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Published: December 11th 2023
A Vietnam and Singapore family holiday with Meaghan, Todd, Lucy and Hudson from Wednesday 13 December to Wednesday 27 December 2023.
Itinerary •
13 December - Fly Brisbane - Singapore - Saigon •
14 December - 17 December - Saigon •
17 December - 20 December - Hoi Anh •
20 December - 23 December - Hanoi and Ha Long Bay •
23 December - 27 December - Singapore •
27 December - Fly Singapore - Brisbane
Wednesday 13 December 23 - Brisbane Picked up by Kibsgaards in a maxi taxi for the run to the airport about 8pm.
Nothing is simple....of course !! Went to the check in kiosks for Singapore Air and one of the passports would not register using the machine. We are all on the same booking so every passport had to work to be able to check in and to print Boarding Passes. Had to go back to a desk check in with an agent - but all good. Just took a little longer.
Only problem through security is they did not like the way I had bundled my batteries. I had just put a rubber band around them all
and that was too hard for the xray machine to be able to see through. Had to unpack the carry on bag, break them up and the rescan !!
Onto Singapore Air SQ246 and left on time at 11:25pm.
14343 steps including the morning walk before leaving.
Thursday 14 December 2023 - Singapore and Saigon Uneventful flight - a couple of minor bumps as we left landmasses and went over the water, but nothing to write home about. Our collective thoughts are that the Singapore Air seats and service were not as good as Emirates. Substantial meal (quantity) served at 1am and then most people just settled into the balance of the flight. Arrived Singapore at about 5am (local) after a 7 hour flight.
Changi Airport is huge and amazing. We had to change terminals from T3 to T2 - very efficient driverless Skytrain connecting the two running every 5 minutes or so. Not many food outlets open though and had to settle for a very average Maccas feed to get over the hunger hump. Interesting - no bacon for the egg and bacon muffin - chicken sausage offered instead !! (Lots of chicken sausage
in the Maccas bin).
Now waiting for the hours to pass before boarding for the Singapore - Saigon leg of the journey. Again on Singapore Air - SQ178.
Aircraft departed on time and we had a pleasant 1.5 hour flight to Saigon. Last time we flew into Saigon (2003), the old aircraft revetments from the Vietnam war were still in place, gathering mould and in an obvious state of disrepair (revetments are the walls built around aircraft to prevent damage from artillery, mortar or missiles). Back then, and being the first time I had visited Vietnam since my service there in 1969/70, I have to admit it did put a shiver down my spine to see those relics from the war. Fortunately, our arrival today showed no sign of that era.
There is a very modern airport with very long corridors and moving walkways leading to..... an absolutely chaotic Immigration / Passport Control area. Literally, thousands of people from arriving flights just flooded the air side of the Control booths, only half of which were manned. There must have been 10-15 booths open and lines stretching back 50-60 metres at each. To make things worse, the operation
was all manual and the lines moved very slooooooowly.
A comedic situation arose when new officials started opening extra booths. Enthusiastic people peeled off the lines and ran to the new opening booth, creating a ripple effect across the room. Quite hilarious to watch. But it did reduce the wait time.
An unfortunate issue arose when Hudson tried to pass through Passport Control. His date of birth had been incorrectly entered onto his Visa document and was not noticed until the eagle eyed Immigration official spotted it. Suffice to say, Hudson did get through the border....... but not before it was stated that a simple pen and ink amendment could not be made to the document, a new Visa application had to be made, the new visa would take 4 days, it may be that Hudson would have to be sent back to Singapore to make the application ....but, BTW, if Todd paid about USD$125 (AUD$25 for the original applied for in Australia), the problem could be solved within 20 minutes, if he preferred to do it that way....!!!! Feeling like a shakedown was in process, but what could you do about it, the USD$125 was paid and
Hudson joined us on the other side of the barrier. God, I love travel !!!!!
Our Vietnam Travel and Cruise guide, Danni (a young Vietnamese lady), was patiently waiting for us with a sign on the streetside of the Terminal and ushered us to a waiting people mover driven by Mr Loi. Danny kept up an informative monologue on the 30 minute drive to our hotel - the Somerset Chancellor Courtyard at
21-23 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Ho Chi Minh City.
The rooms were not quite ready so we chuffed off to a nearby hotel that offered lunch and returned at about 2pm to be given the keys to our rooms. They are really serviced apartment rooms, quite large with a washer / dryer, microwave, fridge, and cooking facilities.
It had been so hot, and after 15 hours of travel, the Kibsgaards and I went to the hotel pool for a dip - Roz got her feet up. Very cleansing and enervating.
Out for an evening walk to see the sights and have a light dinner. Temperatures and humidity much abated in the evening.
Found a roof bar just down from our hotel that I had read about in some travel piece -
the Social Club Above Saigon. We visited and had some Happy Hour drinks (half price at about AUD$15 - expensive if you stayed on). Very crowded (Happy Hour !!) with mainly Westerners. Fantastic views of Saigon at night. Only stayed for about an hour then embarked on a "round the block" walk of the inner city to see more views at street level and to get a light bite to eat before returning to the hotel at about 8pm.We were all very footsore and weary by the end of it.
