Well now I've done the bike thing too. Christine went on a tour to My Son which she said was beautiful. I thought I would hire a bike and do all the things I needed to do. Foot massage, tailor, old town and a general look around. I admit I was more than a little concerned, but.....what the hell!! I haven't ridden a bike for many years and the last one I rode had 11 gears and a very comfortable seat. This bike. The most basic, but the tyres were pumped up. I got off to a very wobbly start, but warmed up once I was going. I broke my thong 3 times on the trip (I know. What was I thinking wearing thongs on a bike????). The travel is much faster but for me not ... read more

Today we traveled 2 hours to the Nha Trang airport. The countryside is absolutely beautiful. Vietnam is so diverse, with the old mixed with the new. Traditional dress mixed with modern clothing. We passed rice paddies with workers wearing their nonla and harvesting the rice by hand. Bullocks pulling wooden drays, with the rice sheaths loaded to the point of falling off, along the same roads buses, cars and bikes use. On arrival in DaNang we found that the bus to Hoi An only goes spasmodically and was not due for another 2 hours, so while I was asking, a German couple were in the same position, so we decided to share a car for the drive down. The taxi driver got lost when we got here and after we dropped off our companions, asked us ... read more

We booked to stay at a resort in Nha trang. Actually the resort is 45 minutes north of Nha Trang but we didn't know that when we booked it. It is called the..................................wait for it.........................................White Sand Beach resort. For those of you who are not aware, the place we have our holiday shack in Adelaide is called the White Sands Caravan park!!!!! That did not dawn on me until I saw the signs at the gate. We chose it because it cost $80 per night and looked pretty good. Actually it is absolutely fantastic. The $80 covers hotel transfers, breakfast and dinner included. The breakfasts are buffet style and there is lots of choices and the dinner 4 courses. Bargain!!! The resort is surrounded by rice paddies, mountains and the sea. It has absolute seafront, and ... read more

Well today I travelled 3 hours by bus to see 4 hours of the Mekong Delta and then 3 hours back again. It was worth going to see though, but the 2 day trip would have given me a better feel of the place. It is a world away from what we know. People living on little boats, children and all, washing, cooking cleaning bringing up a family in a space smaller than my kitchen. We visited a place where the locals make many things from coconut, peanuts and rice. I tried some distilled rice wine from a shot glass. Now you know you can't sip something offered in a shot glass, so some german girls and myself gave the salute and downed it. It is 35% proof and tastes the same as schnapps. Sure has ... read more

Travelled to Vietnam today. Got a taxi from one of the agents in Pattaya for 800 baht plus highway toll of 60 baht, so that is the measuring stick from now on. Checked up on the internet for our hotel booking only to find out it was not now available. Lucky I paid with Paypal. Flew Vietnam airlines and it was fine. Just as much room as Qantas and probably more than Jetstar. Got to Ho Chi Min City (I will call it Saigon from here on) and had to book a hotel room from the airport. Chose one in Section1, which is in the city and near the business district. Luckily we had read a story about dodgy taxi drivers, because the taxi driver talked to someone on the phone and passed it to us. ... read more