Day 11 - Saturday 17 May 2014

Leaving Vietnam

Back to unbearably hot weather this morning - although we were rather nostalgic as we ate our last breakfast, sweating profusely.

Today will consist of a 45 minute shuttle bus ride to Da Nang, a flight to Ho Chi Minh City, a flight to Singapore and a final flight to Melbourne.

We arrive at 9.30 a.m. Sunday 18 May - and I expect we'll be exhausted.

Day 10 - Friday 16 May 2014

Hoi An - Last Day

Today was, dare I say it, not quite as hot as previous days. In fact, by early afternoon, you could almost call the weather simply hot - not unbearably hot.

Liz and I spent most of the day by the pool and in the pool and had a lovely long conversation with some Australians who were in Hoi An for a few days as part of a tour group.

Pete and Jim went off for some photographic work in the town - Pete very nobly assisting with lugging equipment around and spying out good photo opportunities. They came back early afternoon, sweaty and overheated, and couldn't find us - as we were lounging about in the water down behind the pool bar. A couple of hours later, they were astonished to find we had been in the pool all along.

Jim very bravely went off to have a massage at the Vinh Hung Spa & Beauty Centre during the afternoon - and came back glowing and glistening with oil. He said he felt a million dollars after having an all-body massage - which included ears and eyebrows - and insisted we go along and have one too.

Liz and I ventured into the Spa Centre and were greeted by Vincent, a small Vietnamese man in shorts with a pencil thin moustache. Vincent, plus the soft red lighting and red carpets, gave the place a suspiciously brothel-like appearance - and if it hadn't been for Jim's recommendation, we would have been out the door quick smart.

We were led upstairs into a softly lit room and were given a full Swedish massage by two tiny Vietnamese girls. I've no idea what they think of us Westerners. We must seem like great lumpy whales to them.To their credit, they got in there with great enthusiasm and lashings of oil and we came out feeling relaxed and probably a little taller - considering the stretching which went on.

By this time, evening was approaching and the weather was positively balmy. The best weather we've had so far - just the day before we leave.

We had a celebratory cocktail by the river and then sauntered into the town to eat dinner at "Good Morning Vietnam" - Hoi An's best Italian restaurant - recommended to us the night before by Italian architect, Marco.

Marco said we should tell the owner, Luca, that Marco sent us - so we did - and were served the most wonderful Italian food - a lovely antipasto platter, focaccia, gnocchi, lasagne, ravioli, tiramisu. We rolled out of there with stomachs bursting but very satisfied.

On coming back to the resort at 10 pm, we went for a final swim in the small pool outside our room and floated in the water, gazing up at the coconuts in the trees and the clear sky. 

A fitting way to finish off our last day in Hoi An. Bliss!

Day 9 - Thursday 15 May 2014

Hoi An - Morning Glory

Seems unnecessary to say it was another hot day - but it was.

Morning involved another visit to the tailors to pick up the underwear and for our travelling companion to try on a dress. Jim idly started a conversation about silk shirts and next thing it turns out he is getting three silk shirts made. We'd better be careful how many times we come back to this place!

From there, we took a taxi to Hoi An Beach and strolled around. We came across a pavilion on the beach where we stopped and had lunch, looking at this magnificent view: -

I had a coconut juice, served in a green coconut which had just been hacked open with a meat cleaver: -

Can't say the taste was very exciting - rather watery - and the coconut weighed a ton. But was worth it for the bragging value.

We spent the afternoon at the resort - but Jim headed back to The Three Dragons Bar to watch Collingwood get beaten by Adelaide. What a waste of time that was!

We went back to the tailor to pick up our clothes - but they weren't quite ready because of a power blackout in the afternoon. Otherwise Jim's shirts would have been completely done! As it was, they were ready except for the buttons and some other final touches. We asked for everything to be delivered to the resort tomorrow morning and bid a fond farewell to all the staff there - promising to find an Australian-Vietnamese husband for our special favourite, Dung (pronounced "young"). Dung had been at the shop since 9 a.m. and would work until 10 p.m. - a 13 hour day - with a short break for lunch and dinner. She works 7 days a week with one day off a month. She begged us to put a 5 star review on Trip Advisor, mentioning her name, because then the boss would give her an extra day off that month. One day for each 5 star review - so we put two reviews on and hoped she would think of us kindly.

