Vietnam for beginners – Part 1 – JellyfishKing Travel

Jane and I have always wanted to visit Vietnam. We’d heard so many good things about it. We keep our eye out for a good deal and when Luxury Escapes offered a Hotel Package in Hoi An, it looked like a good little introduction to Vietnam.

The deal was 10 days in the Bellerive Hoi An Hotel and Spa. It included Breakfast and Lunch or Dinner. Other inclusions were a daily cocktail, a massage per person and an Afternoon Tea. We booked flights with Singapore Airlines flying from Perth to Singapore then on to Da Nang. Hoi An is a 30 minute drive from Da Nang. The hotel provided airport transfers for arrival (only).

My Son, (pronounced Mi Sun) Anthony decided to join us.

Getting there

For a 6.40am flight we set the alarm for 3.30. Wearily, we awoke to find the flight had been delayed two hours. As we were excited for the trip we got up anyway. Anthony was driving to the airport and was already on his way to pick us up. We quickly realised that the delay was going to cause us to miss our connecting flight to Da Nang.

We arrived in Singapore to be greeted by Singapore Airlines staff that explained that they has booked us on the next flight to Da Nang the following morning. They also arranged a night’s accommodation in Singapore with transfers and dinner included. We had flown with Singapore Airlines many times and this was our first experience of a major disruption. It was handled with typical Singapore Airlines professionalism.

So for our first night we stayed at the Citadines Connect City Hotel. It was an average hotel quite close to Clarke Quay. It served the purpose. We ventured out to Clarke Quay for a drink and to find some supplies, as we only had our hand luggage. Dinner was at the nearby ominously named Black Society Restaurant. The meal was pretty average by Singapore Standards.

The second leg of the journey was smooth and we arrived in Da Nang 11.30 the next morning. Our driver was late giving us an anxious 20 minute wait, and we were soon on our way to Hoi An.

Bellerive Hotel

We arrived at the Bellerive in good time. The hotel was new and quite stylish. The room was spacious and clean. We were on the 6th (top) floor with a great view over the pool to the inlet. Anthony had the room next door. We were keen to explore the area so we made our way to the beach. After five minute stroll to a nice sandy beach, we found a local restaurant for lunch. Bamboo was very basic, but what a good choice! Anthony and Jane were keen to get into the Pho and I ordered the Vietnamese Pancake. The old lady from the kitchen came out and showed me how to roll the pancake with some greens (no coriander) into a rice paper roll. Delicious!

Back at the hotel we were eager to see the “free” cocktail and dinner menu. The cocktail choice was a bit limited with seven classics. Anthony’s favourite Pina Colada didn’t make the cut. After the complimentary one, the menu opened up for happy hour 2 for 1 deal. Anthony then got his Pina Colada fix. The dinner menu options were quite good with a choice off salad, soup, main and dessert. Soups and main meal choices were both Vietnamese and Western. Desserts were simply fresh fruit, mousse or ice cream. Anthony and Jane were disappointed with their meals and decided that we would eat outside the hotel from then on. I enjoyed mine however. We did, in fact, have our free allocation a few times after that, so it wasn’t a total waste.

Basket cases

Day 2 in Vietnam was supposed to be day 3 and we had booked a Coconut Forest Basket Boat Ride tour with lunch. It included pick and drop off from the hotel and at $19 each I was a little skeptical that it was going to be any good. It was very good indeed. The paddle through the forest was nice and the “captain” of out boat was quite entertaining. The river opened up to a wider junction where the little basket boat could spin around very fast like a sideshow ride. After the boat ride we had very nice lunch. $19 well spent!

Instead of taking us back to the hotel, we had the option of being dropped in Hoi An Old Town. This is the heart of Hoi An, about 20 minutes from or hotel. We walked around the lovely, albeit busy, streets. Jane wanted to buy some Jade Jewelry so we navigated the streets and alleyways to find the top rated shops. Jane settled on XUE Jade and purchase a few bracelets. Anthony and I decided we needed a reward for our tremendous patience so we found a bar for a refreshing ale. The Kangaroo Sports Bar was an Aussie pub that advertised showing the AFL football. As I was missing a Fremantle Dockers home game while I was here, we needed a venue to watch the match a few days later. 17 refreshing ales later we left to find something to eat. I don’t believe for a minute Anthony and I drank 17 pints (Jane was drinking cocktails), but they insisted and we didn’t keep our own tally. Admittedly, we did have a few though. I thought they could’ve have been a bit nicer to us as Anthony bought us their t-shirt and Jane was out on the street spruiking for customers. She managed to ring in a few suckers, I mean customers. Anyway we decided to find somewhere else to watch the game on Saturday.

The next day was a quiet day recovering from hangovers. In the evening we thought we have to get off our bums and decided to walk up to Cua Dai Beach for seafood dinner at Tan Loc Seafood restaurant. The seafood platter for two was ample for the three of us. The food was great and quite cheap.

My Son (not Anthony)

The next day we had booked a tour to My Son (pronounced Mee-Soon) Sanctuary.

My Son is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that was the religious and political capital of the Champa Kingdom. On the trip into the countryside our tour guide, Thomas (not his Vietnamese name) outlined the history on the place in great detail. There was so much information it was hard to remember it all. But fascinating nonetheless.

Before the sanctuary we stopped a local village and witnessed rice paper making. Both Jane and Anthony had a go making a sheet.

On arrival at the site, we were treated to a cultural performance. We then walked up the temple ruins, where Thomas had even more information on the architecture and even the composition of bricks that were made over 1000 years ago. It was remarkable that the site was in such good condition for all that time considering tribe conflicts, colonisation and wars. There was evidence of bomb craters at the site from the Vietnam War (Americans!).

On the way home we stopped at another village for lunch. The food was ok and we chatted to some of the other tourists. There was one couple from Germany were lawyers. The girl was saying she had just become a Judge. We didn’t ask her ages but surely she was only in her 20s!

A boat ride up the rive to the old town concluded the tour. We decided to stay in the old town, wander around until night to have a lantern boat ride. Jane and Anthony had a famous Egg Coffee on a restaurant that was actually a boat. It’s made with coffee, egg yolks and condensed milk. It was way to sweet for me, but I could see why people liked it.

Jane was itching to find the Banh Mi Queen (Madam Khanh) for the best Banh Mi in town. We found it and luckily there was no queue. We took several photos for the “Stand Banh Mi” Instagram post. By the time we were ready to order a queue has formed. I guess Jane must be an influencer after all. The Banh Mi was very good – but surprisingly Jane didn’t think it was as good as Belmont Forum’s version. We hurried away before anyone over heard her.

After the sun set we endeavoured to get the lantern boat experience. Being impatient we skipped the line and hired a motor boat as opposed to the traditional oar boat. It swerved the purpose and we added to the pollution of the river by launching our lanterns.

Dinner at the Nhà Hàng QQ Restaurant was great, Jane and Anthony rated this the best meal of the trip.