PART 1 FINAL POST: GOOD NIGHT VIETNAM !

16 July 2013. Day 17 of 17. 
Ha Noi VIETNAM. 
Overnight in Ha Noi VIETNAM. 

Today was a sad day for our little Boo-Dah group - it was the last day of our trip. However we all agreed it was a very fulfilling trip and seemed like it was much longer given the diversity of culture and the number of things we saw and activities we participated in. The day began with my third 10km run around West Lake. This time it was sprinkling slightly but much cooler - it makes no difference anyway if it is raining or not since it is so humid you come back absolutely soaked in sweat anyway. This time I went out an hour later than usual and the traffic was horrendous.

It was great to soak in the sights of ordinary people going about their morning routines, whether fishing or exercising or selling or just going to work wherever that was. At 9am all the guys set off by foot for the nearby "Vietnam War Museum" which covers all wars/conflicts involving Vietnam from the early 9th Century when the "Viet" peoples expelled invading Chinese to 1975 when the North and South were unified, following the Vietnam War (which ended 22 January 1973 with the signing of the Paris Agreement). The museum is old and run down - a typical communist facility. It has excellent relics of American and Russian (sold to Northern Vietnam) aircraft, tanks, canons/artillery and guns.

Although it is organised into rooms and floors covering each period, the photos and displays do not really tell the story and they have very little English captions. Lucky for us, our guides, Hau and Tuan, gave us so much in-depth knowledge and facts of the French Liberation and Vietnam War that we recognised most of the displays. The highlight was seeing the actual tank that busted through the doors of the Royal Palace in Saigon which symbolised the victory of the North over the USA and the start of the end of the Vietnam War.

There were engines, wings, cockpits, undercarriage - just about everything. Tom and Ethan loved it. From here we walked back into the Old Quarter to what we call "coffee street" in front of the St Joseph's Catholic Cathedral. Here we found a replica French Cafe / Bakery and relaxed over a strong espresso latte in air conditioned comfort - it was our farewell gesture to a great time in Ha Noi. From here it was a cab back to the hotel so everyone could pack and preserve their strength for the flight home starting 4pm. I would stay on in Ha Noi that night to start my 12 day Laos and Thailand expedition which will be launched as "Boo-Dah Indochina 2013 - Part 2" in this same blog. Even when running this morning I was sad to leave this feisty group of eleven but at the same I looked forward to another two countries in the "cultural sauna" that is Indochina. We all enjoyed cheese croissants after packing and at 1:15pm I sadly farewelled my little "Part 1 Team" on the bus and watched them disappear down our busy street. They would board a 2hr domestic flight at 4pm bound for Siagon, feed the kids over a two hour layover and then fly direct to Sydney for 9 hours arriving 8am local time on Wed 17 July. After the bus disappeared I jumped into a cab and headed to the Old Quarter, near the Hoan Kiem Lake to check into my hotel for the 12-day "Laos and Thailand on a Shoestring" journey by "G Adventures", a subsidiary of "Gap Adventures" based in Canada. I travelled with these guys to Antarctica and they are like "Intrepid", specialising in adventure style trips with basic hotels, public transport but with local guides. Food and touring is up to you. It is a great balance between total alone back packing and an organised tour. My new and first hotel of "Part 2" was similar to the ones in Part 1.

Very modern rooms, aircon, fridge, free WiFi - all the essentials of putting together a good blog! It is here that, on behalf of Antonia Golfin, Eleni Drinias, Ethan Agosin, Gabrielle Agosin, Lielle Agosin, Nick Drinias, Nick Golfin, Orlanda Golfin, Patsie Polly, Revital Kadoury and Thomas Drinias I officially signoff "Boo-Dah Indochina 2013 - Part 1". We beleeb!!!






TOP TEN BEST AND WORST OF BOO-DAH INDOCHINA 2013 - PART 1:
The following were agreed by all of us at our final dinner on Mon 15 July:
1) Best Hotel: "Shinta Mani" in Siem Reap CAMBODIA (adults) and "Ancient House River Resort" in Hoi An (kids and myself).
2) Worst Hotel: "Cardamom Hotel" in Phnom Penh CAMBODIA (everyone).
3) Best Restaurant: "Mermaid Restaurant" in Hoi An VIETNAM.
4) Worst Restaurant: "Phone Cafe" in Hoi An VIETNAM (we left it and went to Mermaid!!!).
5) Highlight: "Home stay" in Lac village VIETNAM. Halong Bay got a very very close second due to lack of any good beaches, very ordinary vego food and no aircon in the dining room.
6) Lowlight: "Water Puppet Show" in Ha Noi VIETNAM (everyone).
7) Best Shopping: Hoi An VIETNAM.
8) No 1 Lesson Learned: book at least 3 days and 2 nights on Halong Bay with kayaks on all 3 days so you can find your own isolated swimming places.
9) Most popular suggested next destination: "India" by Antonia Golfin.
10) Final Verdict: "Travel Indochina" put together a great tailored private family adventure at a better cost than all other timetabled public tours - good hotels, good transport, lots of activities and great guides - well done. We would all travel with them again.
 
I leave you with the most outrageous moment of our trip as the last blog photo - dag dancing in Halong Bay!!!