Saturday - Old Hanoi

After a largely uneventful transit day flying from Da Nang to Hanoi, today after breakfast we set out for a walking tour of Hanoi's old quarter.

After the quiet of Hoi An and Hue, we were straight back into the hustle and bustle of Vietnam, though Hanoi is noticeably less mental than Saigon, and a fir dew degrees cooler as well, so was a much nicer place to wander round.

We started at Hoan Kiem lake, where we walked over the Huc Bridge to the Ngoc Son temple. We then walked through the narrow streets of the old town, passing the Memorial House (an old Chinese merchant's house), all manner of shops and markets, a preserved gate to the old city walls and St. Josephs cathedral, before finishing up with a drink and slice of carrot cake overlooking the lake for lunch.


After lunch we went to see a performance at the traditional water puppet theatre, before heading back to the hotel to prepare for dinner and more fresh beer.

Tomorrow we leave for a three day trip into Halong Bay, which promises to be the highlight of the Vietnam bit of our trip for both of us !!

Thursday - My Son and the Cham temples

Today was an early start as we had pre booked a tour to visit the Champa ruins in My Son, 55kms from Hoi An.  After a hearty breakfast we were picked up by the tour bus and driven the short 1 hour journey through the country to My Son.

The ruins, described by some as Vietnam's version of Angkor Wat are set in a lush jungle valley, with streams and dragonflies the only noise you could here (until the throngs of tourists arrived that is!).

So, the history lesson - the kingdom of Champa ruled what is now central Vietnam between the 4th and 13th centuries, with the My Son complex acting as their religious centre.  It is thought that the temples were never lived in, but instead were used as shrines to worship Cham Kings associated with divinities, especially Shiva.

The French rediscovered  the site in the 19th century and began restorations, however the Americans with their fleet of B-52s then completed the restoration work with an awful lot of bombs. . 

After a couple of hours exploring the ruins we headed for the shade to wait for the bus pick up, where we met our guideand drove to our boat on the Thu Bon river.  Lunch was served, before setting off for a pleasant journey along river towards Hoi An.

Before docking at Hoi An we made a stop at a traditional carpenters village (of course no tour would be complete without the stop at the 'tat' market!).

In the evening we headed in to town for our last night in Hoi An, and luckily we had timed our visit with the full moon which brings about Hoi An's Legendary Night. For one night a month the street lights are turned off, all vehicles are banned from the centre and the streets and waterfront are lit by candles, including many floating across the water. We joined in the festivities by lighting our own floating candle (which was reluctant to float any more than six feet away from us !!).

Wednesday and a trip to the beach

This morning we had a relaxing start, with a late breakfast and internet time before heading to the house next door to rent bikes - a bargain at 10,000 dong for a day (about 30 pence to you and me!).

We had heard that there was a nice beach 5kms out of town, so we decided to head there for an afternoon of sun, sea and relaxing.  The 5kms ride went quickly as we were soon out of town and cycling along country roads, next to lush rice paddy fields where the locals were hard at work.

On arrival at the beach we found a shaded spot (as both of us were still nursing bad sun burn from Nha Trang - Nicola more so than Ben), and settled down for a couple of hours.  It was a beautiful spot, with clear white sands stretching as far as the eye could see, palm trees swinging with the breeze and clear waters breaking on the beach.

After a couple of peaceful hours we picked up the bikes and started the cycle back to town, stopping halfway at a river side bar for a coke and rest.

On arrival back at the hotel we dropped the bikes off and freshened up before heading back to our favourite night spot (the local street stalls) for Cao Lau, White rose and crispy wontons - yum!

Tuesday brings a day exploring the town of Hoi An

After a well deserved lie in and breakfast, we spent the day exploring Hoi An.

Hoi An is unlike anywhere else we've seen in Vietnam. It was an important port until the late 19th century when its river silted up and prevented navigation to the sea, plus it was undamaged by the war, so today its Old Town of merchants houses is largely unchanged from two hundred years ago, and was granted Unesco World Heritage status in 1999.

This also means its by far the most touristy place we've seen so far, but still a lovely place to wander around.

Today the town is most famous for its tailors, where every other shop will make up a made-to-measure suit or designer copy in 24 hours - with ten months left to travel and limited backpack space we reluctantly steered clear though.

During the day we visited a Chinese assembly hall, a ceramics museum, a temple, an old merchants house and a handicraft workshop where we were treated to a performance of traditional music and dancing - we weren't convinced the musicians were all playing the same song though ! We also crossed the Japanese covered bridge and wandered through the local market.

In the evening we went back into town for a delicious grilled fish before heading back to the hotel - however in the early hours we were woken by mysterious noises in the room - on turning the lights on we were face-to-face with a mouse on the table trying to nibble its way in to a packet of biscuits! It quickly scarpered, and after hiding the food away we drifted back to sleep - Ben rather more quickly than Nicola though !!

Monday brings a new town

Monday morning alarm rang loud and clear at 6:30am - up and packed, breakfast was next and then picked up by the bus at 7:45.  Possibly the best bus journey yet (the seats actually fit our long legs in!) and 4 hours passed by very pleasantly.

