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Reunification Palace, Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)
Not the prettiest building but very interesting and opulent inside, sadly no photography allowedHi everyone
We hope you are well and managing to stay warm.
Pleased to report that all's fine and dandy with us and we have had a truly wonderful time in Vietnam. Definitely a country worth adding to your list of places to visit. We have totally enjoyed the very warm and friendly hospitality of the Vietnamese people, gaining an insight into their fascinating culture, been blown away by the awesome scenery; soaring mountains, stunning coastline, beautiful beaches, emerald green rice paddies and bustling cities. To top it all off the food and drink has been fantastic.
Following our little Christmas sojourn in Mui Ne we caught a coach back to HO CHI MINH CITY where we spent New Year and got back into the swing of being travellers again. Boy this is one city on the move where the population of 7.4 million live life at a crazy pace. The traffic was unbelievable and pedestrians are very much at the bottom of the food chain so you take you life in your hands the minute you step out of your hotel. Fortunately there are many lovely parks/green spaces where you can
Reunification Palace, HCMC
We did manage to sneak one photo - the President's US helicopter and markings where 2 bombs fell escape from the madness. We spent 4 days here exploring the city on foot and felt like we'd walked most of the streets by the time we left. We visited the Reunification Palace (built in 1966 to serve as South Vietnam's Presidential Palace), a few museums including the HCMC, War Remnants, History and Fine Arts ones (the War Remnants Museum, although perhaps giving a somewhat skewed perspective of the conflict certainly brings home to you how the people suffered and still are suffering), temples and the famous (in HCMC) Ben Thanh Market. It was a great place to be on New Year's eve - the city's roads and pavements came to a complete standstill by the evening with so many visitors in town, most waiting for the countdown to midnight when we were treated to a fabulous firework display from the top of the tallest building. We thought it would be fun to spend New Year's day at Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens and discovered the world and his wife had the same idea. Being tall here was actually an advantage for once and it enabled us to catch a glimpse or two of the animals over the hundreds of
New Year's Eve, HCMC
All the roads gridlocked by motorbikes heads crowding around each enclosure.
From HCMC we flew up north to Danang and grabbed a taxi onto HOI AN, with a population of just 122,000 this was a real change of pace. We loved the place at first sight and immediately extended our planned stay of 2 nights to 4. A totally delightful town with a very attractive riverside setting. We stayed at a great little new hotel, which had only been open for 10 days where the staff were so attentive and keen to please, within a few minutes walk away from the Old Town. We spent a couple of days visiting the many historic buildings in the Old Town, enjoyed a very relaxing boat trip on the Thu Bon River and hired bicycles one day with the intention of exploring the lovely surrounding countryside and rural lanes but ended up getting as far as An Bang Beach about 8kms away where we enjoyed several hours catching some rays on the lovely stretch of sandy beach that looks out onto a huge empty ocean. If you are a foodie Hoi An is a must do if you visit Vietnam as it is full of fantastic
restaurants - even on our meagre budget we managed to dine like minor royalty. Anyone wanting to recreate their experience at home can take one of the cooking classes on offer at most of the restaurants.
We continued heading north with a 4 hour coach journey to HUE, the intellectual, cultural and spiritual heart of Vietnam and which was the capital of the Nguyen emperors who ruled between 1802-1945 (population 388,000). We spent almost a day at The Citadel (built between 1804 & 1833) exploring what's left of this historic site which formed the epicentre of Vietnamese royal life. We also spent a day enjoying a boat trip on the Perfume River, stopping off to visit one of the 3 Royal Tombs spread out on its banks and a very attractive temple. We chose the Tomb of Emperor Tu Duc on reading that it was the most impressive. It was built between 1864 & 1867 and interestingly was designed by Tu Duc himself. We learnt that he lived a life of imperial luxury and carnal excess - he had 104 wives and numerous concubines though no offspring. The enormous expense and forced labour used in the tomb's
New Year's Day, Saigon Zoo
They really let the animals get up close said one giraffe to the other construction spawned a coup plot that was discovered and suppressed.
