Day 62: Homecoming Day

DID: Must be time to go home because woke up with a tight jaw for the first time in two months. Stress already and we hadn’t even left Bali!

Jason headed out to a cooking class at 7am – real dedication for him. Said it wasn’t as hands-on as previous courses he’s taken this trip because there were 12 people, but he enjoyed what they made. Hoping for some satay, fish in banana leaf, and other Indonesian-inspired delights when we get home.

GnR and I packed up and hit the pool for the day. Gavin discovered the fun of jumping in the hot tub, then the ‘cold shot’ pool, then the big pool. He must have made the rounds at least 20 times by the time Jason returned in the early afternoon.

Jason returned to squeals of 'Daddy Home!!' from Rhys. This is his new thing - when any of us leaves the room even briefly we are treated to this very enthusiastic welcome upon our return. So cute!

Room tab didn’t give me quite the heart attack I was expecting. Helped by the 20% discount on all goods/services when staying in a club room – thanks Mom & Dad!!!

Gave myself a tight back to go with the clenched jaw when adjusting Rhys’ lounge chair. Don’t know what I did but couldn’t really walk or stand up straight. Sitting in an airplane for 10 hours was a real party. Did cajole Jason into pushing me around in an airport wheelchair while on a layover in Singapore (with Rhys in my lap). It’s a crazy feeling being wheeled around like that! Especially while wandering the aisles in the duty free shops, I was sure he was going to ram me into a display at every turn – but he was a good driver.

Flight from Singapore to Sydney was on an Airbus 380. What an absolute beast. 3-4-3 seat configuration and the window seats are not even close enough to the window to lean against the wall. Nice in-seat features such as a power outlet, 11-inch tv screens at every seat, usb and internet cable inputs, loads of movie/audio/games from which to choose. But why on a midnight flight did it take them 2 hours to turn out the lights????

ATE: Hyatt meals all the way. Breakfast at the club. Lunch at the pool (grilled ham & cheese sandwiches). Snack 1 at the club – birthday cake compliments of the hotel. Happy hour drinks/nibbles at the club – beer (+ ibuprofen for me), plus mini-meatballs and pork/chicken fried wontons.

Dinner on flight 1/Singapore Airlines – beef over noodles in a soy-based sauce with Chinese greens. Acceptable.

SLEPT: Not much.  Boys didn't sleep at the same time and I was really uncomfortable because of the back injury. Universe's messed up way of giving me a reason to look forward to the comforts of home, I guess...

Day 61: Birthday + Last Night Celebrations

DID: Woke up early but so did Jason so plans to decorate foiled. Boo. Gavin made him a card and I bought him a pair of cufflinks in Bangkok (easy to hide/light to carry!)

Back on the 10am shuttle to the Grand Hyatt, this time hoping to charter a boat to do some snorkeling.

Before heading out on the boat, we walked out to a huge freighter that ran aground at a 10 minute walk from the Hyatt beach (at low tide, water never more than knee deep). While we were out there, met a couple of surveyors coming off the boat who told us it’s been there for about a week – they are trying to figure out how to get it back out to sea. Apparently there was an unlucky combination of wind, wave and current which caused the boat to get stuck. Saw a few starfish crawling around on the way back, that was a new one on me!

Snorkeling was kind of a disaster. The plan was for me to snorkel first with Gavin while Jason waited with Rhys in the boat and then we’d switch. But the water was really rough so Gavin didn’t enjoy the snorkeling at all, and then Jason was feeling really seasick while waiting on the boat. (I did tell him when we anchored that he should just get in and float rather than wait on the boat for that very reason, but whatever!!) For my part, the snorkeling was pretty awesome. The boat driver gave me some bread to feed the fish, so I was totally surrounded for a few minutes. Wished I had an underwater camera, but in a way it was nice to enjoy it rather than worry about getting the perfect shot.

Caught the boat in Benoa Harbor (where we had dinner on Tuesday night). Can’t even begin to describe the number of boats crammed into and zooming around this little harbor – seems like it’s the only launch point for water sports on this part of the island. Parasailing, banana boats, fishing boats, glass bottomed boats (like the one we were in), kayaking, and some crazy thing that is a big inflatable raft attached to a speedboat which becomes airborne as the boat picks up speed. I’d say a huge reason that the water in the snorkeling area was so rough was boat activity rather than wind conditions.

Back at the Grand Hyatt, more waterslide fun, then we let Jason sunbathe in peace. GnR and I rented bikes and rode down the shoreline path. The Hyatt had bikes that were ever so slightly large for Gavin but he did a really great job once he got the hang of it. I was kind of nervous because it only had a hand brake (his bike at home has pedal brakes), but he did fine. Rhys was in a baby carrier on the back of my bike. Slight bit of trouble when we hit a sandy spot, I tried to help Gavin push through it and ended up dumping my own bike (with Rhys on the back) in the process. Few tears but no lasting ill-effects (I don’t think!) Rode in all three available directions, concluded that the Hyatt resort is far and away the nicest compared to its neighbors (not that I had any doubts).

Rhys is doing something funny to get his way – he will say something like “go park?” and then smile and nod his head yes over and over again until you agree. He knows it’s impossible for me to say no to that cute face!

Headed out to Jimbaran for sunset drinks and dinner, more on that in ATE:. Perfect way to spend Jason’s bday and our last night of the trip – not ready for the real world just yet!

ATE: Breakfast – Hyatt

Lunch – Poolside @ Grand Hyatt. GnR had chicken nuggets, I had a chicken burger, Jason had a steak sandwich. Yummy.

Drinks – The Rock Bar at the Ayana Resort. Bar is at the bottom of a cliff-face on Jimbaran Bay. Lobby is at the top of the cliff, you wind your way down through the resort to the top of a cable car which then takes you down the cliff edge to the bar. Very cool. Experience confirmed that possibly it’s resort culture (rather than traditional Balinese) that is best enjoyed on the south part of the island.  Lots of daybeds and lounge chairs from which to enjoy the views and excellent cocktails. I had something flaming, peppery and citrusy, Jason’s was lemongrass-y and coconutty. GnR were treated to a Sprite. Wow factor all around.

Dinner - Sangkar Restaurant at the Bvlgari Resort (http://www.bulgarihotels.com/en-us/bali/bar-and-restaurants/sangkar-restaurant/sangkar-restaurant.) I can’t even think of words to describe this place. Exclusive, secluded, romantic, ultra-luxe, sleek, don’t seem to do it justice. I think the security team was trained in Afghanistan – two rounds of bomb checks in/around the car including the trunk and under the hood. Lobby 1 at the top of the hill is basically just a fancy (VERY fancy) security entrance (pyramid shaped building, everything black and low-lit except for white cushions on low-level seating and billowy white curtains). From there you are whisked by golf cart to your destination. Cool but also necessary because the resort is steep, like top of the roller coaster steep. Couldn’t see much because everything was so dark. Restaurant was at the edge of a cliff with a beautiful view of ocean and stars. Almost wish we’d had sunset drinks here as well so that we could have seen the resort in the light of day.

