Ahh Vietnam
Ahhh. Our last week in Vietnam was pure bliss. This is the kind of stuff holidays are made of.
We wanted to get away from the tourism and craziness of the North so we headed to Hoi An a day early based on recommendations from our friends...and we saw exactly what they were talking about. A sleepy little town full of shops, cafes, bars, and delicious restaurants. It is a beautiful town too, full of buildings reminiscent of the days when it was a rich Vietnamese merchant port. And the best part...no dodging motorbikes or hagglers while trying to walk down the street. Besides shopping for tailored suits and gorging ourselves on local beers by the riverfront, wine and scrumptious food by night, we would spend the days cycling to the local beach where we could pass the day by. It reminded me of my childhood and spending the summer days cycling to the lake. I certainly could have spent a few weeks here and just get lost in time.
But it was time to move on to Hue, our last stop before heading home. We weren't ready to head back to the city so we opted to spend a few days riding motorbikes from Hoi An to Hue through the central highlands instead and it turned out to be our favorite part of the trip! Just us on the back of a bike and the ho chi minh highway winding through the mountains in front of us. The central highlands are probably one of the most remote parts of Vietnam and it was exactly what I was looking for. We stayed over night in a local village and slept in stilt thatched huts with mosquito nets. The children of the village came along with us on a walk through the jungle (keeping on the path to avoid any unexploded bombs from the war), swimming in the local creek, and then even let us join their soccer match in the afternoon. They did not know a word of english but their smiles lit up their faces. We made it into Hue on our last night just in enough time to have a few beers before sundown.
The next morning we managed to catch a few of the Hue highlights including the ancient tombs and citadels of its long lost emperors. It was pretty fascinating. Then we made a mid-afternoon flight to Ho Chi Minh for dinner and a catch up on the last month with our old neighbors before our flight back to Oz. I can not believe it is all over.
We wanted to get away from the tourism and craziness of the North so we headed to Hoi An a day early based on recommendations from our friends...and we saw exactly what they were talking about. A sleepy little town full of shops, cafes, bars, and delicious restaurants. It is a beautiful town too, full of buildings reminiscent of the days when it was a rich Vietnamese merchant port. And the best part...no dodging motorbikes or hagglers while trying to walk down the street. Besides shopping for tailored suits and gorging ourselves on local beers by the riverfront, wine and scrumptious food by night, we would spend the days cycling to the local beach where we could pass the day by. It reminded me of my childhood and spending the summer days cycling to the lake. I certainly could have spent a few weeks here and just get lost in time.
But it was time to move on to Hue, our last stop before heading home. We weren't ready to head back to the city so we opted to spend a few days riding motorbikes from Hoi An to Hue through the central highlands instead and it turned out to be our favorite part of the trip! Just us on the back of a bike and the ho chi minh highway winding through the mountains in front of us. The central highlands are probably one of the most remote parts of Vietnam and it was exactly what I was looking for. We stayed over night in a local village and slept in stilt thatched huts with mosquito nets. The children of the village came along with us on a walk through the jungle (keeping on the path to avoid any unexploded bombs from the war), swimming in the local creek, and then even let us join their soccer match in the afternoon. They did not know a word of english but their smiles lit up their faces. We made it into Hue on our last night just in enough time to have a few beers before sundown.
The next morning we managed to catch a few of the Hue highlights including the ancient tombs and citadels of its long lost emperors. It was pretty fascinating. Then we made a mid-afternoon flight to Ho Chi Minh for dinner and a catch up on the last month with our old neighbors before our flight back to Oz. I can not believe it is all over.
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