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Published: March 23rd 2007
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Hi all,
So I've decide to tell all about Vietnam in one blog entry. I can't be bothered to write each entry individually. So here it is:
On arrival In Saigon we went straight to our hotel which was right on the Mekong river. It had 26 floors, with the swimming pool on the roof. Tamara and I went to check out the view from the roof top which was trully amazing. The view stretched all along the river and the entire city. Soon after we went to bed as we were quite tired.
We did not do a whole lot in Saigon as we only had a day there. There was however a rather scary moment where I lost my bankcard! Thankfully I had forgotten it in the ATM and I was able to retrieve it while Etta and Tamara went to the War museum which I had already been to, and as those of you who have been will know, it is not somewhere you want to go twice. The atrocities stay in you mind forever.
After that panic attack of losing my bankcard was over and I began breathing again we went to see
the reunification palace which was not the most exciting place ive ever been. This building is important to Vietnamese history as it is where in 1975, when it was still the Presidential palace, Communist tanks smashed through the gates. It was later destroyed and rebuilt and renamed Reunification Palace. We took the tour in which you see the tired looking conference rooms, Presidential Receiving Room and many others. Although the history of the building was quite fascinating the tour was not....
That night we flew to Hoi An which is this adorable little town. It is extremely quaint set on a river with a very vibrant market place. We spent our one day there exploring the market and walking through the streets.
The following day we went to Hue. I had already been so had seen the few sights worth seeing including the citadel and doing the boat trip down the perfume river. It was nice to got back and refresh my memory. We stayed in a very beautiful hotel there where the rooms were enormous, set around beautiful gardens and a lovely pool.
Our next stop was Hanoi... This is one of my favorite places in
the whole region. We stayed the most amazing hotel called the Sofitel Metropole. I loved this hotel... In Hanoi Etta got us tickets to got to the opera house which we didn't get to see on the trip with my parents. This was a really lovely experience. The Opera house is modeled on the paris opera house and is quite a sight to see. We saw a performance which was in honour of the 50 year aniversary of the EU. It was very ecclectic featuring some of the best compositions and repertoire of opera arias from Europe, performed by two well-known opera singers from the United Kingdom , Bradley Daley and Kylie Pointer, as well as Austro-Romanian solo cellist Yvonne Timoianu. It was a really lovely way to spend the evening
The following day we packed our bags once again. This time we were heading to Halong bay for a 3 day 2 night cruise on a Vietnamese Junk Boat. I had already been to halong bay on our last trip but we only spent a day and so was very much looking forward to this. Before heading off however Tamara and Etta, on my recomendation, wanted to go
see Ho chi Minh himself who is embaumed and on display in his mosoleum. On arrival there we realised that we had not emptied the safe at the hotel. We had already checked out and were meeting the car which was to take us to the boat at the mosoleum... After much stress I ran to get the things and made it back and after a while searching found Tamara, Etta and the bus load of people who I imagine were not pleased that we made them wait.
As many of you know I am no hapier than when I.m om a boat so this was the perfect place to get a little much needed R and R. The scenery in Halong bay is like no other place I've been. The bay consists 1,969 limestone monolithic islands, each topped with thick jungle vegetation, which rise spectacularly from the ocean and are surronded by crystal clear turquoise water. It is very beautiful. After relaxing on the boat and getting a good night sleep we went (reluctantly) for a Kayak. It was actually really great to explore the bay in this manner as you get to go places that the larger
boats can't. We went into a beautiful lagoon and explored a floating fishing vilage.
On board we met some very nice people, On our last night the crew invited us to their monthly crew party . It was quite the honour as they did not invite all the guests on board. They drank and ate alot and we attempted tyo keep up with little success as we had already had our dinner.
On return to Halong bay Tamara and I took Etta out to the Chocolate Buffet at the Sofitel Metropole. What a feast! They had every imaginable form of chocolate including my favorite Chocolate fondant! We stuffed our faces! It was so good to be eating good choclate.
That night we watched nip Tuck and headed off to bed.
The following mornig we got up early to catch a flight to Bangkok where we said our goodbyes to Etta and caught a flight to Phuket where I am at the moment.
Will write soon about Phuket...
Miss you all.... Take care and all the best
JC
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mummy moquette
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hello from larnaka
Great entry on Vietnam. The more you write the more evocative are your descriptions. Cant wait to hear about Thailand. Will talk very soon. Keep well, healthy happy and gecome wiser and wiser. Love you more, Hug Tamara for m, Mummy