Hanoi 2nd of July

I sit here in quiet reflection at quarter to five in the morning, looking back at the whirlwind of activity  that we have engaged in over the past two days. We are doing so much that it is hard for me to take it all in. 

We got into Hanoi yesterday at 4.30am after a surprisingly restful over night train trip. I haggled with several taxi drivers making sure we weren't scammed - whenever possible make sure that the meter is off and state a price you are willing to pay. Having early check in was great and we had a free upgrade to the top floor! 

After laying down for what seemed like five minutes we went down to the buffet breakfast which incidentally has great pork and vegetable spring rolls. We followed or intended to follow the google map I had previously inserted in my Hanoi post. We only got one eighth into it ( 3 hours of walking) when we decided to give it a miss. Not that it wasn't interesting but just because we got so immersed at the checkpoints. 

We started off at Hoam Kiem Lake a mere 10 minute walk away and when about to cross the famous Red Bridge I remembered my bare arms so we had to backtrack and go shopping for scarves, I purchased a whisp of silk to cover my offending limbs. ( I had been kicked out of the temple on the Chinese Border the day before due to aforementioned limbs). We went to the temple on the lake and learned about the turtle who carried a famous warriors sword - I am already every hazy on this legend.

We walked along many streets each named for its wares. In silk street I purchased a teal dress - $40USD cheap by Cairns standards but expensive I feel for Vietnam - I had however bargained her down from $65. ( the only place I don't let my inner Asian out is in the supermarket - I have embraced the sport of haggling with gusto)

 The sun is coming up as I type and the noises of the motorbikes are becoming more insistent, anyway returning to yesterday - we walked along several more streets - using the map reading / orienteering skills taught to me by a fellow teacher back in Oz - and enjoyed fresh juices in a great cafe, where the most memorable thing was the WC I had to step up 75cm onto a pedestal where the toilet was perched. There was no room for my feet at the front as it was placed as if on the edge of a cliff- sorry to digress from our walking trail but I was so captivated that I forced my two companions to also enjoy this novel experience !

We asked the friendly staff to hail a cab for us to go to the Temple of Literature which although only 2 kms away would no doubt have taken us another three hours to reach. The Temple was fascinating and we saw the many turtles of wisdom. There were many university students here coming to seek blessing for their exams  - there were mainly girls in their white robes . I bought charms for my two children who are at university back home!

Lunch - we had this at Koto which is a famous restaurant similar to 15 by Jamie Oliver. It is owned by Jimmy Cham a much loved chef who teaches disadvantaged youth to cook and they man this famous eating destination. The lunch was lovely  but not as good as that from Yen Duc village. We caught a taxi back to our hotel but this one scammed us. It was rung by the restaurant but the young chap professed to be lost and did not turn off the meter .  

Food on Foot Walk around Hanoi - Vietnam Awesome Travel $25USD 

What a marvellous experience our guide Johnny was a fountain of knowledge he explained so many non food related facts to us. The one that I found most fascinating was one that pertained to the street that we lived/hotelled at. We - lucky as ever- had unwittingly chosen a hotel Thaison Grand which is situated on "headstone and second coffin street. Second coffin? I hear  you ask , yes you read correctly , the Vietnamese have two coffins one for the first funeral a timber one (this one comes with a huge headstone which has a eulogy on it) and the second a small metal one with a smaller headstone which has a photograph of the deceased on it. The body rests in the first coffin for 5-7  years and then is dug up between 1-3 am and the bones are washed and placed in the second coffin and buried in their final resting place.

Now for the food, our first stop was at a restaurant in silver street, here we enjoyed  Vietnamese  hand rolled spring rolls with Turmeric Butter Fish this was actually a meal which we had also had at Yen Duc . Johnny kindly hand rolled them for us but after his huge coughing fit I offered to do it myself. 

We strolled around Old Quarter and learnt about the 5 gates to get into the old city of which there is only one left. Rice paper noodle rolls filled with minced pork and mushrooms with a piquant dipping sauce these were very delicate and were washed down with freshly squashed sugar cane juice. Almost immediately after the refreshing juice we had sticky rice flour balls with a plan sugar cube inside them just like my elder sister makes . 

