Hanoi and home

Experiencing the traffic chaos and heat of Saigon made Hanoi seem almost quiet and organised as we made a stop in the capital for one final night before flying home. Matt quipped “This is diet traffic compared to Ho Chi Minh!” quite rightly, certainly navigating across Hanoi’s streets as easy peasy in comparison, there’s no need for the crossing guards they have stationed in Saigon. Green uniformed officers will help you cross Saigon’s busy streets if you need it, particularly outside Ben Thahn Market, a crazy intersection of road where undercutting and complete standstills are common place.

We had another really early start to catch the flight back to Hanoi, the lovely family who run the Vy Khahn hostel made sure we were safely in a cab in time, thanking us for staying and asking for any recommendations as they are always looking to improve. I told them about my fun and games with the hair dryer; in order to get it to work you had to jiggle the plug in a certain way, but with the plug at floor level and both hands needed I had no choice but to balance precariously, using one foot for plug jiggling action! They chuckled and apologised. They explained that the building’s wiring is old but they are aware. It’s hardly a complaint when they treated us so well.

Two full days in Ho Chi Minh City was plenty, the war museum was my must see and everything else a bonus, especially the proximity of the backpacker bars and the opportunity to meet people, something we also got to experience on our final night in Vietnam.

We chose Central Backpackers hostel in a Hanoi for our last night based on reviews and after recommendations from other travellers. Their rooms are reasonably priced, breakfast is included and for one hour every evening they have free local beer in the common room, perfect! They sent a taxi to collect us from the airport, our last “man with a sign” which still makes me feel like I’m a VIP!

Our driver took us to the original Central Backpackers where they informed is they were full and walked us down the road to their second hostel. There’s no common room there but the room was beyond gorgeous, especially for a hostel and we had an unexpected balcony. It’s on a noisy street in the Old Quarter but after an evening of beers and chatting we slept just fine. The 6am wake up call as building work next door started was rather unwelcome although it was nice to realise we could have a lay in and snuggle because we had hours until check out! We passed on breakfast at the hostel after seeing a rat in the kitchen on check in (and whilst waiting for our cab to go to the airport, the little squeaker was having a whale of a time eating out of the bin!) Instead we had breakfast bagels and coffees at one of the many cafes in neighbouring streets and recounted stories from the night before. We chose Jomo, a pricey but yummy cafe with loads of choice.

We met some great people, the free beer hour is such a great idea for socialising. We chatted to John from Ireland and his Swedish and Dutch friends that he’d made whilst travelling, swapping stories, including one anecdote from the streets of Hanoi from John. We’d seen the shoe shine guys, coming round and offering to polish our boots and always politely declined; John found himself in a bit of a predicament when one of these guys whipped off his trainer and fixed it, repairing the plastic that was flapping down at the front, then tried to charge him 500,000 dong for the privilege, completely uninvited! John offered him 3000 and was surprised to find the guy got a little lary, swearing at him. He quickly gave the guy some money and got out of there!

Luckily we didn’t run into any hassle with street vendors, even in Saigon where we were literally saying ” no thank you” to every other person trying to sell us something or tempt us into their shop. The key is eye contact and a smile when you politely yet clearly decline.

John highly recommended we visit Laos next time, or if we go back to Thailand trying to find a festival on Koh Phanghan called Eden. In the spirit of passing on advice I recommended our amazing Bangkok hostel to Evan, a Canadian who has a one way ticket to Thailand, no plans and no hurry to get home. I can’t begin to express how envious I am. Travelling is so easy, so amazing and sooooo tempting, why do we work again?! Evan was lovely and took our mocking of Canada producing Beiber quite well hehe! Even the staff joined in, a fab metaller from Hawaii, now working in Hanoi and was also at Download 2006, what are the chances?!

