Reset search
The Saunders Asian Adventure
  • The Saunders Adventures

The Saunders Asian Adventure

A 33-day adventure by The Saunders Adventures Read more
FollowInsightsCalendarShareShareBucket list
Newest first
  • Trip start
    January 26, 2020
    The Saunders AdventuresThe Saunders Asian AdventureTraveler

    Far East Adventure!

    January 26, 2020 in Canada ⋅ 🌧 9 °C

    And so the adventure begins! Arrived early at the airport and now we hurry up and wait! Going to be a looooong day - 14 hour flight to Hong Kong 😳!

    We always seem to run into Chelsea on our travels and this time is no different - she was on our bus to downtown Vancouver yesterday, heading to the airport to fly to Brisbane.

    We stayed out in Richmond last night, had a nice dinner and a glass of wine at the River Rock, (where they put on a special Chinese New Year show) then early to bed in anticipation of today - maybe for once I can sleep on the plane!! 🤦‍♀️    Read more

  • The Saunders AdventuresThe Saunders Asian AdventureTraveler
    View from our hotel this morning; deserted streets of Kowloon and the waterfront promenade!
    Hillside cemetary; Repulse Bay; main Street, Stanley; Man Ho TempleMan Mo Temple; downtown Kowloon street; Peninsula Hotel; Star FerrySky 100 observation deck; apartments as far as the eye can see; Victoria Harbour; offshore islands

    Day 2 - or is it 3??

    January 28, 2020 in Hong Kong ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    So it’s Tuesday here so technically Day 3 since we basically lost a day! Flight was long but good - Dave slept about 4 hours, me - half an hour 😂😂. Touched down in Hong Kong Monday at 6:10pm local time and arrived at our lovely hotel at 8pm (and we got upgraded to a Sky Suite - woo hoo!!). Took off for a walk around the harbour - so many apartments and hotels - and they sure love their light shows here! Also being here at Chinese New Year, there are beautiful displays of Chinese lanterns and lights all over the place. After a light dinner we headed back to the hotel and fell into bed and asleep in seconds! After a good rest, up at 6am and ready to start a day of touring around. Dave wandered out to get us a Starbucks coffee, but they didn’t open till 8, so 7-11 coffee it was! Left our hotel just after 8, grabbed some breakfast then wandered down the waterfront to the Star Ferry landing. We were surprised at how few people were out at that time of day - the town seemed deserted - but later found out that Chinese New Year lasts for 3 or 4 days, and both today and tomorrow are still considered holidays!

    We took the Star Ferry over to Hong Kong Island and boarded the Hop on/Hop off bus around 9:45. There are 3 different routes for the tour and the first one (green) took us through the business area and around the back side of the island. We passed by the Peak tram (which we are taking tomorrow), an interesting cemetery built on a hillside, Happy Valley Horse Track, which dates back to 1846. Then on to Ocean Park, which has a small beach with outdoor barbecues which is frequented by locals, Repulse Bay which was a Pirates hideout in the mid 1800’s with its luxury hotels and apartments (and apparently the most real estate in the world) and the small town of Stanley. We hopped off at Stanley to take a look around - it has a multi level market and a cute little town with a few English pubs! Back on the bus, we went by Aberdeen, home to the famous Jumbo floating restaurant, accessible only by boat, then back to our starting point to get on the “red” tour. This one took us mainly through the downtown area of Hong Kong Island and we got off at the Mid Levels Escalator stop - a series of escalators that transport people up the hills on the island! From there we walked down some side streets to the Man Mo Temple - interesting place where people go to light thousands of incense sticks as offerings at the altar! Back on the bus to our starting point, then took the ferry back to Kowloon. Got on our third hop on bus (the blue route) which took us through many of the downtown shopping areas, markets, green space (very little) and the thousands of apartment buildings in Hong Kong. We ended up at Sky 100 observation deck at the International Commerce Centre building - the tallest in Hong Kong. There, we took the 60 second elevator ride up to the 100th floor for spectacular 360 degree views of Hong Kong. The views are stunning, of the harbour, the islands nearby and the architecture, but most prevalent is the number of apartment buildings you can actually see spread out over the city - not a single family home in sight!

    After walking almost 7 kms today, we were ready to head back to the hotel for a rest. We then got ready to walk down to the harbour to watch the a Symphony of Lights - an amazing laser show across the harbour set to music! We decided to try dim sum for dinner in a local restaurant, and it did not disappoint! At this point, we wore off some calories walking back to the hotel (grand total of 13.4 km for the day) and will get some sleep so we’re ready for another action packed day tomorrow!

    (Please feel free to comment, but leave your name or initials as it’s not showing up who you are! Thanks)    Read more

  • The Saunders AdventuresThe Saunders Asian AdventureTraveler
    Dave's in the Doghouse again; the Peninsula hotel, outside and inside!
    Nathan Street stores and sightsRepulse Bay and Sampan cruise in AberdeenOld shanty town; Beautiful views from the PeakMore views at the Peak and Victoria HarbourRandom shots of laundry hanging on balconies, and a very skinny apartment building!

    Hong Kong Looooong Day!

    January 29, 2020 in Hong Kong ⋅ 🌙 14 °C

    Oh my aching feet! Hit the ground running at 8 this morning and walked the few blocks down to the Peninsula Hotel - Hong Kong’s oldest, most famous, most expensive and most visited by rich people - Hotel! Quite reminiscent of the Empress in Victoria, we had a poke around, chanced taking some stairs up to the second level and scooted out before we got kicked out 😂😂! This place has a fleet of Rolls Royces and a helicopter for picking up guests at the airport, as well as a yacht for the use of said guests (at a nominal fee, I’m sure!). We left there for a Starbucks coffee and brekky, then headed up Nathan Street, which is also called the “golden mile of shopping” here in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, most of the shops don’t open till 11am, there were a few open that we peeked into, most far beyond our price range (especially the $HK 510,800 diamond earrings - only around $89,700 CAD 😳).

    We walked from there to the ferry landing and headed over to Hong Kong Island again. Jumped on the Big Bus and hopped off at Repulse Bay where we had driven through yesterday but wanted to have a better look. Took a walk along the beach and ogled some of the beautiful resorts and apartments. There are some interesting park areas there too with Chinese statues and busts of various Buddhist gods and goddesses, as well as lots of seaside restaurants. We jumped back on the bus and got off again in an area called Aberdeen where we boarded a Sampan boat for a cruise past the Jumbo Floating Restaurant and through the little harbour and Houseboat Village. After that, we walked along the waterfront in Aberdeen and into the busy town centre - tons more apartment buildings, and many with laundry hanging on the balconies!! Had a bite to eat and headed back to catch the bus again. So many interesting sights to see along the way, including a little ramshackle shanty town which was one of the first settlements on Hong Kong Island, dating back to 1700’s.

    We got back to Central, which is the downtown area of the Island, walked around for a while, then took the bus up to the Peak Tram, a funicular which climbs the mountain up to Victoria Peak for spectacular 360 degree views over all of Hong Kong. We went up in daylight to enjoy the sunshine views, and had dinner in one of the restaurants up there so we could stay till dark and experience the lights of the city at night - pretty amazing! The Peak is almost a little town in itself, with numerous stores, restaurants and tourist attractions (the Jelly Belly store being my fave! 😂😂). After taking lots of photos and filling our faces, we took the tram back down, walked to the ferry landing for our little harbour cruise back to Kowloon, and returned to our hotel with sore legs and feet after clocking 16.3 kms today! Up early tomorrow for the next leg of our journey - stay tuned! 😊    Read more

  • The Saunders AdventuresThe Saunders Asian AdventureTraveler
    Leaving Hong Kong and arriving in Hanoi.
    View from our hotel, and town centre close to where we are staying.Beautiful temple with offerings; downtown street; lake with pagodasNightime streets with many restaurants (and scooters!!) our hotel; view from rooftop bar.

