Geo: 10.7592, 106.662Well, after a very bad flight, sitting next to the most nervous air passenger in the hsitory of the universe, we finally landed in HCMC. Now, Having flown with Vietnam Airlines, I'd be reluctant to do so again - good job that was our last flight with them! All future flights in this area are with Asia's answer to Easyjet - Air Asia; although we will remember to check in online before the flight from now on...HCMC is a very exciting, forward-thinking and busy city. Unfortunately, it lacks the charm of the capital Hanoi. The streets are wider, the hawkers more aggressive, and the roads more lethal. In Hanoi, very few cars actually ventured out onto the roads, it was more the domain of the motorbike - easy to avoid as they swerve their ... read more

Geo: 15.875, 108.336It rained last night! And it poured. And do you know what? I didn't mind one bit!!! I had my brolly and my sandals and I was happy as Larry because finally, it is bearable to walk around in! This morning we woke up early, depite it being our "day off" from the early starts, so had an early breakfast (passionfruit, pineapple, made-to-order omlettes... mmmmm) and then hired bikes for the day to ride to the beach. What a rip-off - a dollar for the bike for a day! I mean, I ask you, these people are just taking liberties with the poor tourists stuck in the place and with no other option! hehehe.After a deceptively long "4km" bike-ride (4miles at least or my name is Chris Hoy), we sat for the rest of ... read more

Geo: 20.9511, 107.08Well, as Kylie would say, "Wow wow wow wow!" Halong Bay is simply the most beauoful place I have ever been to in my life. Wew had a 4 hour journey to the boat, and then were told our boat was not ready, and so we had to have an upgrade. Damn! So, we tendered out to the boat, were met with a drink and a towel and then went to our cabins. They were beautiful, with gorgeous views out of the window of all of the lime-stone rocks we sailed past. For those of you who have no idea what or where Ha Long Bay is, it sits on the East Coast of Vietnam, about 200km from Hanoi. The bay is made up of thousands of limestone peaks which are dotted throughout the ... read more

Geo: 21.0243, 105.855Very early start this morning to get the 6.45 plane to Hanoi. We figured we would have plenty of time so early in the morning and left ourselves about a hour and a half to check in and get to the gate. Next time, we will check in online....! We had 5 minutes to spare (I'm beginning to wonder how we could be so organised before the trip and then have 2 occasions of nearly missing a flight in the first 3 days?) but managed to get to the gate as the final boarding calls were being made.Withdrew a cool million at the airport. It was dong sadly, and not pounds. It was worth about 35 quid. Might be flashy and take out 2 million tommorrow!!When we arrived in Hanoi, we were redirected from ... read more

Geo: 51.5084, -0.125533Well, thanks to Miss Barker's wonderful taxi service, we made it safely to Parker's Piece for the coach journey. The motorway was closed, but fortunately our camp driver knew his way "round the back roads." Arrived at Heathrow with plenty of time to spare and waited for our 3 hour flight to Helskini. I said it would be great. a film, some food, some wine and then an arrival in Helsinki with a ice short transfer time to get the flight to BKK.No such luck. Inflight entertainment? Negative. Open bar onboard? Negative. Capable cabin crew with gourmet dinner? Negative. Incompetent staff and a 1 hour wait on the tarmac before getting airborne? Check! We both began to get nervous as we only had 45 minutes to connect in Helsinki before our plane left for ... read more