Our last full day in Hanoi was spent shopping for souvenirs, taking cheesy tourist photos, drinking as much of the amazing coffee as possible and hunting down a pagoda that turned out not to be worth the trek! Luckily we managed to achieve all of that before the rain really started to come down! All the locals just whip up make shift shelters, the cylo riders add plastic sheeting to keep their passengers dry and the hoards of moped riders have a rainbow array of plastic ponchos to protect them from the elements.

Our final meal in a Hanoi had to be a local speciality. We had Bun Bo Nam Bo, at a restaurant by the same name at 67 Hang Dieu. They only make one dish and damn they do it well! Patrons sit along wooden benches and without even ordering you have a bowl full of steaming noodles and meat with flavoured broth placed before you. Local beer is available at a great price too. There’s a reason it’s recommended in the guidebook. As was the Kangaroo Cafe where we had lunch, not any of the Aussie specialities however (Vegemite on toast available all day!) but instead spring rolls, for him, and tofu salad, for me. Nomtastic! I’d been craving veggies and this had all sorts topping with spicy dressing and peanuts, so different to salads at home.

Vietnam was everything we had hoped for, variety, amazing food and sights, a reminder of how much we love to travel and meet fellow travellers and mostly just hanging out together being dorks!

I will add all of the photos and links to the blog when we’re home, both as a comprehensive diary of our funsies and also to help others on their own Vietnam adventure. We hope to return one day, as part if a wider tour, hopefully doing a home stay in Sapa, up north and visiting more of the costal towns like Hoi An which was our favourite part of the trip for sure. Until next time Southerns go to the east, farewell.

Sun and sights in Saigon

Gosh it was so super warm in Saigon, 32 degrees most days, hard to believe its only a two hour flight to Hanoi, the same country but with a completely different climate.

Basking as we walked from sight to sight was delightful and if it all got to melty there was literally a coffee shop on every corner to get some air conditioning! Sometimes there were cafés on corners literally opposite another one! They have Vietnamese branches of a Highland Coffee and Trung Nguyen, plus the local independents and brands found in the US, The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and surprisingly a Starbucks, which for once, we avoided, no need when the local coffee is superb.

Coffee is huge here and for good reason, when I get withdrawal symptoms back home it will be because of my new addiction to iced Vietnamese coffee, made super sweet with condensed milk. Ice cream is another favourite with a variety of flavours locally made. We splurged on special yummy flavours at Fanny’s (*snigger*) cherry, raspberry, apple and my favourite, chilli chocolate. It cost the same as a whole meal elsewhere!

Saigon offered the same host of yummy local dishes although fancying something different every now and then did venture into Western food territory, we don’t go to London and eat only English food so why not! Breakfast one morning was at Sozo, which is a charity set up to help local people and street kids learn about business, handling money and dealing with customers. It served Western breakfasts, I had the yummy granola and yoghurt with fruit. It also specialised in cakes and pastries, which were listed on the menu as “cakes and calories”!

We also, bizarrely, had the best Mexican meal possibly ever! The last thing we expected here but a cute little themed restaurant at the end of “beer street” Bui Vien was amazing. The tacos were so good we had seconds, trying the fish, chicken and beef. It may have ruined tacos forever, nothing could compare! It was relatively expensive at £14 for three meals and six beers but we’d never get that value and quality back home.

We spent a lovely afternoon in the shade of the big park, admiring the huge old trees and the statues (and only giggling a little bit when we saw them as rude!) and making use of their work out equipment, exercise bikes, arm cycles and spinning plates which are used often by the locals, particularly the older crowd. No inhibitions about getting on with your exercise right there in front of everyone, good on ’em. Matt, of course, showed off with hardcore pull ups and dips whilst I leisurely used the cross trainer, though even that was a challenge in the heat.

We saw loads of gyms in Saigon, both outside and in and were treated to watching a wushu class taking place in the square. The moves were incredible, especially jumping handstands into crabs! All there in the heat of the evening on the hard pavement. Which as Matt pointed out, is when you’re most likely to get into an altercation, not in an air conditioned gym on soft mats.

