Tour day in Nha Trang

Nha Trang is really a beach town, so the tours here are really scrambling to find something interesting.  I have to hand it to Ha though, she has this set up pretty good.  We started off this morning with a visit to Ponagar temple and some history of the Vietnamese in this region.  There are certainly some big differences between here and the north of the country.  The females play a much more influencal role here. 

Ponagar temple

After we left the temple, we hiked down a few back alleys, and soon hooked up with a fisherman, who had converted a boat into a tourist boat.  We basically went through his yard to the boat, past a few workers that had dry docked a boat between two houses and were doing a re-build.  On the boat, we cruised through the harbour and learned about the different boats.  The large woman boats did all the fishing, the smaller man boats ferried fuel and supplies.

Fishing Boats

 We took the boat up the river, there was surprisingly little traffic on the water.  I guess the serious fishing is in the ocean.  We made one stop at a little set up that a local has started, just a rest spot where they serve up some fresh coconuts.  These are quite different than those we've had in the Caribbean or Costa Rica, these ones were good.  we carried on up the river some more, passing under what they call the Monkey bridge, which is a rickity looking structure that is wiped out every rainy season and rebuilt every year.

We ended the boat trip at an ancient rural residence.  The house was built sometime in the 17th century, and compared to a city house, it was very spacious, separate entrances for men, women, and the head of the house.  As always, the center of the house had a shrine, with pictures of ancestors.  The yard was gorgeous, with fruit trees, flowers, birds, and butterflies all over.

The car was waiting for us here, on the drive back to town we got out once and walked a couple more alleys to a small scale weaving operation.  It was very interesting to see these two women creating a mat with this ancient looking weaving device.  Eileen had a try at feeding in the next strand.  We bought a couple of placemats from them for $3.

Our lunch stops on these tours are all similar, a nice little restaurant where they have a set menu.  Todays was a little crazy for volume, there is no way that the two of us were going to eat all this, but we didn't end up leaving too much behind.  That was it for the tour, we were back at the hotel by early afternoon.  We saw that there were empty beach chairs, so we headed right down there.  After about an hour and a half it clouded over, our first stint on the beach and our first clouds, bad timing.  Oh well, finished my nap on the bed and then we went down to the pool bar for drinks and a look at the supper setup.  Tonight is the Saturday BBQ buffet.  We had a couple of drinks and then moved to the other side of the glass for supper.  We paid the exorbidant price of 350,000 VND (17.50) which included a beer, glass of wine, or shot of vodka, for the buffet.  First time I've seen that drink offering combination.  You name a seafood, and it was probably available.  For appitizers, I has clams, scallops, fresh oysters, smoked salmon, shrimp, a jellyfish salad, and probably some I can't remember.  We followed with a seafood soup, then went to the bbq selection, where you put whatever you wanted cooked on a plate and then the cooked it.  Think lobster, prawns, more clams, scallops, oysters, beef, and other meats that I did not try.  Throughout the meal, they had live entertainment, an acoustic guitar with a couple of singers doing very familiar music and doing it well.  For desert I had some flambaed banana and pineapple.  Eileen had some baked deserts. Awesome meal.....
We went for a late night walk after we finally finished.  They really have the streets lit up here for New Years.  A nice walk along the big walkway that is between the main drag and the beach.  Tomorrow is another relax day for us.  We had so much fun with the last cooking class that we booked another one for tomorrow.  It's something like $24, and we'll be well fed when it's over.

Nha Trang

We got into Nha Trang early this morning after an uneventful flight from Danang.  For a relatively small country, Vietnam is a land of contrast.  We've already experience huge changes going from Hanoi to Halong Bay, Sapa, and then the backpacker type vibe of Hoi An.  Now we're in a very modern beach city that would be almost like Cancun with mountains and without Americans.  An endless beach with high rise hotels backed by rugged green mountains.

Nha Trang beach

The hotel that we are in is a block back from the beach, but there is a bunch of beach chairs that this hotel owns.  Useage dependant upon availability, and when we drove past them around 8 am, they were quite occupied.  There is not much English spoken around here, although all the hotel staff and restaurant people we have encountered have good English.  But the tourists are dominated by Russian and French.  I have not heard many good things about Russian tourists, but so far all has been fine.  We'll see how the next few days go, but if this morning is any indication, the beach chairs will be Russian territory and I doubt that much invasion is likely, at least during prime time.