Johnny kindly offered us a very tempting sounding eel dish to be followed by hand collected snails but we were very full and politely declined. He was very upset as he normally takes people to at least six street food stalls. We kept exploring the fascinating region and stopped to buy kites, I bought one for my darling husband.  Johnny kept trying to do his job by offering us food he even offered to get us take away, but even I said no - and those who know me well know that I love to take home treats.

To his great dismay we were very excited to see a bakery which had been highly recommended, we begged to go in. Poor Johnny was out of his comfort zone in this western style upmarket bakery/cafe Jama so I offered to be tour guide instead. We ordered a selection of cakes and drinks, the best being Liz's coconut cake. Jama was declared a romantic spot by unlucky in love Johnny, he vowed to take his next date their to impress her. 

Our lovely guide pleaded with us to please eat one more street food and although barely able to walk we agreed, because that's the way we are , polite, never wanting to hurt the feelings of a well meaning tour Guide. This time we enjoyed fruit salad with shaved ice and condensed milk, a treat which I have enjoyed quite often with my family. 

This little adventure had taken 3 hours so we started walking back to the hotel. We had a little rest on a street corner where we bought 6 T shirts so that we weren't cluttering up the foot path for no reason. It was a novel way of shopping , you choose the design you want and the vendor screams heavenward and next minute the correct size and colour almost hits you on the head as it is aimed at you from an upstairs window, Purchases in hand off we strolled enjoying the balmy Hanoi weather, four hours later we were safely back at our hotel ready to rest up for our next big adventure !

 

Darwin 13th of July

We had an early arrival at Darwin Airport and bearing this in mind we had booked at Rydges Airport Resort . First impressions were good, a free airport shuttle and a lovely foyer looking out towards the tropically landscaped pool. Our spirits plummeted as we were told that checkin was at 1pm and 'No, you can't sleep in the lobby or lounge, but you may drag a chair around the side (near the industrial bins ) so that no-one can see you .' I was rather annoyed as this was already costing $260, I explained  that we would be leaving at 4.30am the next morning so would be checking out really early . Anyway to cut a long story short we had to pay an extra $130 for an early checkin - only to find that our room at this 'resort ' was worse than our worst accommodation in a developing nation ! 

We slept for several hours then toddled off to reception to take advantage of the free 'city center' shuttle bus only to find that it ran twice a day once at 10am and once at 5pm. Rather disgruntled we crossed the access road and hailed a cab. The driver was a rather unusual character who spoke very disparagingly about his city . 

We were dropped off at Mitchell Street and reassured that this was the life and soul of Darwin and there was nothing else within walking distance for us to see. After a tasty lunch at Monsoon - Liz's steak was particularly succulent and a great ice coffee at an Italian cafe across the road plus a lemon lime and bitters at Shenanigans for thirsty Liz , we met up with Liz's mothers friend Barb.  

Barb kindly drove us to Fanny Bay, the museum and the sailing club so that I could see a bit more of Darwin . I was very grateful to her as the silvery ocean view looking back towards the city was lovely and I could see why people are drawn to this family orientated city . Barb told us that more money per capita is spent on infrastructure in Darwin than anywhere else in Australia . 

That evening we caught the 5pm shuttle bus into the city , we were told that pickup was at 5.20pm so needless to say we kindly declined the offer, voicing that we would catch a cab back to the resort after dinner. The shuttle bus driver was actually extremely helpful as she drove us to the waterfront which was actually only a short walk from Mitchell street. We walked from the bus terminal through the mall which had very interesting plaques about Darwin's part in the war. A left and right turn later and we were back in Mitchell Street, we headed back to Shenanigans to have a beverage before meeting my stepdaughter Niki for dinner at The Tap. I went to the ATM and was bedazzled by the spectacular sunset! No one had prepared me for this visual treat .  After dinner we went to the impressive water front where we took the street level elevator down to the restaurant level . We went to a French Restaurant where I was reprimanded for ordering chocolate brownies with salted caramel sauce - apparently I was meant to ask for petit fours . Unashamedly we ordered a dessert each the waiter seemed to baulk at our request - how were we to know that the desserts ere of a generous proportion not the minute items at a highly inflated price that the French usually demand? 

