We departed Ho Chi Minh City at 12pm reversing our trek down the snake like Mekong River back to the South China Sea. This time the 50nm (90kms) would be in daylight so the view from my cabin’s balcony will be great.
Before we left though we got to watch the locals do some drill practice on the wharf.
After another relaxing day at sea and 480nm (888kms) we arrived in a very hot Ho Chi Minh City our last port of call and an overnight stay. As I am frequent visitor to Ho Chi Minh City for work so decided to chill for the day and overnight just enjoy a day and night doing nothing in the city.
After a day at sea and 515nm (955kms) we arrived in Da Nang Vietnam. This was my first visit to Da Nang and was not to be a long one as my tour for the day was to be in Hoi An. In Hoi An I attended a Vietnamese cooking class… Can’t wait. We also had a visit to another food market!
Another first for us, the Azamara Quest was the first cruise ship to arrive in Da Nang since Covid. Might explain all of the big smiles we saw.
After a great night at Wine Central it was time to meet our guide for the morning to go on a bike tour of Hong Kong’s New Territories. This would be my first time visiting the New Territories so was looking forward to it, as well as getting on a bike. The tour was organised by a couple, Jane and Kevin who were also on the cruise, can’t thank them enough for including me.
New Territories
The New Territories is the area that was ceded to Britain in the late 19th Century by the Chinese Qing Dynasty in the late 1800’s to provide Hong Kong with more space to grow and is about 86% of Hong Kong’s land mass and a bit over 50% of its population. It is where you need to go to visit the Sha Tin Racetrack and the Hong Kong Science Park.
After another relaxing day at sea and 475nm (880kms) sailing from Keelung we arrived in Hong Kong, one of my favourite cities in the world, to visit. Hong Kong is a bit too busy, with compact accommodation that is way to close to each other for comfort.
Hong Kong is another port where we stayed overnight so I took the opportunity to visit a few places I had not been to since the start of Covid. First stop the recently refurbished Regent Hotel Hong Kong, prior to the refurb it was the Intercontinental Hong Kong. I have stayed here a number of times and hope I can get back and stay again, that is as long as I can afford the Regent Hotel…