We took the coast road from Hue to Hoi An via Danang and rode alongside China Beach - apparently where the Americans hung out during the war - now a strip where every big named hotel was springing up!  Passing by the Marble Mountains was an extra treat - they are 5 peaks in between Danang and Hoi An that have 5 pagodas on top (one for each element).

Arriving in Hoi An at midday we were greeted by a member of staff from our new hotel - Hoang Trinh hotel, after a short ride to the hotel we were welcomed into the reception, given a cup of cinnamon tea and cake.  After being shown to our 'traditional' room we were beginning to love Hoi An already...especially after seeing the His and Hers toothbrush holders in the bathroom...and we won't even mention the matching purple silk dressing gowns (no photos of those i'm afraid - they are made to fit umpa lumpas you see!).  Oh, and Ben had a rather strange cuddly toy on his bed - see photo.

Unpacked and sorted we armed ourselves with a map and headed out to explore the town, stopping off for a spot of lunch at Bo Bo's cafe - the wonton noodle soup was delicious!  We also discovered the 'local brew', apparently brewed fresh and with no preservatives it was definetly the cheapest pint either of us have had... 3000 dong or 10 pence to you and me!!

After a rest at the hotel and relaxing on the balcony watching the sun go down we headed for dinner at a street cafe and sampled the local menu - Cao Lau, White Rose and deep fried shrimp wontons, and of course another pint of local brew.

Needless to say...we slept well that night!

Into the DMZ

An early pick up this morning as we joined a day trip to the De-Militarized Zone. First a quick stop at Dong Ha town to pick up our guide, then west along Highway 9 past the 'rock pile' (former US artillery base on top of a mountain), a brief stop at an 'ethnic monirty village' before arriving at Khe Sanh Combat base, where one of the bloodiest battles of the war was fought (with some US equipment left behind for tourists to take photos of !)

Back along Highway 9 we stopped at Dak Rong bridge, formally part of the Ho Chi Minh Trail but now rebuilt as a modern concrete road bridge thanks to money from Fidel Castro.

After lunch back at Dong Ha town, we headed north on Highway 1, crossing the Ben Hai river, which lies on the 17th parallel and so formally formed the border between North and South Vietnam, which the DMZ extending 5km either side of it. We drove alongside Cua Tung beach before arriving at the Vinh Moc tunnels - not VC tunnels like the Cu Chi ones we saw in Saigon but a network of tunnels built 12-23 metres underground by villages fed up of being bombed ! We walked through a section of tunnels and felt very claustrophobic !!

Back to town for our last night in Hue, then a four hour bus trip to Hoi An in the morning.

Tomb raiders ... and the revenge of the monsoon

After spending yesterday visiting the palace of the Imperial emperors, today we decided we would head out of town to visit their tombs. Rather than join the rest of the tourists on the river boat tours, we decided we would rent bicycles from the hotel and explore things at our own pace.

After breakfast (most breakfast options so far !!) we hopped on the bikes and, armed with the dubious map in our six dollar knock-off Lonely Planet Guide, we headed into the Vietnamese traffic.  Thankfully Hue is no Saigon, and after a few hairy junctions we found ourselves on the quiet roads out of town, and 12 sweaty kilometers and only one map-reading argument later we arrived at the tomb of Khai Dinh, who was emperor in the 1920s and apparently was pretty much controlled by the French. His tomb complex, which took longer to build than he was in power, was influenced by European architecture and was gothic in style (according to our six dollar knock off Lonely Planet). It also involved climbing lots of steps !!

Next was a 2km jaunt across the river to the tomb of Minh Mang, emperor in the 1820s. His tomb complex was much more oriental in design with lakes, bridges and ying and yang stuff - we liked it more than the first one though !!

Turning back towards Hue, we headed off towards the tomb of Tu Duc, wary of the darkening sky - and before long the heavens opened. After a pitiful attempt to shelter under a lone tree, we decided to abandon our explorations for the day and hot foot it back into town, where we peeled off our saturated clothes and spent the rest of the afternoon figuring out how to dry everything and watching the Star Movie channel !!

Friday in Hue

After being collected from the train station by our hotel we jumped in a cab (which they kindly payed for) and drove the short distance to the hotel...The Amigo Hotel.  We were given traditional Vietnamese coffee, which we are both getting a real taste for now - its quite sweet and nutty in flavour.  We then were showed to our room and chilled out for a while.

Freshened up, we headed out on foot for the Imperial Citadel, across the Perfume River from where we were staying. Hue was formally the capital of Vietnam whilst under the rule of the Nguyen dynasty, before they handed over power to Ho Chi Minh in 1945, and the Citadel was their city within a city. The walk was a pleasant one, apart from the hawkers who try and convince you you need a ride on their Cyclo!

The Citadel was an impressive building; we explored the outer and inner Citadels thoroughly and also ventured into the Forbidden Purple City, which sat in the very centre of both of them.  Unfortunately parts of the City had been destroyed in the French and American wars, however the restoration work that had already taken place had brought the buildings back to their former glory.

