Blogs from Phu Yen, South Central Coast, Vietnam, Asia

The harmonious combination of “blue sea – white sand – golden sunshine” has created a beautiful Ganh Da Dia – Da Dia Reef Phu Yen that cannot describe in words. This place is a unique geological structure with black and yellow basalt rocks in all kinds of conceivable shapes spread over an area of more than a square kilometre along the edge of the sea. From a distance, it looks like a giant black beehive. It was created by volcanic eruptions millions of years ago. The lava, when it came in contact with the water, cooled, contracted and fractured and formed vertical or horizontal columns before becoming polygonal rocks like they are today. Besides this sea cliff, there are only four other places on earth that have this magnificent phenomenon. These are Giant’s Causeway in Northern ... read more

Well we've all met up and have so far survived a week of Vietnamese highs and lows, which I believe none of us expected. We arrived in Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) with little knowledge about this war-scarred yet thriving civilisation - our concepts and expectations being largely based on the famous Top Gear Vietnam episode - but we have since been given brutal reminder of the atrocities of war, and more personally, Sam, Sam and Harry have had to adjust fast to life in Asia, where if you're a tourist, you're a target; if you have money, they will try to take it. Happily, the transition for all of them has been largely smooth and the haggling spirit has set in to the group. We've also set up a rough route plan - meeting Marc in ... read more

Nha Trang to 'Jungle Beach' The ride from Nha Trang to Jungle Beach was another really enjoyable ride, but boy was it hot. We set out north from Nha Trang a little late in the day after enjoying a nice lie in and perhaps regretting leaving such a nice place so quickly. We almost immediately lost each other on the road, George thinking Kathryn was behind him when she was actually ahead having taken a slightly different road. However the wait wasn't any hardship with such beautiful views. We continued around a hill and got our first glimpse of the many vistas of the day out over what we'd describe as a fjord (no parrots though!). Then we moved into a really wide area of rice paddies. We eventually found ourselves riding out onto a peninsula, ... read more