Coming back form the warm humidity of Vietnam to the icy winter of Korea was a real shock to the system. When we signed up for this job we had thought that Korea was one of those nice warm asian countries. Shows how naive we were. WE got the first snow of the year on the day that I got back from Vietnam, and the temperature stayed below freezing for the next three months. At first it was fantastic. All the South Africans in the village were out playing in the snow, throwing snowballs and taking photos, while the other teachers watched us from behind their windows as if we were nuts. But after a couple of weeks of having to get out of the bed on freezing mornings and sliding on the ice-covered bricks around ... read more

Once again we had to join in a package tour to get to a sight we were really keen to see. This time it was the elaborate tunnel system dug by the Viet Cong around the area of Cu Chi during the American war. The Sinh Cafe bus took us (via the standard curio market stop-off) to the area where we would have a morning tour of the underground network that was made up of 3 levels and 250km of incredibly narrow tunnels. Over 4 years 16,000 Viet Cong guerillas lived fought, and for 12,000 of them, died in the cramped, dark subterranean town. Despite the losses, the tunnels were so effective that they were apparently a major reason that the American troops were ultimately withdrawn from Vietnam. Several of the tunnels had been widened to ... read more

It was a good thing we had two alarms with us, because it's no easy thing getting up at 5am on your holiday. Nevertheless, by 5:30 we were being led between the old buildings on the side of the river to where our boatman for the day was steadying a 5m long boat, shaped like a large canoe. We dumped our backpack in the front of the boat, and stretched out in the middle, while our 19 year-old boatman used two oars to row us away from the shore. The boat did not sit very high above the water, but it was comfortable enough, a good thing since we'd paid the guy for the next 8 hours. As we got away from the bank, our driver swung the long extended propeller shaft of a 5hp motor ... read more

Early in the morning we were already up and waiting for our lift. What make you get up early on a tropical island? SCUBA!!! . We joined a bunch of other tourists in a cramped minivan, and drove up the beach to where a canoe with a propeller was waiting to take us to the Rainbow Divers boat moored offshore. We were warmly welcomed on board and shown to our gear. We all pulled on sun-bleached wetsuits and rubbed in sun cream as the boat glided across the turquoise waters to a small rock called turtle island. Cathy's new ring is a few sizes too big, and so she tied a piece string through the ring and around her wrist, to keep it safely attached. I was glad that it was finally her turn to look ... read more

One last try for a windy day Our last Day in Mui Ne started off very relaxed with a breakfast at the beachside restaurant: Vietnamese coffee, omelette, baguette, fresh lemon juice and homemade yoghurt. What a way to wake up! We had to pack up and move out of our room, but the kind owners of Suoi Tien told us we could use one of the open rooms to stay in until our 1am bus, free of charge. We realised we had left a camera charger in Hanoi and after a frustrating hour trying to find somewhere with both power and a working internet connection, and struggling with bad telephone lines, we gave up and headed for the beach. The wind was just starting to come up, so as Cath very kindly went back to collect ... read more