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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
    1
    Day 12

    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

  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
    2
    Day 13

    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

  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
    1
    Day 14

    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

  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
    Day 15

    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

  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
    1
    Day 16

    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

  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
    1
    Day 17

    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

  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
    1
    Day 18

    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

  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
    1
    Day 19

    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

  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
    Day 20

    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

  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
    Day 21

    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

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