Wander the world with wonder and joy at the Bronx Zoo’s Holiday Lights, one of New York City’s premier seasonal events.
The Bronx Zoo’s Holiday Lights celebration, which runs on select evenings from November 21, 2025, to January 4, 2026, features millions of lights and 400 lanterns representing with extraordinary realism and artistry 100 fauna and flora species that inhabit the Zoo as well as the global conservation projects the Wildlife Conservation Society supports.
Each year the event is enhanced and this year’s includes new interactive and sensory experiences: the Freeze Zone features massive snow tube slides, an illuminated ice throne photo opportunity, talking snowmen, and a snowball wall where you get to toss virtual snowballs. Enchanted Sea returns with more interactive elements and new captivating puppetry, immersing visitors in a magical underwater world brought to life through play and performance.
The signature experience is the Lantern Safari – a truly enchanting journey on immersive trails through six geographic-themed regions – Africa, Latin America, Asia, North America, Ocean and the magical Forest of Color – where you encounter some 400 lanterns representing 100 animal and plant species that inhabit the Zoo as well as the real wildlife and wild places that the Wildlife Conservation Society, which manages the Zoo, works to protect.
You are amazed at the incredible artistry of these lantern animals, creatures, flowers, insects, in uncannily realistic (if whimsical) poses and configurations (some even have moving elements).
There are even “Wander with Wonder” educators available to answer questions, labels so you know what you are looking at, and field notes, frequently with tactile displays, when your curiosity is piqued.
There are also many opportunities for entertainment and engagement – a towering holiday tree with music and light performances (look for the animals that appear on the tree!), nightly ice-carving demonstrations, Wildlife Theater puppet adventures, s’mores roasting over fire pits, holiday treats and drinks, an amazing Bug Carousel (64 different insects to ride!), and a Holiday Train. (The Holiday Train ride is an extra $3).
None of the zoo’s live animals are out and about (they are sleeping), then again, you might count the illuminated stilt performers and puppeteers who bring added delight among the “live animals” who inhabit the zoo.
Holiday Lights occupies 12 of the Bronx Zoo’s 265 acres of hardwood forest – an oasis of wilderness amid the Bronx’s urban landscape – and is home to 10,000 animals. I love wandering and seeing the Victorian vestiges of the zoo’s glorious history, dating back to Nov. 8, 1899.
“We’re proud to be a holiday destination for so many families and to offer an even bigger Holiday Lights program this year,” said Jim Breheny, Director of the Bronx Zoo and EVP of WCS Zoos & Aquarium, switching on the lights on opening night. “Bronx Zoo Holiday Lights has become a New York tradition, where people come out to experience and enjoy the zoo in a different way at night. The annual tradition is a meaningful way for us to engage community members with WCS’s mission while celebrating the season together.”
He thanked Con Ed’s partnership and support. “We wouldn’t be able to do this without ConEd as a partner,” he said.
You can visit in one hour, but to really enjoy, expect to spend two or three (especially if you visit when crowded, when some of the activities might involve queuing up like for the carousel. (Note: there are no special tickets or cost for the special activities except for the festive Holiday Train ride, an extra $3.)
The event is rain or shine and tickets are date-specific, but you can pay extra for an “any night” ticket. Take advantage of a 20% discount through November 21. (Members get 40% off the ticket and discount on any night tickets).
Tickets: General public tickets start at $26.95, with flexible Any Night ticket options available. General admission is $41.95 for adults, $36.95 for seniors, and $26.95 for children ages 3–12. Tickets are available on line, BronxZoo.com/Holiday-Lights,
Ticket sales for Holiday Lights start at 3 pm. Lights go on and lantern trails open at 4:30 pm. If you arrive at the zoo before 4:30 pm, you have some time to visit animal exhibits before they close for the day, promptly at 4 pm. You can then stay to see the park transform and light up during the sunset transition (but you need the separate Holiday Lights ticket to stay). The Bug Carousel, Dancing Crane Cafe and Bronx Zoo store are all open to enjoy from daytime through night.
Holiday Lights and other special seasonal events like Boo at the Zoo, Harvest Glow, Brew at the Zoo, not only help educate visitors in such a fun, engaging and accessible way about the animals in WCS care at the zoo, but inform about the importance of conservation of biodiversity to our own preservation and help fund WCS’ important conservation efforts well beyond New York City’s borders.
WCS Members enjoy exclusive benefits, including 40% off special event tickets throughout the season and three free preview nights. Conservation-level Members receive free admission to Holiday Lights (a 20% discount on memberships going on now has been extended past November 30).
Membership packages also include year-round admission to all five WCS parks – Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, Bronx Zoo, and New York Aquarium) while supporting wildlife conservation efforts worldwide. View membership options.
The Bronx Zoo, located on 265 acres of hardwood forest in Bronx, NY, opened on Nov. 8, 1899. It is world-renowned for its leadership in the areas of animal welfare, husbandry, veterinary care, education, science and conservation. The zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and is the flagship park of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) which manages the world’s largest network of urban wildlife parks including the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, Queens Zoo and New York Aquarium. Curators and animal care staff work to save, propagate, and sustain populations of threatened and endangered species. WCS has educated and inspired more than 400 million visitors at its zoos and aquarium and host some 4 million guests, including 500,000 students, at the parks each year. The Bronx Zoo is the largest youth employer in the borough of the Bronx, providing opportunity and helping to transform lives in one of the most under-served communities in the nation. The Bronx Zoo is the subject of THE ZOO, a docu-series aired world-wide on Animal Planet.
Bronx Zoo, 2300 Southern Blv.d, Bronx, NY 10460, 718-220-5100, https://bronxzoo.com
July 1776, “La Destruction de la Statue Royale a Nouvelle Yorck”, published in Paris. When General Washington’s troops heard about the Declaration of Independence, they pulled down the statue of George III at New York’s Bowling Green.
Ken Burns’ phenomenal documentary series, “The American Revolution” opens with the underpinnings of the Revolution – the documents that turned grievance over land and taxes by 13 disparate colonies into a fight to the death over independence of a new nation, the United States of America, the first founded on the principle of “consent of the governed.” What is most remarkable is that many of those documents – Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense,” Paul Revere’s propagandist print of the Boston massacre, an early surviving print of the Declaration of Independence – are now on view, “in the flesh” so to speak, at the New York Historical.
The exhibit, “Declaring the Revolution: America’s Printed Path to Independence,” is New York Historical’s first in its series of exhibits focused on the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America. This exhibit, featuring David M. Rubenstein’s Americana Collection, is on view through April 12, 2026.
You see the documents that provided the ideological and philosophical underpinnings for the Revolution and the founding of a new kind of government (by the people). And you see the documents that raised the rabble, forged a collective consciousness and identity, and inculcated the outrageous idea that a ragtag collection of colonial people of diverse race, ethnicity, religion and national origin could and should take on the most powerful empire on the globe.
Dr. Louise Mirrer, New York Historical’s President and CEO, noted the “unique urgency of now” to delve into how the American Revolution became “a war of ideals, in beliefs that Americans shared and believed important enough to fight and die for.”
“Declaring the Revolution traces the emergence of our nation through a shared belief in the power of the people and the promise of democracy,” Mirrer stated. “Through historical printings, the origins of the ‘American experiment’ are on display, allowing us to reflect on how we live and fulfill the ideals of our nation today. As stewards of history, The Historical is proud to kick off our celebration of America’s 250th anniversary with this remarkable testament to record-keeping as we invite Americans nationwide to share and preserve their hopes for our democracy through our On Our 250th initiative.”
Declaring the Revolution portrays the arc of the struggle through 18th-century pamphlets, broadsides, engravings, proclamations, and books, each declaring an aspect of how the colonies achieved independence. In an era when print was the only form of mass communication, these printings furthered the democratic ambitions of Americans—the highest expression of this being the Declaration of Independence.
(It is also why the Stamp Act, which imposed a tax on every piece of paper, from wills and pamphlets to newsprint, was such a factor in inspiring newspaper editors and pamphleteers to embrace independence and inspire colonials to see themselves as Americans with the ability to win an armed conflict against Great Britain, the most powerful empire in the world at the time.)
Declaring the Revolution demonstrates that America’s quest for independence was not only a military conflict, but also a battle of ideas that inspired colonists to fight and sacrifice for the promise of a sovereign new nation that adequately represented its citizenry.
A highlight of New York Historical’s “Declaring the Revolution: America’s Printed Path to Independence” is a rare State Department engraving of the original engrossed copy of The Declaration of published in 1823.
Most affecting is getting to see (in person) two extraordinary printings of the Declaration: its exceedingly rare first newspaper appearance in the Pennsylvania Evening Post and the renowned State Department engraving of the original engrossed copy. Other highlights include Thomas Paine’s electrifying 1776 pamphlet, Common Sense, which called for independence from Great Britain, and John Hancock’s 1774 oration honoring the Boston Massacre, the deadly confrontation between British soldiers and American colonists on March 5, 1770.
You get to see the Virginia Declaration of Rights, drafted by George Mason in 1776, and shown in its uncommon earliest printing, which outlines the requirement of natural rights that influenced subsequent documents like the Declaration of Independence.
There is an exceptionally rare 1773 handbill printed by enslaved persons in Boston asks that the language of freedom apply to them and points out the incongruity of a land with bondage desiring to be liberated.
Also on display are key texts which provided the intellectual foundation for the Revolution; you actually see printings of the Magna Carta and English Bill of Rights, as well as books by John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, among other philosophers.
There are also printings describing major events of the military conflict between Britain and the colonies including the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Boston Tea Party, the Battle of Brooklyn, Washington’s victory at Trenton, and the Sieges of Charleston and Yorktown.
“The Bloody Massacre Perpetrated in King Street, Boston on March 5th 1770 by a Party of the 29th Regiment,” the print by Paul Revere helped to incite colonists against Great Britain, on view at New York Historical’s “Declaring the Revolution: America’s Printed Path to Independence.”
The documents are from the collection of David M. Rubenstein, who introduced them at the preview of the exhibit which opened November 14 saying, “Why do we need to see the documents, versus a computer image, to see in person?” He answered his own question saying that there is more of a visceral, emotional, engaged reaction to seeing something “in the flesh.”
“You might read about it, but are more likely to learn more by seeing the real thing. That’s why it is so important to preserve [these original documents].”
Rubenstein went on to reflect, “When this country was set up, no one thought it would last 250 years. Jefferson said to Madison that every 20 years, we should re-do the Constitution or the nation won’t last.
Nobody expected the United States – 13 colonies of 3 million (including 500,000 slaves) – to endure and even less likely, that it would become the military, cultural, financial [superpower] of the world. 250 years later, to look at the legacy, they would have been astounded.”
Then he reflected, “We are celebrating the 250th anniversary of country, but why was July 4th 1776 designated as its birthday? Why not 1775, or 1492 with Columbus’ arrival, or 1565 when St. Augustine was settled by Spain, or 1619 when the British came to Jamestown or 1620 when the Pilgrims established a home at Plymouth?
“Or even, August 2 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was formally signed [not on July 4th as we commonly think], and it wasn’t until 1777 when the last Founder signed. Or should we celebrate January 17, 1777 when those who signed it finally made it public that they did? (They didn’t earlier because they could be hung for treason.)
“The decision to break from England was July 2, 1776, so John Adams felt July 2nd would be celebrated. It was agreed to on July 4th, but they came back in August and signed it on August 2nd.”
Or should the founding of the nation be celebrated when the Constitution was finished in 1787, or 1788 when it was agreed to and ratified, establishing the format for government and the rights guaranteed in the first 10 amendments, the Bill of Rights.
