Today we learned how to cross the road in Vietnam. The secret to crossing is to walk confidently across the road and amazingly all the traffic will avoid you! We walked to Marge and Dave's hotel a few blocks away, perfecting our road crossing technique along the way. After a few wrong turns and some friendly advice from the locals we found our way to Ben Thanh Markets. Ho chi Minh day 2 It's amazing how you can fit so much market into a small space. Every squ...

It doesn't take long to realise that you are in a very different country. Our first contact with Vietnam was the very stern customs officer that checked our passports. I thought I saw a hint of a smile after he had processed the four of us but I coudn't be sure. It was dark when we arrived at 6.30, reminding us that it is technically winter here although still hot and humid. We had a taste of Ho Chi Minh with the cab ride to the hotel from the airport. Now I kn...

An uneventful and pleasant flight from Sydney this morning. We're at Singapore airport and I think the family is wishing we could stop over for longer. It didn't take the kids long to find out that there is a free gaming room where they can get their last electronic fix before we get to Vietnam.

Seven sleeps to go and we are starting to get excited about our trip. It has been a long time coming since we originally had the idea. After many false starts we are finally going. Had our vaccinations last week. The needle was nowhere near as painful as the $600 to protect the family from the evils of various nasty tropical diseases such as yellow fever and hep A. Not a hard choice really - $600 vs the chance of contacting some horrible disease. Visas are done...