Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72742
We sat by the single post pagoda for an ice cream & watch the peeps, but missed the cars. We’re back to Hanoi a couple of times in the next few weeks so can go and see the Presidential Palace and the bits we missed.
Easy day today, forecast is for sunny and 32c & sunny so might have to put the sun cream back in the day pack.
21st Mar 2019 2:24 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72742
Bit of an easy day today, ethnology museum the only thing of note, apart from afternoon nap/soak in the tub. I wasn’t worried about the window cleaner.
Didn’t take many pics but SWMBO wasn’t happy going into this building.
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Considering it meant going up these bad boy steps.
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It was worse going down, not coz of the steepness and my coaching, but she was being watched by a massive group of mini tiddelies (micro, mini, etc being the age of the little school kids) watching her.
And the overloaded motos here have deep roots, here fish traps.
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Last night here, we’re going to miss the vino and nibbles. And the lovely peeps looking after us.
PS Scorchio at last, 32c around lunch time. Boooooooootiful.
21st Mar 2019 11:52 am
ianm27
Member Since: 02 Jun 2016
Location: Hertfordshire
Posts: 2154
Good to see that they have easy access for those of a less ambulatory ability
not that I'm suggesting you (or more importantly Mrs Del) needs such access Uncle Ray's spare wheel protector
Limo Tint
Blackvue front & rear dashcam
Cruise control switch pack
Bodsy's remote for FBH
21st Mar 2019 12:37 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72742
She doesn’t know but that’s how she gets into the ATR72 to DBP tomorrow.
21st Mar 2019 12:41 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72742
And greetings from Hanoi Airport, Domestic Terminal. Our flight is grounded because of bad weather in Dien Dien, plus earlier flight hadn’t gone. Not looking good.
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PS Looking good.
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22nd Mar 2019 6:30 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72742
Well got here. Nice little short flight in this old(ish) bird.
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We even got emergency exit seats without asking. Enough room for the plates of meat, then some.
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Couple of interesting aircraft at Hanoi, esp the amphibian. Handy in the wet season.
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And a rather swanky Atlas Air 747 load lugga.
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We’re now tucked up in a nice hotel, well nice for what we’re paying. AC is on, it’s 32c out there, only problem we’re on the 1st floor up and it’s a busy junction outside, it’s not going to be a quiet next 3 nights.
Right, we now really need to go find a laundry, pref one that does the charging by the kg rather than the item. One of the joys of travelling light. And find a nice cheeky bottle of Vang Da Lat.
22nd Mar 2019 10:09 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72742
Morning campers, hope all going well in the UK and elsewhere, and no getting too stressed re something or other. Began with “B” ISTR.
Boy that was a noisy night. Traffic, the local Charlie the cockerel and Deefor, the very loud dog. Plus the AC, the fridge (which will get unplugged tonight) and voices, boy do these Vietnamese love to get up early.
My first full bowl of Phó for breakie, rice noodles in broth with beef. Lovely but so filling I now need a lie down.
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Going to need all those carbs for the climb up to the statue at the top of this hill, Hanoi has been pretty flat so out of shape re climbing steps.
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General mooch around DBP today, see the main battlefield sites as they are all in a pretty small area close to where we are. Plus laundry, I know we’re all supposed to be into recycling but that only stretches so far clothes wise. And ATM, need cash as the only thing we can every pay for with plastic is the hotels. Cash is king here, big time, and no coins which is joy of joys.
23rd Mar 2019 1:52 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72742
A bit of a historical day, lots of “a l'époque” stuff, well so GoogTranslate tells me for “back in the day”.
Firstly we LOVE DBP. Not busy, next to no tourists, no hassle (even taxi drivers don’t know to hassle us) and lots of interesting things to look at wandering around. Especially wedding shops, there’s loads of them and we even came across a guitar shop!
To the museum for the victorious struggle to oust those pesky French colonials.
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Little ‘un getting his sticky mits on a piece of history.
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ISTR all the stuff brought in to supply the French bases was by air, incl a few plane loads of Van de Table.
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And reconstruction of the capture of Col Castres (head French honcho) bunker. Going to see that tomorrow.
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Also remember that Giap chap from the table marker in the Hanoi HQ? Here he is in the flesh(ish).
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Then across the road the war cemetery. Nice peaceful place, very well tended and undergoing a lot of maintenance. Also nice and shady outside to sit and watch the world go by, and fish plus a frog in the pond.
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Unfortunately our nice flat wandering finished with the hill up the the main bunkers in the town, A1. Really good reconstructions and fair few of the tunnels open to wander around. The tunnel roof mud of DBP was added to that of the Vinh Moc tunnels on my hat from earlier failing to duck sufficiently.
Tunnels & bunkers with very scary French looking dudes in them were bit weird. Luckily we carry a small torch and the iPhone torch mode meant we saw them first.
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Some lovely yellow orchids on the trees on the way down. Booooooootiful.