All I kept thinking was whether or not we were going to have to re-mortgage our condo to pay for the dinner, and the slim likelihood that it would be the sort of place that would have chicken nuggets. But I needn’t have worried. Appetizers were $25, mains were a ‘reasonable’ $35 (outrageous for Bali but not for Sydneysiders!) and they even had a kid’s menu. I had the ‘ultimate nasi goreng’ – fried rice with wagyu beef satay and steamed lobster. Jason had pork ribs. Gavin had spaghetti, Rhys had fish and chips. Dessert was a chocolate/raspberry sacher torte decorated for Jason’s birthday (and the staff sang happy birthday to him). Definitely a meal/experience worthy of the occasion.

Day 60: I Like to Move It Move It

DID: Back to the Grand Hyatt for more waterslide action. This time on the 10am shuttle. Very convenient and comfy (it’s a 16-pax bus). 

Brought inner tubes for additional thrills on the slide. With it, Rhys could ride just ahead of me, and felt like he was on his own. He was singing ‘I like to move it, move it’ on the way down, made me giggle every time.

Went over to Geger Beach in the afternoon (just outside the gates of Nusa Dua, about a 15 minute drive from the Grand Hyatt.) Nice, simple beach with a few restaurants, lounge chairs/umbrellas for hire and beachfront massages. We were there just for a change of pace for lunch (we’ve eaten nearly everything off the Hyatt menu!), otherwise not much reason to go there (Hyatt beach is nicer, less crowded – plus the taxis on the way back rip you off. It’s either them or a verrrry long walk and don’t they know it!)

Dinner/early evening in Benoa (peninsula stretching north from Nusa Dua). More of the same tourist stuff, lots of big resorts here such (ie Conrad, Club Med). Resorts nice, outside resorts not so nice.

Headed back to Sanur for dessert and a mani/pedi. Spas are open until 11pm so can maximize daylight hours at the pool and save pampering for the evening. Went into one that was a bit sketchy looking but very popular. Spa has a ‘Dr Fish’ tank in the entrance – huge aquarium filled with little fish that like to feed on dead skin and bacteria on your feet. For the hour and a half I was at the spa, the fish were fed constantly, four feet at a time. Tried to get Jason to try it but he wanted no part of it. Rhys put his hand in and got totally freaked out, it was funny. I didn’t get a chance to test it out, maybe later this week…

Tried to find balloons/party decorations to hang up in the room for Jason’s bday but came up empty. Might have to get creative with toilet paper!

ATE: Club breakfast, we’ve got our ordering system down now, just the right amount of food for breakfast plus a few snacks for later.

Lunch,  @ Geger Beach. Gavin had fried rice, I had mie goreng (fried noodles) with chicken, Jason had a mound of grilled shrimp (for $5!), Rhys had a grilled cheese + fries. Shrimp definitely the big winner, fries were also excellent (but overall a very decent meal).

Dinner – Bumbu Bali Restaurant 2. http://www.balifoods.com/Restaurant opened by a former Hyatt chef (might as well stick to the Hyatt formula, it’s working so far!) Reviews said menu focused on local/seasonal ingredients. Didn’t get that sense when we were there (menu didn’t appear to change) but had a really hard time deciding what to order because everything looked so good. Unfortunately the meal didn’t live up to expectations. Although flavors were pretty good, pork and beef dishes were tough and no one cared for the chicken dish. (We ordered beef stewed in coconut milk, baby chicken in banana leaf and spicy soy pork.) Thumbs down.

Dessert – Ice cream at Café Batujimbar in Sanur (same restaurant as 2^nd night in Bali.) Festive atmosphere (salsa dancing and a band on the front terrace) and the big glass dessert case drew us in. Good stuff.

Day 59: Eat, Drive, Love

DID – Day trip to Ubud, about an hour’s drive NW of Sanur – city of Eat, Pray, Love fame. Of the three places she went in the book (Rome, a yoga retreat in India, and Ubud), I had a feeling this one had the most potential to have undergone significant change as a result. (Rome isn’t going to feel a few extra tourists, and she intentionally never mentions the name of the place she went in India). It’s certainly not the quiet, simple, un-touristy place that is described in the book, but I’d say it can certainly still hold its title as the cultural heart of Bali. Lots of temples, a palace and other traditional-style buildings (dark stone construction, typically one story, with ornate carvings, lots of statues of religious figures, tiered cone-shaped roofs, and very short doorways/arches.

Did some shopping at the central market - deals not even close to being as good as Thailand/Vietnam/China. Lots of carved wood, crazy patterned textiles and incense. Every shop has a small square paper tray of ‘goodies for the Gods’ – usually consisting of flower petals, small crackers, incense and a few other random things. All the stuff to make the trays was on sale at the market (new trays are made daily).

Visited the Sacred Monkey Temple. Loads of monkeys around, one swiped a bottle of Sprite right out of my purse. Cheeky!! Very lively little things. There was a bath in the center of the temple grounds with a tree serving as a diving board – they were having a ball jumping in and swimming. Had to hold Rhys back from joining in.

Went in pursuit of a shop mentioned in the Luxe guide near the Neka Museum. As usual, we followed the guide with the hope of finding a good area to walk around/shops to our taste, but not necessarily the actual shop mentioned. And again as usual, we never found the boutique but it was a great place for a wander. Definitely if coming back to Bali I would consider staying around here, nice small hotels, good looking local restaurants, away from the tourists but still easily accessible, nice views.

Drive back took us by many temples and terraced rice paddies. Our driver (Guday) was so good, he stopped everywhere I wanted a photo, he backed up against traffic when we passed a shop I belatedly decided I wanted to go in, he suggested and brought us to places to find some things we were looking for (you would not believe how difficult it is to find a sticker of an Indonesian flag!), and along the way educated us on everything from why temples are decorated in yellow/white/red/black (has to do with spirits to the north/south/east and west) to what people do on their birthdays (get dressed up, have family parties, eat cake). He was so great we ended up keeping him for another 6 hours to take us for more shopping, dinner and back to the hotel. The best was when we told him we wanted to go to a bbq restaurant on Jimbaran Beach for dinner – he brought us to the place his wife used to work. We didn’t actually realize we’d veered to a table in the restaurant next door so he came to rescue us and in the process introduced us to the owners. :)

Rhys is getting a kick out of stepping on the back of our heels to make our shoes come off. Little prankster!!!

Great day, Ubud is good.

ATE: Breakfast at the club.

Lunch: Spit-roasted pork at Ibu Oka, across from the Palace. Very simple menu: meat, meat + sausage, meat + sausage + skin, meat + sausage + skin + rice. Communal tables. Someone from a restaurant down the road tried to sway us away towards their restaurant (he pretended like he was an employee of Ibu Oka, said the restaurant was full and it would be a really long wait but he could recommend a place down the street.) Ha!

Snack: iced coffees and ice cream across from the Neka Museum. Still no good coffee in the land of Java but ice cream was good.