    So Long Hong Kong - Good Morning Vietnam

    January 30, 2020 in Vietnam ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    Up at 4am today to take a cab out to the airport for the next leg of our journey! We left Hong Kong at 8:40am and had a great 2 hour flight to Hanoi, arriving at 9:40 local time (Hanoi is 1 hour behind Hong Kong so an extra hour gained this day! 😊). We had arranged for a driver to pick us up at the airport, got through immigration and customs quite quickly, and were on the road to our hotel by 10:30. On the main highway, we noticed a few commuters driving scooters, as we got closer to the city, there were scooters EVERYWHERE! Weaving in and out of traffic, merging and turning in front of oncoming vehicles, and basically taking their lives into their own hands! Suffice it to say, this is the main mode of transportation here, and we noticed it more and more as the day went on!

    Upon arrival at our hotel, we were greeted by a welcome drink of sweet tea, and some snacks, and sat down with Leo, our very gracious host. He explained the area to us, gave us maps marking down areas of interest, restaurants, shopping, etc., and also gave us an upgrade on our room and early check in! We dropped off our bags, freshened up and headed off on foot for a bit of exploring.

    We walked down some side streets where we found restaurants, coffee shops and an abundance of stores selling everything from silk and cashmere to clothing, shoes and jewellery, all at bargain prices. And again, a gazillion scooters, all blowing their horns, weaving in and out to avoid cars and pedestrians, and some carrying a family of four! 😳. In the town centre, we walked around a small lake to a pagoda (which we will explore more tomorrow), and along the Main Street, where we came across a very ornate temple, different to the one in Hong Kong in that the altars were covered with fruits and food as offerings! We had a rickshaw driver follow us around for quite a while wanting us to take a tour - he even waited for us outside a coffee shop we went into and followed us again when we left!

    At around 2:30 pm, we were fading, so came back to the hotel to rest, which turned into a 3 hour sleep!! We got up and ready to head out for dinner, where we ate some amazing spring rolls, noodles and won ton soup at a street cafe - once again dodging scooters driving aimlessly down the narrow alleys. There are lots of sidewalks in the area, but all are taken up by parked scooters, so we had to be careful where we walked! When we got back to the hotel, we went to the rooftop bar for a glass of wine, then back to the room to catch up on the blog and get a good nights sleep in anticipation of a busy day tomorrow! 😊    Read more

  • The Saunders AdventuresThe Saunders Asian AdventureTraveler
    Milirary museum; Lenin statue; Flag Tower; Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
    Ho Chi Minh Museum; Mausoleum; Presidential Palace; National House of AssemblyYear of the Rat display; Tran Quoc Pagoda; Temple offeringsInteresting vendor salesn Highlands Coffee shop; Cua Bac church; Hanoi Opera HouseBalloon vendor; Hanoi Stock Exchange; fruit and vegetable vendor (sore shoulders!)Law of Kharma!

    Hanoi by bus and on foot

    January 31, 2020 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    So we actually slept in until 6am today, instead of our usual being wide awake at 4am! We got ready and went for an amazing buffet breakfast at our hotel, which is included in the price of our room. There were lovely varieties of tropical fruits, fresh juices, amazing coffee, soups, sushi, cereal, and the regular bacon, eggs, sausages, toast, croissants and baked goods. Enough to last us for the day, and so delicious!

    We left the hotel around 8:30 and explored a few of the nearby streets before heading to the Hop On/Hop Off bus in the town centre. We got off at the flag tower, built in 1812 as a military observation post for the Ngyuyen Dynasty, and was part of the Hanoi Citadel and a Wotld Heritage site. We passed by the Military museum, and Lenin’s statue and from there to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, where apparently his body is still on display - it was closed to the public today which was just fine with us! In the same area is the Ho Chi Minh Museum, and the National Assembly house. We walked down to the Tran Quoc Pagoda, passing many vendors selling such things as fresh chestnuts, roasted corn, goldfish, tiny birds and baby turtles 😳. The pagoda has more temples, similar to the ones we saw yesterday with food and gift offerings to Buddha, and lots of burning incense! So interesting to see local people paying their respects and leaving monetary donations at the altars. There were interesting cartoon depictions at the Pagoda of the Law of Khama according to Buddhism - some of them quite funny!

    We left there and decided to go for a coffee at a place called Highlands Coffee. This is a chain of about 80 coffee shops in Vietnam, and the brainchild of a Vietnamese American who, after seeing the success of Starbucks in his home town of Seattle, decided to try his hand at a similar venture in his country of origin back in 1998. He started out just selling packaged coffee then expanded to coffee shops in 2002, the first one opening in Ho Chi Minh City (former Saigon), and the rest is history!

    We continued on our trek, passing through a beautiful tree lined street with amazing houses, built in the French style from when Hanoi was occupied by the French from 1946 to 1954. We then passed by a lovely old church (Cua Bac) a Roman Catholic Church built in 1932. Headed back to the hop on bus and continued the tour passing the a Temple of Literature and the Hoa Lo prison. We hopped off again at the Hanoi Opera house, which was apparently build to the style of the Garnier Opera House in Paris, but on a much smaller scale. Back on the bus to the hustle and bustle of the Old Quarter, where our tour originated - more interesting vendors in this area, including a lady carrying the biggest bunch of helium balloons I’ve ever seen!

    After walking 11.6 kms today, we went back to our hotel for some downtime, and decided to have a quiet dinner at the hotel restaurant. The food was amazing and very reasonably priced. We returned to our lovely suite to catch up on the day and rest in anticipation of another busy day tomorrow!    Read more

  • The Saunders AdventuresThe Saunders Asian AdventureTraveler
    The Temple of Literature, beautiful Bonsai, and Birds Nest White Fungus!!
    Koi in the Temple pond, ancient gong and bell; graduating class!Ho Van Cultural Village with Water Puppets and Master Calligrapher! Random statue pic!Cars and orchids outside the Hotel Metropole; another balloon vendor; Bride & Groom; ice cream shop!

    Walk, bus, walk, bus, walk, rest, relax!

    February 1, 2020 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    After another great breakfast at the hotel, we headed outside to find it raining! Luckily we brought our rain jackets so off we went walking through town, dodging scooters, cars and bikes - it’s a different world here, where crosswalks mean nothing and pedestrians have no right of way! 😳. We arrived at the centre of town and hopped on the hop on bus - we bought a 2 day pass and find this really is the way to go in cities around the world. We got off at the Temple of Literature, an almost thousand year old building which was Vietnam’s first national university. It is one of several temples in Vietnam which is dedicated to Confucius, sages and scholars. There are numerous courtyards, pavilions and halls where study sessions and strict exams took place before it became a “Monument Historique” under the French protectorate in 1906. (Interestingly, it was also featured in The Amazing Race 22!). More offering altars at the back of the temple - this one with interesting cans of food, including Bird’s Nest White Fungus - no thanks!! 🤢. As we were leaving, a large group of graduating students gathered to have their photos taken, which was awesome to see.

    We crossed the street from the temple and entered the Ho Van cultural village where we saw artists displaying their Vietnamese arts and crafts. It sits next to Van Lake which has lovely floating lotus flowers scattered around. At the end of the village are many booths where artists make banners with ancient calligraphy - most are dressed in traditional clothing and are very friendly!

    We hopped back on the bus to the opera house again and then went for a coffee at another of the Highlands Coffee shops. As we left there, we saw photographers taking wedding photos of a newly married young couple on the steps of the opera house (naturally, I made Dave take a photo too! 😁).

    We walked through a very opulent area with fancy hotels and stores, one being the Hotel Metropole, which had a couple of beautiful old Citroen cars parked outside, and the most amazing, huge live orchid plant I’ve ever seen! Carried on to Trang Tien street where Hanoi’s famous Ken Trang Tien ice cream shop takes up a few store fronts. Naturally, I had to try one, and chose the coconut milk flavour, which was delicious. Headed back to our hotel and decided to go for afternoon tea in the restaurant upstairs - a lovely array of fruit and desserts with tea or coffee.

