Hoi An The Tourists Mecca

Arrived in Hoi An on Monday after a relatively short drive with several stops taking in the Lang Co area where we ate delicious BBQ oysters and mussels. Next we moved onto Marble Mountain and The Hai Van Pass the scenery was amazing and the shopping good.

Our hotel in Hoi An is very cute very much old style, very simple, very clean. We wandered thru the markets looking. Looking. Looking. The food here is as delicious as everywhere else. We have sampled the local specialities of white rose and fried won ton.

Tuesday was cooking school day first we visited a herb farm where we Elton some different herbs and tasted a drink
Made from Thai basil seeds mint, ginger and sugar and water. .... The seeds looked like fish eggs most unusual. Next we visited the markets where we purchased some salad vegetables and learnt how to choose fish and mussels. A glorious boat ride followed to Red Bridge Resort where we learnt all the tricks to cooking shrimp in banana leaf, beef soup with noodles, clay pot fish and their condiments. The Chardonnay flowed, just the way I like to cook.

Thursday was our walking tour day, we saw many Chinese temples/pagodas, some old houses of the old traders A little bit of shopping was also done. In the afternoon was was cajoled into a "beauty parlour "in the markets where I had a manicure, pedicure, foot massage and polish. The lady shaved my feet with a special blade. What came off was disgusting.

Friday was beach day. I thought I had died and gone to heaven..... Again. The ride out on our motorbike was exhilarating. The scene that greeted us was one of sheer delight. A sandy beach with lounges covered by thatched umbrellas and beautiful pristine blue water. Yummy scrum my seafood for lunch all washed down with a nice cold beer.

Saturday we visited Vietnams version of Angkor Wat. It was do hot it was hard to appreciate the ruins. A bit of last minute shopping of course concluded the day.... Just another trip to the market for some choppy chop chops. P

Soon it was Sunday and time to depart. We were very sad to leave our new friends from the Huy Hyung Hotel.

Our flight to Saigon was a little bit late. But uneventful and no food. Finally we had begun the last leg of our journey.

On Our Way To Hue

Up and packed at 4:30am for our next adventure. Off to the station we go looking forward to our comfy soft seats for our 13 hour trip to Hue.

We are greeted by a friendly little man who gratefully takes our bags and guides us to our carriage.

First we see........ You guessed it those lovely comfy soft sleepers that enjoyed so much on our trip to Sapa. Then our friendly little man starts asking for a tip. But Margaret prevailed and he only got a small tip. Obviously the brochure we saw was printed just after the Vietnam War.

We slept most of the way on and off. We ate chicken and rice and drank warm beer. Finally we arrived and straight away Hue had a great feeling. We were still very tired but managed another lovely meal and a bottle of wine. The Orchid Hotel greeted us with a lovely drink.

Soon it was Saturday and we went in search of the Forbidden City. It was extremely hot and we soon wilted under the hot sun. It was Hue Festival so we thought we should be festive. On we marched pounding the hot pavement As we approached the gate we found the city to be closed so 3 cyclo drivers convinced us to join them on a tour of the old city. It turned out to be very interesting bit oops somehow we went overtime. We visited a towerr with very high steps, ladies day at the temple and the men's place.

At 1 o'clock we ventured into the Forbidden City and wandered around the reconstructed city that had been leveled by the Americans.

A quick visit to the markets was an eye opener we soon departed ...a bit too hot and bothered. Beer o'clock was held at a bar called DMZ. Tonight we crocked up and had dinner in a lovely garden restaurant and again another superb meal. Every meal is different with such wonderful flavours so subtle.

The following day we visited the DMZ with our wonderful guide Thach she was very knowledgeable and honest. We visited Khe Sanh pronounced Kay sharn ..... Jimmy got it wrong there was a lot of bombing here and when the Americans left they leveled it leaving behind unexploded bombs and shells. Next we followed Ho Chi Minhs trail to the Vinh Moc tunnels on the way we stopped at a village house to have a sticky the people were so friendly.

The tunnel system is truly amazing all dug by hand and they go down 25 m so that the bombs could not penetrate. They had a meeting room/school, a maternity ward, 94 bedrooms. A toilet and a kitchen all ingeniously camouflaged. The Vietnamese people are very clever and so warm and friendly. Why do we do these things?

Finally it was time to return to Hue over the Reunification Bridge. Today was amazing and truly enlightening One of the best days on the trip.

Our visit to Hue was far too short and and soon we were on the road again to Hoi An.