PaulandPauline

We had a great stay at the Renaissance Saigon Riverside Hotel they are really plush appartments huge rooms and very well maintained. The staff are very friendly and helpful and if you want to stay outside the City this is the perfect place. The transport service is superb Boat or by Road the timings are spot on and very realiable. It was soon time to fly back to Hanoi and our worries about using internal flight operator Jetstar were completely unfounded as this flight took off 10 minutes early and so we were in Hanoi early as well. All 3 internal flights were fantastic, and all on time. We had chosen a different hotel this time, the main reason is the other one is a bit of a walk late at night, so this one the ... read more

We had a fantastic day around the pool the tempeature is up to 35 degrees and the Sun is burning, so we thought best to have a lazy day in the Appartment Grounds and Swimming Pool and go out in the Evening. Now on our way home the other night we saw a very busy area not that far from us. So thought it might be a good idea to have a walk around there as it would save us having to go all the way into the City. We asked the receptionist to write down the area and instructions for the Taxi driver, not many speak English, in fact hardly any do. The receptionist looked at us a bit strange and said well they don't speak English in this area very well, a slight warning ... read more

Well as many of you will know one of the reasons for the special holiday was to celebrate our 20th Wedding Anniversay which falls on leap year 29th Feb 2012. We had a few ideas what we wanted to do today and so here is what happened. First we had booked a cooking class just across the road at a very small resturant called the Riverside Garden Resturant which has only been opened a few months. A young vietnamese couple who both used to work in hotel's had worked hard and both had the skills to go into buisness. We were the only 2 on the course and we were going to make 3 dishes and then of course eat them. The cost of the morning was $20 each, so about £13.00, pretty good. We arrived ... read more

We had quite an early train to catch on Friday 24th Feb for our trip from Dong Hoi to Hue, the weather was about perfect 24 degrees so not too hot. The Sun Spa resort was a great place to stay and we would certainly go back there. I think a good tip if you don't mind a small addition for commision is to book your train tickets though the hotel you are staying in, we did and the tickets turned up a couple of hours later, it would have cost a lot more to get a taxi to go and buy them. I think they added on £1 per ticket so well worth it, the tickets were only £3 each for the 93 mile journey. The train journey went well it was supposed to leave ... read more

We woke up Monday Morning and the Sun was trying to shine and In fact the weather was a lot warmer all day and we could walk around in short sleeves however the locals are still in coats here. It rose to about 19 degrees in the Sun so a very pleasant day for walking around the busy city.We wanted to go to the Hoi Chi Ming’s Meusoleam and that is where King Hoi Chi Ming is on display, against his wishes I might add but the crowds continue to flock to see him, some getting quite distressed about it. The process of going in is supposed to be very strict. unfortunately when we got there, there was a sign saying “Open every day, EXCEPT Monday and Friday, of course it is Monday so we will ... read more