I was picked up from my hotel by a mini bus and we headed west of the city for about an hour. I had only seen things on the internet about Mỹ Sơn, but didn’t realize how spectacular it would be. It reminded me of photos I’d seen of Cambodia, where I want to go one day. The big shame was that the American’s bombed the ancient buildings during the Vietnam war, as the Viet Cong used this area for their operations. Some areas still have unexploded ordinance. The heads of the statues are missing, as they were taken by the French and are now located in the Louvre in Paris. Afterwards we took a boat ride on the river back to Hoi An. I did some more wandering around the town before heading ... read more

I took an overnight train from Hanoi to Da Nang. It was a good experience. I shared the 4-berth cabin with an Englishman that now lives with his wife in Vietnam, and a Vietnamese couple had the two top bunks. Mine was the bottom bunk on the right, and I actually slept quite well! (Don't forget to keep scrolling for more photos!)... read more

I had my usual chicken noodle soup for breakfast at the hotel. The morning was spent travelling to the Cu Chi Tunnels north west of the city. It really was worth going As an Aussie, our soldiers were there during the Vietnam war, but the stories told were from the perspective of the Viet Kong (the other side). It was really interesting to hear the stories from the guides. I couldn’t believe just how small and narrow the tunnels were. There was a guide that went in one, and we had the opportunity to go in another one. There was no was I was going in any of them! There was also the opportunity to fire some guns of some sort, but being anti gun, I didn't do it. Lots of other people did though and ... read more

My first experience with Vietnam was in the customs hall. My old passport photo is me with brunette hair however I have dyed it now and it's blonde. I guess the Vietnamese customs people haven't seen blonde hair dye because he was unsure that it was me in the photo. It took me a while to convince him that the passport was mine, but it didn't help that he didn't speak English and I don't speak Vietnamese. My next experience was my missing luggage, as it hadn't made the flight from KL to Saigon. I had to report it missing to the lost luggage counter, where I had to fill in some forms and describe my bag and then hope that it would make it to my hotel. They gave me a reference number and I ... read more

I never knew this existed, and was so glad I went. It was a bright colourful contrast to the dull grey sky. It is part of the original Berlin Wall. To the east I could see the Oberbaumbrücke. Some people had taken a tour in the old East German trabant cars. I kind of wish I had too, so it’s on my bucket list for any future Berlin visits. By this stage my room was available, so I headed back to the hotel for a shower and to get warm (and put on good thermals).... read more