We had been to Vietnam twice before. The first time being in 2012 when we did our 8 weeks on a shoestring Asia trip. That time entered Vietnam via the Mekong River from Cambodia through CanTho and visited Saigon, Da Nang and Hanoi. Our second time/s doesn’t count. That was when we were on The Volendam cruise ship which called into the ports of Ho Chi Minh and Nha Trang.

However this whets our appetite for Vietnam and it was time to give it another go. So we booked our flights with Air Asia $775 each and unfortunately the visa cost $99 each.

Departed Sydney at 8.45pm and arrived Hanoi at 8.25am Saturday 7^th September. We had arranged with the Old Town Hotel for a prepaid taxi to pick us up in the expectation that having arrived into Hanoi at that time they would have had a room ready for us when we arrived. Not so. They made us wait till 2.00pm even though I suspect there were rooms available as they were not booked out. So we dropped our bags and did the normal thing of walking around aimlessly. Had lunch etc and generally wasted time in and around the ‘old town’ sector. The road around Hoen Kiem Lake were closed on weekends due the volume of people visiting there area. We took particular notice of the small battery operated cars that were for hire for children to drive themselves.

Hanoi toy cars

We walked to The Hao Lo Prison (aka The Hanoi Hilton) and did a mini tour. The misery and the way people treated people was hard to believe and it wasn’t long ago in history. There was a Guillotine on show that was used by the French to behead revolutionary leaders right up till 1932. Sweat rags were needed at this juncture.

We eventually made it back to the Hotel at 2.00pm and had a nano-nap. Rained at 4.00pm. After that we went exploring the area of the old town. Saturday night the streets were alive. Bustling hawkers of everything drinkable and edible. The main night market was within 50m of our front door. Go out the front, turn left, walk 50 paces and there it commenced.

Walked for a while and found a place called ‘Don Duck’, all they sold was duck. Nothing else! Continued on our walk thru the bustled of hawkers, motor scooters, bikes, shops/stalls and general foot traffic. Time for a good nights sleep in the air conditioning. We were on the 4^th floor but the lift didn’t commence until the 1^st floor where the reception was.

Sunday 8^th September after a good sleep and brekky in the lobby at reception started walking towards Hoen Kiem Lake.

Always looking to speak English.

Wendy found The Coffee Club’ to sample a brew. It was good. We then meandered toward to place the Hop-On Hop-off bus departed from. Bought tickets and started walking toward the departure location when we encountered a group of kids who decided we could help them with their English. This has happened to us numerous times in various countries and we always oblige the best we can. The first lot were about 10-11 y/o and then some older kids joined once they seen the interaction between us. All good fun but we to make to the bus and had to leave them after about 10minutes. We encountered several more groups along the way.

We decided to do the full loop of the city bus tour before getting off to explore different spots. At the end of the loop there was a 20min stopover at the Opera House and saw advertising for a show called Bamboo Circus the following night – might be worth seeing.

On our second loop decided to get off at Mausoleum and One Pillar Pagoda only to find out it was closed. Photo’s from outside Mausoleum aren’t the same. Back onto bus to next stop at West lake. Went for short walk along True Bach Lake and looked for a place for lunch. Picked a winner for lunch. Next stop Thang Long Imperial Citadel. Weather stinking hot. Phone app said 38c feels like 44c. Spent about 30 mins looking but it was too hot.

Waited for bus but apparently just missed it. Walked back to hotel literally dripping. Cooled down. Rained at 4.00pm then back out again for a medicinal ale and a meal. Found something on Cha Ca Street which only did grilled fish. Very ordinary. Had a some grilled chicken from a street vendor on the way home. It was delicious. After much deliberation we booked an overnight our of Halong Bay.

Monday 10^th September;

Tried the Highlands Café Coffee today – rubbish. Our mission today was to see the Women’s Museum and go to see the Bamboo Circus we’d booked on line.

