The floating market of Cai Rang - 31st Jan

This morning we boarded a boat to visit the floating market at Cai Rang. It took us about half an hour to reach the market but on route we took loads of photos of all the other boats on the river and the houses either side which were simple wooden huts on stilts.

Homes along the river

When we reached the market it was great watching all the local farmers trading their produce on the water which was a centuries old tradition. The boats were full of fresh fruit and vegetables with sticks at the end of each boat displaying the item the farmer was selling. As well as this there were canteen boats selling hot noodle soup and little rowing boats selling lottery tickets.

Anyone for cabbages?

After a circuit of the market we sailed back to the hotel and boarded the bus to take us back to Ho Chi Minh. Fortunately the journey back was much quieter and we got back with no hold ups. Half way back we stopped again at the lovely service station and had some lunch.

More houses along the river

Market day in Can Tho

Currys delivery

Back at the hotel Andy and I went for a walk around the town. The preparations for Chinese New Year were really building and they'd closed the road outside the hotel as this was a main parade where there were lots of floral decorations and lots of statues of cats to celebrate the new year. Many families had brought their children to come and see all the festivities and they all seemed really excited having all their photos taken by the decorations.

In the evening we went out for our final dinner with Carolyn and Bonnie to the Lemongrass. Again the food was really great and afterwards we went for a final ice cream at Fannies.

Lemongrass restaurant

Lanterns for Chinese New Year

One final glace at Fannies

After this Bonnie and Carolyn headed back to the hotel but Andy and I decided to stop out for a beer. There was a bar by our hotel and we found a table outside. The beer was expensive compared with what we'd paid before but it was great just enjoying the atmosphere and sharing in people's excitement of the forthcoming Chinese New Year. I felt sad this was our final night in Vietnam but glad we had one final experience still to go in Cambodia before it would be time to head home.

Hoards of people coming to look at the decorations

View from our hotel room

Hue to Hoi An - 26th January

We had a new guide today called Hung. He was really enthusiastic and knowledgeable and gave us a great tour of Hue. First we went to the Citadel which is where the kings lived during the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945).

Breakfast

Much of it had been destroyed during the Vietnamese war and you could see bullet holes in the walls. Renovations were being done but it still felt a dreadful waste and very sad that so much history had been destroyed so pointlessly.

Entrance to the Citadel

Carp in the pond

The citadel was home to a number of Dynasty kings who lived in the central palace (1802-1945). They each had up to 200 wives ...busy men. The Mandarins had an important presence during this time and were split between Mandarin soldiers and Mandarin monks. They would all gather in the main square to greet the emperor.

We then visited the tomb of the fourth emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty Tu Duc. It was built between 1864 and 1867 and was a place of solitude for the emperor to go before and after death. It was an extravagant place with pagodas and temples and a big man-made lake however his tomb was very modest. The emperor felt he'd made mistakes during his ruling and deliberately wanted a modest burial. Tu Duc and his wealth were never actually buried here but in a secret location to stop grave robbers. Every one of the 200 servants who buried the king were beheaded in order to keep the secret.

Puppy on a bike

After this visit we headed on a long drive through Danang and onto Hoi An. We could have driven over the spectacular Hai Van Pass but the weather wasn't nice enough and instead we drove through a newly opened tunnel which was channelled through the mountain.

2 Pigs on a bike

Fishermen Huts

Carolyn had bought some pencils and caps to hand out to children and when we got into Hoi An we went to an orphanage to hand them out. The children all seemed really pleased.

By the time we got to Hoi An we were pretty hungry as we hadn't had lunch so we went to a restaurant Hung recommended. At first there was again a bit of a 'hoo haa' that it was too 'westernised' but the food turned out to be very traditional and delicious. As per the itinerary we were meant to have a city tour in the afternoon but by now it was 4pm so Hung said he'd come back and take us round the next day. This suited us fine as we were pretty tired. Bonnie and Carolyn went to a tailors to get some tailor made clothes and me and Andy went for a nice wander round the town. Hoi An was really appealing set on a river. It was an old town and prone to annual flooding. The town was geared to tourism and there were lots of cafes and bars. On the other side of the river a whole new complex of bars had been built but thankfully they'd been built in keeping with the buildings in old Hoi An.

After a wander round we went back to the hotel for a rest before heading out again for some food a walk around and we went to a bar for a couple of drinks before heading back to the hotel.