Rose early – went on a boat trip along perfume river…
…stopping off at Thien Mu Pagoda (Buddhist haunt)…
and then Minh Mang’s Tomb (old and very impressive) followed by short boat ride to other side and tomb of Khai Dinh…
Above – Minh Mang’s Tomb. Below – the main man with the Minh Manh mandarinsAo Dais clad women by Minh Mang’s TombKhai Dinh’s Tomb outside (above) and inside (below)Khai Dinh himself (above) and a more modern symbolic message (below)
…then on to good lunch and cyclo ride around Huế for best part of two hours before setting off for airport.
We loved this marathon cyclo ride -it was an unexpected highlight
Arrived in Saigon [Ho Chi Minh City] quite late – dinner at hotel (Floating!) and Sunday night promenade and then to bed.
All the photos from that Central Vietnam part of our journey can be found through the Flickr link here or below.
Drove from Da Nang to Huế – beautiful drive including Hai Van Pass and Lang Co Island.
Vistas on the way to Huế
Arrived in Huế – unloaded/rested then good lunch followed by tour of citadel, Thai Hoa Palace, mandarin halls, dynastic urns etc.
Then on to Tu Duc Tomb – (1864-1867). Excellent home/tomb with ponds etc.
A tomb with both a view (above) and a theatre (below)
Spent the late afternoon by the pool etc. – evening meal in restaurant
I think we stayed at the Century Riverside and we probably ate in the restaurant there…actually, on reflection I think we ate in Lac Thanh, following the strong recommendation of the guide book.
All the photos from that Central Vietnam part of our journey can be found through the Flickr link here or below.
Rose very early [in Hanoi]. Flew to Da Nang. Met by Ky. Saw Cham Museum, marble mountains/caves and China Beach
Marble Mountain (above) and Buddhist Temple thereupon (below)Me & Ky at China Beach
Ky was a terrific guide. Very young, as were all the guides in Vietnam during what was, after all, a “young tourist industry” phase for that country in 1996. But we could tell straight away that Ky was a “Mr Fixit” who would work well with and for us. I wrote him a commendation after the holiday, as I was (am) wont to do when we get exceptional service. As chance would have it, when we arranged to go back to Vietnam 16 years later our (different) UK agent was using Vidotour, the same local agency as Asia World had used in 1996. It transpired that Ky was, by then, Director of Marketing for the whole company. We had a really enjoyable reunion with him, getting to meet his family as he insisted on taking us out for dinner. He told me that my commendation had really helped him at that very early stage of his career, as we were amongst his first guests and glowing commendations of that kind were highly valued.
Then on to Hội An for good lunch then walk town and early return to Da Nang. Lazy afternoon and evening at hotel.
Hội An is truly stunning
I got ever so excited when I spotted the above door, because I could see that it was the very door depicted on the cover of my Lonely Planet Guide (Vietnam 3rd edition 1995). The woman of the house got ever so excited too, as she had no idea that her house was on the front cover of a guide book, although surely hundreds if not thousands of tourists must have walked past her house with that book in hand by 1996.
My copy is more dog-eared now than it was in 1996
Then we strolled the marketThen down to the waterfront befor heading back to Da Nang.
All the photos from that Central Vietnam part of our journey can be found through the Flickr link here or below.