A tremendous effort was put in by all of us , Liz exclaiming all the while that she knew that three desserts was too much, what a shame she was too demure to protest when asked whether she wanted to order. When the sumptuous treats were demolished we trudged slowly back up the street through the mall to catch a cab to the resort . I was thoroughly impressed by the entertainment district in Dsrwin and look forward to seeing more of it in the best future! 

Beautiful DaLat 10th of July

We arrived at DaLat very early on the 9th ( yesterday) , having read unfavourable reports about the hotel we had booked in not letting people check in early, had prompted me to organise a day trip with the Vietnam Easy Riders DaLat. There are apparently now three of these motorcycle tour group guides; blue jackets, red jackets and black and red jackets. (Our guide had on a tan canvas jacket??)

When I was originally planning this leg of the journey I had expressed interest in doing the tour on the back of a motorbike with my luggage strapped on the back . My husband Eric however pointed out three things; firstly I hadn't been on a motorbike (and that was actually only a trail bike) for 31 years, secondly - it is the rainy season in Vietnam and the traffic is known to follow the rules of 'anything goes' and 'lets play chicken', and thirdly - the fact that I am a shopaholic. So I revised this plan by email with Mr Kiet in DaLat and organised a 4WD instead . This was a great move as by this stage I had accumulated 30kg of luggage!

As I dragged my luggage ( luckily on wheels) to the arrival gates I saw a friendly smiling man holding up a sign with my name. I breathed a sigh of relief as it is always a bit worrying when you are in a foreign country and are not really sure of anything. Our guide took us to the vehicle and our bags were jammed into the boot and onto half of the back seat. We were also piled in, Liz in the back and Mirta and I in the second row. I didn't realise that I had also engaged the services of a driver. Our guide Huung had very proficient English and regaled us with the history of DaLat as well as giving us an itinerary for our day trip.

Huung explained to us in detail regarding each area that we would visit that day. As the car climbed higher up the mountain he explained that he would take us to see the one minority group that lived here, if I remember correctly they are the Lat people. ( I will gather more information regarding this at another time) Anyway there we were just enjoying the scenery when all of a sudden Huung burst into song. Although we couldn't understand what he was saying we could see that he was very emotionally welcoming us to DaLat. We were speechless! What more can I say? It is not everyday that a perfect stranger performs such a beautiful ballad for you at such close proximity. We applauded him in wonder and he told us that it was the minority people's welcoming song inviting us to join in with them in daily life forgetting all troubles and just enjoying the experience . We asked him if he was a minority person but he told us he was Vietnamese and had learnt this song at church in the choir.

Our hotel in DaNang had obviously not served breakfast at 4am so we asked Huung if we could  stop somewhere for breakfast. After some negotiation (he wanted us to go to a 50 dish buffet) we settled on a local bakery where I could purchase a much longed for Bahn Mi Thiht ( baguette with pâté, roast pork, chilli, coriander and cucumber) and the others some French pastries. We dropped off our bags at the hotel - apparently if you are with a guide you can drop off your luggage. The hotel was incredible it was probably over 100 years old and had a phenomenal display of old cars, motor bikes and other memorabilia. 

Next exciting per tour stop 'Lien Hoa Bakery' this jewel of a place had three levels.  We were ushered into the first level and given trays, actually my travelling companions were given trays, I had made a bee line to the Bahn Mi with Huung in tow to ensure I was not given the bland Western version. My other choice was simple just a plain croissant to have with my Vietnamese drip filter coffee. We were directed up the stairs past the soup/ pho level to the drinks level which had a spacious seating area. We elected to sit on the balcony at benches facing out towards the street. What a superb spot to sit we soaked up the morning sun whilst observing the city springing to life. The buildings made us think of Europe but the honking of car horns and the hive of activity going on with the ladies selling food from their yokes was clearly Asia!

Huung and the driver were patiently waiting for us after a quick detour back to the hotel as one of our group had incorrect footwear we were finally of on our journey. Our first stop was a flower nursery where we marvelled at the lush expanse of gerberas, oriental lilies, carnations, roses, statice and gypsophila. Liz and I nearly came to blows over a yellow rose which I snatched off her for our Easter themed photograph! 

