Ladies do Vietnam.

 

After saying goodbye to the men folk on Monday Helen and I have had a blast. One extra day in HCMC seeing the sites and loving  the experience of sitting astride a Grab moped (Uber in Vietnam 🇻🇳) and hurtling up roads the wrong way, going through red traffic lights, turning right or left in front of oncoming traffic and mounting pavements when the roads are too busy!



To slow the pace down we had two days and one night in the Mekong Delta. Did the touristy bit which included being taken to coconut factory to buy the sweets; fruit tasting (dragon fruit, guava, persimmon) and listen to local ladies and gentlemen sing. A bit confused when they sang 'If you're happy and you know it' then passed the tip basket around; honey tea where we were sold bee pollen and royal jelly cream; have a picture taken with a python draped over your neck ( not for me but Helen obliged), boat trips on the Mekong then a trip to the local temple. All of which we decided David and Neil ( can't speak for the others) would have hated. However the 2nd day cycle ride through the local village and market was real life and really enjoyable. We have been pushed out of our comfort zone a bit with some foods, including, elephant fish and frog( although initially due to some communication misinterpretations we thought we were having fox rather than frog!) We also thought that we would try all different forms of transport whilst we are here. Bikes, mopeds, kayaks, trains so far.

We embarked on a night sleeper train to DeNang. 17 hours. 



The train was an experience. On the top bunk but hadcoffee in bed in the morning; viatenamese coffee with condensed milk, very nice.

Hoi An hasn't disappointed. Te Old Town at night is a wonderful sight with the lights, lanterns, boats ..just ignore all the tourists and English themed pubs! Helen bought a lantern but ssshhhh don't tell Neil!



Hoi Ann Old town




Friday morning we embraced a cookery tour: a visit around the local market with all the fresh produce: recognisable and the new; a trip in a coconut fishing boat and a vietnamese cooking lesson where we made pancake rolls; vietnamese crispy pancakes; dipping sauce; papaya salad and stir fried chicken and lemongrass. A great experience.


Fresh herbs
Tossing our crispy pancakes
This was meant to happen


Market
Coconut boats about to spin around to Gangan Style



Saturday morning, whilst the boys were sorting the bikes, Helen and I went off to My Son to see the Cham temples, built between the 8th and 13th century. Amazing. Think King Louis' Temple in the original Disneys Jungle Book. Absolutely incredible, especially when you appreciate how long ago they were built. And despite massive amounts of tourist coaches and tour guided groups it still felt very serene and calm. This was our first proper views of hills, as to date the scenery on our route has been very flat. The trip through the countryside today was wonderful, seeing many padi fields but this time with water buffalo.
My Son Temple

Tomorrow we are going to do the biking thing to see what all the fuss is about! We are being picked up at 8.00am and biked to Hue, (Easy Riders Vietnam!) taking in the sights that are probably not on the boys itinery. However, we will be meeting up with them, fingers crossed if all bikes are trip ready, tomorrow evening in Hue Imperial City.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

And so it starts

Image
After many months of hetic plsnning we sll set off from Herefordshire on 2  Nov 24, Of note, the Harris boys were still up celebrting George's birthday at 0500 when the rest of us woke up and heded out.   As you csn see, the strain for Neil and Helen was just too much!  After an uneventful 12 hoiur flight (16 for Terry and Toby) we arriven in Saigon. Our first breakfast of the trip was delicious noodle bowls as we prepared to colelct our trusty steeds and bolt on all the goodies that we had brought with us. As we had a spare afternoon, Neil, Tim snd David headed out on bikes to the Chi Chi tunnels with Kay and Helen sensibly chosing to go by taxi.  Who knew there are two Chi Chi tunnel complexes, and yes we missed the girls, doh.  On the return the heavens opened so the boys took refuge in a delightful roadside cafe while the road turned into a river.  After an uneventful return to the hotel, all that was left was to negotiate the haridan on the car pa...
Read more

Final Day's Planned Riding

Image
As we wrap up the riding part of this incredible journey, tomorrow marks a shift in gears—literally and figuratively. Terry will be swapping places with Neil and heading back to the UK, and we’ll be heading off to Halong Bay to reunite with the girls. But today’s adventure was one to remember, filled with stunning landscapes, challenging terrain, and a chartered ferry. The day started on a high note, Terry was fuelled by a hearty breakfast of cheese on toast along with fuel for the bikes.  From there, we set off on the first scenic route of the day, a winding lane that rewarded us with breathtaking views. This particular road wasn’t entirely unfamiliar, as the girls had explored its early stretches just a few days ago. The scenery was defined by dramatic basalt rock outcrops and sparse soil. Witnessing the locals carve out a living in such a rugged environment was truly humbling. Our journey took us to a serene river nestled between towering limestone peaks.  Here, we stumbled...
Read more
Hello All, This is my first attempt to produce a blog, so be paitent with me!    We six chaps (with two ladies loosely in tow) are getting very close to departing for our Vietnam Venture where we will, hopefully, manage some of the planned routes shown above.  Sadly Thorpy is a little poorly at the moment and has had to duck out, we all wish him a speedy recovery and a tip top filly nurse to keep his pecker up! You will be able to monitor our progress at trac.extrac.uk, where current locations will be shown.
Read more