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And down to their collection of relics. Mercy beaucoup doesn’t have the same ring as tanks a lot.
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Looks like wreckage of a French aircraft behind the tanks.
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Reminds me, got to get a copy of the Hell is a Very Small Place book.
And finally back to the cafe besides the hotel. It’s now 33c so time to seek shade and iced Vietnamese coffee, with condensed milk of course.
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23rd Mar 2019 6:33 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72742
And sunset over the ridge line that marks the Vietnam/Laos border. In the foreground is the runway for the airfield that was the lifeline for the French. Not that you can see it but it’s there.
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23rd Mar 2019 11:07 am
ianm27
Member Since: 02 Jun 2016
Location: Hertfordshire
Posts: 2154
Great Pics Del and glad to see you lapping up the local cuisine
Hope you didn't get too stuck in the tunnels Uncle Ray's spare wheel protector
Limo Tint
Blackvue front & rear dashcam
Cruise control switch pack
Bodsy's remote for FBH
23rd Mar 2019 1:45 pm
kajtzu
Member Since: 10 Aug 2017
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 6538
Nice red sunset, brings memories of Apocalypse now... but Charlie don’t surf.
23rd Mar 2019 2:18 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72742
Cheers chaps, good to know pics are enjoyed.
Re today & tomorrow, nightmare time, well first world kind. VA have bumped us off the flight back to Hanoi tomorrow, pushed us back to Tuesday. We have a 10 day tour starting Monday evening.
24th Mar 2019 3:17 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72742
ianm27 wrote:
Hope you didn't get too stuck in the tunnels
Bit of a tight fit for SWMBO at times, fine for me though.
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Flights back on track, ish. Now on the late afternoon flight, morning one is canned, so should get there OK, just later. If that doesn’t work it’s an overnight sleeper bus to Hanoi. Really hoping it doesn’t come to that.
24th Mar 2019 4:02 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72742
Right, panic over, at least for the mo. Just had an email from VA confirming we’re on the later, now only, flight tomorrow. Fingers crossed it will stay that way as we really do not fancy a 10 hour overnight bus trip in sleeper bus.
Bit more of a tromp around DBP today. It was getting hot (~28c) & humid by 3 pm so now tucked up in hotel room with AC doing it’s thang.
We finally hiked the stairs up to D1 (for Dominique) hill and the honking great statue at the top. Great views of the hills all around and you appreciate what a cauldron DBP was, and scratch yer noggin to try and figure out what the French were thinking.
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Back to those stairs. We’d been putting them off for too long.
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Once I got my eye in I could easily see craters & trench lines zigging & zagging through the scrub. Just like like WW1 & WW2 battlefields I’ve tromped through with peeps here (hi stuff & stiff), but just a tad hotter.
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Pieces of concrete fortifications.
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And then off in search of Castres bunker, first going over this old Bailey(?) bridge with what looks like the remains af a quad 50 cal gun mount at the other side.
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Another day, another destroyed French tank, with what could be props & landing gear from a C-47/DC3.
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And tanks for the shade.
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Yet another tank after heading the wrong way for a bit. Too near a load of bee hives for SWMBO but I was suitably brave.
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By this time it was well and truely beer o’clock. Nothing unusual, except ring pulls, I haven’t seen those for decades!! Two beers and a can of passion fruit drink for SWMBO, all for 35k d, about £1.20 at a tourist site, bargain!
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Finally got to Col Castres bunker, on a bigger scale than the reconstruction in the musesum yesterday. And no shop mannequins in olive drab waving a flag.
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Really interesting map showing the tactical picture in what must have been near the end. Dominique bunkers are on it, along with all the others.
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And I’m allowed to post this pic as long as it SWMBO’s bum doesn’t look big in it. Of course not dear.
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Note I didn’t have the same issue.
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When we were there a coach pulled up and we were expecting the site to be swamped by a load of tourists, local or Laotian or Chinese, but no, it looks like a load of veterans. We’d also seen a load of young Army recruits “march” past the cafe where we were sorting out our travel issues, this was their grand parents coming to see the sites.
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This veteran spotted me watching them and he had a glint in his eye so asked in fluent Vietnamese/sign language (delete as appropriate) if I could take a pic and he positively beamed. Much respect.
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Then off back to the hotel, letting the old(er) peeps have the place to themselves and spotted a few guns a little walk away. Great display of a 155mm howitzer and 3 105mm guns. Note the details stamped in the breech blocks of the 105s.
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And on walk back to the hotel passes the local bakery. The bread looked absolutely scrummy but resisted the urge to lighten the load.
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Slobbing late afternoon/evening watching movies, Pringles (copy of) & vino for scoff, coconut bickies for pud. Minimum effort, max results.
24th Mar 2019 9:34 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72742
Well another pack-up, check out and kill time whilst waiting on the flight. Fingers crossed. And a nice latte at the cafe beside the hotel. SWEEEEEET artwork on the coffee.
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