@travellingwiththeateam

A day of two halves.

The morning travelling by bus through coastal rice paddies and the spectacular Hai Ann Pass.

This afternoon exploring the beautifully preserved town of Hoi An, which retains a feel of centuries past.

On the drive over we had a number of photo stops to register the amazing scenery and structures that Vietnam is now famous for.

The lake sits in a stunning spot, with mountains behind and unspoilt views.

As it was still early, we were able to see the fishing boats before they headed off into the lake to check their nets and the days catch.

The view was so serene and peaceful, we felt honoured to be able to see it with so few people around.

The drive through the hills took us across a railway track just at the moment a train was passing. Whilst Andy rushed out to take a photo, Michelle kept the seats warm on the coach!

Whilst we watched the train go by, across the road was a spectacular view of a nearby village sitting on a sandy bay, accessed via a giant bridge link.

Our next photo stop was in the coastal city of Da Nang, voted the No. 1 place to live in Vietnam. The growing city sits on the River Han, with the newest link being the Dragon bridge.

Dragons are seen as good luck in Vietnam and so they don’t just have them as part of a bridge link but also on monuments.

There is another famous structure close-by called the Love Bridge and is adorned with love locks.

A short drive on from the bridges we stopped at a local cafe, for a French inspired baguette sandwich called the Banh. They add their own take on sandwich filling with spicy sauce alongside the traditional ham and lettuce.

The food stop proved to be a big success with Michelle.

By early afternoon we had arrived at our hotel on the outskirts of Hoi An. It’s a beautiful little boutique place with a pool, which we soon jumped into to cool off.

Next stop Hoi An centre, via a cool little buggy with the rest of the travel group.

The town of Hoi An has influences from China, Portugal, France and Thailand as a result of their trading history from the 17th century onwards.

The temple is adorned with long spirary incense sticks that will burn for as long as 3 weeks at a time. They make the temple take on a whole different dimension and perspective.

The centre is awash with lanterns which when lit in the evening create this colourful unforgettable scene.

Wherever you look the lanterns appear and we were excited to see them lit once darkness fell.

We’ve just had a fabulous evening enjoying the special and wonderful town with some lovely people, Marc and Shaun.

We are sold on Vietnam it’s a great country and one we are loving spending time in!

Today we saw Hue like a local, from the back of a motorbike. We each had a local guide who whizzed us from place to place taking in the historic sights.

Our first stop on the days tour was Thanh Toan an 18th century covered bridge leading on to the local village market.

On a nearby stream were paper waterlilies all in a line, which light up in the evening.

From there we travelled on to a 17th century Buddhist monastery at Thien Mu Pagonda and saw the car that belonged to Thich Quang Duc, the monk who self-immolated in 1963 in protest against the treatment of Buddhist by the South Vietnamese regime.

Arriving at the monastery we were struck by the beauty of the surrounding countryside as well as the heat of the day. Even though it was only 9am, it had already reached 34c.

The monastery was set up on the hill and is home to the monks who work, eat and pray. On one of the walls there was their daily routine listed, with a wake up time of 3.30am and an hours session of Kung Fu at 4am!

Within the temple a group of locals and a female monk were chanting and praying. It had a peaceful and relaxing feel and felt welcoming.

Despite the heat we had a walk around the beautiful gardens to marvel at the flowers and bonsai trees.

It was then time to get back on the motorbike and a quick stop at a local market selling incense sticks, where we each got the opportunity to make one with scented lemongrass.

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We then visited the lake where the royal tomb of Emperor Tu Duc is buried, although the exact location remains a secret.

As the heat rose, we decided to take a rest under a Pagoda and enjoy the view of the lake and the locals coming and going.

Our last but one step, was lunch at a female monastery and a vegetarian feast. We both loved it and are becoming converts to this way of eating and living.

The motorcycle tour eventually ended back at the hotel around 1.30pm. Big thanks to our guides for a great experience.

After a relaxing afternoon catching up on sleep, we then met for an early evening walking tour of Hue. It’s been a hot day and despite it being 7pm the temperature on the large neon sign near our hotel showed 33c.

Hue is a pretty city with a really friendly feel to it. As part of our tour we headed to a local restaurant to try some sweet bean desserts. A slightly odd mix of foods from a western perspective, combining amongst other things a savoury pork with a sweet sugary coating of tapioca.

