Historic Hoi An, Vietnam

November 27, 2015November 30, 2015 ~ L&D ~ Leave a comment

After flying down from Hanoi we arrived at our hotel, Mercure Hoi An Royal, which was a short journey to the beach and the atmospheric ‘old town’. The ‘old town’ was once a major port and boasts grand architecture (a mix between Japanese merchant houses, Chinese temples and tea warehouses) and a riverside setting. Today these sites still stand but it is bursting with restaurants, bars, tailors and lantern shops to name a few! After getting to grips with saying NO to a suit, a jacket, a dress or any other handmade garments we toured the town and enjoyed some really great food overlooking the river.

We spent a day at An Bang beach, before we went on a Basket Boat tour.

This was absolutely brilliant and certainly the best trip we have been on so far (thanks for the recommendation on the Get My Guide app Sarah). Our guide, Mr Hai Le picked us up early and despite the heavy rain we left for the Thu Bon river by bike. On route we stopped at an organic herb village on the edge of Hoi An which is farmed by two hundred families. By boat we then travelled to the little village of Cam Thanh where we hopped into a round bamboo basket boat. We did not got very far before two local fisherman offered Dean a go (see photos and video links) http://youtu.be/FmbaWaAJDc8 http://youtu.be/F_Yh2FbyrkY Once he had given the locals a good laugh we explored the mangroves of the water coconut palms where our ‘sailor’ even made us hats and rings from the leaves! For lunch (which was a huge feast) we stopped at the local fishing village and even got a chance to fish ourselves with bamboo rods (we even got lucky and made a catch!)

Our last day consisted of a trip to Ba Na Hills which is located 1,487 metres above sea level to the southwest of Da Nang City. The cable car took us over the broccoli covered mountains (at least that’s what the rainforest looked like from that height) but once we reached a certain level our capsule was consumed by white fog. The tropical climate means the weather is very different and we experienced rain and fog which was a real shame as it’s the views you go for! We did manage to see some of the spiritual monuments but did so in our ponchos!

Rightoe back to the airport we go! Next stop is Nha Trang.

P.S we are getting slightly sick of rice, rice noodles, rice paper delights and sticky sweet rice for pudding!

Bridal couple at Ba Na Hills

Temple at Ba Na Hills

Ba Na Hills

Getting wet at Ba Na Hills

Cocktail time in the old town

Ice cream time!

Wheelbarrow full of bananas!

Water coconut palms

Our hats!

Basket boat, which fit 4 of us!

Organic farm

Ducks enjoying the wet rice fields!

We spotted him in the rice fields on our bike ride!

Locals fishing

Fruit stall at the night market in old town

Harmonious Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

November 21, 2015 ~ L&D ~ Leave a comment

We left the chaos of Hanoi for a two day / one night boat trip around the beautiful Ha Long Bay. It took three and a half hours on a coach to get there but it was well worth it. Once at the bay we were ushered onto an impressive boat (Viola cruises). We chuckled as it took two Vietnamese crew members to lift one of our cases (yes I think we did over pack after all!), as a result we had a room on the lower deck!

Ha Long Bay is made up of two thousand forest covered islands appearing sporadically from the emerald waters. Ha Long translates as ‘where the dragon descends into the sea’ and the legend claims that the islands were created by a great dragon from the mountains.

The boat trip allowed us to do a tour of the islands and even explore one of largest caves in the bay (Sung Sot cave or Surprising cave as our guide kept calling it). On day two we shared a double canoe to explore one of the floating villages. Dean would claim that he did all the work and I just pointed to the direction we should go in (this was clearly not the case!) It’s always amazing to see how these people survive and we were informed that they sell fish back to the mainland in exchange for key supplies.

Back on the boat we had a cooking lesson on how to make flowers out of vegetables, it was impressive but please don’t expect this at ours for dinner! We also learnt how to make the infamous Vietnamese spring rolls. It was incredibly easy, even I managed it! Rice paper, sliced cucumber, carrot, rice noodles and shredded meat (no idea what it was, but it tasted good!) rolled together then dipped in fish sauce.

The coach then dropped us to a hotel we had booked in Ha Long called Royal Lotus and we were relieved it was so nice as there is NOTHING to do there! Most people just do the boat trip around the bay then head back to Hanoi, but one was not aware of this at the time of booking!!! Basically it’s a ghost town built for tourists but it’s not finished and we can’t figure out if that’s because there aren’t any tourists or they have just given up! Anyway we managed to spend a few days relaxing and even went to the abandoned cinema to see Bond and the latest Hunger Games film (it was subtitled and yes we were the only people in there!)

Next stop is Hoi An.

Inside the amazing cave!

Hectic Hanoi, Vietnam

November 21, 2015December 14, 2015 ~ L&D ~ Leave a comment

We arrived in Hanoi after a long journey consisting of two taxis, three trains and three flights on the 12th November 2015. Our hotel, Charming Hanoi II was situated in the Old Quarter which we found to be a good base for exploring.

The streets were a swarm of motorbikes, cyclos (tuk tuks) and cars. We learnt what people meant by risking your life every time you cross the road (chaos does not come close). As outsiders we really could not fathom that any rules of the road existed, so our policy was ‘just go’!

The city was full of Vietnamese drinking very cheap beer (15p upwards, which you can imagine Dean was more than happy with!), eating Pho (noodle soup), rice, turtle or deep fried chicken feet at all times of the day and either manning shops or busying themselves delivering oversized goods on their mopeds.

We made the most of the reasonable prices (100,000 Vietnamese Dong is about £3) with a Salt Stone Massage each and I also convinced Dean to stop for a beer whilst I had a pedicure too!

Hoan Kiem Lake, served as a central point for us. At night the pretty lights made it feel special, so much so local bridal couples were posing for pictures. We thought it was odd that there were so many couples, so after Googling the answer it turns out that it is tradition for brides and grooms (usually between 15-16 years old) to have there photos taken the day before the ceremony so they can be displayed at the wedding itself, oh and Nov-Dec is wedding season!