Saturday 13th April
Following a wonderful first week in Vietnam with a great group of people, staying and visiting some special places, we set off on the next stage of our journey south.
We travelled by bus, with various stops along the way for photo opportunities, and for a good Bánh mì lunch in Da Nang, with its Golden Dragon Bridge, if you look at the photograph below you may spot the guy in the river searching for snails!
We then continued on to Hoi An arriving around 13:00 and transferred from the bus to local taxis which took us onto the island where our accommodation is situated. Riverside Impressions Villa, was a lovely looking place, situated beside the Thu Bon River, with well-equipped rooms, and a pool with a little bar, my room on the ground floor, with its balcony overlooking the river really was delightful.
Hoi An, an ancient port city, has preserved much of its 15th to 19th-century architecture and is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its well-preserved example of a Southeast Asian trading port.
Tuan took us all for a walk into town in the afternoon, to visit the many historical buildings in the old town, you certainly could see the Japanese and Chinese influences as we strolled through the narrow streets, it was interesting to visit the Chinese Medicine Museum, and the various temples. I especially liked Tan Phu Giao, a shop full of model ships from all eras. One of the main features of the Old Town is the absence of motorcycles and cars as they are banned at certain times of the day.
Another attraction of the town is the high-quality bespoke tailors and leather goods manufacturers that are in the old town, Erica, in our group, had been here previously and told us of the high quality of the items produced in such a short time, so many of the ladies in the group spent the afternoon in Yaly’s, a store, selecting materials to be turned into high fashion items and collected by them before we left.
I decided that I wanted to see more of the town, so I went for a wander taking in the sights, occasionally stopping off for a beer, which in Vietnam is very, very cheap. In the evening we all met as arranged at The Hoianian, one of the riverside restaurants for a lovely meal, before finishing off the night by strolling through the night market and then heading back to the hotel.
Sunday 14th April
One of the great experiences of this trip was the basketboat ride through Hoi An. Known locally as “Thúng chài”, these coracles are made from bamboo and palm leaves and coated with a mixture of resin and tar, which waterproofs the boat.
We drove to the Bay Mau coconut forest, in Cam Thanh village, in one of the extended golf buggies they allow in town, and had great fun, two to a boat. initially, the boatmen and boatwomen took delight in spinning us around, then getting us dancing in the boats to Gangnam Style, before taking us on a trip through the coconut palms, we had a fishing net throwing demonstration and Siobahn did us all proud by repeating it perfectly, we were then all given little fishing rods to let us catch crabs along the shoreline. Another brilliant experience in Vietnam.
The beach at An Bang was our next stop, reputed to be one of the world’s top 100 beaches, this 4km stretch of golden sand was just what we needed to relax following the busy days we have all had. All too soon it was time to leave and return to the hotel. I took a nice long shower before heading back into town to do some shopping.
In the evening, the six of us who had booked to go on a cookery course met Tuan who introduced us to Mr Hung Nguyen, the chef who was going to run our course, we then headed into the market where he described the various ingredients we would be using in the recipes on the course. Leaving the market, we walked to The Tropics Hoi An, his school, donned our hats and aprons and got started on the four courses we were to cook. It was great fun and the results were very good, whether I will be able to reproduce them at home is another matter, but I will give it a try. A slow stroll back to the hotel, with some of us spending even more in the night market on the way, finished off yet another full and brilliant day in Vietnam.
Monday 15th April
A long day driving today as we continued south towards Quy Nhon, stopping off on the way in Tam Thanh village, a quiet coastal fishing village, completely transformed by artists, who have worked their magic on the sides of around 100 homes.
The murals capture the life and soul of the village, from young children playing, to fishermen in the ocean, I liked the one showing a man at his sewing machine and when I spotted it, he was happy to replicate the image in real life.