Some of the dishes looked like we were on an episode of I’m a Celebrity, with an eyeball styled dish which tasted a lot better than they first appeared.

After our tasting sensation of the sweet dishes, we took a wander along the river and sat and listened to some local singers alongside the locals and a bevy of their young children.

In the last 5yrs a new bridge has been constructed on the river and each night it’s lit by ever changing coloured lights. We managed to catch the silver and gold display.

We finally found our way to where the bars and restaurants were located and were enticed into a bar playing live music and were treated to free shots as we celebrated Christina’s 35th bday.

After a few more drinks at the bar, the desire for nourishment kicked in and we moved to a pizza restaurant close by for some comfort food.

Before we knew it, 11pm arrived and it was time to head back after an enjoyable night celebrating Christina’s bday in at least 3 bars and restaurants!

Another early start tomorrow as we get back on the road and head south by coach to the city of Hoi An.

What a fun time we had last night, drinking G&T’e on the deck of the boat looking out on the islands in the bay before singing karaoke until late!

The morning started early with a 7.15am boat trip the Hang Sung Sot caves, some of the largest in Northern Vietnam.

In an effort to avoid the heat of the day, along with the crowds, we arrived at the caves for 7.30am and entered into a magical world with some of the most spectacular rock formations backlit to produce a range of stunning colours.

Walking around, the place had a moon like feel and was on a scale we hadn’t expected with huge voids going off into the darkness.

The roof of the caves had a waver like effect, resulting from a high water table in the past causing this ripple effect.

After an amazing hour in the caves, we popped back into the sunlight and caught a small speed boat back to our boat and slowly started our return to the mainland.

How the other half (Chinese) travel…!

The cook on board the boat was able to create some of the most amazing shapes from vegetables making a fishing net, flower and a rose – incredible to watch him in action.

After a 3hr drive back to Hanoi and a quick change we headed out to properly explore the bustling city that is Hanoi. As we only had a few hours, we spent all our time in the Old French Quarter.

Many of the streets continue to sell the same things as they have done forget hundreds of years – so there is an art street, craft street, shoe street, even a sunglasses street!

We had been told about the special coffee they sell in the city, essentially egg coffee which tasted delicious and was like a meal in itself. Best described as custard with coffee!

We then spent the next couple of hours wandering through the these amazing streets full to the brim with activity and interesting shops and bars.

We came across a really interesting shop seeking Hanoi monopoly and found some playing cards, to replace those taken by the Laos police at the train station.

With a night train journey to Hue to look forward to tonight, we stopped off at a restaurant with views over the nearby streets and treated ourselves to some local beer and spring rolls and soup.

After much searching we eventually found the infamous Train Street where trains pass through a very narrow bar laden street. narrrow

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After exploring the city, we then found ourselves on the way to the train station for the 9pm sleeper train to Hue and a 14hr journey through the countryside. What an experience. Not the most roomy of trains, but it was still first class with 4 bunk beds to a 6ft x 6ft cabin.

Ready for the next part of our adventure and the former royal city of Hue. Hopefully we will say goodbye to the heavy rain too, as it’s currently coming into the train cabin and making the floor around us all wet!!!

We woke at 6.30am, still with 4hrs to go on our overnight train journey from Hanoi to Hue.

Despite a couple of beers & some peanut flavoured whiskey sleep didn’t come easy to either of us and we spent the first hours of light watching the countryside pass by.

As we neared Hue, we went along the train in search of a warm drink and eventually came across the ‘buffet car’, which was slightly makeshift but made the best strong black Vietnamese coffee.

After arriving too early to check into our hotel in Hue, we dropped off our bags and made our way to a nearby restaurant for an early lunch.

We decided to try a local delicacy, a chicken hotpot with veggies and noodles, which proved to be a great success, being both tasty and v filling.

From there we went to a coffee shop which served a local specialty, salted coffee, an unusual combination but a great one. Like the egg coffee in Hanoi it was very sweet and like a dessert in a glass.

After filling up with food and coffee, we made our way to Dong Ba Market to check out the produce and marvelled at the range of fruit, veg and meats on offer – our guide advised us that people visit every day, hence the fresh food always on offer.

In late afternoon, we went for a tour of the imperial citadel, a sprawling city within a city which contains the remains of temples, state houses and the emperors palace.