After much walking or so it seemed, we reached the Museum and thankfully it was air conditioned. We spent 2 to 3 hours wandering around observing the roles of women in the home and the family in the wars and the traditional fashion from the ethnic groups of Vietnam. After that we thought we’d go to the fine arts museum but it was far too hot to walk that far so we had lunch in a local cafe which was air conditioned. Great food. Back to the hotel for a rest . It turned out the tickets Allan booked for the Bamboo Circus was for the next night, not tonight. We booked to go to Halong Bay that day so when we were in a small café that night we struck a conversation with a couple of ladies from Wales. Loved the accent. They had nothing to do tomorrow night so we gave them the tickets to the Bamboo Circus. The meal was good and the hot walk back to the hotel was again exciting.

Tuesday 10^th September; 8.30am pick up for the Ha Long Bay tour. Raining. Ended up with about 20 of us on a bus. Traffic congestion horrendous. Driver took a short cut or something similar but it still took until 1.15pm to get to the wharf. The tour guide on the bus was named Noi (as in Hanoi). Talked a lot – mostly twaddle. Made a stop about half way shop at a place for disabled people.

The boat turned out to be quite good. The room was more than adequate. Lunch was served nearly straight after boarding. It was a four course meal. Thankfully small portions. Our first activity on the boat was to motor to an area specifically for oysters and kayaking.

The kayaking at the pearl farm was somewhat ordinary. It was a cheap activity for those who wanted something to do. We met a New Zealand couple, Sue and Rob who were good company. When it came their turn to get into the kayak, the assistant didn’t have a good grip on it and it went under the jetty with Sue half way on it. She fell into the water. Had a lifejacket on. The attempt by the boat and shore crew to get her back onto the jetty was pathetic. There was not a set of steps. They had to manually lift her out of the water, about 1m. 3 staff actually dragged her by the arms and then the legs back onto the jetty. It was as though they had not done this before and it didn’t endear themselves. She did get back onto the jetty but it ruined her afternoon. Then there was a mountain/hill climb. This photo shows a typical day in Halong Bay. Tourists everywhere, all are doing the same thing.

Happy hour was for cocktails only and was only on a specific deck where there was very little seating and the crew were ambivalent about the customers. Another 4 course meal for dinner. The food was fine but it was western food. Not Vietnamese or even Asian. The fruit and vegetable display was magnificent .

Dinner was followed by karaoke which we observed but didn’t participate. There were only about 6 or 8 of us who were over 40 years old. The other activity for the night was squid fishing. Some of the young ones left the karaoke to do this. The karaoke was led by the staff. I think it was part of their job description to be able to sing. They did a good job and there were a couple of passengers who could also sing so it went quite well.

Wednesday 12^th September; after brekky on the boat, packed and Wendy went to Hung Sun Sot – Limestone cave.

It was good exercise but nothing else.

Back to the boat and back to shore and onto the bus back to Hanoi. All in all Ha Long Bay cruise is a waste of time and money. There are places like that all over the world. Nothing special there. Not sure why its World Heritage. Would not recommend.

Thursday 12^th September – Wendy has rumbly tummy Allan was feeling fine. Went walking to Truc Bach Lake – very hot. Killed some time doing blog and then went to a dodgy café. That afternoon we went to the Water Puppet Theatre – it was very entertaining and well done.

Friday 13^th September – both feeling fine. Went walking again. Went back to hotel to check out. Left bags there until we had to go to the railways station to catch the train to Nha Trang. Had a good lunch and a massage. Got taxi to Ga Ha Noi for train at 7.30pm. 4 berth cabin where we had two Spaniards as travelling companions.

They were happy to have 2 Aussies as cabin mates. They let us know that about and hour before getting on the train, Spain had beaten Australia in the basketball world cup. They were both good humoured about it as were we. They left the train at about 6.30am next morning. They were visiting a heritage rain forest somewhere down the coast near Hue. The train was clean as were the toilets. It has a dining car.

Saturday 14^th September – an unlaxing trip down the coast of Vietnam in a cabin by ourselves.

