14 June, 2026

2026 Vietnam and Cambodia Adventure (Part 2)

We headed back in the ancient city 
of Hoi An to see the floating lanterns.
 
You make a wish as you place 
the lanterns in the water. 
 
There were hundreds of lanterns and they 
were very pretty floating on the water. 
 
Night market at Hoi An.
  
From Hoi An, we went to Sunworld in Ba Na Hills 
on the outskirts of Danang. 
It was like the Disneyland of Vietnam. 
There were 7 cable cars to get around. 
This was the one from the bottom and was 7kms long!
  Arriving at the top.
  
We were up in the clouds.
  
Golden Bridge, Ba Na Hills.
 
 Golden Bridge, Ba Na Hills.
  
We climbed to the summit
on God Mountain.
This is the highest peak in Central Vietnam. 
This section was the Heaven garden.   
 
 Heaven Garden.
 
 Heaven Garden.
  
Temple, Heaven Garden. 
Temple, Heaven Garden. 
The monk hit the bell every 60 seconds. 
 
 The gardens were beautiful.
 
 Heaven Garden.
  
We were there for the beer festival
 Everyone got 2 free beers to try. 
Noel was given a third while waiting for his chips 
to be cooked as it was taking a while!
 
Another year, another country celebrating our anniversary. 
Last year we spent it climbing 
Sigiriya Rock Fortress in Sri Lanka. 
 
 Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).
 
 Cu Chi Tunnel National Monument 
from the Vietnamese war.
 Noel couldn't fit down the hole but Vincent could. 
This shows you how small the hole was. 
 
 We both went down this tunnel. 
Noel had to crawl through. It is now 
actually about 20% bigger than during the war.
 
 Found a quilt shop!
  
These are all made by local women.
Headed to the Meekong Delta. 
Cruised along the river to Xep Canal. 
Got into sampans to go through the smaller canals and 
got off on Unicorn Island. Stopped at a local 
family’s home to enjoy tropical fruit, honey tea and wine 
and listened to traditional Vietnamese music 
performed by the villagers. 
 Sampan ride along the canal.
 It was very pleasant going down the canals. 
Had lunch prepared by a local family. 
It was quite an interesting menu.
 This is the deep-fried elephant ear fish. 
Doesn't look very appetising but was delicious.
 
 The fish was eaten in rice paper.
Traffic in Saigon is chaotic. 
When crossing the road here, 
you give a wave and start crossing. 
People slow down for you or go around. 
Didn't take us too long to get the hang of it.
 
There are more motor bikes than cars. 
They carry all sorts of things on them.
  
A family of six on the bike! 
The funny thing is it is law for adults to
 wear a helmet but not kids!
For our last meal in Vietnam, we went to a 
Michelin restaurant. The food was amazing.
 
My crab and shrimp fried netted spring rolls. 
They were amazing and the best I 
spring rolls I had on the whole trip.
Crispy flat rice noodles with beef. 
Delicious! 
All too soon it was time to say 
goodbye to everyone before heading to Cambodia.
We had a fabulous group and made lots of friends. 

13 June, 2026

Vietnam and Cambodia Adventure (Part 1)

We've been home a month now and 
I've finally got around to blogging.
We spent 17 days visiting Vietnam and Cambodia
and what a fantastic trip it was. 
We ate amazing food, went on all sorts of boat rides, 
saw beautiful scenery, stayed in beautiful 
hotels and met lots of lovely people.
 
After arriving in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), 
we flew to Hanoi. This is the famous Train Street. 
The trains come down through the 
centre and you are really close.
We went back at night when the street was lit up.
 It had a very different atmosphere. 
The food there was amazing. 
We did a street food tour. After enjoying our 
first spring roll, this was our second stop. 
I can't remember what it was called but it was delicious. 
We had a Banh My (pork roll) which 
we saved for later as we were quite full. 
Then we went for coffee and had a demonstration
 of how they make the famous 
Vietnamese egg coffee. It was way too sweet for 
me but I liked the salt coffee. 
Sounds strange but it was very nice.
  
Lunch with a view! 
Thong Nhat Park, Hanoi.
Rice paddies, Mai Chau.
Lunch at a Stilt house in Mai Chau.
Pu Luong Bocbandi Retreat.
View from the bar at Pu Luong Bocbandi Retreat!
Thai dancers at Pu Luong Bocbandi Retreat.
Bamboo raft, Pu Luong.
Bamboo raft, Pu Luong.
Van Long Lagoon, Ninh Binh.
Van Long Lagoon, Ninh Binh.
Van Long Lagoon, Ninh Binh.
We were lucky enough to see some 
Delacour's Langur monkeys. 
They are often hard to see. 
Unfortunately the video is too long for blogger.
Van Long Lagoon, Ninh Binh. 
View from the temple at Ky Lan Mountain, Ninh Binh
Ky Lan Mountain, Ninh Binh. 
Ky Lan Mountain, Ninh Binh. 
Traditional Junk at Ha Long Bay. 
We stayed on this overnight.
Ha Long Bay.
Bamboo sampan, Ha Long Bay. 
We went to the Dark and Bright Grotto 
(also known as Bat Cave). 
On our way back the lady sang to us. 
Didn't know what she was saying 
but she had a lovely voice!
Learnt how to make fresh spring rolls.
Noel was very pleased with his.
  
Lan Ha Bay.
All of us looking gorgeous in our colourful ponchos. 
This was the only real day of rain and
 then only for an hour or so.
Cat Ba Island. 
Trung Trang Cave on Cat Ba island.
We stopped at a pottery. 
These pots are painted free hand.
Saw woman doing the 
most beautiful embroidery. 
One came home with me!
 
A rough outline would be drawn and then the 
shading is stitched using a photo for reference.
Spinning silk.
Breakfast with a view, Hoi An.
Hoi An.
Hoi An.
Rice drying, Hoi An.
Noel and I did a cooking class in Hoi An. 
Chef Tri picked us up and we rode bikes to 
the market for supplies and then 
through rice paddies to his restaurant.
We even braved the roads of Vietnam! 
Doesn't look too bad at this point 
but traffic is chaotic in Vietnam. 
This was what we cooked and then enjoyed.
We made rice paper, Green papaya salad, 
fresh spring rolls, Tam Huu (Three Friends Spring Roll) 
and Banh Xeo (rice pancake).
Chef Tri, Noel, myself, Paul and Kitt 
with our certificates. Apparently we can now open a 
Vietnamese restaurant here! LOL!
 Full moon at Koi Resort 
where we stayed in Hoi An.