Saigon’s sights include some fabulous architecture, the City Hall, Opera House and Notre Dam Cathedral all of which are walkable and took us into a much more sophisticated district with big hotels and designer stores. We preferred the people watching organised chaos of the backpacker district, particularly grabbing a beer or a meal and watching the swarms pass in front of us. What was particularly noticeable was the amount of spritely older people, we sang the “I’m a Gran, I live forever” ditty from Eddie Izzard frequently as we saw hardcore grandma types rocking through the crowd or selling from their stalls. Must be all the working out in the park!

We’d hoped the abundance of markets in Saigon would have delivered on the souvenir front but nothing caught our eye. The famous Ben Thahn Market is just crazy, it has an overwhelming amount of stalls that are more like a maze! All the prices are fixed and relatively high plus the vendors bark constantly at you. It sounds like walking down an aisle in a Toys R Us and letting off all of the noisy toys one after the other. A domino chorus of “you buy something sir, madam”. The two air conditioned markets Saigon Square 1 and 2 were much more pleasant and we’d recommend those over the madness of Ben Thahn any day.

We’re back at another airport and once again waiting for a delayed Jetstar flight *grumble* Weirdly they have a frozen fish stall once you get through security, why would you take that on a flight? Who goes to the airport end thinks “ooh must stock up on salmon?”! Bizarre.

We should still arrive back in Hanoi in good time for our final night. We’re staying in the Central Backpackers Hostel which has a common room and free beer hour so hoping to meet some cool people and see our last night out in style. We have all of tomorrow to shop for cheesy souvenirs before an overnight flight home. With temperatures around ten degrees lower than Saigon it will be a good ease back in to Uk weather. Lots of complaints on Facebook suggest it’s been raining lots at home, glad to have missed all that and even got a little bronzed in the gorgeous sunshine.

War. What IS it good for?

The War Remnants Museum in Hoi Chi Minh City has mixed reviews, some saying its one sided propaganda and others rating it as a must see on visiting the city.

My knowledge of the war that lasted 17 years was admittedly shockingly poor. I didn’t study it at school and I tend to avoid war films. What I found as I was walking round, reading about the torture prisoners suffered and seeing photos taken at the time, is that I was overwhelmed why a sense of “why?” Even if this museum is only painting half the picture that’s bad enough. Why and how could these awful, awful things happen to anyone? How could one human treat another this way, no matter what their government was telling them.

We started the visit in the grounds of the museums, taking, admittedly comedy, photos with the tanks, helicopters and planes. By the the time we had passed through mock ups of the conditions the prisoners were kept in and several floors of images and details it was taking my all to keep the tears to the odd subtle one rolling down my face and not collapse into a ball of wailing. It made me mad and sad at the world. I have to believe that people are inherently good and this countered that belief.

It was strange to see others do the same, start all jolly, taking all the photos then move through the exhibits increasingly quieter. A sobering experience.

I had no idea I would become so moved or overcome with emotion. It’s worth a visit for that experience, to see for yourself. If we’d had time I would have liked to visit the Chi Chi tunnels too, which apparently shows some of the other side, how the Vietnamese treated the American soldiers. Perhaps it not a bad thing, one harrowing day of any holiday is probably enough.

Now I need some Disney, a big hug and a reminder that the world isn’t an awful scary place! Easy to find travelling with my best friend, hearing songs from Frozen in every shop and meeting some of the friendliest local people in the world.

The swarms of Saigon

The first thing you notice on arriving in Hoi Chi Minh City (still Saigon to the locals) is the traffic, swarms of noisy mopeds take up the entire width of the roads jostling for position with the cabs and occasional bicycle. It is crazy, crazy busy!

Thankfully our lovely host Vy of Vy Khanh guesthouse came to collect us from the cab, helping to guide us across the busy road and into a maze of narrow alleyways. We were so grateful for the personal pick-up, there would have no way we’d have found it by ourselves. We were also super grateful for the fresh ice lemon juice she delivered to our room as we freshened up before talking us through a map of the local area.

