OCTOBER 2025
Vietnam was never on our list of places to visit but when our elder son and daughter in law told us they were going there with their teenagers, and then sent photos, we started to take an interest. So, the homework began. Consequently, we booked with Vietjet Air (a budget airline) to take us to Ho Chi Minh City (a.k.a Saigon) on the 20th October. Because the flight was due to arrive there in the mid afternoon, we decided to stay the night in a hotel close to the airport as it was convenient for our earlyish morning flight (again with Vietjet) to Hanoi.
MON. 20th : We were rather cramped on the plane, a passable meal was served early during the flight, we did word puzzles for much of the journey and landed in Saigon at 4.50pm (W.A.time), had to negotiate steps to disembark as there was no bridge and were then bussed to the terminal. When we reached the immigration hall we were greeted with the spectacle of hundreds of people waiting in a very, very, very long zig zag queue to be processed.
While shuffling along I counted 15 booths, each with 30 to 40 people who were now queued for the final push, having finally emerged from the zig zag line (which was still very long as more people kept joining it). Eventually we were allowed to enter the country, took a 'grab' (uber) to our excellent hotel and chatted to a couple from Caringbah before retiring for the night.
Tan Son Nhat International Airport from our hotel window.
TUES . 21st : After a very comfortable night in our hotel which overlooked the airport at Ho Chi Minh City, we took a 7 minute 'grab' ride to the airport, queued for 45 minutes to check in and discovered that our carefully selected seating had been changed, consequently we were cramped and uncomfortable but as the flight was only an hour and a half duration we managed to survive the ordeal, and having checked in one of our carry on bags (our combined carry ons weighed 16kg, 2kg over the limit we were allowed on the domestic flights) we flew to Hanoi.
After a 1 hour 'grab' drive from the airport to the city we arrived at 12 noon and checked in to our room on the fifth floor which boasted a small balcony overlooking the very busy street.
After settling in and a short rest, we went exploring, quickly getting the hang of crossing roads in the traffic which rarely stops for pedestrians. There are thousands of motor bikes, slightly fewer cars...the trick is to begin crossing and don't stop, the motorcyclists will see you and avoid you but if you stop,it's likely to cause a bingle. It is also necessary at times to walk on the edge of the road as the footpaths are the preferred parking place for motorbikes, often blocking the way.
Hoan Kiem Lake is quite close to our hotel and this was our first destination. A large lake, it is home to Ngoc Son Temple which sits on a small island in the northern part of the lake and is accessible by a scarlet bridge called Cau The Huc. Enjoying the very pleasant weather, we strolled alongside the lake for a while, bought tickets for the evening show of the Lotus Water Puppets and before returning 'home', stopped for beers at a corner bar and watched the passers by pass by. The puppet show was terrific, the musicians were excellent and the puppeteers who appeared to much applause at the end of the show were superb.
WED. 22nd : We woke early to find that there had been showers overnight though nothing too serious. After showering, we ventured to a nearby hotel for our included breakfast, then back the two doors to our hotel where we sat for a while on the balcony in the cool 23 degrees, then strolled to the lake and went on a half hour buggy ride
through the old town,
bought some lunch, a lightweight travel bag in the markets and wandered back to the hotel.
In the early evening we went walking again, through Ly Thai To Garden,
then had dinner at Old Viet Restaurant near our hotel, and enjoyed strolling in the cool night air back to the hotel.