View from our balcony

We took a long walk down the beach, really there are not many tourists around, although you see a lot of busloads driving past.  Not sure where they all are.  We came back towards the hotel along the street and were surprised at the lack of eating places, apart from some high end joints associated with the big hotels.  We went past our hotel and found the main market area, another huge establishment that probably covers a few blocks of tightly spaced stalls selling almost anything you can imagine.  To be able to cook here with all of these fresh ingredients would be a lot of fun.  We did not stay very long, our luggage cannot support much more shopping, but these big markets are just neat to wander through.
We went back to the hotel and did a bit of trip advisor looking, trying to pick a lunch spot.  We've reached a point in our holiday where my pre-planning did not reach, so we're winging it from now on.  Unfortunately, all the good reviews that I found were at the other end of town, but Eileen was game, so we went back one street off the main drag, and discovered a much quieter and more enjoyable atmosphere, with lots of small shops and locals.  Eventually we got to a place called Lanterns, which we selected for lunch.  Turned out to be a good choice.  Depending on what we learn from our guide tomorrow, we might end up back here on Sunday for either a cooking class or a street food tour.

Lanterns; great lunch

After lunch, we headed back to the hotel, but passed another silk embroidery place.  This was certainly marketing product but it was also set up as a cultural center.  They had hundreds of high end works of art that were just stunning, but came with stunning price tag.  Some of their murals were amazing, but it was ones done on a near clear silk background that really caught my eye.  I'm going to go back and see if they will let me photo a few of them, of course it is at the far end of town.... Near the hotel, we went past a school that was letting the kids out.  There were hundreds of motorbikes picking up their kids.  Absolute mayhem. 

Picking up kids after school

We got back to the hotel where Eileen wanted some relax time.  I hit the street for a bit to get some rum and pop.  Had seen some Flora Cana in a shop somewhere this morning, so I hunted it down and picked one up.  A bit of chill time for both of us, then we went down to the pool area for a drink before dinner.  Pictures tomorrow, I did not bring my camera.  Gorgeous.....
There were a few spots that we thought looked good for supper that were close by, a couple looked less appealing at night and two that we stopped at really did not serve meals.  I guess a "café" here is more for drinks and nibbles.  Eventually we ended up at a little hole in the wall place that is two blocks from the hotel.  Not much English here but enough to learn that the set menus need four people and there were no mushrooms for the chicken dish we ordered, so we switched to cauliflower.  We ordered two main courses and some steamed clams.  We had received one of our main courses when a motorbike wheeled up to the entrance and the guy got off with a bag of clams, no doubt picked up at the market which is a few more blocks away.  Ummm, those babies are going to be fresh.  The rest of the meal was so-so, but the clams were good.  I love steamed clams and these are so inexpensive here, they are becoming my standard appitizer.
Tomorrow we have a tour day, not sure what we are seeing apart from a religious start and some time on a river.

Another quiet day in Hoi An

We had a pretty uneventful day today.  We laid around for a bit in the morning, then caught the 10:00 shuttle boat down to the market, which is basically at the other end of the Old quarter, relative to where we are.  We had bought our $6 pass to the Old Quarter, which entitled you to visit five of the special attractions, most of which are restored buildings, etc.  One of them was a cultural museum, and included a 20ish minute show of some traditional music and dance.  The most interesting part of this was seeing some of the musical instruments that they were using. One was like a one string violin and another must have had some very thin wire that she manipulated with one hand and strummed with the other.

I'll call it Vietnamese violin

Another Vietnamese string instrument

We toured one of the other buildings, and since we were at the far end of town, decided to have lunch at a nice looking spot that we had seen from the boat to the cooking school.  trip Advisor reviews were good, but said that it was a little more expensive than the places in town.  They were right there, although this just meant we were paying prices like we would at home.  Nice lunch in a beautiful old courtyard, away from the bustle of the town.

Our lunch spot

A block away from the restaurant there is a bridge that connects the mainland to a small island.  I had seen these women a couple of days ago and thought they were washing clothes, but they were butchering and plucking chickens for the market, which is just past the bridge. 

Now that is fresh chicken going to market

We did a bit more shopping, have to put a stop to this as the luggage weights may get challenging soon, and then back to the resort.  I did another hike to the ATM, this is the last one that I have notes on that has low fees and a decent withdrawl limit.  After today, it's hit and miss.
Couple of pictures fro the walk back.