Into bed by 9pm - managed 12196 steps for the day
Friday 15 December 2023 - Saigon. Slept well but I was awake by 4:30am - body clock said I had slept in. We are 3 hours behind Brisbane on the clock so that was 7:30am !
We have a long day ahead on a tour bus to the Mekong Delta today - about 2 hours each way apparently, mainly due to traffic. We will visit Ben Tre in the Delta and see a bunch of sights and sounds. It is just us with our tour guide and driver for the day.
Breakfast at 7am
and depart by 8am.
We are staying at the Somerset Chancellor Courtyard Hotel
21-23 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Ho Chi Minh City ·It is probably a 3.5-4 star hotel, well located near the main city area in District 1. We have a self contained room with a small kitchenette on the 8th floor. The breakfast room is in an area that doubles as a cafe through the day. Breakfast was good - small selection but the range of food met our needs. Eggs on demand (great scrambled eggs) toast, cereal, fruit, yoghurt etc.
Picked up at 8am by Danni and Mr Loi for a 2 hour drive south of Saigon to Ben Tre in the Mekong Delta. We are in a large12 seater Hyundai van. Heavy morning peak traffic out of the CBD and thinning out as we travelled south into the outlying predominantly farming areas.
A lot of agriculture evident - rice paddies, coconut trees, jack fruit. Missing from the view scape were the buffaloes that we used to see on the rice paddies. did not see one in the whole trip whereas in the early 2000's, they were very prevalent. Apparently, technology has passed them by and the work is now done by
machines.
Our guide actually came from the Mekong Delta and was quite knowledgeable about the area with history and the people there. She kept up a steady patter throughout the journey, which was of interest.
First stop was a "rest stop". Smart Vietnamese businessman who knows Western ladies need a "rest" about an hour into the journey and to provide high quality, very clean western style toilets - not Asian squats. And, by the way, a whole mess of coconut fibre and bamboo products cleverly laid out in inescapable aisles from entry point to cash payment and exit ! We had a young lady, with a limited grasp of the English language (but memorising the text of the presentation very well), present an interesting expose and demonstration of what can be done with coconut fibre and bamboo products. What can be done, you might well ask ?? Well, anything and everything. Nice products but a little expensive.
Back onto the van and next event was the brick making factory. If any of us think we have a hard life or that a disaster is getting fresh milk in your coffee instead of soy, best to think again
and visit the brickworks. These people are doing subsistence living with very hard manual work in hot and humid environments, in front of roaring charcoal fires. they actually use coconut husks and fibre to create the fires that dry and cure the bricks and one lad's job was to transfer the spent embers, by shovel, from the fire pit to a cooling off area.
A lady sat in a corner of the area with three vats of coconut water being reduced over hot fires. For 12 hours a day, she feeds the fires and stirs the vats until the liquid becomes a black sticky product use in cooking. To me, it tasted like a thick molasses. The vats produce 24 small coke bottle sized portions and she sells them for about AUD$6 each locally....day in, day out.
We then moved up the river by a small boat. The steps leading onto the boat and the exit, she feeds the fire were pretty dodgy and not in a good state of repair. Making things a bit harder was that the tide was dropping as well so the lower steps were often slippery. But we made it and the breeze
created by the sailing was a welcome relief.
Next stop was a coconut operation where the coconut milk was extracted and turned into a number of products including coconut caramel candy. All done manually including individually wrapping the sweets. We were then sat at a table to enjoy some tea and some local fruits - all good - jackfruit, rambutan, pomelo, loquat, monkey banana. Two brightly dress ladies entertained us with traditional singing accompanied by two men on mandolin type instruments. A little raucous to our ears but enjoyable nonetheless.
Back onto the river to move to a reed mat making enterprise. The mats are made from the dried long straws of a plant that grows along the river and are used for sleeping mats. Bit hard and uncomfortable I would think but apparently many use them. Again, if we think we have hard lives, the two people you see in the photo sit there 12 hours a day, one feeding the reed and the other compacting the reeds to knock out one 2 metre mat .... and get about AUD$10 for it. A lot of work for small returns.
What has struck us is the use
of everything available to make a living. Even at the end of the process, the coconut embers are cooled and then used as fertiliser on the crops.
A change of chariot to a tuk tuk to take us to the lunch venue, about 15 minutes down the road. The tuk tuks are in great need of suspension repairs !! The tuk tuks are in great use as people and produce movers. In the war years, they were smaller vehicles called "Lambros" from their Lambretta manufacture. Technology has moved on, but not much.
Lunch proved to be a magnificent spread of fruit, noodles, fish, and fried banana flowers. Everything set up in purpose built open sided huts, and western toilets - very important !! The fish was excellent flavour, It was called Elephant Ear fish - even Todd had not heard of that species.
Last event for the tour was the sampan ride down a shady canal with the ubiquitous conical hat. Lord knows how many heads had worn the hat but we were hoping the heat was enough to have killed anything in them !! Hard working older ladies propelled the sampans to our final destination.
Then began the two and a half hour return to Saigon by road at about 3pm. Friday afternoon rush hour traffic in the city delayed the ride back and we were very happy to get home by 5:30pm after almost 9 hours out and about. Tiring in the heat and humidity but a good day out which gave us an appreciation of rural Vietnam and the lives those people have just eking out day to day living..