John Adams wanted the first anniversary of independence to be celebrated on July 2, 1777. Thomas Jefferson (who was not happy with the editing of the Declaration and didn’t even admit to having authored it until much later) wanted July 4th when the Declaration’s wording was adopted. This difference led to a schism between Adams and Jefferson.
“Well, they forgot to celebrate on July 2, so organized July 4 as a day of celebration and fireworks,” Rubenstein related.
“But July 4th won out as the birthday of the new nation because of a sentence that became most famous, and some have called the greatest ever written: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’
“It is the creed we’ve tried to live up to for 250 years, a creed so many other nations have adopted. That sentence has become the symbol of the United States. I am proud to have some of these documents that live up to the creed.”
Rubenstein added: “My reason for collecting these original printings is to show them to the public to give Americans an opportunity to encounter our country’s impressive history and the accomplishments of those who came before us. The American Revolution was a civil war with Britain and a transformation in the hearts and minds of colonial inhabitants, who began to identify nationally with a new alliance of thirteen colonies built around the democratic principles that the United States holds most dear. To not remember these origins of our democracy is to risk losing our democracy.”
What you come away with, though – like the New York Historical’s just concluded “Blacklisted” exhibit – is how eerily and scarily we are to those times and complaints that led to rebellion – the first to break away from dynastic tyranny and replace it with self-rule – against an authoritarian regime.
Let’s also be reminded about the grievances against King George III listed in the Declaration of Independence that instigated not just protest, but revolution. Does this sound familiar (the summary compiled from A.I. query)?
Taxation and trade: Imposing taxes without consent and cutting off colonial trade with other parts of the world.
Legislative and judicial powers: Suspending legislatures, dissolving them for opposing his policies, and making judges dependent on his will.
Military and justice: Quartering large numbers of armed troops in colonial homes, transporting colonists to be tried for “pretended offenses,” and protecting British soldiers from punishment for crimes committed in the colonies.
Economic and political interference: Abolishing new forms of government, obstructing naturalization laws, and imposing new offices to “harass our people and eat out their substance”.
Incitement of violence: Exciting domestic insurrections, inciting “merciless Indian savages” to attack colonists, and waging war against the people.
Abuse of power: Vetoing laws necessary for the public good, and generally abusing power to establish a tyranny over the colonies
That’s the importance of preserving and studying history – and the original documents – and not enable whitewashing or literal brainwashing.
And it is good to be reminded of what it means to be American, what we value as Americans, what is precious and not to be taken for granted.
Holding on to the Declaration of Independence on the battlefield.
“I am grateful to The New York Historical for featuring these foundational documents ahead of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence,” said Rubenstein. “The items on view bring new context to one of the most important documents ever written, giving insight into the minds of our Founding Fathers as they changed the course of history.”
The exhibition is curated by Mazy Boroujerdi, special advisor to the David M. Rubenstein Americana Collection, which mounts non-partisan exhibitions of historically important printings to foster civic engagement and historical understanding, and is coordinated at The New York Historical by Valerie Paley, senior vice president and Sue Ann Weinberg director of the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library. Declaring the Revolution marks the fourth exhibition produced by the Rubenstein Collection in conjunction with The New York Historical, where the Semiquincentennial will be celebrated with a yearlong schedule of exhibitions and programs.
With the 250th anniversary of the United States approaching, The New York Historical is sharing messages of national hope and encouragement from the digital campaign On Our 250th, which invites individuals from across the country to post their personal wishes for America’s future. Launched online by The New York Historical in April 2025 in partnership with history museums and historic sites throughout the United States, On Our 250th has already received messages from people in 37 states, as well as Washington, DC and US territories. The exhibitions related to the 250th anniversary will take place over a 15-month period, from October 2025 to December 2026, in both The Historical’s main building and, starting summer 2026, its new Tang Wing for American Democracy.
Throughout the fall and winter, David M. Rubenstein will be in conversation with noted historians and scholars at The New York Historical. Visit the public programs calendar to learn more. Private group tours can also be arranged.
New York Historical, 170 Central Park West, New York NY 10024, 212-873-3400, nyhistory.org.
Imagine this: a single pass that lets you ski/ride not only the iconic mountain destinations of North America, but in 73 global destinations across 13 countries on five continents. It almost can be intimidating to contemplate: to dream of skiing NEKOMA Mountain in Japan, Yunding Snow Park in China, Mona Yongpyong in South Korea (three of nine resorts added in Asia this year), and when summer shuts the resorts north of the equator, ski in Valle Nevado in Chile; Thredbo and Mt Buller in Australia; Coronet Peak, The Remarkables, Mt Hutt in New Zealand. This is the power and the reach of Alterra Mountain Company’s Ikon Pass.
It can be daunting to venture to foreign mountains, but one of the benefits of being an Ikon Passholder is access to a proprietary travel service that not only can advise which resorts might be most fun to explore and help arrange the logistics, transportation, accommodations, equipment rentals but also provide access to exclusive deals, specials and packages.
And not just during the snow season. The pass provides resort-specific benefits in the warm weather, too, like scenic lift rides and mountain biking.
Ikon Pass holders can save $100 on every winter 25/26 vacation booked by December 18, 2025, with Ikon Pass Travel, an exclusive trip planning site for pass holders. (Conditions apply, find out more at https://www.ikonpass.com/en/travel.)
Of the 73 global destinations that Ikon Pass holders can explore for the 25/26 winter season, 13 are new additions: Megève Ski Area in France, Le Massif de Charlevoix in Quebec, Ischgl in Austria, Valle d’Aosta in Italy, and nine in Asia: Shiga Kogen Mountain Resort, Mt.T, Myoko Suginohara Ski Resort, Furano Ski Resort, APPI Resort, NEKOMA Mountain, and Zao Onsen Ski Resort in Japan, plus Yunding Snow Park in China, and Mona Yongpyong in South Korea.
There are different levels of passes – from local, regional, limited access, to full, unlimited access with a number of days to ski in the more exotic destinations around the world.
For example, Ikon Pass now offers up to 77 days total throughout Asia for winter 25/26, where passholders have access to 11 destinations throughout Japan, China and South Korea. Ikon Pass holders have 7-days combined access at Shiga Kogen Mountain Resort and 7-days each at all other new Asian destinations with no blackout dates, 5-days combined access at Shiga Kogen Mountain Resort and 5-days each at all other new Asian destinations on Ikon Base Pass with no blackout dates.
“Ikon Pass is the winter gateway for anyone who wants to ski or ride the best of Asia,” said Matt Bowers, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Alterra Mountain Company. “With marquee destinations on Hokkaido and in the Nagano Area joining Niseko United and Arai Mountain Resort in Japan, plus the hidden Japan of the Tohoku Region, along with Olympic venues in Japan, China and South Korea, Ikon Pass now offers extensive access for Ikon Pass holders in even more of the best snow regions on the planet.”
Indeed, Ikon Passholders have access to Dolomiti Superski (The Dolomites)which is hosting the 2026 Winter Olympics. One of the world’s largest ski networks, Dolomiti Superski links 12 resorts and 746 miles of slopes under a single pass—set amid the UNESCO World Heritage Dolomites, whose 200-million-year-old peaks rise from an ancient coral reef and whose Italian, Austrian, and Ladin cultures infuse the region with deep history and world-class cuisine far beyond the skiing. Ikon Pass Access to Cortina d’Ampezzo during the 2026 Olympics: Ikon Pass and Ikon Base Pass holders have access to Cortina d’Ampezzo during Olympic races. However, some lift and trail access may be restricted to all guests on the mountain during races. (Contact Dolomiti Superski for any details before you make your travel plans.)
What distinguishes the Ikon resorts (not all are owned by Alterra Mountain Co., some are partners in the pass program), is that they are all individual in character, have their special vibe, and are in charge of their own brand, their own identity – so it makes it fun to each season, leave one’s regular destination to venture out – across the country, across borders, across oceans.
This season, Ikon Pass holders benefit from new and improved infrastructure and services to enhance their on-site experience, including 17 new lifts, three gondolas, terrain expansions, lodges and amenities, upgraded snowmaking, and more across the Ikon Pass community. (Click here for Ikon Pass destination opening dates for the 25/26 winter season.)
(Note: The Ikon Pass is available for sale through December 11 at www.ikonpass.com.)
New Ikon Pass Destinations & Access: Ikon Pass is now unlimited at a Colorado favorite, Arapahoe Basin (now owned by Alterra Mountain Company which offers the Ikon Pass). Plus, Ikon Pass offers three new destinations in Canada and Europe for 25/26: Le Massif de Charlevoix in Quebec, Ischgl in Austria, and five mountains within Italy’s Valle d’Aosta – Courmayeur Mont Blanc, Cervino Ski Paradise, La Thuile Espace San Bernardo, Monterosa Ski, and Pila.
Also new for 25/26, Megève Ski Area, cradled in the Mont Blanc Massif in the French Alps, has joined the Ikon Pass. This European gem combines alpine tradition and timeless French elegance. Once a medieval farming village, it now spans 400 km of connected terrain across Rochebrune, Mont d’Arbois, Jaillet, and Côte 2000 and offers tree-lined runs, mountain-view groomers, over 60 on-mountain restaurants, and après charm. (Ikon Pass holders have seven-day access to Megève Ski Area with no blackout dates, and Ikon Base Pass holders have five-day access with no blackout dates; not available on the Ikon Session Pass.)
New Bonus Mountains: Ikon Pass holders get two free days each at Bonus Mountains across North America. New for 25/26, SilverStar Mountain Resort and Grouse Mountain in British Columbia and Ski Butternut in Massachusetts, join Wild Mountain and Buck Hill Ski & Snowboard Area in Minnesota, Cranmore Mountain Resort in New Hampshire, and Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort in Massachusetts.
New & Improved Ikon Pass App: Starting this season, a new, enhanced map experience lets you be local everywhere, while making exploration easy, offers a new seamless way to pay, an updated profile overview and on-the-go notifications.
New Peak Perks: Plus up the power of the pass with Peak Perks, a tailored collection of benefits tiered for each pass, including mountain discounts, experiences and savings on the brands you love. For 25/26, the better the pass, the better the perks. Exclusive member benefits also include Ikon Pass First Tracks, the Ikon Pass app, and more.
JSX – $100 Off First Flight with Club JSX: Join Club JSX for $100 off your first semi-private flight. Plus, skis and boards fly free.
Carv – 20% Off Carv Ski Coach: Unlock your best turns this winter with theCarvdigital coach. Simply clip it on and ski. Real-time coaching helps you improve in every terrain.
Deer Valley Resort in Utah is on track to deliver one of the largest ski resort expansions in history. This winter, Deer Valley is offering double the ski terrain, with 31 chairlifts (seven new), 200 ski runs, seven bowls, and 4,300 skiable acres. The East Village Express, a 10-passenger gondola, links the new Deer Valley East Village to Park Peak with 80 new runs – a total of 100 new runs at Deer Valley since December 2024. The resort (one of the only skier-only resorts) has made a major investment in snowmaking so can open earlier, and with an elevation at 9,000 ft., it is the first to open and boasts the longest season in Utah. Also new: 1,200 day-skier parking spots at the new Deer Valley East Village – this new gateway offers skiers an alternative arrival option to its new terrain via U.S. Route 40, helping to reduce traffic throughout Park City.
Arapahoe Basin: Bruce Ruff on East Wall. Arapahoe Basin is now owned by Alterra Mountain Co. and ikon Pass holders get unlimited access. (photo by Dave Camara)
This season marks the first that legendary Arapahoe Basin, Colorado, has come under Alterra’s ownership and offer unlimited access on the Ikon Pass (the ski area was an Ikon partner before). A-Basin, which was independently owned before, is in the process of producing a master development plan into the next decade that will include new lifts, activities and experiences. There is no on-mountain lodging as yet, but A-Basin has lodging partners in Frisco and Silverthorne. Also, Copper Mountain (an Ikon partner), is 25 minutes drive away, and Ikon Pass holders can stay at Copper and ski both resorts. There are free buses from downtown Denver to both A-Basin and Copper (75 miles, 1 ½ hours drive).
