Sunny Rugby Station

First to drop our bags - we arrived at 2.54 and check-in opened at 2.55 🎉

Lounge life 🤩

Ted is already over being photographed 😬

The view from our hotel room is pretty cool

The women ride in incredible outfits!

Vietnamese rice paper pizza

The 24 hour flower market

One of my favourite dishes - beef and papaya salad 😋

Ricky teaching us about how the Vietnamese get their children to eat vegetables 🤣

No smelly fruit allowed 🤣

No more photos - and I mean it 🙄

Waiting to check-in

Sea snail fisherman on the beach

😍

Pre-dinner drinks

View from the breakfast table

Starfish from the fisherman’s net. He let us release them back into the ocean

Our ‘driveway’ 🤣

Living our best life

Vietnamese flotsam!

Ted enjoying the swing

A beautiful bathroom decoration in our room

The sea snail fisherman hard at work

Seafood bbq at the hotel

Ted made a friend! Victor is 11 today so they’re having fun in the pool

Except the ones I t take 🙄

Zoom out and Mui Ne has an unfortunate reality. We’ll stick to the pool

The walk back up was not nearly as much fun

A chilled morning ☺️

Got some SATs revision in 😇

Fishing village with the lovely coconut boats

Man & big snake. Ted was not keen 🤣

Ted getting all independent buying his own ice cream

Went for a walk down the Fairy Stream. Didn’t see any fairies but did spot a lizard and a man with a very large snake

At least this time round I could follow the GPS and track our progress! Although this was occasionally depressing when we were driving round in circles 🤣

Room for me feet, usb chargers and a tv 🎉

At 140000 dong for both of us (about £4.50) this meal was a delicious bargain!

At least the puppy kept us entertained while we waited 😍

Finally in Nha Trang with Pho Bo making everything better

Night lights on the bus

Finally on the main bus (no. 2 of 3) You know it’s going to be a longer journey if they give a bed! 🤣

A very lazy gecko waving us off

Beautiful decorations everyegere

Just had to finish it off by sharing a crepe - 40000 dong (about £1.20) well spent!

Beautiful scenery for Ted

This really confused us - although they do celebrate Tet (New Year) in February/March so maybe Christmas is in April? 🤣

The cable car to Hon Tre to visit VinWonders - Asian tourism at its best.

A beautiful bust expensive restaurant that we walked by

We discovered a gorgeous bakery 2 mins from our hotel

Ted is still not a fan of being photographed 🙄

These cute little huts right off the beach seemed to be rented by families to eat under in the shade

Ted said I looked very ‘Bougie’ today 😆

The entrance to the Hot Springs

Ted made a new ‘friend’ who pushed him round 🤣

Lunch in the shade

It’s not soup!

The sleeping buddha

The sitting Buddha

Urn where Buddhists light incense and say a prayer

Beautiful calm surroundings after the crazy city

Chilling in the shade of the palm trees

The coconut coffee was immense

The entrance to the temple

Inside the temple base

Ted is STILL not a fan of pics 😩🙏🏻🤞🏻

Ted in the mineral pool that’s warmer than a bath 🛁

The mud bath turned out to be one of our highlights! Ted was very unsure but soon relaxed 😎

My very best ever tan!!

Hopefully it won’t be four hours late like the last bus 😇

The streets are just beautiful

I could literally have bought the whole store!

This lucky lady sold me a few to bring home - it was my first serious bargaining attempt and I’m not sure how I did but we both seemed happy with the price. At 32000Dong to the pound sometimes it feels weird bartering over what is essentially a few quid but they seem to enjoy it!

I didn’t buy them all - but I definitely wanted to!

The Japanese covered bridge links the Chinese and Japanese areas of the town. It has only just reopened after undergoing major renovations.

Eventually we had to retreat to a roof top

On every corner you can watch people making the beautiful lanterns and tomorrow we’ve booked a class!

A lot of buildings and lanterns are yellow as it’s seen as a sign of good luck

Ted happy - before the temperature hit 42degrees 🥵🥵🥵

To end the afternoon we took a boat ride back to Hoi An just as the sun was starting to set

In front of the temples are bomb craters from 1969

The original 16th century sculpture of Shiva is protected inside now.

The electric car ride back down the hill was fun too!

Many of the heads on the statues are recent additions as they were found headless like the one on the left \240- nobody knows why.

