We arrived back in Hoi An yesterday and headed straight to the Ha An our new hotel in the French Quarter near the Ancient town. 

It’s lovely-  well situated with lovely caring staff. 

We enjoyed the pool then had a walk in the local area. It’s full of little shops with ladies calling to you to visit and buy! 

I love walking the streets around here. It’s not as mad as the bigger Asian cities. There are no tuk Tuk tuks only cyclos , which are really for tourists – not for getting around. The buildings are in the old colonial style of the French who lived here developing homes and businesses. They are painted in aging ochre colours and house  fashionable shops these days. 

There are many cyclists and motorcycles but nobody speeds. 

This morning I got up early and went walking. I love watching the local people. Especially the older ones. They maintain old ways and are quietly friendly. 

The women in particular are out working hard. Cleaning away rubbish, selling fish and fruit at the markets, sweeping …..

The weather now is great. The real heat has gone. It’s warm not hot, rain is predicted but hasn’t come,  a little cloud cover, lower humidity. It won’t last. Summer is coming. 

Market time

After the walk it was back to the hotel for a great breakfast. The fruit is magnificent. 

Then the morning madness started. 

Off to another fabric market! 

Staying at the Moonlight Hotel in Hue is quite a different experience to staying with Trinh. It was most obvious at the breakfast buffet where we were surrounded by tables of holiday makers mostly from England, Australia and USA. 

I had a wonderful view of a young man who thought he would never be fed again and was in a hurry to eat as much as possible. His knife and fork became weapons. 

Our guide Mr Cuu or number 9 ( lucky number) as he calls himself met us promptly at 8am and we could tell was going to be good. 

What makes a good guide?

I think being prompt, smiling, speaking clear English, knowing how to pace a tour, helping and more importantly knowing the history and being able to bring it alive with story. 

We visited the Imperial Court which dates back to the 1800 and took 30 years to finish. We heard about the 13 Nguyen Emperors and the 3 who are not buried in the pagoda. 

We heard the local view on the wars including 1947 & 1968 , the French, on Ho Chi Minh , and on the Tet offensive. #9 gave us a very good overview of all of these things and how it impacts today. 

We visited the An Hein garden house. A very beautiful garden with trees lad n with fruit. 

We saw the young lovers celebrating their wedding. 

Young love

We spent the afternoon exploring the city of Hue and had dinner and multiple drinks at the Gecko Bar  across from our hotel. The bike riders from Ipswich were a novelty. 

Tomorrow back to Hoi An. 

Today we left a sad faced Trinh for an 8.40 train ride to Hue. 

Our train arrived – not too flash but we were pleasantly surprised to find it was air conditioned. 

We had been told it was a great journey and we weren’t disappointed. It follows the coast north from Hoi An with wonderful views of the water and the jungle. 

The train was crowded , mostly with Vietnamese headed to Hanoi. They were sleeping or eating and quite a few wore the face mask to avoid germs. The trip should have taken about 3 hours but was closer to 4 – but with spectacular scenery we really didn’t mind the occasional hold ups. 

We were entertained by a little boy who took photos of us on his iPad. We figured he would be thinking of us as ‘the old girls’. 

A cart was wheeled through with little plastic trays all ready to be filled with the cooked food in various containers on the trolley and rice in a big red drum. 

We arrived and caught a taxi to our hotel which is just back from the river. 

Hue is the former capital of Vietnam and has many lovely old buildings – though they lost many during the war. It was also the site of the Tet  offensive, one of the worst battles during the Vietnam war. Tomorrow we are going on a tour to the Imperial citadel, where much of the battle was fought. We’re also going on a dragon boat cruise and to visit a pagoda. 

This evening we took a cyclo tour of the city. We only wanted half an hour but of course our drivers made it an hour with several stops along the way for photos. Naturally they also wanted more money. 

It was a funny ride –  along the river and through the main areas of the city. We ran through many reds lights, went down the street the wrong way and overtook buses and cars. Let’s not mention the roundabouts.  We felt lucky to arrive at the end in one piece! 

We then followed up with the worst meal of the trip so far. Very disappointed 😔. Tomorrow we’ll find a bettèr place! 

Why does a whirring fan sound like rain ?

We planned a trip to the beach and when I woke I thought it was raining. But no, it was the fan spinning trying to handle the heat. It’s hot here and is getting hotter each day.

Trinh made us coffee and then a taxi arrived for the ten minute drive to An Bang Beach. I’d had a swim yesterday and convinced the girls an early morning dip would be refreshing .

