Page 31 - Explore Magazine Autumn 2017

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Speaking of two wheels, a fun thing we did during to stay in the Palm Garden Resort & Spa at Cua Dai
our city stay was a cyclo city tour. This one- Beach. The Palm Garden Resort is a good 4-star
hour ride is a must-do for getting amongst the resort with spacious and nicely appointed rooms
excitement of the streets. The tour takes you and a huge swimming pool. It is an inexpensive
through the markets and past the many French ten-minute taxi ride into Hoi An’s Ancient Town, an
Colonial buildings, the Reunification Palace and exceptionally well preserved Southeast Asian trading
Notre-Dame Cathedral. An important tip: do not port that dates from the 15th to the 19th centuries.
flag down cyclo tour operators on the side of the
road because there are many disreputable drivers. We visited the old town every evening to eat our
Book with helloworld before you depart or with our way through the delicacies at the vast selection of
local tour operator to ensure you are booked with an restaurants, visit the shops and walk around enjoying
authorised company. the bright lanterns that light every street. The old
town area is blocked off to scooters and cars so you
The famous Cú Chi Tunnels are a must-do excursion can absorb this scenic location in relative peace.
from Ho Chi Minh City. We took the half-day tour (8am One of the must-dos in Hoi An is a Food Walking
to 1pm), which was plenty because the heat otherwise
becomes too much for children. We also chose the Tour. There is a variety of options and we chose the
dinner one which took us through the markets where
private tour option which gave us extra flexibility and
sped us past the tour groups. There are two ways we sampled savoury pancakes and traditional pork
rolls. We then visited three restaurants for a different
to get to the Cú Chi Tunnels: by bus, which takes 1.5
hours each way, or by speedboat, one hour each way. course at each and our local guide provided a detailed
history of the region. All of the restaurants we visited
We chose the latter which was more expensive but
it was refreshing to be on the river and enjoying the were off the main street to ensure we had an authentic
local dining experience.
sights of river life.
The Cú Chi Tunnels tour gives a fascinating insight into Another fun activity we enjoyed was a motorbike
how the Viet Cong lived and fought the Americans sidecar tour. We were driven by locals and could sit as
from this amazing tunnel system during the war. You passengers on either the motorcycle or in the sidecar.
get to go in the small access hole, crawl through up The tour took us along country roads through the rice
to 100 metres of tunnels (which have been enlarged paddies and past small local farms.
for tourists but still need hands and knees or duck- We all left looking forward to visiting wonderful,
walking) and for a bit extra you can also get to fire M16 vibrant Vietnam again. The trick to travelling with
or AK47 machine guns at the firing range. young children is to keep activities and tours to a
manageable half-day so that you can refresh yourself
After a busy few days in Ho Chi Minh we flew 845
kilometres north to the seaside city of Hoi An via Da in the pool or in the hotel air conditioning afterwards.
It meant that we didn’t see every possible sight during
Nang Airport. It proved to be a refreshing change
from the bustle of Ho Chi Minh City and we chose our trip, but they are waiting for us next time!

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