Reading and snoozing mainly. Train arrived into Nha Trang on time. We used an app called GRAB to order a car. It was about 9.30pm. Our hotel was in a side street that was difficult to find. The Grab guy was very good. Booked into the hotel only after looking at a couple of rooms. The first one smelled and the second one’s air conditioner didn’t work so we went back to the first one and out up with it. It was a comfortable room despite the smell.

Sunday 15^th September – did some walking then caught a local bus to a couple of the local sites. The Ponagar Tower and Chong Rocks. Nha Trang is a very touristy city. There were an abundance of Russians with a mix of Chinese and other Asians. Menus were written in Vietnamese and Russian and sometimes Chinese. Sometimes they had English. We were mistaken for Russians a couple of times and given the wrong menu. The girls in our Hotel were very helpful with trying to find out the departure place of our bus we had already booked to Da Lat. After many phone calls and an on the back of a bike tour by Wendy, it eventuated that they actually picked us up from near our hotel. The Diva Hotel is ok to stay at. Good area. Good people.

Monday 16^th September – the bus that collected us had the potential to be a luxury limousine. It had leather seats; Air-Con, Wi-Fi, usb ports, and seated only 12. We had a good trip to Da Lat with a half way stop for the driver to have breakfast and morning tea.. Arrived Da Lat at about 12.30pm. Dropped off at Mr. Rot’s Hotel. Walked for a few hours getting a feel for DaLat. Found a shopping centre. Walked around a lake that is in the middle of DaLat. Walked back to the hotel via the fresh food markets. The variety and quality of the fresh fruit and vegetables was amazing. Back to the Hotel for a rest then a shower and out for a walk to find somewhere to eat. Decided to try the BBQ place not far from Mr Rot’s place. We thought we would try the beef and duck cooked over a BBQ at the table. It was acceptable but nothing special. Had hoped it would be like the bbq place we had in Siem Reap many years ago where it was an all you can cook style place for about $2.50 each. Not so. This place was expensive. It was a very noisy restaurant where everyone thinks they are the centre of attention. It was when some of the other patrons near us started smoking at the table when we decided to leave. Back to the hotel for a good night sleep. We were on the 3^rd floor with no lift. Didn’t notice it after a while.

Tuesday 17^th September –

Mr Rots secret Tour – apparently it is that secret you are not supposed to tell anyone about it. We collected another 4 travellers along the way so we had 5 Australians and 1 Scottish. Our guide for the more was Jessica. HE was very good, knew his tourist stuff and was entertaining. We visited a silk factory – they processed the silk on site and exported to China for manufacture into material.

Then on to a cricket farm – apparently this will be the superfood of the future. We didn’t think we would contribute much to it as they are crunchy tasteless things.

Prefer nuts and pretzels as a snack. Also sampled some Rice Wine which is 30% alcohol – they can keep the rocket fuel.

Then went to Elephant Waterfall and the fresh food and meat market. It was the first market we have seen where they openly sell dog. Didn’t take a photo of Fido.

Jessica also had the driver pull up along the road to explain the various plant life. The different plants and trees which included the Curry tree from which the seed pod and seeds are used for the colouring of lipstick. There was also the coffee plant and how they traditionally harvested and roasted prior to becoming economically stable. The coffee is Robusta. There was the Durian Tree and Cotton plant and flower which we later had a demonstration on how the flower was treated and the process for spinning.

Lunch – Jessica was the Chef – or rather he had a couple of locals put together a vegetarian rice dish that consisted mainly of rice, onion and chili. Desert was a lovely fruit platter.

After lunch, Mr. Rot arrived and gently waved his charm over the group. After about 10 minutes of pleasantries and joking we were taken by Mr. Rot on a walking tour of the adjacent village of the Highland people. These are the K’Oh People. – Wikipedia;

The K’Ho, Cơ Ho, or Koho are an ethnic group living in the Lâm Đồng province of Vietnam‘s Central Highlands. They speak K’Ho language, a southern Bahnaric branch of Mon–Khmer language. They are related to the Cho Ro and Mạ people.

