23 October 2025 Steps: 6,262 The Cu Chi tunnels are by far the most popular tourist attraction in Ho Chi Minh City , and Evelyn in particular was keen to see the underground network of tunnels used by the Viet Cong in the Vietnam War , especially as the kids learnt about the war at the War Remnants Museum the day before . Visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels with the Kids We decided to get a Grab taxi to the Cu Chi tunnels with the kids, rather than getting a tour, as we’d read a fe

22 October 2025 Steps: 15,644 Today was our first day exploring Ho Chi Minh City . Since we only have two full days here and are driving out of the city to the Cu Chi Tunnels tomorrow, we wanted to make the most of it. War Remnants Museum We started with the War Remnants Museum , as we wanted the girls to learn more about the Vietnam War as part of their homeschooling program. It was a really interesting visit, but some parts were quite confronting. I went into each room firs

21 October 2025 Steps: 5,422 This morning we got up early to have breakfast and catch our train back up to Hanoi, to then fly down to Ho Chi Minh City. Saying goodbye to our host at the Trang An Family Homestay The girls really enjoyed staying at the Trang A Family homestay and were sad to leave. The homestay was located in a lovely quiet setting, with a pool that we practically had to ourself the whole time. The lovely owner gave us all hugs as we got into the taxi before

20 October 2025 Steps: 3,561 (but we rowed a lot!) This morning we got up nice and early to go on the Trang An boat tour . This is the activity that Ninh Binh is best known for, and is one of the main reasons we decided to visit this area of Vietnam , so we were excited to finally get to experience it. There are quite a few different tours that you can do in the Ninh Binh area. In Tam Coc, there is a more budget friendly tour, which is generally considered not as scenic as th

19 October 2025 Steps: 8,371 We started the day with breakfast at our homestay , which included in the price. The girls and Susie had the banana pancakes and I tried Banh Cuon , which is a traditional Vietnamese breakfast of rolled rice pancakes with pork. It was really good! A traditional breakfast of rolled rice pancake with pork Bich Dong Pagoda Bich Dong pagoda was about a 15 minute Grab taxi ride to get there, and I had seen the part where you cross the lake, to the te

18 October 2025 Steps: 3,592 Today was meant to be a nice leisurely morning before heading to the train station in Hanoi to catch our train down to Ninh Binh. Well that went out of the window when I realized that I had lost my Wealthsimple card at the mall the day before ! Absolute disaster! Instead, I was rushing around trying to call the mall to find it, cancelling credit cards and trying to figure out how we are going to get a new card sent over to us by the bank. Let’s j

17 October 2025 Steps: 7,128 Well, today didn’t exactly go according to the spreadsheet itinerary! I unfortunately won the prize for the first ‘funny tummy ’ of the trip, so instead of heading back into Hanoi, which would have meant another hour-long taxi ride each way, we decided to stay at the hotel for the morning and really focus on some homeschooling . We’ve been struggling to find time for it with all the sightseeing lately, so it actually worked out quite well. In the

16 October 2025 Steps: 11,168 Today was our first day exploring Hanoi, and we caught a taxi to Hoàn Kiếm Lake in the Old Quarter of Hanoi as the taxi's are so cheap here. It cost about $8 CAD for a 1 hour taxi ride using the Grab app . I still can't get over the traffic here, it's quite literally madness. Hanoi's Old Quarter First order of business was to find a place for breakfast, as we hadn't eaten anything before setting off in the taxi. We found this cute little place ca

15 October 2025 Steps: 8,199 We don't have too much to report today. We caught our flight to Vietnam around lunchtime, but arrived late in the afternoon in Vietnam, so we didn’t really have any time to explore aside from going out for dinner. The taxi to our hotel was almost an hour, and the driving is completely crazy ! The rules of the road seem to be “ just drive, they will avoid me ”, but the way that the bikes weave in and out between the cars, I can’t believe there ar