As the plan for our three weeks in Vietnam crystalized, we realized we would need to travel over Christmas Eve/Christmas Day. The best way to get from Point A (Ninh Binh) to Point B (Hoi An) was going to be an overnight train. The girls absolutely loved our overnight ferry from Italy to Croatia so we figured they’d be down for an overnight train.
Go Big Or Go Home
I was researching our options and realized we had two train options that night. I opted for the more upscale of the two, booking us into a newer block of cars that are billed as “luxury” with more comfortable, modern beds and amenities. If Christmas Eve on an overnight train doesn’t warrant a special splurge, I don’t know what does! The girls were ecstatic when we told them we’d have our own "luxury" sleeping cabin for the train.
Festive Bling
Once in Hanoi (a few days prior to our train), I suggested we get some Christmas decorations so that we could decorate our train cabin. The girls were super excited by this mission. We walked up & down a street that we dubbed “Christmas Tree Lane” (no relation to the one Doug grew up near in Palo Alto), which had vendor after vendor selling Christmas stuff. The challenge was finding relatively tasteful stuff within the mix of overly cheesy, cheap decorations. We managed to find a few things that hit the mark: Santa hats for all of us, sparkly white & red tinsel and a wee Christmas tree with lights. Christmas decorations? Check!
Goodbye Pu Luong Tree House
We awoke on Christmas Eve still at beautiful Pu Luong Tree House. Zoom, the owner, had the common area decorated so tastefully with lights and a beautiful wooden Christmas tree that one of her carpenters had made special for her days before the holidays. She had it decorated with little ornaments and it was fully surrounded by presents. Zoom told us that two of the girls under the tree were for the girls, and that they were welcome to pick out a gift.
Before we said our goodbyes the girls eyed all the wrapped gifts and each picked out one. Sadie got some lovely coasters and Paige a lovely wicker box. Incredibly sweet & thoughtful of Zoom, and a festive way to kick off Christmas Eve! We thanked Zoom and said goodbye to her and her darling daughter, Jade. We really hope to return to the Tree House again one day to enjoy her special place for a longer stretch of time!
Christmas Dinner
We made the 3.5 hour drive to Ninh Binh. At our driver's recommendation we did a boat ride along the Tam Coc River, which we absolutely loved. We still had a few hours to kill in Ninh Binh before our 10:12pm train departure. We let the girls run around at a playground that was blaring Vietnamese versions of Christmas tunes :)
We were all jonesing for some non-Vietnamese grub, just to change it up. Doug found a place called Chookie’s. We showed up and couldn’t have asked for a more perfect spot to pass a few hours together. There was an awesome kids playground, a billiards table (and funny enough we had been just explaining to the girls what billiards is in the days/weeks prior after seeing some pool tables in Thailand), free WiFi and an overall chill vibe. We ordered up very non-traditional Christmas Eve meal of pizzas and schnitzels. Not amazing but enjoyed, nonetheless. Doug & I were able to wash it down with a really tasty Passion Fruit Wheat Beer by Vietnamese Pasteur Street Brewing Co, so we were extra happy :)
We had a great night relaying our “High/Low” points of the day (hands-down high was our boat ride in Tom Coc) and playing family billiards afterwards. We had to pull Paige aside a few times to talk to her about her attitude. Lately she’s been a bit sassy-pants and negative, so we’re trying hard to nip that in the bud. Varying degrees of success, depending on the day.
Happy 95th Grandpop/Pop Pop!
After dinner I broke off to call my grandfather to wish him a very happy 95th (!) birthday! Grandpop is an amazingly sincere, devoted, hard working, witty man whom I respect and adore immensely. He was touched to hear from me and it made my day to speak with him. My Aunt Pat organized & threw a surprise birthday luncheon for Grandpop earlier this week. My parents and sister & family went for the celebrations and said it was a really special day and that Grandpop was just tickled pink & touched by the whole thing. Being away from family is tough this year under the best of circumstances, but it especially hits home when it means missing important, incredibly special family events like this. Saying goodbye to Grandpop on the phone was emotional for me, but I tried my best to hide it. Happy 95th Grandpop!!
