Hanoi, Hue and Hoi An

Hello everyone, the blog continues.

July 21st - Saturday
We did indeed goand watch the 2nd half of the Japan v Australia match in a funky bar that was reminiscent of Bar 91 in Glasgow's Merchant City and by far the most modern bar we have been in for ages. Japan won on penalties, Australia had been reduced to ten men. We watched the start of the Vietnam v Iraq match but lost interestafter Iraq went 2-0 up. Vietnam are not very good at football!

After a wander round the old quarter we found another cool bar called Casablanca and caught the rest of the game over more beers and a pizza between us.

July 22nd - Sunday
Our last day in Hanoi. Wemade themost ofit visiting the Vietnam Women Museum, the History Museum and the Vietnamese Museum. Allof them were incredibly interesting and it was a cheap way to spend the day. The Vietnam Women Museum was particularly good, showing how they fought during the war, kept the country running and brought up kids. Upstairs told of modern struggles -how families have to sacve for years to be able to afford the most basic of flats while simultaneously saving for their children's university education - it brought home a few truths about how lucky we are.

Had dinner at a nice restaurant called '69' before going back to the hotel to pick up our bags and get a taxi to the station. The train carriage wasnot as nice as the one we got to and from Sapa and we shared with a German couple who were not as friendly as the previous couples. Well.....they were very friendly with each other though, looking a little disappointed that they had to share their carriage with us and that they didn't have a double bed! They were very touchy feely - eugh!

July 23rd - Monday
We awoke at 7am, the train had left Hanoi at 7.50pm. We still had another 4 hours until we reached Hue and we spent the time dozing and listening to music. We arrived in Hue to scorching heat and immediately abandoned our plan to walk the mile from the station to some of the hotels we had ear-marked,opting for a 30,000 dom taxi instead.

Our hotel room was only $10 per night but it had air conditioning, a bathroom with a bath and a TV. What more couldaman want? After a shower we went for a walk to the Citadel area,an bandoned area in the North of the city with old buildings. We soon decided we needed food though and went for a sandwich and then decided tochill in the hotel due to the heat. We watched the Discovery Channel and Bear Grylls program, enjoying our first TV in ages. It was nice to relax and veg out as we have been pretty full on since arriving in Vietnam.

We went a walk and treated ourselves to a drink in a 4* hotel - Saigon Morin. The beers were $3.50 each but we had a 30% discount as it was happy hour. We enjoyed the plush surroundings before heading to Omar Kayyams Indian Restaurant for dinner.

We also booked a boat cruise down the perfume river for tomorrow for only $6 each - taking in a number of ancient Vietnamese Kings tombs.

July 24th - Tuesday
Got up early as the we were getting picked up at 8.10am for the tour. The Danish couple from the Sapa train were on our boat and we also chatted toan interesting Romanian guy who had flown to Australia and was now making his way to India only using trains, boats and buses - no planes were allowed.

The tombs we visited were stunning. Back in the day Kings would build a tomb for themselves before they died. Some had designed beautiful parks, others were more modest. It was a nice way to spend the day. One of the Kings had 500 wives and 124 children!

Had a quiet night with another nice dinner and an early night.

July 25th - Wednesday
The alarm went off at 6.45am and we checked out after breakfast in the hotel. The bus picked us and others upand we were soon on the roadto Hoi An. On the way we dozed and I woke to a sudden burst of sunshine pop from Tim Burgess and Teenage Fanclub on my Nano. I do love my Nano, especially on shuffle.

We arrived in Hoi An - described in Lonely Planet as being 'like a museum'. We check into a hotel for $15 a night after a fruitless search for a cheaper alternative. Still, it has a pool and we immeidately head down for a swim and then walk towards the old town - another UNESCO World Heritage site! We are immeidately captivated and reminded of Lunag Prabang in Laos. It is beautiful, it's like going back in time to the 1950's and by far the nicest place we have been to in Vietnam - yet. Also it has a beach only 3km away!

We walked past a beautiful cavernous old bar, straight out of an American film and decide to go in. Happy Hour has just started (at 4pm) and cocktails are 2 for 1 so we order a Mojito each and settle down in comfy seats and play Connect 4 as they have that and chess.

After thrashing Lynn at Connect 4 and enjoying our cocktails and a beer each, we wander round and bump into the Danish twins from Sapa. We ask about train prices to various places and then decide we'll get the bus to Nha Trang next. We have a lovely dinner overlooking the river in the Old Town - a set menu of 4 dishes each for 40,000 dong each. We have White Rose (a Hoi An speciality), veg spring rolls, fish with garlic and lemongrass beautifully wrapped in a banana leaf, followed by fruit salad.

July 26th - Thursday
I get up at 11.50am to find Lynn has been down to the pool already! It was my first long lie in ages and obviously needed. We hire bikes for only 10,000 dom each (30p or so) and cycleto the old town for breakfast and then on to the beach. We spend a pleasant few hours doing nothing apart from sunbathe, read and going for the occasional dip before cycling back to the hotel.

It's now 7.24pm and we are heading back into the Old Town for food as the restaurants and bars there are fantastic.

We intend to get an overnight bus on Saturday toNha Trang, spend 3 nights there, then on to Dalat for 2 nights, then Saigon before getting a flight to the remote island of Phu Quoc.

Love to all.

Murray and Lynn
xxx