In November Bruce planned the next stage of our World Golf Tour (Asian Leg). This time we decided to go to Vietnam. We started our tour in Saigon (Ho Chi Min City), but had a bit of a delay getting there.
Our plane left Singapore and got all the way to Saigon, then Rosie noticed that we appeared to be going in circles. After a half hour of this, we turned back to another airport. Saigon was in the middle of a typhoon and the plane couldn’t land. We sat on the airport for couple of hours, not being allowed off the plane and not being fed, very annoying.
Finally we took off again and landed in Saigon, our two hour flight took 5 hours and our taxi had stopped waiting for us. We stood in a huge queue trying to get a taxi, when a guy came over and offered us a ride with his friend. We took it and for the next hour we weaved through the streets of Saigon, thinking we may have made a mistake. Fortunately, we ended up at our hotel, extremely late and set the alarm for an early start since we had a golf game booked.
Got up the next morning early, only to be told our game had been cancelled due to the rain. Bummer. Breakfast and then back to bed.
The next day we had a private tour organised for the Cu Chi Tunnels, Bruce found that the cost of getting a private tour was about the same as bus tours and gave us more flexibility. All we usually want to do is see the attraction and then have a reasonable lunch.
Our tour started with an indoctrination lecture telling us about how they beat American Imperialism and who had been awarded Silver Stars for “Killing many Americans”. It was really quite funny to think that they thought this was an appropriate way to greet tourists from Western countries.
The tour was excellent and quite scary. Afterwards, you sadly understood why atrocities by soldiers took place, they would have been so scared all the time of what might jump up and attack them. It was a shocking reality check of what jungle warfare was all about.
At the end of the tour, you got to try Tapioca or sweet potato. It is versatile, easy to grow, and a filling nourishment for the soldiers. It also meant they stayed very slim so that they could navigate the tunnels. We tried steamed tapioca with sesame salt and pandan tea.
After the tour, off for lunch. This was a real surprise (given what our tour cost). We were taken to a very nice, trendy restaurant, and sat down to a beautiful three course meal. We never would have picked this restaurant but it was an absolute delight.
The next day we finally got onto the golf course, Vietnam Golf and Country Club. Vietnam usually has male caddies, quite often young men who are also training for the army. It was a beautiful day to play golf and we had a great experience. Golf scores were very poor though.
The previous day, we noticed our hotel, Au Lac Charner Hotel, had a high tea every afternoon, so when we got back from golf, we went for our first high tea.
During our high tea, we had a lovely couple playing traditional Vietnamese instruments. It was lovely.
Apparently this hotel chain always has high teas, so if we come back to Vietnam we will have to make sure we stay with them again. We loved the atmosphere and the music was a delight. That evening we went up to the rooftop bar and took in the night sights with a beer.
We played golf again the next day, to make up for missing our game earlier. This time we played Tan Son Nhat Golf Course and had a male and a female caddy.
This was an older style course and we both enjoyed it, most probably since we played better than the previous round. Driving to and from the courses is still a nice experience, it allows you to see some of the countryside and how the people live.
After the game we again took advantage of the High Tea.
This hotel was very nice and the only real downside was a lack of nearby street restaurants that Rosie and I like to eat in. We were able to walk around and see the sites of the city quite easily and really enjoyed all the sites and the feel of Saigon.
After a nice few days in Ho Chi Min City, we caught a plane to Danang, then a taxi to the city of Hoi An. On the flight we sat next to this Vietnamese Grandmother, who was laughing happily throughout the flight. Bruce eventually asked her what she was doing. She was communicating with her Grandkids, using special features to make you look stupid while talking.
Our hotel, Silk Village Resort and Spa, was on the outskirts of the town, so we caught the shuttle bus into the town. Hoi A was a real surprise, it is a bit like Venice with canals and bridges joining the different areas. It was a very interesting walking around the streets and eventually we came to the restaurant section and night market.
