ScorpionKing

So our 14 week, 11 country world trip has come to an end. It is nice to be home, back in familiar surroundings with family and friends. But what an experience it has been. We have seen so many wonderful sights, meet many wonderful and interesting people and seen the best and worst that much of the world has to offer. We have also seen the best and worst of ourselves. It is great to know how far we can be pushed and still come out the other side, still together as a family, definitely stronger for the experience. So what have I learned from our little jaunt. Firstly, and this I truly believe, Australia is a great place to live, with many opportunities for those who wish to take them. Secondly, you can fit anything ... read more

We have been in Saigon for the last four days, which unfortunately means our time is also up in Vietnam. Vietnam is defiantly a rating of 10 on the CF scale but we really could have spent another month here. But because we have decided to stick with the Education Department we are only 5 short years away from some more long service leave (yes, generation Y and generation Me there are benefits to sticking at a job for more than a year or two). We have spent the last month making our way from Ha Noi down to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). It has been fantastic and has lived up to all of my expectations, which is great considering I have wanted to come here for nearly 20 years. Before I get into my ... read more

We are still making our way down the coast to Saigon, but we decided we needed a bit of a cooler change so we headed inland to Dalat. Not only is Dalat inland, it is high up in the mountains. In fact it is 1500m above sea level. This has given us such a nice change in temperature. The temperatures here hover around the mid to high twenties, all year round. Before we got into Dalat we had to go up and over the most brilliant mountains. As we nearly reached the summit the driver pulled over so we could get out, take in the view and snap off a few shots. We were at such a height that as we were looking around some clouds came rushing up the mountain and for about 5 minutes ... read more

We have spent the last four days in the beach side town of Nha Trang. It is much busier than Quy Nhon but nice all the same. We did have an interesting trip via mini-bus to get here. We have found travelling around Vietnam to be quite easy and safe but this time our trip lived up to some of the stuff that we have read in Lonely Planet. It didn’t start off too well when we were dropped off at the bus station. Before we could turn around and get our stuff out of the back of the car the driver had taken off. Fortunately the bus station was also the main area for our car so we found the driver easily out the back and got him to drive around to our bus. Then ... read more

We have spent four days in the coastal town of Hoi An after our ‘sleeper bus’ ride from Hue. This has turned out to be a great little place to stay and visit. Hoi An is about 30km south of Danang (the 3rd largest city in Vietnam) and is famous for its clothes making and lanterns. It is also famous for it heritage listed old town. The old town over looks the river and parts of the ocean. Although it physically is not very big, it contains a lot of history. Inside many of the old buildings are now businesses such as restaurants, cafes, accommodation, souvenir shops and many other types of activities. There are many buildings that have been kept as there were just for tourists to enter (once you have a ticket of course) ... read more