THURS. 23rd : Woke a couple of times through the night with a mild stomach upset, at first light sat
on the balcony for a while in the fresh air, enjoying the serenity, Hanoi had not yet woken up. Had breakfast again at the hotel a couple of doors down and were 'picked up' at 8a.m. for the coach ride to Halong Bay for our cruise. For some reason which was not explained to us, the coach stopped for 20 minutes on the edge of the city, then we were moved to another bus, which was not as comfortable as the first bus. Still, the drive was pleasant, we stopped for 45 minutes at a pearl farm where we bought, not pearls but a Vietnamese coffee and a packet of M&Ms and arrived at the port at midday, along with hundreds of others. It was chaos, but organised chaos as it somehow worked and everyone was led to their respective boat and we were soon on our way. We were seated at a table on the boat with Alex & Paulina from Mexico, Mr Mohammed, and Nicholas from Dusseldorf and shortly after everyone was seated, the excellent buffet lunch was served and we were on our way across the bay. Also included in the tour was a bamboo boat ride and a speed boat ride was an optional extra. We opted for the speed boat and both rides were great fun!
We stayed on board when we reached the beach, the weather was not looking too friendly, there
was a dodgy looking ramp for the get off, hundreds of people already on the beach, no swimming as too cold so all just standing around. We cruised around for a while, had coffee/beer on the boat, chatted to Reg from Wanneroo and his mate Kelvin from Gloucestershire, and at 5pm cruised back into the beach to collect those passengers who had gone ashore. It was very cold by this time and we headed back to the port where our coach was waiting to take us back to Hanoi. Along the way, we stopped at a craft shop run by disabled people, which also sold snacks and souvenirs. There were many absolutely stunning tapestries on display, we watched in awe a couple of ladies who were busy sewing with such fine threads and needles they could barely be seen. Back in the city, we made our way to a corner cafe for spring rolls and sweet potato balls which were delicious and saw Dave from Sydney, whom we'd met that morning on our first bus.
FRI. 24th : At breakfast this morning, we chatted to the Munich couple we'd spoken to yesterday, who
were leaving later today for Da Nang, travelling on a sleeper bus. Our plan for today was to visit 'le Patisserie' at the southern end of Hoan Kiem Lake for coffee & cake to sustain us on our walk to Train Street, the narrow street which is home to several small cafes which border the railway line. At le Patisserie Mike tried an 'egg' coffee that we kept hearing about, I had an Americano and we each had a small but delicious cake. The egg coffee is made with coffee (obviously) topped with a raw egg beaten
to a froth with condensed milk, which was favourably received, I was happy to stick to the Vietnamese or Americano coffees!
On leaving the cafe, we strolled to Train Street, getting slightly lost on the way but eventually reached our destination, passing by lovely old buildings,
Here it comes!
There it goes!
there it is...gone!
the road and the sweet young things who nonchalantly wandered out into the traffic to pout and pose
for selfies or for friends,
and on reaching Hoan Kiem Lake, and after chatting to two Melbourne ladies who were on a cruise, took a trishaw ride around the lake, but feeling sorry for the young man who was struggling to pull along a couple of Australian heavyweights, we let him off the last 500 metres or so, but gave him the full fee...the relief on his face was something to behold.
Back at the hotel, we packed our bags in readiness for an early morning departure, had farewell drinks at a rooftop bar near our hotel...
and so ended our last day in Hanoi and we're a little sad about that, we've enjoyed being here.
SAT. 25th : Our driver called for us at 6.30 a.m. for the drive to the airport, there was a traffic jam on the way, caused by a 3 car pile up though there didn't seem to be any casualties, thankfully. We had an easy check in, had an airport cafe breakfast as we'd left the hotel too early for our included b/fast, the majority of our fellow passengers seemed to be Indian people, our flight left on time and after 1 hour and 20 minutes we landed at Da Nang. We'd booked a car and driver to take us to our accommodation in Hoi An and after a 3/4 hour drive, we arrived there. Unfortunately, the driver was very pushy so we weren't willing to hire him again, preferring to choose other drivers.
We checked into the resort but as our room was not yet ready, left our bags at reception and had lunch in the restaurant, which was in a large covered verandah on the riverfront.