We then headed over to a Pagoda on the outer banks of the Perfume River and had a spot of lunch from a local bakery (another speciality left from the 90 year French occupation).

Back to the hotel for a rest and now off out for our first meal in Hue!!

Thursday and back on the train

Thursday brought a day of exploring the last hidden treasures of Nha Trang before boarding the train for Hue in the evening. 

We walked to the Long Son Pagoda and also walked up the 152 steps to the large white Buddha on the top, which gave amazing views of the local countryside and surrounding mountains.

We strolled back to downtown and had a bite to eat and drinks before collecting our luggage from the hotel and catching a cab to the train station.

The wait in the station was okay, slightly crowded as the train was delayed by 35 minutes and the people kept coming in (as there was also a train to Saigon that was due at the same time).

When the train finally arrived at just gone 8pm we boarded our carriage and found our cabin...only to be greeted by a small baby (and mother).  Unfortunately for us the baby appeared to be unwell, so the first couple of hours were spent listening to the ipods trying to drown his screams out!  All went well though, and we trundled along through the night - dropping the last lot of passengers off at Danang before starting the final leg of our journey towards Hue.  This part of the journey was rumoured to be stunning - so we were both up at 6am hanging out of the window...the rumours did not disappoint!!  The countryside was still stirring, and it was a real treat to watch this as it happened - we hugged the coast for the best part of the journey and loved every minute!

We arrived into Hue at 8:15am Friday morning - deprived of sleep but feeling quite spoilt that we got to experience the views and hidden countryside that we did along the way.

Never trust the weather man...Wednesday proved hot hot hot!

Had a long lay in this morning as the weather reports suggested we would be stuck in the room all day as the Monsoon would have hit hard...we woke up to glorious sunshine and a few clouds!  Never trust the weatherman!!

We quickly had breakfast (as we had stocked up at the local supermarket the night before with supplies to last a day) and headed out to the beach.  We had a wander along the beach front and then got our towels from the hotel, so we could lounge and read on the beach.

After 2 hours we called it a day, as it was VERY hot...it was once we got back to the hotel room that we realised the full extent of our 'interesting' sun burn.  As always Nicola has the worst case, and appears to have a permanent white bikini on now, and Ben is not as bad, but has a bit of a red tummy.

We ate out last night as the weather stayed fine, and went to a traditional Vietnamese restaurant (after Tuesday nights 'western' night of burger and chips...we gave in after 2 weeks of local food!!).

Thursday brings a traveling day/night again as we catch the 19:26 train to Hue, we have a sleeper carriage - updates to follow!

Rain stopped play

Monday was a transit day - left the hotel and took a taxi to the railway station for the train to Nha Trang. We left Saigon bang on time at 12:20 and spent time trundling through the seemingly endless sprawl of Saigon before finally emerging into the countryside, then seven hours later arrived (again bang on time) into Nha Trang. A short taxi journey to the hotel where we stayed the rest of the night.

Unfortunately we have arrived in Nha Trang the same time as a monsoon - it hasn't stopped raining all day and isn't forecasted to stop for a few more days yet - so our plans for lounging on the beach and doing some snorkelling have had to be changed !

Today we braved the elements and went for a walk up the beachside promenade before visiting a 7th century Cham temple, before returning wet and bedraggled to the hotel to dry off. Tonight we will make a quick dash up the road for some food and drink, as for tomorrow, who knows !!

Sunday in the Mekong

Up early again today (and on a Sunday as well!), and picked up from the hotel at 8am for a trip into the Mekong Delta.

Once again we were on the umpa lumpa bus (the bus was built for people with no legs!), so at the half way rest stop we both shared war wounds as we were sat in 2 diferent places on the bus - the downside of being picked up last.

Then onto a town called My Tho, deep in Delta country to board our boat to head out into the Mekong.  It was quite an impressive sight - the width of it was uncomprehensible until we realised we were heading towards islands in the centre, and not the outer banks.  We passed several islands, with quite unusual names; Dragon, Pheonix and finally stopped at Unicorn island to visit a village that keeps honey bee hives. 

After a cup of honey tea we headed off on foot across the island to our next stop, a tourist restaurant that let us sample some local tropical fruit - yum (for Nicola, not for Ben!).  Whilst here we listened to some traditional music that a band was playing.

We then boarded a rowing boat manned by two ladies and were given traditional Vietnamese hats to wear - sadly Ben was not caught on camera sporting this attractive head piece - there is still time though ;-)!  The journey took us through the small canals that were surrounded by banana trees.

Off the small rowing boat and back on our larger boat we travelled to Ben Tre (another island) and visited a small coconut candy workshop, which sold an array of wierd and wonderful things including 'Cobratox - cream with snake venom'.  Then we took a traditional horse and cart ride to our lunchtime stop were we had a small feast of pork and rice.

After lunch we boarded our boat again and headed back to My Tho, and then back on the bus for the journey back to Saigon.

Tonight we plan to visit a local market to eat some street stall food before packing up for tomorrows train journey to Nha Trang - and the BEACH!!