We are only a five minute walk into the main backpacker area on Bui Vien, which we have christened “beer street” which is where we headed first. Sat at one of the road side bars, we watched the insanely busy hustle bustle of Saigon pass us by as we ate and enjoyed the local beer.

We were approached by all manner of Street vendors selling anything you could want, including several offers of drugs, people begging including small children, a whole host of backpacker travelling types and Western men with Vietnamese women, we played several games of “girlfriend or hooker?”never quite knowing the real answer!

We ended our evening at the establishment of a local we’ve nicknamed Happy Mo because she looks anything but! Throughout the night their lines of small chairs filled with tourists drinking their super cheap alcohol slowly creeps into the middle of the street until…the fuzz comes! Then it’s all systems go to move people back, quickly stack the chairs and tables and pretend it was like that all along! We’re on the pavement, honest! We watched them do this several times, having a banter with them and enjoying the show before heading back to our small but comfy room for some rest before a day of culture.

Hoi An – Sights and smiles

Our hostel Hoa My was well located and the staff were so sweet, rather taken by my piercings at first but becoming accustomed after a while, always full of smiles and pleased to see us. Breakfast came free with the room and whilst we had hoped we could order Vietnamese dishes we weren’t too disappointed when their egg and bread was tasty and satisfying, the thick sweet tasty chilli sauce helped.

Hoi An has a host of sights, all easily walkable. The Japanese covered bridge is a must see for tourists and we even saw a couple having their wedding photos there. (And another having theirs at Da Nang airport, which was weird! Why an airport?) The bridge is supposedly the heart of a monster and has dog and monkey statues demonstrating the years the bridge was started and finished.

Lanterns, lanterns, lanterns everywhere, not just because they are beautiful but because they are required by law! They light the streets at night and are a wonder to behold, helping to navigate. The lanterns and decorations all along with the brightly lit up bridge to An Hoi island make it a great spot for cheesy photos! We were on the bridge one night when we saw a girl in a boat surrounded by floating lanterns, each with a single candle burning in them. She announced to the crowd that they were for her boyfriend’s birthday and let each one out into the water, such an amazing sight and according to the ex-pat we chatted to, never happens! A rare treat.

An Bang beach was a “short” 4km stroll each way! Our hostel said it would only take 20 minutes so set off on the first day in good faith hehe! 45 minutes each way past paddy fields and cows, trekking along a narrow road being beeped at in each direction by passing traffic! Oh well, it’ll help work off the beer, right? Besides, it was worth it, the roaring sea and sand between my toes was heavenly. I paddled in the refreshing water, getting a little too enthusiastic and a little drenched by the waves, it was totally worth it. We ate dinner at a little restaurant on the sea front, tempted in by the super cute man, waving in our direction who looked so delighted when we agreed to stop. We shared seafood noodles and spring rolls, freshly made and damn tasty.

Other jolly sights making us smile was the gorgeous sunshine each day, even on the last day that started with big fat rain waking us up it soon cleared to glorious sun. The sun brings out the sun worshippers, not just us but little frogs, geckos, a big lizard in one of the restaurants and puppies everywhere, basking in the rays (and not once have we seen dog on the menu, only as beloved pets)

We passed the school and saw a group of very enthusiastic teenagers doing their morning exercises, in a similar fashion to those who work out around the lake in Hanoi. The chaos on the roads when school let out with swarms of kids everywhere on bicycles and mopeds or running in the road!

Down by the riverside there was the cutest little old couple offering boat rides, so smiley, beckoning people in and sitting close together. We wished we were leaving that day otherwise we would have jumped at the chance, if only to chat to them.