Copper Mountain in Colorado kicked off a multi-year snowmaking modernization project designed to enhance early-season snowmaking capabilities and improve reliability across the mountain. Upgrades are underway on eight trails, where guests will notice new fan guns and the modernization of towers and hydrants with more efficient semi-automatic systems.
Le Massif de Charlevoix in Quebec is opening Chalet Bertha, a 7,000 sq. ft. luxury residence perched at the summit, offering ski-in/ski-out access, breathtaking views of the St. Lawrence River and a full range of premium amenities and services. The resort was acquired in 2002 by the founder of Cirque du Soleil, which carries over to the ambiance (in summer, they have a light show with the ski lifts). You can ski down from the lodge, or ride up from lodges; you can even ski to the St. Lawrence Seaway, with stunning views on the way down. The mountain offers a 2,500 ft. vertical (one of the highest east of the Rockies), 53 trails on 406 skiable acres. Le Massif de Charlevoix is located an hour from Quebec City. There is an all-inclusive Club Med resort nearby (that includes skiing, rentals)
Mount Tremblant, located near Montreal, is like finding yourself skiing in France. A pedestrian village, you get a complete European experience, with 75 restuarants at the base, nightly activities, and trails for everybody. The mountain has a 2,800 ft. vertical, with an even split of trails from beginner, intermediate and expert, and 13 ski in/out lodges. New this season are events: Tremblant World Cup, Alpine Women, Giant Slalom (December); and candlelight music in the church.
Blue Mountain, Ontario, located 1 ½ hours from Toronto, has the added advantage for Americans in that the exchange rate makes it a real bargain. The village has 1000 units and events all season. There is lots of beginner terrain and a new beginner program based on progression (first day you get the equipment rental, group lesson; second is semi private; 3rd is private lesson guaranteed to get you to top). If you purchase all 3, you get a local pass for free. The three days do not have to be consecutive, and can be purchased separately or all at once. We want to create new skiers. We are so close to Toronto, we get lots of first-timers.”
Sun Peaks Resort is the first ski area in Canada to adopt innovative Finnish-developed snow storage technology, preserving snow over the summer. The preserved snow is reused to support early-season alpine race training. The resort is investing in a multi-year, $5.5 million dollar snowmaking enhancements, including new and modern snow guns, improved automation, on-board weather stations. and new locations. This investment supports a reliable early season public opening, early November opening of the Nancy Greene International Race Centre, and mid-season fill-in.
At Big Sky Resort in Montana, the Explorer Gondola will replace the Explorer Chairlift and connect to the bottom of the Lone Peak Tram with a mid-station terminal featuring a new learning area. The top terminal of the Lone Peak Tram will include an all-glass viewing platform with panoramic views of the surrounding peaks and down the fall line of Lone Mountain through a glass floor. The resort is hosting a four-month culinary residency helmed by Michelin-three star Chef Grant Achatz. Part of The Alinea Group’s 20th Anniversary World Tour, this dining experience fuses European culinary precision with Montana’s character, offering locally sourced seasonal menus in a stunning alpine retreat designed by award-winning studio Fettle.
Killington in Vermont is unveiling its new Superstar Six Chairlift replacement, along with new cabins and a new gondola barn for the Skyeship Gondola. Killington’s two-year, $7 million investment in snowmaking efficiency reaches the finish line this winter with 500 new high-efficiency snow guns, adding to the 500 installed last season, allowing more snow making in a shorter time, while using less energy.
SkiBig3 Canada’s Mt Norquay’s 100th anniversary coincides with the launch of the Norquay 100 Vision, a plan to offer best-in-class sustainability, learning opportunities and accessible adventure for all. Enjoy a new surface lift, 100th anniversary celebration party in March 2026 and a documentary premiering at the Banff Film Festival this fall. Additional glading at Mt. Norquay includes the Norquay 100 Glades for new tree skiing off Mystic Chair. Lake Louise Ski Resort’s Richardson Ridge debuts this season with an all-new area featuring four new beginner and intermediate trails, gladed terrain, and a high-speed quad chairlift on the resort’s backside.
Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico,celebrates its 70th anniversary this season. Taos is replacing Lift 7,originally built in 1984 – with a brand-new triple chair and completely regraded Maxie’s ski run. Coupled with new RFID gates, the on-mountain experience at Taos is more streamlined than ever. New and unprecedented flight access into Taos Regional Airport means more flights than ever: a new route from Contour Airlines connects Taos directly to Denver International Airport providing seamless access five days a week from 189 domestic and 33 international destinations; JSX continues to provide weekly nonstop, semi-private flights from Dallas, Austin, San Diego (Carlsbad), and Los Angeles (Burbank).
Winter ParkResort is celebrating Mary Jane’s 50th season. Opened on January 10, 1976, Mary Jane terrain quickly became an iconic terrain in Colorado, earning the mantra “No Pain, No Jane”. Winter Park is planning a series of events, activations and offers throughout the season to celebrate the 50th season milestone. Meanwhile, the Winter Park Express Ski Train from Denver is back for a second season of expanded service, offering special holiday runs in December and launching regular four-day-a-week service on January 8, 2026.
On the heels of the successful debut of the West Mountain Expansion —which added 120 new skiable acres and a new lift serving beginner and intermediate terrain, Sugarloaf, Maine, is celebrating its 75th season, honoring its legacy while creating new opportunities to experience the mountain in every season. Sugarloaf is expanding its snowmaking coverage and increased water flow capacity resulting in faster terrain openings, better snow quality, and more reliable early-season skiing, especially for families and racers using beginner and intermediate trails.
Loon Mountain, New Hampshire, is celebrating its milestone 60th season with special events, exclusive merchandise, giveaways and surprises all season long. Loon is improving the beginner experience with the installation of a new carpet lift, Little Sass, and upgrades to the existing Sarsaparilla Carpet. The resort has added more snowmaking firepower at its tallest peak so that guest favorite North Peak trails including Upper and Lower Flume along with Upper Walking Boss can open quickly with more snow this winter. Loon Mountain Park has also benefited from increased snowmaking power with the installation of new HKD Klik hydrants.
Sun Valley Resort, Idaho is celebrating its milestone 90th season. Between Canyon, Exhibition and Olympic runs, guests can experience newly gladed terrain, adding to the more than 350 acres of glades. This terrain will provide new trails down to the famous River Run Lodge for advanced skiers.
At Snowbasin in Utah, which is celebrating its 85th anniversary this season, a new high speed quad is replacing Becker Lift, allowing quicker and smoother access to some of the best terrain on the mountain.
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in Wyoming is planning celebrations throughout the winter to mark its 60th anniversary.
Skier-only Alta in Utah, is improving access along the High Traverse, giving skiers room to glide and enjoy some of Alta’s best and steepest powder terrain. In addition, hand-cutting of the track allows the High Traverse to retain more snow and combat wind erosion during periods of high pressure.
Snowbird in Utah is opening a new mid-mountain restaurant, The Nest. Replacing Mid-Gad, the new building features Swiss floor-to-ceiling glass windows on three sides, expanded seating and panoramic views of Little Cottonwood Canyon. The Nest will feature Mashgin technology, allowing a quick and easy checkout.
Sierra-at-Tahoe in California is expanding its on-piste footprint unveiling two new trails in West Bowl this season bringing the resort to 50 runs across 2000 acres of terrain.
Palisades Tahoe , Lake Tahoe, California, just launched the Perfect Progression Program, an easy and affordable way for first-time skiers and riders to get into the sport. For $799, participants get three beginner lessons, rentals, lift tickets, lunch vouchers, and even earn a season pass upon completion. Designed for true beginners, the Perfect Progression Program ensures participants learn in a supportive, welcoming environment. Lessons are taught by professional instructors who specialize in introducing newcomers to skiing and snowboarding in a safe, confidence-building way. (Enrollment is limited and available only at the Alpine Lodge base area. To reserve, call 800-403-0206.) Offering 6,000 skiable acres across eight legendary peaks, all connected by the Base to Base Gondola, known worldwide as host of the 1960 Winter Games (check out the delightful Olympic Museum) and still home to Olympic and World Cup athletes, Palisades Tahoe averages 400 inches of annual snowfall and delivers Lake Tahoe’s longest ski season. The Village at Palisades Tahoe is a year-round hub for dining, shopping, and signature events. (www.palisadestahoe.com, 800-403-0206)
Mt. Bachelor in Oregon is focusing on families, unveiling a series of complimentary après activities focused on wholesome family fun. From s’mores roasting and helmet decorating to face painting and lodge dance parties, there will be plenty of family-friendly programming on the slopes.
Sun Peaks in British Columbia is opening the final two of four new on-mountain Kids Adventures Zones for skiing families to explore. Moose’s Cabin (a small ski-in cabin) and Foxes’ Den (magical ski-through archways) join the existing Bear’s Lair and Grouse’s Nest, with each of these art-work themed, interactive areas found spread across the resort’s three mountains.
Colorado’s Steamboat unveils The Crooked Antler, a revamped dining experience, previously known as The Cabin, located inside The Steamboat Grand Hotel. The reimagined restaurant offers a cozy interior with a focus on comfort food and signature drinks at reasonable prices. As part of Steamboat’s new Olympian programs, guests not only have the opportunity to spend a full day on the mountain with a Steamboat Olympian but may also enjoy dinner with an Olympian at The Crooked Antler.
Shiga Kogen Mountain Resort: High in the Japanese Rockies, Shiga Kogen Mountain Resort delivers powder at its purest. As Japan’s largest and highest ski destination, this UNESCO Biosphere Reserve boasts 18 interconnected ski areas, championship runs, and one of the country’s longest seasons – from late November to late May. From family-friendly cruisers to off-piste powder zones, it’s a vast winter playground with views that stretch to Mt. Fuji.
NEKOMA Mountain: Rising above Lake Inawashiro in Fukushima, NEKOMA Mountain combines unique North and South experiences into one of Japan’s largest ski destinations. On the South side, discover long, varied runs with sweeping views. Across the north, expect refill after refill of dry, whispery powder. Surrounded by history and heritage, NEKOMA Mountain delivers endless turns, deep snow, and culturally rich adventures.
Myoko Suginohara Ski Resort: Gracing the slopes of Mt. Myoko in Japan, Suginohara is famed for its abundant powder snowfall averaging 13.4 meters annually, 1,124 meters of vertical, and one of the country’s longest groomed runs at 8.5 km. Just two hours from Tokyo, with nearby Shinkansen stations and highway access, this Niigata gem combines world-class skiing with seamless travel. Wide-open terrain, sweeping lake views, and powder-filled steeps make it a playground for big turns, long laps, and pure Japanese flow.
APPI Resort: At APPI Resort, the ride is all about the glide. One of Japan’s largest resorts, APPI delivers wide-open terrain, over 10 meters of snowfall, and some of the country’s longest groomed runs. Set in Iwate Prefecture, its special climate creates phenomenal light, silky powder. Paired with refined comforts, from soothing onsen to diverse gourmet dining, every lap strikes a balance of nature, culture, and flow.
Furano Ski Resort: Furano Ski Resort is where the Powder Belt peaks. Two distinct zones – Furano and Kitanomine – offer terrain for every style, from untouched lines to World Cup runs. Known for “Bonchi Powder,” Furano’s snow is light, dry, and deep, set against a basin backdrop that delivers sun, scenery, and pure northern magic.
