Marble Mountain, Danang, Vietnam

Huyen Khong Buddhist grotto, Thuy Son Mountain, Danang

This post is part of Wordless Wednesday.

Tam Thai Pagoda, Vietnam

Tam Thai Pagoda, Thuy Son Mountain, Danang, Vietnam

This post is part of Wordless Wednesday.

Hanoi, Vietnam

City street, Hanoi, Vietnam

This post is part of Wordless Wednesday.

Halong Bay, Vietnam

L'Azalee Cruises, Halong Bay, Vietnam

This post is part of Wordless Wednesday.

Marble Mountains, Vietnam

View from Marble Mountain, Danang, Vietnam

This post is part of Wordless Wednesday.

Hoi An, Vietnam

Night market lights, Hoi An, Vietnam

This post is part of Wordless Wednesday.

Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City, also known as Saigon was our first port of call in Vietnam.

It's an energetic, vibrant city that embraces its traditional and French Colonial past. There is now also a desire to modernise as the younger generations choose careers in education, tourism & finance.

We loved our time in Saigon.

We ate well, completed a cooking class, tried our first Vietnamese coffee, walked our legs off & learnt to cross the road Vietnamese style (more of that later).

Tube Buildings

Bitexco Financial Tower

People Committee's Building

Dong Khoi at night

Me Linh Square & statue of Tran Hung Dao

More tube buildings - I loved them!

Central Post Office - repainting.

Opera House - side view

Opera House - front view of this beautiful belle époque building.

Saigon River in the morning

Reunification Palace

This post is part of Saturday Snapshot

Spice Tray, Vietnam

Spice tray, Hoi An, Vietnam

This post is part of Wordless Wednesday.

Saturday Snapshot - Vietnam part 2 - The Accommodation

One of the advantages of getting older is when we travel now, we no longer need to stay in backpacker accommodation. In Ho Chi Minh City we enjoyed the French colonial charms of the Majestic Hotel. Our room overlooked the pool courtyard which meant we were away from the street noise. The hotel was situated perfectly on the corner of Dong Khoi and the road that ran alongside the Saigon River.

The grand foyer of the Majestic Hotel

Our view of the pool

Breakfast with a view of the Saigon River

In Hoi An we splashed out and stayed at the Sunrise Resort - complete with two glorious pools!

Pool One

Pool Two with infinity edge!

It was a hard way to spend three days, but we managed somehow!

I loved the high ceilings in the Sunrise foyer.

In Hanoi we stayed at the Silk Path Hotel right in the city on the edge of the Old Quarter.

It was a great spot - easy walking into, through and around the Old Quarter as well as within walking distance of the lake.

The foyer was full of gorgeous lacquer paintings...

...and huge vases of flowers that changed every day.

We loved the view of Hanoi from the 9th floor. The busy streets were endlessly fascinating to us.

We also enjoyed a two night cruise around Halong Bay on board the L'Azalée.

It was magic.

View from our dinner table.

Cruising around Halong Bay.

Cruising on the top deck.

The fleet were being renovated & upgraded boat by boat.

Our day boat was brand new & the height of comfort & relaxation.

This post is part of Saturday Snapshot.

Hoi An, Vietnam

Lantern shop, Hoi An, Vietnam

This post is part of Wordless Wednesday.

Saturday Snapshot - Vietnam Part 1 - The Food

There was so much to love about our recent holiday to Vietnam, but one of the stand-out highlights for us was the food. 

We ate well and we ate often.

A few margarita's may have happened too!

Pho - I made the mistake of eating the chilli (like I would at home).

We booked a morning cooking class whilst in Saigon.

It involved a trip to to the markets to check out all the fresh, local produce.

Our first lesson at the Saigon Culinary Art Centre was how to create carrot flowers!

I was only drinking iced tea - really!!

  

We then went on to make seafood spring rolls, morning glory salad with pork & prawns and deep-fried egg noodles with seafood & vegetables.

It was a fabulous way to start our holiday in Vietnam.

Mai loved a camera shot too!

It was all delicious!

I also enjoyed drinking the lotus & jasmine tea's.

On our last night in Saigon, we treated ourselves to a meal at Maxim's.

The decor was wonderful, the jazz groovy & the margarita's sublime!

The prawn spring rolls (above) were scrumptious.

But the whole red snapper in ginger and onion (below) was out of this world!

The BBQ'd prawns weren't bad either!

 Rambutans are a cousin of the lychee.

I managed to have several of these for breakfast everyday, along with dragonfruit (pitaya), passionfruit, pineapple and watermelon.

Our first lunch in Hoi An was the local specialty - 'white rose' shrimp dumplings.

The flavour was very subtle & very satisfying.

Happy hour margarita's for two by the pool, Hoi An

We fell in love with the Hoi An Special Spring Rolls - they became our lunch time special.

Along with a glass of cold Tiger beer.

Mai Fish, Hoi An do a mean kumquat margarita! A great way to watch the sunset.

In Hanoi (below) we joined a night tour of the local street stalls.

We ate 'rats tails' (so called like the American hotdog - for its shape not its contents)!

Rats tails were minced pork with coriander, cucumber & chilli wrapped up in a long skinny roll.

 It also included a tour of the local markets.

The highlight was eating from one of the DIY street BBQ stalls.

Mr Seasons loved the Iced Vietnamese Coffee with condensed milk.

But while in Hanoi we also tried their famous Egg Coffee.
Yes - coffee and egg together!
 They blend the yolk into an espresso with a splash of condensed milk.

A liquid tiramasu say some! 

Too sweet says me.
One cafe also served them with a meringue made from the egg whites floating on top.

Our last night in Hanoi saw us dining fine on stuffed squid & pork ribs in Hanoi special spices.

The desserts at Porte d'Annam were pretty special too.

 Needless to say, the diet started this week!

This post is part of Saturday Snapshot and Weekend Cooking.