    We had booked spa treatments at the hotel before we left this morning, so headed to the spa around 4pm for amazing massages! Back to the room to veg for a while after, then another lovely dinner in the hotel restaurant. Tomorrow we leave for a cruise through the beautiful scenery of Ha Long Bay - about 2 hours east of here - so time for some shut eye to be refreshed for that! 😊    Read more

  • The Saunders AdventuresThe Saunders Asian AdventureTraveler
    Bus trip from Hanoi; boarding the tender; our boat; cruising through Ha Long Bay
    1View from our deck; islands in the bayBoat lady selling her wares; kayaking through the islands1Dave jumping in! The Wave mountain1Dining room on the boat; happy hour; some night fishing; more islands1Stock picture of Ha Long Bay in the sunshine!

    Cruise to Ha Long Bay

    February 2, 2020 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Got picked up by bus at our hotel at 9am for the 2 and a half hour drive to board our boat at Ha Long Bay. There were about 20 of us all boarding the same cruise boat, from all corners of the world. We arrived just before noon and a tender took us out to the Sapphire, our small but beautiful boat. The boat departed and we sailed through the islands that make up Ha Long Bay (apparently there are almost 2000 of them) for about 40 minutes, then dropped anchor. We had a briefing in the dining room followed by an amazing four course lunch. Checked into our cabin to change and in looking over the deck, saw a Vietnamese lady in a small row boat next to our boat, laden down with food, fruit, chips, wine and jewellery she had for sale! Prices were crazy but I guess she has to row her wares a long way out!

    Next we headed back to the tender which drove us out to one of the small bays to go kayaking! The weather was cloudy but warm, and the scenery amazing! We spent the next hour kayaking around the calm green waters around so many of the islands jutting our from the South China Sea! The locals call the small islands mountains and some if them have names- one of particular interest was called The Wave and looked just like a wave before it breaks to surf! Next the tender took us to another small bay for swimming in which most of the guests partook by jumping off the back of the boat! The water was actually quite warm and refreshing.

    We returned to the cruise boat around 5pm, freshened up, and met our fellow cruisers on the sun deck for happy hour. We have met people from all over the world - England, France, Germany, Israel, India and even two sisters from Vancouver Island! Had a great time chatting and making new friends until it was time for dinner at 7. We had another amazing 5 course meal with local fruits, vegetables, fish and traditional desserts. The music came on after dinner and we danced in the dining room before heading back up to the sun deck again for a nightcap and more chatting. After a long, full day, we fell into bed in anticipation of an early morning and our second day of adventure in Ha Long Bay! 😊    Read more

  • The Saunders AdventuresThe Saunders Asian AdventureTraveler
    Early morning on Ha Long Bay
    More beautiful islands; Finger Rock; Buddhist temple on the beachArriving at the village; the great bike trail - nice bike!1Mean looking bull; cobra rice wine; trail through the village; "foot massage"!Kayaking to the beach!Sand and shells on the beach; kayaking back to the boat; our dinner partners

    Halong Bay Day 2

    February 3, 2020 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Up bright and early this morning for a busy day! Breakfast was at 6:30 am - unfortunately we missed the Tai Chi lesson on the sun deck but had a nice buffet breakfast in the dining room. There are 2 options for this cruise, and some of the people we met had chosen the one night cruise so we’re leaving today. We said our goodbyes, and a group of 7 of us who chose the 2 night option boarded a “day boat” for our full day adventure. We departed the cruise boat around 8:30, picked up some passengers from another cruise boat, and were on our way. The new passengers were a group of 5 young men who go to Cornell University, but are doing a “study abroad” program in Australia. They were from New York and Florida and were on a school break travelling around Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam - such a delightful bunch!

    We headed off through more islands for the one hour boat ride to Cat Ba Island - the biggest in the area. Our tour guide, Bora, walked us through what we would be doing for the day and we were on our way to a small village on Cat Ba Island. We got off the boat at the village and were provided with bicycles to take us along the 4 km trail to the village. The trail was really well maintained, with just a couple of hills, so it was a nice easy ride. The village itself has a population of about 300 and is very remote, catering mostly to tourists. Our first stop was at a little restaurant where Bora gave us lots of information about the particular area, and Vietnam in general. We walked around and saw a big bull tied up in the boggy field, and goats in the adjoining field. Back on our bikes to the next stop where we got to sample varieties of Vietnamese rice wine! There was the regular rice wine, banana, honey and hibiscus flavours, and one jar with snakes marinated in the wine - we tried all but the latter! From there we went to the “foot massage” area, which is actually a little pond with little black fish which nibble the dry skin off your feet! I’ve seen this done in tanks before, but not in this environment with bigger fish (which were about 3” long!). Quite the fun experience! Back to the boat where they had prepared a delicious lunch of seafood, chicken, vegetables and rice!

    Our next stop was near a lovely beach and we went kayaking again to get to it. The white sand and shells were beautiful and we spent a little time exploring before returning to the boat, where some of the braver souls jumped off for a swim. It was then time to start the hour boat ride back to our cruise boat, we said goodbye to the Cornell students, and arrived back around 4pm, giving us some time to rest before dinner.

    Dinner was another amazing 5 course meal - the food really has been first class on this little cruise! We sat with Pete and Sam, a lovely English couple, and Miriam, Chris and James from France! Had a great evening with our new friends and made great contacts for future trips! 😜    Read more

  • The Saunders AdventuresThe Saunders Asian AdventureTraveler
    1Trip to the cave; our "rower"; beautiful scenery; The Magnificent Seven!
    Warching the cooking demo; Miriam! Sam and I "rolling"; Jeremy rolling; the staff waving goodbye1Pasteur St. Brew Pub; Daves samplers; Us; street view of Hanoi

    Ha Long back to Hanoi

    February 4, 2020 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Up early again this morning for the 6:30am buffet breakfast- darn, we missed Tai Chi again! 😜. After filling our faces, we boarded the tender at 7:15 to go to the Bright Cave, landed at a little bay and transferred to a row boat navigated by a lovely little (strong) Vietnamese lady. She rowed us into the caves to a beautiful secluded bay on the other side, where she took photos of us (we were the same group as at dinner last night - the Magnificent Seven! 😉). We rowed back to the tender and drove back to our cruise boat. We had some downtime to pack our bags and check out, and then went to the dining room where one of our tour guides, Sunny, gave us a cooking demonstration. We learned how to make authentic fresh spring rolls, first Sunny showed us, then we got to make them ourselves! (During this time, our boat had been chugging along through the bay and back to our original pick up spot). Next was a buffet lunch - once again delicious - and then we got back on the tender to take us back to the bus for our return journey to Hanoi. This little cruise was absolutely awesome, and I would recommend it to anyone visiting the area.

    We were all pretty tired on the bus ride back - it was a little quieter group than at dinner last night! We arrived back in Hanoi around 2:30, said goodbye to our new friends with hugs and promises to stay in touch, and returned to our hotel. Dave and I had a nap in the afternoon, but both agreed it was worth being tired for all the memories made on this cruise!

    After our nap, we freshened up and walked a few blocks to the Pasteur Street Brewing Company for dinner. This place was opened by a couple of American guys a few years ago and also has locations in Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City. They have quite a few beers available on tap, as well as wine and cider, and pub food. Dave had a sampling of 6 beers - I had the wine of course, and we both had a bite to eat. Our waiter was a delightful young Vietnamese man named Quon who spoke excellent English (which he told us he learned on YouTube!). He just finished an engineering degree here in Hanoi and told us he was looking forward to the next chapter of his life. We have met so many lovely people so far on this trip and count ourselves very lucky! Off for some shut eye as we have another busy day tomorrow - a tour to the Bai Dinh pagoda and a River cruise to more caves!    Read more

  • The Saunders AdventuresThe Saunders Asian AdventureTraveler
    1Entrance to Bai Dinh; Lady Buddah; Buddah; 36 ton Bell
    Vietnam's tallest Pagoda; students of Buddah statues; view over the lakeAmazing cave and water views on the row boat ride1Stairs and more stairs overlooking the Ninh Bin area

    Pagodas, a boat ride and stairs!

