Arrival in Phu Quoc

Simon Johnson January 25, 2018

Our journey to Phu Quoc was reasonably painless. The flight from Siem Reap was delayed about an hour. On arrival in Ho Chi Minh we had to pick up our luggage, change terminals and check in again for our onward flight to Phu Quoc. In Siem Reap they put a sticker on our chest which supposedly meant we would get special assistance at HCM. It made no difference whatsoever. No assistance, no guidance, no information…

Siem Reap - more food and lots of poolside relaxation

Simon Johnson January 23, 2018

After all the sight seeing since the beginning of our trip, we were ready for some downtime. So we spent the day sitting by the pool, reading and doing absolutely nothing but the occasional dip. The hotel is very lovely with spacious rooms and 2 enormous pools. It is very quiet and most of the time we have the whole pool area to ourselves…

Angkor Wat, Temples and Downtown

Simon Johnson January 22, 2018

It's 6.15am, we were up at 4am with no time for breakfast because our car was picking us up at 4.45. But it will all be worth it, we are about to witness the splendour of the sun rising over Angkor Wat.

But it didn't look like that did it, because I have to admit that I doctored that photo. I have literally been waiting 40 years for this moment, travelled half way around the planet, endured a 4am start.....and it's bloody raining. So what that photo actually looked like was this…

Hoi An by daylight

Simon Johnson January 21, 2018

Although we had been in Hoi An for two evenings, we had not yet actually explored the pretty riverside town during the day time. So after breakfast we set off for town on the hotel's complimentary shuttle bus. At least we should have been on the shuttle, but it seems that it had got filled up by sharp elbowed Chinese who were not actually booked on it…

Food, Glorious Food!

Simon Johnson January 21, 2018

After breakfast we made our way to the Gioan Cookery School which was very highly rated on TripAdvisor. We were in a private class of just the 2 of us. We were taken to the local market by a young lady called BC. She took us on a circuit of the market which was split into fruit and veg, meat and fish. She explained all about the different herbs, fruit and vegetables. Some we were familiar with, some we had never seen or tasted before…

Transfer to Hoi An

Simon Johnson January 19, 2018

A grey drizzly day. We were picked up by a private car for our 3 hour transfer to Hoi An. After about an hour we arrived at the small town of Lang Co which has one of the best beaches in the area. We actually stopped near the lagoon for a short stop.

It's what we call a black and white day!

There was a man on the beach twisting old bike tyres to release the oysters that had attached themselves…

Hue - The Imperial City

Simon Johnson January 18, 2018

No alarm this morning.. hoorah! Breakfast at the Indochine Palace was excellent. So much choice, although I am now limiting myself to only 1 donut to finish off. 😏(It's Jayne who is the donut addict btw)

It was very warm and sunny today, the first real sunshine to date. A short taxi ride to the Mandarin Cafe where you pick up a map detailing a self guided walk route around Hue. We strolled over the river and on to the Hue Citadel and The Imperial City. We had to avoid/ignore all the hawkers and rickshaw drivers on route, offering us rides, waters, pineapple... the list is endless…

Ha Long Bay II

Simon Johnson January 17, 2018

Wednesday arrived mercifully bright, and by the time the 6.40am Tai Chi lesson was complete, we were treated to a clear morning. At last the weather gods are on our side.

It was beautiful and peaceful on top deck at 6:30 am…..

Ha Long Bay I

Simon Johnson January 16, 2018

Another day, another nightmare on Vietnam's roads. We were picked up straight after breakfast by the minibus that was to whisk us safely (?) to Ha Long Bay, we were the only two occupants of said minibus aside from our psychopathic driver. I don't mean to be particularly harsh on our driver, they all seem pretty much the same. There are no rules of the road (if there are they are completely ignored by everybody), no give way, no merging in, no attempting to avoid an on coming vehicle! Aside from that, after four fairly terrifying hours, including the inevitable stop at the cafe/ethnic food shop/gift emporium/WC/tourist trap, we were eventually delivered to quayside. After a short wait, we were ferried over to the Dragon Legend II, the craft that was destined to waft us around the several thousand islets that make up this beautiful world heritage site.

Central Hanoi and Old Town

Simon Johnson January 15, 2018

A later start today after an excellent Melia hotel breakfast. First stop was the "Hanoi Hilton" aka the Hoa Lo prison. Initially built by the French, and used to incarcerate Viatnamese in the 1930s, and then the revolutionaries during the French war in the 40s. Subsequently used by the Vietnamese themselves as a place to imprison US Airforce pilots (who gave it its nickname) shot down during the Vietnam war.

Hoa Lu and Tam Coc

Simon Johnson January 14, 2018

Today we did a private, organised trip to the Ninh Binh province, South of Hanoi. It was a good 2 hour drive with the obligatory stop at a tourist shop on route. Hoa Lu was the the historic royal capital in 968. The king constructed a huge palace and citadel but now all that remains are some ruins and a couple of temples dedicated to the kings at that time.

Arrival in Hanoi

Simon Johnson January 13, 2018

After spending 13 hours in the air and 3 hours in Dubai airport, we finally arrived in the old capital, Hanoi. We spent a long time waiting for luggage at Hanoi airport. Baggage carousel 1, the sign said. Yet after an hour of watching everyone else's cases going round and round, we found 1 bag on carousel 2 and the other dumped with a pile of other cases in the corner of the airport. Nothing on carousel 1...

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On our Way

Simon Johnson January 12, 2018

And we're off at last, in the Emirates A380 service to Dubai. Change at Dubai for our onward flight to Hanoi.

Three seats between the two us btw, so…nice!

Jayne and Simon's Vietnam and Cambodia Adventure

Simon Johnson January 10, 2018

In August 1992, Simon and I got married. So the mathematicians amongst you should work out that it is our Silver Anniversary year. We wanted to do a 'big' trip and after much discussion, we decided on a trip to Vietnam. Our very good friends, Kim and Hywel have been a couple of times now and rave about it. They kept telling us that we would love it. So the seed was planted and we started planning.....

Some other great friends, Lou and Nigel, are also celebrating their Silver Anniversary year and were also planning a trip to Vietnam. They invited us to join them on their trip in October/November. But we decided to go in the 'Dry Season'. Which on reflection, appears to be a good decision as they were in Hue for typhoon Damrey. They still had a fabulous time, and just had to adjust a couple of days of their plans. They kindly gave us a copy of their organised itinerary and planning progressed. The spreadsheet was created.....

It started off as a 2 week, North to South tour of Vietnam. But then Kim and Hywel started telling us how fabulous Siem Reap in Cambodia was and how we should try and fit that in too. Simon has always wanted to visit Angkor Wat so our itinerary was extended to 3 weeks allowing us to 'pop' over to Cambodia for a few days.

Vietnam really does appear to be the up and coming place to go. The spreadsheet is now many sheets of detail and a full itinerary is planned. We have booked 5 star hotels everywhere, flights to get us across the many miles we will be covering and a few organised trips of the 'must do' attractions. Many, many hours of research has gone into this trip. I also have a number of bar and restaurant recommendations provided by Nigel and Lou.

We hope you enjoy following us on our first ever blog as we travel to Hanoi, a cruise in Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An, Siem Reap and the Angkor Wat complex, Phu Quoc and finally Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta.

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