Hue, April 2019

It was time to leave Hue and head southeast. In the morning we were busy packing and getting dressed - especially Roger. After his shower he needed to groom his fur. Unfortunately Olivia was already busy in front of the mirror.
"Olivia, are you still using that comb? I'm a VIB, and very important bears need to look their best when they are out representing toy animals internationally."
"Roger", Olivia pointed out, "you can borrow MY comb when I'm done!"
"Barnaby was right." Roger mumbled to himself. "Olivia is a tough cookie!"

Click each photo to enlarge

From Hue we travelled south east towards Danang. On the way we stopped several places. Here we are at the Dam Cau Hai lagoon where they do pearl fishing.

Danang, April 2019

We made a stop near the famous China Beach in Danang to enjoy a well deserved lunch. We went down on the sandy beach but suddenly had to stop because of a dead fish lying in the sand.
"Looks like a possible crime scene to me," McBear said.
"Poor fish!" Tom said. "I'm glad it's not our lunch."

Then we arrived Hoi An and went to our hotel, the Vinh Hung 2 Hotel.
Our photographer had made conical hats for Roger and Tom, however, it turned out they didn't really look like the concical hats in Vietnam. Fortunately, we were able to get the real stuff in Hoi An.
We needed a group selfie to document our arrival - and the hats of course. At first we lined up on the floor, but then the lady at the reception said we could line up on the counter. We didn't hesitate...

Hoi An, April 2019

We had a lovely room with balcony. Vietnam is big into Coconuts and Pine Apple, so in the morning we enjoyed fresh juice on the balcony overlooking the street.

Vietnam is also a nation with a huge coffee industry. We went to a local cafe, the Hoi An Roastery and enjoyed some lovely - and strong - coffee.

Hoi An, April 2019

We went down town for a walk around the picturesque Hoi An old town. Here we are at the Japanese Bridge.

We also went to the famous My Son near Hoi An. This place has a hindu origin with temples and dates back to between the 4th and 14th century. Some of the temples here were damaged due to bombings during the Vietnam war in the 1960s and 1970s.
At My Son we saw both massive butterflies and monster spiders...yikes!

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), April 2019

It was time to leave Hoi An, unfortunately, as we had more places to visit on our itenary. We went to the airport in Danang and flew VietJetAir to Saigon International Airport. Here we are having arrived in Saigon.

We left the airport and drove a couple of hours south to Ben Tre. This city is located right in the centre of the delta of the mighty Mekong River. We were going to stay at the Riverside Resort - it looked fabulous.

Ben Tre, April 2019

It was in fact a fabulous hotel! We had a room with the biggest bed we'd ever slept in, wow! Well, it looked big.

We enjoyed some fresh pine apple juice on the balcony. The sun was blaring down and the heat was merciless - 36 degrees or more - but we had our hats to protect our fur.
"You know, life could actually be worse." Tom said with a big sigh.

Ben Tre, April 2019

Roger pointed out it was time to explore the jungle around the Mekong River Delta.
Unfortunately, the hotel was located right on the river bank with no jungle around, and to Roger's regret we had to make do with the tiny garden at the back of the hotel.
"Thank God..." Tom mumbled.
"Okay", Roger said to start his briefing. "Remember the year is 1968 and we are partisans on our way through the dense jungle. We are on the outlook for snipers and ricocheting bullets."
"Where's the jungle?" McBear wanted to know.
"Where? It's here!" Roger said a bit impatiently. "All around us! It's like the bamboo jungle at home when we were training."
"Well... the only vegetation I know of with leaves like these are carrots!"
"What's that thingie?" Tom wanted to know pointing his paw towards a green pole with a yellow something on top.
"It's an alien spacecraft launch site." McBear quickly responded hoping to end Roger's mission. "We need to take cover in the cafe."
"Ah, c'mon... you are impossible, both of you!" Roger said.

In the evening we watched the Sun setting over the mighty Mekong River.

Saigon, April 2019

From Ben Tre we went back to Ho Chi Minh City and stayed at the Alagon Hotel in the city centre. We had more places to visit. Here we are at the old presidential Palace. It was used as the palace for the South Vietnamese president when the country was divided in a North Vietnam and a South Vietnam.

Outside the palace is parked some old material from the war and we met with several veterans. Here we are at a Russian T34 tank used by the North Vietnamese Army.

Cu Chi, April 2019

One of the days we went to the famous tunnels at Cu Chi. During the war the Viet Congs used these tunnels in their warfare. Here is Jay from our travel group entering a tunnel hidden beneith a layer of leaves. Jay told us how to get down into the hole.

Here we are at a wrecked American tank with our excellent tour guide, Doan. He told us a huge amount of interesting stuff about Vietnam.

Saigon, April 2019

High on Roger's wish list was a visit to the famous Rex Hotel. It was here in the 1960s that the American journalists met daily to get news on how the war was progressing. It was not all good news, and sometimes they got fake news called the follies.

Here we are at the roof top garden bar where the journalists used to meet.

Saigon, April 2019

We ordered something to drink. Tom had a pine apple drink.
"Maybe it was a strong drink," Roger said, "... suddenly Tom seemed to have disappeared!"

Later, when McBear was presented with the bill, he almost had a heart attack.
"Nearly 1 million??? Good Lord... oh, it's 1 million DNG's - roughly 30 Euros... that's far more survivable!"

Saigon, April 2019

Then, unfortunately, it was time to pack our gear. While McBear, Roger and Tom as per usual would be travelling in the hand luggage - with priority - Olivia and Nick would get packed with lots of stuff in a suitcase. A small space was made around them, but McBear was still concerned with the conditions.
"Are you alright down there?" McBear asked.
"We'll manage, don't worry." Olivia replied.

We enjoyed our very last lunch in Vietnam - very sad. And finally, we had got hold on some bear sized chop sticks.
"Humans call them tooth picks..." McBear said.

Singapore, April 2019

From Saigon we flew a Boeing 787 Dreamliner and arrived Singapore.
Here, we waited on our flight to London. It was after 1 am in the morning when we finally could board the aircraft for a 13 hour flight. McBear was delighted about the Boeing Dreamliner. That meant that we had now flown two aircraft types we hadn't flown before: Airbus A380 and Boeing 787. Wow!