HCMC - Wednesday 2nd After the orderly, charm and causal efficiency of Hong Kong, we took the flight back to Ho Chi Min City where yet again the taxi driver tried to rip us off by not using his meter.This time after a short argument we told him to stop and we got out of the taxi and luckily straight in to another one.It took us over an hour to get to the hotel as the traffic was so heavy and the taxi driver didn't even get out of 1st gear.Back in stress city and...

Ho Chi Min City (formerly S…S…S…S…Saigon) - Sunday 22nd On arrival at the airport we jumped into a taxi who said he had a meter.As we drove away from the airport he hadn't switched the meter and then said it wasn't working.He then tried to make a deal on what we should pay.After an argument the meter magically worked perfectly.He then drove like a maniac through the streets, and on arrival at the hotel the cost of the metered fare was less than half of h...

Sapa - Wednesday 4th Let alone there not being a shower in the deluxe cabin, there was not one on board at all and, unless you fancied washing in the basin in the corridor, then you had to go smelly.There was the usual chaos outside the station as everyone was trying to work out where they should be to ensure they got the right bus up to take us to the village at Sapa.On the 30km steep drive up the mountain dawn was breaking and through our sleep deprived eyes...

Danang, China Beach - Saturday 31st Today we drove back down south towards Da Nang to our beach resort for some R&R.There was less traffic on the return journey, but lots of kids on their bikes coming home from school.They go to school six days of the week and they all ride bikes that are too tall for them, with their friends or siblings riding pillion.So nieces and nephews, when you are getting your lift to school 5 days a week, spare a thought for the ki...

Hue - Wednesday 28th As promised, our 'English speaking' driver to take us to Hue could speak English or, to be more precise, about two words of English. Maybe it was our fault for assuming that he might say a few more words than that, being our tour guide. (But, in any case, far better than our Vietnamese!). He did take us to MarbleMountains and then using universal communication, pointed a finger towards the lady with the ticket, while he went off for a snoo...