Matt won me a lantern on a piñata type game in the centre. Just like a cuddly toy at the fair. Watching people take the challenge and frequently fail he knew he could do it. How is he so good at everything?! Wearing a mask he bashed the ceramic pot, not at all distracted by their attempts to disorientate him by bashing pans and shouting.

I’m not gonna lie, I loved the frequent compliments, three times in a row I was told I am very beautiful, a pretty lady and that Matt is a lucky man, and of course he agreed. They were also big fans of my red hair and colour coordination with lots of lovely compliments and smiles. A girl could get used to that kind of treatment! I know it was mostly vendors trying to charm me in to buy something but nevertheless….

Also making us chuckle because we’re immature were the offers of motorboats along the waterfront, apparently they do it for half an hour hehe!

Hoi An is a sleepy town, everything pretty much closes at 10pm, bedsides a few backpacker bars so we had plenty of rest, although we did stay up one night watching Pirates of the Caribbean, how does Matt always find it?! So we’re well rested a ready for Hoi Chi Minh City, we arrived last night and oh my wow, busy, crazy, loud, relentless – we’re going to have so much fun here! We’re staying in the backpackers area and there is one huge street full of bars and food, I compared it to Bangkok’s Koh San Road, if they held it on Britain’s busiest road, crossed it with a festival and had a plague of mopeds! We sat and watched the madness at one of the bars last night, chatting to other tourists, today will be more cultured, off to see some sights.

Incidentally, should we ever return to Hoi An, 40 minutes away, by the airport is Da Nang which looked pretty awesome as we drove through, with a huge dragon bridge and lovely looking beach. We would’ve liked another night to explore there too, curse this short holiday business, is it sabbatical time yet?!

Come in, you buy something please! Hoi An Shopping

Hoi An is amazing for shopping; silk kimonos and other handmade silk items, with some places even breeding their own silk worms, which were quite a sight! All the souvenirs from the mass produced tat right through to decadent jewellery and even replica boats! You can get local foods and drinks too including “snake wine” bottles of luminous liquid complete with bloated snake inside!

What is most noticeable is how every corner has a tailor who will make anything you want to fit you. Custom hand made, great quality items, anything you could possibly want, shoes, clothes, handbags, anything…literally.

Had we known we would have brought all the money and custom designs we wanted, and perhaps another suitcase, or two! They can make anything you show them so you only need a photo or two from the internet. We heard so many people singing the praises of the tailors and their abilities.

Shopping in Hoi An however comes with relentless sales people “you buy something, buy something please” if you so much as glance in the direction of their shop or stall. You’ll also be plagued by the women who ride around on bicycles trying to tempt you to go with their to their shop “just looking, cheaper than hotel recommend, you come with me”, we were warned about them by the hostel and hadn’t even made it out of our road before we were approached by two who eventually took our polite declines. Some if them have clearly learnt a few English phrases which was quite cute “lovely jubbly” and “go on ma darling!”

Sometimes the sales pat is genuine and can work to their advantage. We met a super friendly local called Tan who ran a stall on what we christened “Same Same Market” on An Hoi island, Same Same because each stall literally sold the same thing! Tan told us he takes a different approach, he knows not to be pushy to tourists because they don’t like it although taking pride in being a natural salesman he likes to talk and gets sad when people don’t want to chat, lucky for Tan we appreciate a good banter and were happy to chat with him and hear his story. His whole family are sales people and he’s proud to promote them.

We also enjoyed getting to know Smore, who ran Khoa cloth shop in the centre of town. She was genuine and sweet in her approach to selling her specially tailored clothes, explaining the difference in quality for the different prices. I had a manga/Korean style coat made, especially to fit me which Smore whipped up in less than a day for $52. She was delighted that I was delighted, I was a very bouncy happy puppy when it fit first time and I loved it. I promised to recommend her to everyone, much to her gratitude.

The food market was crazy! Several rows of covered outside stalls, overwhelming noise of excited chatter and smells of produce, herbs and spices. The cooking classes will take you there first to shop then teach you Vietnamese specialities, if we’d have had more time I would have loved to, if only to ask what everything was!