Ted happy under the shade of the jackfruit tree 🥰

Crab fishing off the basket boat

I managed to get Ted in a couple of pics willingly 🤣

Ted & Ben built a race car circuit

The crazy night market

Coconut pods 🥥🌴

Relaxing with a coconut coffee on the beach

Our evening meal overlooked the river where you can go in a boat and release a tea light in memory of a loved one

These beautiful paper decorations just didn’t look like they’d make it home in one piece

Our new Aussie friends played cards with us over a mega Vietnamese lunch

Our resident bathroom frog

Our beautifullyl rustic (but ac and en suite!) beach hut

Such a peaceful float through the coconut palm groves

Yep. We did this. Ted was reluctant at first but with a bit of cajoling from our new Aussie friends he tried it - and loved it!

I was a bit dizzy getting off though!

Alpine Coaster!

The rose ice cream - at £1.45 it was very expensive for Vietnam!

Yes it’s purely built for tourism purposes but it’s still beautiful.

You’re not allowed to take photos but…

Ted was lucky to get his favoured teal cart.

The wax museum was so bad it was good 🤣

The beginning of a long and hair-raising cable car journey through the clouds to our hotel

This just says it all.

Right next door to Notre Dame

David’s ok but in what world does this look like Victoria Beckham 🤣🤣

The dodgems were a big hit for Ted

Why not just make the crash barrier a bit more exciting

They even brew their own beer at the top of the mountain! You can drink for free before 5pm 😯

The cable car travelled over incredible scenery

Our castle for the night

Our journey through the clouds ⛅️

Ted’s Alpine Coaster video

The brewery pub with free beer

The making of the rose ice cream

Dodgems!

The view of ‘Le Louvre Station’

Our first steps onto the bridge felt magical

The mountains are just breathtaking

We were so lucky that it was quiet and it felt extremely peaceful

The 5 minute cable car journey was spectacular

View of Linh Ung Pagoda from the bridge

Tired Ted even posed for a picture 🥰😴

Our first views of the Golden Bridge from the escalator.

Stepping out onto the bridge

The bridge breathed actual Fire and Water!

Rooftop pool with a view of DaNang bay

Our wonderful view. It’s been a long day so beer/fruit juice with some tasty homemade spring rolls and salads was very welcome indeed!

The incredible Dragon Bridge in Danang.

Lady Buddha on the peninsula in the distance

We said goodbye to the Ba Na Hills (this shot shows the mountain top brewery)

The very talented nail technician at Forest Nails!

Ted watching the sun set over the beach from our room

The custard base for the egg coffee

Ted has enjoyed the odd traditional coffee and as it is so hot we opted for an indoor activity instead of hitting Danang’s beautiful beachfront.

Lighting the flame to poach the custard

Ted is mastering chopsticks now 😇

Salt coffee

Coconut coffee

The food was amazing and cost less than £10 for the two of us including drinks.

Runaway coffee 🤣

I hope they have a question about measures on the maths reasoning paper as Ted reckons this counts as revision 🤣

Such a beautiful restaurant in the middle of town

We came straight from the pool to the coffee workshop.

Condensed milk seems to be the essential ingredient in all Vietnamese coffees.

The seafood looked incredible

Lobsters were barbecued fresh at 600,000d (£17) a kilo - no idea if that’s a good price or not but they were served with an array of fresh herbs and sauces and looked delicious.

This beer literally translates as ‘hug’. I was really enjoying it until I saw a huge rat run out from under the fridge where it had been stored and scurry under our table and away!

Dragon Bridge again (without the Fire and Water)

BBQ beef wrapped in leaves and a spicy chicken skewer

Food stalls

The entrance/exit to the market

Son Tra night market

A beautiful lotus flower decoration taken as we drove past the banks of the Han river

Even outside Hoi An the lanterns are beautiful

Ted definitely found his groove

Give the boy beef in leaves and you’ll get a smile!

Every dish looked insane - this was my mango pork and chilli salad

Almost at the top of the pass!

Final stop at the fishing village at the mouth of the 3 rivers

Every mouthful was delicious

Beautiful lotus flowers in the pools around the marble mountains

This was my favourite cave - I’m sure there is some significance to the sculpture scene but I was dripping hot so didn’t hang around

Our beautiful hotel in Hue

Cruising!