    February 5, 2020 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    We got picked up at our hotel this morning by a limo bus for a long day tour. We drove south for just over 2 hours to the Bai Dinh pagoda, which is actually a few different pagodas with various statues and altars in each. We found out that the difference between a pagoda and a temple is that pagodas are for worshipping Buddha, whereas temples are to worship Vietnamese national heroes, such as a king, a queen, a general, a successful Confucian scholar, or a national liberator (Ho Chi Minh). There are 1000 stone statues around all of the buildings and these are in honour of students of Buddha. There are also small glass encased gold Buddha statues everywhere - we learned that for a donation of 10,000,000 Vietnamese Dong (about 600 Canadian) people can purchase these to put on display and have their name etched underneath the statue! We saw the amazing altar with the golden Lady Buddha (also known as Goddess of Mercy) who has 1000 hands (😳 couldn’t we all use that around the house! 🤣🤣), and the statue of Buddha and his 2 Disciples. Our guide told us they are all made of copper but covered with gold leaf. The tall Pagoda behind the main ones is the tallest in Vietnam- we didn’t get to go in that one, but it was pretty impressive!

    After leaving Bai Dinh, we went for lunch at a little Vietnamese resort - it was a “boo-fay” as our tour guide called it, and as usual, amazing food! We left the restaurant and headed to Trang An, where we boarded a small rowing boat and spent the next hour and 40 minutes navigating the waters of this area, which is also known as “mini Ha Long Bay” due to the limestone rocks jutting out of the water, the emerald colour of the water, and the many caves we went through. The weather was a little cloudy, but the rain stayed off and it was an awesome tour!

    Next we went to an Eco Village in the Ninh Bin area. There are some lovely water features in the park, as well as stores, restaurants and the usual touristy stuff. Then there are the stairs.... our guide told us there were 500 stairs to get to the top of “the dragon” to enjoy the amazing view over 2 valleys - seemed more like 800! I made it about 3/4 of the way up, but then the the transition of each stair was knee high, and no rails to hold on to, so I erred on the side of caution and waited for Dave to get to the top to take his photos! Even at the level I got to, the view was amazing! We descended the stairs, got back on the bus, and began our long ride back to Hanoi. We arrived back at the hotel around 7:30, had dinner and are ready to fall into bed after a long but interesting day!    Read more

  • The Saunders AdventuresThe Saunders Asian AdventureTraveler
    Leaving Hanoi, arriving in Da Nang, and the airports!
    View from our hotel, and the beautiful beach!Lobsters in a tank for sale; the beachMore beach and street shots1Dinner and drinks with Sam and Pete - note the beer galsses they gave us for our wine! 😂😂View of Da Nang down the beach at night.

    Off to Da Nang we go

    February 6, 2020 in Vietnam ⋅ 🌙 21 °C

    Today was a travel day, so after a last breakfast at our lovely hotel in Hanoi, we got picked up by a driver who took us out to the airport to catch our one hour flight to Da Nang, on the east coast of Vietnam. The flight on Vietnam Airlines was great and we arrived just after 2pm, got picked up at the airport (the hotel arranges drivers for you) and got to our hotel just after 3. Very lovely weather here after the mist and cooler weather in the north - around 27 degrees and now we can put our sweaters and rain jackets away!

    We took off on foot and walked the half block to the beach, then had a nice long walk along the water line, dipping our toes in the pleasantly warm sea! Da Nang is very different to Hanoi - lots of brightly lit hotels along the beach and more of a seaside feel than being in the big city. We walked past lots of places with tanks or big bowls filled with fish, lobster, prawns, crab and shellfish, which you can either buy by the kilo, or order fresh in a restaurant!

    Got back to the hotel and ready to go out for dinner with Pete and Sam, who we met on the Ha Long Bay cruise - they got into Da Nang yesterday. Met up with them on the walkway next to the beach and wandered down a few side streets till we found a place to eat. The place we ended up at didn’t have wine, so we went down the street to a small grocery store and picked up a bottle and took it back to the restaurant! We had an amazing meal of Vietnamese specialties, and Sam and I enjoyed the wine while the guys had a couple of Tiger beers each, then ordered a pitcher of Bia Tuoi, which is made fresh daily with no preservatives and is quite popular in Vietnam. Had a lovely time, then parted ways with plans of renting scooters tomorrow to explore more of the area - another adventure to report tomorrow! 😊    Read more

  • The Saunders AdventuresThe Saunders Asian AdventureTraveler
    Da Nang streets the early morning
    Riding up the Hai Van passViews from the pass; Biker Dave; village cemetary; local man on the passElephant Springs; trail to the springs; Lang Co beachLunch restaurant; Pete on the beach; boat on the beach; swinging girls on the beach!!2City view from the pass; Lady Buddah statue; Linh Ung Pagoda; beautiful sunset

    Scoot, scoot - beep beep!

    February 7, 2020 in Vietnam ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    Today after breakfast, we met Sam and Pete at their hotel and rented two scooters (or motor bikes) for the day and took off around 9am on our adventure. We drove through the downtown area, dodging cars, trucks and other bikes while enduring the constant tooting of horns - traffic is crazy here, but I think people blow their horns as a courtesy to say “here I am, get outta my way”!! 😳🤣🤣. We started the climb up the Hai Van Pass, also known as the Ocean Cloud Pass, where the traffic was lighter and the views spectacular. We made a few photo stops before beginning our descent down into lovely towns and villages and some amazing beach views. We were looking for a destination we thought was called a Elephant Falls, made a few stops to attempt to ask for directions, and tried to see if Google Maps could help but didn’t have a lot of luck! After a bit of back and forth driving, we found the turnoff and headed through a cute village, up a dirt road and arrived at a parking lot, where the young girl said we had to pay to hike up the hill for 5 minutes to the destination (these must have been Vietnamese minutes, cos it was way longer!). When we got to the top, there were really no falls, but lots of big rocks with water pools that descended in small dribbles down to the next set of pools, and what appeared to be a whole bunch of shack restaurants - not what we expected to find! (We later discovered the place we found was called Elephant Springs, and many reviewers on TripAdvisor also commented on what a disappointment it was!). Oh well, nothing ventured!

    We decided to head back the way we came and found the beautiful Lang Co beach, where we stopped for a fantastic lunch and wet our whistles! I had the best mango juice I’ve ever had, and the food they served was so delicious! They had a couple of swings on the beach, so Sam and I reverted to our childhoods and had a good old swing!

    We left there and headed back up the pass, down the other side, and through the downtown area again. Sam and Pete decided they wanted to go see the Dragon Bridge, so we parted ways, and Dave and I took off to go see the Lady Buddha statue on the other side of the bay from where we are staying. This is the tallest Buddha statue in Vietnam at a height of 67 metres - equivalent to a 30 storey building. It stands on a mountain facing the sea and is truly magnificent! We didn’t go inside, but apparently there are 17 floors that can be climbed all the way to the statues hat. The Linh Ung pagoda is in the same grounds as the statue as well as an impressive collection of statues and topiaries. By the time we had looked around, the sun was starting to go down so we headed back to drop off our motorbikes and arrived back at our hotel around 6pm after a long but really great day!    Read more

  • The Saunders AdventuresThe Saunders Asian AdventureTraveler
    Views from our morning walk
    Scooters for towing; street scenes; even the dogs ride scooters!!Dragon Bridge; the market; florist shop; beautiful rose arrangement1Lovely catholic church in downtown area; Dragon Bridge lit up; pretty hanging lanterns; dinner stop!Fire breathing, water spitting Dragon Bridge - amazing!Lights on buildings, boats and bridges along the river

    These sandals were made for walking!!

