Day 21 Hue. A long sleep last night, in bed by 9.0 pm and asleep by 9.15 pm! I am still recovering from waking up at 2.45 am to listen to the City vs. Swindon game. Last night we enjoyed another cocktail (a 'Tom Collins' for the connoisseurs) on the hotel rooftop bar. Compared to the Bitexco bar in Saigon, it was a bargain at a mere $4 compared to $11 but it was only on the 11th floor compared to the 51st floor There again what is the small matter of 40 floor...

Day 20 Hue. Today we will leave our life of luxury, put all that overrated 'RnR' behind us and its back on the road with our guide as we head north, across the Hai Van pass, to Hue. We are picked at 10.30 am, for our 4 hour drive, including a stop for lunch. Initially we are driven into Da Nang, past the old american air force base, where the bunkers are still in clear evidence, then through the centre of Da Nang, which is a thriving tourist town, with enormo...

Day 19 Hoi An. We decided to go for an early morning bike ride today, before the sun got too high, and in between the locals rush hour, which is between 5 am and 6am, and the tourist rush hour that starts at 10 am. So armed with copious notes from Google maps, we aimed to cycle through the local rice paddy fields (well not literally!). We picked up two bikes from a small stall outside our hotel and set off. It was immediately apparent that I had picked up ...

Day 18 Hoi An. Happy Easter Monday one and all. Before I relay to you what we got up to today, I thought I would (try) to relate to you an incident that happened yesterday evening. Now you already have been told of 'Chilli-gate' and 'Chicken-gate', well last night we had our very own 'Water-gate'! Our hotel provides two bottles of complimentary water each day. We have been careful to ensure that we only use these complimentary bottles or our own supply, to...

Day 17 Hoi An. Having heard a couple speak about the fisherman unloading their catch in the morning, we decided to make the effort to get up early to watch this spectacle, safe in the knowledge that we planned to 'veg out' in the afternoon. We had seen the boats empty on the beach the previous day. They resemble a giant half of a coconut shell, no more than the width of an average mans height or in the case of a Vietnamese man no more than one and a half's he...