We debarked at Da Nang station happy to be on solid ground again and met our ‘Man with the Sign’. Unless there’s great public transport (European Airport to City trains) (or non-corrupt cabs... nope... can’t think of anywhere actually), we like to treat ourselves to a private transfer after a long trip - whether by plane or train. 17 hours on the SE4 train, Saigon to Da Nang certainly counts. The fixed price transfer, even including the guesthouse marku...

‘All aboard, the Reunification Express’ - Doesn’t have quite the same ring and it certainly didn’t take us to Marrakesh - quite the adventure none the less. We waved goodbye to Henry the mini-schnauzer and jumped in a Grab with just our new pared down luggage - 20 kg wheely-pack and a small wheely/backpack each. Our small bags should have weighed in at 5 kg... but probably closer to 10kg at the moment. And of course 2 large shopping bags with ‘necessi...

Tempus Fugit and all that jazz... Our time in District 2 of Saigon has flown by since we hopped across town from D4 on 13 Dec 18. It’s been fabulous being in Saigon for 5 weeks altogether as it’s been a perfect opportunity for jewellery - specifically, getting my jewellery wardrobe sorted out (as you do). Several rings needed resizing, alternately up or down (the garnet ring from a flea market in Georgia needed to drop something like 10 sizes!) I had a pair...

The Turkish Airlines flight from Dublin to Ho Chi Minh was via Istanbul was excellent - though the Dublin to Istanbul leg was an hour and a half late arriving as the weather over Istanbul was diabolical - so much rain we’re lucky the plane didn’t dissolve. James was full of painkillers to the point of rattling, so travelled in relative comfort with his big shoulder wound. It helped being in the pointy end of the plane. (We bought the flight on miles/points...

A month in Ireland is never enough and this time was no exception. Ireland on the other hand did exceedingly well out of us - between the travel vaccinations for the hugely exotic Japanese Encephalitis and also common or garden flu, the parking fees in Dublin, the private clinic fees (known as a private hospital anywhere else), plastic surgeon, pharmacy etc... there must surely have been an Irish economic uptick for the month of November. We are quite possibly t...