Our next stop on the road was at the historical relics in the Tuy Phuoc district, we visited the Cham towers and their associated ruins, I enjoyed seeing the Phu Loc tower, which is built on a hilltop with a height of 76 meters, it reminded me of similar architecture I saw n Angkor Wat in Cambodia.
We finished the day’s journey at the Seagull Hotel in Quy Nhon, a large seaside hotel, my room was very nice and spacious with an excellent sea view, however, perhaps it was because it was out of season things were a bit lacking. We all decided to dine in the hotel and discovered that the service was dire, some had finished their meals while others were still waiting for theirs. To finish off the evening, a group of us went to the nearby 69 Pub for some beers before retiring for the night.
Tuesday 16th April
After breakfast, I decided to forego a visit to a Kung Fu school to just relax in the sun and recharge my batteries in preparation for tonight’s overnight train journey, which Tuan told us of some difficulties due to a landslide in one of the tunnels on the line. Exciting times ahead.
I had a very relaxing afternoon by the pool after lunch, with occasional dips to cool off. A little shopping for snacks for the train journey, before using one of the shared hotel day rooms to freshen up, and then it was off to the station to catch the S1 Reunification Train to Ho Chi Minh City.
Vietnamese trains like their British counterparts can be unreliable, which meant that we left about an hour late, at around 7:30 we then travelled for around 1 hour, only to stop in a siding for 45 minutes to allow a northbound train to go past, once on the move again, at around 11:30, we were stopped and got off the train to be taken by bus due to the tunnel landslip. The bus we boarded was an interesting one, it had 3 rows of double-height bed-styled reclining seats, which being built for Vietnamese people, were just a bit too short for me. At 01:30 we got back on a train to complete the rest of our journey.
Wednesday 17th April
Our journey was not as grim as expected, I don’t know if it was a relief to finally get underway to our destination or not, but we all settled into our respective cabins and settled down to sleep almost right away. The train itself was much like the other one, the toilets still a bit iffy and the food service non-existent, however, we did decide to miss out on the complimentary breakfast of a bowl of congee, runny rice soup as Christine politely described it.
We checked into our rooms in the Central Park Saigon Hotel and took the chance to shower and refresh ourselves after the journey before heading out to Pho 2000 for lunch, this restaurant was made famous following Bill Clinton’s visit to the city, and the Beef Pho he ate when he was there, was very good. After lunch, we paid a short visit to the nearby Ben Thanh market before paying a visit to the huge GPO building, where we also saw the Pittman apartment building where the last helicopter to leave in the escape from Saigon took place, the War Remnants Museum was our final stop before returning to the hotel for a short siesta.
In the evening I went with some of the group on another street food tour, our guide Chao, took us on an interesting walking tour of a small part of this huge city, enthusiasticly describing the food we were served. We sampled another beef Pho from a little kitchen in an alleyway, which was very good indeed, following this we bought some roast duck from a street stall, which we took to a nearby coffee house to eat. Our next stop was at a small place where we built, under Chao’s guidance, our own spring rolls, before moving on to yet another place for tasty dessert.
Ho Chi Minh’s version of Beer Street was our next stop to sample a local beer, this street, like the other similar ones, was full of bars pumping out loud music, all serving the same drinks. We decided to return to the quiet of the hotel for a nightcap,, but on discovering a Belgian Beer Bar nearby, we stopped there instead for one before retiring after another full and interesting day.
Thursday 18th April
The Mekong Delta was our destination today, so it was yet another early start for us, after breakfast, we boarded the bus leaving Ho Chi Minh City behind and headed south. After arriving in Viet Han, we boarded a river boat to take us to Unicorn Island with our local guide Phung, a delightful lady with a great sense of humour. Once on the island, we were taken, by Tuk-Tuk, to a small village where the locals laid on fresh tropical fruits, they also provided us with some traditional music and songs which was very entertaining.
