We arrive in HCMC at around 4.30 am. We knew our rooms would not be ready but we had the chance to freshen up and dump our bags. We then headed to the park to do some early morning Tai Chi with the locals. However, I think they must have finished their class so it turned into an early morning Cha Cha Cha!! Very surreal but great to get the blood flowing after the train journey. After brekkie we headed to Cu Chi to visit some of the tunnel network that the Viet Cong used to fight the US army during [View Full Entry]

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After a 10 hour train journey (daytime) we arrived in Nha Trang - tired and hungry. Our hotel has a big pool and we are pretty close to the beach so that's great. Second day in Nha Trang and we went on a boat trip. Stopped at a fishing village and then took Bamboo boats back to out boat (pic will make it clear what I mean). We stopped off for some swimming and snorkeling. My snorkel was rubbish and kept letting water in and also hurt my mouth so didn't snorkel much - just a little around the coral. We [View Full Entry]

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A very beautiful drive through the Hoi Vanh hills and we are in the lovely little town of Hoi An. It is very beautiful here and full of tailor shops. It is impossible not to shop here. You can get stuff tailormade for a fraction of the cost that you would buy it at home. We spent our first evening wandering around this lovely town and had dinner on the terrace of a lovely restaurant (Cargo Club) by the river. I had squid stuffed with minced pork - best meal so far. For dessert we shared mango cheesecake and lemongrass icecream [View Full Entry]

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Day 3 of the tour and we had an early breakfast at the Blue Dragon Children's charity. They help get kids of the streets of Vietnam and offer them schooling etc. It was really nice to meet the children and we were taught to play drums by one of the kids. We then set off on a 4 hour bus drive to Halong Bay. The drive was very scenic but very bumpy - nearly bounced off my seat a few times! At Halong Bay we got on to a sailing junk and that was our home for the rest of the [View Full Entry]

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Hue (Whey) is the city we are in and Hoy (Hoee) is the name of our tour leader. We got to Hue bleary eyed and tired after being on the train overnight. We checked in and headed out for a traditional Hue breakfast - noodle soup with pork and dried pig blood (like black pudding). It was yummy. Hue is much smaller and much more chilled out than Hanoi - they still have no traffic regulations but with fewer motos to deal with it doesn't seem so bad. A much quiter pace is nice after the hustle and bustle of Hanoi. [View Full Entry]

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Sin Chow, Second day in Hanoi and starting to get used to the heat and chaos. The traffic here is mental and there are so many scooters and bikes! There seem to be no traffci rules other than occasionally stopping at red lights but people are very good natured when you walk out in fron of them! The people here are really friendly and most speak some English and they are very keen to have conversations. I am struggling with their accents though and have to ask the to repeat simple questions several times! We went to the Ho Chi Minh [View Full Entry]

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All packed and ready to go. Just thought I'd do a little test to see if my Blog works (as my IT helpdesk is not travelling with me this time!!) [View Full Entry]

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