We flew into Nha Trang, a massive fully developed beach resort that I had never heard of before this trip, and realised two things very quickly:

It is a haven for Russians

Even at night the heat is stifling

Being English my body was never designed for hot climates, and the chunky bodykit I have added over the years has only made the problem worse. In Nha Trang I could leave the air conditioned apartment, get in the air conditioned lift and be sweating after 10 steps in the open air.

During our stay the second leg of the Asean cup final took place in Hanoi. A bit of a chaotic game that finished 2-2 so Vietnam won 4-2 on aggregate to retain the cup. As you might imagine if you read the Ho Chi Minh post, every Vietnamese person in the area immediately left their houses, got on their bikes and starting doing laps of the town with multiple flags and horns in hand. I have no idea what time they carried on till.

Now, given the excitement and sheer unbridled joy displayed, even though it was the second year on the trot that Vietnam, I looked into the depth of the competition to see how it compared to the Euros. There are only ten teams split in two groups of five, with a couple of the countries having names that are often winning answers on Pointless, so not quite the Euros. However, at least Vietnam’s men have won something, unlike England’s men (in my lifetime).

It was quite unusual to be amongst so many Western looking people but rarely hear any English being spoken.

Vietnam and Russia have a longstanding strong relationship and this, plus the fact that every brand under the sun is represented in Nha Trang are big draws for people from Russia as most Western brands pulled out of the country after the start of the war with Ukraine.

However, despite being on holiday and able to shop till they dropped, it was pretty hard to tell if anyone was having a good time from their general demeanour.

Our next stop was Hoi An, and having watched Race Against the World I was keen to try a sleeper bus to get there, partly to try and replace the decades old memories of 14 hours next to a toilet on buses in Thailand. Surprisingly Pip was up for it, if with a little trepidation. It was pretty good, 10 hours of feeling like you were in business class of a very slow moving plane, with 2 stops to buy and eat Pho thrown in. It offered great views along the way, could accommodate my 6 foot frame lying down on the diagonal and even had a massage function. Not bad for £20 each.

Hoi An is a lovely town but it attracts a lot of people so Sunday, which is the main family day, was extra busy. Wandering around during the day was better than the evening as people were more spread out rather than all congregating at the river where small boats take tourists out with coloured lanterns on the boat, plus there are a load of bars on one stretch of the river that look a little bit like the strip in Benidorm.

Although it is very popular with tourists a lot of them come from Da Nang on day trips as they have not allowed developments of large scale hotels, (thankfully) so it is a fairly low rise town. We managed to find a fabulous one bedroom apartment about 10 minutes walk from the town which, due to some daytime construction noise next door (which never bothered us as we were out), only cost £19 per night.

The town has lots of cafes, restaurants and shops selling souvenirs, clothing and bags but it is known for handmade leather products and tailoring so we had 2 pairs of leather shoes, a leather handbag and 2 dresses made (not leather as that would have been weird), all at really reasonable prices.

The only down side was Pip chose a gold covered leather for her sandals but assumed the sole would be brown. Never assume. When we picked them up they looked like leftovers from Ru Paul’s Drag Race. Thankfully the shop owner took pity on Pip when she saw her bottom lip quivering and had them remade with normal brown leather on the sole.

Our final night took in the Memories of Hoi An show which is performed at a small theme park (mainly shops and restaurants really). It was a large production on a huge outdoor staging area and was really well attended. Hundreds of dancers, costumes, decent staging and music. The show lasted an hour and there was a screen with prompts in English to explain the story being portrayed but I was happy just enjoying the spectacle.

It is only a short trip to Da Nang, a much bigger town that has become a major resort with all of the big players there and lots more building happening.

The 2nd September was Vietnam Independence day so the flags, which are very much in evidence across the country anyway, were out in even greater numbers. We took an afternoon trip to Ba Na Hills for another long cable car experience (lucky me), more great views and some theme park rides. It is designed to look a bit Disney meets medieval France but up in the hills was a bit cooler than down by the beach so it got my approval.

On our return to Da Nang we stopped off at Dragon Bridge to see what all the fuss was about.

The only other thing to tell you is that that the holy eels (remember them from Lombok?) appear to be working their magic. More news in the next post as we travel to Hanoi for one night and then Ha Long Bay for another boat cruise.