Mt.T: Renowned as “The Ultimate Powder Field,” Mt.T by Hoshino Resorts is a bucket list destination where skiers and riders can blanket themselves in powdery deep turns. With 15 meters of annual snowfall, steep dynamic terrain, and the backdrop of Mt. Tanigawa’s twin peaks, it stands as one of Japan’s most coveted regions to ski and ride.
Zao Onsen Ski Resort: High in Yamagata’s mountains, Zao Onsen Ski Resort is home to Japan’s legendary “Snow Monsters” – rime-covered fir trees shaped by Siberian winds. Ski among these towering white giants on the nearly 9 km Snow Monster Course, then unwind in natural hot springs as steam rises through the snow.
CHINA, Yunding Snow Park: Set in the snowy mountains of northern China, just an hour from Beijing by high-speed rail, Yunding Snow Park is one of Asia’s best ski experiences. A host of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and other world-class competitions, this four-season resort pairs elite terrain with modern infrastructure, including the legendary halfpipe ridden by Olympians Eileen Gu and Shaun White. Beyond the turns, this Chinese icon offers sunlit slopes and ski-in/ski-out access for all abilities, robust restaurant options, on-mountain lodging, and off-slope adventures.
SOUTH KOREA, Mona Yongpyong: Nestled in Pyeongchang, Mona Yongpyong is South Korea’s most storied mountain resort, famed as a host of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games. With its iconic Rainbow Course, sweeping slopes on Mt. Balwangsan, and year-round leisure offerings, it’s a destination where world-class competition, culture, and adventure collide.
The War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) evokes profound shame of the horrors inflicted in our name during the Vietnam War.
The museum is housed in what used to be the US military’s intelligence headquarters during the Vietnam War and was originally known as the “Museum of Chinese and American War Crimes”.
Now one of the most visited museums in Vietnam, the War Remnants Museum attracts 500,000 visitors every year, of whom two-thirds are foreigners. That is apparent during our visit, as well.
Exhibits relate the history of American involvement in the Second Indochina War, which began when France returned to re-colonialize Vietnam in 1946. I still do not understand how or why the US took over France’s fight (the US started direct involvement in 1950), but the displays discuss America’s anti-Communist obsession with the Domino Theory (that Indochina would come under control of Communist China and/or Russia). But I also learn something new: a display quotes Lyndon B. Johnson saying that America needs access to Vietnam’s “tin and tungsten” (echoing Trump’s insistence on the necessity of taking Greenland’s rare earth metals).
The exhibits are detailed, emotional and intense – the most stirring being the photos by photojournalists for magazines and newspapers including Life Magazine. Most affecting is a kind of shrine dozens of journalists and photographers who were killed on the field of battle in their effort to bring news of what was happening there to the world.
The photos are presented in an extraordinary way: showing the photo, then providing notes about the background, the context of the image, and the photographer. Among them is the famous Pulitzer-prize winning photo of “Napalm Girl,” a naked child whose clothes have been burned off her body by napalm, which had profound impact on influencing public opinion (this was the first war that came into family’s living rooms each night). The photos then and now are chilling, but today, they properly evoke shame and wonder why there has never been accountability for war crimes.
A moving display addresses American war crimes (dumping Agent Orange, napalm and phosphorous, bombing villages). This includes great detail – even the stone well – of the war crimes committed and later admitted to by Bob Kerrey, a Navy Seal who became a U.S. Senator (not to be confused with John Kerry who gave Senate testimony in 1971 decrying the war). There is a display that shows the impact, even generations later, of these chemical weapons on the Vietnamese, and even progeny of American soldiers. (Along Vietnam’s modern highways, we have visited stunning craft enters – subsidized for-profit enterprises – that employ disabled who embroider, paint, carve.)
Another exhibit pays homage to the peace movements that were underway.
What I don’t see in the museum is any mention of Nixon sabotaging LBJ’s peace deal in 1968 to win election. (At the LBJ Library in Austin, you can hear LBJ’s phone call to Senator Dirkson saying Nixon’s back-channel promises to South Vietnam President Nguyen Van Thieu of a better deal when he became president, was treasonous, but Johnson couldn’t publicize it because it would have revealed US spying). Think of it: the Vietnam War could have ended in 1968, the most deadly year of the entire war. Fighting between 1968 and 1975 when the war finally ended (the 50th anniversary commemorated throughout Vietnam this year) meant 40,000 more American soldiers were killed (a total of 58,000 Americans died in Vietnam and countless thousands injured); for the Vietnamese, it meant 1.5 million more deaths (3 million Vietnamese died, of whom 2 million were civilians, plus 2 million injured and 300,000 listed as missing).
I ask our Discovery Bicycle Tours guide Phong, whose father fought for the North Vietnamese on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, if he knew about the possible peace deal, and he said no, but our local Saigon guide, Li, whose father fought for the South, was aware (I guess informed by an American veteran or tourist he guided). The most despicable realization about the Vietnam tragedy is that it was all political, having little or nothing to do with the claimed “national security.”
I visited this museum five years ago, when I was similarly overcome. But now that I have seen countryside and people, I see these photos differently, more in context. The faces in the photos were real people who you see in the faces of the people today.
And what has been most revelatory during our time here in Vietnam, is that Americans are well received, welcomed. As our guide Phong has said, “We are a Buddhist country. We do not look to the past; we look to the future.”
This is what travel is about: see for yourself, engage with people, and bring those revelations, insights, lessons and first-hand experiences home.
We actually weren’t supposed to visit the War Remnants Museum. Our Day 10 Discovery Bicycle Tours itinerary would have us visit the Reunification Palace – the former Presidential Palace, renamed to commemorate the April 30, 1975 victory of President Ho Chi Minh’s forces. But by the time we finish lunch (after having flown from Hoi An), there is not enough time to visit the Palace, so instead, we visit the War Remnants Museum. But this is such an important museum that should not be missed, I would have visited on my own on my last day.
Leaving the museum, our sightseeing continues.
The first thing you notice about Ho Chi Minh City is the traffic. If we thought the traffic in Hanoi was intense, the traffic in Ho Chi Minh City is multiples of that – it is an act of courage (almost an adventure or sport) just to cross the street.
You just cannot fathom the amount of traffic, with scooters zipping by every which way (there are buses and cars, too, but not nearly as many), and somehow they manage this complex choreography. But to the extent there are traffic signals, they are extremely sophisticated, with seconds counting down and turning arrows. Trouble is, they mainly control motorized traffic and there aren’t enough of them. Pedestrians have to just assert themselves. (Mercifully, Discovery Bicycle Tours has no plan for us to bike within Saigon; we will be taken out to the countryside.)
The traffic is actually an attraction. Looking through the window from the safe perch of our bus, we enjoy trying to spot families of three, four, even five on a motor bike, or some interesting thing that is being transported like 12-foot long piping or wide/high stacks, and looking for creative expressions of individuality in helmets. There are even bike helmets for the cellphones but rarely for children, our local guide, Li, tells us (and he isn’t just joking).
People on their scooters, smile, wave and flash V signs to us when they notice us watching with fascination and admiration.
Also interesting is the equivalent of an Uber service via motor scooter.
Our local guide, Li, tells us the city’s first subway opened just 2 months earlier – another sign of Vietnam’s peace and prosperity (I make a plan to see it). It extends 25 km east of city and there are plans to build a second line to go 25 km to the west. There is also some thought to a bullet train to replace the “express train” to Hanoi that takes 32 hours.
Another indication of the economic development of Vietnam is that they are building a new international airport 40 km away – the present one will used for the military.
There is lots of Western influence here – Ho Chi Minh City is Vietnam’s largest city and its commercial capital, and had been under French and Western control for more than a century. It seems very much an international city.
We next visit the famous Ho Chi Minh City Central Post Office, unchanged since it was built in the French style in the 1880s. I had bought some really decorative cards in the night market in Hue and delight in sending them off with special stamps and post mark, racing to complete the task as the rest of the group waits. (I have a tradition of mailing cards home from where I travel.)
For dinner, we get to experience Saigon’s famous street food – we are taken by bus to Ho Thi Ky Flowers and Foods Street, a popular district for street food, and Li leads us from one stall to another. We sit at the child-sized plastic tables and chairs and sample all these delights.
The food is marvelous – in fact, we’ve enjoyed excellent meals at all the restaurants we have visited but this experience adds extra zest of the ambiance. We get to try some unusual, local foods, too.
Li dares us to try the “stinky Vietnamese fruit,” Durian, a spiky, custard-like fruit known for its pungent, almost overpowering odor (a fruit equivalent to Limburger cheese), yet considered a delicacy in Southeast Asia and stuffed snails. (It’s horrible.)
The Majestic is an elegant five-star, French-style hotel which first opened in 1925, built by the richest Chinese businessman in Saigon at the time, Bui Hon Hoa. Over the past century, it has been expanded and renovated and in 2007 became the first Vietnamese-managed hotel to earn five-star status. It has a stunning outdoor pool, a gorgeous restaurant where we enjoy breakfast, a beautiful lobby lounge.
I head out to (carefully) cross the street to a long park which lets you promenade up to the City Hall, a stunning building from the Colonial French era, enjoying the activity of families out and about enjoying the evening and some street entertainers.
Our last full day in Vietnam is spent biking but mercifully, not in the city. Instead, we are bused 2 ½ hours to the Mekong Delta countryside. Our 20-mile bike route takes us through villages, rice paddies, orchards.
We stop into a place that collects coconuts for distribution and we get to drink the coconut juice, while our rest stop affords a few of us to hang out in hammocks.
We come to Mr. Kiet’s Ancient House, a faithfully restored upper-class 1838 home with intricately carved wooden archways and doors and antique furnishings, many with luminescent inlaid nacre. Recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage site, the home is still occupied by Mr. Kiet’s widow who operates a small restaurant in the orchard garden, where we have a most delightful lunch.
Finishing our bike ride, we board a boat for a short cruise along the Mekong River, stop into a factory that makes candy from rice (like popcorn!), and have another ride in a traditional boat.
I frankly would have preferred this last day be spent biking and visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels, which would add to understanding the Vietnam War. I had visited five years ago when I was last in Saigon (on a Global Scavenger Hunt), and found it extremely moving and frankly a unique experience.
The Củ Chi Tunnels was the Viet Cong’s base for the Tet Offensive in 1968. The site has 120 km of underground tunnels with trapdoors, living areas, storage facilities, armory, hospitals, and command centers, and were used going back to 1948 against the French, and later against the Americans.
You actually climb into the tunnels (there are different length routes you can take, especially if you are claustrophobic) and guides re-create how the Viet Cong lived there. In the visitor center, you can archival film of battles and bombings in the place where it happened. (See: HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM: TRADITIONS SURVIVE IN MODERN CITY, AS DOES RECKONING WITH PAST)
(Some of our group have a late-enough flight the next day that they have organized a private tour. I would recommend you extend your stay to have this experience if it is not included in the itinerary. You can arrange one of the many sightseeing trips available through the Majestic Hotel’s concierge).
A Day to Leisurely Explore
Discovery Bicycle Tours has arranged a late check out at the Majestic Hotel to accommodate our late-afternoon and early evening flights.
I luxuriate with a leisurely breakfast in the Majestic’s lovely rooftop restaurant, go for a swim in the hotel’s gorgeous pool, then go out to explore. (Had we not already visited the War Remnants Museum, this is when I would have.)
I head out to walk to the famous historic Ben Thanh Market, considered a “must-see.”
Ho Chi Minh City just opened its first subway, so when I come upon a station, I go down to explore–I find it unadorned, totally functional.
I had hoped to visit the synagogue that I had visited five years ago, but am unable to find it (it apparently is now a Chabad; there are three other synagogues in Vietnam: in Hanoi, Hoi An and Sapa).
Instead, I stop in to the Rehahn Gallery. It is very different from the Precious Museum & Gallery in his hometown of Hoi An but another chance to admire these spectacular photographs. There is a marvelous video which describes a bit of his process. It is just a couple of blocks from the Majestic Hotel, and close to the Opera and the Post Office.
