Bangkok and Koh Chang – part 1 Whilst we were sad to be leaving Vietnam, we were really excited to be arriving back in Thailand, probably our favourite country. Unfortunately the excitement was short lived as we discovered that Vic’s big backpack had been picked open (through the zip) by baggage handlers at Ho Chi Min airport, even though it had a cover and padlock on it, and some bits had been stolen which were hidden in secret compartments in the bag – we think they must have been seen as the bag went through the x-ray machine. We have flown hundreds of times and never had a problem so this was a real shock and we didn’t realise until we got to our hotel so not a lot we could do, but hopefully our insurance ... read more

The bus journey from Da Lat seemed straight forward enough and we were just outside of Mui Ne when the driver lost control of the bus as he was texting, clipping the kerb hard which sent the left wheels of the bus over the central reservation, so just the right side wheels were on the road. Everything on the left side of the bus (including above the seats) came hurtling over to the right side (including people), luggage which had been stacked up at the back came flying forward hitting people while we all ducked and held on tightly, we thought the bus was going to topple over but it swerved and spun until it finally braked to a sharp stop in the middle of the road. The engine was smoking and everyone was a bit ... read more

After being ushered from possibly the worst overnight bus journey of our lives at 5am our first point of call was to find somewhere to stay, have a quick bite to eat and get a few hours shut-eye before getting up to explore Nha Trang. As a few of the other guys we have been travelling with had left Hoi An a few days before us, we had a good idea of the area we wanted to stay in and had soon secured a nice guesthouse with balcony for $9 a night. When we finally got up, we headed down to the beach for a while before walking around the area and checking out what there was to see and do. For as long as I can remember and after doing a few previous 'instructed fun ... read more

We didn't expect to stay long in Hue (pronounced H-way, hence the title) and didn't really have anything planned while we were there, but as soon as we arrived we liked the feel of the city and knew we would be staying an extra day or two. The sleeper bus from Ninh Binh wasn't too bad, apart from the Vietnamese dance music blasting out loudly which woke us all up - this would have been great in a club but not on a bus at 6am! We had met another couple on the bus, who actually live in Enfield (small world) so along with Hannah & Leigh the 6 of us set off to find some accomodation. For once we had been dropped off near the centre of town and so found a nice hotel for ... read more

Halong Bay was a 'must do' for us in Vietnam despite all the negative reports we had heard on it, so it was with slight trepidation that we booked a trip on a junk boat to see the famous karsts. We shopped around the many travel agencies in Hanoi to find one we were happy with and one which could arrange a one day tour of the bay for us but instead of returning to Hanoi, it would then drop us on the island of Cat Ba where we could spend a few days at our leisure...these few days coincided with my Birthday and turned out to be the highlight of our trip so far and the best decision we could have made! So, after hunting around Hanoi for ages for a travel agent who we ... read more