Trails or Trials? Roads in Vietnam Since we left Da Nang and drove up into the Highlands we have seen rather more of the relativities of rural Vietnam. When we got to Buon Ma Thuot one of our side trips was to see a waterfall. I guess the idea was to enable us to see some of the scenery but what we got was rather different. The road out to the site was little more than a side road but it was clear that there is a lot of investment being put into drainage. Howev...

Ethnics and Orphans …and then we cleansed our hands with sterilising gel. Our hotel in Kon Tum overlooked the river and on waking today it sat quietly in the somewhat dusky sunlight. No rain but a slightly cooler air temperature presaged our way to the worst breakfast of the trip. Little was ready when we arrived at 6.10 am and what there was looked unappetising. Limited amounts of fruit, hardish bread, little fruit juice and even the coffee was not the best....

Into the Highlands Today was a long day in the coach. We have left the coast and headed up into the central highlands for 3 days. As we drove from Hoi An northwards before turning inland what became obvious was that the development going on at Da Nang is far greater than in any other place we have visited. There are several stadiums, new apartments and all of the other trappings of the western world. Clearly the Viets want to attract tourists that they can come ...

Musings on Vietnam Not knowing what to expect when we arrived ones viewpoint is complicated. Random voices of other travellers suggested that the people would be surly, not like the tourists and rip everyone off. None of this is true but as always it isn't that simple. What makes it more difficult is the inability to talk with ordinary people in the street as we do not, and nor do they have a competent grasp of their language. So any views are based on limited ...

Musings on Vietnam Not knowing what to expect when we arrived ones viewpoint is complicated. Random voices of other travellers suggested that the people would be surly, not like tourists and rip everyone off. None of this is true but as always it isn't that simple. What makes it more difficult is the inability to talk with ordinary people in the street as we do not, and nor do they have a competent grasps of the others language. So any views are based on limite...