Crocman in Vietnam

[crocman]

The Dragonlady decide some time ago that she wanted to dip the pointy end of her tail in some exotic waters. So with this in mind I booked us a trip to central and southern Vietnam for the Xmas holiday break.

The first place we camped was the Naman Retreat which is roughly half way between Da Nang and Hoi An. It proved to an excellent place to camp, with two pools, several restaurants and the architecture of the resort is quite unique.



The use of bamboo in this place is amazing





As mentioned there are two pools. The main pool backs onto the beach.



And the second is behind building which houses the spa.



And a very nice reflection pool which have a couple of sunken lounge areas for guests to chill out in.



Have to take break as photobucket and I are having relationship issues at the moment. Normal transmission will return as soon as possible.........

[david44]

poolcleaners missed the vomit

[boloa]

I see the Germans Hotel Guests already have their towels on the sun-beds

[crocman]

I see the Germans Hotel Guests already have their towels on the sun-beds

Not this time, it was all part of the pool service. The service in this place is top notch, upon check in you are assigned an ambassador who caters to your needs as requested. And very efficient they were.

[crocman]

The beach along this part of the coastline is beautiful.



I don't know why but the sea here is bloody freezing. I thought at this latitude that it would be a lot warmer.

The room we had was nice with all the mod cons.

This is Loc. She is a little pocket rocket who controlled the pool area and introduced the Dragonlady to her new favourite drink, a Passijuito.

[david44]

Nice room rest looks from Tenko and nobody on a lovely beach suggests its a hole, the bamboo garage looks like the old hangars at Doha airport

[Humbert]

Beautiful design. I think it was done by a local Vietnamese architect.

[david44]

Different strokes I guess anyway thanks for taking the time to share Crocman, I hope you enjoyed your vacation

[beerlaodrinker]

Wow! You said that you had a great gaff but that's just fookin amazing, I'm not showing this thread to Mrs. BLD coz she will get the shits on and demand the same , and I will have to work overtime to pay for it

[Topper]

and I will have to work overtime to pay for it

What were the prices like?

[boloa]

and I will have to work overtime to pay for it

What were the prices like?

agoda says about 7-8,000 Baht a night

[crocman]

and I will have to work overtime to pay for it

What were the prices like?

As Boloa has mentioned they start at about 8000 baht. There are three types of accommodation, Seafront beachside villas with private pool, pool villas and suites in a low rise block.

We picked up a deal which included accommodation, massage for two everyday,lunch on two days, dinner on two days, couple of free cocktails and return airport transfers.

We spent 8 nights there at 4400 baht per.

Not a bad deal.

[crocman]

Wow! You said that you had a great gaff but that's just fookin amazing, I'm not showing this thread to Mrs. BLD coz she will get the shits on and demand the same , and I will have to work overtime to pay for it

Your safe mate, Mrs B would not be real happy here, they weren't big on seafood.

Just the odd bit of baked sea bass here and there as well as the obligatory prawn on a stick.

Mind you having said that the rest of the menu was top class and the lunches around the pool hit the spot.

[crocman]

The previously mentioned new favourite drink.

As we were just up the road from Hoi An, which is on the UNESCO world heritage and is also famous for tailor made goods and shoes made to measure, we spent a fair bit of time there. The pointy tailed one suddenly had all these occasions to attend for which she obviously need a new frock and matching shoes for.

I must admit that I got caught up in frenzy myself and had three pairs of shoes made for me.

Although the place is not as hardcore as the markets in Thailand they do still try to gouge you, so do your homework and buyers beware.

The streets in Hoi An are very nice with lots of cafes and bakeries mixed in amongst some bars. There is a fairly lively market as well as all the tailors

[crocman]

Back in the day the river that runs through Hoi An was the lifeblood of the town for both trade and food.



This net is on four poles and is raised and lowered from the bank of the river. Quite clever.




Nowadays the river is just for strolling alongside.

[crocman]

[crocman]

About twenty minutes drive north of where we staying is the city of Danang. IMHO not a very attractive city but it does have nice beachfront and there is quite a bit of construction going on so the place has potential.

Some shots of Danang.









One of Danangs biggest attractions is the Dragon bridge for which Old Firey seemed to have a strange affinity?



In the week end it lights up, spits fire and sprays water.



However the main reason for us venturing into Danang was for a catch up with BLD and his lovely family.



We hope to catch up with the big fella and Mrs B in Laos someday.

[crocman]

Please note the lovely ladies in the background are not BLD's kids.

I don't think.

[crocman]

The area around here was originally populated by the Chaam people and back in the eighth century they built some temples. Over the next couple of hundred years they added more but as usual not everybody can be happy at the same time so there were tribal and sectarian squabbles which led to the place being abandoned.





Seems the ancients didn't mind a phallus or two

[crocman]

During the war the NVA thought they could hide out among the ruins thinking that the Americans wouldn't bomb the the place.

They were wrong.

The place is covered in bomb craters.

[Horatio Hornblower]

Great informative thread.

[crocman]

^ Thank you, more to come.

[crocman]

On BLD's advice we took a trip up to the Ba Na hills. To get there you ride what was once the longest and highest cable car in the world. Don't know if it still is.

Back when those horrible French people ruled the roost around here they searched out somewhere to escape the heat on the flatland. Ba Na hills was it. So they got locals to carry them up aboard palanquins and then set to having a little village built.

Over time the place was abandoned but some local entrepreneur decided to rebuild the place but bigger and better, a bit like Steve Austin.

Up the top there is a hotel, restaurants, a cathedral, a wine cellar, some lovely gardens and there is even a three storey amusement centre for the kids. It's all a little bit surreal.

Anyway on the day we ventured there the place was covered by clouds as the pics show.















And on the way down.

[FatOne]

Great thread, great pics. Thanks Crocman

[crocman]

^ Thank you, heading to Saigon next.