Hoi An from the bridge connecting mainland to our resort island

Old Japanese covered bridge

After a bit more lazing about and some packing, we went to the central area of the resort, had a beer and some free local food, then hopped onto the one hour sunset boat ride.  Sunset was nothing special but these ferry boats are just crazy.

Vietnamese ferry

Crazy early pickup tomorrow morning, ride back to Danang (less than half hour) then fly to Nha Trang for a few beach days.  Forecast continues to be excellent, we certainly have had near perfect weather.

Casual day in Hoi An

We had a leisurely start to our day, breakfast at the resort; starting to acquire quite a liking to pa414.ssion fruit, pomelo, and rambutan, not to mention Vietnamese coffee.
When I went to check on the photo tour yesterday, I came back through a different part of the market that happened to be the cloth section.  We headed there this morning for a look.....We got to the entrance and while I was taking a picture or something, Eileen had been introduced to a woman whose mother had a fabric shop inside, so off we went.  I don't think they get many westerners who are doing more than wandering through, so when they have a mark, they really go.  We got to moms section and Eileen started looking through the stacks of fabric.  Right away they sat her at a table and produced binders of samples that represented the inventory that they had.  When she commented on how warm it was, one of them started to fan her, it was all quite interesting to watch.  Shoot, I thought I had a picture of that but I did a video instead, and I am not going to try putting that up from here...They were not pushy sellers or anything, they were just so eager to get the customer what she wanted.  We came away with five metres of fabric and an almost teary hug from the seller.  But that wasn't quite the end.  One of the group of ladies also wanted her to look at her shoes.  Her booth is way back in a dark corner so she has to pull people in, and she pulled Eileen.  We got to her booth and Eileen tried on a pair of sandals that she found very comfortable.  The woman gave her a bunch of choices for colors, etc, and said that she would have them made in an hour, I think they were $14.

Todays interesting face

We headed towards an ATM that I specifically wanted to hit and made a stop or two more at some of the many clothing shops.  Gavin, if you ever let Kelsee loose in this town, you might need to add on a new closet.
We made one last stop at the silk shop that we had stopped at on the day we arrived in Hoi An.  The embroidered pictures were so intricate, that we had to take another look.  There were several that we really liked, but just could not bring ourselves to pay the cost.  The ones we liked took three months to stitch, and were incredible works of art, but were about $1,000.  Unique and awesome, but we just cannot.
We hopped a cab to the beach, an incredible stretch of sand that goes as far as you can see.  There were not a lot of people around, but of course the hawkers were still there, as well as the ones trying to get you into the "free" chairs.  Nice lunch though, that included a big dish of steamed clams, one of my favourites.  We walked the beach for quite a bit, then taxied back to town.

The kids would love picking shells here

 

The woven bamboo basket boats

 

Pulling in the net

 

Paddling to a new location

 

Being a grandma

 

The fishing boats that are used here are round bamboo boats, maybe 8 feet in diameter, half of the boat has a standing platform and half is open to the bottom for the fishing nets, etc.  We watched one guy pulling in his net, rowing (single oar) to a new spot, and then dropping the nets again, and these nets are probably 200-300 feet long.  Incredibly hard work.
We taxied back, got dropped at the market, picked up the sandals, stopped for a beer at a shady restaurant, and made a reservation for supper at the Morning Glory restaurant, which is an incredibly popular spot. Back to the resort, grabbed a couple of nibbles from their food sampling, then chilled on the deck.  Picked up our laundry that we dropped this morning, another $5 spent.
Supper was a splurge for here, $40 and half of that was for a bottle of wine.  The stuffed squid was the highlight.

Hoi An at night

Tomorrow, we have to see some of the historical building around Hoi An.  We've been walking past them for days now but have not gone in yet.  We have a sunset boat ride from 5-6  booked though the resort that comes at no cost.