The Lạch people, a subgroup of K’Ho, is the indigenous group of Lâm Đồng. The name of the city of Da Lat (Lâm Đồng’s capital) originated from Đà Lạch (literally “river of the Lạch people”

We were supposed to walk for half an hour or so into the village and observe the people and their lifestyle. Along the way Mr. Rot got into a conversation with a lady in her front yard as we were walking by. After about 5 minutes of what seemed to be an argument where MR Rot was losing the battle, we were invited into the ladies yard and into a room in the back of her place. Just to sit and observe the ways of the K’Ho. The K’Ho have a language of their own and very few people outside the group are able to speak it. We sat down on some makeshift seats in the back shed. Mr. Rot made great conversation with the lady and of course with strangers about, about 6 of the neighbours came into join us. He talked, she talked and they all talked. Apparently a common feature of the K’Ho is the manner in which they speak. Everything sounds like an argument. Mr. Rot asked a couple of us to say something in K’Ho language. At one stage Allan had asked one of them to marry him. This brought great laughter to the group. About another 6 locals arrived to observe the kerfuffle. Everyone was enjoying themselves.

Mr. Rot asked the head lady about singing and dancing. Its wasn’t long before we were all singing and dancing. A westerner with a K’Ho lady. (There weren’t any men around, they were apparently out working.) The ladies of the village made artefacts etc to take to town to sell. The head lady gave us a demonstration of their craft. There wasn’t any pressure put on anyone to buy anything but of course we felt obliged to do so.

The half hour walk turned into a 2 hour visit to a ladies home. We were not allowed to take photographs of the K’Ho people.

Went back to Mr. Rots hotel for a cooling shower and had dinner at the eatery next door which was run by a couple who didn’t see many customers. The food was good.

Wednesday 18^th September – laundry day. 30,000VND per kilo – rain meant we couldn’t dry anything so it cost 60,000VND ($4). Walked around the Lake with a stop half way to visit the DaLat Flower Park. It was a nice interlude.

A place where people get married or just take photo’s. Then complete the walk to get a decent coffee at the Big C supercentre. Its not a supercentre as we know it but a very scaled down shopping centre. Then walked back thru the streets via the city centre in an attempt to find a massage but google maps and signs led us astray so we found a lovely little back street café and had a great Pho. We just meandered back to Mr. Rots. Raining. That evening we made a great find in the Café just around the corner. It was an organic restaurant that cooked all the things we like in the manner we like. Quality chicken and vegetable dishes with great use of spices. It cost a little more but was well worth it.

Thursday 19^th September –picked up at Mr. Rots by a van that was similar to the one from Nha Trang to DaLat but was worse in comfort. Allan had a seat that wouldn’t stay upright. Wifi didn’t work. The driver was a learner Kamikaze pilot. Allan decided to look straight ahead most of the time and we think the two guys in front of us were worried we weren’t going to make it. However he dropped us off at the end of the street for the Hotel Prague in the backpacker area of Saigon. This hotel was a class above those we had been staying at. Probably 3 ½ star. Good location. Good lift. Good room. Checked in and in a very short time Wendy realised she had left the Samsung Tablet on the bus. A phone call to head office and then got reception to ring for us. We ended up having to get a grab car to the local office of the bus company to collect it on the Friday morning. The day went well as we walked the local district. Had a good meal that evening and a good sleep in a good bed.

Friday 20^th September – got on the hop on hop off bus and went around the city a couple of times. Saw some old places we had been before and then got off at stops we hadn’t been. Walked some more in the afternoon. Had a nano nap. Later in the afternoon we decided to go for a walk down the back streets. Came across two large Pubs that had Australian football showing on the big screen. I mean the big screen. It was about a 12ft x 12ft screen and they transferred it from computer to the screen. The Pub on the left hand side of the street was showing Essendon playing someone but on the right side of the street there was Manly playing Souths. We pulled in there for a couple of beverages and watch the game. There were quite a few Aussies there most of them hated Manly. Spent an hour or so there then headed off for a meal. A good day in all.

Saturday 20^th September – decided to go for a boat ride to