Here comes the science bit - We've spent just under a month savouring the different flavours of Vietnam. From a culinary perspective, it's been a welcome relief from Indo's egg and banana diet, with steaming bowls of Pho Bo, sizzling hot plates of sea food, delicious fresh spring rolls dipped in chilli sauce and even some decent Dalat red wine for two bucks. But it's the aftertaste of the Vietnamese culture that we've been chewing on as we now venture on. T...

If it's good enough for Wills and Kate - Respected and non-Murdoch-funded publication The Daily Fail (edited by Rebekah Crooks) has been following the much-loved couple, the Duchess of Scambridge and Duke of Can-we-jump-off-the-Bridge, on their first 'royal' tour of Vietnam.After two weeks travelling north through the country, including an overnight visit to a family devestated by deforestation in Cuc Phuong National Park - a trip the pair requested making themse...

Guest blog entry from former FHer and Quinine FC goal-poacher, Mr D Smith Esq - For those that have read a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (or seen it, as the case may be, as it is now available as a full length motion picture from several DVD shops and certain motorway garages), you will know that the meaning of life is 42. Which makes it all the more auspicious that on the forty-second day of my travels, I should bump into the artists formerly known as Nicola ...

You know you're in Central Vietnam when... you're having a pedicure, take your feet out of the bowl of water, and the local dogs come to drink it. See picture. a three hour bus journey actually takes six and a half hours. a bracelet-selling six year old calls you a 'f***ing' ladyboy' when you refuse to buy his old tat. his younger sister then tells you "man, you need a shave. Want to buy a razor?" even the poorest family's home you stay in, where the kids s...

Foetal attraction and classroom distraction - The vibrant, bustling capital of South Vietnam turned out to be a real favourite for us, and not just because Nicola got excited by the beautiful silk dress shops. Aside from the delicious Pho Bo, full-on Ben Thanh market and ice-cold beers in Backpacker Alley, there are two memories that will stick with us from our two days in Ho Chi Minh City. First, a room of deformed, pickled foetuses in jars. And it was worse to...