Much of the citadel was damaged during WWII when the Japanese were in occupation and bombed by the Allies. As a result some of the main buildings, including the original palace were destroyed.

Following grants from the government, the Vietnamese have been able to carefully rebuild a reproduction of the former palace, which recently opened and acts as a museum for royal artefacts.

After an enjoyable 3hrs meandering around the citadel grounds, we returned to the hotel for a quick shower and change before heading to dinner at a nearby homestay.

On arrival for our dinner, Andy was offered a taste of a local plant extract which can be chewed and helps to stain your teeth black (!!). It has a side effect that numbs your gums which Andy says was pleasant, although his resulting dark stained smile wasn’t quite so pleasant.

Dinner was a real triumph, with a fantastic 4 course meal made by the husband and wife team who introduced us to a range of new dishes, notably one involving boiled eggs where the embryo has developed and the resulting shell contains an object with hair and feathers, which was off putting for the majority of us. That said our hosts wolfed it done in a matter of a couple of mouthfuls.

Dinner finished around 10pm, so we retired to bed to prepare ourselves for tomorrow’s action packed motorbike tour of the city and lunch at a nunnery on the outskirts. Looking forward to it!

After less than 24hrs in Hanoi, we said a brief goodbye to the city and started a 2.5hr drive east to the famous Halong Bay.

On the way we stopped at a charity backed by Intrepid that recycles old plastic and denim and turns them into bags and clothes.

The employee at the recycling charity are all retired women who were keen to keep working and make use of their handicraft skills.

After a short presentation, we were all treated to a free bag with a few purchasing other up-cycled items.

After arriving in Halong Bay we took a short ferry ride to our boat for the next 36hrs as we toured around the 1,969 islands that make up this beautiful and otherworldly place.

The landscape is stunning with steep small limestone islands created from seismic activity millions of years ago. Rumour has it that James Cameron was inspired to create the Avatar movie world after visiting the area.

Due to the limestone rock, the erosion has created numerous caves across the small islands, a couple of which we plan to visit tomorrow.

As we toured around the islands, we can across a whole range of boats, some small and traditional and also some Uber large vessels that carry around the wealthy Chinese tourists.

After mooring up, we had a fantastic lunch looking out across this amazing backdrop.

There were a mix of sandy coves, grottoes ever changing by the erosion from the wind and rain.

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Today was a day of goodbyes to Laos and our travel guide Ning, followed by a hello to Hanoi and our new guide Nhan.

In between there was a fair bit of hanging around, in part down to the rain in Laos and the delay in our flight meaning we didn’t arrive in Vietnam until 5pm.

In between times, we managed to do and see some stuff.

Andy ignored the rain and got another early morning run in snaking his way around Vientiane to his 10k target.

Post breakfast we said our goodbyes to our guide Ning and Michelle & Cathy our two Aussies who were heading home via Singapore.

The rest of the morning was spent staring either at a book, travel guide or the rain, before we departed at midday to the airport and our Laos Airways flight to Hanoi. , headed out in the rain at 7am for a 10k run around Vientiane.

Once at the airport, we relaxed with a ‘crisp’ lunch & caught up with some more reading, before eventually leaving a hour late to Vietnam.

The flight whilst delayed, turned out to shorter than expected at sub an hour and after a relatively smooth flight and the return of the sunshine we arrived in Hanoi late afternoon.

Customs & baggage collection were straightforward and within an hour we were on a coach heading into this mega city of 9m people with its mass of motorbikes.

We are staying in the Old Town close to the French quarter and after our meet and greet with our new guide Nhan and two additional group members Shaun and Christie.

With hunger pains kicking in, we arrived at a cool Vietnamese restaurant called Koto where we were treated to a set menu of Pho pork soup, chicken thighs, beef joint with sticky rice and vegetables, followed by fruit in a coconut milk. It was a big hit and was a great intro to this new country.

After dinner we had a brief wander around the area close to the hotel, to pick up snacks for our trip to Ha Long Bay tomorrow and the all important cash withdrawal to keep us going for the next few days.

We are both impressed with what we’ve seen to date in Hanoi and looking forward to our next 10 days exploring the wider country.

The morning started early with a 8am departure from Vang Vieng and a 2hr coach trip to the capital city of Laos, Vientiane.

