Lugging Around The World

Out of Vietnam and into the modern Hong Kong. Our great friends Blake, Leini, Albie, and Margo put us up in their wonderful house for a week of fun! This part of our blog is dedicated to the Ireland family who were so hospitable to us.... read more

Ha Long Bay is a magical place, especially for a stonemason... The facts: Ha Long Bay which literally means "Descending Dragon Bay" has thousands of inlets which are formed of limestone which has gone through 500 million years of formation in different conditions and environments. The evolution of the karsts in this bay has taken 20 million years under the impact of the tropical wet climate. The geo-diversity of the environment in the area has created biodiversity, including a tropical evergreen bio system, oceanic and sea shore bio system. We spent 2 nights and 3 days on The Marguerite boat which took us to caves, kayaking, and one small beach amongst the most amazing rock formations. It is a quiet, majestic place full of peace and tranquilly, except for the hundreds of other boats who are ... read more

Finally back to the warmth. We arrived tired and weary from our 8 hour bus journey from Da Lat in the Central Highlands. Headed for the beach which was wonderful. We spent a couple of days in Nha Trang. We went to the renowned spa treatment - a mud and hot spring bath, which Chloe took great delight in getting both Daddy and Mummy covered in mud. We went on a boat trip which took us to an Aquarium on a small island, followed by parasailing (no insurance needed in Vietnam which meant that Chloe could do it, which she took great delight), her first proper snorkel, and finally lunch and karaoke on the boat! A visit to the best brewery in Vietnam was a must. Our life on the coast culminated in the most wonderful ... read more

After the quiet of Thailand we soon arrived in the chaos of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). Vietnam has 80 million citizens and 40 million bicycles - when you travel through the streets of any large city you notice this fact! The streets are mad, crazy and you have to shut your eyes and hope for the best when crossing the road. We spent a few days in Saigon, the most wonderful experience enhanced by one of Tara's long but not lost friends; Bart, his wife Hanh and their daughter Pickle. They treated us to wonderful meals and introduced us to a side of Vietnam we probably would not have seen if they hadn't pointed us in the right direction. Bart - this part of the blog is dedicated to you and your wonderful family. Dining ... read more

We left the crowded city of Bangkok for the mountains of Northern Thailand. Our first stop being Chiang Mai, staying in the Old City, which used to be surrounded by a medieval style wall built 700 years ago to defend against Burmese invaders. It was a lovely city, calm and relaxing after Bangkok. Here we met up with Jorg and Natalia, our friends from Germany who we originally met in Goa, many months ago! We rented a moped to get us around and Jorg showed us lots of wonderful places. These were to include, the zoo, Wat Phra That Doi Suthep (one of the north's most sacred temples, and a beautiful lake where we had lunch, a foot fish spa, and hours on our moped. Just to make life a bit more interesting it was here ... read more