Our two days at the beach were planned as relaxation time as we knew the other days in cities would be hectic. Woke to a view of the sea through the bedroom window and the sun was streaming in. We had a leisurely breakfast and then took a stroll along the rather superb, wide promenade which runs right along the seafront through the town. Not many people out on the street at this time as really, as we discovered, it was a little bit too hot for walking in the open, full sun. Back to the hotel to change into swim wear and we went down to the beach to find a sunbed. Our hotel has a designated little stretch of “private” beach which basically means the sunbeds in that area are free to Novotel guests. ... read more

What a lovely day for a boat trip. Glorious blue sky all day and winter is definitely over now in this part of Vietnam. We can almost see the leaves coming out on the trees as we watch. They will look fantastic in a month’s time when all the blossom is out. After breakfast we took a taxi back down to the Dragon Boat station and found our boat, number 0367. We wholeheartedly recommend this boat and the family which owns and run it. We have promised the daughter (named Jolly Tran we think) that we would tell people to book this boat and we are doing so. Our friendly boat owner’s daughter came running up as we found the boat, she had waited to go to school until we were safely arrived. Her dad got ... read more

Left Hanoi, which we had enjoyed so much and took the hotel taxi to the airport. Flight book-in with Vietnam Airlines was a vast improvement on our previous one and we were checked in, baggage dropped within 15 minutes. Had not been quite careful enough with my packing and my nail scissors, as they often do, had found their way from my suitcase sponge bag back into my handbag. Confiscated. Oddly, they failed to find the liquid ice-packs which Bob had accidentally left in his carry on bag and I’m sure they were far more of a potential security risk than our bottle of water which we also had to leave behind ! Flight to Hue was only an hour and it took off exactly on time. At Hue it was strange not to have to ... read more

Woken at 7am by a loud speaker just outside our room. It seems that the Vietnamese government likes to give a daily lecture to its people and there is no way to avoid it. Speakers on every corner of the city. Once we had breakfasted, as we had had a good walk round old Hanoi yesterday we decided to explore further afield. First of all to the Hoam Kien Lake in the centre of the city just below the Old Quarter, and then down the West side, a pleasant stroll under some amazing old trees which line the bank. After a coffee we headed for the Cathedral, Notre Dame a copy of that in Paris, as this is in the French Quarter of the city, Vietnam having been colonised by the French as part of Indochine ... read more

19th Feb to 22nd Feb Leaving wet, wet England behind for a few weeks to enjoy some Far Eastern adventures. A goodly part of Southern England has been pretty well under water since Christmas but at least the floods seem to have started to recede and the rain has at last eased. January has been the wettest month ever. Fortunately, unlike last year, it hasn’t been really cold this winter and in most cases it has been positively mild. Just before we left home the garden decided Spring was starting and as well as all the snowdrops, many crocus were also out and the daffodils were certainly thinking about it. Expect we will have full Springtime when we get home in 3 weeks as long, that is, as the weather doesn’t decide we need a cold ... read more