Day 13. Ho Chi Minh - Mekong Delta - Ho Chi Minh

Our 8am departure gives us plenty of time for adventure and food.
Mekong Delta is almost 2 hours by bus, but again Chung had lots of info to impart. There's a happy room and coffee stop on the way, in a beautifully made building full of tourists. A big boat is next, where we are treated to a freshly opened coconut and a bit of a singalong. Down decreasingly narrow waterways and off the boat, and to farm that serves us a tea/honey/cumquat drink, accompanied by sugar-coated nuts and coconut. Yum. 5 minutes walk takes us to our next form of transport, a horse and cart, which goes to a pavilion for more tea, a variety of fruit, and some Vietnamese music - the instruments are great but the singing a bit of an acquired taste. Then we step onto small rowboats, carefully keeping to the middle, and float down a narrow coconut palm-covered canal till we come back to the boat. It takes us to another farm which processes coconuts into candy, and we try shots of rice liqueur. Mot, hai, ba, yoooh! After that Dutch courage, most take advantage of the python-round-the-neck photo op. It's only a baby we're told, but a very heavy one. On the boat again, across the river and its lunchtime. As usual we (now 2) special needs eaters are capably looked after: "no no madam I bring you another".
The boat takes us back to the bus and its nanna-nap time. Of course there's been numerous shopping opportunities, and a last stop at the Chinese market provides another for some.
Our final dinner is beautiful, with a choice of Vietnamese or Western to keep everyone happy, and another singalong starring Herc and Chung on the guitar and mouth organ. A great last night.

Day 12. Cu Chi Tunnels, Saigon.

It was a draining day today: a l-o-n-g drive to the Cu Chi tunnels, where Viet Cong hid during the war. It was a quiet little village before that, but a US army base nearby meant lots of fighting. It was horrible, with its now opened tunnels giving some idea of the conditions. We stopped off at a lacquerware factory set up by the government, where handicapped people are employed. Exquisite (and deservedly expensive) goods were for sale.
A late lunch gave us enough energy to tour Saigon city - the Reunification Palace (with the tanks that smashed through the gates and bunkers deep underground), cathedral (where i saw my first beggar, a young man presumably with agent orange affected arms) and ornate post office. Some ventured to the casino later and some had an early night.
It's fascinating just wandering the streets and just looking at all the motorbikes, and the different street sellers, with everything from a cup of coffee or sugar cane juice to to all kinds of fruit and vegetable in their baskets.
Chung tells us later that handicapped people are fed and looked after by the government, but that some still choose to beg.

DayDay 11: Hoi An - Da Nang - Ho Chi Minh

We're getting very blasé now about
the bus/plane/bus combo, wandering through security and boarding the plane at the last minute. Our new guide is Chong and he likes to joke, so we'll get on well after Trung's seriousness.
Saigon is HOT, big and busy, and there are lots of motorbikes to negotiate when crossing the road.
We have a couple of hours free to wander the brand name and fake stores, and get lost. There are lots of tall buildings, a bustling market, and surprisingly little pollution compared to other big Asian cities. We are bussed to a huge restaurant for our now customary 8 course meal. There's a wedding in progress outside, and our Hershey Kisses "good luck" gifts are delicious. A woman on the street is doing a roaring business in polo shirts, and she follows on her motorbike to our hotel so she can sell some more.
A nightcap at a nearby middle eastern bar completes the night.

Day 10: Hoi An

There's lots to choose from on our day off: a drive into the hills to see old monuments, a village tour and boat ride, a shuttle bus to the nearby beach, picking up tailored clothes and made-to-order specs, more shopping and of course lots of relaxing by the pool. We all love Hoi An!
Later 3 of us go on a bike and boat tour with a 24 year old man. Tuan tells us all about everyday life in rural Vietnam. Government workers get fired if they have more than 2 children. Old people still chew betel nut but its use is decreasing rapidly. Bomb craters are now used as fish farms.
A boat is waiting after our 1 1/2 ride through the countryside, so we putter back, stopping for a BBQ dinner on a small island while we watch the sun set.
There was some concern pre-departure about how the locals would respond to out presence, but it seems that as Buddhists they are able to forgive and forget, and in fact are delighted that we are here to visit their country, and even more so at our pathetic attempts to speak a few words of Vietnamese. There's been no begging and only half-hearted hassling to buy things. Maybe Saigon will be more confronting?

Day 9: Hoi An

Ah, Hotel Hoi An , beautiful and luxurious, certainly there's no complaints here (unless its the glass bathroom doors!) If this is only 3.5 star it's plenty good enough. After maybe the best breakfast yet, Trung meets us for a morning's wander round town, and Bob gives strict instructions that we are to stay together and NO SHOPPING. So where do we go? A tailor, a handcraft workshop, an old merchants house and all seem to have goods for us to buy... We see silk worms munching away on mulberry leaves and are amazed by how much they produce (300-900 metres from each cocoon) and women hand embroidering pictures. Then it's onto a bus to a lantern workshop where we show our crafty skills and make a lampshade each to take home.
We are free for the rest of the day, and Bob has recommended some tailors, so there's lots of made-to-measure happening, mainly of the silk variety. And shopping and swimming and relaxing. Happy hour, dinner and a wander around the traffic-free and brightly lit streets completes the day. There's a suggestion that this would be a great place for a return girls week.....

Day 8: Hue - Hoi An

It's a very educational day, starting with a boat cruise through the centre of Hue on the Perfume River. We visit a Pagoda complex, the Imperial Citadel, then after yet another delicious banquet lunch we go to the tombs of Emperor Tu Duc.
Then there's a long and winding drive to Hoi An, taking about 4 hours. Once up in the hills the scenery is breathtaking: steep slopes down to the sea, with the highway winding its way up and over the hairpin bends of 3 passes. We see some evidence of the "American War" at the top of the last pass. There are casuarina and eucalypt as part of the thick jungle, and invasive vines.
Our Hotel Hoi An is large and luxurious - we have a balcony overlooking the pool -and a minibar G&T soon irons out the bus kinks.

Day 7: Halong Bay - Hanoi - Hue

The day starts with 6am tai chi for a few keen ladies, then its 7am buffet breakfast. At 7.30 (11.30 Torquay time) Gail formally inducted Lyndon as President of Vice of The Torquay Central Combined Probus Club and gave him his Pin of Office ( a fluuffy koala badge) which he wears with pride. The timing was to coincide with tea, scones and happy room visits back home. Back on the tender, it's a short ride to a huge cave with several beautiful chambers. Unfortunately it's very popular so it's a slow walk up and down and around, tho maybe that's not such a bad thing because there's hundreds of steep steps to negotiate. The rock formations are spectacular, and there's even a turtle shape to rub 3 times with our left hand for luck. Many simple houseboats are in the bay also, grouped in villages.
We have 'brunch' at 10.30, jump back on our bus, and return to Hanoi, again with happy room/shopping stops. Sadly we pass 2 accidents: both involving motorbikes, both with blanket shrouded bodies, and simple shrines set up (presumably by the crowd of onlookers) with incense and offerings of money. There are cows wandering on the road, a woman emptying her boot of rubbish bags on the top of a bridge, lots of hairy overtaking.....
Back in Hanoi we again drive past some of the almost 4km long mural, then eat an early, rushed but delicious banquet dinner in the fascinating Old Quarter. It's a hour's plane then bus to Hue, with our new guide Trung.