Amazing Vietnam - Manic Streets, The Golden Bridge and Ha Long Bay!

Martin Maynard
Mar 3, 2019
4 min read

Our first challenge in Vietnam was learning how to cross the road, it was almost like, close your eyes and keep moving! Seriously, it was a case of manoeuvring (and keep moving) around the cars and endless streams of scooters and motorbikes. We sort of got used to it after a few attempts. Our 10 days in the country were fascinating in every sense and we moved from north to south, from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay, then to our favourite city of Hoi An, where many of the buildings are painted yellow as you will see in the photos. Along from Hoi An we visited Danang and finally to the Capital of Ho Chi Minh City, more commonly known as Saigon.

We only spent one night in Hanoi, so not too much time to explore, other than a visit to the Temple of Literature, which is the Temple of Confucius and it hosts the Imperial Academy, Vietnam's first national University. These two photos were taken at the Temple and then a nice walk by the Lake in Hanoi, the whole area was in bloom with many colourful flowers.

We then spent 2 days on a beautiful cruise ship and explored the amazing sights of Ha Long Bay and although the weather was mainly cool and cloudy, it didn't detract from the views as we moved majestically around the hundreds of rocks and small islands that make up this enchanting place. The following pictures provide a selection of what we saw, starting with the cruise ship - lunch and then the two of us modelling the local headwear!

We also experienced some Kayaking which was fun, though we were both a bit nervous of tipping ourselves into the bay!!!

As you might expect, we came across numerous fishing boats as well as all the commercial boat activity and this included small fishing villages, which typically were floating villages: -

The following pictures illustrate the beauty of Ha Long Bay as well as the busy cruise ship lanes that reminded us a bit of the frantic traffic in the city streets!

After Ha Long Bay, we drove back to Hanoi airport for a flight to Danang, where we had 3 fascinating days exploring Hoi An and Ba Na Hills (Danang), where the Golden Bridge is located (the main picture I have used for this Blog).

Hoi An was arguably our favourite destination in Asia. Again the busy, bustling streets, but at certain times of the day, the traffic is banned from the centre and you can walk around quite peacefully and take in all the beautiful yellow buildings and the vibrant market place and then stroll down by the river and see the quaint bridge and the more famous Japanese Bridge. Here are a selection of our pictures: -

A short distance from Hoi An is the city of Danang, a growing city where relative wealth compared to the rest of the country is evident. Land prices have increased immeasurably and there is plenty of construction with new buildings and roads. The stunning 1,864 foot long Dragon Bridge is quite a sight. It was opened in 2013 commemorating the 38th anniversary of the taking of the city of Danang by the North Vietnamese near the end of the Vietnam / America War.

One of the highlights of our visit was to see and walk across the Golden Bridge at Ba Na Hills, accessed by a succession of cable cars, including the longest and highest in the World! The bridge certainly is unique and is part of a wider entertainment park that is based on a French City from the days when the French ruled in Vietnam. The park boasts some superb gardens, temples and a very impressive Buddha and it was also an opportunity for us to taste some local rice wine - very nice too :)

Our final visit in Vietnam was to the capital city of Saigon and we stayed in the centre of the city. We experienced a rapid elevator trip to the viewing deck of the Bitexco Financial Tower, which at 262 metres in height is currently the tallest buiding in the city. The views certainly made the visit worthwhile with a panoramic take on Saigon.

Inevitably there was much to see in Saigon relating back to the Vietnam / America war and we visited the museum and learnt of the many atrocities of this conflict, we then took a river Trip to witness the network of tunnels - the Cu Chi Tunnels - that were created by the Vietnamese to combat the American incursion. The longest tunnel measured an incredible 250 kilometres in length! This network of tunnels thwarted the Americans and were a major factor in the outcome of this long conflict.

On our return to the city from the Cu Chi Tunnels we stopped along the river for what we thought was going to be a light lunch - well, the food kept coming and the variety was very impressive - we did our best, helped by a nice cool beer. A very hospitable way to end our fabulous time in Vietnam. We both felt that we could have spent quite a bit more time exploring the country and it's culture, but for sure, it left as with a strong desire to return one day soon.

Thank you for reading this Blog, I hope you have enjoyed the brief summary of our experience and that the photographs will go a long way to convincing you to pay a visit this beautiful country.

Our travels can also be followed on Instagram @martinandviviana and by watching a series of videos on YouTube, by searching Viviana Maynard.

Some additional memories: -