The next stop was the Weasel Coffee plantation. Yes you read correctly this was a place where both coffee and weasels are farmed simultaneously. The coffee is grown in the normal way , arabica, mocca and robusta all flourish in neatly planted rows.  Come harvest time the beans are picked by hand and now come the exciting part. Some of the beans are dried, flavoured and ground but some of the harvest is fed to the weasels who merrily excrete them after their bodies have digested the red pulp off the out side. These poops are very valuable and Liz bought some of these scats for $35 for 100grms. She bought them very lovingly for the love of my life, I do apologise Eric I did not buy you weasel poop I bought you a dragon kite instead .

Rice wine was next on the list, eww evil stuff, I had already had the experience of it burning the roof of my mouth at Yen Duc Village. I had a little sip to be polite it was 70% alcohol and I think the only person who would like it is someone who was using it to chloroform insects. At this venue they also had weasels in teeny cages, they stunk terribly and looked so stressed out that I was pleased that I had not been swayed by the sales person to buy some for my husband.

We then went to the place where I had a panic attack. Elephant Falls, admittedly a very beautiful venue but the walk with no railings over slippery rocks where one wrong foot would let me plummet to an untimely death was horrid. To tell you the truth I don't know how I made it back to the grassy area at the top. My legs felt like jelly and I had to stop myself from shaking. The minority women felt sorry for me and got me a stool and fanned me, they were so concerned about my stress that they didn't try to sell me anything, which I found really touching. 

We were briskly dragged away from the sweet ladies up a huge flight of stairs to a working monastery where I saw three students who were only 17 according to Liz and 16 according to me.  Behind the monastery was a garden depicting the life of Buddha I found this very interesting as I never knew that prior to Buddism the Nepalaese were Muslims. Further up the mountain we saw the statue of the happy Buddha,  he was an enormous concrete creation with such a huge smile that he did indeed make me chuckle, and bit by bit my nerves from the horrendous climb dissipated.

The Silk Worm farm was the next stop, this was so interesting. I was already aware that silk worms only eat the leaves of the white mulberry. However I was not aware that the cocoons were stored on large bamboo racks and fed shredded leaves each day. Each cocoon had  enough silk spun adoring it to make at least a kilometre of silk. This silk was taken off the larvae by immersing it in boiling water, the odour was on par with that of the weasels and I had to shallow breathe through my mouth. 

Huge spindles spun the silk into usable thread and it was dyed or woven into patterns with an automatic weaving machine. It was great seeing the finished products and I was delighted to purchase  my daughter and future son in law a matching scarf and tie. I would have bought more but the smell was inducing a headache so I waited outside, Quite soon we were comfortably ensconced with in our air conditioned vehicle, on our way to the final attraction of our tour. This was the Crazy House!

I had see this incredible building on Trip Advisor and was amazed that it had no right angles and was constantly eveolving.  The architect, a tiny woman in her seventies was selling tickets at the door - a bargain at only $2 each. Her father interestingly enought was Ho Chi Minhs successor. Tbc

Hue for the day 7th of July

Today we joined a City Tour which was sold to us at reception in the front desk, we knew we could have got it cheaper elsewhere but at this point in my life I like being picked up and dropped off at the hotel. We were collected by a friendly young guide clad from top to toe in denim (35*) she was alas only our guide to cross the road diagonally in front of our hotel - not such a good guide really as Mirta and I were left on the other side of the road while she forged on ahead with Liz.  The road crossing tricks are very annoying. In Hanoi you launch into traffic and walk at a steady pace towards a point on the horizon but here in Hue, in a place where there are pedestrian crossings everywhere I am finding it the worst. A pedestrian crossing here is like an advertisement for all vehicles; cars, buses, trucks cyclos, motor bikes and bicycles to speed up and ignore the huge lines painted across the road. The other thing locals do here is walk across the road in a long diagonal line, however there are a few places which are controlled by lights with big timers so whenever possible I use those.

