. Dress one was Perfect! 

It was a looser fitting style and everything fit really well! I was so happy! One down, two more to go! The second dress was the long dress. 

 

When she was measuring me I wanted to make sure it was long enough. I was afraid it would come back and be up to my ankles (or even higher) so I really stressed the length when she was measuring. When I tried that one on it fit great as well!! Everything fell into place as it should! The only thing that needed to be fix was the length. She made it pretty long so that I could decide how long to make it! The third dress got there shortly after and I tried that one on. This one was my least favorite out of the 3 when I tried it on. I just didn't love the way it fit on me...the straps did something funky that made the whole dress look weird in the front. I was kind of bummed until the seamstress came right over, tugged and pulled at the straps a little and then had me look in the mirror...fixed! Exactly how it should look! The girls tried their dresses on and loved them too! Gabby needed all 3 of hers taken in a bit and Lindsay's was fine! They told us to come back in about an hour and they'd be finished...okkkkkk. So we left to grab coffee and kill an hour. On the way to the coffee shop we passed a tailor shop with a sale on pre-made dresses. We stopped to take a peak and I ended up with 4 new things! I hate shopping so this was a big deal for me! But I needed some new clothes and I was really happy with what I got! 

We went and grabbed our last Vietnamese coffee in Hoi An at this super cute cafe and then headed back to the dress shop. 

 

All of our dresses were there and ready! We tried them on one last time and were super happy! I couldn't stop smiling! Again I never buy ANYTHING so having SEVEN new pieces of clothing in one day is a big deal! 

 

We had one last Banh mi place to check out that was highly recommended multiple places! This lady is called 'The Banh Mi Queen'. She is probably 70 years old and has been running this shop for a long long time! Her sandwiches were by far the BEST Lindsay and I had so far! 

 

Gabby couldn't eat here because they only had one option...pork. So after we finished we walked back over to Phi Banh Mi, Gabby's favorite spot, so she could get a sandwich. We all ended up getting one to go for the airport later! It was almost 1 so we headed back to the hostel and got a grab taxi to head to the airport. The drive was about an hour to Danang, putting us there around 2. We all ended up having to pay to check a bag because we bought so much stuff in Hoi An. That was instantly frustrating so we went through security and grabbed a beer. Our flight was delayed about 30 minutes so we just hung out reading our books. We got to the Ho Chi Minh and jumped on the city bus. We were staying at the same place we stayed at when we arrived so we knew exactly where to go. We got checked into the hostel and chilled for a little bit. We had talked about going out tonight but by the time we got to the hostel we all seemed pretty exhausted. We got downstairs and realized we had no idea where we were heading for dinner and there was 10 minutes left on the buy 1 get 1 free hostel happy hour so we ordered margaritas before we left for dinner. 

 

We decided on Royal Saigon, which Gabby and I came to when we were here before. The food was so amazing! 

 

We were all so happy with everything!! 

Although we had no intentions of going out when we left the hostel earlier this evening, by the time we were done with dinner we decided on staying out and just grabbing a couple more drinks and maybe some hookah. This ended up turning into a 3am night. We laughed and danced so much all night! Such a fun last night in Ho Chi Minh! Can't believe tomorrow is our last day in Vietnam! 

Hoi An•day 9

Today was another beautiful day but unfortunately we had all gotten quite a bit of sun yesterday. Lindsay and Gabby were pretty red and I was more tan but I could tell that I was on the verge of sunburn! We knew we needed to be careful today but still wanted to enjoy the weather. We decided to just grab a taxi to the beach after breakfast to avoid the sun while riding bikes. We went to a different beach today that was so much better! 

 

This is what we were expecting when we went to the beach yesterday! The restaurant we sat in front of today, Soul Kitchen, was so cute and beachy! It was obviously a popular spot because from 10-2ish it was constantly filled with people eating and drinking! We started off with a couple coffees which allowed us to get beach chairs at no cost. The three of us stayed under the umbrella the whole time reading. It was the perfect day just relaxing at the beach. 

 

We started getting hungry so we decided to head out to our next Banh mi restaurant that was on our list to try. 

 

Anthony Bourdain actually came to this shop quite a few years ago so we knew it had to be decent (but the place we ate at yesterday actually has better reviews on trip advisor) so we were excited to compare the two! We had mixed reviews after trying it! Lindsay said it was her favorite, by far! Gabby said she definitely liked Phi Banh Mi more and I honestly thought they were about equal! 😋 I was happy with both places! We have one more place that we need to try tomorrow before we leave for Ho Chi Minh. Gabby wasn't really satisfied after hers so we went back to Phi Banh Mi so she could get another one! Lindsay and I decided to get one to take back to the hostel for an afternoon snack later! 😁 god forbid any of us get Hangry! 😂 

While sitting at the shop we started talking to one of the girls that worked there. A lot of things in Asia are all family oriented, and she started talking to us about getting some clothes custom made at their store. Hoi An is known for their tailoring and custom clothes! We all had talked about wanting to get something made while we were here but you typically want a couple days so you can have the items fitted a few times to make sure they fit correctly. We didn't look into it on our first day so today we just figured we wouldn't have time. But the girl told us that her shop could have it down for us before we leave tomorrow...we were hesitant but we walked with her down to the shop just to look around and talk with the girls there. We immediately saw so many things we wanted to have made! I HATE shopping but was actually having fun looking at the different styles and fabrics and ended up picking THREE dresses that I wanted to have made. That's a big deal for me...I never ever buy stuff for myself. 🙃 it was already close to 4 but they reassured us that they'd have everything done for us by 9am tomorrow and then if things needed to be tweaked they could do it within an hour or so. We trusted them and put in our orders and got measured. We will see what happens tomorrow morning when we get in there! Fingers crossed! 

We headed back to the hostel and got showered and ready for the evening. We wanted to go walk around the city and night market. The weather was perfect and we (the girls) wanted to do the rest of their souvenir shopping. The city is absolutely precious. Lanterns EVERYWHERE! 

 

The whole city is filled with them; different colors, shapes and sizes. Some for sale and some just decorating the streets. 

 

After a decent amount of shopping we were ready for dinner. We had decided on a restaurant called Morning Glory. 

 

We had read fantastic reviews but it was on the pricier side...but we had already decided to treat ourselves to an awesome meal before leaving! The ambiance and food were both great! We definitely splurged here! Gabby ordered a starter and 2 entrees, Lindsay ordered a starter and 2 entrees  and I ordered a starter and an entree. We all also got a glass of wine. There were so many things that we wanted to try, obviously! 

 

The food was all absolutely amazing. The restaurant was packed the whole time we were there! 3 starters, 5 entrees and 3 glasses of wine only cost us $45! So so crazy! And like I said, this was a pricier, nicer dinner! 

 

We bought these little lanterns that you light and then put in the river and make a wish. 🙏🏼 All three of us bought one and put them into the river together. We called them friendship wishes! 

After dinner we went back to the hostel because we were 1) in a food coma and 2) had all of our bags from shopping. We just got a couple of beers at the hostel and packed up our bags. Checking out and heading back to Ho Chi Minh tomorrow afternoon. Can't believe this trip is almost over. I want to spend another week here in Hoi An!