After a swift morning check-in at our latest hotel, we went out on a walking tour of the city with a local guide. The French influence is notable, with a number of old colonial buildings interdispersed with more modern ‘communist’ styled offices.

Our first stop was the Wat Srisaket temple, the oldest building in the city, which survived the war between Laos and Thailand in the 1820’s when the rest of the city was burned to the ground.

It’s been a few days since we last saw a Buddha and today we were treated to the sight of several hundred surrounding the ancient temple. Historically it was painted in vivid colours, however a flood in the 1960’s removed the paint on all low lying temple buildings.

After obtaining some funding, the temple area has been partially repaired and repainted, however this covers only a partial section of one of the wings.

The main temple is used by local people making offerings, but sadly under invested with much of the mosaics either faded or had disappeared altogether.

The tour around the temple grounds meant dipping into a heat of 36c, making shade a big attraction.

One of the outer buildings comprised seven gold Buddhas, representing the seven days of the week and the ‘circle of life’.

Our next stop was a visit to the Victory Gate with its multiple themes, a building styled on the Arc de triomphe in Paris, with an Indian styled roof structure, all funded by the Americans.

The Arc sat at the end of a huge boulevard, making for a very French feel.

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Our last visit on the tour was to COPE Center (Cooperative Orthotic & Prosthetic Enterprise) which assists victims of land mines across Laos as a result of the Vietnam/American War.

The statistics of the American bombing of Laos are incredible, with an average of one bombing raid for every 8 minute over an 8yr period. Sadly 30% of the bombs failed to explode and many remain across the countryside in fields. As a result there has been 25,000 deaths, mainly of children, since the war ended.

The bombs that were dropped had a scatter effect and comprised up to 600 smaller incendiary devices. The coverage was huge and has left the country comprised in many of the rural areas.

It’s a story seldom told in the west and makes the Vietnam war even more horrific, particularly as Laos was neutral and not involved in the conflict.

It was a sobering end to our tour, but one we are glad to have witnessed.

This afternoon we had a more leisurely time, with a visit to a French bakery and then a wander around the city to see some of the other temples and monuments.

Tonight we said goodbye to our two Oz girls from Western Australia, they depart to Singapore tomorrow whilst the rest of the group move on to Hanoi. We went out to dinner to celebrate and on the way past the keep-fit class dancing in the park. From there we saw the bars on the Mekong River, before heading to a bar nearby for some drinks & Laos cuisine.

Tomorrow we say goodbye to Laos and also our guide, Ning and pick up a flight to Hanoi, before meeting our new travellers for the next stage of our South East Asia adventure.

After an afternoon on the river kayaking yesterday, we decided to do some exploring on land and went out to the famous Tam Jung Caves.

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The caves sit on the outskirts of Vanguard Vieng, close to the river. The water at the base of the mountains was so clear and inviting.

After crossing a makeshift wooden bridge, the original one having been lost in a prior flooding a year or so ago, we arrived at the foot of the steps leading up to the cave entrance.

Once inside the caves, they split into two main areas which spread out for several hundred feet eventually ending with an opening facing out from the hill side.

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Whilst the caves were lit, the electricity connections were open to the elements with dripping water close by. Not sure what health & safety experts would have made of it!

Once back outside the sun made a welcome return and we had a wander around the town and watched a local fisherman skinning their mornings catch.

This afternoon we had some admin to sort with the preparation for our China visa applications. This took the best part of 2.5hrs and we’re still not sure if they are done correctly, such was the amount of info required and the criteria for our photos. We have an appointment at the Chinese embassy in Bangkok on the 10th June, so hopefully things will get sorted then.

After the pain of the form filling, Andy decided to take on some physical pain, with a 10k run around Vanguard Vieng and take in the view of the river and mountains.

This evening we headed out with a few of the other members of our group to a riverside restaurant called Greens, a popular haunt with visiting tourists and where every other voice was either English, Australian or Canadian!

Post our meal, we decided to push on to a local bar and guess what it was an Irish themed place called Gary’s selling Guinness amongst other local beers.

Tomorrow we move on to our last stop in Laos the capital city of Vientiane. We have an organised tour of the city along with a visit to COPE (cooperative orthotic and prosthetic enterprise), a charity for land mine & cluster bomb victims resulting from the Vietnam/American war that raged in Laos from 1968 to 1973.

