The time has come.....

May 29th 2015

The time has come to finally start the blog.

It is day 21 in Vietnam.

Sitting at Da Nang airport, on the way to Nha Trang, when finally K'Gari will be sighted for the first time in her  natural element.

So why Vietnam?

Why or what, is  K'Gari?

Its  a story that  will hopefully,  be satisfactorily divulged,  as the blog progresses.

Firstly however;

Arriving in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) on the 8th May, a weekend to relax and become orientated to what has definitely been the favourite city  in Vietnam, was the beginning of the penultimate stages,  for the creation of,  K'Gari.

Slippage to the final delivery date, meant an unexpected extended  stay in Vietnam and more particularly HCMC, as an expensive visa extension seemed the safest  and most immediate option. This means parting company with passport. No passport, means inability to change hotels, as your  passport is required to check into any hotel in Vietnam.

Luckily, HCMC is a great place to spend 10 days.

The coffee is great,and everywhere. The bread is sweeter than the average Australian would be used to. The French influence is revealed everywhere, in the baguettes, the croissants,the pastries, not to mention the architecture.
Vietnamese people so friendly, gracious and helpful.

Traffic is mind boggling! An ocean of motorcycles, an endless swell of them from either direction, and all so patient,as they weave,turn and beep those horns incessantly, at each other, cars, pedestrians,it doesn't matter. In total of the 10 days in HCMC, only three accidents were witnessed , two of them were cars, in hotel driveways and only one was a motor cycle! As a pedestrian, just hold your nerve, commence the crossing and never change the speed at which you are walking- a change in pace will have potentially devastating consequences.

https://youtu.be/SdZO_j3WS2A

Fibre to the node? Hope this is not what NBN means!

Ten days later, happily reacquainted with passport and free to move, headed to Hanoi. Steamier than HCMC!

Flower vendor Old Quarter, Hanoi

A jaunt to Halong Bay, (which had never been on the agenda, but then again, total pre planning had consisted of arriving in HCMC and flying to Nha Trang, so nothing, was any longer, actually on the agenda!)
Halong Bay is definitely worth the spine jarring, four hour mini bus (one way) trip.

Home for the night

Halong Bay

Hanoi to Hue.

from the hotel roof

Lovely old capital.

After Saigon and Hanoi the traffic could almost be considered "non existent". The incessant beeping of  horns had fallen relatively quite.

Stayed in a fantastic hotel, brilliant view across

the Perfume River to the Old Imperial City and Citadel

Citadel. Hue

Imperial Palace Hue

 HOT 38-40 degrees- ideal for a stroll around the Imperial city of old!

Most of what stands seems to have been done by last king in late 1920s, but some of the buildings are older!!!

Imperial Palace Hue

Ferries. Perfume River. Hue

Hue to Da Nang- sleeper bus!

inside the sleeper bus

 It's only 4 hours, but had requested 'big sit up bus', after the Halong Bay experience. Specified the one company absolutely did not wish to travel with and lo , the next day it's all aboard the sleeper bus of that very company.










Da Nang-  it's HOT (38-40deg) and it's on the coast. Hibernate until late afternoon. Decided that when temperature dropped a tad, a visit to the Lady Buddha statue on the headland was in order.

Lady Buddha with Buddha in foreground just after sunset

Taxis in Vietnam charge somewhat differently. If it's not moving, there is no charge. All over Vietnam, take a taxi and see what you need to see and taxi will wait. The exploration from Da Nang city to Lady Buddha  was 260000vnd from city, return, with photo opportunity.
The same in Hue, with a trip to Thien Mu Pagoda, the Palace of Literature and Huyen Khong Pagoda return coming to 260000vnd and taking about 70 minutes.

Da Nang beach at night for night swimming. The white spec top right is Lady Buddha at night

so now onwards, onwards
to
NHA TRANG.