Ba Chuc. The name is virtually unknown outside of Vietnam. Certainly we had never heard of it. Yet it will be all too well-known to most Vietnamese. Because it was here, in April 1978 that the Khmer Rouge crossed over the border from Cambodia and massacred 3,157 people in this small town. Only two people survived. In the context of what happened in Cambodia the number of dead is small. Yet this incursion proved to be the final straw for the Vietnamese who had pu...

Our itinerary says that today's ride is split into two contrasting sections. So we start with a boat trip to the floating market at Cai Rang. This is a wholesale market where people come to get supplies to sell in their village. Larger boats are drawn up in the river selling mostly fruit - mangoes, pineapples, guava, watermelons, jackfruit (looks a bit like a large slug with goose pimples. Tastes better I assume. Slug is one of the few creatures we have not bee...

Our second day of cycling and we're beginning to get the hang of cycling in Vietnam. These seem to be the rules of the road here: 1. Ride/drive on the right. Most of the time.2. If it is easier, it's quite permissible to drive on the left.3. When joining a main road or a roundabout do not give way.4. When turning left do not wait for a gap in the oncoming traffic.5. Do not look behind you. This is especially important when startin...

No, I haven't suddenly developed a nostalgia for old music hall songs. Today we've spent cycling through the Kingdom of Coconuts in the Mekong delta. We have begun our cycling trip. Not without some trepidation as we've chosen the worst time of year to do it. It is the start of the wet season, which means not only that it is wet but also very hot, with temperatures of up to 35 deg. Yesterday we experienced the sort of downpour that characterises the wet season i...

We only have one day in HCMC, which is a pity because it looks quite an interesting place. More modern and cosmopolitan than Hanoi with smart shopping malls (unfortunately full of Western chains including Debenhams, Gap and Accessorize so that once inside you could be anywhere in the world); skyscrapers, plenty of Western-style coffee houses and the people dressed noticeably more fashionably and, a few, at least, driving bigger cars than in the capital. However...