Hot Christmas + Vietnam is a building site.

Christmas was spent on holiday with mum, dad, sister and of course Chi and Louisa here in Vietnam. To start, we visited Hoi An via Da Nang airport, Chi and I returning for the first time since our honeymoon back in November 2006, where I posted the pictures here (some of my favourites from Vietnam). The old town, as you'd expect, hasn't changed much.





Even the restaurants seemed to be the same bar an additional posh wine bar. What really struck me was the development on the coast road from Da Nang heading south. From leaving Da Nang city until Marble Mountain there are numerous big name resort developments under way. Kilometre after Kilometre of fenced off beach front, earth movers and concrete foundations strutting out of the ground splaying steel cable everywhere give a sense of awe at the sheer scale of what is going on down there. The weather by the way, was miserable - rained constantly.

Moving south to Nha Trang, again a first visit there for what must be two years, not a lot changed really. A nice new terminal at the Cam Ranh airport making baggage collection a non-stressful experience. The only other thing of mention would be, again, the development along Tran Phu. The new Sheraton building, I have to say, looks awesome. I love the design. It stands with unobstructed views, and the 360 degree shaped thing on the top has to be bar...what a view that place will have.





It's not such good news for the Yasaka, which has a huge shopping/office center being built right next to it which has blatantly obstructed the view from some of it's rooms at the back...!



The old concrete shell/pillar has finally been replaced (it was an unfinished something standing on the edge of the public square on the beach front) - replaced with a..flower or a mosque - I'm not sure which.



One thing about Nha Trang never changes...walks along a beautiful beach!



Heading south again now, a 3.5 hour car journey to Mui Ne. The kite-surfing season is really getting going now but the winds remain calm until mid-morning. 7.00 am on the beach with sun already high, no wind and a gorgeous ocean convinced me that Mui Ne really is the place to be. Sun, sand, swimming and plenty of restaurants to choose from.







An interesting sidenote, possibly, I picked up a very old copy of Huck Finn from a second hand book store. The book has a stamp entitled 'Vietnamese American ****** (can't read), 55 Mac Dinh Chi, Saigon. BOOK SHOP For Students, Teachers, Members'. It has a name written in biro in the top, Pham Van But, and a date, 08-12-70. Obviously this book shop was there during the war years and stocked English language literature.

A fantastic trip overall, and Vietnam just keeps developing.

Hoi An

Here's a collection of nice shots from a recent trip to Hoi An. The courtyard below is nice.

Here's a jug and a sign. Maybe not the best place for said sign.

Here are some mini hot air ballons. Them seem to be quite popular in Hoi An.

Marble mountain is a 20 minute motorbike drive from Hoi An on the road to Da Nang. It has a lot of marble shops around the bottom where Saigon hotels undoubtedly buy their rearing lions for the lobby. More importantly, it has a temple complex enshrined with trees and inside caves which is well worth exploring.

In this picture, the smoke from burning incense creates a surreal scene.

Here you can see the other half placing her insence sticks in front of an impressive Buddha statue.

Heading back to Hoi An, a trip on the river reveals local boat taxis are small but frequent, this being a common site.

Upon arrival in Hoi An expectations were high, what with the UNESCO world heritage blah, and guide books petrified of bad-mouthing the place. However, during our first stroll through the old town, my partner turned and quipped with an eyebrow raise that I would have been proud of, 'This is like Pham Ngu Lao' (PNL is the backpacker nest of Saigon). Well, I couldn't disagree. The old houses were beautiful, until they opened up the front and turned them into DVD shops. The town caters for tourists in a mind boggling capacity -- huge groups of big nosed European tourists (I can say that because I am one myself) speaking a language I couldn't put a finger on (possibly Greek) kind of ruined the atmosphere. I can't begin to imagine what this little place would have looked like before the onslaught began. Fear not though, slowly but surely we were won over, as we became normalised to the tourist pollution and took a stroll down the riverside in the evening eventually stopping at one of the many outdoor cafes for a glass of wine. Very peaceful and relaxing. However, it was easy to spot the mid-morning timewasters in the cafes, lounging around as if they were Parisian artists during WW2. Hoi An though is pretty....