    February 8, 2020 in Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Decided to have a bit of a rest day after yesterday’s adventures! After breakfast, we went for a walk along the beachfront - there is so much construction going on of hotels and apartments - looks like there will be lots of new places to stay in Da Nang in the not too distant future! Scoped out some restaurants for future dinners too! The weather is a bit cloudy today, but still nice and warm so a good day for walking!

    Next we walked down to Sam and Pete’s hotel - they were leaving for Nah Trang today, so we had some refreshments with them, exchanged contact info and waved them off to the airport. We go to Nah Trang on Wednesday and will meet up with them again when we get there - by then they will know all the good places to go! 😜

    Walked some of the side streets back to our hotel and had a bit of a rest. Our hotel included free foot massages in the price, so we made an appointment for 2pm at the spa and both had half an hour of relaxation and pampering. We went for a quick lunch after that then came back to get ready for an evening in downtown Da Nang.

    We left our hotel around 5pm and headed towards the beautiful Dragon Bridge, a famous landmark here with some special features! We walked across the bridge then took a small tunnel underneath to the downtown area - there are so many lights in the city, and at dark, the buildings, bridges and boats on the river put on an amazing display. We walked around some of the streets and looked in a few shops and a market. The flowers on display are absolutely gorgeous - I asked the price of one arrangement of at least 2 and a half dozen roses, and they were 300,000 Vietnamese Dong - that’s around $17 Canadian! 😳. We stopped for a glass of wine, then continued walking until we came to a restaurant called Draft Beer, which had an awesome view of the Dragon Bridge and played great music videos on a big screen in the lounge. Had a nice dinner then walked down to watch the “special features” of the Dragon Bridge. The Bridge is the longest in Vietnam (666 metres) and offers a dazzling display of lights which change colour sequentially. On weekends and annual festivities, the head of the Dragon breathes fire and spits out water - the Bridge is closed to traffic around 8:55 and the show starts at 9 for about 8 minutes. What a spectacular display! There were thousands of people lining the streets, in restaurants, on boats or even on the bridge to watch (although from the way some of them were running during the water spitting, I think we were better off at our vantage point! 😂). Da Nang is truly a beautiful city with something to offer everyone.

    So, after the fire show, we walked back to our hotel. Good thing we had those foot massages, as these feet clocked 18.4 kms today! Time for sleep! 😴    Read more

  • The Saunders AdventuresThe Saunders Asian AdventureTraveler
    Views from morning walk
    One of the Marble Mountains; beautifil statues; Hoi An riverStreet views of Hoi AnThe Japanese covered bridge; night market; Hoi An New Year signNegotiating for dress; Dave getting measured for suit; lanterns down the streetsRiver views as the lanterns start to light up the river

    An Afternoon in Hoi An

    February 9, 2020 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Had a lazy morning, went for breakfast at the hotel then a bit of a walk to the beach - we had booked a car and driver to take us to Hoi An at noon so had a bit of time to kill. Hoi An, once known as Faifo, has more than 2,000 years history, was the principal port of the Cham Kingdom, which controlled the strategic spice trade with Indonesia from the 7th to the 10th century and was a major international port in the 16th and 17th centuries. (It is also the second Unesco site we have visited on this trip, the first being Ha Long Bay). Our driver, Tri, picked us up right on time for the 40 minute drive to this fun little tourist town. We stopped along the way to look at the Marble Mountains, and also the beautiful marble carvings and statues close by. Would love to bring one home but there’s that darn weight restriction on the plane - and I think having it mailed would break the bank! 🤣🤣.

    We arrived in Hoi An around 12:45 and were in awe of all the shops and stalls on every street! Everything from leather to silk, to ceramic knick knacks and everything in between! One of my reasons for wanting to go was to have a silk dress made. Met a lady named An at one of the stalls who insisted on taking me to her store, where she introduced me to her dressmaker, Thien. There I was given a couple of books with different dress designs, and fabric samples, got measured up and bingo bango, they will deliver my dress to our hotel tomorrow! We left there, wandered around a bit, then went for a light lunch at a cafe overlooking the river. Dave had pondered having a suit custom made, and decided at the prices they were asking, it was well worth it! We went back to see Thien and he got measured up for a wool/cashmere suit and silk shirt for about 1/8th of the price back home, which will also be hand made and delivered tomorrow! 😳

    We walked around some more checking out stores, then decided to rest with a nice glass of wine while we waited for the night market to open at 6, and the Lantern Festival on the river at dusk - all while listening to a Karaoke singer down the road who would totally benefit from a singing lesson or 50! 🤣🤣. We watched the vendors set up for the market, then took a stroll through, where I picked up a few nice items to bring home. We watched a man chopping and spreading fruit ice cream on a cold slab, then spreading it thinly and making it into ice cream rolls!

    We went back down to the river at dusk to view the Lantern Festival - dozens of boats beautifully decorated with lanterns, and people buying cardboard lanterns with candles inside to float down the river - very cool! By this time we were getting a bit tired so we messaged our driver to pick us up and headed back to Da Nang after a lovely Hoi An afternoon. Freshened up and went out for a bite to eat then back to the hotel to rest our weary bones!    Read more

  • The Saunders AdventuresThe Saunders Asian AdventureTraveler
    Fish tanks; king crabs; Daddy of a crab; beautiful tree colours!
    Altars, flowers, jewellry, mechanic shops!Cho Con Market - pigs feet, fish and whatever else you want!1Pikachu car and helmets; government building; delivery truck 😳🤣Street food; Happy Buddha; side street; intense Xiangqi gameOur tailor, An; Dapper Dave - Sharp Dressed Man!!

    Downtown Da Nang

    February 10, 2020 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    We went down to the beachfront for coffee and breakfast this morning, then took off on foot to explore the downtown area in daylight, as we’d only previously seen it at night. We walked from the hotel, stopping for a few photos along the way - found some huge king crabs in a tank at one of the restaurants, and their big brother outside! 😊. We walked over the Dragon Bridge and into the flurry of the downtown streets. One thing we have noticed here is that it seems all the same type of stores are in the same block of shops - for example, we saw a store selling small worship altars made from beautiful wood, and the next six or seven businesses after were selling the same items. Same with florist shops, jewelry stores, silk vendors - all concentrated in one area! 🤔 And sometimes right in between all of these would be a mechanic’s shop 🤷‍♀️. Interesting!

    We continued on to find the huge market - the Cho Con market, which has over 2000 stalls where you can buy anything - clothes, lingerie, fruits, vegetables, dried fruits, candy, fish, meat, pigs feet, jewellery, hardware, dishes, ceramic ornaments, purses, backpacks - you name it, they have it! Some of the aisles are very narrow, so it can be a little claustrophobic, and some of the smells are not for the delicate nose 😳🤣🤣! After walking through for a while, we stopped for refreshments, where Dave had a coffee and croissant, and I had a delicious mango smoothie!

    We saw lots of other interesting sights along the way - a car with Pikachu stickers on the side, Pikachu bike helmets, a government building where the guard told Dave “No pictures” (he did anyway), and a “delivery truck” disguised as a motorbike with the driver squished between all his wares!

    We headed back across the bridge to our hotel, and snapped a few more interesting shots along the way. So many street food vendors selling amazing sandwiches and other Vietnamese standards, my favourite Buddha statue, lovely side streets, and a bunch of men pondering over a board game of Xiangqi (OK, I had to look that up, but it’s also known as Chinese Chess)!

    Got back to the hotel in time to meet with An, the tailor from Hoi An yesterday, who was dropping off my dress and Dave’s suit and shirt. What amazing work they do - my dress is gorgeous, but a bit too small, so she took it back to alter and will return with it tomorrow. Dave’s suit and shirt fit him perfectly and looks amazing! So much so, he ordered another shirt, and An will bring some silk ties back with her tomorrow for him to choose from!

