Jenny and I love to travel and have been very lucky with the places we've been able to visit, so when the option of some air miles came up it was a total no brainer. The really hard decision was deciding where to go. Vietnam has been high up on our wish list for a while, and with Oman being relatively close, three weeks touring the lush green countryside of South East Asia seemed the perfect summer escape.
Hanoi
We arrived in Hanoi to rain. Ordinarily I might have been quite upset at this, but after escaping the scorching 40C+ heat of Muscat a little light rain felt quite refreshing. However, it turns out that it wasn't just rain but that we'd actually landed just as typhoon Ramassun was expected to hit. I'd not been paying much attention to the local weather, but it seems that the typhoon had had quite a devastating effect on the Philippines and Southern China before heading for Northern Vietnam. Being a concerned global citizen my first thought was instinctly how was this going to affect our trip and especially Halong Bay. Fortunately for us, the typhoon changed it's course and we only got hit with a couple of days of rain.
With our trip to Halong Bay still on the cards, we had one day to explore the sights and sounds of Hanoi.
Hue
The next stop on the trip was the city of Hue, the former capital of Vietnam. Steeped in history, the city has earned it a place in UNESCO's list of world heritage sites. But to be honest, I wasn't overly impressed. We spent one afternoon walking around the imperial city, which I appreciate is a couple of hundred years old, but it really was quite run down. I mean if you want to promote a building as a tourist attraction, the least you can do is tidy up the rubbish lying around.
The saving grace of our trip around Hue was heading to the Da Bong market and getting to try some of the local delicacies. People have many observations about Vietnam; mine was that the people there never seem to stop eating. As we were walking around the market we decided to stop at one of the little restaurant stalls. I had absolutely no idea what I was ordering and I'm not sure the lady serving really cared. I'm not sure whether it was my oversized ass perched on a tiny red plastic chair which can only have been designed for a nursery school child or whether they knew that I did not know what I was letting myself in for but the local ladies thought it was hilarious. I still have no idea what was in the dish I ate. I'm pretty confident that it wasn't dog meat, only based on the fact that I didn't pay any extra for it.
So after a failed attempt at trying to being cultured, we decided that the best option was to relax at our hotel and indulge in the offerings of the in house spa.
Our next stop was in the town of Danang in Central Vietnam. For this portion we decided not to fly and to take the longer scenic route. There is a new tunnel opened on the road between Hue and Danang that's dramatically reduced the travel time, but it was definitely worth taking the 21km stretch of winding and twisty mountain pass known as the Hai Van Pass. We had a lovely driver who stopped at many of the places along the way to take in the amazing scenery.
Hoi An
Although we were staying in Danang, we spent most of our time in the nearby town of Hoi An, which is a picturesque and quaint little town. It's a very popular town with local tourists, but has still managed to retain its authentic feel.
The highlight of visiting Hoi An was definitely the motorbike trip through the countryside before we headed on to our relaxation phase in Nha Trang.
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