Vietnam

After a 3 hour layover we board our flight to London. Hanoi airport isn’t anything to shout about so we’re keen to get moving. It’s a night flight so we all do our best to sleep, that works to begin with even with Coca Cola fueled children. Once it’s time to get up in Vietnam though, we’re all awake and reading or watching the entertainment. Arrival at Heathrow is pretty smooth apart from a really slow family queue at passport control which had us all on edge....

We took the opportunity to have a lie in and a late breakfast which was nice after all the early starts. We checked out at 11am, leaving our bags at reception and took a walk to the Notre Dame Catherdral of Saigon. The cathedral was build from bricks imported from France and looks completely out of place. It’s also closed for renovation so it’s a short visit. Next we walk past Ho Chi Minh’s statue and take some photos by the fountain on the way to the observation deck of a nearby skyscraper which has become something of a family tradition....

The night was hot and sticky but we all surprisingly slept pretty well. The chirping gecko and the snoring of the other guests didn’t help, but our preparation for the mosquitos worked out well with none of us getting bitten. All in all a successful but sticky stay which we thoroughly enjoyed. Today was the first day of the trip without an alarm but due to the sun and the neighbours waking up early it was impossible to lie in....

Today we visit the Mekong Delta and stay at the homestay. After breakfast at the hotel we get onto the coach and weave through the Saturday traffic out of the city. The traffic is still pretty awful even though it’s the weekend, mainly due to the large number of cars in HCMC. After three hours travelling and a coffee and ice cream stop, we arrive at the Mekong river and board a boat with a local guide who’s going to show us around....

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....

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....

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....