All Aboard!
We walked the few minutes from the restaurant back to the train station, grabbed all our stuff from a restaurant that was holding it for us (reco from our driver) and made our way into the train station. Soon enough it was time to board. We were all giddy with excitement to see our cabin! Didn’t take us long to find cabin 9 and our sleeping berth. It was cozy, immaculately clean and just what we were hoping for.
Time to Decorate
We immediately got to work. I was in charge of getting Christmas tunes playing through our blue tooth speaker. Meanwhile the girls were in on point to hang all the tinsel. Doug supervised, haha :) A short while later, the cabin was festive and even more cozy. It felt “important” to make sure we went out of our way to make Christmas Eve on a train feel special, unique and memorable; decorations & music were a small part of that. At Doug’s suggestion, we had a hilarious little tree lighting ceremony - see video below!
Hit the Sac
We all enjoyed some Vietnamese single origin dark chocolate (purchased with the last of our Laos money in Luang Prabang airport minutes before catching our flight to Vietnam) and left a nibble out for Santa to enjoy as well. The girls cozied up into their bottom bunks (surprisingly comfy mattress & bedding), filled with that awesome child excitement of Santa coming soon :) Doug finished up an Instagram post while I put ribbons on all the girls' little presents. Pushing 1:00am, it was finally time for us elves to hit the sac as well. Pretty great Christmas Eve in the books for 2019, I’d say!
Santa & Gift Exchange
We all woke up a little after 7:00am and the girls excitedly realized that Santa had indeed found them on our overnight train! The letters they had written to him weeks before, noting that we'd be on a train in Vietnam, had worked! They showed us their Santa goodies (guitar lesson, pencil case, art set, sparkly elephant necklace, etc) and we nibbled on our train breakfast (gross). Paige was initially super disappointed Santa had not come through on the right-handed guitar she had asked for. But when she saw a letter he had left for her, that gifted her a guitar lesson once she gets back to the US (and the promise of a guitar after the lesson if she likes it), she was happy as a clam :)
The girls first took turns giving each other gifts. I wish I could bottle up the genuine excitement & joy on their little faces as they gave each other the gifts that they had each very thoughtfully & sneakily picked out for each other. Sadie got Paige a colorful purse that she had seen Paige eyeing at the big market in Bangkok, Thailand. Paige got Sadie a squishy pet & some miniature toys from the same Bangkok market, as well as an elephant notebook for her drawings from the Chiang Mai night market. These gifts they gave each other were a HUGE success, and go down as my favorite part of our Christmas morning. Giving a gift to someone you care about - one you are excited to give & was thoughtfully chosen for that person - is just the best.
We had a few goodies for the girls to unwrap as well. We went into this year of travel already with a very minimal approach to gift giving at Christmas (less is more; experiences are the best). Being on the go, with only carry-on luggage in tow, challenged us even more! We gifted the girls a private art class in Hoi An, which they are really excited about, as well as a scavenger hunt in Hoi An. The little things we got them delighted them just as much! Things like Sweet Pea scented hand sanitizer & a shiny compact mirror for Paige :) Or UNO card game & a comb for Sadie :) Or their very own comb! :) All things that can carry on with us in the luggage, and they genuinely enjoyed receiving!
Final Train Hours
Presents unwrapped and Christmas tunes still playing, we spent our final few hours on the train playing UNO, painting & doing oil pastes from Sadie's new art set, playing with the new mini Playdough set and enjoying the gorgeous views onto the Vietnamese coastline.
Opening page of the train guestbook had a lovely life/travel message from the Laman Express train company. Opposite is our entry in the guest book.
A Memorable Holiday
This Christmas season we weren't with our extended family. Nor were we in a cold-weather place, cozy with festive traditions all around like we typically are. We definitely missed all of those people and traditions. But this Christmas was magical & memorable in its own way. We had to be scrappy & resourceful to make it feel like Christmas in a special way for the girls. I feel confident our Christmas overnight train in Vietnam will be one that the four of us remember and hold dear for a long time to come. Merry Christmas!
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