EE & S Adventures

Halong Bay is an essential stop in Vietnam. Thousands of famous islands rise and tower from the water in all manner of beautiful shapes.  Viewing some of these islands was to be a highlight for us in Vietnam. Contrary to the normal state of things, I arose very early to experience the cruise ship sailing into the bay. It was slightly hazy but very lovely to watch the light change as the sun rose from mum and Brew’s balcony. The shapes of the island formations are so beautiful. And so plentiful. Really the pictures tell only some of the story.... Endless interestingly shaped tall, thin mounds rising from the sea enrobed in green vegetation. It was more difficult to see the vegetation in the half light but the shapes themselves were beautiful. I’m glad both the captain and the tour director had encouraged us to rise early to see them. We took an afternoon tour (to miss the potential fog, none of which was in sight). The tour began with a bus trip, a bus trip when we were alread...

Hoi An is a town about 40 minutes drive from Da Nang, our port. It is on the Thu Bon river which silted up at one stage. The silting caused the little town to be ‘lost’ for 100 years and so the buildings were preserved. The architecture is beautiful and what the people have done with it gives it a really lovely character. It is filled with myriad shops, selling everything from clothes to lacquer boxes, chop sticks to magnets, there are also fresh fruit and vegetables. There are loads of souvenir shops and many selling lanterns. The lanterns are what the town is famous for. At night they light the strings of lanterns and place floating candles on the river. It must be spectacular because even by day it is charming. We wandered the streets for hours, looking at the wares and taking in the beauty. It is pretty busy but less crowded with cars and motorbikes than other places we have been, as motor vehicles are supposedly not allowed in. However we did see a great deal of the ub...

Our start into Nha Trang was somewhat delayed because there of high winds which caused the tender boats to pitch and thereby made boarding them difficult. Given the average age on our ship is rather older than myself and Eric, some people have more trouble with the transfer off the ship than others. Anyway we obtained our tender ticket just after nine and did not get on shore until almost noon.  After negotiating a taxi to take us to the Cham towers and the local markets, we set off. The driver was lovely and polite but didn’t speak any English.  Our first stop was to view a large and imposing catholic church. Being Sunday it was not open for visitors, however, we took in the view from outside and enjoyed the many instances of bonsai in the courtyard. We also had a good view of a major city roundabout and watched as a tour group, each on a rickshaw, rode by. As always in Vietnam there were scores of motorbikes and the flow of traffic was steady and chaotic.  The P...

Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City. Today was an interesting, hot, long day. Our dock was some 120 km from the city centre which equates to a 90 minute trip in a bus. While we could have enjoyed a tour nearer to the port, we decided to take the bus and enjoy some free time in the city.  Bi texco tower was our drop off point. It is the tallest tower in that part of the city (by no means the tallest in Ho Chi Minh City) with a helipad sticking out two thirds of the way up. The day was clear so the tower stuck out like a beacon and made it easy for us to navigate round. The tower is in the centre of the Saigon district or district one  where we spent the majority of the five hours we had in the city. This district houses some famous hotels, a post office designed by Eiffel, French inspired architecture opitimised in the Notre Dame cathedral and many fancy establishments along the streets. It also has some important national buildings including the presidents palace which was the scen...