Dinner: On Jimbaran Bay beach. Very casual/fun with candlelit tables in the sand and random fireworks shooting off. Rhys built a sand mountain while we waited for our meals. Calamari, grilled shrimp, grilled snapper, rice. Calamari was a bit crispy for my taste and didn’t come with lemon, but the grilled shrimp and snapper were insanely good. Both were prepared with a similar secret sauce – Jason tried to get the recipe out of Guday figuring that his wife must know it but no dice. Super tasty.

Only bad thing was that the wind was blowing all the smoke from the restaurants out onto the beach – our clothes and hair smelled like a fishy firepit when we got back to the hotel. Showers all around!

Dessert: Room service chocolate cake. Gavin said it was ‘lovely’. Good value too, two slices plus fruit and whipped cream all for $5 including delivery. Tempting enough to make a bad habit of it.

Day 58: Swimming Shopping and Pancakes!

DID: Lazy Sunday. And by lazy I mean l-a-z-y. Late breakfast, followed by pool. We didn’t even walk out to the beach today, we were that lazy. Played a few rounds of bocce but stopped due to safety concerns (Rhys just wanted to run up and down the lane and Gavin wanted to peg the balls at him). Tried to play ping pong but the wind was interfering with gameplay. Hit the playground for a bit, also ‘played’ a bit of super-sized chess (and by that I mean the boys set up and then knocked over all the pieces, using a pawn like a bat), and had an impromptu music lesson from the bamboo pipe players. Nice day.

Small diversion from the pool to set up a driver for Ubud tomorrow. Cabbie who drove us around in Seminyak Saturday night was friendly, spoke good English, drove a nice car, and could be hired for $50/day. Sold.

Then went shopping for bathing suits. (mine is atrocious and an embarrassment but I haven’t had time/inclination to find a new one, plus Gavin’s rashie has lost all elasticity). Went to Kuta on the advice of the concierge. The Luxe guide (and everyone else) said avoid, avoid, avoid – and now I know why. But I won’t complain too much because I have a new cozzie, Gavin got his rashie, plus t-shirts for GnR. My suit is kind of funny though – it’s exactly the same as my old one, just a different brand. Bought under similar circumstances (desperation) – it does the trick but it is just a black suit. Was hoping for something more fun. Also the prices here are the same as Australia pretty much, so won’t be doing too much shopping in Bali!

Rhys has taken to saying ‘carry-you!’ when he wants to be picked up. He’s reached that phase of utter confusion over you vs me, so cute. He also loves to say ‘let’s go!’ and then promptly walks out of the room, ready or not. Locking the door has become top priority!

ATE: Regency Club breakfast. Same-same, as they say here – good stuff!

Lunch – Lounge chair delivery, poolside. Today I went for a grilled ham and cheese, GnR had fish and chips, Jason had a burger. Mine was great, the boys was even better, Jason’s was so-so.

Dinner – Room service. Had originally intended to go to a place in Jimbaran after shopping in Kuta but shopping went late and Jimbaran is another 30 minute drive in the opposite direction of the hotel. Tried to eat near the shopping but nothing looked great. We did actually sit down somewhere but I had a bad feeling about it and after 15 minutes of no service we bailed. Ended up with room service back at the hotel but could only order from the late-night menu because it was after 10pm. GnR had pancakes which were “legendary” according to Gavin (they were pretty good!). Jason had duck fried noodles, which he also enjoyed. I stole a pancake from Rhys.

What will be truly legendary is our bill when we check out. I don’t think we’ve ever charged this much back to the room ever!

Day 57: Another Day, Another Hyatt

DID: Took advantage of reciprocity benefits at the Grand Hyatt Resort in Nusa Dua (free shuttle between hotels, and there are two waterslides plus several pools and beach). Hotel is gorgeous, very dramatic views right from the entrance. More modern than our hotel but still Balinese-y with color tiled roofs and everything is open air. Nusa Dua itself is not to my taste (and is the prime reason we didn’t stay at this Hyatt). It’s a peninsula created solely for tourists – there’s security/bomb check on the way in to the Nusa Dua complex, and then it’s all hotels plus a souvenir shopping complex. It looks like a fancy, tropical military base/university campus. Blah.

Boys LOVED the slide (and me too!). We must have gone down it at least 50 times by lunch (my legs were feeling it after walking up the steps so many times!) By the afternoon Rhys could hardly walk up anymore but that didn’t stop him from wanting to go again (and again)! The only way we could get them away was to drag them over to the hotel playground. This one is a bit newer than the one at our hotel, and in addition to the slide/climbing/swing set, they’ve got a big trampoline and a kid-size basketball hoop. Jason showed off basketball dribbling skills I didn’t know he had, guess he was telling the truth all these years when he said he was the center on his school team.

Headed over to Seminyak for dinner and a walk around. All the books/guides/blogs said this was the best area so I had high hopes. Boutiques were very nice, restaurants looked good (and the one we ate at was very very nice) but everything seems like its for-expats-by-expats. Having said that, comparing it to Sanur (where we are staying) I guess given a choice purely on location I’d pick Seminyak. BUT, knowing that the south part of the island isn’t that appealing to me (so far anyway), having benefits at two resorts is a huge advantage – so if the option was there again I’d definitely pick one of the two Hyatts.

Back at the hotel Jason and Gavin made a visit to the concierge to find out what else there is to do outside of the Hyatt world on the island. Afterwards when they were telling me all about it, Gavin was expressing his enthusiasm for doing everything (fishing! snorkeling! waterpark! safari park!) When Jason said to him that he just likes to do everything, we have to pick a few favorites, Gavin’s response was ‘well, I don’t like shopping!’ Well said, Gav.

ATE: Breakfast – Regency Club brekkie. Eggs, chocolate cereal, toast, fresh juice, fruit etc.

Lunch – Lounge chair delivery service poolside at the Grand Hyatt Nusa Dua. GnR had chicken nuggets + fries, I had a chicken wrap + fries, Jason had nasi goreng (fried rice) with chicken satay. Good stuff and we were starving after all that sliding.

Snack – banana split and iced coffees at the pool bar. Ice cream didn’t have a chance to melt before it was gone (except for the stuff smeared on GnR’s face and hands after the race to eat it). Coffee here is surprisingly terrible considering we’re in the home of Java. This one tasted like they had drip coffee left over from the morning, left it on the burner all day, then added ice and milk.

Dinner – Sardine in Seminyak. Top setting overlooking a rice paddie. Lots of mossies though, good thing I had the spray in my bag. Seafood menu, French-influenced with Bali ingredients. Gavin slept through dinner, Rhys was perfectly ok with eating both of their portions of fish and chips. Chips were waffle cut – nice touch! I started with a crab tower, Jason had scallops. For mains I had had snapper in beurre blanc (enjoying all the non-Australian butter I can get!) and Jason had hamachi with a soy-based mushroom-y sauce. Dessert was black pepper ice cream with jackfruit and strawberries. Really weird (spicy) but good. I also had a cocktail called an ‘Arak Attack’ – arak with orange juice and sprite. Learned afterwards that arak is a local whiskey. Drink was a chugger, too strong to sip and enjoy for me!