Back on the boat, we returned to the mainland to take a canoe trip through the coconut groves to another village, where we visited a honey bee farm, a coconut candy factory, where Tuan delighted in showing us a jar of rice wine with a Cobra marinating in it. our next stop was a chocolatier and a coffee roaster, all of which were very interesting, before stopping for a wonderful 7-course lunch, starting with a spectacular Elephant Ear fish dish, and coconut flour pancakes amongst others.
An hour in a hammock afterwards rejuvenated me ready for the trip to our homestay for the night, this spot on the banks of the river was quite idyllic.
We weren’t in a long room this time, all separated by marital status and sex, meaning that Howard and I shared a long room of our own.
This homestay was a little different from our previous one by being on the riverside and had slightly better facilities, however, they were both quite rustic. We all spent what was left of the afternoon lazing on a patio by the river playing UNO before walking around the area.
Dinner, served by the family, was of a very high standard indeed and was followed by our host offering us a shot of the local rice wine which was very potent, he then told us, in very good English, of his life as a young Vietnamese man fleeing Vietnam and of his subsequent return and rebuilding his life and how he eventually build the homestay we were staying in. This was another very full and interesting day.
Friday 19th April
Awakened by the sound of the river traffic at around 6:00am, I had an early morning shower, a strong coffee and a chance to repack before breakfast. The hosts at the homestay made us welcome during our stay and the location on the river was ideal, I especially liked the big coconut wood recliner on the patio, in which I spent some time.
Time to leave, we boarded the bus to return to Ho Chi Minh City. All of us in the group wished to visit the Cu Chi Tunnel complex, so negotiations were carried out with Tuan and our driver to make an unscheduled stop, this was certainly worthwhile. The complex of 3 layers of tunnels in the jungle, with everything the Viet Cong needed to evade the American GIs, was on display, unfortunately, I was too big to fit into many of the tunnel entrances. The way the various rooms were laid out was very ingenious with a ventilation system hidden in fake termite hills. The hidden traps we were shown were so particularly lethal looking it was no surprise that the GIs hated being in the jungle.
Eventually, we returned to the Central Park Hotel Saigon and I checked into my previous room, then went for a walk to Starbucks to buy a mug for Dan before meeting Howard for a beer before dinner.
Later in the evening, Tuan took us all to Da Long, a nice traditional restaurant for our farewell dinner which was very good indeed. As the night was young, we all went to the Ben Nghe Street Food Market for some farewell drinks. Most of the group was returning home, however, some had a few more days in Saigon and Howard, Chris and Hilary were joining another group and continuing on to Cambodia to finish their holiday. I was sad to say our goodbyes to those leaving us.
Saturday 20th April
Case packed, backpack filled I went for breakfast, then Howard and I walked to the Reunification Palace to visit a most impressive building that played a huge part in Vietnam’s history. Howard said his goodbyes there and I then revisited the market for some last-minute shopping before stopping for lunch in the Ben Nghe Street Food Market.
Back at the hotel, I met Abby and both of us walked to the Bitexco Financial Tower, taking the elevator to the 49th floor, to visit the Skydeck there, this provided some great panoramic views of the city, it really lets you see the scale of the place.
On our return to the hotel, I took advantage of Erica & Cristine’s offer to use their room to freshen up and get changed for my flight home.
As Siobahn and I were on the same flight to Dubai, we sat and chatted over a couple of beers while we waited for our transfer. Once through the long queues at check-in, passport control and security, there was nothing to do but sit and wait until called.
The flight went as smoothly as expected, as ever, I couldn’t get to sleep and couldn’t settle to watch a movie, so my book came in handy again. I had a 4-hour stop over in Dubai, but it went quickly, I had a little nap, chatted with Siobahn and read my book. My flight boarded and left on time and was fairly comfortable and we arrived in Glasgow on schedule.
Overall, I had a great trip, it was good to spend time with Graeme and Briony in their new home, catch up with Betty and her family in Perth, and then topped it all off with an interesting tour of Vietnam with a great bunch of people.
Jim's travels 