Good morning Vietnam!

While onboard another mammoth bus journey of 13 hours, we came to the border crossing of Laos and Vietnam. This crossing actually got our hearts racing when, Vietnam officers took and recorded our body temperature with a gun pointed at our head…Jay had picked up a cold bug and had been coughing all day prior to that, this had us both praying he wouldn’t feel the urge to do so right at that moment..

Then when having our passports checked one officer didn’t take to kindly to me and had Jason and me both answer a few additional questions not believing we were who our passport said we were…LOL

Green Vietnam

Heading into Vietnam, what immediately stood out, was how beautifully green the place was, so much forest, rivers and mountains that went on for ages before we began reaching urbanised areas.

Rice fields

The traffic is crazy

We drove through Hue and were confronted with an experience, we’re told is synonymous with Vietnam – the traffic is chaotic!

So many people on bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles and scooters and driving alongside the cars literally do whatever they want, so many times we were onboard our bus tensing at every close encounter we came to colliding with one of them!! And we ‘re told Hanoi is worse..!

We reached Danang, which had the buzz of a big city however there was not much to do there and although it had the Han River running alongside it, there were few places to eat or drink along the river front to admire the lights shimmering in the water on the other side from businesses and billboards.

Danang was cool but not much to do

We spent a night there before heading to Hoi An. Along the way we stopped at the Marble Mountains which used to house Buddhist and Hindu sanctuaries and has an impressive pagoda built off it.

Marble Mountains

The pagoda

Marble from the mountain used to make these impressive sculptures. This is a dragon.

Marble from the mountain is taken and used to build all sorts of ornaments and statues that can be bought from the shops surrounding it. A family business it seemed, where all the shops we visited had their fathers and brothers sculpting the marble, while the women polish the finished pieces.  

Mother Buddah

J has a 'meet and greet' with Buddah

Along the drive up to Hoi An, the sites of development were clear to be seen, Vietnam is paying attention to tourism and has learnt a thing or too, about contruction from their northern neighbour China.