Disconnect to Reconnect

Wise words in today’s busy world when everyone is connected to some type of device. For One Word Sunday Debbie has chosen the word Rest.

The photos below are from a few years back when we were in Hoi An, Vietnam.

I’ve never been in a rickshaw as I’ve always felt sorry for the “driver’s” legs. This man has probably earned a good rest after pulling tourists around all day.

These beach workers are taking a break during a quiet time. Look how close the beds are, we met quite a few people lying next to us! You can’t but help overhear the conversations. I don’t think anyone would like to lie so closely together in future.

Hotels I’ve Stayed In – Old and New

This week for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge the theme is Old and New.

Over the years we have stayed in a variety of establishments – from two star to five star. It’s not always the five star hotels that are the best, I prefer ones that are a bit quirky and a view is even better.

OLD

Named after an American town and in the style of a Portuguese villa but located in Japan! This was a very cute hotel complete with an iron gated elevator. There is also the famous Chapel Bussola with its magnificent spiral staircase and stained glass windows. A sensational place to hold a wedding.

The Hotel Saigon Morin is not located in Saigon but in Hue which is around a three hour drive from Da Nang. Established in 1901 by a French businessman Mr. Morin and built in a French colonial style with a wonderful courtyard inside the hotel. Over the years many famous people stayed here, one was Charlie Chaplin. In the evening they have clips of his old films showing on the wall.

Both of the above hotels are small boutique hotels. The Plantation Hotel had a fantastic swimming pool in the middle of the buildings surrounded by palm trees and our room opened up onto it.

The Belle Rive Hotel in Luang Prabang overlooking the Nam Khan River. We had the bottom left room, complete with our own front door. We loved this hotel and walked over the road in the morning to have breakfast by the river.

NEW

The Stones, Bali

We enjoyed our stay at The Stones in Bali, such an opulent hotel. The bath was on the balcony, we never did use it! As you can see there is also a helicopter landing pad on top of the hotel. We stayed here for a week a few years ago when there was an extremely well priced trip from Perth in the local paper.

**Taj Krishna, Banjarra Hills, Hyderabad**

The Taj Krishna was definitely a five star hotel, complete with excellent service. We stayed here for a week with our two travelling companions, Laurence and Maddy a few years ago and had the best time. The staff here could not do enough to make our stay memorable.

**The Stamford, Glenelg, South Australia**

Staying here was part of our road trip across five states. We had a wonderful room overlooking the ocean.

On the Way

The Friendly Friday challenge for the next two weeks has been set by Amanda from Something to Ponder About. It’s all about travelling to or from somewhere.
My featured photo is from a trip to Vientiane, Laos. A man walking in the countryside with his woven baskets.

Going Home

Everybody rides bikes in Vietnam, old and young alike. The woman on the left doesn’t even have her baby in a sling! The small boys at the front in both photos look like they are driving as well.
I took the above photos from a car next to the bikes, a bit of a blurry result!

Going to and from work and school are my thoughts on the above two photos. I wonder how the man on the left didn’t lose his balance!
The left photo is in Hue and the right, Hanoi.

🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍

Hyper Hanoi – October 2016

Adding onto our Laos/Vietnam trip we flew to Hanoi from Luang Prabang and planned to stay here for three days. We decided instead of organised trips we would just explore Hanoi on our own. I had booked three days at Hotel Nikko a very large Japanese hotel near Hoan Kiem…

by Alison June 30, 2018February 16, 2019

My A to Z Travel Challenge – Quang Nam Province, Vietnam 🇻🇳

Quang Nam Province is where the Unesco World Heritage town of Hoi An is situated. It is a mix of Vietnamese, Chinese and French style buildings. Hoi An sits on the banks of the Thu Bon River and there are many waterways around the area.
We have stayed in Hoi An twice before and visited on a number of other occasions while staying in Da Nang. It gets busier with each year and there is hardly any room to move crossing over the little bridge.

The two hotels we stayed in were just outside of the small town, Hoi An Historic Hotel and Hoi An Beach Hotel. Early evening is the best time to go into Hoi An Ancient Town as it’s a bit cooler then, although not much!

Fishing for the daily catch, views from our balcony

An Bang Beach

The beds are so close, no social distancing here! Crawling from the bottom is the only way to lie on them! No secrets are safe here.