Extra cooking class photos

Our cooking instructor

Crispy pancakes in rice paper

Seafood salad

Fancy garnishes

Casting the net

Afternoon food sampling

 

Pool outside the front door

Cooking class

Our first full day in Hoi An.  The fishermen are out and about early here, we can hear boats putt putting past at 4:00.  I think they are actually coming in at that time, bringing their catch to the market.  We had breakfast at the resort, then walked into old town to the meeting place for the cooking class.  Our information must have been slightly wrong, as they told us we were 20 minutes early.  Two other ladies were also there so we walked a few streets with them then were offered coffees until it was time to go.  We were a group of six, lead by this very entertaining fellow from the cooking school.  He took us to the Hoi An market, stopping at several locations to explain things like Vietnamese spices, utensils, fruits, vegetables, and then it was into the meat market for similar explanations on what to look for in your meat, fish, and seafood.  These markets are fascinating places, with sights and sounds that you just have to experience.

The meat market

Many many different types of eggs

The fish section

 

One of the interesting faces from the market

After the market, we all boarded a boat and went up the shoreline for maybe a kilometre where we got out and entered the property of the Redbridge cooking school.  Nice setup that they have.  Cooking classes are big business here and these guys are doing well at it.  The class was a blast, our guide was not the main instructor, but he was one of the main assistants.  Both he and the woman who lead the class had great senses of humour.  We made Hoi An pancakes, which were thin crispy pancakes that you filled with herbs, shrimp, sprouts, etc, then wrapped all tht in rice paper and dipped in peanut sauce.  Also made a seafood salad, some fresh rice paper shrimp rolls (including making the rice paper), and an eggplant in clay pot dish.  We had a lesson in making a decorative cucumber fan and a tomato rose.  This was all followed by a lunch that included the eggplant dish and some others prepared by the school/restaurant (we had already eaten everything else)  The whole thing took about five hours and at the end we took the boat back to the market.  On the boat ride back we slowed down to watch a fisherman cast his net a few times and bring in a few very small fish.  Of course he quickly made his way over to our boat to see if a few donations would be made for the show.
We did a bit of shopping on the way back, the prices for merchandise and clothing here are just crazy low.  I'm not sure how the system survives actually.  After we got back to the resort I remembered that I was going to stop in at a photographers to book a tour with him.  His office is right beside the market, so after a beer on the deck I hiked back again.  The girl in the office told me there would not be a tour tomorrow and she did not know about Thursday.  She asked me to email him.....so much for that hike. 
Back on the deck where I apparently napped for an hour.  At 4:00 we went out onto the grounds here where they have some free local food sampling every day, plus a few crafts.  No need for appetizers tonight.  Right after we got there Eileen looked up and there were the four Colorado nurses from the Halong Bay trip.  We spent the next 45 minutes talking it up with them, they are catching a ride to Danang tonight and flying home tomorrow.
Another good supper, heavy on the seafood, another pair of silk pants for Eileen ($4 tonight though), and then back home.  Tomorrow I think we're going to see what the beach is like.  It's a few km away, we just haven't decided if we're going to get bicycles or cab it. 
I have a few more pictures to add to this post, but I seem to have reached a limit. 

Pictures from travel to Hoi An

American bunker from the top of the pass overlooking Danang

Four of the five Marble mountains

Watering the vegetables (the video is better)

 

 

Silk worms

 

View from our back deck in Hoi An

Moving to Hoi An

No pictures tonight, don't ask me why, they just will not come up.  We had our pickup in Hue and off we headed for Hoi An.  It was a bit foggy at the beginning but that quickly lifted until we started climbing the Hai Van pass.  The highway had been incredibly busy until we started up the pass.  There is a long tunnel (something like 15 km) that cuts through the mountain but all the tourist traffic goes over the pass, which is quite pretty.  At the top of the pass, overlooking the city of Danang, is a tourist stop, with the usual vendors trying desperately to get your attention.  Danang was hard hit during the war, and there are still some bunkers on the hilltop.


We got into Danang and our guide told us we would drop by and meet with Ha, our tour organizer (we did still owe the balance our account).  We sat in her office and chatted for fifteen minutes or so.  She is the real deal, someone who is genuinely concerned about the details of our vacation.  She would lose sleep if there was something she could have done better.  I already had a sense of her character and this visit confirmed everything.

