Pen's Birthday

Travelling far from home and most of her family, Pen certainly didn't expect to be showered with love and good things the way she was for her 67th birthday in Vietnam! To begin with, Josh and Laura were determined to ensure that the hotel they chose would offer the refinements she likes. They spent hours online during our 14 hour train trip south, researching the best possible options in the upper end of our accomodation budget. Their wish list included the following: view of the Perfume River, bath tub, fridge, electric kettle for making our own plunger coffee, hair drier (!), queen bed; good breakfast. They narrowed the field to 2 choices and after consultation opted for the Vina Hotel. It couldn't have been a better choice!

Having told the receptionist we were coming to spend a few days for their mother's birthday, the staff pulled out all the stops to ensure they provided the best possible experience. Josh and Laura ordered a spectacular and delicious cake which arrived in time for breakfast on the birthday morning. The staff also proudly presented Pen with a lovely flower arrangement and our beautiful hostess, always attired in traditional formal dress, posed with Pen, the flowers and the cake.

Josh and Laura had carefully shopped for a birthday card in Malaysia, uncertain if they would be able to find the right card in Vietnam. In Hanoi they discovered that in fact their choice of beautiful paper-art card was made in Vietnam. I'd brought a card from Salt Spring Island - one of Pen's favourites. We topped off the delicious hotel buffet breakfast with a slice of birthday cake and offered some to the lovely hotel staff who hovered around delighting in their connection to this most important Vietnamese celebration - "Mother's Birthday"!

As everyone who know's Pen can attest, she always goes the extra mile to ensure that special occasions are celebrated appropriately. Her two sons have inherited that gene and apply similar attention to detail when celebrating special occasions. 

We then set about filling the day with sight seeing in this historic city. Rather than join a large river cruise boat, we opted to charter our own boat for a couple of hours to cruise the Perfume River and visit a could of historic pagodas.

Sister-ship to our charter boat for our Perfume River Cruise.

Laura seems to be the designated hitter when it comes to bargaining our way through Vietnam, whether it's a hotel room, bus fare or charter boat. So it was that Pen, Josh and I plunked down on a park bench by the perfume River while Laura brushed past numerous 'fixers' and set off in search of the best deal. In a few minutes she rejoined us, having negotiated a boat for 2 hours that would transport us up the river to one pagoda, wait for us to take a tour, then transport us down the river to another pagoda before delivering us back to our starting point. Whether by accident or design, our boat number was 67, which happened to coincide with the birthday we were celebrating! There was a bit of a hiccup in the middle of the cruise, with some debate about the previously agreed-to conditions, but Laura had been forewarned about this and stood her ground, ultimately settling on the original deal.

When we first passed through South East Asia in the early 70's, the 'travellers telegraph' used to inform us of what to expect on the road ahead. Back then, we'd sit around with our fellow travellers over meals, tea and beer breaks, scribbling in our notebooks about the best and worst deals here and there. Sometimes the advice would be about a good hotel in the next town, while at other times it might be about a job opportunity on the other side of the world. These days social media and web-based travel advisories have largely taken the place of such word-of-mouth advice. All the favourite scams, deals, rip-offs and 'secrets' are available via the web, not to mention that for C$15 we have a month of unlimited data on our Vietnamese cell phone plans - so we're connected pretty much 24-7 whether we have wifi or not.

Pen: After orchestrating a wonderful birthday from dawn to dusk, Josh and Laura handed the torch to Aidan and Heather, who had done their own online research from Vancouver. Using the indispensable Trip Advisor they discovered Les Jardins de la Carambole, the best rated restaurant in Hué, owned and operated by a French chef supported by his delightful Vietnamese wife and staff. The restaurant is housed in an old French Colonial residence and the food is French/Vietnamese fusion. Josh and Laura, who have been in SE Asia since late November, especially enjoyed the starter plate of assorted French cheese served with warm baguette. Peter ordered a multi course meal while Josh and I started with delicious soup and both chose the highly recommended Grilled Duck with lemon grass and chili, which more than lived up to its reputation. Laura enjoyed a pasta dish with seafood. All the food was really delicious and beautifully presented! Then the lights in the restaurant dimmed and the entire staff joined our table with Chocolate cake, candles and a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday. It was truly a night to remember.