There were gondolas on the waterway and lanterns were being released into the water. Apparently they do this every night, but Sunday night is the best and we just happened to arrive on a Sunday. We took a short ride on a gondola and release our lanterns into the water, who would have thought Bruce could be so romantic. We then found a nice little restaurant to eat.
As we were leaving the restaurant, we ran into the people who we sat next to on the plane and had another nice chat before they went into the same place for their meal.
The next day we played golf at BRG DaNang Golf Resort, this is a very modern golf course and very popular, we were joined by another couple and had a very pleasant game of golf. Neither of us are playing to our handicaps, but the courses are excellent and the caddies and buggies make it a lot of fun.
The next day we caught the shuttle to An Bang Beach, which was supposed to be very good for seafood. As with a lot of these places, we found it very overrated and after a very short walk around, we went straight back to the shuttle stop to catch it on the return journey, not surprisingly a few other had done the same thing.
Back in Hoi An, we walked into town and took a look around in the daylight.
Obviously, the next day we played golf again, this time at Montgomerie Links Vietnam. This was another excellent golf course and we both played very well, Bruce scoring 36 points, the best score he got during this holiday.
After Hoi An, we caught a plane to Hanoi in the North of Vietnam. Immediately you got here you started to notice the stronger influence of communist party and a different freedom in the speech of the taxi drivers.
We took a walk as soon as we arrived in our hotel, MK Premier Boutique Hotel, in Hanoi and immediately came across this large lake in the centre of the city.
Rosie was hungry, so we stopped for lunch in one of the alleyways and of course we had to have Pho.
We went back in the evening for a nice walk around the lake and to take in the atmosphere. We were situated near the old quarter of Hanoi, which is a very vibrant area.
As we walked home, we went down the Beer Street, which as you would expect was full of bars. Rosie didn’t like this street much since the operators outside were very aggressive trying to get you into their bar, even to the extent of grabbing you and trying to drag you in.
The next day we went to Kings’ Island Golf Club. This was definitely a unique experience, instead of being taken to the course, you were taken to a pier where all your golf gear was put on a small boat and you were taken over to the course.
Naturally, there was a lot of water on and around this course, which is always very intimidating. Bruce just got 30 points and Rosie 29, but Rosie won the gross.
This was a very expensive golf course, but well worth visiting since it is so unique.
After golf, we went for another walk around town, Bruce looking for a cheap beer and a restaurant to eat in.
After our walk, we decided to go back to the hotel for dinner at the rooftop bar. When we arrived at the hotel, they gave us a voucher for the restaurant as a birthday present for Bruce, early but a great idea. It was very pretty sitting up looking out over the balcony. The meal was also quite good.
Arriving back at our hotel, the downstairs bar was full, with a large crowd standing around outside as well. As we walked in, we realised that Vietnam were playing a World Cup qualifier on the big screen and everyone was watching.
So after dinner we went down to the front bar and watched the soccer. It was a great atmosphere and fortunately, Vietnam won, so everyone was very happy.
The next day we were picked up and taken to Halong Bay, where we were going on an overnight cruise. Bruce had just asked our tour company to organise a cruise for us and we had very little knowledge about what we were getting. When we arrived at the ferry port, there were hundreds of people and lots of boats of all different sizes. Rosie and I just looked at each boat and tried to guess (hope) which one we might be on.
Our boat was one of the larger ones and as you can see, each room had its own balcony. We had a King Sized bed and private ensuite. All our luggage was taken to the room and we went off for a silver service lunch and introduction to the cruise. This was all way better than we expected and we met some lovely people at our table in the dining room.
We cruised out into the bay which was magnificent. In the afternoon we went to a cooking class where we learnt of make spring rolls, it was a lot of fun. Another 3 course meal for dinner before adjourning to the bar where they had live entertainment. So much fun.
The next morning, we were taken in a small boat to an island where you could swim or walk up to a view platform at the top of the hill. There was a huge number of people on the island, all coming off the different cruise ships, so we walked up the hill to get away from the crowd. It was an ok view, but I think I would have preferred to go kayaking instead (this is an option on the two night trip).
Another great lunch while the ship took us back to port and then our taxi took us back to Hanoi so we could play golf again the next day.