On the south side of Danang is a place called Marble mountains. There are five of these small mountains and a flourishing monument carving industry, with some stunning carvings (and shipping to Canada).  No, we did not buy anything.  We climbed up a couple of hundred steps to the top of the mountain for some pretty good views and a couple of interesting caves.
Completed the drive to Hoi An and did our lunch stop.  Best lunch that we have had yet.
We were supposed to do a bicycle tour today but the guide said that the road was under construction and the area was really dirty, so were opted to head out to a herb and vegetable area that we wanted to visit.  Interesting to see them fertilizing the sandy soil with seaweed.  Eileen took a turn at doing some watering, which I would show if only I could post pictures tonight.....
One last stop before we got to the resort was at a silk factory.  We saw the complete cycle from eggs, to silkworms, to larva, and then saw how they pulled the strands of silk and made it into thread.  They can get an enormous length from a single cocoon.  Next came the potentially expensive part, we saw them creating some exquisite hand embroidered art pieces with the silk.  There is likely a return visit to this place, walking distance from our resort.  Check-in was quick and then we were taken to the room.  Probably the nicest room yet, plus the pool is just outside the front door, a deck out the back door which looks out onto the river.  These next few days should be pretty relaxing.
More on Hoi An tomorrow, we did some strolling this afternoon and tonight, found our meeting place for cooking school tomorrow, had 25 cent glasses of beer, and a decent supper.  On the way home we came across a British couple that we knew from the Halong Bay boat.  They are staying close by so we'll meet up with them for drinks somewhere.

Hue

We had a fairly easy day today, about a half day city tour around Hue, then we were on our own.  The breakfast here was good, an improvement over Sapa for sure.  Our pickup was right on time, again a guide with a separate driver, this time in a car rather than the twelve seater bus that the two of us used in Sapa.
We started with the Imperial Citadel, a large walled area (the outer wall surrounds several square kilometers), that was the Royal residence for the last dynasty, the Nguyen Dynasty that ruled Vietnam from 1802 - 1945, albeit with French interference.  It was quite interesting to hear the stories of the Kings ( there were 13 or14 of them), one was gay, one was sterile due to childhood chicken pox, two of them lasted weeks before they were poisoned, and so on.

 

Entrance to the Inner Citadel, the center door is for the King only

 

Walking between the womens area and the King mothers residence

The only people allowed inside the inner walls were the king, his concubines, and his castrated male servants.  One of the kings had over 100 wives.  There were quite a few groups of schoolchildren there, mostly high school age.  The young girls were all dressed up in their traditional dresses.

School girls at the Citadel

Next we went to the Thien Mu pagoda, a Buddist site, where potential young monks can spend a couple of years deciding if this is their destiny, however when they turn 18, they still have to do their two years of military service.

The Thien Mu pagoda

From the pagoda, we got onto a dragon boat and chugged back up the Perfume river, where our driver met us again.  The boat part is a bit on the touristy side....

 

Our dragon boat

 

Sitting on the bow

Before a late lunch we made one more stop at the Khai Dinh tomb, I think he was the fourth king, who gave up his throne for reasons I don't remember, but built himself a lavish retreat where he lived out his years and was buried on the grounds.  However, the site of his tomb is not his actual gravesite, that was a secret spot, somewhere on the grounds, to ensure that his treasures that were buried with him, would not be removed.  The workers who knew the secret were all poisoned, but their families were richly rewarded.

A part of the Khai Dinh tomb

We were taken to lunch at a nice restaurant that was still inside the outer walls of the Citadel.  It was a prepared menu, but quite good.  Nice presentation with the spring rolls appitizer.

Spring rolls at lunch

We had a lazy last half of the afternoon, a little napping, then a happy hour beer at one of the many streetside eating/drinking places.  For supper we went to an Italian place that I had read about on trip advisor, that turned out to be next door to the hotel.  We debated between the Vietnamese hot pot and their highly regarded pizza, and ended up with the pizza.  A small appy of brussetta, a pizza, a large beer, and a glass of wine for $7.  Sure cannot complain about food prices or quality here.  Someone at the restaurant saw my Cameco Tshirt and said something about yea riders.  Turns out they are from Saskatoon and have a very similar itinerary to us, at least the first two weeks.  They are having a great time too, but sort of winging it with trains and $20 hotel rooms.

Tomorrow we drive to Hoi An, where we'll be staying for several days.  This is where I was predicting would be the highlight of our trip, but the bar is set pretty high.  The weather forecast continues to be fantastic, high twenties and sunshine.

 

More Sapa

The internet connection slowed right down on the last post so I closed it out before everything came crashing down.

Blockade on the hiking trail

 

Eileen and her companions, Yuong in the background

Preparing an orchid for sale

Local children



Young ethnic woman