Views from the restaurant
Hoi An Beach Resort
Fishing
From our front door : Room 104
The beach across the road
Hoi An markets
Our lunch cafe with advancing flooding
MON. 27th : Non stop rain! We'd booked yesterday, a car and driver to take us to BaNa Hill today. We hoped it wasn't a bad idea! Our driver arrived at 8.00am and at 9.00am we were at the huge car park at the bottom of the hill, which was almost empty at that time,
from there we took a short bus ride to the booking offices, bought tickets ($AUD93.54 for two) for the 5.7km cable car ride, one of the longest in the world which took us too the entrance of the amusement park. Sadly, we saw very little of the surrounding country side because of the rain & fog, but Mike opened a small window at the top of the cable car and was able to take a couple of photos.
We wandered through the Fantasy park which was indoors and has video games, indoor rides and a 3D cinema, very impressive though not our 'thing', thought about checking out the French village but as the rain was quite heavy and we have seen a few real French villages, decided against it. We braved the weather to walk across the Golden Bridge, an architectural marvel held up by two giant stone hands, which offers panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and valleys....but not today!!
We bought coffee at the 'station' while waiting for the bus to take us back to the car park, which was now full. Our driver was there to collect us and take us back 'home' and despite the incessant rain and the fog preventing us from having the complete experience, we thoroughly enjoyed what we did have...it's a fabulous place, well worth the visit!! The break between afternoon rain showers was brief but we managed to go for a short walk before dinner, which was in the restaurant again.
TUES. 28th : Major flooding in Hoi An put the kibosh on plans for tourist stuff...disappointing for us but worse for the local people. Some staff members at the resort were unable to get into work which meant that others were doing extra shifts. We had a late breakfast this morning, went for a short walk later, armed with ponchos and umbrellas but didn't get very far before the rain decided to come down in buckets! We managed a brief swim in the pool in between rain showers, it was very cold. After hot showers to warm up, we ventured across the road to one of the row of cafes for lunch, followed by a walk, visiting the local supermarket and then having an afternoon snooze. A healthy dinner in our room of potato chips & Kit Kats was enjoyed by all.
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so another grab, back to the resort then waded across to the Cao Cao (Grasshopper) Cafe for a shared bahn mi and coffee. We stayed quite a while, the rain was extremely heavy now so we were in no hurry to leave but sat and watched the braves cycling/walking/driving out in the open. And took photos, as we do. 
When the rain eased enough for us to leave the cafe without getting drenched, we returned to our room but after a short time, tired of being shut up we took our puzzle books, reading books and tablet to the Mangrove Bar for a change of scenery and watched the rain seeping in under the large French doors.
There were towels along the bottom of most of the doors to stop the rain coming in with the staff constantly mopping up the few that didn't. What fun!
The Breakfast room
The Mangrove Bar
A Canadian couple joined us and chatted for a while, an interesting couple who were well travelled. We stayed there for a couple of hours and on leaving, I slipped on a wet tile in the restaurant and landed on my knee....ouch! Two or three staff rushed to my aid, one of them produced an ice pack, towels and a wheel chair (embarassment), I was wheeled to our room and was sent extra pillows and towels. They were all very concerned but it really wasn't anything major, just a bit sore. I've said before, lovely people.
THURS. 30th : Goodbye to Hoi An day! After a late breakfast, we strolled across the road to have a last look at the beach, took a photo of the resort, then finished packing, said goodbye to Diem who came from behind the desk to give us big hugs (she's so tiny we thought she might break if we hugged too hard)
the rain stopped and at 10.30am we were on our way to Da Nang airport. It was the usual procedure,
check in, wait, coffee, wait, gate change, mad rush to get in the new queue, wait. Finally, a 2.00pm departure for the 1 hour flight to Ho Chi Minh City (a.k.a. Saigon).
From the plane window I could see the brown river water flowing out into the sea.
The 7.2km journey from the airport to our hotel took 45 minutes in heavy traffic, a slow trip so I was able to take a few photos along the way, from the back seat of the car
By the time we'd checked in, unpacked and freshened up, it was time for beer/snacks at a nearby establishment, and an early night.