From Hue we wanted to continue north to HANOI however the prospect of a 14 hour bus journey did not appeal so we bussed it back to Danang where we stayed overnight and were able to visit the wonderful Museum of Cham which displays the finest collection of Cham sculpture in the world dating from the 5th to 15th centuries.
The following morning after a very comfortable 1 hour flight we arrived in HANOI (at roughly the same time as the bus would have made it). It was cold and wet the day we arrived (13 degrees) so our first job was to find jackets - quite a challenge when you're 6ft 2 in a land where the average height is about 5ft 4. After many hours of searching we came up trumps only to find the next day, and for the rest of our stay, the days were sunny and warm. The nights however were a little chilly so all our efforts were not wasted. We spent our short time here visiting Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum (he wanted a simple cremation but they
New Year's Day, Saigon Zoo
We think he may have escaped completely disregarded his wishes and in the tradition of Lenin, Stalin and Mao embalmed him and put him on display in a glass box, a little creepy but very interesting), the Imperial Citadel (this was the hub of Vietnamese military power for over 1,000 years), temples, St Joseph Cathedral with its beautiful stained-glass and several engrossing museums including Hao Lo Prison (nicknamed "Hanoi Hilton" by the American pilots incarcerated there during the Vietnam War - Pete Peterson, the first US Ambassador to a unified Vietnam in 1995 and Senator John McCain to name a couple), National Museum of Vietnam, Fine Arts Museum and the Vietnamese Women's Museum. We also enjoyed just walking around the Old Quarter and Hoam Kiem Lake soaking up the sights, sounds and smells. Hanoi's population of 6.7 million appear to live their lives on the streets; be it buzzing around on motorbikes or sitting at one of the many food stalls, coffee houses or bia hoi cafes that hug every corner where gossip and laughter can be heard. One evening we decided to try one of the bia hoi places (fresh beer, brewed daily and has to be drunk on the day of delivery) - we
New Year's Day, Saigon Zoo
Set in lovely Botanical Gardens were only going to try one but liked it so much we downed 6. Whilst there a local guy started chatting to us and being cynical travellers we were waiting for him to attempt a scam but to our surprise he said that in Vietnam when you make new friends you buy them drinks and insisted on paying our bill - we felt a little embarrassed until we discovered our 6 beers came to 30,000 dong (that's about 95p). Wish we had discovered it earlier....... and made more friends!
From Hanoi we travelled to CAT BA ISLAND by bus & boat where we stayed in lovely little hotel on the seafront for US$9 a night and enjoyed a much quieter and slower pace of life - the population here is just 14,500. We booked a couple of trips through our hotel travel desk. One was a day cruising around Lan Ha Bay and Halong Bay which was impossibly beautiful. Awesome scenery and so relaxing cruising around the hundreds of islets. The trip also included a stop at Monkey Island (yes an island with monkeys), kayaking and exploring one of the many caves plus the opportunity to swim
New Year's Day, Saigon Zoo
DIY baby seat for a motorbike - quite a commom site but one of the betters ones we saw! to a deserted beach (brrrrr too cold). The following day we enjoyed a 15km trekking trip in Cat Ba National Park - stunning scenery of a different kind - we crossed 6 tropical high mountains and valleys, visited Viet Hai village for lunch and had another stunning boat ride around the bay back to Cat Ba Town. After so much activity we decided to spend our last day on the island chilling. We checked out the 3 local beaches all within easy walking distance and decided to spend a few hours on Bai Cat Co 1 topping up our tans. It's winter time up in the north and the locals are dressed up like Eskimos and shivering in the cold (low 20's!) - they looked at us like we were mad walking around in our shorts & t shirts.
We travelled back to Hanoi today to spend the night before flying to Luang Prabang in Laos tomorrow. Another adventure awaits!
Lots of love to all
Trev & Verity xxx
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