Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: Vietnam 2010
Exploring the Old Town
We got up a little before 0730: although there was no pressing rush, we had our eyes on the 0930 shuttle into town. Breakfast in the hotel restaurant consisted of a good buffet spread, supplemented by an egg station where the chef was able to turn out freshly made and ever-popular omelettes, fried eggs, poached eggs and other delights. Although I rarely have eggs for breakfast at home, I do enjoy them while on holiday! We were able to catch our intended shuttle van into town and were joined for the short ride by a number of elderly and rather noisy German tourists, who all seemed to know each other.
We covered the remaining distance to the World Heritage Site area on foot and bought tickets granting admission to a selection of properties. The initial impression was that there were too many shops, especially those selling tourist tat, and far too many tourists. On closer inspection, however, it was also clear that there were many attractive, but decaying, old buildings. We soon arrived at the focal point of the Japanese Bridge and visited a couple of recommended sights in the vicinity.
Nearer the river, there was much evidence of the recent floods, with whole streets covered in mud. With carefully placed footsteps, we managed to find our way into a riverside cafe-bar, where it was entertaining to watch the little ferries filling up with people, bikes and the inevitable motorbikes. Ferry company employees were busy hosing down the two-wheeled conveyances prior to boarding, in order to remove the mud that they had picked up.
After some further strolling, a local woman succeeded in interesting us in a river cruise, but we decided first to cross a nearby bridge and have lunch at a cafe on the opposite bank. I had some noodles and spring rolls and, as ever on this trip, they proved to be really tasty.
After a satisfying lunch, we retraced our steps across the bridge and were immediately spotted by the woman to whom we had spoken earlier. We climbed into the boat and were soon on our way, giving a new perspective on the Old Town. At one stage, some local women - obviously by prior arrangement with the boatman - put on a short display of their fishing skills. It was, of course, a photo opportunity and a small reward was expected. A further moment of drama ensued when we got too close to the riverbank and got stuck. Our boatman had to go into the river and push us free - rather him than me! What seemed like a pointless diversion into a little inlet soon turned out to be an excellent move, as some traditional fishing boats that were laid up there proved to be rather photogenic. As we returned to our original boarding point, some light rain fell for a few minutes.
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Back on dry land - well, mostly dry - we made our way back to the shuttle pick-up point, passing the Japanese Bridge for a final time. Traffic was fairly heavy on the way back to the hotel, but we made it eventually and took the opportunity to make some spa reservations for the next day prior to returning to the room. It had been an energetic day and, on a planned day of relaxation to follow, a little pampering seemed in order! I spent a little while writing up my diary before it was time for a G&T at sunset, in what was fast becoming an established tradition. |
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We decided to have dinner at one of the beach places, so for once there was absolutely no need to tidy ourselves up. Only two of the beach eateries were open and neither was doing much in the way of trade. It was funny to see the waiter and the inevitable beach hawkers all wrapped up in warm clothes, even though it was still around 23C and we were comfortable in t-shirts and shorts. We had a lengthy conversation with one of the souvenir sellers, who took a break from her pitch when our food arrived. She resumed later, by which time she looked half-frozen. We ended up buying a few trinkets, after negotiating the price down to a sensible level. It was then a short walk back to the resort.
It had been a long day, but one packed with interest - a day that would surely go down as one of the great highlights of the trip.