We had dinner at the most famous restaurant in Hoi An - "Morning Glory". Morning Glory is a vegetable very commonly cooked all over Vietnam - so we ordered a Morning Glory salad - only to be told "Morning Glory is all finished, Monsieur".  ????? What kind of namesake is it then? (I did a bit of googling and found it is a green leafy vegetable - a bit like spinach.)

Morning Glory is a wonderful restaurant - great service, great food and a good atmosphere. Only tourists in there though. No locals at all.

As we were wating outside for our table to be prepared, I saw a blind man with one leg blown off sitting in the street selling fans. I bought one from him - because he seemed so sad and pathetic. Vietnam is truly a land of uncomfortable contrasts at times.

Day 8 - Wednesday 14 May 2014

Hoi An - Unexpected Finds

It was another unbearably hot day today so we took a taxi to Tuong Custom Tailors to try on our clothes.
My two dresses are lovely and Jim was extremely happy with his shirts. While waiting for our travelling companion to try on her new clothes, Jim idly discussed underwear and next thing was having five pairs of silk boxer shorts made. They will be beautiful! Almost a pity to hide them under clothes.

After the tailor, we staggered out into the blazing sunshine and through to the Central Market. It looks much more pleasant in the daytime and was a photographer's paradise. Lots of little old ladies in conical hats doing typically Vietnamese things - chopping coconuts, selling small sweet Vietnamese bananas, grinding sugar cane and walking around with baskets slung on each end of a long pole.



Just when we could bear the heat no longer, we stumbled across a bar called "The Three Dragons" - the words "air-conditioning" and "beer" calling to us like sirens.

Inside we discovered a lovely Australian man called Simon who owns the bar, along with his Vietnamese wife.
We had cool drinks, lovely Vietnamese food and learned lots of interesting and useful things about Hoi An. A very pleasant afternoon indeed.

We came back to the resort and, after a nap or two, sat by the pool eating a complimentary fruit platter supplied by the staff.

We decided to stroll into Oldtown in the evening for some dessert and ended up at a lovely French patisserie called Cargo. Good coffee and lovely pastries.

Just as we were ready to call it a night, we passed a shop called the "Gemstone & Art Museum" and were lured in by an enormous aquarium. It was exactly what the name suggests - a museum of gem stones - but it also contains an exotic jewellery store. 

The owner is a lovely cultured woman called Nga, married to an Italian man. She designs the jewellery, her husband, Marco, is the architect who designed the building and her father owns all the gemstones.
Jim bought me some gorgeous Cleopatra-style ruby earrings from the jewellery store as a 25th wedding anniversary present: -

In celebration of the purchase, Nga offered us all an aperitif in their garden cafe - an amazing place!
Marco himself sauntered in and sat down for a good half hour chat. We talked about how he and Nga met, how they had built the museum and what their plans were for the future.

A lot of European expats strolled in during the chat - so its obviously a place for Europeans to congregate.
A fascinating and unexpected evening! Came home about 11.30 p.m.

Day 7 - Tuesday 13 May 2014

Hoi An - Wedding Anniversary

Today is our 25th wedding anniversary and, to celebrate, this masterpiece was prepared for us: - 

Jim caught the two girls in the act of preparing the message and they were writing "Happy Holymoon".
They didn't speak a word of English, so he wrote down the word "Anniversary" and they painstakingly copied it in petals.

Today was such a hot humid day, we didn't venture out anywhere during the morning and had a light lunch by the pool.

A storm came up during the early afternoon and within a short time, we were inundated with torrential rain for an hour or so. The air cleared only a little and it was hot and sticky when the storm eventually passed, but at least it was better than during the day.

For a special anniversary dinner, we decided to visit Brother's Cafe - a slightly posh-ish restaurant on the other side of town. As the weather had improved, we decided to walk - and allowed ourselves half an hour to do so.

We set off well enough but after trudging along for a while, came to the Central Market. It looked a bit dark and fearsome, but we strode through with confidence and purpose. The Central Market is the main food market of Hoi An and was full of the most confronting smells I have ever come across. We passed unidentifiable things in street corners and strange puddles which we had to jump over. I began to wonder what kind of place we were going to and would possibly have turned back - if the restaurant hadn't been my idea.

