Marisol J

Marisol71

Marisol J




Asia » Vietnam » Red River Delta » Hanoi January 14th 2017

We went for breakfast downstairs as it's included in our room rate. It was quite good, not quite the standard that we've had at the last 2 places but they were big hotels and resorts and this is a little boutique hotel. One of the advantages of having crohn's disease is that if something is going to make me sick, it will do so in the first 10-20 minutes and sure enough, something I had at breakfast made me sick. It was probably the coffee but I'm not sure, it doesn't really matter, all that matters is that I then spent some time making friends with the toilet. When I thought I was ok we went for a walk but a few minutes in I decided to go back and get my imodium just in case. ... read more
IMG_2846

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » District 1 January 13th 2017

We had a bit of a sleep in this morning till about 7:30/8 and then went downstairs for the super huge buffet breakfast, which was an amazing assortment of anything you might possibly want for breakfast. We then caught the hotel bus (which comes every hour or so) into the main part of the city near the opera house. As the bus was packed, we had to sit in the front seat next to the driver, that was not great as I got a close up view of the mayhem. We saw a couple of accidents on the way but only minor bingles. I honestly don’t know how they don’t have more accidents, nothing I can say can possibly describe the craziness of their roads. Brad and I have become quite confident at crossing the roads, ... read more
IMG_2792

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » Cu Chi January 12th 2017

We got up early and went down to breakfast as we were being picked up at 7.15 for our trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels. We went to breakfast early so that we would get time to eat before we got picked up. the breakfast at this hotel was amazing and once again catered for everyone. After breakfast we waited in the lobby till our tour operator arrived. We ended up in a group with an Aussie family from Adelaide with Mum, Dad, 2 boys aged 18 & 16 and a daughter aged 14. We were all taken by bus (via some pick ups at other hotels along the way) which took about an hour, to a place where we all got on a speed boat, where we were joined by another Aussie family with 2 ... read more

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » District 1 January 11th 2017

We took our time getting up this morning, went and enjoyed our last break here and then watched tv till it was time to leave. On our way to the airport Brad decided to enquire why all the trees on the side of the road were painted white on the bottom but it just so happened that there was a sign on one of the trees advertising land for sale so, due to the language barrier, our driver thought that Brad was asking about the land so within a minute he was passing Brad his phone and the land sales person was on the phone trying to sell us land. One of the things we have learnt is that the second that you mention you are interested in anything they will have a cousin or a ... read more
IMG_2757

Asia » Vietnam » South Central Coast » Quảng Nam » Hoi An January 10th 2017

Today we were supposed to go on a tour to a fishing village on bicycles with a man named Mr Trung but unfortunately when we woke up it was absolutely pouring rain (of the heavy torrential variety) so we cancelled it. We lost our deposit but we were both kind of relieved to have a quiet day. We spent the morning just hanging out in the hotel and not doing a whole lot; Brad watch tv and I updated the blog. Last night Brad had arranged with Mark (our kiwi friend) that they would hire a motor bike and go for a ride together at 2pm, Mark had already done it before and was keen and neither myself or Lyn were up for it. When 2pm came round, the weather had cleared up so Brad went ... read more

Asia » Vietnam » South Central Coast » Quảng Nam » Hoi An January 9th 2017

This morning we thought we got up early but realised that Brad's watch was wrong, luckily we still had enough time for breakfast before our cooking class. I was feeling a bit crook in the stomach so cooking wasn't really what i felt like doing this morning but it was already booked in. We went downstairs to the lobby at 10.15 and the chef introduced himself, his name was Bau. Eventually the other couple who were joining us turned up. They were Aussies as well (Cal and Lauren from Victoria) We got on really well with them straight away. Then Bau took us to the markets, these were not far from the hotel but in an area none of us knew was there, these are the markets that the locals go to. It was definitely a ... read more

Asia » Vietnam » South Central Coast » Da Nang January 8th 2017

Well after my cocktails last night, I woke feeling a bit queasy but we had already booked our trip out to Marble Mountain to be picked up this morning so I had to suck it up and get on with it, after all, it was self inflicted. We went for breakfast and I avoided the coffee as I didn't want to have a crown's episode on the way to the mountain. Our driver, Baa again, drove us to the mountains which was about a 20 minute trip. Along the way we saw lots of police and I'm not sure what was happening but they were suddenly everywhere. Baa said they were pulling cars over and searching but due to the language barrier we are not sure what for or why and they didn't stop us which ... read more

Asia » Vietnam » South Central Coast » Quảng Nam » Hoi An January 7th 2017

We woke up and it was still pitch black, our body clocks are obviously not yet aligned to the Vietnam timezone. It was a good opportunity to just chill until breakfast opened at 6.30am. Brad then headed off the gym and I spent some time setting up this blog so that we have something to look back on and also so that the kids can keep track of what we're up to. We then headed off to the spa for our daily massages (they are included in our package). We were greeted with a welcome tea of some sort which was lovely then were taken to seprate rooms for our massages. It was similar to a hot stone but using these little bags containing stones and was amazing. We both requested hard massages and when I ... read more

Asia » Vietnam » South Central Coast » Quảng Nam » Hoi An January 6th 2017

After an early morning flight out of Singapore, we arrived in Da Nang, Vietnam for the start of our Vietnamese adventures. The flight over gave me some great tips via some Asian travel shows that I had watched on the plane but no matter how prepared we thought we were for the craziness of bikes on the roads, nothing could really prepare us for how insane it really is. We found our driver, Baa standing there with a sign with our name on it at the airport. He greeted us with an air-conditioned car and a bottle of cold water each. As we drove through Da Nang and started our journey to Hoi An (which is about 40 minutes away), I had to just take quiet deep breaths every time we had a near miss with ... read more




Tot: 0.083s; Tpl: 0.005s; cc: 11; qc: 79; dbt: 0.0522s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.2mb