Hoi An -A beautiful old town which is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. We only had 3 nights here and were hoping to arrive at 9pm. However, we set off at 8am on the first mini bus to get to the border. Then, changed to get on a local mini bus to the nearest big city Pleiku and changed again, then again after being literally chucked off at some unknown road junction. We had to pay more and then a final mini- bus (which broke down) then a big bus for the last 60 k and finally a taxi to the hotel. This is a nutshell version, it was one big adventure and included having to pimp out our daughter – not really!! We finally arrived at 12.40am the next day.
We spent the first day exploring the old town and had a river cruise and the final day we hired cycles and toured the magnificent beaches and the paddy fields. We ate a glorious meal at a restaurant called Miss Ly and explored the old town lit at night by lanterns.
Hanoi – Again only 3 nights here and our flight arrived late on the first night so straight to bed. Up early the next day for a really boring 4 hour trip to Halong Bay. Its so cold here. I did not realise how cold and that we had no suitable clothes or shoes.Once on the boat and away from the harbour it was stunning. We slept well on the boat but the food although plentiful left a lot to be desired. The next day the sun shone and we had a great day before transfer back to Hanoi. This night we went to a traditional water puppet performance and ate some better quality food. On the final morning we walked through the Old Quarter ( the traffic here is so bad) to Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum and the Flag Tower before the final flight.
Ho Chi Minh City- 8 million people and 5 million motorbikes in a big city! Wow! Crossing the road is a nightmare situation. We explored the Saigon River front then the War Remnants Museum which was rather grim. But we found a great place to eat called Barbecue Garden where you do cook your own food and can order a selection of skewers, etc. We all loved the garlic fried rice so much we went back on the last night.
The last day we took the hydro foil to the nearest coast at Vung Tau 125k away and only 80 minutes. We hired motorcycles and explored the beaches and then sat down for a long earned rest and to soak up the sun. Dave, not being able to sit for long went for a walk and got stung by a jelly fish.
The last morning we said an early farewell to Lucy who was flying back to London that evening. We took the local bus to Phnom Penh – 6 hours. Stayed overnight and got the bus home. 15 hours later we arrived after breaking down and having a 3 hour wait on the side of the road.
