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The Saunders Asian Adventure

January - February 2020
A 33-day adventure by The Saunders Adventures Read more
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  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
    Day 1

    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

  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
    Day 3

    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

  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
    Day 4

    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

  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
    Day 5

    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

  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
    Day 6

    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

  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
    Day 7

    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

  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
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    Day 8

    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

  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
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    Day 9

    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

  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
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    Day 10

    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

  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
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    Day 11

    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

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