So this was odd - a random group of Korean tourists asked to photograph me and they kept coming and giving me big hugs 🥴I’m not sure who they thought I was or maybe they just liked my plaits 🤣

Our luggage 🤣

Posh dinner at Les Jardins de la Carambole

The Hai Van gate

Ted’s shrimp

More steps but another beautiful view

Lunch at Lang Co bay was a veritable feast

At the top of the mountain pass

Ted settling in for the day

When we got back the hotel was all lit up

Every surface is so ornately carved

Ted acted the part of water buffalo 🤣

In 1995 the river flooded to over three metres but the bridge still survived

View of the 200 year old bridge

The beautiful rice paddies outside Hue

This is an old tunnel entrance built by the viet cong to hide from the Americans in 1969

The incense village was a beautiful sight

A beautiful pagoda in the countryside

This bridge was built in 1776 and is still used as a shelter for locals during the hottest part of the day.

The pho in Hue is some of the best we’ve had - it’s served with meat dumplings and a huge plateful of bean sprouts and herbs. This dish cost 45000d each - about £1.15

They let Ted have a go!

Outside the ancient city walls in Hue

Loving the lion!

We learned about farming and the local way of life

Ted enjoying the incense making

These ornate temples are not religious; they are family temples where each family goes to remember their ancestors

Turtles, lions, dragons and cockerels are the main animals depicted on them

We saw them duping the incense sticks which then need 2 hours in the sun to dry

Ted and our guide tried their hand at turning the water mill

Ted found some respite from the 36degree heat

We watched as they added glue to the bamboo sticks and then rolled it in the scent

Feeding the koi at the pagoda

Ted the water buffalo

Arriving at Phong Nha Farmstay was not only beautiful but one of those places you immediately feel like you can breathe out and relax.

The road from Vinh Moc to Phong Nha Ke Bang was stunning when the lorries weren’t around.

Ted bravely led the way!

We walked from entrance 3 to entrance 5 which is the family area of the tunnels - this space is where families would typically have cooked and eaten. In order to avoid detection from above ground the Vietnamese invented a special stove which dissipated the smoke and cooked more efficiently.

The network of tunnels built by hand only at night or during torrential rain is a remarkable feat. If I’d also surrounded by many more kilometres of shallow trenches

I did go in! It only got narrow a couple of times and luckily we had some giggling schoolgirls to follow who were keen to chat to Ted. He was very embarrassed.

Shells made into a monument

A ventilation well

Ted went for a late night swim in between ordering and eating dinner

I visited the Vinh Moc tunnels 25 years ago so it was great to revisit them with Ted and remind myself of why they call Quang Tri the ‘heroic state’. The bravery and determination of the people to keep their community safe is incredible.

A beautiful bronze display depicting the American War.

Despite the story his face is telling, Ted had a great time exploring the caves

Inside the limestone caves

Th \240Ed vs entrance to the cave

Messing about on the river

We were happy to be much cooler in the caves with the bats

The stunning limestone rock back drop to Quang Tri province

Our gorgeous entranceway at the Phong Nha Farmstay

The boats at Xuan Son (Soo-ann shun) boat station, Phong Nha

A pool and a view unrivalled!

Water buffalo on the banks of the river

Our room has its own private patio and entrance

Even the shower has gold painted touches

This was our breakfast spot this morning

Phong Nha Cave

Everything is so beautifully done

We had to duck heading in to the caves

The man was twisting the top off the baby pineapple plant to make them grow bigger.

We tried a spot of fishing but we’re pretty unsuccessful!

The video of the duck massage is the funniest thing I’ve seen n ages!

Green tea trees

The scenic rice paddies

The family enjoyed helping Ted into the hammock to relax after the long cycle

Ted wasn’t as enthusiastic

Out of the Farmstay adventuring!

Stopped at a local farm to visit the ducks

Found it!

On the road next to the paddy fields

Full body massage!

View from the farm

The duck massage was the best! Ted could not get enough

Met a cow ☺️

Mary the water buffalo - not sure she liked me very much but I thought she was stunning

Ted being rocked in the hammock - again 🤣

My water buffalo adventure - I genuinely thought she going to take me for a swim at one point.