Get the required visa at Vietnam’s website (evisa.gov.vn), where the fee is $25 (if you use a visa service it costs something like $197), but give yourself enough time to get the confirmation.
It is recommended you purchase travel insurance – especially for the medical and evacuation coverage. You can check a site like travelinsurance.com to get recommendations.
When I think of Hoi An, Vietnam, I think of “dazzling” and I think of Venice. That first glimpse in the night as we walk over the Hội An bridge into Old Town and suddenly see the colored lights and lanterns popping out of the darkness, the silhouette of the sampan boats rowing on the river evoking Venetian gondoliers, the reflections on the dappled surface of the water, takes my breath away. Add to this the crush of people crossing the bridge, reminiscent of the Ponte di Rialto (but with the added hubbub of motorbikes winding their way through the crowd). And then there is the Japanese Covered Bridge that reminds you of Venice’s Bridge of Sighs.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, Hoi An was one of the most prosperous international trading ports in Southeast Asia – the center of commerce for merchant vessels from Japan, China, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and India – cultures that left their mark in architecture, customs, art and festivals. Preserved intact and considered a living museum, the Old Town was recognized as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site in 1999, and in 2023, was listed as one of the UNESCO creative cities for handicraft and folk arts – which we enjoy discovering in the many shops and market stalls.
Today’s ride – 20 miles through Hoi An’s countryside – on Day 8 of Discovery Bicycle Tours’ 12-day Vietnam cultural tour, proves my favorite – especially compared to yesterday’s challenging seven-mile ride up to the Hai Van Pass and six miles down the other side. Today’s ride is not just relaxing but really interesting, manifesting the best feature of a bike tour: bringing you into daily life. We ride through villages which represent the “five pillars” of Vietnamese daily life – a carpentry village, fishing village, vegetable village, pottery village.
After breakfast, we pedal right from the five-star European-styled Royal Hotel Hoi An to the hamlet of Thanh Ha, a modest village specializing in making small pottery objects and utensils. We learn that the clay is collected from rice paddies. Several of us get to try the traditional method, and as we leave, we are presented with a gift of a clay animal-shaped whistle.
We continue cycling through the countryside to a small village located on the banks of the Tra Que Lagoon, 2 miles northeast of the Old Town. We meet local residents and enjoy a demonstration of making rice paper, ban xeo and the tam huu local spring roll. We get to try to make it ourselves, as we are treated to tea and rice cake. Every part of the rice plant is used, including the husk which is fuel.
After lunch, we bike to Cam Thanh water coconut village to learn about the daily life of families who fish on the local river, and are paddled around in a “unique” (novel) Vietnamese round bamboo basket boat, coming close to a fishing boat to see how the fisherman tosses out an enormous net.
This is so much more than the gallery of world-renowned photographer, Rehahn – it is an ethnography exhibit of his decade long project to photograph all 54 ethnic groups of Vietnam. Magnificent portraits are displayed along with that village’s traditional dress and other artifacts (several of these also decorate the hotel). Magnificent portraits are displayed along with that village’s traditional dress and other artifacts. I love his notes telling the story behind the photograph of the people and the experience. You can also watch outstanding videos. The photos are published in his book, “Vietnam.”
The five rooms spanning 500 sq meters contain hundreds of portraits, 60 costumes and tribal songs. You are immersed in his striking portraits, stories, and heirlooms that equal the best exhibitions in the finest museums in the world and stand as a celebration of heritage and a call for conservation. (Free admission, open daily 8 am-8 pm, 26 Phan Boi Chau – Hoi An 84 94 982 06 98, https://www.Rehahnphotographer.com/)
To get there (a 20 minute walk, or about a mile from the Royal Hotel Hoi An), I walk along the river, through the markets, first geared to tourists, then local markets. But I see why the city bans buses and trucks to enter the city after 4 pm, because as I walk, literally 100 stalls are being moved into position, like a long train, as the night market takes over the street. A long line of rickshaws transporting tourists flow down, and pedestrians take over whatever space is left.
Our group meets for dinner at the Morning Glory Restaurant, which I learn has basically re-invented Vietnamese cuisine after decades of deprivation:
“We had lost a whole generation of chefs and recipes. When you’re living on the most basic rations, taste is not your priority – you just need something to fill your belly and give you energy,” Ms. Vy, founder and owner of The Taste Vietnam Group writes.
“Nowadays, having been a chef for some 40 years, I can look back at our history and understand why Vietnamese cuisine doesn’t yet occupy the position it deserves on the world stage. And this is why I, and many of my colleagues, have tasked ourselves with exposing our amazing gastronomy to the world. We hope to highlight its techniques, the philosophy at its roots, and its historical origins, while at the same time promoting its health and nutritional benefits. We have dedicated our careers to this for our community and our nation.”
These remarks crystallize for me what our Discovery Bicycle Tours guides – Phong, Vinh and Li – have related to us in their personal stories. I was reminded of Phong, standing by a rice paddy, speaking of his holiday gift wish when he was a boy not be hungry, and how so much has changed for his people over the last 40 years.
Indeed, the meal we enjoy at Morning Glory is excellent, imaginative, exquisitely presented as we are entertained by two guitarists.
The restaurant is very clever, offering an entire store, Vy’s Market, filled with household and culinary items (“Herbal Wine for Joints”), as well as a cooking school.
(The next evening, when dinner is on our own, we happen into another of Vy’s restaurants on the other side of the river in the Old Town, with a fantastic saxophonist to entertain, stunning ambiance and delightful menu.)
After dinner, we stroll around on our own – we head toward the Old Town across the Hoi An bridge, and that’s when we come across the most spectacular sight: the colorful lanterns on sampan boats.
The Japanese Covered Bridge was built in the early 17th century by the Japanese who lived in Hoi An town, to cross the stream to do business with the local people in the residential area. The two entrances are guarded by Monkey Gods at one end and a pair of Dog gods at the other. In later centuries, the Chinese and Vietnamese continued to restore the bridge, and built a small temple dedicated to the God Bac de Tran Vo (Emperor of the North).This religious architectural complex has a distinctive pantiled (yin-yang) T-shaped roof, which is related to the misfortune and happiness of the local people, so they often call it Chua Cau (bridge and temple). Chua Cau is also a symbol of the cultural exchange between the Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese people in Hoi An. It is thought to have supernatural power and is still a place of worship. Inside, we see the small temple and historic photos of the bridge.
The morning of Day 9, we transfer to Vinh Dien where we cycle 15 miles to the My Son Sanctuary. At this World Heritage Site, see the remains of the remarkable brick towers.
Visiting My Son Sanctuary is fascinating on multiple levels – it introduces us to a part of Vietnam’s heritage that few would have known – My Son Sanctuary was the spiritual capital of the Cham Kingdom, which dominated Southeast Asia for nearly a thousand years, and is one of the few sites from this era left standing. During the Vietnam (American) War; this area was a stronghold for VietCong fighters and was bombed in 1968 during the Tet Offensive – to the extent that a letter was sent to President Nixon, pleading with him to stop bombing this precious place. Apparently, the bombing was stopped.
We learn that the sanctuary had to be excavated, but the process was impeded by landmines. “In 2000, with the help of the United States, they took out the landmines.” Also, there are snakes (so don’t walk on the grass)
Another interesting thing: they don’t really know how these temples were constructed.
The monuments are considered masterpieces of brick construction of the period, both in terms of the technology of their construction and because of their intricate carved-brick decorations, “unique and without equal in Southeast Asia,” according to UNESCO notes.
The tower temples were constructed over ten centuries in what was the heart of the ancestral homeland of the ruling Dua Clan which unified the Cham clans and established the kingdom of Champapura(Sanskrit for City of the Cham people) in 192 CE. During the 4th to 13th centuries CE this distinctive culture, on the coast of contemporary Vietnam, owed its spiritual origins to the Hinduism of the Indian sub-continent.
We get back to Hoi An with the whole afternoon and evening to ourselves.
The Precious Heritage Museum and Art Gallery is so fascinating that I return with Calista Phillips (our Discovery Bike Tours guide) and Pam and we are so fortunate that Rehahn, the photographer himself!, is at the gallery, signing his newest book.
Now we can focus on the markets – when you walk from the Royal Hotel along the riverbank, you see all the tourist-oriented shops and stalls, but walk a bit further and there you have the local markets, and just a bit further than that, is the Gallery.
We stop at a woman who is carving bamboo into the most amazing heads.
The further away from the river front and the further back from the center, the streets empty out, and we just enjoy the atmosphere as we walk back to the Royal Hotel Hoi An.
On Day 6 of Discovery Bicycle Tours’ 12-Day Vietnam Tour, we get to ride (22 miles for the day), biking right from the Pilgrimage Village resort in Hue along country lanes. There is only light local traffic (mainly bicycles, motorbikes and buffaloes) to the Royal Tomb of Emperor Gia Long, the first emperor of Vietnam’s Nguyen Dynasty.
Built between 1814 and 1820, the mausoleum of Gia Long is a complex of several tombs and temples spread across a tranquil park-like setting of 42 hills and pine forest. What makes this place all the more special is the poignant love story of the Emperor and his first wife, for whom he built the tomb so she could be buried beside him (calling to mind the Taj Mahal).
Our bike ride finishes at a pleasant restaurant in an eco-resort where we enjoy a delightful lunch before getting onto a “dragon” boat that cruises along the Perfume River to visit the famous Thien Mu Pagoda. The pagoda, with its moat now filled with lotus flowers, dates from the 1870s and has become the symbol of the city of Hue.
We next board our bus and are taken to the magnificent Citadel of Hue. Set on the northern bank of the Perfume River, the walled fortress served as the capital of the Nguyen Dynasty from 1802 to 1945, the last feudal dynasty in Vietnam. The Citadel was designated a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site in 1993.
This vast complex – 520 hectares – has a moat and ten ornate gates guarding a palace, temples, gardens and tombs.
Our local guide, Vinh, tells us Vietnam was independent from 1802-1883. Then the fourth king passed away and the French moved in, turning Vietnam into its colony, from 1885-1945. “With help of an ally,” the Vietnamese pushed out the French, but that lasted only a year and the French returned in 1946 for nine more years. That triggered the Second Indochina War (what we call the Vietnam War and they call the American War).
This very place where we stand today was the site of a major battle in the Tet Offensive – our guide shows us photos of the Battle of Hue, a siege which lasted from January 31 to March 2, 1968.
As we walk through the expansive grounds, he tells us that the restoration of the palace was only completed last year – but he points to where we can still see bullet holes.
The art, the architecture, the decoration – mosaic, enamel, sculpture –are exquisite, reminding me of China’s Forbidden City in Beijing. It turns out this is not coincidence: Emperor Gia Long modeled his palace complex after Beijing’s Forbidden City.
The experience is enhanced by all the families who have come in their traditional dress (which seems fascinating to me in a Communist country), to pose for photos as part of their Lunar New Year celebration. But it has the effect of completing the feeling of having been transported back in time. There are also large groups of school kids in their white shirts.
Day 7 of the Discovery Bicycle Tours Vietnam tour brings the greatest cycling challenge – the seven mile climb up to the Hai Van Pass– and a visit to the intriguingly named “City of Ghosts.”
But the day starts off with lulling ease – a delightful breakfast at the Pilgrimage Village resort, and a visit to the Vestige of Thanh Toan Tile-Roofed Bridge, a wooden covered bridge originally constructed in 1776 with seven apartments. It was dedicated to Tran Thi Dao, a child of Thanh Thuy Chanh Village and wife of a high-ranking Mandarin in Thuan Hoa Region who provided the funding. The bridge was recognized as a national heritage site in 1990 for its beautiful architecture.