Just when we reached our tolerance limits, we came to the far side of the market into wider and more well-lit streets. Everything still seemed dingy and disreputable - but at least it smelled better.

In a few minutes, we arrived at Brother's Cafe and walked in to a veritable oasis. The tables were in a garden setting by the river and it felt like we were in the grounds of an Italian monastery or something similar - complete with bridge.

 
We had a lovely meal, served by a most efficient and ruthless waitress, and looked out at a boat of Buddhist monks setting thousands of lighted candles onto the water - which was quite beautiful.

On our way back home, we skirted around the market - and arrived back at the resort without further incident.

Day 6 - Monday 12 May 2014

Hoi An - Beach Visit

Another scorcher of a day - maybe only 37oC but so humid!

Spent some time by the pool and then came back to the room to find this on the bed: - 

A dog made entirely of hand towels! What a work of art! We just carefully moved it aside. It was too beautiful to destroy!

Yesterday was the more simple version made out of flower petals: -

I think it's supposed to spell LOVE Vietnamese-style.

This afternoon we caught a taxi to one of the beach hotels - about 5 km away - the Sunrise Resort - to have lunch. It's a very posh resort but rather soulless compared to ours. 

Here all the staff know us - and it's a bit quirky and a bit old. The staff wear traditional Vietnamese dresses and trousers and obviously really want us to enjoy ourselves.

But I must admit, the Sunrise had a magnificent pool: -

Not being guests, we couldn't swim there - but Jim took lots of photos of us all lounging about.

And we were interested to see that somone looking suspiciously like Kim Jong-Un was having a dip with what looked like a couple of bodyguards and a few bathing beauties. (Highly unlikely, but fascinating all the same.)

While at the resort, there was a sudden squall of wind and the sky clouded over - and the temperature dropped about 10 degrees in an instant - down to a lovely 29oC. The staff went into alert mode at once and lounge chairs were packed away, umbrellas tied down and counters cleared - all within a few minutes.

We watched with great interest from our seats in the cafe but this is obviously a regular occurrence as there was no panic and service continued as usual. 

The wind soon died down but the temperature stayed balmy - much to our relief.

On our return to our riverside resort, we went on a free evening cruise of the river. Apart from the dead dog floating near the wharf, it was a fascinating experience.  The cruise took us up to Oldtown and we could see preparations were being made for some special celebration that evening. It turned out it is Buddha's Birthday tomorrow and tonight there were to be parades with dancing dragons and lots of noise and activity.

We headed into Oldtown in the evening and it was absolutely packed with revellers. People by the roadside were burning paper money for good luck and all the street lights were turned off for the occasion. It made walking very "interesting".

We passed a Buddhist temple with extremely loud chanting and electronic music and thousands of people spilling out of the doors. It was almost a relief to make it past and on to the modern section of town which houses the hundreds of tailors and shoemakers in the city.

We headed for one particular tailor, recommended to us by the hotel, and spent a pleasant hour being measured, looking at fabrics and designs and haggling about price. Jim was the master haggler and they loved him. The three young girls in the shop kept coming over to me, shaking their heads, sighing and saying "Your husband is very difficult man, Miss Milly. Very difficult man."

But eventually, terms and conditions were agreed and they broke out a bunch of Vietnamese bananas to celebrate. (As you do.) We are to go back on Wednesday to collect the clothes or have them altered, if need be.

Day 5 - Sunday 11 May 2014

Hoi An - Vinh Hung Riverside Resort

Didn't have much chance to look around the resort last night but woke up to find a lovely place with lush gardens, a couple of swimming pools, cabin-style accommodation, garden staff wandering around in conical hats and friendly little geckos crawling up the walls.



The resort faces a river - who's name I'm not sure of - but the one constant is the noise of the putt-putting of  river boat engines. Mufflers are an unknown concept in the river boat world of Vietnam.  

Today was unbelievably hot - almost 40oC - and the humidity was energy-sapping. Even the staff were wilting in the heat - and they usually look cool, calm and collected all the time. "Very hot, madam. Very hot."