Restaurants and Bars in the walking area of Hoi An

Bikes and doors

Views of the other side of Hoi An

My nightly cocktail – Pina Colada

Hoi An is such a wonderful place to visit but so many places in Vietnam are. It is one of my favourite countries to visit.

My A to Z Travel Challenge: H is for Hanoi and Ha Long Bay, Vietnam🇻🇳

Hanoi Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, where we spent four days a few years ago. Hanoi was not a place that interested me as I had heard it was quite industrialised due to the influence of communism. However it was somewhere where Anthony wanted to visit, and I can’t always have my own way! After…

by Alison May 28, 2020December 5, 2020

My A to Z Travel Challenge: H is for Hanoi and Ha Long Bay, Vietnam🇻🇳

Hanoi

Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, where we spent four days a few years ago. Hanoi was not a place that interested me as I had heard it was quite industrialised due to the influence of communism. However it was somewhere where Anthony wanted to visit, and I can’t always have my own way! After checking into our hotel and going for a wander, I realised how wrong I had been. The architecture was amazing and the restaurants were some of the best we had eaten in. It is easy to see the French influence in the buildings and especially the food. There’s nothing tastier than French food with a Vietnamese twist.

The view from our room at the Hotel Nikko

Over the next two days we walked around the city going to the Old Quarter and also the Citadel. We were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of some schoolgirls graduating.

St Josephs Cathedral

A heavy load for this small bike!
St. Joseph’s Cathedral in the Old Quarter. Built in 1866 and resembling Notre Dame de Paris.

Hubby trying out a buyer’s load

Graduation inside the Imperial Citadel

The Imperial Citadel was built in the 11th Century and many of the old structures are still standing. The Imperial Japanese Army used it to imprison 4,000 French colonial soldiers in 1945.

Expertly manicured bonsai trees are found all around the Citadel.

Restaurants

I thought I would mention some of the restaurants we ate in as they were all so good.

La Place: A small cafe opposite St. Joseph’s Cathedral. If you sit upstairs you can see the Cathedral from the window. Cute cafe serving Vietnamese food.
Pots and Pans: Sadly this is no longer in operation. Such a great find as they trained staff on the premises and the service and food were excellent.
La Verticale: Fine French dining in the old French Quarter.
La Badiane: Another French restaurant with excellent service. Try and book downstairs, where there is more atmosphere.

Just a couple of the dishes we enjoyed!

Ha Long Bay Cruise

After three nights in Hanoi, the next day we were setting off for Ha Long Bay for a 1 night/2 day cruise. I think most people break up their stay in Hanoi by doing this. We actually cancelled this trip due to a typhoon forecast to hit Hanoi the day before. Luckily we were able to reinstate this trip as it was and has been one of the best trips we’ve ever done. It’s the perfect break after the hustle and bustle of Hanoi. We had booked with Aphrodite Cruises.

Our Itinerary – Day One

7.30 am: We were picked up from our hotel by the tour’s small bus and then went onto pick up other passengers around Hanoi. During the four hour journey we slowly got to know some of them who would be joining us on our mini cruise. The journey seemed endless especially as we had a 30 minute obligatory stop at a restaurant/souvenir type of warehouse.

11.30 am: Arrived at Ha Long Bay.

12 pm: Everyone boarded the ship and we were taken to our cabins and told to meet on deck to have lunch and also meet the fabulous crew.

This ship features just 17 luxury cabins and is served by a five star crew.

On the top deck where cocktails would be served

1 – 2 pm: Lunchtime. A gourmet delight and so well presented.

3 – 5 pm After lunch we sailed onto Thien Cung Cave. A sprawling natural grotto with intricate stalactite & stalagmite formations & colourful lighting.

From outside and inside the cave
The bottom left looks like a giant pair of hanging legs with boots on!

5 pm onwards: The time from here was filled with a cookery lesson, how to drink saki and enjoy a cocktail or two on the top deck. Then dinner was served on the dining deck. It was amazing how many other cruise ships were out in the bay with us. I think the whole area is in great danger of being overpopulated with cruise ships.