    After all that excitement, we cleaned up and walked down to a sushi restaurant we had scoped out on our travels today. Had some delicious sushi, and another dish with rice, curry and tempura prawns - so good! Back to the hotel and ready for 😴 after another busy 15.5 km day! 😳😊    Read more

  • The Saunders AdventuresThe Saunders Asian AdventureTraveler
    Market display; happy ducks; Buddha statue; fishermen on the river
    APEC park; police booth; Cau Tran Thi Li bridge; lovely sculptureCourt House; Sept. 2nd monument; old arena; Ferris wheel & parkThe friendly Vietnamese people!1Lovely displays at festival area; pedestrian bridgeCycling along the promenade; fisherman and his catch! 😖

    The other side of town

    February 11, 2020 in Vietnam ⋅ 🌙 23 °C

    After breakfast, and a quick Skype with Jeff, we headed off over the Dragon Bridge again to use the ATM, and do some more walking! This time, we turned left instead of right (which is into the downtown area), and discovered more about Da Nang. We walked past another market with beautiful displays of fruit, some ducks ambling along the road, and fishermen on the River Han. When we got across the Dragon Bridge, we walked along the promenade into a park dedicated from all of the countries participating in the APEC (Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation) in 2017, had a great view of the Cau Tran Thi Ly bridge and saw a lovely sculpture of children walking across a tree trunk! Walked past the City Court House, and the September 2nd Monument declaring the independence of Vietnam. The Vietnamese people are so friendly and welcoming, waving at us from their motorbikes and even inviting Dave to join a group of them in their card game!

    We went to have a look at the huge Ferris wheel which is part of the Sun World amusement park, which is also huge! It is part of a whole festival area, where there are colourful displays, one signifying the new year - Year of the Rat - and beautiful flower and umbrella arrangements lining the street. Alongside the Cau Tran Thi Ly bridge is a pedestrian bridge, which was actually the original vehicle bridge until the new one was built.

    We got back to the hotel after our long walk, and decided to go for a bike ride. Our hotel offers free bikes, so off we went to explore along the promenade next to the ocean. We rode about 4 kms, passing lots of resorts and restaurants along the way, stopped for lunch at the half way point, then went back to change for a few hours at the beach this afternoon. Dave was curious about some of the fishermen along the water’s edge, so walked down to investigate. They had big sticks with long nets attached which they swept along the floor of the ocean to catch tiny snails! There must have been thousands in each net, and Dave discovered they are a bit of a delicacy that the fishermen sell - hmmm, that’s a pass for me!! 😳🤣

    We freshened up and went out for dinner, then returned to the hotel to do a bit of packing in preparation for our next adventure - we’re off to Nah Trang tomorrow which is just over an hour south of here by plane. Stay tuned! 😉    Read more

  • The Saunders AdventuresThe Saunders Asian AdventureTraveler
    Last pics of Da Nang Beach
    Heading to Nha Trang1Lousiane Brew PubViews from our hotel room and down the beachPete in the Sailing Club spotlight; Another great dinner with the Olivers!

    Off to Nha Trang

    February 12, 2020 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 2 °C

    Today was a travel day. We got up early, had breakfast and Dave went down to the beach to take some last photos in Da Nang, while I finished packing. Our driver picked us up at the hotel at 10 and off we went to the airport for our flight to Nha Trang, on the south east coast of Vietnam. It was a quick hour and 15 minute flight, we had a driver pick us up at the airport and got to the hotel around 3pm. Checked in and went off down the beach to the Louisiane Brew Pub, where Dave had a flight of beers, I had a lovely passion fruit Mojito, and we shared a quick snack. Walked back down the beach and came back to the hotel for a nap - guess all the walking of the last couple of weeks is catching up with us!

    We freshened up and went across the street to the Sailing Club, where we met Sam and Pete for cocktails! They have been in Nha Trang since Saturday, so filled us in on their adventures around town!

    We left the Sailing Club and walked a couple of blocks to find a place for dinner. We came across a great place not far away and settled in for drinks, a great dinner, and some awesome catching up! So nice to meet and connect with great people when travelling - we relived our Ha Long Bay cruise and the time in Da Nang - all so much fun! Bade farewell till tomorrow and headed back to our respective hotels for some well earned 😴😴😴.    Read more

  • The Saunders AdventuresThe Saunders Asian AdventureTraveler
    1Views along the waterfront; crazy electrical wiring!
    The marketplace - soup to nuts to dried fish!Walking back along the beach frontSome beach time - and lobster lady!Wares for sale; signs in RussianCrocodile on the spit; lots of seafood on the grill; Water Puppet Theatre

    Sunny Day in Nha Trang

    February 13, 2020 in Vietnam ⋅ 🌙 23 °C

    After a great buffet breakfast at our hotel, we walked along the waterfront noticing the beautiful flower arrangements celebrating the New Year, some interesting buildings, and some insane wiring on the electrical posts, which I’m not sure would be up to code in the western world! We walked down some some side streets until we found the Cho Dam Market. Hundreds of stalls in this indoor and outdoor market and so much to look at - fruit, vegetables, dried fish, meat, clothes, bags, belts - you name it, they have it! Spent about an hour and a half looking around and bought a couple of things, then headed back along the beach back to our hotel. It was a hot one today around 31 degrees and we were dripping by the time we got back!

    We decided to go down to the beach for a few hours - our hotel has its own beach area with sun loungers and beach towels so we set ourselves up to catch some rays. Lots of interesting vendors walking along the beach, selling the usual fruit, clothes and jewelry, but one lady passed by with a hot charcoal pan with a pot of boiling water on top and fresh lobsters in the pot!

    We lost our sun around 4:30 so went back to the hotel to rest then clean up for dinner. Nha Trang is definitely a happening town and comes to life at night! The majority of tourists here are from Russia, which is evidenced by the signs at many businesses, and the menus at the restaurants, which have Vietnamese, English and Russian translations of all their food. The place we went to tonight even had a whole section of Russian dishes on the menu! Had yet another great meal - the food here has been so good - then walked around some side and back streets checking out restaurants, bars and entertainment in the area. There are lots of restaurants with outside grills - one of which had a crocodile on the spit!! Then there are many tubs of live seafood, where the poor victims are pulled out and also tossed on the grill! 😳

    As we were walking back to our hotel, we came across a place which offered 60 minute foot massages for 160,000 Vietnamese Dong - about $9 Canadian - so figured we would treat our aching feet and had massages from two delightful young Vietnamese girls. One of them spoke very good English and told us she is studying at university to become a tour guide! Back to the hotel and time for some 😴’s before tomorrow’s adventure!    Read more

  • The Saunders AdventuresThe Saunders Asian AdventureTraveler
    The cable car ride over; Alpine Coaster ride; bumper cars!
    The aquarium; beautiful views from the top of the parkMine Adventure ride; Sky Wheel; dolphin showValentine Bengal tigers, lion and rhino at the zoo; beautiful gardensThe beach; water park; amazing architecture; carousel rideVinpearl Land at night and the cable car ride back

    Valentine’s Day at Vinpearl Land

    February 14, 2020 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    What a day!!

    Just across the bay from where we are staying is Hon Tre Island, home to the amazing Vinpearl Land - a combination luxury resort, mini Disneyland, Splashdown Park, Seaworld/Aquarium, Butchart Gardens, San Diego zoo - and a white sand beach to boot! There is definitely something for everyone at this place!

    We started today’s adventure around 9:30 with a cab ride down to the cable car which takes you over to Vinpearl Land. The cables stretch over 3.3 kms of water to get to the island in enclosed gondolas - this used to be the longest of its kind in Vietnam, but has since been superseded by a newer system on the island of Pho Quoc. The ride takes about 12 minutes and the views are spectacular! Some of the reviews we had read were not positive about the park - overcrowding, long line ups, expensive, etc., but either we hit a really good day, or the reviewers had bad days, as our experience was awesome! Our tickets to get into the park cost around $33 CAD each (helps to be over 60 and get the senior’s discount 😜) and that included everything (except any food or drinks we wanted to buy) - rides, water park, zoo, gardens, and the huge Ferris wheel!