Dinner 2 – Gavin woke up hungry just as we were leaving the restaurant, so headed for the main street of Seminyak in search of dinner. Ended up at the Café Seminyak where he had an omelet, fries and a baguette. Either he was really hungry or it was really good – either way his plate was clear in seconds.

Day 56: Hyatt Bali = Great, Regular Bali = Not Sure Yet

Happy Birthday Papa Butch!

DID: Some difficult decisions today. Pool or beach? Goggles or snorkel/mask?  Lunch served to our lounge chairs or at the restaurant? SPF 15 or 30? Drinks at the swim-up bar or in the Regency Club?

Water temperature much cooler than Thailand/Vietnam. Actually refreshing as opposed to bathwater-like.

Gavin took me to the hotel playground while Rhys napped. They have one of those swings for 2 people that’s like a see-saw, haven’t seen one of those in years!

Jason did drag us out of the hotel for dinner. Glad he did, but after a hard day of sun + swim I could have easily gone for room service.

Walk to dinner took much longer than it should have. Concierge said it would take about 10 minutes. Map showed a 90-degree bend in the road just before the restaurant. We walked…and walked…and walked…but no sharp turn was happening. Didn’t really mind the walk but would have taken the stroller had the plan been to walk this far. Started to think the concierge meant 10 minutes in a taxi. Finally we reached a market which Jason could see on the map was past where we were supposed to be. Hopped in a taxi, back-tracked nearly all the way back to the hotel! Walk back to the hotel from the restaurant took 10 minutes or less, so concierge was right after all. But that bend in the road was actually just a slight curve, grrr.

Didn’t see anything in Sanur that wasn’t just for tourists. Restaurants were mostly relaxed/casual but nice (they are definitely aiming for families and couples, not backpackers – if turning right from the hotel. Left leads to backpacker land). Lots of artisan workshops, spas, clothing boutiques, a few souvenir market stalls here and there. Prices about 10% of those within the Hyatt resort (ie a manicure costs $4 as opposed to $40).  I’m sure we’ll be walking this street again out of convenience but I don’t feel particularly drawn to it. Individual businesses are fine but it lacks overall charm/character/heart, feel like I could be on a Pacific island anywhere, doesn’t say BALI to me.

ATE: Free breakfast at the Regency Club. Great omelets, an interesting flourless sugar cane cake concoction in a push-up cone contraption made from palm leaves, coco-crunch cereal, fresh mango juice.

Lunch - Omanu Omanu Grill, poolside at the Hyatt. Fresh, partially DIY lemonade – they serve sparkling water mixed with lemon and a pitcher of sugar water for you to mix in yourself. Jason thought the best part was the sugarcane stalk-stirrer, he ate all four of them. Gavin had chicken nuggets with mashed potatoes, Rhys had a cheeseburger and fries, I had Balinese chicken satay (slightly spicier than the Thai version) and Jason had mie goreng (spicy stir-fried noodles with chicken). All very good but at Australia prices, so we won’t be doing this every day!

Snack – Happy Hour drinks at the Regency Club. Hot snacks of the day were galettes with tomato and basil and chicken tikka sticks. Other munchies included chips with guacamole, shrimp in salsa verde, cheese and crackers, mixed nuts, chocolate cake, vanilla cream puffs. Highlight was the live music, two musicians on bamboo xylophones. Stage sits on the other side of a small canal from the bar, was just waiting to hear the splash of Rhys falling in as he tried to get closer to the musicians. Got lucky today but I fear that one of these afternoons he’ll be in!

Dinner – Café Batujimbar in Sanur (www.cafebatujimbar.com). Mix of Indonesian and Western items on the menu. GnR had a grilled ham and cheese with fries. I had chicken marinated in Balinese spices plus greens that had been stewed in coconut. Chicken was good, greens had a touch of curry that I didn’t go for. Jason had beef rendang which was excellent. If he’d offered me a trade I would have taken it in a second! Overall nice restaurant for local flavors.

SLEPT: Internet is $17/day here. Booo. So what we’ve learned over the last 2 months is that the big chain hotels are the only ones in Asia who charge for internet. Must get away with it because their guests are mostly Americans and Europeans who are used to paying for it elsewhere. The gardens and pool/beach facilities at the hotel are beautiful, and designed such that you can feel you’ve got your own private spot.

Day 55: HAN-SNG-DPS

DID: Last leg begins today!!!

Up early to hit a pho place Jason’s been reading about. Just as the reviewers described, there was a big queue even at 8am. Restaurant opens at 6 and serves until the run out of food (usually at around 10). More on that in ATE.

Took a slow walk back to the hotel, hitting a bakery, a café, and a currency exchange along the way. Jason tried to change all the miscellaneous currency we had floating around at an ANZ bank but they wouldn’t buy most of it. Never fear in Vietnam, there’s always someone hanging around who can take care of whatever you might need. In this case it was a woman with a calculator and a head full of forex rates – she and Jason agreed rates for all the Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese and Thai currency he had left.  Ended up with just enough money to get to the airport and to pay for visas in Bali (US dollars required).

The hotel staff lined up to say goodbye to Rhys, it was really sweet. He gave them all kisses.

Just enough time in the cab to write all the postcards that had been collecting. Hanoi airport experience uneventful (thankfully).

Flew Singapore Airlines from Hanoi to Singapore and then on to Bali. Airline is quite luxurious compared to all others we’ve been on thus far with the exception of the ANA partner StarFlyer. Lots of movies to choose from and the kids got special meals. Hot towels passed out at the beginning of the flight – Gavin made me laugh because he smelled it and said ‘This smells nice, like wet towel!’ Guess he’s really gotten accustomed to the Asian refreshing-towel-on-arrival-service! Only complaint is that they leave the food trays in front of you for a ridiculously long time. Like pretty much until the pilot announces that the cabin should be prepared for landing. Quite annoying – especially with a toddler who either starts throwing the remaining food items around or wants to sit in your lap but can’t because you can’t put the tray table away. Or just for any normal person who wants to use their tray for any purpose other than holding the remnants of a meal you ate two hours prior.

Bali visa-on-arrival process very well organized. They just want your money rather than to examine your credentials, and they are adept at taking it quickly and moving you along. Our problem was that we’d forgotten to fill out the entry cards on the plane. I remembered this as I was standing at the plane waiting for the stroller (Jason had gone ahead to get in line for the visas). By the time I got to him he had already paid for and obtained the visas and was third in line at the immigration desk. Jason went through first, I moved aside of the queue and finished the paperwork for the rest of us. Took for-EVER - they want passport number, date, expiration, place of issue, place of birth, flight number for your arrival, flight number for your departure, where you are staying, occupation - and some of the info multiple times because you also have to fill out a departure card. Surprised they didn’t also ask for a full medical history, criminal record and a CV. By the time I finished our paperwork Jason had already gotten then baggage and was back waiting for us on the other side of immigration.

Felt like I was in the Gold Coast QLD on the drive between the airport and the hotel. Two enormously tacky/gawdy/god-awful Roman-esque marble gi-normous statues in the middle of roundabouts on the way into town, lots of fast food, all the signs are in English. Hoping that this is not an indication of what the island is like. Resort is a beautiful oasis in the middle of tourist biker bars and souvenir shops.

