Hong Kong didn’t make a great first impression. It was wet and grey in the midst of what I was told was the most prolonged cold spell in 60 years. Add to that a poor transfer experience from the airport, a long slow check in at the hotel and a mix up where we were booked on large group bus tours for 2 days rather than having a tour guide and I was not feeling too happy. Thankfully things got better.

We decided not to inflict a bored 3 year old on a bus load of tourists for 2 days and just go round ourselves and most importantly later that evening the rain stopped.

The next morning we decided to make our way to the Peak ourselves. The concierge gave us the wrong information on buses, actually the concierge in HongKong gave us lots of wrong information, but Nigel has googled everything before we left the hotel and got us to the peak tram via the iconic Star Ferry.

The tram itself was an experience reminding me of the steepest streets in San Francisco but steeper.

The views were a bit grey and the lookouts crowded but there were some lovely quiet walks that Nigel insisted on trying that were worth the effort.

We took the bus down rather than the tram and enjoyed the hair raising journey and hairpin bends.

Hoi An itself is a lovely old town. Even with the attractions of the beach and the tailors we did manage to see some of the town and even one or two temples. There is a tradition of lantern making and the old town is beautifully lit up at night.

We tried a cyclo trip again but less successfully than in Hanoi and our drivers dropped us off at an old house where we were given a tour and then given the heavy sell on some tourist rubbish. The driver then had the cheek to charge us extra for this added service! Oh well part of the tourist experience.

Apart from rom relaxing beaches Hoi An is famous for it’s tailors. It was an old silk trading centre and has 400 or so tailors.

my daughters had been looking forward to this stop since they first heard about it. Watching Top gear Vietnam added to the excitement as The hosts had suits made here.

after a day relaxing at the pool we went in to Hoi An and visited the first reasonable sized tailors we saw. The girls looked through some catalogues and chose some outfits and then chose fabrics and got measure. I did the same and Nigel picked some suits. Afterwards they went to the shoemakers nexus door and got some shoes and boots made too. It took 3 fittings in all to get everything done but the girls especially were very happy.

We wanted a break to recover from our sightseeing. Nigel asked the travel agent for somewhere very nice and they took him at his word. The Nam Hai in Hoi An is the most over the top luxurious place I have ever stayed. Our 3 bed villa is made up of 4 buildings, not including the butler’s area, with a pool and direct beach access. I am glad I took a baby monitor though, I just wish I had taken  two of them as the bedrooms are far apart.

The pattern seems to be foggy early morning the sunny then cooler in the afternoons. Plenty of time to relax by the pool or on the beach and plenty of time to visit the tailor shops that Hoi An is famous for.

Another long bumpy journey brought us back us back to Hanoi. Although the road was bumpy it was all much more developed than the dirt roads of rural Laos a few weeks before.

we decided to do the ultimate tourist activity and take cyclos around the old town.  It is a much easier way of seeing the city and avoids the constant drama of crossing the road. Hanoi was full of brides and grooms posing for photos. Apparently it is the done thing here to have a photo shoot about a month before the wedding.

we followed up one touristy activity with another by walking by the lake and going to see the water puppets. We even managed the rather less touristy activity of visiting a Lego shop.

Water puppets are a tradition Vietnamese art form but 45 minutes was long enough.

Nigel took the girls out for the Earth hour concert that night. They really enjoyed it though it wasn’t their type of music. The streets were closed to traffic and full of people.