Me. HAHA.

But when it comes to going overseas with my family - good grief. I cannot, for the life of me, ever get it right for them. The last time we went to Bangkok together, they invited their friends and it became a 3 day shit show of shopping at Siam. I had to take the roads less traveled with my brother, by ourselves. ON a family trip. Wew.

So I decided to book a trip with Anywhr. After a 5 minute consultation with my parents who were surprisingly gamed to do it, we went over to their website and booked ourselves a four day trip to somewhere in the Southeast Asia region. I've been to most of the it & so have my family so it was going to be a little hard for Anywhr to find somewhere all 3 of us have never been to.

Anywhr is a surprise travel company that plans your trip according to your preferences that you've filled on their website. There you will find a questionnaire which you have to fill up, from trip themes, flights (choices between budget and economy) and then accommodations, whether you want to stay in a hotel, a hostel or an Airbnb. You can choose which part of the globe you want to travel to (there's a minimum number of days) and as of now, you can also choose a specific country you want to travel too, in case you aren't that into surprises. 

Essentially they promised that they would send us to less-visited destination personalized just for us. We filled in the places we've been too and the places we wanted to avoid. (NO CEBU FOR ME THANKS) 

There are actually 4 themes you can choose from:

Adventure: For the trekkers and adrenaline-seekers, the mountain and waterfall lovers, the explorers who enjoy getting lost.

Experience: For the ones that want to quit being a tourist: live like a local, and learn all about the destination’s culture in its full glory.

Getaway: For those who want to relax and unwind, away from the hustle and bustle of the city, near the beaches or somewhere less crowded without the pesky tourists.

Wildcard (You have to search a lil harder for this): For the ones that want a grand surprise. 

So for us, we picked the theme Experience because my parents are culture nuts, booked the trip and  the wait began from then.

Within less than a week, we received a teaser which contained all the information we needed to know to prep for the trip. At this point, my parents began the guessing game, one insisting that it was Bali whilst the other insisting it was Da Nang. I thought it was Ho Chi Minh but the weather didn't tally for some reason. 

My Mom & Dad were significantly pleased to see the teaser because my Mom specifically requested for cafe hopping and my Dad requested for somewhere with temples to visit. It was a win-win situation. (Yes Evelyn gets to go to both too yay) 

I asked my friends to guess the location and most suggested Thailand or Malaysia for some reason. One dude even said it was Taiwan. Granted I've been to most of Thailand before, I don't mind heading back there because y'know it's one of my fav travel destinations in SEA but I would prefer something new.

I requested for our envelope to reach us a day before the trip because I have really itchy hands and I tell you, I TOoK ME SO MUCH STRENGTH nOT TO OPEN THE ENVELOPE when I got it. I had to shove it somewhere and hide it from my parents because they are equally as bad as I am.

15th December crept up on us pretty fast and we found ourselves at the airport, bags heavy with prep to a place we did not even know where we were going. My Mom was all agog, thrilled to finally find out where she was going and my Dad was kinda uh just chilling - how was he so chill? 

We reached the airport exactly at 7AM in the morning where the vast emptiness of the Changi Airport was a sight to behold. With bated breath, we open the envelope to reveal a couple of postcards, our SIM card (we ordered from them) and our travelogue - which would disclose which country we were going to.

Drumroll please 

I have never stepped foot in Vietnam ever. Neither have my parents. We were over the moon - me especially because I wanted to go to Hanoi to visit the Harry Potter Cafe and now I ACTUALLY GET TO.

Neither of my parents even knew where Ninh Binh was (they knew about Hanoi and were planning to go for a while already) so after we checked into the departure hall, they began frantically researching about the place. They found out that Ninh Binh was one of the main location for the movie Kong: Skull Island and my Dad was ecstatic, wanting visit some of the spots there that were shot in the movie. 

Everyone, finally appeased after the long wait to find out which country we were all heading to took a god damn 3-4 hour flight from Singapore to Hanoi. (i really hate planes but I really enjoy travelling) I didn't sleep throughout the flight because there was this online mahjong game on the entertainment tablet and actually spent 4 hours playing it. 