Can’t believe we’re unpacking the suitcases for the last time before going home – this is it!!

ATE: Breakfast 1  - Pho Gia Truyen at 49 Bat Dan St in the French Quarter. Jason was happy with his although it still did not have all the tripe, tendons and other bits he loves. Maybe that’s just a San Francisco thing? But anyway, the broth was right, meat quality was good, he was happy. Gavin on the other hand was not. I think he must like the Hue style of pho better, he hasn’t really been happy with it since we left there.

Breakfast 2 – sweet buns from PappaRoti. Soft, sweet and buttery (as in a melted butter pocket in the center) – sinful.

Breakfast 3 – iced coffees, fresh squeezed lemonade and apple juice, eggs and a baguette at the Rainbow Restaurant. I’m really going to miss having fresh lemonade at every meal.

Lunch – airplane food. Boys had the kids meal (a chicken burger), Jason had the fish, I had the pork. Blah.

Dinner 1 – more airplane food. Boys had chicken pasta, I had the fish, Jason had the chicken. More blah, didn’t really eat it. The bread was accompanied by Australian butter. Didn’t realize it until my tongue was coated in the familiar, rancid flavor. Downside of being away for two months is that I’m going to be hyper-sensitive to it now and will have to go back off dairy. Good excuse to load up on ice cream while in Bali!

Dinner 2 – Room service at the Hyatt. I had a club sandwich, Jason had nasi goring (fried rice, meat skewers, spicy tomato sauce). Both pretty good, but quality was not as important for this meal – we were starving, it was midnight, Jason’s sugar level was low, etc.

Dessert – Some kind of chocolate-liqueur Happy Anniversary cake that was waiting in the room for us on arrival. Delicious!!

SLEPT: Hyatt Bali in Sanur. Car search and bomb check at the resort entrance, then another bag search/metal detector at the lobby entrance - they are not messing around! But once through, it’s like Hawaii. They gave us leis, escorted us to a seating/lounge area to wait for a member of the front desk staff, and then served us juice and cool wet towels. We’re staying here thanks to my parents (10-year wedding anniversary gift) – they’ve set us up with a week’s accommodation in a Hyatt Club room, no less!! Free breakfast and happy hour drinks – woo-hooooooooooo! Hotel looks like it was designed by the same architect as the Swissotel in Bangkok, it’s 4-story concrete pyramid structure. Room was really decked out when we arrived - flowers, champagne, anniversary cake, tub filled with floating rose petals. Celebrations, commenced!

Day 54: Floating Entertainment

DID: Up at 7am for tai chi on the sundeck but it was cancelled due to inclement weather. Was raining bucket-loads. Was originally thinking we would swim as planned at 7.45 rain or shine but having doubts - this kind of rain could seriously pin you underwater. But by 7.30 the rain had stopped, at 7.45 the sun was poking through and by 8 there was full-on sun. Had lots of fun snorkeling although there were no fish to be seen. Gavin got lots of compliments on his swimming skill. Beach was not privately owned by Indochina Co. but we were the only ones there.

Back on the boat, just enough time to shower/pack before brunch. Took our fruit and iced coffees up to the sundeck to enjoy a few minutes of lounging before we pulled into port at 10.30. My only complaint with the cruise itinerary is that there was not nearly enough time for relaxing on the boat. I had brought all kinds of homework for Gavin, books/movies for Rhys, postcards to write – didn’t even look at any of it. (not even any time for writing the blog post – I’m writing this one from the plane on the way to Bali!)

11am and we were in the car headed back to Hanoi. This time I paid more attention to village life. Learned that you can do anything (ie sing karaoke, get your haircut, play badminton, get your cement mixed) and buy anything (from baguettes to toys to roof tiles to live or dead chickens) on the side of the road. The haircutting was particularly humorous – picture an old-school barber chair (like Sweeney Todd-esque), blue tarp tied overhead for shade, a cracked mirror propped up on a wall in front of the chair, cordless clippers. On the upside, no harassment to buy hair products.

3pm, back at the hotel. Rhys had a nice reunion with the doormen. Was hoping he would sweet talk us into a room upgrade but no such luck.

Streetfood snacks, then a wander generally towards dinner before we came across another schoolyard amusement park (similar to the one in Hue). Hit the merry-go-round, the helicopters, the train, the bumper cars and the bouncy house before Jason’s hunger took control. And thank God it did because not 2 minutes after we got into the cab the skies absolutely ripped open with not just sheets but a whole linen closet of rain. The dash from the cab five feet to restaurant door – drenched, in spite of a greeter with an umbrella escorting us in. Thunder so loud everyone was literally jumping out of their chairs.

Rain calmed down while we ate, then it was off to the water puppet show. Realized once there that we’d left Gavin’s Japanese baseball hat back at the restaurant. Fortunately we had a bit of time before the show was due to start so Jason hopped back in a cab to retrieve it. He had some bad luck with the cabs – both the ones there and back had rigged their meters to overcharge. The original ride to the theater cost just over $1. These guys were trying to charge Jason about $10. Unfortunately Jason didn’t have any small change on him to just pay what he thought he owed, both times he ended up paying about $5 and walking away. But worth it to have Gavin’s hat back!

Water puppets were highly entertaining for everyone. Stage was a pool of water with a castle in the background. Live band playing traditional Vietnamese music off to the side of the stage. Puppets swam across the stage (appeared to be controlled by some sort of pole connected to the underside of the puppet, extending from the underside of the puppet, under the water, and back out somewhere behind the castle backdrop. Not sure how they manipulated it from there – the puppets were making some pretty wild/intricate + coordinated movement. They played out several scenes such as coconut picking, a horse race, a carp transforming into a dragon. Rhys was literally dancing on top of his chair and clapping throughout. Show was about 50 minutes in total – just right!

From there we raced off to a shop we’d seen from the cab on the way to the theater that looked interesting. The rush paid off – found some quality t-shirts with Vietnamese flare, plus a little cardie for me.  Hopefully not too little, couldn’t try it on because of the sweat rolling down my back from the jog there. Ew.

Were enticed by the throngs of people at sidewalk cafes enjoying iced coffees and ice cream so joined in, then walked back to the hotel. Hotel really is in a great spot, any cabs we’ve taken have been more for convenience/time than necessity.

Can’t believe it’s our last night in Vietnam and we’re about to start the very last leg of our journey tomorrow!

ATE: Breakfast 1 on the boat – croissants and danish at dawn before hitting the beach.

Breakfast 2 – Brunch on the boat. Gavin and Jason had pho, Rhys had pancakes, I had an omelet. Fruit plate, fresh squeeze lemonade and orange juice, iced coffees. Defo my fav meal of the cruise.

Lunch – Back in Hanoi. Jason had some kind of fish and tofu soup from a vendor in an alley near the hotel. GnR and I had ham & cheese pastries from Paris Gateaux (www.parisgateaux.com.vn) Lemonades and coffees from a café in front of the Opera House.