FRI. 31st : A late breakfast this morning on the 4th floor. Our room is on the 7th floor so we rode the lift to floor 4, then had to climb stairs to reach the breakfast room....strange! We had a long wait to find space in a lift to go downstairs, 6 lifts in all stopped at our floor but every one was full, no room for us!
The seventh came along and we were able to squeeze in. We did our own little walking tour of the city, first call was the Bitexco Tower Sky Deck, absolutely awesome, then strolled towards the river but baulked at the crossing when confronted with a wall of traffic advancing towards us, it was scary! We walked to the Opera House, the People's Committee of H.C.M.C. building, stopped at Ciao Cafe across the road from the hotel for eats,
were approached by a group of six uni students who asked us to answer some questions and take part in a DVD video for their tourism course, they were very courteous so we were happy to oblige.
A street 'cafe'
Our street from the breakfast room
The yellow Ciao Cafe
From the window of Room 720
Scenes from the Sky Deck
Back at the hotel, we booked tickets for the evening 1 hour open top bus tour which left from the Opera House, (around the corner) at 6.30p.m. Being Halloween night, it seemed like the population of Saigon was out and about, people and motor bikes everywhere! A fun night and an excellent tour.
our hotel
Opera House
A small portion of the Halloween night crowd
SAT. 1st November : The weather was iffy this morning. We set off after breakfast to go walkabout, didn't get far before the rain came, not too heavy but enough for us to seek shelter, outside a bank and when it eased a little we crossed the road in order to visit the impressive Notre Dame cathedral. It was shrouded in scaffolding and although a couple of men there, gardeners I think, told us there was an entrance, we couldn't find it, the rain was a little heavier now so we hurried across the road to the Highland Coffee cafe...which was jampacked! We did a walk through, were on our way out when we spotted a table with 3 women seated at it and vacant seats of the opposite sides. We asked if they minded us sitting there, they didn't and so we sat with these 3 lovely ladies and had an interesting conversation, mostly with the one in the middle as she spoke English, as did her son who joined them shortly after we arrived.
It was raining lightly when we left the cafe, walked around the cathedral but couldn't find an entrance so continued on in light drizzle to the Independence Palace, also known as the Reunification Palace which is where a North Vietnamese tank crashed through the front gate on 30th April, 1975, a moment that symbolised the end of the American War and the reunification of the country, and we spent a couple of hours wandering through the many and varied rooms.
A beautiful building
Next stop lunch! Through the drizzle to a row of cafes not too far away. We chose the Propaganda Cafe which had interesting murals on their walls and provided a very good lunch.
and at a cafe for cold drinks and to give the old legs a rest. We've walked quite a long way, mostly in the rain and we're a bit weary.
It's our last day today, an early start tomorrow so we need to be all packed up and ready for the off in the morning.
SUN. 2nd : We were up early, showered, dressed and ready to go, stopped at reception to pay the mini bar bill and to retrieve our $AUD50 deposit left in case we wrecked the room. Called for a grab to take us to the airport, an easy ride, being Sunday morning there was little traffic. We'd paid extra for a fast check in but no one knew where we should go for the fast immigration/customs we'd also paid for so we joined the zigzag queue for the one and a half hours it took to be processed. We were captivated by the little sweetheart waiting with her mother behind us in the queue, so asked said mother if we could give her one of the clip on koalas we had, mother said yes so we did, little sweetheart then moved along with us...we thought for a moment we'd adopted her! We had time for a coffee and club sandwich (just) before going to the boarding gate. The priority boarding we'd paid for worked so we didn't have to go through the usual pushy shovey, the plane was not full so we had an extra seat and were able to spread out. We bought a very good meal during the flight and arrived in Perth at 8.00p.m., disembarked quickly, straight through immigration, downstairs to customs, straight through, called an uber and were home at 9.oop.m.
and the sun sinks slowly in the West
THE END
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