A dip in the hotel pool was again welcome and then out to dinner. Kids choice and they had spotted a sushi restaurant around the corner. Unfortunately, the task of ordering sushi was beyond us. No one spoke English in the somewhat modern restaurant and the iPad ordering system was not descriptive of the products on display. Could not by wine by the glass - so .one drink later we departed - good effort....Fail !!
Lucy and Hudson were in search of more western food so Megs and Todd found burger style place about 1km away. Roz and I declined and found a Highland Coffee cafe nearby. Highlands Coffee is a well known chain in Vietnam that we have used frequently
before so we satisfied ourselves with a shared Banh Mi, a sticky bun and a coffee - particularly after that large lunch.
Retired to the hotel by about 9pam and to bed around 10pm. Only 7,700 steps today after all the transfers by road and by river.
Saturday 16 December 2023 - Saigon Good sleep of over 7 hours and another bright and sunny day outside - reaching mid 30s, they say.
We have a free day and will be heading to the Ben Thanh Markets in due course. Tonight is a food tour on the back of motor scooters. The scooter team turn up at 5pm and we climb on the back and join the mad scooter river around town and get taken to various food outlets to sample the local fare. should be interesting !!
Slow start to the day - breakfast at 8am and left the hotel at 9:15am, heading for Ben Thanh Markets. Ben Thanh has become one of the earliest surviving structures of Saigon with its long history. In the early 17th century, there were just a few little stalls run by casual street vendors who gather together near the
Saigon River. In 1859, French Imperialists overthrown the neighboring Gia Dinh Citadel, the market was built properly and established. Its name was changed from Les Halles Centrales (initial name) to Ben Thanh, or “wharf citadel” after it was destroyed in a fire and restored.
The Markets are a frenzy of movement with narrow aisles and a multitude of products of all types on display. Combined with no air conditioning, a tin roof and restricted air flows, the place is a sweat pit !! Add the "badgering" of the stall ladies to come and see their goods and the place is a cacophony of noise, movement and colour. Lucy was looking for a bag of sone description but did not see anything she wanted (not sure she knew what she wanted !!). the rest of us just followed.
After about an hour, we had enough of wandering and sweating so we t=retired to a nearby cafe with A/C. Sweet relief !! The cafe was run by an older gent who methodically went about making 6 drinks.....over time ! He got there and we enjoyed the extra cooling time.
Decision made to go to another market nearby - Saigon Central
- where Lucy was successful getting a bag she wanted. Todd used his bartering skills and met the lady at about the half way point on price. Further negotiations at the same stall resulted in hand bags for the two other ladies in our group (who shall remain nameless). Enough is when all the ladies have a handbag, so we got out of Dodge City and headed elsewhere.
Lucy mentioned she will be studying the Vietnam War in her Year 12 so she and I headed off to the War Remnants Museum for a tour. I tried to be as objective as I could about the displays which clearly demonstrated a bias to the North Vietnamese position, as it should be here in Vietnam, but I did say to Lucy the times were different then and the West was worried about the incursion of Communism.
The others headed for airconditioning - so hot and steamy in the hours after midday - did the shopping rounds and had lunch. Lucy and I joined them later and had our lunch. Kibsgaards went back to the hotel - Roz and I decided to walk the length of Dong Khoi Street (was
Rue Catinat) in days of old. We stayed in the Majestic Hotel at the bottom of Dong Khoi Street on our first visit in 2003 and the street was the centre of tourist attraction in those days. Sadly, it has fallen into rack and ruin with closed shops and lumpy, bumpy footpaths.
A swim, a rest and then out at 5pm for our Street Food Tour by Scooter. Put a load of washing on to clean the smelly sweat stained pile growing in the corner. the washer has a drying function too - so hopefully we can start anew in Hoi Anh tomorrow.
Six scooters turned up - 5 young ladies and one young man - helmets on and away we went into the mad afternoon scooter flood. Navi was the leader with Megs on board, Roz had Grover and my rider was Halsey. What an experience - on the scooters and the food tour itself. Cannot recommend the experience too highly - except for how full we all felt at the end !!
We visited about 7 or 8 different food stalls across the city - traditional Vietnamese salads rolled into a lettuce leaf, a Banh
Mi, seafood, noodle soup, Vietnamese pizza, meat rolls and finally coconut icecream. Liberally provided with iced tea and beer at one stop. The food was great but the highlight was riding pillion on a scooter driven by a slight Vietnamese young lady, in and out of scooter/bus/car/motorbike chaos... and getting back to the hotel safely. This was a really good tour which we would all recommend to anyone visiting Saigon.
At the seafood place, we met the owner who is/was a gangster in his day, turned good and runs the shop. Tattooed and bedecked with real gold....they said. Looked a bit over the top but he was a friendly bloke and was happy to keep the tourists amused posing with photos.
Returned to the hotel at about 8pm - knackered by the heat of the day and activity rate. Drying recommenced and started the clean up and packing for departure tomorrow for the flight to Da Nang and transfer to Hoi Anh.
15995 steps for the day.
Sunday 17 December 2023 - Saigon and Hoi Anh 5:30am rise again. Slow start to breakfast and then 10:30am pickup to go to the airport.
Mr Li
turned up right on time and Sunday traffic in Saigon was a lot lighter getting to Tan Son Nhut Airport.