    Our first stop was at the Alpine Coaster - a bobsled type ride all the way up the mountain (chug chug) and back down again (wheeeee)! So much fun! Saw the bumper car ride, so had to try that!! Next, we walked around looking at some of the beautiful buildings, then went to the aquarium- fish, snakes, reptiles, and a great underwater walk through tube with all kinds of sea life swimming alongside us and over our heads. Our next stop was the huge Sky Wheel (which lights up at night, and we can see across the bay from our hotel room). It is the largest in Vietnam at 120 metres tall, and rated amongst the top 10 in the world. The views from the top are spectacular, looking over all of Nha Trang and the surrounding islands. The Vinpearl area is undergoing a lot of development and we saw lots of new resorts and building going on from the top of the wheel.

    We had some lunch, then went on the Mine Adventure ride, which is almost identical to Big Thunder Mountain at Disneyland. (We enjoyed this one so much, we went back for two more rides after - one after dark, which was interesting!). There was a dolphin show next to the aquarium at 2pm, so we watched that, then headed for the zoo, where they have have everything from lions and tigers and bears (oh my) to camels, giraffes, ostriches, zebras and antelopes - and some cool monkeys swinging through the trees. In the same area are some amazing gardens, both outdoor and in large domed buildings - everything from Japanese gardens, to winter flowers, African plants, rose gardens and a temperate garden. We walked back down the hill to have a look at the huge water park (so many water slides, a lazy river, wave pool and tubing slides), and at the lovely beach, where we rested and had refreshments. After going on the old fashioned carousel, and “Big Thunder” one more time, we stopped to enjoy some of the lights that come on at night, then decided it was time to head back to the cable car for the ride back to Nha Trang. The towers that connect the cables were fashioned after the Eiffel Tower and look so pretty at night! After an amazing day, we took a cab back to the hotel, grabbed a bite to eat, and are exhausted - a day we will never forget though!    Read more

  • The Saunders AdventuresThe Saunders Asian AdventureTraveler
    Statue; cute rats; beach view from our hotel room
    The beach walkway; donut man; lobster lady!Cool water board!More beach and walkway viewsPassing boat; pool at our hotel; view from the poolBeach at night from our hotels; street views; rolled ice cream - yum; interesting street food!

    Beach Day!

    February 15, 2020 in Vietnam ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    So apart from a walk along the beach front this morning, the rest of the day was spent lounging around on the beach in front of our hotel! Saw a statue (not sure what!) and a cute “Year of the Rat” display on our walk, came back to the hotel to change and headed to the beach around 10:30 - it was already packed with people at 9am, but we managed to get lounge chairs!

    Interesting vendors on the beach, a man selling what he called donuts, but they were more like pastries, and were awful 😖🤣🤣! And another lady selling lobsters and shrimp, with her pot underneath them steaming away! Dave went for a walk down the beach and saw some interesting contraptions - almost like snowboards, but the were gas powered to go in the ocean - never seen anything like these before!

    The beach here is lovely, so it was nice to just have a lazy day, read our books and save our aching feet after yesterday’s marathon! We came back to the hotel around 4 and jumped in the pool to cool off, then had a rest before heading out for dinner.

    Walked around some of the streets behind our hotel checking menus, and settled on the Golden Bamboo, where Dave had noodles with seafood, and I had a delicious Vietnamese seafood crepe! Strolled around town for an hour or so after dinner taking in the sights, and I had some mango flavoured rolled ice cream - just cream and fruit, and so good! Some interesting street food along the Main Street - some unidentifiable 😳! Another awesome day!    Read more

  • The Saunders AdventuresThe Saunders Asian AdventureTraveler
    Walk through town to the market; florist delivery bike; nuts being dried out at the market
    Poor caged birds 😞; tiny prayer altar at the side of the road; carved solid wood furnitureStatues along the way to the pagodaWhite Buddha statue; angry looking warrior!; ancient bell; golden Buddha at PagodaAfternoon walk views; tired rickshaw driver! 😂😂Street views at night

    Last day in Nha Trang

    February 16, 2020 in Vietnam ⋅ 🌙 25 °C

    What a lovely city this is! We got up early this morning, had a quick breakfast, then took off on foot to go back to the huge Cho Dam market for a last visit and to pick up a few more souvenirs of our time here! After wandering and bartering for about an hour, we walked another few kilometres to the Long Son Pagoda and the White Buddha lookout. Some amazing views from up at the top! So interesting walking through the back streets and seeing everything from tiny altars, to amazing wood furniture, to poor little birds crammed into cages for sale! 🙁

    We took a cab back to our hotel as it was getting hot and our feet were tired - got back around 11:30 and Skyped with Kev to catch up on all the latest news from home! Went for another walk along the waterfront then headed back to the beach to catch the last few rays before leaving Nha Trang!

    Back to the hotel for a rest before heading out for dinner - I can honestly say the food here is amazing and we haven’t had a bad meal yet in Vietnam! We wandered the streets back to our hotel and found a small night market along the way. Picked up a few more little souvenirs and decided to call it a night as we are up early tomorrow to get to the airport for our flight to Ho Chi Minh City!    Read more

  • The Saunders AdventuresThe Saunders Asian AdventureTraveler
    Leavin' on a jet plane; descending into the city; welcome sign; view from hotel
    Ho Chi Minh Museum; planes, helicopters and a tank; Pasteur St. brewing Co.Nguyen Hue Blvd. - statue of Ho Chi Minh in front of city hall; interesting buildings!Majestic Hotel; floating restaurant; Bitexco tower; exercise in the park!Street market; interesting bars; plant covered buildingBeautiful lights at night - and then it rained!!

    Off to Ho Chi Minh City

    February 17, 2020 in Vietnam ⋅ 🌧 27 °C

    Up early this morning, had a quick breakfast and met our driver in the lobby at 8:45 for the ride out to the Nha Trang Airport. Our flight to Ho Chi Minh left at 11:20 and was only an hour and 5 minutes, so by the time we picked up our luggage, found our driver and put our lives in his hands on the crazy streets of this city, got to our hotel around 1:15. It was a steaming 33 degrees outside, so it was nice to get into our air conditioned room!

    Got freshened up and took to the streets looking for the Pasteur Street Brewing Company for some lunch - we had been to the same establishment in Hanoi, but the one here is the original. It did not disappoint - had a great lunch and refreshments, then took to the streets to get our bearings and have a look around the former Saigon. We walked by the Ho Chi Minh City Museum, seeing some old planes and tanks on display.

    There is a long pedestrian only road in the middle of town called Nguyen Hue Boulevard, at the top of which is City Hall (or the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City), and at the other end, the Saigon River. This road was originally a canal that brought water from the river into town, then it was used for bringing goods into the city, but it became so overused and polluted it was filled in around 1870 and made into this lovely street. There is a real French influence in a lot of the buildings in this area, and in contrast, lots of new glass and steel office buildings, banks and hotels.

    We walked down as far as the river, then headed back up and found a street market, selling mostly food and household goods, then into an area that was filled with bars and clubs, some with interesting names! Our feet were getting tired by this time, so we decided to head back to the hotel for a dip in the rooftop pool, which was nice and refreshing!

    Got changed and headed out for dinner, although we were not very hungry after a big lunch, so just had a light dinner and a glass of wine. We walked back down to Nguyen Hue Blvd., which was beautifully lit up from one end to the other, as were most of the side streets in the area - looked so pretty! Started heading back to the hotel, and (as Forest Gump says) “then it started to rain” - and it was big fat rain! We took shelter for a while under an awning, but it wasn’t letting up, so we booked it back looking like drowned rats by the time we got back! Oh well, if it only rains at night, I’m good with that! Up early tomorrow for another adventure down a famous river!!    Read more

  • The Saunders AdventuresThe Saunders Asian AdventureTraveler
    My fave Happy Buddha; Sleeping Lady Buddha; pagodas and Happy!
    More amazing pagodas and statuesOur river boat; bravely holding bees; cacao pods; entertainers; Vendor Viv!Row boat ride along the MekongCoconut candy making; more river boats; Dave's new ride!Traffic in Saigon; inside the brew pub; view if the street food market near our hotel

    A day on the Mekong River

    February 18, 2020 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Up bright and early to meet our tour bus at 8am to take us on the 90 minute ride to board our boat on the Mekong River. We had a couple of stops along the way, first just a rest stop, and the second at a beautiful pagoda with some lovely Buddha statues - I particularly like the Happy Buddha! Left there and headed down to the river where our boat was waiting. There were about 22 of us on the tour from places all over the world!