It couldn’t have looked more different to yesterday afternoon when I had my swim. Yesterday people everywhere – on deck chairs , walking, eating, swimming , playing games. Today the beach was deserted. A lone fisherman was making his way back to the beach in his round coconut style boat and a lady was wiping down the deck chairs. A few others started to appear but we were the only ones who dived in.

We wondered if we could use the deck chairs for a short while. We didn’t plan on a long stay and a  lady helped us set up but didn’t ask for any money so set off for our swim.

It was delicious. Cool, clear and refreshing. We returned to find the old lady wanting money to sit!

Steve would love the lifesaving tower.

Fish dinner!

We didn’t stay long as Trinh was preparing breakfast and we wanted to visit the local area before the heat of the day started.

Breakfast once again was wonderful and Trinh made herself very useful as usual and plaited Marilyn ‘s hair. Is there nothing this woman can’t do!

We planned on the markets. So off we went armed with umbrellas not for rain but for shade. We walked in the streets behind the homestay and found it so calm compared to the busy centre  and of course the other big cities like Hanoi.

We found the local produce market and chatted to a few people and made one man happy when some of the girls bought a vegetable peeler and a few hand towels to mope our now very sweaty brows!

Cool iced coffee was called for and again we made the cafe owners very happy by choosing their cafe. It’s really quiet this time of year in Hoi An. After all the rain, the streets are now clean and everything looks rather fresh. I’m really liking this lovely small city. It’s got a lot of charm and is definitely cleaner than many other Asian cities.

They are gradually paving all the sidewalks. The team were out the gate at our home stay today and a Trinh was not too happy. She was keeping a very close eye on them.

Observing the locals going about their business is great fun. We’ve decided that it’s the women who do most of the work here.  There were groups of men sitting around while the women swept and cooked and minded the children at the same time.

After more walking in the heat we came across this great sign. We stopped to read it ( note point 4) and the owner came over. He was friendly and spoke very good English and was quite the salesman. We had a few laughs and decided to go in and have cool beer – that’s how hot it was. All of us drinking beer!

We eventually got back to Trinh’s where she had another great lunch prepared. She says she likes to make it for us but doesn’t want any payment. Of course we’ll sort something out and give her some money because it’s so very good. Today we had ‘delicious banh xeo It’s a rice pancake stuffed with pork, shrimp and bean sprouts. Yum. Then we had skewers of pork which you pulled off and wrapped in rice paper and stuffed with greenery including lots of herbs before dipping it in a gooey peanut sauce. Then we had mixed vegetables with chilli and a pumpkin dish. And my favourite ‘white rose’ . All delicious and dessert – another smoothie. This one coconut.

Oh the food is so good.

We had to take to our beds to 1. Sleep off the lunch and 2. Get out of the heat.

After our siesta we went walking again in the local area. This time to a spa. The girls there looked positively thrilled we’d chosen their spa! We got the good friendly service that the locals love to  give and for a few dollars we had a foot massage,  a manicure and pedicure.

By now it was wine o’clock and we went to our Mr Friendlys bar for some wine and a bowl of Pho.

Last excitement of the day was definitely settling up our payment to Trinh. It averaged $35 a night for our rooms and  breakfast and lunch. The bill for our clothes. $8 for pants and $8 for tops. $15 for dresses. $8 for a kimono. We paid separately for the fabric but it was so reasonable. Thank you Linda for bringing me to this lovely homestay. What fun.

Tomorrow an early start. A train to Hue.

Pho. A favourite in Vietnam and a favourite of daughter in law Elena.

Today we decided to beat the heat and go for a cycle through the quiet streets and Paddy field surrounding Hoi An. 

Our home stay is half way between the old town and the beaches and it’s easy to get out of the traffic and cycle in calm. 

Off we went…… come along with me. 

Trinh pumped up tyres and we assembled in the courtyard. Marilyn looked gorgeous in her new orange silk pants and top. 

We turned down a quiet road behind the Homestay and greeted the men and women sweeping and building. There’s a lot of building going on in this small city. 

We passed lots of greenery and washing flapping in the warm breeze. 

Along the lane ways between the rice paddies we cycled. 

Past a duck farm. I wonder which restaurant they are headed to ?

Duck farm

Enjoyed the green slightly hazy views across the fields. 

Stopped for a photo. 

Saw several men fishing. 

Thanked the bicycle gods at the altar  for keeping us safe. 

Passed a few day spas and another cow or two. 

Then headed home for breakfast. 

Showered and refreshed we were treated to beautiful omelettes and the freshest of fruits. 

Then another little trip to the fabric shop before our planned manicure pedicure sessions. 

Oh what a time we’re having.