Domestic terminal on a Sunday morning almost deserted and no problems checking in and getting to the terminal Gate. We had to keep an eye on the Departures Board and listen to announcements as there was a constant stream of changing gates while we waited. Our flight got three honourable mentions before they settled on Gate 6.
Lumpy lift through the overcast out of Saigon - an hour and 5 minutes to Da Nang - and possibly the bumpiest and nerve wracking landing at Da Nang that we have ever had. I saw the overcast clouds with lead in them as we approached and knew we would have some disturbance as we let down through the clouds. That was quite bumpy but the scariest part was when the aircraft was on finals and nearing the ground. The aircraft was tipping left and right through the thermals and that got more so as were landing !! The young lady across the aisle was hyperventilating into the sick bag and hanging on for dear life. The landing itself was really
good but he was clearly off line with the wind and he did a couple of swerves before we settled. but the pilot obviously did a great job - he got us on the ground safely !!
Met by a driver and headed south to Hoi Anh. The journey took about an hour and we arrived close to 3:30pm. Incredible amount of development right along the highway south of Da Nang than when we were here 20 years ago. The road basically follows the coastline and there are any number of resort hotels operating. Also many abandoned constructions of some significance on both sides of the road.
Arrived at La Luna Hotel in Hoi Anh and settled into our rooms (kids complaining because we had not stopped for lunch !!). The Reception guy was a real entertainer. He got us all sitting down in a circle around a table (cold drinks and wet hand towels provided) and gave us an upsell on entertainment (a nearby show for the night), massage services in the hotel (20% off), special deal for a late lunch in the hotel restaurant (20% off). Talk about Basil Fawlty !! But he was good intentioned
and took rejection politely as we decided to get to our rooms, unpack and head out for early dinner.
Rooms appear comfortable and plenty of space.
We are staying just out of the Old Town of Hoi Anh - but only about 10 minutes walk to get there. The lower end of town on the canal was flooded when we visited in October 2003 in the wet season but apart from a few spits of rain, it was dry.
We found a place to quench our immediate need for a glass of wine and beer (depending on our individual tipples) - about AUD$10-13 for a passable glass of wine (Chilean Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon in this case - Todd went for the Tiger beer - AUD$3-6 for a can or small bottle of beer).
Then on to dinner. Again, our previous visit led us to the Cargo Club and it proved to be a good choice. It was owned by an Australian and his Eurasian wife and continues to be so - even after 20 years. Must be doing something right. Good service and good food followed to give us a very enjoyable evening with
great views from the verandah as night fell and the lights came on.
A short walk around the town to see the sights and sounds and then back to the hotel to retire at about 8pm. We were all tired from the travel and the heat in Saigon. Temperatures noticeably cooler here but still humid.
A little bit of excitement in the middle of night as Roz paid a visit.......and the toilet backed up......12:30am !!!! Literally " Oh S**t, Oh Dear". Went down to Reception and the Duty Manager was on a mattress on the floor (rightly so) having a snooze when I interrupted his slumber. No problem - off to the storeroom and came up to the room with a plunger device..... I think this may happen more than once, given the lack of concern and surprise. Plunging done, loo back in operation and everyone back to sleep !! Good service with a smile. (P.S. It is all good this morning - I think the plumbing may be a bit ancient, like the town).
Monday 18 December 2023 - Hoi Anh Awake again at 5:30am. We are booked for a cooking class today and being
picked up at 9am.
Warm day but not a hot as Saigon.
Good breakfast available in the dining room again. Full range of fruits, cereals and an egg station (good scrambled eggs !).
Picked up on time at 9am and taken to a central office to join four others for the cooking class. Our guide and instructor was Loc, who turned out to have a very bubbly personality and a good cooking instructor. Her story was that she is the only daughter who has taken on the culinary life to keep the cooking skills of her grandmother and mother continuing - and she did a great job.
After gathering at the office in Hoi Anh, we boarded a boat for a 40 minute journey to a nearby island where the class would take place. The island was surrounded by fish nets and had shrimp farms from which the locals made their living. Everything appeared to be authentic Vietnamese living conditions away from the noise and bustle of Hoi Anh.
The cooking took place in an open sided structure with tables set up in a U fashion. All the ingredients and utensils had been well prepared
and the instruction was "you only get to eat what you cook !!". A number of Vietnamese ladies of all ages roamed around assisting us as we cooked and chopped and pounded ingredients.
All went seamlessly from beginning to end preparing grilled pork, papaya salad, and fish claypot dishes. All of the sauces were made from scratch and the results were delicious. Cannot describe the smells and flavours in words but they were all great and what you expect from Vietnamese cooking. The class started at about 10am and we continued cooking and eating as we went until 2pm, arriving back in Hoi Anh after another boat ride at 3pm.
This experience, again, was very good and we would higholdly recommend it to anyone.
Rounded the day off with dinner on the other side of the canal at a cafe called Morning Glory. The nightlife in Hoi Anh is noisy and crowded with mainly Asian tourists very evident. Westerners are light on the ground and we have been reminded by many of the Vietnamese we have come into contact with that tourist numbers are still well down. You do feel for people in that situation and the
number of Xmas card, sunglass, novelty toy and hat vendors who approach you in the street and sitting in cafes and restaurants is an indanhicator of subsistence living for many of them.