Day Two

I woke up to the sound of running water and when I got out of bed found it was coming from our bathroom! The bidet hose had come loose and was gushing upwards like a fountain. I opened the cabin door and shouted for help and as two or three crew members came running in the room, I had no choice but to jump back into bed with hubby while they tried to fix the problem. They managed to stop the leak but emerged from the bathroom soaking wet! We were offered a change of cabin but as we were packing up that day it seemed pointless to move. Luckily not too much damage was done. From then on it was all go, go, go!

First a quick snack before breakfast and then onto a smaller boat to be taken to a beach for swimming or a walk. The beach was on Ti Top Island. We were only allowed one hour there as so many other cruise ships were waiting for their turn. The sea is so crowded that it’s impossible to actually swim. Anthony decided to walk to to the top of the island, but even that was a struggle as many people were coming down as others were going up. Back to the ship for another fabulous meal. Then it was time to pack up, sail away and say goodbye to our fantastic crew.

At the beach!

Relaxing on the way home

If you ever go to Hanoi I highly recommend taking a cruise to Ha Long Bay. It was one of the highlights to our trip.

As always thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed this post!

My A – Z travel challenge – Places I have been – 😎🌍 – A

I thought it would be a fun idea to write an A to Z of places I’ve in the past, as travelling in the present is not an option at the moment. Also it will certainly keep me occupied during this isolation period. So here goes … A is for Alcatraz, Amundon Island, An Bang […]

A is for Alcatraz, Amundon Island, An Bang Beach and Athens

Alcatraz, San Francisco

During our trip to USA a few years back we did the tour of Alcatraz. We were actually very lucky to go as I didn’t realise how popular this place is and I managed to book the last spot on the last day of our stay in San Francisco.

Alcatraz was an operating prison from 1934 to 1963 and was “home” to the infamous Al Capone. Before 1934 it was a US Military prison from the late 1850’s. No-one ever managed to escape from “The Rock” although many attempts were made.

It certainly looked a bleak place and no attempt has really been made to restore it, for historical purposes. There is an exhibition room there and at the time we visited was showing prisoners’ stories about why they were sentenced.

🔫 💣 🔪

Amundon Island, Sweden

My trip to this nature island was very recent, just last year. We went to Gothenburg for three days to visit my cousin and his family. It took a while to reach the island, first a tram and then a bus, around an hour’s journey. Then at my slow pace of walking another hour of walking around the island! This island is great for snorkelling and camping, during the summer months of course!

At the start of our walk

Ominous looking clouds

My mum looking very glamorous in her Russian hat

This is where I walked the plank

🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳

An Bang Beach, Vietnam

This has to be one of my favourite beaches. Just a short drive from Hoi An town or just borrow one of the many bikes the resorts offer and cycle. When we went there were a few casual cafes along the beach, although I think it must be more built up now. If you bought a drink you could get a sun bed, not a bad deal at all! The only thing was the closeness of the beds, they were so close you had to crawl from the end of the bed. Very easy to eavesdrop on your neighbour’s conversations. The service was five star, with the staff from the cafe serving you on the beach. There was also free wifi – on the beach! Some people go to Hoi An without ever realising that there is a fantastic beach there.

🏖 🏖 🏖 🏖 🏖 🏖

Athens

Athens was one of our ports of call on a Mediterranean cruise we took a few years ago. We did the obligatory tour of the Acropolis and then wandered around Athens on our own. I first went to Athens when I was 18 when it was allowed to walk and climb over the ruins of the Acropolis. I suppose due to the wear and tear of this ancient site they have had to stop this and it is now tightly controlled by security guards, shouting and whistling at sightseers not to step out of line!

Propylaea, Acropolis, Athens — Propylaea, Acropolis The ancient principal entryway to the Acropolis

And that concludes A!

Diverse Da Nang – May 2018

Da Nang is the third largest city in Vietnam and most people visit here for the amazing beaches. Its close to Hoi An and Hue. It has a great laid back atmosphere and also offers a range of accommodation from luxury to budget.

We drove from Hue with Hue Private Tours again and this time went through the tunnel. Arriving at our hotel – Belle Maison – too early to check in, we looked for a place for lunch. Strangely the manager would not recommend any seafood restaurants around the hotel as he said the fish might not be too fresh! So we headed away from the beach across the river to the Waterfront restaurant. A great find and we had a gourmet lunch.

