Eating noodle soup while driving

We caught the train from Da Nang to Hue and the scenery was absolutely spectacular. These pictures don't do it justice

The following day it was cyclos for all to check out the citidel

Mum enjoying the ride

Then to the Imperial City

Then Ben rode his own way home

The following day it was on a boat up the Perfume River to see the sights

Tom trying out a sugar cane juicer

Then home again

One of our favourite cities is Hoi An, so we were keen to get back there. We thought we would spend maybe a week but 3 weeks later when we left, we still felt we could have stayed longer.

Some of the street scenes of Hoi An
High Tide means some of the street becomes the river









The local markets

We met Hien who invited us to lunch with her family



Hien's niece

The Rice Wine culprits who made Ben drink 9 shots in a matter of half an hour

A Kite comp on the beach


With one of the biggest kites we'd ever seen


Tom was then taken away for photos

Hoi An at night



Mum bargining for some lanterns

Tom with some of the local kids

Marble Mountain which is so much more than just a mountain made of marble

A temple in a cave


Buddha carved out of the caves stone



Ben overlooking China Beach

Offerings to Buddha; apparently he smokes

My Son

The countryside around Hoi An

We were lucky enough to be in Hoi An for the lantern festival
Which started with fireworks


Then a fair ride for Tom - Yes it does look dodgy but that didn't stop him going on it 4 times

Then lanterns floating down the river

Lac Lake

Lac Lake was a beautiful town where we spent one night in a local villiage.

Our Local house for the night

Complete with bedding

Ben and Tom enjoying the serenity

Evening in the Village

An early morning elephant ride

Village People




Rice drying on the road

The local Brick Factory...

..Where Tom was put to work.

After leaving Lac Lake we visited a local National Park which was beautiful

Complete with waterfalls


And dodgy bridges


Tranquil places

And wildlife


Including a monkey

Kontum
Our final visit in the central Highlands was a beautiful mountain town called Kontum.

The local minority villiage long house

Tom entering it on the 'male's only' staircase

The Bridge

And transport

The local market


and delivery

Vietnam's oldest and most famous Catholic church as left by the French, it somehow survived the war.

A more modern church with hundreds of people leaving at 6.30am!

Local monument

with Tank that Tom had to try out

The Centre Square in Town
Tom on the playground
Our local breakfast place out the front of the hotel]

The Beach
Our $5 Beach Breakfast complete with beer

The local Fishing Village

Tom enjoying a Sundae

Some of the local transport

The View of Nha Trang from our hotel room
Going on the cable car to VinPearl Island (This is for you Shae)

Tom on the Ferriswheel on VinPearl Island

Sunset

As much as I love Saigon, I really couldn’t wait to escape the claustrophobic heat, and so after 4 days we boarded an old Soviet ‘death trap’ of a Hydrofoil for the hour long voyage to Vung Tau.

Ben and I had been to Vung Tau about 3 years ago and loved it as it was more of a local Vietnamese hang out with the odd Australian expat going there to relive the Heyday of the war.
The boat ride was fairly calm until we reached the open water of the China Sea and once the locals start standing up and looking at why the boat is almost on its side, you better start looking at where the emergency (or lack thereof) exits really are.
Of course, inevitably, we were fine but I was one very glad person to be off the boat swearing never to get on one again.
Vung Tau was everything we remembered it to be, except that last time we were here we had hired a moto for Ben and I to commute the scenic 6km between the back beach and the town. This time around, I stuck to my Loral’s and said that we should really only go by bicycle with Tom. Off Ben went in search of a bike and came back with a tandem plus a rack at the back for Tom to sit on. We were certainly a sight on our tandem walking up and riding down the hills of Vung Tau. I didn’t realise how difficult a tandem actually was to ride as the front and back person pedal on opposite sides and having a 25kg added weight on the back didn’t really help matters.
I’m not sure if it was the tandem, or my not agreeing to hiring a moto that made Ben decide that Vung Tau was not offering everything it had last time and after 2 days it was time to move on.

View of Vung Tau back beach from our room