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On to Hanoi
An early morning bike ride through the village and countryside, where scooters laden with all manner of provisions – from food to fuel – were ridden through neighbourhoods – the drivers announcing their wares loudly. Door-to-door delivery! Tuan drove us to Can Tho airport and it was a short hop to Hanoi. We disentangled the suitcases from the mobs surrounding the baggage chutes and followed Google’s directions to the apartment by hopping on a conveniently waiting number 7 bus. The young conductor appeared quite disinterested in life, however he sold us tickets. At first the bus followed closely to the route depicted on our phones … and then it didn’t!…
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Floating Market
Five thirty start, still dark. Good job Tuan’s boat is just across the road. Picnic basket with hot tea and coffee as we chugged down the river towards the market. Most of the true trading had already been done (around 4 am) — wholesale bartering of large quantities to middlemen who then sold on to the land markets. So although this was mostly for visitors to see, this is a way of life for these boat people … everything is done on board — cooking, washing, eating. There were a LOT of tourist boats zooming up and down. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J1ead2Rsn4&t=378s (please be patient and wait out the 2 adverts at the…
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Chocolate & Longtail Boats
After breakfast 6 of us, led by Hui (Tuan’s son) set off on bikes for the Chocolate plantation. Down the decidedly rough road, past local shops and houses, towards one of the Mekong river’s many tributaries where we waited for the ferry to make its return journey. Bikes, scooters and people all piled aboard for the five minute journey … 1000 dong for foot passengers (50 cents); 2000 dong for bikes; 3000 for scooters. Even though we were jammed in like sardines, the scooter drivers were very considerate, and careful not to crowd us. Off the other side, it was a short journey to the plantation. This was the first…
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Good Morning Vietnam
Arriving at 5 am, I think we can get away with saying that! Uneventful flight. Vietjet is definitely a budget affair. Good job we’d purchased a couple of Ban Mi sandwiches at the airport because food on board was nowhere to be found – despite announcements to the contrary … and the complementary beverage cart went by at light speed … blink and it was gone! No matter … we actually managed to doze a little. Our driver was waiting outside at column 10 – signage for Glen Smith in hand – and we entered what appears to be the utter chaos that is early morning Ho Chi Minh City.…
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Temples, Temples
This will be a LONG day today. Our flight doesn’t leave until 01:10 so we need a few things to occupy the time. Left the bags and backpacks at the hotel after another excellent breakfast (I shall miss those egg tarts!). Another perfect day. The meeting point for our MU Bus guide involved a subway transfer over to the Lama Temple line. It was a small group with just 5 people … a couple from Brazil, young fellow from New Zealand, and us. Leo (our guide) is a character – accent more Cantonese than Mandarin … he’d lived in London for over a decade and was originally an IT specialist…
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Forbidden City
Off to explore on our own … venturing forth into the massive subway system … purported to be the largest in the world. At the bottom of the stairs, on a raised platform in the corner, two immaculately-dressed national guards, as rigid and unmoving as waxwork figures … eyeing every square centimeter before them. Oh, how my fingers itched to take a photo … but it’d probably be the last time anyone saw me. At every entrance one has to place all bags, back packs, pouches, hats, water bottles through a scanner …. once I forgot one of our small water bottles, and that had to be carefully weighed to…
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The Great Wall
Now THIS is the way to start the day — all hotel breakfasts should be like this. Besides a whole rank of beverages, yoghurt and toast, there was a delicious assortment of dumplings, bao buns, hard boiled eggs, stir fried veggies, two soups, little strips of crisply fried meat, light-as-air long donuts, and a plate of all important egg tarts. Creamy, melt-in-the-mouth and flaky … quite possibly the BEST ever. Mum would have been in her element. A brisk walk back to the station to meet up with our tour group. Not your usual 30-strong, trudging, worn-out bunch … this was the MU Bus organization.. They drive you to the…
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Tokyo to Beijing
Flight doesn’t leave until 6pm … so there’s still more time to explore. Breakfast this morning was at a local coffee shop doing a flourishing trade … and no, wonder the prices were very reasonable. Not sure what to order, but the Morning Set C seemed very popular, so we plumped for that. A toasted triangular sandwich with ham, cheese, tomato, egg, spinach … very tasty. We used up the remaining Hop-on bus ticket and arrived at Tokyo Station … knocking off a whole half an hour from the journey back to the airport and allowing us to wander through the Imperial Palace grounds with its acres of statuesque cloud…
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Tokyo
We have arrived! Zipair proved more than ample … very comfortable seats (most important) and despite misgivings about ordering the Mushroom ravioli (would it be just a step up from Chef Boyardi?) it was surprisingly good! Just wish the announcement systems were clearer. In the departure lounge one had to be almost on top of the desk to have a chance of hearing … and on board everything was really muffled. OK for 20-year-old ears, perhaps, but there were a lot of puzzled looks from older passengers. At Narita airport it’s sensation overload … bright lights …. talking toilets …. miles and miles of walkways and an army of efficient,…