Bed by 10pm. Steps (7072) were negligible due to hoi the boat riding and cooking class.
Tuesday 19 December 2023 - Hoi Anh Up at 5am....again !
Plan for the day was to have a genteel walk around Hoi Anh Old Town and see what it had to offer.
First stop was the markets which were amazing with the variety of fresh fruit, vegetabes and meats. All the ladies (virtually no men) come to the market to get their daily meal requirements and very little gets refrigerated. It is consumed day by day.
The meats include pork, beef, chicken and duck as well as a large range of seafoods. The smell is a bit confronting and the sight of freshly carved meats sitting out in the open is a worry to our Western eyes - but quite normal here. Very few flies and insects seen.
Up and down streets - very similar products on display - leathers, art and ceramics, spa
services, dress shops.....you want it, they have it.
Coffee at an up market cafe on Le Loi Street and then back to a spa that the ladies had spotted and looked presentable and clean. Foot spas all round and Megs and Roz also opted for a facial. The foot massage was most relaxing and enjoyable - about AUD$15 (cheap, I'm told). Todd, Lucy, Hudson and I had to find alternate entertainment for about an hour. so we further wandered aimlessly ...... what's new !!??
Hudson was hungry (whats new....again !!?) so Todd took them off to find a bite to eat while I looked for the hotel we stayed at 20 years ago (Vin Hung 2) and a tailor that we used in Le Loi Street (A Dong Silk). Found both after a bit of upping and downing the streets.
Ladies finished the facials and we headed over to the other side of the canal to join up with Todd and the kids for lunch. A steady stream of sunglass men, Xmas card ladies and novelty toy ladies targeted us while eating and then.....and then...Cheeky Monkey came along !! What a floor show. It was a young
Vietnamese lady (probably mid 20s) who had Aussies down to a T. "Ow are ya mate ?" to open the conversation and then non stop (friendly) abuse for Todd trying to get him to buy her plastic stubby holders. Called him a d..khead more than few times (he gave just as good back) and the standard response when he took (feigned) objection was "I don't care". Very good with the yea) and able to read everyone a story. Great patter ....and the Cheeky Monkey won - Todd bought 6 plastic stubbyholders he didn't really need. But what a performance and well worth the time spent with her.
Back to the hotel for a swim. Happy hour cocktails while enjoying the cool of the pool - how good does it get ?
Change and out to dinner. Found a pleasant upstairs restaurant and had a typical Vietnamese dinner for exeryone - except Hudson - chicken nuggets and chips (what's new ?).
Home by 8:30pm and started the packing for an early departure to the airport the next morning.
Wednesday 19 December 2023 - Hoi Anh and Hanoi Up at 5am for a 6:30am pickup to drive
back to Da Nang for the flight to Hanoi at 8:35am. All good and arrived in good time for the flight.
Not as bumpy a flight this time and smoothy into Hanoi. Very modern airport at Noi Bai.
Our transfer driver was bit late but we eventually found him and we took the hour long drive into Hanoi. Good modern highways now in place. Last time (20 years ago) there were goat tracks and back streets. Incredible amount of development was evident both on the way from the airport and in Hanoi itself.
Arrived and Hotel Bendecir and, unfortunately, we were all underwhelmed !! A narrow building with nondescript entry and one lift for 14 floors - not a good beginning. And the bad impression continued when we got into the room. Small and a miniscule bathroom with a toilet and shower in the same space !! Grandma not impressed. But it was only for one night before we head to Ha Long Bay tomorrow.
Roy turned up at 1pm - our guide for a walking tour of the French Quarter, Lake Hoan Kiem and the Old Quarter. Roy is a full time guide and lives
70 km NE of Hanoi with his wife and three kids. At this time of the year, he is more often in Hanoi making a $$. Bit hard to understand but we got used to him after a while. 4 hours later, we had been well informed and guided and had visited the famous Cafe Giang for egg coffee (Condensed milk and egg yoke whipped up on top of an Americano - a cappuccino on steroids). Sweet but nice - but not sure I would have too many more.
After more sightseeing, into a beef noodle cafe. It is normal for certain cafes in Hanoi to only produce one one dish - and in this case, it was beef and pork with vermicelli nooles, many herbs (mint, coriander, basil, Vietnamese mint) and a huge bowl of garlic and red chillies. Everything so fresh !! then onto a dessert place cor fresh fruit and coconut icecream...refreshing.
We were all basically knackered from walking and eating at that stage and ended up back at the hotel at about 6:00pm. No need for dinner ....except Mr Huddy who had passed on the beef noodles and he needed a burger (what's new
?). Todd did the dad thing and took him out and found a place. Hunger satisfied. I went looking for fresh cows milk to have with a morning coffee - found at a Circle K (read 7 Eleven) but only in 2 litre cartons so had to settle for a small carton of UHT milk from Dalat.
To bed early - although your correspondent slaved until 9:30 pm to post 87 photos on the blog...I'll take a thank you on that :-))
Lights out - good night. 12,750 steps today.
Thursday 21 December 2023 - Hanoi and Ha Long Bay Not so early start but have to be ready to depart the hotel at 8am for Ha Long Bay.
