Shortly after my moaning that we were stuck on the backpacker conveyor belt, we arrived in Phong Nha Farmstay. A beautiful guesthouse overlooking miles of rice paddies in a village just outside of Phong Nha town. A little isolated from public transport and all the more beautiful for it. We both immediately loved it. The very friendly Western and Vietnamese staff, the open smiley faces, the sound of animals and birds. We hired mopeds and got lost in the Phong Nha-...

Phong Nha is a beautiful place surrounded by rice paddies and hundreds of stunning caves. Nearby is the recently discovered Son Doong- the largest cave in the world. The locals ride bicycles and smile and wave when they pass by, they walk their buffalo and carry everything in baskets dangling from a pole balanced on their shoulders. The air is fresh (too fresh for my liking, I had planned to skip winter this year) and in the evening, it hums with the chorus of fr...

Vietnam has a tourist layer- a blend of backpackers & Russians- that flows over the relaxed river that is 'real' Vietnam, in a fast stream of sites, booze and quick scams. When the majority of foreigners (including us) don't stay in the same place for longer than a couple of days, or in the country long enough to come to grips with the mental money conversion, there is no need for good customer service or quality business/consumer relations. This creates quit...