Phu Quoc - 3 days

Phu Quoc was the perfect end to our Vietnam adventure. It is an Island in the Gukf of Thailand, the Florida for Russians and Scandinavians.

We enjoyed three wonderful days lounging in front of our beach front bungalow #402. 

The beach is large and the water warm. It was very hot ~ 31c everyday with a welcome mix of sun and cloud. 

We walked to the town and night market. It is very busy with cars, mopeds, people and commotion. We spend most of our time at quiet resort except for dinners at Mondo and Ixtapa. 

Hoi An - 4 days

Our private driver Nin from Hue, drove us to Hoi An. It took us about 4 1/2 hours including stops to Lang co beach, 

Hai Van Pass, Marble Mountain and Danang, City of the future. The Danang beach, called China Beach is 

replet with high end resort hotels and many more under construction. 

We arrived in Hoi An at the Little Hoi An Hotel but was strongly advised to check in at their new sister boutique hotel, La Residencia, due to loud construction noise next door. 

Hoi An is the land of the night lanterns. It is beautifully lit everywhere in the old town and along the river. 

It is a very quaint little town but also VERY busy with tourist and hotel construction everywhere. 

We enjoyed our few days here, walking around, getting a few clothes fitted, biking to the beach and relaxing on our hotel balcony. 

The  food here was truly superb especially at the soul Kitchen on An Bang beach, the Cargo Club and the Morning Glory. 

Two days in Hue, Vietnam

 Fantastic two days in Hue. We flew from HCMC in the morning and got to Hue to beautiful sunshine. We checked-in at the Serene Palace Hotel to a great room with a balcony and city views. We had a quick lunch and hopped on two cyclos across the bridge to the Imperial City. One of our cyclo's bike chain slipped off but Terry and I shared the other one and really enjoyed the quick trip. 

We thoroughly visited Hue's impressive Citadel and Imperial city and its many buildings and gardens. It was really worth the visit.  We hopped on another cyclo who drove us through the Old Hue, stopped us at the Market where I bought a scarf and dropped us off at our hotel. Cyclos are fantastic to view the sights. Our drivers were very friendly and informative.

We had a great dinner at the hotel that night before retiring to our great balcony for a nice rest.

For New Year's Eve we rented a driver to go to the Emperors tombs and the Pagodas. The majestic tombs were beyond impressive and gave you a true feel for the importance of the Emperors. Minh Mang's tomb was beyond ostentatious. It took 11 years to build and he raised taxes by 30% to fund the project before his death. Khai Dinh's Tomb was more modest with beautiful gardens. The Pagoda too was great to visit.

We had a great dinner at the Golden Rice restaurant before going back to our hotel to sleep the rest of 2014 away!