Hoi An:
With itchy feet for travel we couldn’t wait to get going after Covid, so I decided it would be great to have another adult family holiday to Vietnam, to show the kids some history. Little did we know at the time that our daughter Amy was very sick.
We decided to spend most of our time in Hoi An and Hanoi, Hoi An due to the great opportunities for photography in the ancient town and Hanoi for the authentic hustle and bustle of an Asian city.
What a surprise with the changes in Hoi An over the last 6years, the river and waterways, the store fronts and small alleyways have all been cleaned up. There are a lot of groups that are very active in Vietnam to help clean up the country of the incredible amount of rubbish. Hoi An in particular is working on becoming an Eco-town by 2030 by implementing several initiatives with sustainable tourism, waste management, mangrove forests, Ecotourism and plastic-free streets. One significant change we found was the number of motorbikes that are now electric and not petrol and the restrictions on motorbikes entering the ancient city, which in turn has made the ancient city a more peaceful place to visit.
After a day of acclimatising to the humidity we explored the ancient city and took in the authentic feel of Vietnam and their way of living, taking in all the smells, sights and sounds.
We booked a couple of tours which was so easy to do through your hotel concierge, we braved the basket boat ride with some very enthusiastic paddlers at the helm. I will never be able to hear “Gangnam Style” again without memories of this tour. From there we took a market tour and cooking class, it was a great hands-on experience with a little danger thrown in.
Jake wanted to do some scuba diving at Charm Island but unfortunately the trips were cancelled due to the weather. So, we had a day of pampering with massages, pedicures and manicures for all. We also did the whole tailored outfit shopping but we were a little smarter this time and made sure there was enough room for any garments to be extended over time.
The next day we did another tour this time to the Golden Bridge and Ba Na Hills, the bridge is spectacular but busy with tourists, so hard to get a photo without people on it. Ba Na Hills was a different experience from the cable car taking you up the hill and escalators taking you down. It is an unusual theme park and it is based around a European theme, with fairytale castles, performers and gardens with a lot of sculptures which are beautiful, so lots to photograph. Best thing about this is it’s so much cooler up on the mountain so your not sweltering in the heat.
The boys had a chill out day today so Amy and I went on a tour to the My son Sanctuary to get a little bit of history about this unique culture and spiritual origins. This was followed up by the Memories Show at the Hoi An impression theme park and told the story of the people and life in Hoi An.
With our last day in Hoi An before travelling to Hanoi we just relaxed in the hotel or got another massage. That night we went to the river for the lantern festival, this is where visitors and locals make a wish and then release small lanterns onto the river. It was a beautiful sight right up until a massive downpour occurred and there was instant flooding in the streets and we had to walk thought 6 inches of floodwater to get back to our hotel, but we were happy as it is all part of the experience.
Hanoi:
Well, an eye opener for the kids when thrown into the thick of it in Hanoi, noisy, hot and busy but luckily for them they only had a night in the city before heading off to Ha Long Bay, which we had done in 2017. Once the kids were gone Digby and I went on a guided photography tour to the Quang Phu Cau Incense Village where we saw how the Incense is harvested, stripped and dyed.
We decided to do some street photography and we started at 3 am and 90% humidity with a visit to the flower market, unfortunately it is so commercialised now that you didn’t get that authentic feel of the old market. From there we waited for an hour for a “Grab” car we could see that drivers were accepting our booking but then not arriving, so would cancel the car then another would pick it up so it was just hurry up and wait.
From there we headed to the Long Bien Market where there was a lot of activity with everyone coming in to get their daily supplies for the hotels, restaurants etc.
On the walk back to our motel we came across mural street which had some traditional Vietnamese murals on the walls.
We asked about some local photography spots in Hanoi, when we were told about this purpose built photography park. It was designed for wedding photography as there are a lot of different backdrops. We thought we would go and check it out, but unfortunatley because of Covid the place had not been maintained. We did however get a couple of shots.
After the kids had returned from Ha Long Bay (which they enjoyed, same comments as us, super busy with alot of tourists, but the night on the boat was fantastic). We headed down to Train Street before a late check out for our evening flight home.
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