We cross the bridge and enter a busy village market, and after, are brought to an agricultural museum where we are treated to a demonstration of the traditional way the villagers processed rice by a docent with a great sense of humor.
From here, we drive to the An Bang Village Cemetery, intriguingly known as “the City of Ghosts,” for its thousands of ornate mausoleums that extend over 8 km.
Many of the tombs we see in this section are relatively new – dating from 1999 up to 2024 – but are fabulous and enormously expensive, costing $60,000-$70,000, and mostly paid for by relatives from the US, UK and Australia.
A plaque at one of the mausoleums explains it is in honor of Nguyen Van Linh, the first ancestor who established the Nguyen Van family in An Bang-An. He was born in Ky Hoi in 1539 and died in 1588.
From here, we have a picnic lunch before “hopping on our bikes to conquer” Hai Van Pass, also known as the “Pass of Ocean Clouds.” An iconic pass known around the world, it is the highest in Vietnam at 500 meters above sea level. Discovery Bicycle Tours notes that “a new tunnel through the mountain means that the 7 miles up the pass is a very quiet section of highway. The gradient is manageable, and the views are breath taking!” Actually, as I discover, the gradient is 4.6% up to 7.5%. (I think our0 Ride with GPS app even shows 12% at some points.)
Now, all of our bike rides so far have been easy, with very little elevation. But today’s is an absolute challenge, even more challenging than the ride up Acadia’s Cadillac Mountain on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Coastal Maine trip. Notably, we are the only ones doing this pass by bike (versus motorscooter or car) and I am one of the few in our group doing it with a regular hybrid bike (not e-bike).
I have my method – it may not look pretty, but it gets me to the summit: I keep looking down at the road immediately ahead of me (if you look up and see non-ending rise, you stop), try to keep my hands light on the handlebars, relax my shoulders, and think thoughts (mostly of how people have had to suffer but got through it). I stop a couple of times on a relatively flat section to refresh and then start again.
Because of this, I cannot vouch for the claim that this is “one of the great scenic drives around the world,” or a “deserted ribbon of perfection” as some have described it. It’s only later that I learn just how significant the it is: the Hai Van Pass dates back to the 1300s when it marked a physical boundary between the Champa and Dai Viet Kingdoms – you can still see an ancient grand gate at the summit which used to be a border crossing between the two kingdoms.
“Today, the road still represents a division between two distinct sides of Vietnam. Many travellers who backpack the length of the country say that the North and South of the country have two very different personalities, as well as notable climatic differences. The north is colder, more industrial and perhaps more serious, while the south is warmer, more tropical and the people are often said to be more laid-back. The Hai Van Pass is the point at which these two worlds meet.” (https://southeastasiabackpacker.com/hai-van-pass-vietnam/)
I make it to the top (I’ve refused invitations to ride up from our bus driver who has been assiduously following those of us at the back). I take a quick look at the fortress at the summit, and the “spectacular view” (the rest of the group have been at the top for about 20 minutes).
From there, we bike down the other side of the Pass. Coming down is no picnic either – controlling the speed on the switchbacks. The best part of the ride is having done it. It has proved to be as tough and arduous as I expected (feared) and as satisfying to have done it as I had hoped.
In the bus on the way into the city of Hoi An, we delight in watching the massive traffic of scooters and play a game to find fours and fives on a scooter (since it seems this is the time that families pick up their kids, it isn’t hard), and interesting, the amusing decorations on helmets that express their individuality.
Soon after embarking on the Dragon Legend for our overnight cruise of Bai Tu Long Bay, we are captivated by the picturesque karst islands that dot from the water, a dreamy landscape evoking classical paintings.
It is our fourth day on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Vietnam tour, and we had set out from the magnificent Emeralda Resort in Ninh Binh right after breakfast.
Along the drive, we see massive industrial parks being built on land that had been used to cultivate rice, big enough to have 500,000 workers.
What we don’t see, though, are housing communities and roads that would deliver those workers – so I wonder if that is because workers are housed within the industrial compounds and only see their family four days in the month? I wonder why in this freer, more prosperous, modern Vietnam they do not build industrial parks with adjacent communities with schools, groceries, parks, so that workers can have a family life, while young, single workers can live in worker housing and save money.
We see a bus load of young recruits starting their mandatory two-year military service. They are being followed by supportive friends on motorbikes, waving flags, seeing them off.
As we drive through the countryside, it seems just about every square meter is farmed or built on with houses. The new industrial parks that are being constructed near Hai Phong, Vietnam’s largest port in the north. In1964, Hai Phong, the biggest seaport in Vietnam, was the supply post from Russia and China and was the most heavily bombed.
Today, our bus is traveling on the beautiful and modern 120 km long Hanoi-Hai Phong Highway.
The government is extending the highway to go all the way north-to-south and constructing an express (bullet) train “so you would be able to have breakfast in Hanoi and lunch in Saigon.” The contractors are from Japan and China.
The rest stop on the highway offers a fascinating demonstration in the technique for oyster pearl farming devised here: a method of cutting a membrane, treating the oyster with an anti-bacterial, then implanting a seed into the oyster to stimulate the oyster to produce a pearl. “Like IVF for the oyster.”
Then the treated oyster is placed in a mesh bag (they can stay out of water for five hours), which will be put into the sea where it takes one to five years to cultivate the pearl.
She tells us that 30% of these oysters survive; of these, only 20% produce a pearl of sufficient quality for jewelry (there are grades like for diamonds).
At another station, we get to see the oyster opened to extract a pearl. Believe it or not, the oyster can be eaten after this.
Every part of the oyster has a use. The “irregular” ones with no shine are crushed for cosmetic pearl cream (makes you 10 years younger!); the irregular ones that have good sheen are used for earrings. “Nothing is wasted.” Mother of pearl is used for buttons and lacquerware.
Some oysters only live 1 to 2 years and are implanted once, but Black and South Sea pearl oysters, which take 2-5 years to produce the pearl, can be implanted once more after extracting the pearl.
We are then invited into a massive showroom where, we are told we can get a 5% discount and use any kind of currency or credit card. Boy, these guys are really good at capitalism!
Indeed, at this popular port of Ha Long City with loads of international chain hotels, we see massive luxury buildings that are standing empty – built during a building boom to attract those who could afford the $1 million price tag.
The Dragon Legend, one of the IndoChina Junk fleet, is a gorgeous ship (my room is massive) We have all the comforts we could possibly want (except WiFi).
After lunch onboard the ship, we tender to Hon Co Island – one of the few (out of 4000 karst islands in the Bay) where people are allowed to hike. We hike up stone stairs into the hidden Thien Canh Son Cave, then down to a beautiful sand beach.
The tender next takes us to a floating dock where we get into kayaks and paddle around another small karst island before returning to the ship for the sunset (at 5 pm), cocktails, and dinner.
Dinner is marvelous, followed by a few entertainments (the GM does some card tricks). A few of us take up the invitation to try fishing off the boat using nothing but a bamboo pole and lure – a couple of squid are caught triggering squeals of delight.
I get up early for the sunrise Tai Chi (so fun, except it is cloudy). After breakfast, we tender to Vung Vieng, a floating fishing village, which proves a true highlight of the cruise.
Located some 22 km from any town, Vung Vieng has been the floating home to as many as 80 families since the 19th century. The homes still have no electricity (a community center and the dock where we board the rowboats to visit the village, has solar power).
A sign on the dock as we await to board the rowboats relates that the Vung Vieng fishing village began as an anchorage to give boats a place to rest and avoid storms, but over time, some households began to settle here, increasing in number until nearly 80 in 2014.
“With the help of the people of the United States, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), nongovernmental organizations, and others, dozens of fishing village households have participated in Halong Cat Ba Bay Initiative Alliance with a model of sustainable aquaculture combining responsible tourism on Ha Long Bay, so that Vung Vieng fishing village can be preserved for the future,” the sign notes. The village has been bringing tourists to visit for the past 25 years, an important source of financial support.
Seeing the sign that credits the assistance of USAID, retriggers my fury at the destruction of America’s reputation and role in the world.
We are rowed around the karst island in a traditional wooden rowboat to where the modest homes (not much bigger than a shack) are on wooden floats, sheltered by the rock formations on either side. Those of the village who are not rowing us are likely out fishing, so we see only a few people still at home – there are more dogs than people.
While there is a solar panel in the community building, there is little electricity – no hot water shower, only a wood fire stove for cooking and heat. Barrels collect rainwater from the roofs for drinking. The villagers subsist on fish (halibut, snapper, mackerel, grouper, sea bass, tuna), and scuba divers gather scallops and oysters.
We also see an actual oyster farm and when we return to the floating dock we have another demonstration of the remarkable process of inserting a seed in an oyster to produce a pearl.
Back onboard the Dragon Legend, we have lunch as it cruises back to port. We depart the ship and drive to the airport in Hanoi to continue our Vietnam adventure in Hue, in central Vietnam.
On the bus ride to Hanoi Airport, we see pickleball and gyms, lots of bridal gown shops, a Make Up Academy. Cell phones are ubiquitous, but where are the cell phone stores?
I’m fascinated to see large advertising billboards that remind me of the 1950s. One reads “Better Kitchen. Better Life.”
We fly into Danang Airport – yet another modern, comfortable, well organized international airport just bustling with travelers from all over the world. (Normally, Discovery would fly us directly into Hue but there weren’t enough plane tickets to accommodate the group.)
Danang is a familiar name for Americans – it was a base for Americans during the War. In the last 20 years, like the rest of Vietnam, Danang has seen extraordinary growth, progress and prosperity. In 1975-80, the population was 50,000; today the population is 1.5 million and has become the fourth largest city in Vietnam after Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Hai Phong. It is a popular place to live– just 10 minutes to the mountain, 10 minutes to the beach and seaport.
We are headed to Hue, a city of 300,000, where we will spend two nights at the Pilgrimage Village, a gorgeous five-star resort surrounded by lush gardens, 10 minutes from the bustling downtown.
As it is, our truck driver and bike mechanic have been driving for two days to bring our bikes from Hanoi to Hue so we can begin the biking portion of our Vietnam cultural tour.
We have dinner on our own – and since the downtown is a distance from the hotel, the bus takes us and picks us up (we have a devil of a time finding our way back to where the pick-up is).
I am dazzled by Hue, a bustling, colorful, festive downtown, jam-packed with people crowding the restaurants, the merchants hawking crafts on the streets.
And I really love our stay at the Pilgrimage Village, with its lush garden setting – especially swimming in a picturesque pool as darkness falls and having breakfast in a lodge overlooking the water and gardens.
One of the most heavenly experiences in Ninh Binh, Vietnam, is to visit Tam Coc (three caves), a peaceful valley set amid karst hills. Here we are rowed along a gentle river between paddy fields and through the trio of caves on a traditional wooden boat where the oarsperson paddles using her legs and feet. It is inexplicable how the oarsmen (most are women) are able to maneuver.
The endpoint of this thrilling and gorgeously scenic water route is a Tran Dynasty temple where Saint Quy Minh Dai Vuong, an earth and water deity, and his wife are worshipped. It is mind-blowing to realize the temple was first constructed 1000 years ago during the Dinh dynasty.“The Temple contains four stone pillars, each of which is a piece of art that our forefathers left behind for posterity, but which remain a mystery, with clever, artistically carved patterned borders. The spirits were known to the ancients as Long (dragon), Ly (Qilin, a unicorn, part dragon, part horse), Quy (turtle) and Phuong (phoenix) – indeed, the four sacred animals we had seen during the Water Puppet cultural show in Hanoi.
This is our third morning on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ 12-day Vietnam cultural tour, and after a fabulous breakfast at the Emeralda Ninh Binh Resort, we travel by bus through the picturesque countryside. It will also be our first day biking in Vietnam.
