We're off

Airport Flyer starts our journey...
Been a hard wee while in work for both of us, but at last we are off
Singapore

Nearly there ... Had toast and coffee local style
HCMC (Saigon)

Hustle and bustle ...
First impression is of houses with bright silver water tanks on the roof.
Watched the rugby at local bar
Scooters everywhere ... Near death experiences every minute!
GreatLäs mer
Cu Chi Tunnel

From the American war ... 200km of tunnels.
Fascinating history as to why American intervention happened. The Vietkong were followers of Ho Chi Minh ... Uncle Ho ... who took up communism partlyLäs mer
XO Food Tour ... With girls on scooters

Stop 1: Bun bo Hue
Beef noodle soup from HUE
Stop 2: bbq
Beef goat shrimp frog vegetarian rice
Stop 3:seafood and more...
Quail, crab, scallops, clams ... And some of us had duck embryo!
The pictureLäs mer
Walking tour

Guided walk with 2 young students.
Started at Bến Thành Market ... They still barter here.
They also cut the heads off live frogs then cut their feet off ...
Parliament buildings and the statue ofLäs mer
Mekong delta trip

The further south the more sugar in food.
Officially Colin is now old 😁
Guide told us Catholics eat dog a lot. He stopped eating dog when his got stolen! His wife said it was karma!
Stop 1 : theLäs mer
Around and up in HCMC

Equivalent of Uber to the Tan Dinh market which is less tourist focused. Found a terrific place for traditional Vietnamese pancake.
Walked back across town seeing streets dedicated to selling shoes orLäs mer
Onto Da Lat

Up and ready to go. We all arrive at the airport to find they have brought the flight forward by 50 mins ... We have 10mins to check in and board before takeoff. But wait there's more: we don't haveLäs mer
Da Lat and around

Christine and Terry off to get wet down a canyon, Lawrie hiked up a mountain, Raymond did a run, Ros & Colin did the market, bought fresh and candied fruit.
Coffee, local and roasted onsite withLäs mer
Bike around Da Lat

Stop 1. Weasel coffee
Robust and Aribica. Families often have 2hectacrs enough for 2000 trees Aribica is better money but more labour.
One weasel can make 8-10 cups of weasel poo coffee per week.
StopLäs mer
Off to Hoi An

Up earlier with egg Banh Mi at 7am then off to the airport.
Arrive in Da Nang warmer at 25C but raining ... 40mins or so later we arrive at Hoi An, a riverside town South of Da Nang.
We have to waitLäs mer
Around Hoi An

The day awoke with high cloud and sunshine. Nice breakfast sitting outside overlooking the river.
Had a nice bike ride around the rural countryside - the herb gardens were quite stunning. Saw a numberLäs mer
Visit to My Son

My Son ... Beautiful Mountain .... Hindu place of worship.
The Cham tribes follow Hindu and Muslim.
Religions brought in via the trading port of Hoi An
The old capital of Cham was 7km fromLäs mer
Diving Cham Island

Up an away by 8.15am on a full breakfast we head of to Cham island on an ancient boat with about 30 other intrepid divers from around the world.
An hour on the boat takes us to the the first diveLäs mer
Scooter from Hoi An to Hue

Such a fabulous packed day ... Setting off just before 9am the scooters and our guardians the Le Family headed out of Hoi An enroute to Hue.
Colin and Ros on one scooter, Lawrie and Christine onLäs mer
Scooters: Stop 1 - Marble Mountain

Park up the bikes at a cafe for ice cream and cold water before taking the lift to the top.
Much more impressive than you would imagine from the bottom.
Scooters: Stop 2 - Hai Van Pass

Evidently Top Gear made this famous .. the old road between the cities of Hoi An and Hue at 21km is more scenic than the new route through the tunnel at less than 7km.
Scooters: Stop 3 - The bunkers, lunch

At the pass between the 2 provinces is a peninsular and the place you can both see and defend ... The Cham, the French and the Americans all but bunkers here. Bullet holes clearly visible.
LovelyLäs mer
Scooters: Stop 3 - Elephant Falls

Needing to work off a good lunch and to cool down, we're back on the bikes heading for Elephant Falls.
After 10mins of off-road scootering we reach the falls.
Scooters: Stop 4 - Fishing village

Refreshed from the swim we are back on the bikes heading for a small fishing village.
In some ways it has remained the same for centuries, in others it has changed dramatically for the local folk.
Hue ... The citadel

Found a nice spot for breakfast called xxxx where the owner is a well known photographer (and it turns out, tourism guru). Booked a tour for tomorrow.
Today we walk over the bridge to the citadel ...Läs mer
Hue - boating and biking pt1

Start the day with breakfast at a French boulangerie...
The famous Mr Cu met us kitted us up with bicycles and of we ride to the river, loaded the bikes on the little ferry boat which was part of ourLäs mer
Hue: boating ang biking pt2

Leaving the boat behind, we set off to the tomb of Tu Duc. We only get a far as a cafe when we are delayed by the best coffee so far on the holiday.
Finally to the tomb in the heat of the day. So weLäs mer
And on to Hanoi

Breakfast in the French boulangerie then taxi to the airport and an hour to Hanoi.
Picked up by taxi and on to the hotel ... Ummm which hotel 😀 eventually to the right one.
We lunch at a smallLäs mer