saorrento

While Michelle rests in the other room, having been struggling with a cold for the last day and a half brought about by the rapid temperature flux we both continually experienced in Nha Trang (high thirties on the streets and near sub-zero indoors) I am sitting out on our balcony overlooking the country mountainous vista of Dalat; surrounded by flowers of every kind trees and shrub that our local squirrel has been frolicking in, and beyond the mass number of green houses in the distance, indeed beyond the mountains themselves the sound of music floating in the breeze. The day started early but sluggish, with both of us possibly on the verge of a cold and our pillows too hard, the last few nights sleep in Nha Trang has been a struggle, usually requiring the air ... read more

It was our last full day in Hoi An and we still had plenty to see and do. The TV in our hotel room had not been turned on once, which is more than I could say for Hue, channel surfing through the American Idol and CSI marathons in the evening. With the wide range of shopping options to some of the finest dining experiences I have ever had the pleasure of in my two tours of Vietnam, a day experience in Hoi An guaranteed a good nights sleep. This morning Michelle and I had a tour organized, like our last day in Hoi An, this was the last pre-booked tour we had for the remainder of our Vietnam trip, a visit to My Son; a religious and intellectual centre where Champa kings were crowned and ... read more

Still reading Ewan McGregors narrative of the Long Way Round, I have come to appreciate the desire he had on occasion to just jump back on the BMW bike and hit the open road. Our visit to Hue was an enjoyable experience, but Hue was not as we expected; the city was incredibly busy and dirty, the enjoyable aspect of Hue was the time spent at our lovely resort by the pool, incidentally developing a Sunkist tan in the process. Although cocktails by the pool does sound indulging, it isn’t the sort of stop we were planning on, and in that regard Hue disappointed. So when it came to hit the road, like Ewan on occasion himself, I was all too happy. Today was an early departure, by 8.00am we had checked out of our hotel ... read more

Arriving into Hue after a two hour drive from Da Nang, which immediately prior to that involved a hour and a half flight, previously involving a five hour airport wait after being on a sleeper train all night from Sapa, naturally we were quite tired. On first glance as we drove into Hue to our hotel, the city scape looked no different to that of Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh, in fact I would say it was a mish mash of the two, quite appropriate considering Hue is the midway point between the two greats. At the end of a T-junction we were approaching was a large white building with a grand gate. Outside this gate were a series of police cars, black unmarked vehicles and what looked to be secret service walking about the premises, ... read more

Having just returned from our second morning tour, both Michelle and I have flung ourselves onto the bed, exhausted. This mornings tour took us hiking through two rural villages. Beginning with a thirty minute drive south we set out on foot from Muong Hoa valley, a stunning place boasting the largest terraced rice fields in Vietnam. Coincidently our visit coincided with the beginning of the local planting season so we were both looking forward to seeing the farmers in action. The walk took us through Lao Chai village of the Black H’mong minority to Ta Van village of the Giay minority. We awoke the morning to a very cool Vietnam. Dark clouds loomed over the mountain range view from our bedroom window, hazing out the detail of the terraced rice fields in the distance. By the ... read more