A backpackers budget stopped us from splurging too much…especially with Saigon markets still to explore but Hoi An is up there on the list of ‘must go back to’s, this time fully prepared with everything we’ve every wanted custom fitted.

Disclaimer – this list of must-go-backs comes after the must-go-to’s, which never ends, and only increases with each traveller we meet…so…Bolivia next then! We want to see the salt flats for sure.

Om nom nom! Hoi An foodie special!

Our top recommendation for eating in Hoi An would have to be Blue Dragon restaurant. We visited in the evening of our first full day, located on the river’s edge the restaurant was set up by an Australian and proceeds go towards helping children in rural Vietnam get an education.

We opted for the set menu, an absolute feast of local specialities including white rose, which are small flour pancakes with a yummy crab centre topped with crispy onion, spring rolls, fried wonton, shrimp in garlic and ginger and fish wrapped in a banana leaf. The meal was finished with a simple fruit salad of pineapple and banana which we fought over, never before has simple chopped banana tasted so good! It must be why minions go crazy for it! The food was phenomenal and so reasonably priced with the set menu for two at under £4. The Blue Dragon was the top recommendation in our guide book and we can see why!

The Vietnamese coffee is just as yummy here as we found it to be in Hanoi although never have we found it as thick and potent as the one street vendor who’s menu we couldn’t understand! That stuff had us running down the road at full speed. In Hoi An it’s better white and iced, a super sweet concoction made with condensed milk that is both refreshing and stimulating. Or as a “freeze” from Highland Coffee, their local chain. Drinks wise the local beer of course deserves a mention, super cheap, super yummy, straight out of the keg. The fruit juices are also an explosion for the taste buds, like ka-pow fruity yumminess straight to your face, the passion fruit shake that came with breakfast our last morning was my favourite.

There were two cafés over the road from the hostel, Hoa My, they are handily called Cafe 41 and Cafe 43 after their road numbers, both of which served the local beer at 3000 dong, which is around 8p per glass! Gosh, even Spoons is going to seem like mile high prices after beer at that price! Even better is that it just keeps coming, fresh and cold, served with a smile.

Cafe 43 had amazing food and such friendly staff. Their tables were decorated with the thank you notes and passport photos of previous guests. It’s a hidden gem in Hoi An and I’ll be sure to leave them a review on Trip Advisor when we get home.

Cafe 41 is where we met the cutest little girl, the daughter of the family who run the cafe. She confidently strode up to us said “Hello, what is your name? Pleased to meet you” in perfect English, before shaking our hands and telling me I was beautiful. She’s been taught by her family who proudly told us she’s only four but speaks so well and learns so fast. Their papaya salad was yummy, different to Thai, a much thicker sauce without the shrimp but additional peanuts. Light yet filling.

We only really had one food fail,Thanh Phuong on An Hoi island which was awful. note to self, if the menu does ALL the food, avoid it! The service was as bad as the food, a real disappointment and such a shame after eating so well elsewhere. The thing to do is stick to those who do one thing and do it well, like the street vendor selling Cao Lau, a Hoi An speciality. Two huge bowls of noodles, pork, herbs and crispy pork crotons for only 60 dong (less than two quid!) The stall owner was lovely, encouraging us to eat it all up, adding chillies and onion, so happy to see us enjoying it. She asked us to come back tomorrow, if only we could! Likewise the street vendor selling little round sweet potato cakes with bean paste was jolly in selling her wares though I’m easily pleased when it comes to sweet potato, my actual favourite thing!

We may have splurged a little on desserts (all the working out when we get home!) I love the ice cream, especially tiramisu flavoured Cornetto and as for the banana chocolate pancake brunch, well…I am on holiday!

Here’s to Hoi An

Our three night stay in Hoi An was perfection, just enough to see and do at a leisurely holiday flavoured pace. It’s reputation as the place in Vietnam to visit for clothes and cuisine is well deserved.