Our final game in Vietnam was played at Long Bien Golf Course. Bruce did well, but Rosie was getting tired and struggled a little.
After our big day, we went to bed early, only to be roused out of bed by a knock on the door. When Bruce opened the door shirtless, he was greeted by two lovely girls holding a birthday cake for him. He quickly went back inside to put a shirt on. It was very nice of the hotel to note that his birthday was coming up (from his passport). We were very impressed.
We flew to Singapore on Bruce’s birthday and had organised to meet up with Wendy and Barry for dinner, we didn’t tell them it was Bruce’s birthday, but with Facebook, nothing can be kept a secret. We wanted a quiet, authentic, Singapore dinner so we went to the Empress Chinese restaurant. This is situated under the Asian Civilisations Museum and as soon as we walked in, we knew this wasn’t medium price. It was very impressive.
Wendy met us there and then Barry walked over from his office across the river. Barry ordered Peking Duck and was our first experience of how this is meant to be prepared.
You start off with the crispy skin, which you roll in crepes with various sauces. Barry was then asked how he would like the rest of the duck prepared, I would have had no idea what they were talking about.
It was a beautiful meal, with some excellent wine.
At the end of the meal, the staff brought out a birthday cake and everyone sang Happy Birthday to Bruce (again). They also presented us with a signed card, very thoughtful and a nice momento of our dinner.
On our rest day, we went to visit the war memorial in Singapore to see the memorial on which Uncle Sid is remembered. We caught buses and used Google Maps to help guide us. Google is brilliant, telling us which bus to catch and how far away it was from our stop. The bus arrived exactly when they predicted.
We have visited a few war cemeteries and are always impressed with how well kept they are and how much respect they give to those who died defending a country that was not their own, but was important to stopping tyrants.
We then caught the bus to the Botanical Gardens, we both love the tranquility of tropical gardens and we were very impressed when they let us in on the Seniors rate (showed them a copy of our passports as proof), this meant we only paid $2 to enter.
As we all know, Asia can be very wet, particularly in the afternoon and evening. Just after we arrived at the gardens it started to pour with rain, so we ducked showers to see as much as we could, then decided to go back to the hotel. We could always visit again the next morning.
Not even bad weather could stop us from going walking in the evening so that we could go to the Marina Hotel in Singapore where they had a light and laser show every evening. The show was excellent and the sites we saw on the way there and back were great. We stayed in the Clark Quay area, which was very central and vibrant with good access to public transport, so it was a good choice.
The next day we caught the ferry across to Bintan Island. This is in Indonesia, but it might as well have been Singapore. Bruce was a bit disappointed that the prices of meals and drinks were based on Singapore prices and you couldn’t really get away from the resort to visit the local villages. I am sure we could have, but it just seemed too hard.
We had two golf courses at the resort and a huge pool, so it wasn’t a real disappointment, just not what Bruce expected.
Our first game was at Bintan Lagoon Seaview GC, designed by Jack Nicklaus. Rosie played this course really well and Bruce had a good game also, so it was well worth playing.
Rosie didn’t like the monkeys much, but they did provide entertainment.
Throughout our travels, because of the time of the year we travel, we always see the locals celebrating Christmas. They are not embarrassed about the fact that this is a Christian celebration in a Muslim, Buddhist or Islamic country, they just celebrate it because the tourists expect it. No apologies or attempts to be woke.
Golf again the next day. This time at Bintan Lagoon Forrest Course designed by Ian Baker Finch. We both played this course pretty well so our trip to Bintan Island was a success. Would we do it again? No, since Thailand and Vietnam are much better.
After our game, we had a shower at the course and then a couple of beers (Bruce) before they took us to the ferry back to Singapore. A taxi then took us straight to the airport where we caught our flight back to Perth.
This was a very different type of holiday for us and we really enjoyed most of it. Singapore is a very expensive city to visit and the side trip to Bintan Island wasn’t really any cheaper than Singapore. Vietnam was really nice and we hope to get back there again in the future.
