Ok – so most of you probably know I’m actually back in Australia now! But I didn’t finish keeping track of our travels so thought I’d share the last days of our trip with you!
Hoi An is the most gorgeous little town anywhere! Full of beautiful buildings, lots of lovely shops, the gazillion tailors and shoe makers of course, and excellent food. Outstanding food! Have I mentioned the Cargo Club Bakery? Divine! Try the crispies – banana or mango – or if they run out of crispies, the White Chocolate Kahlua cake is definitely tasty. And delectably melt in your mouth kind of food!
The boys really enjoyed Hoi An and I think we took more photos in Hoi An than the rest of the trip together – with the exception of Angkor Wat of course! The lanterns and the lake decorations and the streets … All so pretty!
After our five nights in Hoi An we headed off to Hue – our last destination in our month long journey. We booked a minivan – so much easier than finding five bus tickets! – and it was recommended we stop at the marble mountains on the way for a bit of a look-see. We had no idea what to expect at the marble mountains. We kind of expected a mountain with a scenic lookout. The whole place was extraordinary!
The mountains are literally made from marble – well bits of it are! And there are ancient temples and carvings throughout the mountain. The mountain itself is five craggy peaks and the temples seem to have lots of chinese and japanese influence. There are sculptures in caves carved straight out of the stone. We could have spent a whole day there and were very sorry to only have an hour! Down in the township at the bottom of the mountain are more marble carvers and shops than I would have considered humanly possible. Next time you need a marble fountain for your front garden, I know just the place to pick one up! Even the three boys thought the place was amazing!
After the marble mountains, we travelled the scenic route through the Hai Van pass to Hue. Hue turned out to be a bit of a disappointment really. Or maybe we were just really tired and ready to go home by the time we got there! The only real tourist thing we discovered was the Citadel.
Part of an ancient city within a city within a citadel, with a citadel. I think I’ve got that right… We were just so tired! It is amazing how different Vietnam is to Cambodia and Thailand. Vietnam seems to have a much more distinctive Chinese influence.
Our hotel in Hue was the Orchid hotel. A lovely little place. We had the family room which came with a 32″ plasma tv, dvd player and a computer. And most exotically – a lift to the upper floors! My calf muscles became pretty stiff and sore after travelling up and down four flights of stairs at all the hotels!
After a month of eating out in restaurants continuously, we really enjoyed the opportunity to buy noodles at the supermarket and eat them back at the hotel. Very nice to finally have a hotel with a kettle! And on occasion we even took the kids to KFC – aka Ga Run Kentucky. Somewhere we have never taken the kids before. Ever!
On our last day in Hue, we caught a dragon boat up the perfume river to Thien Mu Pagoda. (I think that’s what it’s called! It’s been a while now!) It was really interesting and well worth a visit. Watch out for dragon boat riders trying to increase charges, sell drinks and goods you don’t want and generally try to rip you off! But overall, the day was quiet and peaceful and a nice outing from the hotel!
I’ll leave it there for today and tell you all about the trip home on another day!