Anyway I digress , we got on the bus with 17 other tourists and were given our spiel by the guide Huang who told us that depending on how you say his name it can mean either respectful ( or something else of a gentle nature ) or a play boy. The respectful playboy commenced his welcoming speech in Vietnamese this prompted an arrogant young Frenchman to walk up the front to interrupt him by saying " I paid good money for an English speaking guide" the latter was overheard by the ever vigilant Liz. I think I had already started preparing mentally for a sleep, I became alert however when our guide started off his speech in English by discussing respect for the native language in the place that you are visiting and that since we were in Vietnam he would always start off his blurb in Vietnamese then speak in English and lastly in French.

Each of us was given a stiff white cap boasting the words 'City Tour' to pop on our heads and off we drove to our first destination. The first tomb was that of King Ming Mang it was about 12 km from Hue and on the banks of the Huong River . Ming Mang was a much loved leader and was clearly the tour guides favourite. Ming Mang had over 500 wives and 700 concubines but only had about 120 children which actually quite surprised me. The construction of this elaborate burial site was begun in 1840 ( September)  however in January 1841 King Ming Mang unexpectedly died. The tomb was completed by his son King Thieu Tri and was completed in 1843. I was lucky enough to find my way to the 'head 'of the site the whole monument was built to represent the human body in silent repose. 

The next tomb we visited was that of the Nguyen Emperor  Khai Dinh, this was built on the Chau Chu mountain between 1920-1931. This was my favourite tomb it was absolutely stunning featuring elaborate glass and ceramic mosaics it is blend of Eastern and Western architecture. The Emperor only had 12 wives and two children. The guide told us this was because he didn't like the ladies only the men. Whatever his preferences were his mausoleum is incredible boasting the largest statues of dragons in Vietnam. He was the last emperor to build a tomb and towards the end of his reign seemed to be in the paid employ of the French Government. This might explain the huge amount of French visitors to Hue.

This is a Photo of the Emperor Khai Dinh.  

The tour included a buffet lunch with 50 dishes, unfortunately the invasive smell of prawns turned me off doing the spread justice, I sadly picked at some fruit, crepes  and seaweed jelly. After lunch we boarded a dragon boat to cruise along the Perfume River, there was no sweet aroma but never the less it was indeed very restful. Our destination was a working monastery, I think for the three of us the highlight of this visit was seeing an earnest monk clad in chocolate brown wielding a whipper snipper to trim the grass verges. After the exhausting climb back to the river and the hour long wait (after the designated departure time) I slept for most of the return journey. Luckily the boat berthed in a complex beside our hotel so although it was raining it was a quick return to the sanctity of our upgraded room. ( I had requested a free upgrade because the bathroom ceiling kept dripping which was most inconvenient when I brushed my teeth or used the convenience.)

That evening Liz and I had dinner at Bloom which had been recommended by my daughter, who couldn't remember whether she had liked it for the food or the ambience. The actual highlight of that dining experience was that I asked the young man there if we could have the fan on as it was quite still. He looked quite puzzled but after much gesticulation from me, he finally turned it on. However the reprieve from the heat was short lived as he sat down on a bench directly behind us and turned the fan towards him making sure it wouldn't oscillate. Since it was our last night we went to a backpackers bar and had mohitos, it was a great way to end our night and Liz discovered she had a flair for Jenga.

The next morning while my two travelling companions packed their luggage I went on a one hour cyclos tour around Hue. It was a wonderful experience as my driver spoke very good English and explained a lot about the history of Hue as well as the education system. I wish that I had done this as soon as I reached Hue, in fact as soon as I reached any other destination that we had visited as it immersed me into the the hustle and bustle of the city much more than when I was on a huge tour bus or boat. 

We took a short trip by taxi to the railway station where we waited patiently for our train back to DaNang it was less than two hours late and waiting in the transit room was definitely a cultural experience. Boarding the train was quite horrid, to begin with their is no such thing as a queue here, people just barge you out of the way. I found it highly unpleasant that when I was trying to pass Liz my huge bag (filled with presents for my family) the conductor shouted something and stood on my small carry on case and lurched down the stairs almost felling me to the ground. 

The train journey was indeed as picturesque as we had been told it would be giving us a different perspective to that of our private car journey from DaNang to Hue. DaNang was not what I had expected. When we had previously driven through it we had seen the beach strip that looked quite like the Gold Coast. However finances had not permitted us to book in that area, our hotel was relatively clean though and had great air con. Another plus was that it was very close to the Cham Museum which had been mentioned to us as a 'must visit' by our guide at MySon. This was as fascinating as he had promised although I wish I had been here prior to going to MySon as then I would have had more of an idea of what I was looking at.

