The sixth was a travelling day. We spent the morning quietly at our hotel, the tour director went for a swim and I read my book. We had lunch in the hotel and checked out before our car picked us up to take us to the airport. There was nothing of any consequence to report about that journey apart from our great sense of unease that Vietnam will or is in the process of becoming another tourist destination, built around large hotel complexes which are taking up miles of the beach. In another five years the is exactly what Da Nang will be, another holiday resort for those wealthy enough to be able to purchase a room.
At the airport there were no enormous problems, apart from that we went to the international departure gate, and after the official there had stamped our tickets and then realised we were bound for Hanoi, he told us that we had to retrace our steps and go through an adjoining door for internal flights.
The airport at Da Nang is large and modern and will no doubt be able to cope with the millions of tourists who will come flooding through, but in return Vietnam will lose, at least in this particular area, some of its rural charm.
The flight was good, at the last moment a large party got on and filled the business class seats and a criminal in handcuffs was escorted onto the plane. As soon as we arrived in Hanoi a fleet of Mercedes Benz pulled up to the plane and whisked all of the large party in business away, we can only surmise that they were government officials.
Our car driver was there complete with secret code he had to give us, all very MI6, and he drove us into the city centre right smack in the middle of the rush hour. It took about an hour to reach our hotel which is in the heart of the old quarter. We checked in and then went out to eat, enjoying a good meal in a local restaurant, recommended by the hotel.