After an enjoyable 3 nights in Luang Prabang, we are off by high speed train to Vang Vieng.

The train experience proved to be very eventful, but not necessarily for the best reasons. After arriving at the Chinese run train station, we had an hour to spare, so Andy, Marc and Ryan (two of the other guys on our tour) decided to find a table to play cards to idle away the time. After 5mins we were approached by one of the security officers who proceeded to ask for the cards and innocently Andy thought they might want to play. The truth was altogether different, they explained to our guide that we needed to go to their interview room as they claimed we were gambling, an illegal offence in public. Next thing the boys are off in a room with 2 officers talking about who knows that, with threats of being taken to jail! As it turns out they were looking for money in order for us to ‘get out of trouble’. After 15mins in the room, we each had to pay a ‘fine’ of 200,000 kip (£10) to be released. Not a pleasant experience and to make matters worse they kept the playing cards……!

Once on the train the 1hr journey was thankfully trouble free and we soon hit a travelling speed of 161kph – lightning fast by Laos standards.

It was a hot day on our arrival in Vang Vieng, so within 10mins we had unpacked and we hit the hotel pool to enjoy the views of the river and mountains.

Lunch was at a nearby cafe called Naked Coffee where we indulged in a proper caffeine fix along with a proper chicken sandwich.

After a little downtime back at the hotel pool, it was off to do some kayaking on the river.

And then we were off, down the river for a 2hr/12k route back to our hotel.

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What a fantastic way to see the countryside – also good fun mucking around in the water, with the occasional water fight with the instructors & Marc et al.

Andy being the competitive type, got a little cocksure through one of the rapids and he and his co-pilot ended up turning the kayak over and they went for an early swim in the river. Thankfully no damage done and they were soon back at the front of the pack.

This evening we went for dinner at a restaurant in town. On the way we had a look around and took in a night market and watched the kids playing in the street.

As we reached the restaurant the skies turned dark and within a matter of minutes the heavens opened and a biblical rain descended.

As the rain fell, we indulged in some cocktails from the dry of the restaurant.

The Laos rice dishes were a big hit and we tucked in accompanied by Andy’s new find, Laos IPA.

Tomorrow we are off on a morning walk along the river and to some nearby caves, before having the rest of the day to go solo and either chill by the pool or try out another water sport.

Very early 5.45am alarm call so we can join the almsgiving for the local monks.

Sadly after waiting 30mins for the monk’s minibus, we got news that the vehicle had broken down, so they wouldn’t be able to make it. We then instigated Plan B, and a visit to the nearby monk college to offer our food to them instead.

Arriving at the monk college, we met with the youngest monks, two boys who were 14 and 11 and looked a little lost and unsure when we turned up!

After quickly finishing dishes to help receive our offerings of bananas, sticky rice and toothpaste (a bit random we admit) they kindly said a blessing for the gifts and we then got a chance to have a brief chat with the boys. Turns out they get up each morning at 3.30am, so they’d been up and about for a while when we rocked up.

We then briefly returned to the hotel for a quick abreakfast, before preparing for our main excursion of the day, a trip to the elephant sanctuary at Mandalao.

This was the trip we’d both been looking forward to and we weren’t disappointed. After a brief intro from the sanctuary guides we changed into the footwear provided and readied ourselves for a short boat trip to visit the elephants.

Our meeting with the elephants was incredible and life affirming. Whilst large in size, they are friendly (especially when food is on offer) and very playful as we saw when a mother and daughter went for a dip in the river. The following photos show a glimpse of our time with these wonderful elephants in their natural habitat.

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This morning has been a great experience and one we won’t forget in a long while.

Once we returned to the hotel and had showered & changed, we went for a wander around the local market looking for a gift for our daughter Amelia – good news we found some jewellery we think she’ll like when we see her in Bangkok in a few weeks time!

View of the city post Andy’s Thai foot massage, drinks at a French cafe and pizza at the street market. We had a fun time with our Aussie travel pal, Marc who joined us for dinner when we ended up chatting about a load of stuff, notably people’s profile colour – turns out Michelle is the lady in green!

Finally once back at the hotel we had an amusing hour with Marc and Ian, listening to music and reminiscing about the artists and our favourite tunes.

Tomorrow we start our travels again and pick up the high speed train to Vangvieng for some water sports action, hiking and if time permits some sun worshipping.