After a quick refresh at our hotel we walked past the Pink Cathedral a catholic landmark to 'The Waterfront' which is the most highly recommended restaurant in DaNang in Lonely Planet. Liz and I both enjoyed our entrees much more than our mains but the setting looking over the Han River was definitely extremely relaxing. So that was our very short stopover in DaNang. We went to bed relatively early to prepare for our 4am start the next day.

Hue 6th of July

Having a fantastic time in Hue it is Liz's favourite city so far in Vietnam. I'm loving the wide open streets and   in particular the fact that we were very lucky a booking our accommodation so far ahead of times, we are at a resort not a teeny hole in the wall. We haven't done much here yet as we had a 3.5 hour road trip !

Goodbye HoiAn 5th of July

We had a lovely surprise today, when strolling through the picturesque streets of HoiAn for the last time, because for once when someone shouted out "Stop, Stop!" it was not a street vendor selling us clay whistles or offering us a ride on a cyclos or a motor bike, this time the shout was legitimately for us!  It was our newly made friend Judy who we had first met at Halong Bay, we had then reconnected with her and her travelling companion Gill at the railway station in Hanoi, on our way to Sapa by overnight train .

Judy promptly dragged us off the hot street into a cool cafe where we say Gill firmly ensconced with a local beer in hand. We joined them with much deserved beverages as well. We were exhausted from a rushed power walk into town this morning - apparently 10 minutes , for us 35 minutes - to get to our long awaited for cooking class at Morning Glory. The cooking class was superb as wonderful as Kari Liz's daughter had extolled .

When we arrived at the cooking class we were embarrassedly late by 5 minutes, we apologised to the lovely couple from Mossvale NSW who were waiting. I thought we would be whisked off immediately on our market tour to observe local ladies and restauranteurs fighting over the freshly picked, plucked, made or caught produce. But no, we sat there in the sweltering heat in the dimly lit restaurant until approximately  thirty more bedraggled 'Westerners' had joined us.

At 8.35 our market guide Lu (who incidentally was dressed in jeans and a fleecy jumper, topped with a native hat) took our group of seven down some crowded side streets until we reached the produce markets. She showed us the vibrant vegetables fruits and herbs it was a prime  time for me to add to my knife and kitchen took collection. Four tools later, we were in the fish market where we saw tubs of fresh live seafood, I particularly loved the look of the fat squid but alas they were not on Lu's ingredient list.

At the cooking school which was in another restaurant across the river we were encouraged to walk around to have a look at the cooking demonstrations taking place and have little tastes of things, my favourite being beef wrapped in betel leaf on a rice noodle bed with a lime and chilli dipping sauce. W were soon herded up the stairs into an air conditioned cooking class room . The room was set up with work stations which accommodated four people, as we were the first group we were lucky to get seats right at the front of the room. Everyone trudged in and the chef Miss LuLu came in, she was 34 years of age and told us she had been working for Miss Vy for 18 years and was now the head chef at this purpose built cooking school. We made four dishes, a clear broth with pork quenelles wrapped in cabbage leaves ( everyone else used prawns), lemongrass marinated chicken skewers, green mango salad and my favourite the HoiAn pancake, which was a crispy rice and mung bean flour delight walled with fresh herbs in rice paper!

After we had eaten all that we had cooked plus a lemon grass ice cream we walked back down across. The bridge to collect the items we had ordered to be custom made. I picked up my new shoes 

which fit perfectly then we collected Liz's new green handbag . As we ventured forth to collect the bags I had ordered for my daughter we come to the part of my retell when we were  reunited with Judy and Gill!