Jim made friends instantly by photographing everything and everyone. I was told by one of the bar staff - "Your husband, Jim. Very nice man. Take many photos." The pool boy asked him to post his photo on Facebook so he could show all his friends. Lots of photo opportunities in a tropical garden!

Spent quite a bit of time by the pool in the shade - but even that was exhausting after a while. Thank God for the cabins with good airconditioning.

Didn't feel like eating lunch - but at 4 p.m. everyday a number of locals come in to the grounds and set up stalls cooking and serving food for free. They call it Happy Hour - but without the drinks.
It was quite interesting - although some of the food was strangely bland. I wonder if they tone it down for Westerners?



We were serenaded during Happy Hour by a Vietnamese Elvis - who played a mixture of classical and popular songs on the guitar. Certainly very interesting.

In the slightly cooler conditions of the evening (only 30oC), we ventured out of the resort and into Hoi An Oldtown.
In the resort, it's easy to feel very isolated and the streets directly outside were half empty. We thought this must be a very quiet sleepy place.

Then, turning a corner, we found a veritable street party going on - and apparently it happens every night! Street stalls selling anything and everything, children trying to get you to buy candles in little paper boats to send down the river for good luck, enormous lotus-shaped lanterns in the middle of the river, an illuminated bridge and people, people and more people.



We had dinner in a little restaurant up a terrifically steep flight of stairs. We avoided drinking alcohol so as to prevent mishap on the way back down.

Am looking forward to seeing Oldtown by daylight.

Day 4 - Saturday 10 May 2014

Leaving Ho Chi Minh City

Woke up this morning to find a classical concert taking place on the steps of the Opera House, directly opposite our hotel. Apparently it's a regular occurrence every Saturday and Sunday morning.

Passing motorcyclists seeing what was going on would decide on the spur of the moment to stop in the middle of the street to watch - until the crowd swelled out blocking half the busy intersection.
The rest of the traffic just detoured around them with no irritation or anger.



Here is a view from the other side of the street with our hotel in the background: -


When the concert was over, the crowd just melted away and life continued on as normal.

Half the motorcyclists wear surgical masks or specially made masks which cover the lower half of their face.
The more pollution conscious ones wear full hoods with slits for the eyes. Not sure what this does to their peripheral vision - but can be an alarming sight when they're heading towards you en masse.

 















After a day of wandering around and a bit more shopping, we met up with our traveling companions and headed off to the airport to catch a flight to Da Nang - on the coast of Vietnam. From there, it is a half hour drive down to Hoi An - a popular historical town near the beach and the river.

As it was a domestic flight, we went to the domestic terminal - and it felt like the kind of place you might see an old lady with two chickens in hand ready to board the plane. (We didn't see any such thing but it felt like we might have.)

We arrived at our resort in Hoi An around 9.30 p.m. starving to death. (The flight stewards on Vietnam Airlines don't have to work very hard for their money. All they do is throw a bottle of water at you and then you never see them again.)

The hotel restaurant was still open so we sat outside, next to the river, under swaying palm trees, drank pina coladas and ate our dinner in solitary splendour. All the other guests must have either gone to bed or were wining and dining in Old Town across the river.

Day 3 - Friday 9 March 2014

Sightseeing

One of the main tourist attractions here in Ho Chi Minh City is watching the traffic. It's an endless source of interest.

The best places are intersections where one horde of motorbikes intersects with another horde. There are rarely any traffic lights and the motorbikes just weave in and out. They must be amazingly alert because they have to contend with cars, bicycles and pedestrians. 

Cars also have a habit of turning left from the right lane - right in front of the motorcycles - much to our horror - but no one on the road seems to bat an eyelid.

The pedestrians are amusing too. The locals just stride out into the chaos, while the tourists hesitate, go forward, then back and generally cause chaos. The trick seems to be to act confidently and don't slow down or speed up - so everyone knows exactly what you are doing. We're gradually learning the ropes and soon will be plunging on with the best of the locals.

Last night we visited a night market. We were there at 9 p.m. so I'm not sure what time the stalls close up.
The place was packed with people, including lots of small children.

The canniest street vendors were the ones with a small child in one arm and a basket of something to sell in the other. These tiny Vietnamese women have very strong biceps!

