Today was primarily a travel day with an extra early start to fly down from Hoi An to Ho Chi Minh City. On arrival in HCMC we lunched on Pho at the airport and then boarded a coach to take us to the tunnels at Cu Chi. During the Vietnam war the Viet Cong in the Cu Chi region created and lived in 280 km of tunnels as part of their guerrilla warfare campaign. ...
Our last day in Hoi An. We took a cycle tour in the morning and explored the old town in the afternoon. The cycle tour guide met us at the hotel with bikes for everyone. Once we’d got sorted and had a quick test ride along the street outside the hotel, we were off. The first busy road crossing not far from the hotel was a little hairy but once that was over with we were straight into the countryside and small backstreets. The first part of the tour was through farmland and a visit to an organic vegetable farm. ...
Today is beach day and we’re breakfasted and ready to go by 9am. There was a street party right outside the hotel last night which was in full swing when we went to bed. We were so tired that it didn’t even keep us awake. It’s a short coach ride to the beach and we setup on towels we borrowed from the hotel. The red flags are out so no swimming today, it’s pretty rough so we aren’t tempted anyway. We paddle and mess about in the shallows which is fun and then move on to sand castles. ...
Today we leave Hue and travel to Hoi An. It’s our usual start and breakfast on the 12th floor before boarding the coach at 8:30am. We drive for 2 hours before we stop at a small bay for a comfort break. The bay is host to an oyster farm. They use bicycle tyres cut in half to initially encourage the oysters and once they have started to grow they are transferred to a line and submerged until they are ready to be harvested. ...
We had a lie in today until 7:30am and then went up to the 12th floor for breakfast. The food was pretty good with a wide selection, mostly Vietnamese but also some western style. I opted for noodle soup which seems to be the local favourite for breakfast. Bella went for her favourite, spaghetti bolognese! After breakfast we took a short walk down to the perfume river, named as such because during the spring it smells of perfume due to the fragrant underwater flowers. ...
The announcements continued throughout the night, thankfully they were shorter than the earlier set, but no quieter unfortunately. Not a great nights sleep for the family, apart from Alex who slept like a log! It was a great experience however and we all really enjoyed it. We breakfasted from the trolley on instant noodle Pho with beef, a tiny baguette with some kind of savoury filling and strong Vietnamese coffee which we drank through straws. It was very welcome to wake up to some hot food as it became quite cold early in the morning. ...
We slept on the Junk overnight which was comfortable. The water was so calm it wasn’t easy to tell we were on a boat but the faint sound of generators from other boats in the area meant it wasn’t a completely restful night. We woke at 6:30am so we were at the Hang Sung Sot cave at opening. Breakfast was planned for the cruise back to Ha Long so we grabbed a cup of tea and an energy bar before we left. ...
Our usual early start and our usual breakfast at the hotel before getting on the coach for the 4 hour drive to Halong Bag and our overnight Junk tour. On the route out of Hanoi our guide, Thui, shared many details on Vietnamese culture, people and politics which was fascinating and we had lots of questions for him. During the journey we watched the world go by and everyday going’s on. We were interested to learn that land for housing is allocated in 5 m x 20 m plots throughout Vietnam which is why the size of housing varies very little between the city and countryside. The only major difference is that city property tends to have more floors. ...
6am start today and an early breakfast ready for an 8am start. No beef with noodles today so we had to settle for pork with peppers and watermelon for breakfast. Today we’re sightseeing around Hanoi and it’s a fully packed day. We start out by jumping on the bus and heading to Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum. Ho Chi Minh is seen as the father of modern Vietnam, a hero of the people for liberating them from the French and Japanese occupation and is also the founder of the Communist party in Vietnam. ...
We woke up early and finished packing. A simple breakfast and into the taxi to Heathrow. Thankfully our flight isn’t until 11am so we have time to buy a few last minute essentials and stop for coffee and a celebratory glass of bubbles. There’s been some concern brewing among the younger members of the family that the plane wouldn’t have an entertainment system which would naturally make the 11 hour flight impossible. ...