So after the four of us had caught up on our various adventures we decided to book dinner at the Morning Glory Restaurant as it was our last night. We had attempted to get a table for the past two nights but it was always booked out so this time I thought, why not be sensible like everyone else and book for us. The only available table was at 8pm so we booked it in and went to collect my two ordered bags which were unfortunately not ready because they had run out of leather in the desired colour, after choosing another colour and being assured it would be ready after dinner we caught the free shuttle back to our hotel agreeing to meet with Judy and Gill that evening,

Once 'home' we went down to the pool to join ten other holiday makers in the hot human soup. It was as Liz said 'at least wet'. Once refreshed we went up to our room to have a little rest on the rock hard beds until dinner time. We went down to the lobby to catch the free shuttle into town, chatting to the lovely young couple from NZ as we waited. Our first stop in town was an unplanned one and I ended up crouched on the ground haggling over crystallised ginger - the Vietnamese type is so much better than that in OZ so I ended up with four packets. Luckily the bags were ready and we sped off to Morning Glory. There were multitudes of people being turned away and ten people sitting on roadside chairs waiting incase of no-shows. After pointing out our booking and a quick interchange on the walkie talkie by the maitre di, Liz and I climbed the spiral timber staircase to the next waiting area, this being the waiting area for those whose whole party had not yet arrived. I went down to wait for Judy and Gill which was lucky because they were a bit lost and I spotted them from a distance. 

Our dinner was lovely, I chose the eggplant flower which I had seen at market garden and the three others ordered the same prawn curry which Liz's daughter had recommended.  We opted to have dessert at Cargo Club ( yes it was the fourth time we had been there and the staff now knew us) . Gill was very restrained but the rest of us were not, I ordered the chocolate truffle cake which was sumptuous I virtuously washed it down with green tea . 

Since it was our last night we bought floating candles from a little girl in traditional dress she was a tough business woman and totally ripped us off  but we paid for her cuteness. Judy's good luck candle was promptly run over by a disgruntled boat man whose services we had politely declined. Luckily after my game of charades Judy was given a free one. We sadly parted way at the taxi rank across the bridge, the ladies went off to their hotel and we went off for a mini shopping trip. Liz showed considerable restraint and only purchased two of the famous HoiAn lanterns, I however thought that five lanterns were necessary. We finally caught a taxi and once home at the hotel collapsed  on our respective beds.

HoiAn 4th of July

I'm sitting here in our crumbling hotel room enjoying the birdsong outside the window, HoiAn is certainly a lot cleaner than Hanoi. The staff here are very pleasant so it doesn't matter that the TV has to be slapped and the door handle in the bathroom is hanging on precariously !

We arrived in DaNang yesterday morning after leaving Hanoi on an 8.05 flight, DaNang looked like the Gold Coast and our taxi driver very proudly pointed out all the new resorts and the cornucopia of marble statues for sale. After a very pleasant drive we arrived at our hotel where we were given complimentary early check in. It was so hot in our room so we decided rather than relax we would go into the township by shuttle bus to explore. 

The shuttle bus dropped us off in front of the hotels 'sister tailor', for those of you who do not know about HoiAn - it is actually a travel destination because it has over 200 tailors and shoe makers . Tbc we haven't taken any photos on the ipad because Liz finds it tedious to take out. So this although not picturesque is of me at Cargo Company a famous restaurant and patisserie.

I am writing this in retrospect although I am writing on the 5th this entry is about our wonderful day trip yesterday. We booked a trip to 'My Son' which means beautiful mountain - the mountain in question is the Garuda Mountain.My Son was a Hindu place of worship the intricate temples were built by the Champa people between the 9th and 11th century. No one lives at the temples as it is DiSan Van Hoa The Gori - Holy Land.

The sad thing is that before the war in 1965 the French had catalogued the temples and taken photographs of them as it was a site of historical importance. However  in 1969 President Nixon ordered B52's to bomb My Son because the Vietkong were hiding there. Our guide was extremely distraught because his father was a member of theVietkong. The bomb craters are immense and the destruction is heart breaking, I was very disturbed by the tour. It was a place where agent orange and Napalm were used to destroy all that was alive.

Another sad thing is that the French cut the heads off all the statues of Shiva for private collectors. The area is now a Unesco site and a lot of reconstruction in taking place. We were really lucky to see site G it was only opened two weeks ago to the public. There are ten temple sites three of which still have undetonated land mines. It was a very worthwhile excursion. We opted to take a river cruise home the highlights of this was the woodcarvers village on an island called Kim Bong. Liz was enraptured by the hand crafted fishing boat and I fell in love with the humble carved water buffalo!