Dinner – Best meal in Hanoi, hands down. Restaurant Quan An Ngon. We all shared fried shrimp on sugar cane (then wrapped with cucumber, eggplant, lettuce, carrot in a rice paper pancake), fried crab spring rolls (literally the best spring rolls I’ve ever had – so sweet, not fishy in the slightest, perfectly crisp), stir fried noodles with beef and greens, fried pancakes topped with whole shrimp (Rhys couldn’t get enough of these).

Dessert – fro-yo topped with chocolate sauce from NZ ice cream cafe down the street from t-shirt shop. Sidewalk in front was crammed with people perched on plastic stools. Good stuff.

SLEPT: Back at the Hanoi Hotel de l’Opera. 7^th floor this time (last time on the 5^th). They assured us it’s a non-smoking floor so hopefully no bad smells this time. Room identical to the first.

Day 53: Smooth(ish) Sailing

DID: Driver picked us up at 8.15 and we were off for Halong Bay, a four-hour drive from Hanoi. Alarm bells should have gone off when he seemed caught off guard by GnR, more on that later. Made a complete mess of the back seat with crumbs from pastries and bread, oops. Thankfully Jason loaded Gavin’s iPhone up with all his favorite CDs so passed the time singing 17 different versions of ‘Itsy Bitsy Spider’, etc.

Weather was kind of dicey the whole way and was getting worse as we approached the bay. My heart was sinking because this was the first time we’d seen even a hint of grey skies in Vietnam and this was a particularly inopportune time for it! An overnight cruise on a bay + associated activities would just not be the same in the rain. Fortunately the sun began to poke through as we waited to embark, by an hour into the cruise it was blazing.

Drive only covered a distance of about 160km but was really slow because it was mostly 2-lane country road the whole way. I think they should offer Blackhawk helicopter rides as an option, would be much preferable to bumping along at 30mph! But did give a good opportunity to see many rice paddies, palm groves, water lily/pink lotus ponds, water buffalo, and lots (and LOTS) of construction. Homes are kind of interesting – narrow 3-story stucco buildings with a glass pyramid/cupola at the center of the roof, fronts finished with balconies/pastel colors, sides windowless/unfinished – even if the nearest property is several lots away.

Driver brought us to a private dock only for passengers on one of four junk boats run by Indochina Cruises (the Violet, Ginger, Jasmine and Sunset). Ours was the Violet, the smallest (6 rooms) and newest of the fleet. Sunset is for day-trippers only, all the others do 1 and 2 night tours. All of them look pretty much the same, dark wood, 3-4 levels, orange fan sails.

Our booking was missing two small but important details – info on GnR. Was partially my fault because communications from the travel agency never addressed the 2 children.  I did list them in the original booking request and there have been many places over the course of our trip which only needed info on the adults – so I didn’t think anything of it. Ended up having to pay $100 extra (only 1 child travels free according to ship policy) – paid directly to the boat (the travel agency wanted us to pay $150). Wasn’t a pleasant start to the cruise (we would have chosen a different/less expensive boat had we known about this up front. This was definitely crossing the line from splurge into excessive.) Anyway…

Anchors aweigh and we started with lunch. Mine delivered to the room because Rhys was in desperate need of a nap and was in no mood to sit nicely in the dining room! That was totally ok by me though, I sat out on our balcony and enjoyed the view.

Can’t really describe Halong Bay except to say that its hundreds of big lumpy towering rocks, some with vegetation, some not, spread across a bay. We’d read beforehand that the bay was really cluttered/congested with other tour boats but I didn’t think this was the case at all. Saw a few dotted here and there but couldn’t hear anything or feel disturbed by them. Maybe ours takes a different path than most of the operators? Not sure.

After lunch we stopped at a cave for a tour. Cave rented out by Indochina cruises so they have sole access, meaning private tour for us. Nice. Afterwards they took us over to a small fishing village. We were rowed around in a small boat by one of the villagers. Was ok but I’m not one for gawking at the locals (at least not so overtly – people-watching from a sidewalk café is one thing, this is another!) Village life is simple but apparently lucrative. Many of the villagers have two or more homes on the mainland but choose to stay here for its simplicity and sense of community.

Back on the Violet, happy hour drinks then cooking demo (rice paper wrapped shrimp and salad rolls). Kids were fed at 6 and then a very nice/much appreciated gesture from the cruise manager, babysitting service in our room while Jason and I enjoyed our dinner up on the sundeck. Got a great show of lightening off the port side deck, and eventually the moon came out. Unfortunately with the moon came lots of pesky flying ants so we didn’t really feel like lingering over coffee/dessert.

Surprisingly tired at only 9.30pm, put kids to bed and we were out. Early day tomorrow anyway, tai chi at 7.00!

ATE: Breakfast pastries from Paris Deli. Also a baguette this time, very cracker-y.

Welcome drink on board, some tropical juice concoction enjoyed by all.

Lunch on the boat. Pork and mushroom spring rolls, shrimp soup, green mango salad with king prawns, steamed sea bass with sweet and sour sauce, rice and vegetable medley, cheesecake. Some good, some not as good. Spring rolls to mushroom-y for me/too spicy for GnR. Gavin and I both really liked the soup – shocking because it was pretty gloopy. I liked the green mango salad, Jason thought it was meh. Sea bass was overcooked and the sweet and sour sauce not welcome. Liked the veg though. Cheesecake, blah.

Sunset margaritas followed by dinner. Spaghetti bolognese for the boys – they both slurped it up happily. Gavin opted for chopsticks, believe it or not. So funny! We had soup starters (chicken/corn and Thai spicy shrimp soup) then salad (papaya salad, lotus salad) then seafood mains (minced king prawn croquettes for me, Jason had some kind of seafood stew) both with vegetable medley. Fruit plate and chocolate cake for dessert. All was edible in a hotel-wedding food kind of way, nothing offensive but not exciting either.

SLEPT: Quite comfortably in our enormous suite. Wanted to sleep out on our balcony but the flying ants kind of killed that plan.

Day 52: Weasels Make Smurfy Coffee

DID: Dropped laundry off, had directions to cleaners from hotel but got intercepted by a cyclo (the official name for the bucket bikes) driver along the way who redirected us somewhere closer. Wasn’t sure if we’d see our clothes again because the place was locked up when we arrived – involved a series of conversations between the cyclo driver and some people standing around, plus some shouting to get the owner to come downstairs (she lives above the shop). We weren’t going to be able to return until around 9pm, concerned about how we would make our presence known if she wasn’t there when we returned!

Then spent the morning walking around the lake and the "Old French Quarter". Not sure what makes this area older or Frenchier than the rest, other than a prevalence of souvenir shops and tourists. Nice walk nonetheless. Merchants definitely organized in districts here, along our route were the roller blinds, carved wooden frames, paper decorations/dragons, wallpaper and musical instruments. 

Afternoon Jason went to a cooking class on Vietnamese street food. Funnily enough, he learned to make exactly what we’d eaten for lunch (grilled pork over rice noodles and spring rolls). Looking forward to having that at home.