We turn off local roads to cycle among the rice paddies and our guide, Nguyen Hong Phong, stops to explain the rice culture that has been so fundamental to Vietnam for 4000 years. (I can see how the “water puppets” we saw in Hanoi reflect this wet rice culture.)
Before 1986, communal farming prevailed – the property was owned by the government and the farmers earned a share (theoretically equal but apparently not really, Phong suggests). But production wasn’t sufficient and people didn’t get enough rice.
Phong tells us that when he was a boy, his biggest wish at the Lunar New Year was to have enough food and clothes without stitches. When there wasn’t enough rice, they would mix in corn, tapioca, and “privately, secretly” catch snails, snakes, rats from the rice paddies. Even dogs and cats were protein for people.
But a new law in 1986 allowed private ownership and open markets. The government divided up the land among the farmers. By 1996, Vietnam produced enough rice not only to feed its own population but to export, becoming one of the biggest rice exporters in the world.
But a new problem has arisen because young people can make more money in factories than on the farm, and farms are being abandoned or farmers have to hire workers.
Phong explains the process: dropping a seed and the sprout grows, within one month to 20 cm high, then the sprout is uprooted and transplanted. They have to build fences to keep out rats, mice, and fill with water to stop snails. After 3 ½ months growing, the rice plants are put into a nursery for one month more. By the time the plant is one meter tall, ripened to yellow, it is cut by hand or machine.
We learn how every part of the rice crop is utilized. But what I don’t understand is why white rice prevails even through the lean years of hunger and deprivation, when brown rice would be more nutritious and less costly to produce.
We stop along our cycling route to visit a community cemetery for war soldiers. Between 1945 and 1975, 3 million died in war, including one million soldiers. “Each community has a memorial, with the remains and the name of the person who died for freedom.” July 27 is the Day of the War Soldier, when families come and burn incense. A white flower on the grave indicates the soldier died without a family, a yellow flower denotes the soldier had family. We see the ages of these fallen soldiers, some as young as 18.
Biking to Hoa Lu, Ancient Capital City
After pedaling through several villages set amid a landscape of magnificent limestone peaks, we reach Hoa Lu. Hoa Lu was the capital of Vietnam from 968 to 1009 during the first two imperial dynasties of Vietnam: the Đinh founded by Đinh Tiên Hoàng, and the Early Lê founded by Lê Đại Hành. When the Lê dynasty ended, in 1010, Lý Công Uẩn, the founder of the Lý dynasty, transferred the capital to Thăng Long (now Hanoi),60 miles away, and Hoa Lư became known as the “ancient capital.”
At the entrance is the “stone dragon bed,’ where the king would have gotten off his elephant transport and walked the central path through the archway into the temple, while the mandarins entered through the sides.
Phong relates that in a feudal society, when a king passes away, they build several mausoleums so people don’t know where his actual body is buried – those that buried him are killed to keep the secret.
The thought occurs to me: To go from a king who can execute and torture at will to a dictator, even one who imprisons, tortures, and kills dissidents to preserve power but nonetheless is focused on bettering the lives of his people rather than his own aggrandizement, was a step up for the Vietnamese. But for us who are used to “rule of law”, “due process”, “equal rights”, “no man is above the war,” “justice without fear or favor,” and the ability to vote out an elected official, to find ourselves under the thumb of a dictator who politicizes justice, rules by violence, extortion, intimidation and oppression for his own benefit, is horrifying.
Also, what a difference peace makes to progress and quality of life.
We have a brief visit to the Old Palace.
We continue biking and stop at a cemetery– one of many we see in these rice paddies. Phong tells us it is common for the families to build a tomb for their ancestors within their allotment.
Driving on the highway, we stop at one of several modern rest stops which also house handicraft shops employing people with disabilities. This one employs some 500 people and specializes in really fine embroidery (others specialize in painting, sculpture, lacquerware and other crafts)
The manager who greets us explains that these handicraft shops were opened in 1996.”Before they worked here, they stayed at home and couldn’t work. Now they get trained and can support themselves and their family. They have housing and are bused from home.”
We watch how these craftspeople embroider these magnificent scenes that match a photo. The manager says it can take 2 ½ months to make one smaller embroidery, 4 months for medium sized and 8 months for large; 65% of the purchase price goes to the worker.
These folks have really perfected capitalism. The general manager finishes his introduction saying, ‘It’s the new year. We give good price. No tax.” They make it easy to spend US dollars, use credit cards and ship purchases home.
It’s a private company but gets support from government, so I ask Phong, “so this is a private non-profit”? “Nothing is ‘nonprofit’” he replies with a note of cynism. (He made a similar reply when describing how after the Communists took over government, ostensibly to give equal portions, he snidely inserted, “of course, nothing is really equal.”)
Later I ask Phong about taxes people pay and am surprised that they are similar structure to what we pay: under $500 income, no tax, then a progressive rate up to 35% based on income that includes their equivalent of social security, plus 2% for health care. With health care, they also have some covered and some out-of-pocket expense but I can imagine the cost of their health care is a fraction of what we pay in the US.
We stay for a second glorious night at the magnificent Emeralda Resort, sprawling like its own village with a palace-like entrance, outdoor and indoor pools, kids club, restaurants, and rooms the size of apartments. I get in a swim before enjoying a fabulous dinner together at the restaurant.
The next morning, we head to Bai Tu Long Bay for an overnight cruise on the Dragon Legend.
Visiting the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi is a profound experience – revelatory, even. I had not expected to see the great liberator of Vietnam’s actual body, lighted from above. And shortly after, standing outside the Soviet-built mausoleum, I realize as we listen to our guide, Nguyen Hong Phong, that I had no actual understanding of who Ho Chi Minh was. Combing the recesses of my mind, I realize I saw Ho Chi Minh simply as the enemy and likely a brutal dictator (more like China’s Mao Tse-Tung). And even though I had lived through the Vietnam War (known here as the American War), I really hadn’t understood that either.
But here in Hanoi on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Vietnam tour, I can see how Ho Chi Minh is justifiably venerated as a hero to his people – George Washington, Lincoln and FDR rolled into one. Visiting is like a pilgrimage with rules that accord him maximum respect. We walk up the stairs into the mausoleum, and slowly walk around his actual body, lit from above, as if he is merely sleeping – the still sleeping Liberator.
Ho Chi Minh, Phong tells us, “is the most respected in Vietnam. People changed their name to Ho. He is worshipped like a god in homes. He overcame the French, Japanese, Chinese and Americans for independence and freedom. Now we live in a peaceful country because of Ho Chi Minh.”
Our Discovery Bicycle Tours group at the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum
Coming back to the front of his mausoleum (built by the Soviets), Phong relates that Ho Chi Minh was born in 1890 into an educated family – his father was a Mandarin, working for a royal family. In feudal society, only men went to school and women stayed at home. He and his brother went to a French school.
He attended college in Saigon in 1911, studying culinary arts and applied to work as a cook in France. He wound up working on a ship, traveling to America, Britain, France, Russia and in 1928, went to China. Seeing the world in this way is what cultivated his revolutionary ideology and zeal to liberate Vietnam from foreign imperialists. On Feb 3 1930, he gathered party leaders and set up the Communist party.
“What he really learned was the importance of making Vietnam independent. He left Vietnam to learn enough about the French to kick them out,” Phong tells us.
He returned to Vietnam in 1941, having been away for 30 years. In 1944, Ho Chi Minh and General Japp (also a national hero) set up the Viet Minh, to resist foreign occupation by theFrench and Japanese during World War II.
When the Japanese and the French (who had occupied Vietnam since 1868, introducing Roman alphabet to replace Chinese characters the people used for 1000 years) left in 1945 at the end of World War II, on Sept 2, 1945, Ho Chi Minh declared the independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam. But after only one year, in 1946, the French attacked, forcing Ho Chi Minh into the mountains and retaking control.
“He wanted peace and agreed to divide the country in two for two years. They agreed to divide along the 17th parallel. It was supposed to be temporary. Five million people (mostly Catholic), fled south while one million southerners moved north. Then there was supposed to be national elections.”
But the US blocked the election (claiming concern for a “domino effect” of Chinese-led Communism spreading across IndoChina) and set up a puppet government in the south
When the war ended in 1975, Vietnam was united under the Communist regime.
The South Vietnamese who worked for the Americans were terrified of retribution and left (they were the “boat people”)
But Vietnam was still not at peace. China set up a new government in Cambodia that attacked South Vietnam. Fighting continued from 1979-1988.
Vietnam has only had real peace since 1988.
In 1986, the government implemented a “revision policy”: “We close the past, and look to the future,” Phong tells us. “The state still owned industry but allowed people to own their own businesses, allowed private enterprise and open markets. The rice fields were divided so you worked for yourself.”
From the mausoleum, we visit the complex where he lived – the Presidential Palace taken over from the French (Ho Chi Minh refused to live in it and only used the palace as an office and to receive dignitaries). Instead, from 1944-48 he insisted on living in a modest one-bedroom house, then moved to a house on stilts (reminiscent of where he lived with a Thai family), which again, was absolutely beautiful, but very modest.
In 1967, Ho Chi Minh became sick with lung cancer and was moved into another house, steps away from his house on stilts. This one looks camouflaged like a bunker, and was connected to underground bunker because by then, the US was bombing Hanoi. When he died in 1969, at the age of 79, the location of his body was kept secret and moved multiple times. His body was kept inside a cave until 1973, when the US left, and then asked Russia to build a complex. Until 1977, they moved his body nightly, keeping the coffin hidden underground. Peering through the windows of his homes provides a window into who Ho Chi Minh was in life.
Before we leave the complex, we visit the One Pillar Pagoda, which dates back to 1049. The French destroyed it in 1954, but the Vietnamese rebuilt it in 1955. There is a billboard that lays out the moral “do’s” and ”don’ts” of Buddhist/Confucian/Taoist society.
If I had questioned how Americans would be received in Vietnam, I soon get my answer standing in front of a monument to John McCain at the lake where McCain’s plane was shot down in 1967. McCain began six years as a prisoner in the dreaded Hoa Lo Prison, infamously known as the “Hanoi Hilton” – famously refusing to leave until his comrades were also freed. (We don’t get to visit but today it is a historic museum which has an exhibit devoted to the American prisoners, but is mostly showcasing French colonialism, see “Museum Hopping and Shopping in Hanoi”). The monument dates from 1992, when John McCain became one of the first Americans to come to Vietnam to heal relations; President Bill Clinton established relations in 1993 and helped revive Vietnam’s economy.
In December 1972, American B52s bombed Hanoi, surrounding villages and hospitals. As we look around Hanoi today, there is little evidence of that.
If Vietnamese still resent Americans you do not feel it at all. When I ask our guides about that, I am told “We are a Buddhist country. We do not look to the past; we look to the future.” If anything, though, there is still resentment between North and South Vietnamese, similar to the cultural divisions that remain between north and south since America’s civil war.
“The Vietnamese love Bill Clinton, the first US president to visit after the war, and we love John McCain. The United States is one of seven countries with the best relations,” Phong says – US, France, Australia, and Russia. “We close the past and look to the future.” Interestingly, considering one of the excuses for the US to enter the Vietnam War – the “domino theory” that China would take over IndoChina – is that Vietnam is wary of China, which had dominated Vietnam for 1000 years. “Local people feel cautious about China’s ambition to invade.”
It is our second day on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ 12-day Vietnam tour, and we’ve come to the Mausoleum after stopping first at the bike rental shop owned by Mr. Trung, a 70-year old former national champion and president of the Giant UNCC (he poses with us and shows magazines that feature him), where we are fitted for bikes that we will use in Ninh Binh, Hue and Hoi An.