It was very hot and humid and noisy and you could never relax - as motorcycles continually roared up and down the centre aisles of the market. In spite of the distractions, we bought a few things (t-shirts) and a fan - which only served to blow hot air around.

Today we went back to Saigon Square market for some other purchases and then visited the War Remnants Museum - a rather disturbing place with photos of victims of napalm bombing and children with birth defects from Agent Orange dumping. A man with both arms blown off by a landmine practically forced us to buy a book about Vietnam. It was hard to say no!

We visited the General Post Office - a beautiful old French colonial building - and more interesting than it sounds - and walked around the city until we were streaming with sweat. How people survive here without air-conditioning, I can't understand.

Day 2 - Thursday 8 May 2014

Shopping

We awoke to the distant sound of motorbike horns - the general background sound of Ho Chi Minh City, we've discovered.

After a sumptuous buffet breakfast (these Vietnamese know how to do a good breakfast), we headed out into the bustling busy city.

It takes a bit of getting used to for soft Westerners. Bikes all over the place going in every direction and cars doing much the same.

You just have to stride out into the road and traffic swerves (very politely) around you. But you're not safe on the footpath either. It's not uncommon for a bike to be heading straight towards you as you pause to look in a shop window. (That's if you can even look into the shop, with the bikes parked out front).

I have to admit, this is not my photo - but this is what it is like! 



We walked around, got hopelessly lost, and then took a taxi to our destination for the grand sum of $1 AUD.

Our destination was a multi-storey shopping mall full of little stalls selling fake absolutely everything you might ever want. Some of the fakes are so good, I'm sure they're actually made in the factories that make the real thing.

20,000 Vietnamese Dong is equivalent to 1 Australian dollar - and it kind of does your head in to be asked to pay 400,000 Dong for something - only to realise it means $20. Lots of internal calculations have to go on - but I'm sure we'll get used to it.

Jim bought t-shirts, underwear, a couple of fake watches and some parts for his camera. I just strolled around and looked at everything. It's a bit overwhelming at first so my shopping will come later I think.

-
Jim just came back to the hotel after a solo shopping expedition sporting a big cut above his left eye. He was in the lift with a loud American who was waving his arms around bang! Hit him on the temple with his watch. 
I obviously can't leave him alone for 5 minutes! 

The hotel reception staff fussed around with antiseptic and bandages - and he went off to get his camera battery pack looking like he'd been in the wars.

Jim's comment on the expedition was that the little Vietnamese man in the camera shop had the softest hands he'd ever come across - and he hates Americans.

Day 1 - Wednesday 7 May 2014

Arrival

Well, we arrived safe and sound in Vietnam - after a very brief stopover in Singapore. (It consisted mainly of a dash from one terminal to another - and racing past all the shops, much to Jim's dismay.)

We arrived at 7 p.m. in Ho Chi Minh City and were greeted by a hot and humid 31oC.

Driving from the airport to the Caravelle Hotel was an educational experience.
The city is lovely! Wide streets and lots of colourful lights - but motorbikes absolutely everywhere!
There seem to be unwritten road rules which allow traffic to merge, pass each other and drive head on without crashing! Jim and I cringed and jumped a hundred times - but our driver was totally unconcerned.

Motobike riders are absolutely fearless and are all obviously convinced they are safe because they are wearing helmets. This means they can have three on a bike (one of them being a child, another a woman in a short skirt and high heels), carry five boxes on the back, carry one milk crate with five enormous palm trees - or text or use their mobile phones in any way they see fit. (Haven't yet seen the live chickens on the back - but I'm sure that will come.)

Have also seen the obligatory elderly woman striding along in conical hat and pole over her shoulder with baskets attached. (I can die happy now.)

The hotel is very luxurious and, after a shower, we headed upstairs to the Saigon Saigon Rooftop Bar for a drink in the open air - wonderful views of Ho Chi Minh City.

We met up with our friends, Peter & Liz, and were serenaded by the Q'vana signers - from Cuba - in short skirts and fishnet stockings. (Very Vietnamese!)

Nothing like drinking cocktails with fruit and bendy straws to the sound of popular Vietnamese songs in Spanish.

TRIP TO VIETNAM

- Mary & Jim - 

7 - 18 May 2014