I took the boys by cyclo to the movies, we saw the Smurfs. Cyclo driver was same guy who led us to the laundry – this guy gets around! He just happened to be riding in front of our hotel as we stepped out… Kind of a rip off at $5, but Gavin loved it. Theater experience was interesting – the rows of seats were really close together, very little legroom. Jason would have been really uncomfortable had he been with us. Also no aircon so it was kind of humid and stuffy. And although it was a 3D movie, they didn’t have the glasses to pass out. Most of it was fine without the glasses but anytime there was fast motion on the screen it was blurry. But in the end I’m glad we saw this particular movie there because for the 3 of us it only cost $7.50 for the tickets – and even that was well over the entertainment value of the film!! Rhys thought there were too many people/not enough Smurfs – every time there were too many humans on the screen he would look at me and say ‘want Smurfs!’ Any of Neil Patrick Harris' previous characters would have been better (Barney? Doogie?) – this one was a complete wuss. Not to mention I can’t stand what’s-her-face, the OCD teacher from Glee.

Dinner and then called it an early night. Grumpiness was going around, also prepping for early check-out/pick-up for 4-hour drive to Halong Bay in the morning.

Oh and got our laundry just fine. In fact the woman did a really fantastic job, she even pulled out some items to show how she’d gotten out some very stubborn stains (some of which had been with us since China!) And she was watching her evening tv programs in the shop so we wouldn’t have trouble catching her. Bless!

ATE: Breakfast  - for GnR and me, pastries from Paris Deli, across from the Opera House. Best we’ve had in SE Asia. Not as flaky as I would have expected.

Jason had pho from Pho 24, across from the south edge of the Lake HK. First one in Vietnam that had all the right components, but he wasn’t happy with it.  But after tucking in he learned that they have 75+ locations all over the world (including one in Haymarket, Sydney) so he’s now thinking of it as the McDonald’s of pho.

Lunch – Dac Kim. Street-side cold rice noodles with bbq pork slices and pork meatballs, seafood spring rolls. Jason devoured everything, GnR and I were less enthusiastic. We all really liked the meatballs and the crispiness of the spring rolls, but I’m just personally not a big fan of cold noodles and didn’t care for the fishiness of the rolls.

Snack – Iced coffee at Huong Mai. Down the road from lunch, display window filled with roasted beans caught our eye. Thankfully I didn’t think to ask which roast of beans she’d given us until after we were nearly through with our drinks because it turned out we were drinking weasel poo. Credit to the weasels, they sure know how to pick the good beans because this coffee was right up there in quality. Read the shop’s brochure on the sanitation, roasting process – don’t care, still grossed out. Gavin was devilishly, gleefully fascinated as only a 5-year old boy can be about the consumption of poo. Of course we had to let him try some!

Dinner - Madame Hien (http://verticale-hanoi.com/en/madame-hien/menus). Grumpiness factor had a negative impact on ordering and the whole experience, but everything we had was good. Starter of fresh shrimp rolls, Gavin had pho with a side of rice (his standard order), Rhys Jason and I had a clay pot of pork with sticky rice. Menu kind of pretentious, expensive for Vietnam. Jason said it seemed like a French person came to Hanoi, opened a restaurant and put a few French and Vietnamese things on the menu, rather than it being representative of colonial French-Vietnamese cuisine. Food still good, restaurant packed/very popular, and in a nice area to walk around.

Dessert: Jason and Gavin went back to Paris Deli for dessert and coffee (no weasel poo this time!) while I took Rhys to bed and got the packing started. No one brought me any chocolate from the bakery, booooooo.

SLEPT: Not really to do with sleeping but the hotel staff here are totally smitten with Rhys. The doormen especially. Works in our favor I think – for example when it was taking a long time for a cab to arrive, one of them offered to just drive us to dinner in the hotel limo, free of charge. What a ride!

Day 51: Smokin' Hanoi

DID: Easy morning (sleep, eat, massage, pool) before afternoon flight to Hanoi. Flight from Danang to Hanoi uneventful thankfully (I was a little nervous after our last experience on Vietnam Airlines!)

Hoan Kiem in the city center could be right out of Paris, with the addition of paper lanterns and sampans. Buildings are boxy and in Mediterranean colors of stucco, lots of Juliette balconies, with Asian-angular red tiled roofs.

Initial impression of the shopping is kind of ‘meh’, but reserving final judgment until tomorrow when we’ve had more of a chance to walk around. Example, we found ourselves in the ‘electronics district’ (their version of London’s Tottenham Court Road) but couldn’t find decent headphones or a headphone jack splitter. 

Called it an early night because the boys were both tired and complaining. Of course they got a second wind once we got back to the room! Took several books and songs to get them to finally nod off.

ATE: Breakfast at the hotel. Jason discovered the pho bar this morning (we had been blinded by pancakes the day before and missed seeing it). But apparently it wasn’t very good, Gavin only took 3 bites and dismissed it.

Lunch – various snacks acquired at the Danang Airport. No one was very hungry for some reason. That is until we were mid-flight. We plowed through a can of pringles and a bag of cheddar goldfish in about 30 seconds.

Dinner – Cay Cau Restaurant. Gavin had pho (he said it tasted fishy), Rhys had grilled pork (pretty good), Jason and I had beef skewers (flavor good but meat kind of tough), ‘Cay Cau’ spring rolls (cabbage and shrimp, tasty), stir-fried morning glory (good but I thought it was fishy), and banana flower salad with chicken (Jason thought it was ok, I thought it tasted like bile. Jason said it was very heavy fish sauce that was turning me off. Disgust.) Overall not a great meal, would give this place a pass.

Dessert – Fanny ice cream (www.fanny.com.vn). Huge selection of sundaes, was hard to decide! I wanted to go for the fondue with 13 small scoops of ice cream but no one else was game. Instead had the ice cream spring rolls – ice cream wrapped in crepes, cut like spring rolls, topped with chocolate and whipped cream. Good stuff. Gavin and Rhys had chocolate and chocolate chip ice cream. I put some of the chocolate sauce from my dish, plus some peanuts I had in my purse, on Gavin’s ice cream to try to replicate his favorite from Bazar in Hoi An. He said it was ‘terrible and gross’, but then clarified that bad meant good. (he’s in an opposites phase – he’s been doing this quite a lot lately!)

SLEPT: Hotel de l’Opera, near the Opera House. Brand new hotel (as in opened in the last few weeks), booked for location and because we wanted to experience Hanoi’s idea of boutique/hip hotel. Photos on the website looked like it was definitely toeing the line between chic and gaudy. In person, I’d say it’s the same. Love the hot pink carpets in the lift lobby and hallways, the dark wood flooring in the room, the huge big tall king-sized bed, and the desk chair. The wallpapered panel of smoke behind and over the bed perhaps not the best choice. Hotel fires and cigarette smoke are generally things I like to avoid. As it turns out our room started to smell of cigarettes at about 10pm. Not sure of the origin – maybe they put it in the ventilation system to add to the aura of the room? Internet connection is free, wireless and fast (yay!), pool is still under construction (boo.) Location is perfect.