From here, we drive a couple of hours to the Thung Nham Ecotourism Zone (I enjoy looking out to the scenery, how soon we find ourselves amid rice paddies and farms). It is sunset when we are taken by traditional boat into a bird sanctuary. Flocks of birds – storks, herons, teals, tropical starlings – take their positions in the tree tops over the Thung Nham wetland. There is a stunning resort set within the preserve, all the more gorgeous as lights and lanterns come on as the sun sets.
Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Biking Vietnam tour is designed along the best principles of travel: to explore, discover, learn, make connections, be present, experiential, meaningful and revelatory, and do it in a way that maximizes the benefits and minimizing the negative impacts of tourism.
Of the 12 days we spend in Vietnam, traveling from north, to central, to south (flying between regions), we bike on six of them. That might seem odd for a biking tour, but you don’t travel 30 hours to Vietnam and miss the important highlights, like Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum in Hanoi, taking a traditional row boat through the caves of Ninh Binh; cruising overnight on the Ha Long Bay; discovering the Citadel and Imperial City of Hue; walking the colorful markets and enjoying the nightlife of Hoi An; or touring the War Remnants Museum, the historic Ben Thanh Market, or miss the experience of street food in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) because you are obsessive about biking. We get to do all of these, and also bike through villages, stopping to learn about traditional crafts, and amid the rice paddies to learn about Vietnam’s 4000-year old wet rice culture and ancestor worship.
Riding in the bus between destinations lets us see the countryside (and I have set myself a challenge to get photos of people working in the fields and four people riding a motor scooter); the way the homes are laid out, the ancestral tombs in the fields, the occasional tractor, the massive, new industrial parks under construction. You see progress unfolding at the speed of the bus, all the more impressive when you realize what a young country Vietnam is, having proclaimed independence in 1945 but only “reunified” in 1975.
The essence of this tour is about familiarizing us with the Vietnamese people (who, we learn, are a mosaic of 54 different tribes), the rich cultural heritage and today’s achievements in overcoming literally millennia of conflict, war, oppression, colonialism. When we bike, hike or walk, we barely have to think a question, let along ask it, before our guide, Nguyen Hong Phong, stops and answers. “This is normal for me, curious for you,” he tells us at the outset, as we sit for tea in the Apricot Hotel on our first afternoon together in Hanoi. “When you are curious, just ask,” he adds.
2025 marks the 50th anniversary since the Fall of Saigon that so abruptly ended an interminable war (and reunification as an independent country). You can’t escape the fact of the “American War” (which frankly was the tail end of a decades long war for independence before the United States interceded), but our tour seems to sidestep the past in favor of the present. This is probably a reflection of Discovery Bicycle Tours’ primary focus for its guests: “You’re on vacation!”
(There are several important sites that are not included in this tour that I would recommend setting up pre and post days: the Hoa Lo Prison in Hanoi, infamously known as “Hanoi Hilton” and the Chi Chi Tunnels which is an excursion from Saigon. Even the War Remnants Museum, a must-see in Ho Chi Minh City, was not on the itinerary but we visit when we could not visit the Reunification Palace as planned.)
Still, there is no escaping the past: in Hanoi when we visit Ho Chi Minh’s 1968 residence, built like a camouflaged bunker with escape tunnels and learn they moved his body regularly when he died in 1969; when we visit the John McCain Monument where the American hero’s plane went down and he was captured; when we see the bullet holes in the Citadel in Hue and are shown photos of fighting that took place on the very spot where we stand; and when we visit My Son, a sacred historic site outside of Saigon, and learn that the Vietnamese appealed to President Nixon to stop bombing. I think Americans who visit Vietnam have an obligation to see what was done in our name, especially because it is so important to learn from history so not to make the same mistakes, and not be duped by an administration determined to go to war for its own political agenda.
I frankly didn’t know how I would react coming to Vietnam – I am the generation that lived through the Vietnam War (known here as “The American War”), or how Americans would be received. My questions are soon answered – the Vietnamese warmly welcome us Americans (and French and Chinese and a list of nationalities that have oppressed Vietnam). Vietnam is nothing like what I expected – in a good way. It’s in this capacity that one of the important attributes of travel come to fore: we travelers are ambassadors, promoting mutual understanding and connection.
In Vietnam today, you can see the impact of peace, free markets, free enterprise have to achieve prosperity – a lesson to all those who are inciting conflict and war. You see the benefits of trade and globalization – a lesson for those who would disrupt and unravel alliances and build barriers instead of bridges.
Old Hanoi
Since our group is first meeting together at 1 pm for a walking tour, I have the morning to myself to explore. I walk across the street from our luxury hotel, The Apricot, to the park that rings the small, picturesque lake.
We are here during the month-long Lunar New Year celebration, made even more festive because of the 50th anniversary of reunification – everywhere that is possible has decorations reminiscent of how we celebrate Christmas. People dress in their formal, traditional costumes and pose for photos taken by professional photographers. People travel on holiday. There is a festive atmosphere everywhere.
There are political symbols, posters, flags and such but no more than the giant advertising billboards and the Starbucks, KFCs, McDonalds, Burger Kings. Also, I am flabbergasted at the proliferation of motorscooters and the paucity of bicycles. Crossing any street takes fortitude and a measure of fatalism, but where there are traffic signals, the systems are sophisticated and effective. Also, cell phones are ubiquitous.
I head into the Old Quarter where I am intrigued at the “old propaganda posters” shops, the coffee shops (who knew Vietnam was such a major producer and exporter of coffee?), and massage parlors as common as nail salons at home.
The Propaganda Poster Shop seems more to satisfy the American and European tourists who visit (“Make Art Not War”).
But here at the Propaganda Poster Shop I happen to see many postcards for Train Street (reminding me of Lisbon) which suggests it is an important site and inspires me to go in search of this place.
After getting lost (my WiFi isn’t working and I can’t figure out the map) and stopping numerous people to point me in the right direction, I look up and am drawn to colorful lanterns, walk up a staircase and find myself quite literally on the train tracks. Train Street!
People have set themselves at café tables and chairs and are even hanging out on the tracks taking photos. It is all the more amazing because it turns out it is just 5 minutes before the train is due (and I am so lucky because only a few trains come through a day). With 5 minutes to go, there is even a baby playing on the track!
I am standing alongside the track and a lady yells at me to sit down in one of the plastic chairs, like a kid’s chair. As the train comes tearing through at what seems a very fast speed, it is so close that had I held out my hand, it would have been taken off. I reflexively suck in my breath and try to make myself as small as possible until it passes. Unbelievably thrilling.
I feel proud of myself for being able to find my way back to the hotel by 1 pm in time to meet our Discovery Bicycle group for our first activity together, a walking tour of the Old District. I have already been traveling with 8 of the group for Discovery Bicycle’s four-day Cambodia pre-tour and now we meet the other 10.
Phong leads us to the St. John Cathedral, the oldest church in Hanoi. Built on the site of the biggest, most sacred Buddhist pagodas of the Ly-Tran Dynasties, the cathedral was constructed at the end of the 18th century of wood, then reconstructed with baked clay in 1884-1888. Phong tells us that Catholics are a minority; the biggest religion in Vietnam, he says, is “triple religion” – a mix of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism (ancestor worship).We will see evidence of this everywhere we go.
Phong volunteers that the Communist government “allows free religious worship and free press” (though I question what he means by “free press”), then adds that protest against the Communist Party is not allowed; nor is there an opposition candidate in elections. Vietnam has been a one-party government since 1954, but in 1986 introduced new freedom in commerce and open markets.
“We have more freedom than in China. They block media there, here they block the BBC but we can get CNN.” Whatever they block, he says, people get curious and have their ways of accessing.
“Society is improving for ordinary people. Since 1988, we are living in peace. We feel more freedom, a peaceful country. We are now friends with Russia, Ukraine, the European Union. The USA is one of seven strongest friends. Peace is good for people, good for the country. [Tourists want to] come to a peaceful country.”
Phong tells us he learned English (as well as French and Chinese) at university where he studied tourism, but today, children are taught English as early as 3 and 4 years old in school. Public school is free he tells us, even in the mountains where parents are actually given a money incentive to send their kids to school.
We walk through Hanoi’s Old Quarter where the name of the street may well describe what enterprises take place there, established generations ago by the people who resettled in the city: Tin Street, Silver Street, Basket Street, Copper Street.
We return at 3 pm for tea at the Apricot Hotel – an elaborate affair – that includes an introduction and orientation to our 12-day tour (with biking!) with Phong as our lead guide.. Indeed, we will go first thing the next morning to get sized for our rental bikes which we will use for five of the days (the driver and bike mechanic who travels will us will travel 2 ½ days to Hue, when we fly), and will pick up a different bike in Ho Chi Minh City (way too far to drive and return).
I realize that we have just enough time to see the 5:15 pm traditional Water Puppet Theater cultural show just across the street from the hotel, before we meet again to go to dinner.
I had seen this heritage show when I was in Ho Chi Minh City six years before, so was enthusiastic to see it here, and encourage my traveling companions to come.
Most of our group from the four-day Cambodia pre-tour (we really bonded) are game and we actually purchase the last tickets for this immensely popular program. The show is a cultural treasure that utilizes this traditional art form, with musicians performing with traditional musical instruments and song, fables and folk stories enacted by these marvelous puppeteers (yes, the puppets are in a pool of water!).
Captions and notes about the theater and the scenes are flashed on the walls beside the stage. Vietnam water puppetry, I learn, was born from the rice civilization in the Red River Delta, so agriculture is vividly depicted by the puppets, with farmers and familiar images such as riding buffalo, plowing, harrowing, transplanting rice, slapping water, harvesting. (Later, when we bike among the rice paddies, we will see how this tradition originated.)
One of the scenes enacts “The Legend of Returning the Sword by King Le Loi” where LeLoi caught a holy sword by chance as he led the resistance war. After defeating the invaders, he proclaimed himself king. King Le Li goes out boating on the Green Water Lake, when suddenly a large turtle surfaced, took the sword from King Le Loi’s belt, and dived back into the depths, carrying the glowing sword in his mouth. (This is all enacted with puppets in the water).
The humor that is integral to the culture is displayed where the puppets enact an old farmer “Chasing fox away from the flock of ducks”. “It creates Vietnamese optimistic farmers,” the notes say.
The notes for “The Spirit Mediums Spiritual Dance,” say that “Vietnam’s Mother Goddess worship has been honored by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity. In today’s life, Mother Goddess worship is mainly known to the community through the concept of ‘The Spirit Mediums’. Traditional cultural elements such as costumes, music, dance and folk performances imbued with Vietnamese cultural identity are created, developed and passed on from generation to generation.”
The ”Four Sacred Animals Dance” brings together Long, Ly, Quy and Phuong (Dragon, Unicorn, Tortoise, Phoenix) “praising the nature of heaven and earth, hoping for a peaceful state and a peaceful and happy life.”
There are fire effects and of course water effects and amazing choreography – you actually cannot figure out how the puppeteers coordinate so well (and underwater!) – and then the puppeteers appear for their curtain call, up to their waist in water.
The show finishes just in time for us to walk together to dinner in a charming restaurant in the Old District.
A note on the table about the apple cider makes us giggle: “Cider drinkers get more refreshment and excitement while still keeping their sanity. Especially suitable for women.”
Our lunches and dinners at restaurants are typically pre-ordered and served family style, with multiple courses so that we typically have chicken, beef, seafood, vegetable, rice, soup dishes – always with more than enough to satisfy even American appetites, and to get a really excellent idea of the cuisine.
Exploring the Apricot Hotel (we will be leaving early in the morning after breakfast), we discover an exquisite rooftop indoor pool and bar with a giant video screen. The artwork around the hotel, the elegant (French-inspired) furnishings are gorgeous.
