Travel Tips

A beautiful building is the Saigon Opera House. Pity about those Honda Dreams everywhere. But it is a fine example of the legacy of the French colonial era. This is part of the central area of district one, the old Saigon proper.

From the roundabout in front of the Rex, you can walk to the old city hall, the opera house, the river and on to the Ben Tanh market depending on which road you take.

We went out to Halong Bay and this is the start of the trip looking into the islands. If you look really close you can see the temple on top of the first island. Want to walk up those stairs?

One of the big attractions for me in Halong Bay was going into the caves in the islands. I am a fan of caves and these have been well preserved and presented. It is a bit of a walk but it is not hard and is well worth it.

Getting clothes tailored was so cheap. Here Leanne is getting measured for a suit in silk in the back streets of Nha Trang just behind the main market.

Clothes are better in Hoi An than in other areas but the prices are good all round. I had shirts tailored and embroidered for $5 US for real silk. But they were still good here as well. Not bad that it was all done as we spent just one day in Nha Trang. Arrived at 4.30am on the train and left at about 2am the next morning. No wonder I was tired.

Aside from cheap tailors, Nha Trang has some good Cham ruins. This is the temple of the family overlooking the river on the southern side of town.

Nha Trang is a compact town and easy to get around in a taxi. The beach is nice enough but you must choose your hotel carefully. We stayed in a government hotel, the Post Hotel, and it was very barren. It was right on the beach at the northern end and cheap but had I known I'd have spent a bit more.

I didn't think I'd like the cyclo. Going head first into Vietnamese traffic is a religious experience, put your head in your hands and pray.

But it was a great way to see the Citadel. I can recommend it. Hue has so much to see with the various tombs and such that I wish we had more time there. It was a bit of an ask to see it all in the time we had and we rushed it a bit. Spoilt the experience a little.

I'm sure the Perfume River is nice at some times but I'll leave it to your imagination to decide what the perfume is.