I haven't been Everywhere, but it's on my list... {Central/South Vietnam}

When arriving in Hue it was early morning in a big city. We checked into our little hotel room and despite the very odd bathtub/shower combo, decided it was the best we'd had yet (didn't smell like mold). The streets were small and looked like they accommodated backpackers well. We searched for places to eat, and as suggested by our accommodation, ate at Zuccas. I add this because A: we became foodies on this trip and B: we ate here multiple times each day and had some of the best food we'd had on our journeys. While in Hue we rented bicycles and headed to the other side of the river. Getting across the river meant weaving through lanes of traffic of other cyclists, motorcycles and cars.
Once at the large Vietnamese market one can feel instantly overwhelmed. Similarly to the one in HaNoi the alleys between vendors are tiny and fit a maximum of one person at a time. This means everyone pushes you out of the way if you don't move quick enough. At the market we were quite hungry and decided to find something to eat.
No one spoke English.
After much back and forth of hand gestures and one wording for explanations we purchased one dumpling appearing item. It was delicious. Light flakey crust with a sweet beef inside.
We purchased two more.
After our slightly overwhelming market experience we road our bikes to the Citadel, Hue's Imperial city. Here we walked about the grounds where there are old war planes and helicopters on the outside and beautiful moats and Chinese influenced architecture on the inside.
The city is very old with beautiful ancient ruins. Despite much of the building being demolished from it's original state, it still stands impressively large with an even larger moat surrounding. While riding our bikes we also ventured 14 km outside the city through smaller towns and villages to visit Tu Doc Tomb. The tomb appeared similar to the imperial city. Very old and equally beautiful.
While exploring Hue's beauty and charm we settled into a favourite cafe, La Boulangerie, or The French Bakery (on top of our favourite Zucca's). Not only do they have delicious pastries but even above that they're focusing on an amazing cause. The French Bakery works with youth and adults from around the region of Hue, who have been less fortunate in life. The French Bakery trains people to become a baker or chef as well as learning the skills needed to work in or lead a hotel team. Pretty amazing.

From Hue we continued our journey south to Da Nang. The drive to Da Nang was beautiful along the coastline of Vietnam through beautiful fishing towns and mountain tunnels. Though DaNang was not on the "travel list" from anyone we'd spoken to, or the bus tour package, we thought we would check it out anyway. On arrival it looked as though it was deserted. Cafés and tall hotels lined the sandy ocean, but there was no one in them. Once we'd settled into our hotel and set out to adventure .. the conclusion is yes, DaNang is truly deserted. Though there were a few expats, there were hardly any tourists and really hardly any locals. We were told it's the off season and will be busy once summer weather arrives. The city, spotlessly clean and stunningly beautiful by night, was a quiet treat away from the busy cities of Vietnam. We set out to the 'Bread of Life' for dinner. Here we had an amazing experience eating at a delicious restaurant which was run my people who are deaf. Our waiter who could not speak had a full conversation with us on a napkin (many napkins). We shared some information and had some good laughs. Walking around at night was both beautiful and relaxing. With no one around we walked the stretch along the river which led past sparkling city light displays lining the streets and bridges crossing the river. With Tet, the new year celebration, on it's way, the main streets were also lined with bright blue flashing lights and flowers and stars. While in Da Nang we had our first experience at China Beach where the beautiful white sand meets the blue sea and stretches for miles.

Hoi An.
Sometimes a city just gives you a happy, calm feeling. This is one of those places...
Hoi An, our next stop, is known for the talents in seamstress work as well as the beautifully quant small town along the water. The beautiful buildings and shops of Hoi An stretch along the river and market area. The buildings all yellow in colour give the city a vibrant, lively feel. Many tourists were here, walking or bicycling through the area. The beautiful lanterns hang in store fronts and line the openings between each building. There are many restaurants and shops and boats to tour along the river. After putting in measurements for custom made dresses we set off to venture through town. The Reaching out Tea House with a delicious menu of teas and cookies is decorated perfectly to keep the guests comfortable and happy, the big glass-less open windows face the road which make it perfect for 'people watching' as the tourists walk or cycle by. The best feature of the tea house is that it is run by women who are all deaf. To order you simply check off the box of your choice and if there's a question or request there's an assortment of blocks with words or pen and paper available. The relationship shared through smiles and gestures somehow seems stronger than an average auditory relationship.
The market in Hoi An sits along the river with many people selling pearls, necklaces, shirts and hats. Doughnuts and deep fried bananas are also a common sale. Inside river side restaurants are quiet and spacious with tall cement walls. On the wall is written in ink where the flood levels rise to each year. It seems hard to believe that each year, where we sat then, is underwater. The community just rebuilds or cleans and continues on.
Spending our days biking through HoiAn, we watched locals carry heavy baskets of fruit and goods hanging from either end of a stick balancing on their shoulders. The boats were rowed for visitors to see the sites from water or candles set out in the evening for good luck and fortune. Many smiling faces and hello's greeted us wherever we journeyed.

Nha Trang was the next ocean-side stop. The busy city is filled with tourists, night clubs and restaurants. The night markets are bright and welcoming with expensive mass produced 'goods' for tourists to purchase. My highlight in this flashy city was renting bikes for the afternoon and riding through the less flashy areas. Here we spent time at a beautiful French Gothic style cathedral built in the 1930's, a massive white buddha sitting on a lotus flower and the amazing Cham Towers. The statue of the Buddha found at Long Son Pagoda, stands  24 meters in height! It is pretty amazing to see. Heading back to the city we rode the pathway along side the white sandy beaches on one side and the blue and red Vietnamese fishing boats lined in the harbour on the other. 80-100 similarly painted boats sit side by side and bob on the waves as they wait for nightfall when the fisherman will head out to catch their fish.

As the bus trip from Nha Trang to Saigon is quite a long ways, we decided we'd make a 24 hour stop in Mui Ne. This small town on the ocean side is absolutely bustling with tourists, lined with restaurants and many small shops. Though an action packed 24 hours, we were productive and saw a lot of what Mui  Ne had to offer. The morning was spent lounging on the beach side watching hundreds of kite surfers battle the winds to stay above water and learn some tricks. It was incredible the amount of people and the long cords leading up to the extra large kites, and how amazing they don't get tangled together. After catching some rays and entertainment the afternoon consisted of a jeep tour of Mui Ne's famous sand dunes. First stop was the Fairy River which was a shallow stream lined with bamboo and paralleling red sand dune cliffs. At first, unsure of what it was all about I didn't expect much but as we walked along the small creek the view of the dunes were stunning. While heading to the white sand dunes we stopped at a fishing village where hundreds of blue and red fishing boats sat in a large aqua blue bay, again waiting for night fall. Our final stops were large white sand dunes where many tourists rented dune buggies to drive around in the sand, and a beautiful sunset over another set of dunes closer to the city.

From Mui Ne we set south to Saigon and our interesting home-stay adventure in the Mekong Delta! These will be up on the next post (still playing catch up, as always).