Burrato cheese and tomato salad with mango

fresh rice paper rolls

Crab cakes with chilli and mango salsa

Back to the hotel for check in and found we had been upgraded to a family size room with ocean front views!

Da Nang beach front — Great view but so many people!

Heading down to the beach to check out the water we found there was not much room to move! There were a crazy amount of people in the sea, most could not swim as they were all in rubber rings, there was a small mountain of them on the beach for hire. This part of the shoreline is extremely popular with local families. Also hardly any wear swim suits! Just swim in their clothes.
Later we went up to the 21st floor to have cocktails at the Sky Lounge. Stunning views!

Passionfruit Mojito

Sky 21 Lounge

For the next couple of days it was just going to be relaxation – no more trips. So the next day we tried further down the beach where it seemed less crowded and found some nicer sunbeds in front of the Holiday Beach resort. Great service from the staff on the beach there.
Da Nang has the most amazing coast line and it goes on for miles. The sea is lovely and warm and not rough at all – just the way I like it!

More cocktails that night and then dinner at Madam Lan’s with a couple of fellow Australians who we had met at the hotel. After reading good reviews about this restaurant must say we were all a bit disappointed with the blandness of the food.

The next day we headed off to the Novotel for breakfast, as breakfast at the Belle Maison was so busy, a table was an hour long wait! Took some snaps on the top of the hotel there.

So after breakfast we thought we would have a look at another beach much further along the coast. The Centara Sandy Beach Resort offered day tickets for a reasonable price where we got to spend the day around the pool and their beach front. Had an incredible afternoon here and I think it will be our next holiday destination.
Finally finished off our three days here with dinner at the Waterfront restaurant.

To sum up Da Nang will definitely be on my list again and I can honestly say that Vietnam is now my favourite country in Asia.

Historical Hue – May 2018

Hue is the ancient capital of Vietnam and is a city in Central Vietnam, and sits on the banks of the Perfume River. There are many historical monuments here and we hope to visit a few in the three days we will spend here. Australian passport holders do require a visa which is easily obtainable online. Vietnamese currency is the dong.

We flew into Da Nang to meet our driver Alex, who I had organised online through Hue Private Cars. It was a great service, so nice to be met at the airport instead of waiting in line for a taxi and be bombarded by different companies trying to offer you a taxi. I had agreed on a route beforehand to Hue which was over the Hai Van Pass and not through the tunnel. The day was perfect for travelling the three hour drive to our hotel in Hue. There was breathtaking scenery on the way and we stopped at a very tranquil place for lunch just past Lang Co Beach.

Hai Van Pass

View from the top

Lang Co Beach

Waiting for a La Rue

Arriving at our hotel at around 4pm we checked in to a fantastically large room. We were staying at the Saigon Moirin. This hotel dated back to 1901 and the French owners have tried very hard to keep it in line with its origins. Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard stayed here on their honeymoon and every night we were treated to the film “The Dictator” on the screen in the garden!

Views from our room and the hotel:

Busy Bridge

corridor to our room

Saigon Moirin Garden

Enjoying a cocktail

From our balcony

Sunset from the balcony

The road in front of our hotel was extremely busy, with the traffic lights sometimes working sometimes not. So Anthony just grabbed my hand and off we went, dodging motor cycles to get to the otherside. How the motor cycles miss each other is a mystery!

Dinner that night was at a Vietnamese restaurant called Elegant Vietnam which I had read good reviews about. We were not disappointed especially with the good wine list! The service was fantastic and food excellent.

For the next two days I used the hotel concierge to organise some trips for us as they had such interesting trips on offer. On the first day we were driven to some very famous tombs and the hidden bridge. To begin with we went first to the hidden bridge – Thanh Toan. It was incredibly hot!

Elegant Vietnamese Gentleman

Baby chicks

Red Tiled Thanh Toan Bridge

Plowing the fields

Hue, Vietnam

We then went to Khai Dinh Tombs and Minh Mang Tombs. Below are some shots from Khai Dinh. Beautiful ceramic tile decoration.

Dinner that night was at Les Jardines de la Carambole just across the river. What a fantastic restaurant and great service too. It is off the beaten track so you need to “google map” it. Delicious food and good wine.