Hoi An

The first stop on our travels was Hoi An. This is a beautiful town about half way up the country. We booked a flight for 9am which meant we would get there at lunch time and at a perfect time to check in. Unfortunately, the airline had other plans and cancelled our flight! Luckily we were told about it before the day so our options were to either fly the night before, very early that day, or late in the afternoon. We decided to take the EARLY flight so that we wouldn't waste our first day of holiday with the family. We had to leave home at 4.30am and luckily, we all managed to fit (with all of our bags) into one taxi! This proved to be great throughout the trip as we managed to save loads by all sharing one cab.

After a non-eventful flight, we landed in Da Nang. The first thing we noticed when we walked outside the terminal was how cold it was compared to HCMC! We knew it would be a bit cooler but, wow, we were in for a shock. We haven't experienced cold weather since winter 2013 in South Africa. Luckily, we had arranged transport to Hoi An before we left and our driver was there waiting for us. We hopped (well got in slowly as the tiredness from the early morning started to set in) into the van and off we went. Hoi An is known for its marble statues and so our driver stopped at a factory / marble shop for us to browse through the sculptures. They were really impressive and the detail is amazing! Unfortunately none of us had the space (or the money) for a giant statue, so we left empty handed.

A short drive later, we arrived at our hotel. We decided to book into quite a nice resort for the first two nights of our trip, as these days fell over Christmas. We were too early to check in, but we were told that we could go and eat breakfast and, by the time we had done that, our rooms would be ready. So off we went to eat a giant buffet of delicious foods. There were loads of pastries, fruit, hot dishes, and eggs made to order. When we were sufficiently stuffed, we went to our rooms to settle in (and for us, to layer up!).

The resort has a shuttle that runs into the town every few hours, so we caught the bus in to do a bit of exploring. We were charmed by Hoi An with its old buildings and beautiful lanterns everywhere. We did a bit of shopping (of course!) and we visited some tailors to get some quotes for some pants for one of Mel's, Mom's friends. Everywhere you go in Hoi An you see signs for "Bia Hoi" (fresh beer). This is home brewed beer and it's ridiculously cheap. We decided to try some and, well, we learnt why it's so cheap... it's gross! We all somehow managed to finish our drinks through long teeth, did a bit more wondering around, had another (non-alcoholic) drink and then it was time to head back to our resort.

The Japanese bridge

Mot, hai, ba, yo! (One, two, three, cheers!)

Christmas isn't celebrated in Vietnam. Some restaurants offer Christmas dinners, but it's business as usual for most places. We opted to go to an Indian restaurant called Ganesh for our Christmas eve dinner. There are a few in HCMC and the food is AMAZING! The lamb samoosas are incredible, so we had to educate everyone about their goodness. No one was disappointed, as our food was so awesome. The restaurant was absolutely packed so we were lucky that we had thought to phone ahead and make a reservation!

The next day was Christmas day. Unfortunately, Ross woke up feeling awful. He managed to make it to breakfast, where more delicious food awaited us. After we had eaten our full, we went back to our rooms to exchange gifts and celebrate Christmas! We were extremely spoilt and reminded once again how blessed we were to have our family with us over this special time. Mel and her parents went into town for a little bit to get some pants (and a dress for Mel) made. The rest of Christmas was spent relaxing and doing nothing! We went for a walk on the beach and then went to the hotel restaurant for dinner. It was a very low-key Christmas but it was wonderful to be surrounded by loved ones and to relax after a busy term.

After our two nights at the resort, we headed into town to slightly cheaper and more central accommodation. Our rooms weren't ready for us when we arrived, so we went for a wander around town again. We stopped off at a temple first, and to be honest, once you've seen one temple you've kind of seen them all. Obviously they are all slightly different, but if you don't have someone explaining everything to you then a lot of the meaning and subtleties are lost. We were walking along the streets trying to decide where to go next, when we saw a house that had grass growing on its roof. It turned out to be one of the oldest houses in the town, so we went in to see it. There wasn't much to see, but it was still interesting to visit such an old building.

The creative towels in our hotel

Three rather bored men waiting.

Beautiful hand-painted lanterns.

The oldest house in town.

Marks to show the water level during floods.

Next, we walked to go and see the sculpture park. Again, without someone explaining what is happening, the beauty and meaning of many of the sculptures was lost on us. We did have fun trying to take photos of a huge turtle statue that was in the lake though. Jo was trying to make like she was pinching its tail which, unfortunately, didn't work - but it did leave us with some entertainment!

Need a haircut or shave?

Jo and Kelly trying to get the shot!

Kelly and Mel were greatly amused by this motorbike being 'towed' by a bicycle. Ross pointed out that they
could have been stealing it and used the bicycle because the ignition on the bike was locked. We're going to
keep thinking that they were just taking it to the garage though!

A window looking out from the Japanese bridge.

A monkey guarding the entrance to the bridge.

Beautiful details on the bridge.

For dinner, we decided that we were over making decisions, and we put the moms in charge. They did such a good job and they chose a lovely restaurant by the river. It had beautiful lanterns and delicious food! When we had finished our dinner, we carried on walking along the river and Ross and Kelly put candles into the water with a wish.