Silversea - Vietnam / China
- Arlinda Ismaili
- Mar 25, 2018
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 25, 2021
London seems to be getting colder and the best way to escape this weather was to book a gataway trip to a warmer country. My family and I decided to book a cruise with Silversea which sailed through Vietnam and China, passing by cities like Ho Chi Minh, Cat Ba, Shenzhen, Hong Kong etc.
Our ship was the Silver Discover, a personalised voyage with high class services and amazing staff that constantly ensured customer satisfaction. The staff were young and fun, I enjoyed hanging out with them outside their working hours, whilst the guests were much older, they were also very friendly and we often had dinner with them. The cruise offered a variety of activities and tours during the day, in this blog I will share some of my favourite ones.
VIETNAM
Ho Chi Ming City, also known as, Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam. This city is full of hidden surprises. The madness of the city’s traffic are witted by the oddball things that are transported on the back of age motorcycles. The city is filled with a number of museums, quirky coffee shops and parks. Saigon has a sense of a more peaceful and relaxed lifestyle, which is often needed when you are living in London.
Ho Chi Ming
We decided to skip the cruise's itenatry and explore the city in our own, one of the main reasons was due to feeling jet lag and the need for a longer morning sleep. Later on during the day we managed to visit some of the places mentioned below:
The Reunification Palace - This was the palace of independence that preserves the old regime of Vietnam fine arts and crafts.
Notre Dame Cathedral - A similar cathedral to the one in Paris.
Ben Thanh Market - Bought fresh ingredients vegetables, spices and herbs for a full day cooking class. One of the main things I disliked about this market was the lack of hygiene and the animal cruelty. Different sea animals were tortured, dehydrated in the sun, hurt and killed in an inhumane manner. Avoid this market if this is something you would like to avoid seeing !
Cooking class - I learned how to make Banana blossom salad, vietnamese pancake, dipping sauce, vegetables with steamed rice and coconut juice, and coconut jelly. At the end of the cooking course, I received a handbook with all the recipes and a cooking certificate. I will try to share them in a future blog post, I promise they are all delicious.
The Skygarden - We spent the nigh out in Sky Garden with a great mix of people and good music. The club entry and drinks were slightly pricey.
Con Son
This is one of 15th largest islands of Con Dao Archipelago, where 80% is still forest. During the afternoon we drove to the historical many prisoners died while constructing it. The prisons were filled with sculpted statues of the prisoners. This helped recreate scenes from the prison and visualise the pain they had to go through. Then we visited a number of veteran cemeteries and learned a lot about the history of Vietnam, particularly the Vietnam War.
However, I couldn’t resist the view of the see and decided to skip most of my tour and head to the beach to dip my feet in the sea. Guilty, not guilty.
Nah Trang
Nha Trang is in the Khanh Hoa province of South Central coast of Vietnam. We discovered the lush country side, passing fruit plantation and paddy fields. Along the way we visited a 200 year old Vietnamese house and the oldest Catholic church built by the French. We then headed to the vineyard for some wine tasting, before enjoying vietnamese lunch at a quaint country side restaurant.
Cat Ba Islands - Ho Long Bay
Cat Ba is one of the largest of 367 islands. This is also a cool little place where everything is floating and the lifestyle is different to the ordinary. We visited Cat Ba which was one of the largest islands in the bay with people living in floating houses, floating schools, floating hospitals and shops. People got their food through fishing and it’s was amazing seeing how different our lives can be. This was one of my favourite places as approximately half of the area was covered by a national park, with a variety of natural ecosystems, both marine and terrestrial. During my time here, I also went kayaking and sailed with a boat across the beach which was a great opportunity to catch a tan. The islands where absolutely surreal.
Da Nang
Visited Hoi An through a walking tour, were we spend most of our time shopping. During our walk we managed to see historical town houses, the famous Japanese bridge and continued to the Assembly hall and the Ceramic Museum. Hoi An is filled with lanterns and it often reminded me of the disney film - Tangled. It was magical and I wish I had the opportunity to see it during night time where everything is lit up.
Qui Nhon
In Qui Nhon we explored the history and culture by visiting the Twin Towers and Binh Dinh Museum. We also got to view a show from a group of school students performing Marshall Arts. This was very cool to watch and something I might want to learn in the future. During the evening we got a taxi and spent the evening in the beach sunbathing.
CHINA
Shenzhen
The journey to China was very long and tiring as it consisted many hours in the bus and the train. However, when we arrived there it was defiantly worth the effort and the patience. China was quite different to Vietnam, it's security systems are at an all time high, just to get on the train, you are required a passport check, body and baggage check. In fact if you want to enter China, you are required to have a Chinese visa. The country is very beautiful but a lot of it's cities can be challenging for tourists, this was due to many people not being able to speak English and most signs written in Chinese.
Shenzhen had magnificent sceneries of steep karst hill and we the view was particularly breathtaking when we took a boat tour in the Yulong river. The river offers a relaxing view which you can never get tired of.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is a much more developed city compared to my previews stops. I didn't have much time to explore Hong Kong or take many pictures but the city's architecture reminded me of Dubai. This is a city I want to further explore in the future.
I had an amazing voyage with Silversea and would highly recommend it for a family holiday. I think I have also fallen in love with Asia and plan to visit it again sometime this year. I hope this blog comes in handy for anyone who is planning to travel in Vietnam and China.
Until next time
Arlinda xx
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