It also has a host of temples, merchant houses and Chinese assembly halls, all ornately decorated and entirely walkable of each other in the centre of town. We wandered the narrow lantern lined streets enjoying the sights and taking hundreds of photos, even on our final day it was still giving me that wow factor!

As I write this we’re comfortably enjoying draft Tiger beer (and free snacks!) at Da Nang airport, waiting for our delayed flight with Jetstar. With Asia being so forward in terms of free wifi and with the hostels here being so helpful we have already contacted our next stop in Hoi Chi Minh City to let them know we’ll be running late and they’ve let their driver know.

Once again our driver will be waiting with a sign with our name on, which I’m learning is common place but it still excites me! My praise for Hoi An could go on for hundreds of pages but instead I shall post a bite sized special on food, an easy to browse post on shopping and enjoyable round up view on all there is to see. Coming soon….with photos when we get home (still on battery rations!)

Perfect days in Hoi An

Sleeping in, waking to warm sunshine then lazily strolling down to breakfast really started our three days in Hoi An with that holiday feeling, such a dramatic difference from hustle bustle city living in Hanoi. Our hostel was more hotel than backpacker, with large rooms, friendly staff and our own balcony (perfect for drying my washing, cleaned out in the sink!)

Hoi An is just beautiful, from the little shops along walking streets to the temples and merchant houses and the beach. Every corner brings a new photo opportunity. Night time brings shows the town it it’s glory as motorbikes are banned from the centre and each alley way is lined with hundreds of glowing lanterns and a multitude of bars and restaurants to choose from.

The food has been phenomenal with some dishes ONLY available in Hoi An, made specially with water from a local well. The people are incredibly friendly, proud of their culture and their town so if you’re happy, they’re happy. It’s been a fantastic stay that I will blog day by day with recommendations as I’ll have a good hour on the plane to Saigon tomorrow to get my blog writing on!

Cooking and cruising

Waking aboard the boat on Ha Long Bay brought beautiful views of the limestone islands and other boats gently bobbing on the calm water. It was another early start with yet another breakfast of bread, jam and egg but this time shortly followed up with the opportunity to make our own spring rolls with filling of pork, carrots, ear-shaped tree fungus, egg and plenty of seasoning, nom! Our skills varied from the relative expert to the “what is that supposed to be?!” and “I’m using my burritos making skills!”

We cruised around the stunning bay, enjoying all the different shapes in the rock. It’s not our fault so many are phallic Ok?! The waters we’re calm and the sun was out long enough to turn us pale Brits a fetching shade of pink!

One final feast aboard the boat set us well for the three and a half hour bus journey to Hanoi. This time the lunch featured the typical “French fried” which are crinkle chips available everywhere, with a side of carbs, rice and more carbs in the form of Russian Salad, a rather tasty mix of potato, apple and carrot in mayonnaise.

The bus journey was an excellent opportunity for some shut eye following some serious early starts and also the chance to see the rolling countryside including paddy fields with their workers pushing farming machinery by hand, all wearing the typical Vietnamese conical hats. Some the fields seemed to have graves or shrines in the middle, presumably that of the family who own them.

With no time to spare in Hanoi we were dropped back at the excellent, and highly recommended, Little Hanoi Hostel 2 to grab our bags and a flight to Da Nang, with our airport transfer arranged by the lovely Kim, who made our stay so memorable. Flying domestic with Vietnam Airlines was easily booked online using Skyscanner and we checked in no problem without the e-tickets they claimed we needed.

Sleepy tired we were picked up by our hotel and driven late at night into the beautiful Hoi An. Even at night with everything closed it gave us that wow factor and by the time we’d checked into our fabulous hotel, impressed with the cute note welcoming us at reception and smiley staff, we’d decided to stay one extra night to enjoy it and oh how we have been, more to come soon!