    We started cruising down the river seeing lots of vegetation and some floating fish farms on the way to our first stop at Cu Lao Thoi Son Island. We got off and we’re treated to honey tea at a small establishment where they maintain their own bees for the honey. The tea was poured over freshly squeezed kumquat juice, bee pollen and honey, and was very tasty! There was also honey, bee pollen and Royal Jelly for sale. We walked around to the back of the honey place to another little business where we got to sample freshly made chocolate and view the process of how they make it from the locally grown cacao. Behind this area was a small enclosure where we could have had our photos taken with large live pythons - but opted not to!! 😳😂. Next we were taken to a lovely area where we were given fresh fruit and entertained by local musicians and singers. We were then taken by golf carts to a pathway that led us to row boats which were paddled by two little Vietnamese ladies for 2kms through a narrow jungle inlet. Our paddlers were pretty strong as we passed many other boats along the way!

    We got back on the boat and headed to the next Island, which our tour guide called Unicorn Island. Our first stop here was to sample some delicious coconut candy and to watch the process of making it - the whole coconut is ground up and mixed with the juice, then heated and stirred for 24 hours before being made into candy. Our next stop was lunch at a lovely restaurant on the water where we were served soup, rice, fish, omelette and salad rolls. We had the next hour free and there were bikes available for us to ride, so Dave and I took off to explore - good thing there were no hills as the bikes had no brakes!! We got back to our gathering area and had a nice chat with our tour guide. He gave us lots of insight as to the changes Vietnam has gone through over the last few decades, and how it has affected the different generations of people. He said that about 70% of the people living in this area still call it Saigon as opposed to Ho Chi Minh City. We all got back on the boat for the return trip along the Mekong River to where our bus picked us up to head back to Saigon. As we approached the city, the traffic was absolutely insane, which is apparently quite normal here!

    Got back to our hotel, went for dinner, and while walking back, discovered another brew pub called East Meets West, which was started up 2 years ago by a Vietnamese American from Portland. We checked that out for Dave’s flight of beers and my glass of wine - quite the place! Headed back to the hotel for some shut eye before tomorrow’s adventures!    Read more

  • The Saunders AdventuresThe Saunders Asian AdventureTraveler
    On the bus; sights along the way
    Bitexco tower; amazing views; my "Cyclo" driver!1The War Remnants MuseumIndependence PalaceRooftop bar drinks and viewsCrazy Bui Vien Street!

    Touring HCMC

    February 19, 2020 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    We had tickets for the hop on/hop off bus in Ho Chi Minh City, so after breakfast, walked to stop #1 at the post office to board the bus. It was a hot one today - 33 degrees around 10am so the breeze on the open top deck was welcomed! The route for this one is not very long, and we had already seen (on foot) a lot of the places we drove by, but it’s a good way to learn more and see the city. We first got off at the Bitexco tower as we had purchased tickets to go up to the SkyDeck on the 49th floor. Amazing views from up there and makes you realize just how far the city stretches out! There is a helicopter pad 3 floors up from the observation deck and then the building narrows out and is supposed to represent a lotus flower. It is considered number 5 in the top 20 iconic buildings of the world! There were some props for photo ops, so we had to take advantage of those!

    We got back on the bus, had a quick lunch then spent a couple of hours wandering around the Vietnam War Remnants Museum. What a heartbreaking, eye opening and informative experience that was, and something I would recommend to anyone visiting Saigon. Some of the exhibits and photographs brought us to tears in seeing what a senseless war this really was, especially in observing how the Vietnamese people have overcome so much of the horror and are such kind and welcoming people today.

    Next we walked to the Independence Palace, also known as the Reunification Palace, and formerly the Norodom Palace. Up until 1945, this was the home to the Governor Generals of French Indochina, and was taken over by the Japanese in March of that year. When the Japanese surrendered in September that same year, France returned to Vietnam and took over the Palace until 1954 when the Geneva Accord was signed and the Palace was handed over to the State of Vietnam. It was renamed the Independence Palace in 1955, was bombed in 1962 by the Republic of Vietnam’s Air Force, demolished and rebuilt as the building that stands today. In 1975, two tanks of the North Vietnamese Army bulldozed through the gates of the Palace, effectively putting an end to the Vietnam War. Today, the Palace is a popular tourist attraction with the two original tanks on display outside.

    We returned to our hotel after a long day and headed for the rooftop pool to cool off! We went out for dinner at a place called Five Oysters, which is located on Bui Vien Street, which is advertised as a walking street but still had motorcycles zooming up and down! We had an excellent Vietnamese meal, and noticed a rooftop bar on the other side of the street so decided to go there after. We later found that we had stumbled on one of the busiest and liveliest streets for nightlife in this area. We had a couple of great drinks at the bar and enjoyed the amazing views, then went down and walked along this crazy street! There were people everywhere - in bars, restaurants or just walking and taking in the sights (a young guy breathing fire was just one example!) - it was a happening place, and after taking it all in, we got a cab back to our hotel for a well earned sleep!!    Read more

  • The Saunders AdventuresThe Saunders Asian AdventureTraveler
    The market
    Cool tree; outdoor street barber; a rare empty street; motorbike parking lot!It's my store!; fountain outside hotel; vendor delivering lunches!Boarding our boat; dining room; entertainment; another dinner cruise boatSitting on the top deck; lots of dinner cruises on the riverMore views from the river, the captain and our lovely boat

    Off to Market.... and a dinner cruise!

    February 20, 2020 in Vietnam ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    This morning, we walked down to the Ben Thanh market to do some last minute souvenir shopping in Vietnam. Again, a huge market with everything you could possibly need - or not need - but the vendors in this one a lot more “assertive” (read pushy) than others we have been in! We did strike a few bargains though, after some creative negotiating - they start asking about triple what they end up selling for so it’s like a game to see how low they’ll actually go! It’s kind of like the game of dodging traffic on the streets of Vietnam - we found out yesterday that Saigon has a population of around 10 million people, and there are 8.5 million motorbikes in the city! Add to that the cars and buses, and what appears to be a total lack of “rules of the road”, and it can be total pandemonium being a pedestrian! Motorbikes ride and park on the sidewalks, and it’s not unusual to see them on the wrong side of the road going against traffic - crazy town!!

    We took our purchases back to the hotel and set off again on foot to find the “Heart of Darkness” brew pub, which is only about 10 minutes away from where we are staying. Brew pubs are becoming quite popular in Vietnam, and while I’m not really a beer fan, Dave found some samples he really enjoyed (fortunately, most of them sell wine for me! 😊). We had drinks and a couple of appetizers there, then walked back to the hotel to spend a bit of time at the rooftop pool again!

    We had booked a dinner cruise for this evening so got ready and headed down to the hotel lobby, where our tour guide, Kelvin, (aka Tai) met us around 6:30, and along with his driver, took us down to the Saigon River to board La Perle d’Orient, our quaint little cruise ship! We were served a lovely 5 course meal, with wine, and after we ate, moved up to the top deck for the nice breeze and a tour up and down the river. Kelvin came to sit with us on the top deck and gave us some interesting information and history about Saigon. We always like hearing things from the perspective of local people, and it especially makes us appreciate what we have at home! The boat docked around 9:30 and our van was waiting to take us back to the hotel. Travel day tomorrow so up with the sun again! 😊🌞    Read more

  • 2025© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Help Center
  • Legal notice