Good breakfast at the hotel but the dinging room and kitchen buffet area was a disaster.
Eric our guide picked us up and we joined a crowded 30 seater bus for the two and half hour drive to Ha Long Bay. Massive development and infrastructure in highways and businesses left and right of the road to Ha Long Bay. The area around Haiphong on the way to the Bay had been very heavily bombed by
the Americans during the Vietnam War because of its importance as a port. The revitalisation and rebuilding is most evident.
Arrived Ha Long Bay and were transferred to our cruising boat (Le Journey Premium) by tender. Four decks - bottom two are the cabins, next is the dining area and bar and then the top deck is an open viewing area. But the wind is so cold, its impossible for us to stay up there comfortably.
Off the boat by tender to go and visit Surprise Cave - a huge cave area in one of the limestone mountains that populate Ha Long Bay. VERY steep climb to the entry point and then a long walk underground. All of the walk has been very well constructed and made safe for visitors. Apparently the cave has been World Heritage Listed. Back on board and we all passed on the offer of a swim in the Bay - far too cold.
Happy hour has started - time to take a break !!
A four course dinner followed - pumpkin soup, oysters and prawns, seabass fish and then a dessert. Well prepared, presented and served.
Karoake began and even
Todd and Lucy had a go with some Taytay song. There were some pretty good voices actually. A couple of Asian ladies sang in Chinese (I think) to a Chinese song and were very melodious. Todd and Hudson went down to the back of the boat for a spot of squid fishing. The squids stayed home and were safe !!
To bed after 10pm.
Friday 22 December 2023 - Ha Long Bay and Hanoi Awake at 6am. Still pretty cold but not as windy as last night. Phone sad it was 8 degrees, feels like 3.
I went up on deck to catch the quiet of the morning and indulged in a couple of peaceful coffees before others started to intrude.
The ship had relocated to an area where there is a natural arch which gives entry to a large lagoon area occupied by monkeys. Breakfast was had and those who wanted to were tendered to a floating platform where two person kayaks and 10 seater bamboo boat were stored. Lucy, Hudson, Todd and I opted for the kayaks and Megs hitched a ride on the bamboo boat.
The arch is tidal and sometimes
cannot be navigated but there was plenty of room today. Forgot how much energy is needed to row a kayak and I'm afraid Todd did most of the work. But we got there in the end - all of us with wet rear ends :-((
Back to the boat by tender and, shower, change, pack and early brunch at 9:45am before arrival back at Ha Long pier at 11am.q Everyone quiet and snoozing for the 3 hour drive back to Hanoi, including a half hour stop for the "happy room" (loo - as described by our guide) and cafe for a break, before arriving back at our Hotel Bendecir.
Same design room allocated but in better condition than our arrival room. Only a place to sleep anyway !
Hudson had damaged the screen on his phone so we dropped it off at a corner repair shop - VND900,000 (about AUD$90 - cheap) and one hour !
Lucy wanted to find a particular type of handbag for one of her mates so we trekked a country mile to the Cho Dong Xuan Night Market. What a place to see - worth the walk just to see three
floors literally packed to the ceiling, in some cases of clothing, bags, pottery etc. You just cannot fathom the mountains of product stacked in this place. Our thoughts were that they supply the street shops, but how they know what they've got and where it is, is a mystery.
Roz wanted to see an art gallery we had visited 20 years ago in Hang Bong Street - Apricot Gallery -and it was still there with some beautiful examples of Vietnamese painted art. Fortunately, nothing in our price range so got away with that one !! A couple of ceramic shops later (too expensive, too heavy - another escape !! :-)) we found a restaurant for a bite to eat.
Hudson and Todd went back to the phone shop ....... Oh sorry, not ready and more VND please !!! The shake down begins. Three visits later, the phone turns up, repaired and at the agreed price (eventually). Sorry, my technician make a mistake, it cost more, I selling to you at a loss. The car sales negotiator won !!!! Well done Todd !!
Todd and Hudson back to the hotel - had enough of the wandering. I took
the ladies for another gallop in another night market and a couple of minor purchases were made before heading for the barn. Bed by 9:30pm.
Saturday 23 December 2023 - Hanoi and Singapore Up at 6:30am - almost 9 hours of sleep for me - unheard of !!
9:30am pick up for the transfer to Noi Bai airport and the flight to Singapore at 12:30pm.
Quick trip - longer wait at the airport.
Short delay due to late arrival of aircraft and then on board and off to Singapore. A few bumps on the way but nothing too damaging and landed at Singapore Terminal 3.
Looks like Jim put the wrong passport number in for Roz's Arrival Card and she and I had to go through the manual gate !! Someone not popular.
Bit of a run around finding the driver we had booked but eventually found and taken to the Royal Plaza on Scotts Hotel, just off Orchard Road.
Everyone tired from travel and we made our own arrangements for a light dinner and into bed at 10pm.
Sunday 24 December 2023 - Singapore Woke at 6am - another
long 8 hour sleep !!
Overcast and grey outside with the forecast of on and off rain.
NOTE - having problems reducing the size of the photos, mostly from Ha Long Bay so that I can up upload them here. Trying to resolve the issue..
Problem solved - photos uploading OK.
Good breakfast at the hotel - huge buffet - augers well for the Xmas lunch buffet we have booked into tomorrow !!
