Mui Ne is a lovely beach resort, though not as touristy as Nha Trang, set close to a fishing village on the South China Sea. It is renound for it's water sports and unspoilt white sandy beaches. We had just 2 nights in Mui Ne before heading to Saigon. We arrived at about 2pm on the first day, after an annoying 3 hour journey spent sitting on the bus floor. Hanh Cafe (yes I am going to name and shame them) are one of the biggest tour companies in Vietnam - and mentioned in the Lonely Planet. But they overbooked our [View Full Entry]

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Okay I am going to do my best to condense 3 fun days into one travel blog...... Firstly - WE HAD SUN IN NHA TRANG!! - this was very exciting. When we left Hoi An it was raining and overcast, we had been told it wasn't going to be that great in Nha Trang either but they were well wrong! We arrived in Nha Trang very early - 7am as we had caught the sleeper bus from Hoi An the night before. The sleeper bus had been pretty horrendous if truth be told. Up 'til now we had had pretty good [View Full Entry]

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We arrived on a bus from Nha Trang at around 3.30pm the first day. The bus spent nearly an hour climbing the mountain range to take us to the town of Dalat - renowned for it's French feel (it is said to be like the french Alps). We checked into our hotel (which was amazing - massage shower and modern room for only 15USD per nt!) and then ventured down to the market to have a nosey about. The market is vast - selling everything you can think of - from sweets and jams to fish and meat and flowers and [View Full Entry]

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We made a great discovery for accommodation in Hoi An - a lovely hotel called Greenfields complete with swimming pool, restaurant, billiards table and free cocktails at happy hour round the pool! We had booked two nights in Hoi An, the weather (like Hue) hasn't been brilliant but we still made the best of it. Day 1 was a mission to get our camera fixed (it had broken in Hanoi and we were lost without it). We were directed to a Kodak shop who said it looked like a big job and would need to be sent off to a neighbouring [View Full Entry]

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Grrrhhh - where did all this rain come from!! We were told in the North of Vietnam to expect lots of sun the further south we travelled - but nothing could be further from the truth. I think, to be fair, the weather is a bit 'freakish' at the moment - even the Vietnamese are not used to so much bad weather at this time of year. We had expected Vietnam to be as hot as Thailand because it is so close - but no such luck . Anyway we are British - and used to rain so we will just [View Full Entry]

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Day 3 and 4 staying in Hanoi were our favourites - because of our overnight tour to Halong Bay - one of the world heritage sites. The weather had not been great for the first few days in Vietnam so we weren't expecting to have any sun in Halong Bay - but we had plenty. The boat was fantastic quality - we had cabins with ensuite bathrooms (of course all had spectacular views over halong Bay). We had been expecting the next step up from a dinghy from some of the reviews (or horror stories) we had read on the internet [View Full Entry]

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Day 1 in Hanoi started off with a visit to the famous Perfume Pergoda - about 2 hours out of Hanoi. A bus drove us part of the way, and then we boarded a tin rowing boat with about 16 other people which took about another hour. The boat ride along the river was amazing - the scenery was lovely. Traditionally women row the boats - and it looks a pretty hard work, but it is highly sought after job in that region. When we arrived we had a basic lunch then took a cable car up to the top of [View Full Entry]

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Its hard to tell as we have had so many highlights so far, and so many more to come - but Chiang Mai has to be up there with the best of the experiences so far. We took an overnight train to Chiang Mai from Bangkok and immediately settled into our guesthouse as soon as we arrived. It had a great feel about it - right next door to a thai beauty therapist and along the river where all the best restaurants (according to Lonely Planet) are! To begin our stay in Chiang Mai we decided to explore the markets for [View Full Entry]

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An airconditioned overnight bus took us from Krabi to Bangkok. We were reluctant to leave the beautiful peaceful province of Krabi - and all the stunning beaches it had to offer, but other adventures awaited. The bus was pleasant enough - reclining chairs - air conditioning, snacks and drinks and a badly produced german (dubbed in thai) action film on the tv at the front. We were also given blankets, so it was comfortable enough. We arrived in Bangkok bus station at about 4.30am - too early. We had to figure out where we were - find out how much a [View Full Entry]

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We booked a tour to one of the 'must see' islands off Krabi Mainland - Phi Phi Islands. These are well known for two strikingly different reasons - one is they are probably one of the most picturesque set of islands in Asia, and so became the setting for the Leonardo di Caprio film "The Beach" (which we haven't watched yet), and secondly because they were badly devasted in the 2004 Tsunami - they took the worst impact of all the islands. You wouldn't be able to tell this though, if you visit the islands now - as they look so [View Full Entry]

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