We selected for private transfers so once we touched down in Hanoi Airport, we had a private car take us all the way down to our Ninh Binh homestay. It was another 2 hour or so ride so I fell dead asleep on the car ride because I was so tired. 

Our driver made a pit stop at a restaurant nearby our home stay for us to have some lunch and tho the food was lackluster, at least our bellies were filled (PLUS my Dad won't complain about being hungry). 

By the time it was 3PM, we reached the Ninh Binh homestay where we were greeted by Scott, our host. 

He told us about the things we could do around the area, like the temples we could visit or the food we could eat and offered a tour package for us. Since we didn't really know what we could do, we took up the tour which started at 8PM at night for a private temple tour with a guide. He also offered to rent out bicycles to cycle and explore the area but we were kinda tired.

The tour package included a boat ride (excuse me wHAT), more temple hopping and a private van to take us around for the next day before we headed back to Hanoi. My parents were more than happy to pay the extra cash to have someone bring us around because we were tbh, pretty clueless on what we could do. (also my Dad lazy)

I SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED ok FOR MY OWN ROOM because my parents snores keep me awake (in my own home alr mind you) and I can tell you, when our host Scott brought us to our rooms, he pointed out an ENTIRE HUT for me, I started squealing in ecstasy. MY OWN ROOM THANK YOU ANYWHR.

My parents took a short nap whilst I went out to explore a little. 

Ninh Binh is an expanse of mountains and hues of green, small cubby houses laid alongside the pathways that I trekked, backed by a frisson of joyous chirping from birds I've never seen or heard before. Turning out of the dirt path from the Ninh Binh home-stay, it seemed quiet, cosy beneath the canopy of greens and it just felt to serene. 

Turning out to the main road, a few closed shop-houses stood side by side bordering the lake further down. It was apparent that without some sort of transport, it wasn't going to be easy exploring the area merely by foot! Thankfully, we booked that tour package from Scott.

Evening rolled around and we were invited to have dinner with Scott and his wife, who actually cooked for us! Sadly, Evelyn refused to touch any of the dishes other than the spring rolls because I AM very picky when it comes to food. Ask anyone. 

My mom insisted that everything tasted incredible and she casually remarked how it felt so homely and warm even though we were all in a place that we've never been to in our entire life. The friendliness of the host and his family was definitely something we held dear to our hearts. 

After dinner, we headed to our first night temple tour ever. Just merely less than 10 minutes on the private van, we were dropped off at the entrance of the temple garden gate and greeted by an amiable tour guide. 

In the inky night, the temples ahead beamed through pillared alleys, bright glittering lights coming from the brass sculptures and altars. The pagodas that stood through the test of time towered with odd grace as we walked through the entire park. 

Our guide was very cordial, super knowledgeable about everything that went on in the parks. I've never been interested in temples or the sort but when she explained about the certain Buddhist beliefs, it was more compelling than what I've heard before. She also taught us how to say certain basic Vietnamese words & in return we taught her Chinese because she said she wanted to learn, but never had the time.

Apparently I was saying "Xin Chao" wrongly because she pointed out that the pronunciation I made sound more like I was 'begging'. help.

Dumb ass leh.

We finished the tour at 10PM (2 hours exactly) and headed to the exit where our driver was waiting for us. A quick ride home and Scott was at the entrance waving to us, telling us to have a good night. These people are way too nice. We had a shower and went to bed because we had to get up at 6AM the next day to prep for our adventure through Ninh Binh! 

Day one was filled with mostly travelling but nonetheless very fulfilling. Anywhr really took our requests and checked them all off. I would have to say, even tho what we did on day one was relatively touristy, it was something brand new for us and we ain't even bothered.

True, the suggested activities in the booklet were a bit far out, my Mom wanted to come back and try those instead. As first-timers to Ninh Binh, this was a great start to our trip. Our travelogue also came with tips & tricks that we found really handy! The only downside for my parents was that the words in the booklet were a bit too small and I had to read it out to them like some sort of Oral exam what. 

That's it for my day one, stay tuned for the upcoming ones! 

If you are more of a visual person, check out my Youtube where I vlogged about it! 

Until next time,

xoxo

Evelyn