Vietnam, 2023

We started our journey to Vietnam slightly earlier than planned after escaping the heat (and an awful airbnb) in Bangkok. Which was lucky really, given that when we arrived at the airport we realised we hadn’t got the correct visa and had overstayed. After paying a hefty £450 fine, we were on our way. Arriving in Da Nang and changing country, language, currency, temperate… it was A LOT. We’d been together with no breaks for a few weeks and I was starting to feel desperately like I needed some space!

We last came to Vietnam in 2016 and only visited Ho Chi Minh, so even though we had some idea of the culture we were still slow to shift gear after being in Thailand. We were incredulous at just how cheap it was, even for Asia, and once we found our feet (and a nanny for the kids..!) we were very happy to be here for an extra few weeks.

We spent some time in Da Nang, before heading down to Hoi An where we stayed for 4 weeks. Hoi An is SO beautiful, a UNESCO world heritage area it is full of charm, and yes tourists. We stayed in a villa on the outskirts right by the paddyfields, surrounded by vietnamese families (and cockrels.) Yes there are lots of photos of the house and yes I booked it based on it’s glorious colour palette!

Here, my mum and her husband came out to stay and injected some new dynamics into the mix of the household! It was wonderful to get some granny time for the kids, and for me and her to get some day trips together which I loved.