Vibrant Vietnam with the family
“What do you mean the body isn’t here, this can’t be happening again!”
This was my third trip to Hanoi and for the 3rd time in 26 years I had timed my visit to coincide with Uncle Ho being shipped back to Moscow for a spot of maintenance and re-embalming.
Luckily this was the only disappointment of my trip to Vietnam, which always seems to excite and amaze, and it was great to see this through the eyes of my two teenage daughters who had never before experienced the close quarter chaos of Asian cities.
Our first stop was Hanoi where we had 3 nights, plenty of time to explore the sights and to shop for the many “genuine” designer named goods. We visited the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and houses complex and the Temple of Literature, we did a jeep tour of Old Hanoi taking in sights from the War, relics of its colonial past and more modern sights such as Train street. We also did an evening street food tour which was a great way to try many different Vietnam staples encompassing the many different tastes and textures, all washed down with an Egg-coffee, who could ask for more!
We stayed in a lovely hotel with a rooftop pool which was just the ticket as daytime temperatures were in the 30’s and nighttime temperatures were not much less. The girls loved the pool and an afternoon dip was just the thing to refresh them before hitting the shops before dinner each evening.
From Hanoi we headed to Hue, the former imperial capital of Vietnam where we did a motorbike tour. After a safety briefing your adventure begins. You visit Hue’s Citadel and forbidden Purple City and learn about Vietnam’s emperors and their intriguing histories. It is here that the emperor lived with his wife, concubines, eunuchs and flock of staff. The buildings are currently being restored to their former glory, bringing the complex back to life and igniting your imagination. Sights included; Flag Tower, Ngo Mon Gate, Nine Dynastic Urns, Nine Holy Cannons, Thai Hoa Palace, Forbidden Purple City (Tu Cam Thanh). During the tour we rode through little laneways, beside canals and through local markets, enroute to visit Tu Duc tomb and the Thien Mu pagoda . Lunch was included and was a delicious traditional Buddhist meal. This was a truly action packed day of scenery, history, culture and cuisine.
The next day we headed to Hoi An, via the Hai Van pass and Marble mountain. Hoi An is on Vietnam’s central coast and is known for its well-preserved Ancient Town, cut through with canals. This former port city’s melting-pot history is reflected in its architecture, a mix of eras and styles from wooden Chinese shophouses and temples to colorful French colonial buildings, ornate Vietnamese tube houses and the iconic Japanese Covered Bridge with its pagoda. It is a shopper’s paradise and has also found fame as a center for tailoring, enabling you to have clothes or shoes tailormade in a matter of hours. We enjoyed 4 nights here in a lovely hotel with a large inviting pool. We did another motorbike tour which took us through the back streets of Hoi an and out into the countryside to see small local villages and to experience a basket boat tour and fish for crabs. The tour finished with lunch which of course included local delicacies from this central Vietnam region.
As Hoi An is known for its cuisine we also spent a morning at the famous Red Bridge cooking school where we attempted to cook traditional dishes and tried our hand at vegetable carving, the outcomes were predictable but the flavours were anything but and the morning ended with a delicious meal with possibly more input from the chefs than the guests.
With that our time in Vietnam was up and we flew home from Danang. The kids loved it and are already planning their trip to Southern Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City in the not to distant future!
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