Off for a walk…

We ate a beautiful lunch of barbecued chicken and local vegetables

Then we rode up a huge hill and across the bridge to find ‘the pub with cold beer’

They served us fresh pineapple which they grow there

I was less keen but managed a minute or two

View of the pagoda on Hoan Kiem lake from our rooftop

Ted checking out the Koi pond at the entrance to the hotel spa

Even though it’s turned cloudy, the weather is still 27degrees so we took a trip to the roof

Mocktail time 😍

Roof top chillin’

Enjoying the view of the city at night

Our beautiful reception area

It’s a long way down from the 14th floor!

Waiting to check in was ok with our welcome drink and Ted got a fresh pastry from the onsite patisserie

Couldn’t say no to an espresso martini

Birdseye view of the fish

Ted in his happy place

A lovely view of the unification flags lining the streets

The buildings in the Old Quarter are beautiful

The narrow streets are packed with shops and cafes

Take a photo of us in front of the sign please & they cropped the sign out 🤣

Unification celebrations have begun in anticipation of April 30th

Another day another pho!

Crab spring rolls - known as bun cha you wrap the spring roll and noodles in fresh herbs (basil, mint & coriander) then cover it with a rice paper and dip it in fish sauce. Yum. Cost: 100,000 for both of us including our drinks (less than £3!)

This is one of the oldest pho cafes in Hanoi & it was delicious

The traffic less so! It is pedestrianised after 7pm but that doesn’t mean no scooters!

Hoan Kiem at night

The Opera House

When he died in 1969 Ho Chi Minh requested to be cremated and his ashes spread across Vietnam but he was so beloved to the people that they kept him in Hanoi as a place of pilgrimage and renamed Saigon in his honour.

Standing on the tracks (briefly!) Ted was hungry by this point so opted not to join me for the photo.

The old entrance to the station

A delicious platter awaited us of Banh Mi, fresh and fried spring rolls, rainbow noodles and a glass of lemon juice.

A non-religious temple at the station. They have these at every station in Vietnam so people can pray for safe travel and make offerings to ‘the gods’

The famous mural in Hanoi is a street project that took art students 10 months to complete. Each section celebrates a different era of Hanoi’s heritage and culture. As you will see I was mesmerised by it. It stretches for 4km and is made out of tiny ceramic mosaic pieces. I could’ve stayed all day here!

Long Bien bridge. The oldest railway bridge in the city leading to Haiphong city.

Ted spotted a nice BMW!

Lotus fountain in one of Hanoi’s many parks.

More mural…

Unification decorations

The traffic goes the opposite way (you drive on the left) either side of the bridge because when they were building it they carried many heavy materials across it on the right and when it was completed it was listing heavily so they switched the traffic round and now the heavy loads go out on the left to rectify the problem 🤣

Riding in the back of the jeep

Beautiful fates to enter the parks of Hanoi are everywhere.

The outer streets of Hanoi are just as crazy!

Rainbow noodles

A cat (kitten) in a bag !

The B52 museum

The presidential palace- flying Japanese flags in honour of the visiting Japanese president. Ho Chi Minh was Vietnams first president and he refused to live in the palace as his people were poor and fighting against the Americans so he built a steel house next door on the site of what is now his mausoleum. I feel like he’d have gotten on well with OBama 🤣

These gunners were fired by local people after a brief explanation from the military

More mural…

Photobombed by kids on scooters 🤣

Hidden Gem cafe with its recycled everything - this was the chandelier in the entrance

Ted spotted a very rare Lamborghini

The mausoleum park was heaving on a Sunday night. Lots of Vietnamese girls wearing the traditional white dress for photographs in the mausoleum park.

President Nixon said he would use B52s to ‘return Hanoi to the stone age’ in order to eradicate communism in Asia. The Vietnamese said ‘screw you and your B52!’ They shot down 23 B52s during the war- one of which can still be seen today in one of Hanoi’s many lakes. They made the rest into cooking pots as the metal was too precious to waste 🤣

In a residential neighbourhood we saw some guys playing ‘kick shuttlecock’ which is exactly as it sounds - they have amazing core strength to keep the shuttlecock off the ground!

The infamous Train Street. This definitely wasn’t here 25 years ago. It’s like party central until 5 minutes before the train arrives and then everyone clears the deck. I’m not sure I’d describe it as ‘thrilling’ but it’s an experience not to be missed.

After the train went by the guide gave us a flattened bottle top to remind us of the adventure

TRAIN!!!!!!!