Out and about at 10:30am and headed to Chinatown from the Orchard MRT. Direct connection from Orchard MRT to Maxwell MRT which is in the middle of Chinatown. We can use our debit or credit cards for MRT travel - tap on tap off as for GoCards.... and cheap. About a $1 per journey.
Not a lot going on in Chinatown on a Sunday morning - obviously picks up speed later in the day. Just a general wander around looking at stalls and the sights and smelling the smells. A lot of seafood down here - and evident !!
Back on the MRT to Gardens by the Bay MRT. A walk into the gardens and into the various garden and
attraction areas. Very hot and humid and the group were looking for airconditioning / lunch / drinks - getting on for 12:30pm. Very crowded in the gardens -everyone must have Sunday off !
Arrived at Marina Sands Hotel and we were looking for a particular restaurant on the 51st floor to have a refreshing break - SGD$23 to go to the Observation deck (buys a lot of coffees) - and virtually no signage to help. So headed to the Marina Sands Shopping Centre next door for lunch. Very crowded and no chance in the food court. Found a pizza place with only a short line to get in (still over half an hour wait though) - Lucy and Hudson champing at the bit for lunch - don't know what their problem was - it was only 2pm..... :-)))
Pizza lunch was good but dining in Singapore is not cheap - medium pizza shared, one San Pelligrino and one Tiger beer - AUD$63.
Some browsing in the shops before heading by taxi to Raffles Hotel for a visit to the Long Bar - a must !!
Raffles has been renovated in recent years and does look a
picture. All very well presented and sparkling.
Long walk to the Long Bar. If my memory serves correctly, the Long Bar has been relocated but faithfully rebuilt. It really does look like historical times and true to tradition, the floor underfoot crunches with peanut shells. A variety of drinks selected - two traditional Singapore slings at SGD$39 each (AUD$43).
Raffles is obviously paying off the renovations quickly - we read somewhere they are serving AUD$40,000 worth of Singapore Slings alone each day - every table had one or more when we were there.
Lucy and Hudson opted for the non alcoholic Singapore Slings (SGD$16 - about AUD$18), Todd the half yard of beer (SGD$32 - about AUD$38) and I chose a Chilean red (SGD$25 - about AUD$29). Recorded for the sake of posterity so that we can see the cost of inflation for future visits. However, having said that, the visit is iconic and well worth the time and effort.
Taking cabs around Singapore is relatively cheap - average for our cross town travels was in the order of SGD$10-$12 each - about AUD$15 - $18. All the drivers were knowledgeable and friendly. The rides make
moving around in the heat a lot more tolerable.
Back to the hotel for a feet up and rest before heading out again to dinner at 7pm.
Headed to Newton Food Centre which is near to Orchard. Lots of people there but relatively easy to get a table. Food was fantastic and relatively cheap for Singapore. I think the total food bill was about SGD$100 for all of us and you could not jump over the quantity, quality and variety. A lot of seafood but Hudson's favourite were the dumplings - back for seconds and a declaration they were the "best ever".
These food centres were previously known as Hawker food and the drivers told us the stalls in the centres were often 3rd and 4th generation operations - same food offerings, refined over the years.
Other food centres that we know about and which the taxi drivers said were equally as good are Lau Pa Sat and the Maxwell Food Centre. Arab Street if you are looking for Mediterranean offerings, Little India for Indian food and Chinatown for Chinese.
All done and dusted by about 8:30pm and back to the hotel.
Bed by
10pm - a good walking day with 14,820 steps.
Monday 25 December 2023 - Singapore The day is finally here !! Certainly not the reason for the visit - but a highlight.
Up at 6:30am and a light breakfast (for one) at 7am. Brought some toast back to the room for Roz - we don't want to spoil our appetites for the buffet lunch !!
Drop in from Lucy and Hudson on their way back from breakfast to say Happy Xmas to Grandma and Grandad :-)).
Merry Christmas to everyone - wherever you are. We hope you all have a great day.
Adrian, Vanessa, Sophie and Isaac are stuck overnight in Iceland on their way to Paris !! We are waiting on the update on the confirmed travel plans but Adrian said they were due to fly out of Iceland at about 7am on their 24 December - sometime later today our time. A late/missed connection in the USA (airline delays) threw departure plans into disarray forcing an unscheduled stop in Iceland with Icelandic Air instead of a straight transit. Apparently put up in a hotel by the airline but one less day in
Paris for them on their homeward journey to Australia (Canberra) via Singapore. If all things stayed on schedule, we only miss them by three days here in Singapore - but the cost for us to change our airfares to stay over was in the order of AUD$1500 each, plus an extra 5 days accommodation.
Have just heard from them. Catching a 7am Xmas Day flight from Iceland to Paris.
We have completed our epic Xmas Day buffet lunch. Absolutely incredible array of quality food and variety. You could not ask for more and the price here was good - SGD$88 each = about AUD$101. Most of the other hotels in Singapore were more than SGD$150. A two hour window to indulge before the next sitting was due more than enough. If you couldn't find something to eat, you were not looking.
Coming out of lunch to a tropical downpour outside. It was bucketing down, complete with thunder.