Day 50: Beach Day

DID: Went to Cua Dai beach (about 4 km from Hoi An center.) White sand, palm trees, straw umbrella, warm sparkling clear water, view of mountains in the distance, cold beers delivered to the lounge chairs. Heaven!

Afternoon at the pool and I had two fittings at the tailor shop. Amazing what they accomplished in less than 24 hours. Mostly happy with my fabric choices but if I had to do it again I probably would have picked differently for one of them.

One more note on Hoi An, the streets are not paved in colors of OPI here either. A few full-service spas but no nail salons to speak of.

Full Moon festivities in the evening. For about two hours the old town was candle-lit and vehicle-free (including motorbikes).  All the shops had mini altars set up in front with offerings of rice and fruit. Lots of incense. Musicians and martial arts performers on street corners and on boats along the river.  River also filled with floating candles. It was very pretty but the crowds were suffocating. Glad that we had been able to walk around Friday night without the hordes.

ATE: Breakfast at the hotel. Nice western buffet with crepes and eggs made to order. Vietnamese offerings left a little bit to be desired.

Lunch – Hoa Hung Restaurant on Cua Dai beach. Jason had a pork/pate bun, Rhys and I had shrimp on fried noodles, Gavin had a plate of fries, we all had pork spring rolls. Everything was pretty flavorless, I would not recommend this place.

Snack – ice cream back at Bazar Cafe at Gavin’s request. He was very happy again with his sundae.

Dinner – Miss Ly Café 22. Had Hoi An’s three most typical dishes – white rose dumplings (pork and shrimp dumplings with a sweet & sour dressing), wontons (covered with shrimp, chicken and cilantro also with sweet & sour dressing) and ca lau (wheat noodles with shredded pork and crispy dough croutons). Gavin had pho and Rhys had fried noodles with beef. All of it was pretty average, did not live up to the rave reviews we read. Maybe under new ownership?

Dessert – ice cream at Nha Xanh. Jason’s passion fruit  and the boys’ cookie dough flavors were delish. My mango was just ok.

SLEPT: Beautifully except for the caffeine from an ill-advised iced coffee with dessert. Was up until 3am catching up on episodes from this season’s Breaking Bad.

Day 49: Vietnam Disney

DID: Got a later start than planned due to snafu with the car taking us to Hoi An. Agency had promised us a 6-seater but sent a regular car. Normally we’re ok crunching up in a sedan with the bags but today’s was a 3-4 hour drive so wanted to be comfortable. Had to wait for a replacement, then had to argue with tour operator who wanted to charge us extra for the bigger car (even though he’d guaranteed it at the price we paid originally). Lesson learned – get them to write ALL pertinent details on the receipt.

Views from the drive over the Hai Van Pass in the Ba Na Mountains were incredible. Turquoise water, white sand, deep green jungle mountains. No birds though, kind of strange. Stopped at an old bunker from the ‘American War’ at the top of the pass for some photos.

Nearest major city/airport is Danang, about 40 minutes from Hoi An. Major construction happening in Danang along the coastline, the big hotel chains are moving in (Hyatt, Le Meridien,  Sheraton, among others). Hoi An is an ‘ancient town’/

trading hub south of Danang. We’re here for the ancient atmosphere, famous tailoring and the Full Moon party on the 13^th.

The old town has been completely made over, lots of streets to wander centered around a large outdoor market. It’s somewhat pedestrian-friendly (no cars, but there are loads of honking motorbikes), and many of the hotels have loaner bicycles for you to use. 

Nice shops, true to its merchant roots. Tailors not to Jason’s taste (fabric choices were better in Bangkok) – but I had amazing success at one and ordered three (3!!!) dresses. Bit risky because the sample sizes were too small to try on, and who knows what the fabrics I chose will be like, but at these prices I couldn’t resist.

All in all, the sort of place that’s walkable, comfortable, convenient, clean, totally geared for tourists - with a hotel in the center it’s easy to see how weeks could slip away.

But not at all what I was expecting. I should preface by saying that when we started talking about taking a trip to Vietnam, I read a book written by a journalist who travelled here in the late ‘90’s. She talked about a country where tourism was practically non-existent, even finding restaurants and hotels was sometimes a struggle (she quite often ate at a single table set up in front of someone’s home, serving whatever the family was eating). Obviously I knew things would have changed over the last 15 years…but I was not expecting an Epcot-center like experience! And to their credit, they have really done a beautiful job with the historic area, it’s all very tasteful/quaint (to use my mom’s favorite word), with very little of the super-tacky souvenir syndrome.  For this family, a 2-night stay is sufficient. Gives us enough time to recharge and buy some nice souvenirs. Any longer and we would be feeling like we were missing the ‘real’ Vietnam.

And the food section of the market has such a putrid stench that even Rhys complained. Puzza!

ATE: Breakfast – the hotel manager had the restaurant package up some pastries and fruit for us to take in the car. (She had been brought in to help interpret once the taxi situation went awry and I think she just wanted to do something nice for us, plus Rhys was putting on the charm…)

Lunch – GnR and I ate bbq by the pool at the hotel in Hoi An. Skewers of chicken/pork/beef with dipping sauces and pork spring rolls. I liked the bbq but neither of the boys did so spring rolls were ordered for them. They ate them but were totally focused on running around after chickens (they roam the hotel grounds) and getting to the pool. Jason had pork/pate baguette sandwiches at the market while he was off investigating the tailor situation.

Snack – Bazar Café (www.bazarcafe.net) in Hoi An center. GnR had ice cream sundaes (vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, peanuts). Gavin LOVED this ice cream, he wants to come back for dessert every day he says. Jason and I had Biere Larue, pretty good. Best Vietnamese beer so far I think, but it could be just that it was really cold. (most of the beer we’ve had has been chilled but not frosty.)

Dinner – Mermaid (Nyu Y) (www.restaurant-hoian.com). Gavin had pho, Rhys had chicken fried rice. Jason and I had a banana flower salad with chicken (we ordered a second dish of this!), crispy pancake with chicken and shrimp, pork spring rolls (slightly spicy, nice for us but Gavin was not pleased!), pork stuffed eggplant (Jason said this was "the best an eggplant can be". Not sure if that was a compliment or not but he did eat it all).

Dessert – Hoi An Patisserie. We managed to convince Gavin to try something new (he REALLY wanted to go back for another Bazar sundae) – wasn’t hard once he saw the chocolate brownies at the Patisserie. I was suckered in by the pineapple upside down cake. Both ended up being just ok (they were really dry). Guess we should have listened to Gavin!

SLEPT: Heritage Life Resort in Hoi An. Another good one! Best feature is that the room has a sofa for Gavin and they set up a crib for Rhys so we don’t have to set up any beds. Hotel overlooks the river and is centered around a huge square-shaped pool. Water is very warm (to the point of not being as refreshing as I might like) – the deepest point is at the center of the square and it’s only about 5 ft. Good for Gavin though, he can touch the bottom nearly everywhere. And internet connection is speedy and strong, woohoo! Room rate includes 30-minute massages for Jason and me, plus $30 at the hotel bar – all indications of a great stay to come!