TRAFFIC! The Vietnamese have saying when driving that you must ‘fill the plate’. It essentially means that you fill any gap on any side of the road (or the pavement) at any time 🤣

Traffic’s going the wrong (right to us!) way on Long Bien bridge.

Mural ♥️

Crowds outside Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum

Our cheap feast

Joseph’s cathedral.

Ted tried the egg coffee. Neither of us were a fan - funnily enough it tastes like eggs and coffee lol

The famous Note Cafe where travellers can write a note for those who follow. There was a big queue of tourists for this so we felt it robably wasn’t going to be worth the wait as the outside was cute enough.

Street vendor in Hanoi Old Quarter

“Roads”

We were recommended this place by some Aussie friends we met in Hoi An (Jess, Scott and Ben). It was fabulous food - 45k for the two of us! (£1.30!)

St Joseph’s from the balcony of La Place coffee shop.

My coconut ice coffee on the other hand was divine!

Just a family of four out on a scooter - I wonder what they do when the kids get bigger? Probably the same judging by some of the loads we’ve seen scooters carry!

Our home for now

First glimpse of Halong

View from the terrace as we left the port

Our lounge area

Ted at the port

Colourful buildings by the bay

Ted on a (gigantic) bed!

When we arrived they were loading up our boat with plenty of supplies for the next two days

On board Ted was not a fan of having a schedule to stick to on board the boat but the room soon won him round…

The road was long & saw our first raindrops of the trip

Ted waiting to board

Can you see the face in the rocks?

Ted enjoyed the beach

Obviously the cars came out!

Dinner on the sun deck

It was an excellent bed!

Just before the sun set we went kayaking

My amazing bed - Ted had his own separate room off this but as soon as he saw it there was no chance I was going to get it to myself 🤣

Cave cats!

Life was very relaxing

Beautiful sunset 🌅

The weather really did do us a favour ❤️

The monkeys were none too friendly!

The caves were lovely but I have to say it was very touristy- we had to queue most of the way through and we both enjoyed the experience in Phong Nha a little more

I always think of Jen when I have a paddle in my hand!

Titop Island - one of the 1969 islands in Halong Bay

Breakfast pho

Another gigantic bed!

Pool time!

Fancied a little rest in the air on so finally got my toenails re-done as I lost a gel nail on the Hai Van Pass! It cost me £5.80 and she was so lovely and friendly.

We went for a walk and found an amazing Indian restaurant. We had poppadoms, starters, main courses, sides and 2 rounds of drinks for £17.50

Many of caves were extremely low!

Some of the caves are lit beautifully - this was one of Ted’s favourites

The lotus waterways

♥️

The ceiling was very low at some points but luckily my messy bun provided a good early warning system!

Ted said he was missing Leo so we found an enormous replica 🤣

Boats as far as the eye can see!

Celebratory flags on the bridge

Captain Ted

Tam Coc boat marina

This is the famous Chùa Trình

Temple. The tourists are holding umbrellas to get some shade not because it is raining

Loving another lotus pond

Beautiful artwork at the dock

The beautiful limestone karsts surround you for the entire boat ride. We did route 2 which tours 3/4 temples and 3/4 caves

As we came back and docked there were hundreds of Koi carp waiting to be fed.

Tam Coc boat marina

Ted tried the local speciality - goat! He was not convinced

It must’ve been very tiring have someone row you down river for an hour lol

Turtle watch - no luck today though

Dinner Date!

Cards and coffee

He did make another friend though

We did look great in our ponchos

The hotel had such lovely grounds

A beautiful salad to accompany lunch

Ted wanted to visit train street one more time!

Ted had a peanut butter one!

Getting to train street we’d had a nightmare with taxis so we decided to walk the 40 minutes back to old quarter and it was lovely

The coconut coffee at Nam Vy 222 Le Duan St was divine!

The city was a mass of re do and yellow.

Tam Vi - Michelin star service as well as delicious food

Final Banh Mi

Cyclo ride up to the ancient gate of the Old Quarter

We passed by the Note Coffee shop and it had no queues so we ordered some drinks and spent a while reading and writing

If you ever visit Hà Nội you should go here!

Tam biet Vietnam 🇻🇳

Our little photobomber was quite cute 🙂

Our final shot en route to Noi Bai Airport - kind of love it!

Now to start planning the next trip…

My final beer by the lake

O Quan Chuong - the gateway to the Old Quarter

Street sellers