Settled for a bit and then hiked to the Hilton for a couple more drinks before pulling stumps. Roz and I are done and dusted for today. We have all laid bets about what time Hudson tells Megs and
Todd - "I'm hungry" :-)). No doubt there will be a late night KFC visit - my bet is about 7pm. (Yup - there was !!).
That has been an excellent Xmas Day. We have all enjoyed each other's company, the food and the venue (Carousel Restaurant in the Royal Plaza Hotel).
Targets down, patch out - lights out !!
Tuesday 26 December 2023 - Singapore Last full day in the big smoke - but not looking good weatherwise. There is a large front of rain (thunderstorms predicted) coming from the East at about 11am. Our plan for today was to go to the National Botanical Gardens and see the Orchid Garden, in particular. but it is all outdoors and walking in the rain here is like standing in front of a firehose. It just bucketed down yesterday and the forecast is that it will last the rest of the day.
Heard from Adrian last night that they had safely reached Paris and were in a cab to their AirBnB near Sacre Couer Basilica. 10:45am here - they will still be sleeping until early/midafternoon.
The horrors, (for Todd Hudson and I) might be that
we have to stay undercover, indoors in the shopping malls across the road !!!!
The rain front actually dissipate on the eastern end of Singapore Island near Changi and allowed us to get out to the National Botanical Gardens. Todd and Hudson went to a Timezone in the nearby Ion shopping centre while I took the ladies to see the orchids.
This is the third or fourth time Roz and I have visited the Orchid Garden and it never fails to stun with the colour and the varieties. You all know how much I "love" flowers and gardening ....but the orchids are magnificent. And they did not disappoint this time either.
I will bore you by publishing every photo I took - but I want to record them for posterity.
It was a good visit and we beat the rain....just !!! As we got into the cab for the return journey it started spitting and by the time we arrived back at Orchard Road, it was bucketing down.
Note - we have used
Grab in Singapore - same concept as Uber. Well worth downloading the app before visiting.
Roz and I left Lucy and
Meaghan to the shopping and came back for a rest - 3:30pm.
Out to a Dumpling restaurant in the Paragon Building for dinner. Hudson declared they were not as good as the ones at Newton Food Centre.
On and off rain through the afternoon. Thoughts of heading to the Gardens by the Bay for the night light show dashed due to uncertainty.
Last packing and into bed by 10pm
Wednesday 27 December 2023 - Singapore and Brisbane Up at 5 am and collected a breakfast package prepared for us as were leaving before the restaurant breakfast opened.
Mr Rahman from Kler Transport arrived on time and picked us up at 7am and a clear run to Terminal 3 at the airport.
Onboard SQ245 for Brisbane at 09:55am. A few bumps coming out of Singapore but the rest of the flight was smooth. Good dinner onboard. 3 movies and we were home after about seven and half hours of flying.
Quickly through Immigration and Customs and home by 9:30pm.
Another holiday bites the dust !!
TIME FOR REFLECTION Our 14 day sojourn to Vietnam and Singapore is almost at an
end. We leave the hotel at 7am tomorrow morning, fly Singapore Air at 9:55 am and arrive back in Brisbane at 7:45pm.
It really has been a good family holiday which we have enjoyed with Meaghan, Todd, Lucy and Hudson. Our collective thoughts are that the Vietnam portion organised by Vietnam Travel and Cruises has been good value for money and worth the booking. We would recommend them to anyone. We booked them through Valerie Ireland, a Travel Manager company representative - who has also provided great service.
The range of activities - the Mekong Delta tour to Ben Tre, the Saigon Street Food Scooter tour, the cooking class in Hoi An, the overnight cruise of Ha Long Bay, Gardens by the Bay, the Long Bar at Raffles and the Orchid Garden - have been great. I think the scooters and the cooking class stand out for enjoyment but the rest have provided us with entertainment and experiences.
The Vietnam part of the trip was particularly draining in energy due to the heat and humidity - expected worse in Singapore but it has been much more even. Rain has been our enemy here in Singapore, curtailing outdoor
activity.
Hotels in all locations except Hanoi have been good - The Somerset Chancellor Courtyard in Saigon, La Luna in Hoi Anh and the Royal Plaza on Scotts in Singapore. The Bendecir Hotel in Hanoi did not measure up. It was advertised as a "brand new hotel'" and, if it looked as good as it did on the website, it would have been OK. But it was a very narrow hotel and the rooms were smaller than they looked, nd it was an older hotel that has been tarted up.....a bit. There was a lot of maintenance required. Good location though.
Food has been good throughout. Hudson has had his challenges but he has coped ....with visits to KFC and similar establishments from time to time !! Highlights for food have been almost everywhere in Vietnam and the Xmas buffet lunch here at the Royal Plaa yesterday.
Food and services in Vietnam were cheap. Singapore is much more expensive than we thought it would be. dining, coffees and drinks are horrendous prices. The locals must be earning a fortune to be able to afford to eat out. The hawker food centre at Newton provided best value for
money.
Roz and I are feeling the pace of travel and the heat in Asia - more so than in our younger years.... not unexpected I guess - and will be glad to get home to our bed and own pillows.
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Denise
non-member comment
First flight
Sounds like everything went to plan except for the few little hiccups, hope you flight to Saigon goes well and that you can get some early rest tonight. xx