It felt so good to be sat on the back of a bike, bag strapped to the back and everything you need, riding through the stunning Vietnamese countryside and our guide was brilliant. He stopped at some tribal villages along the way and stopped while going on a mountain pass to see the scars left by the US army after dropping Asia Orange on the hills. Most of the vegetation was a dark lushes green but in between this were huge patches of luminous green bushes where the napalm was dropped, a prominent reminder of the American War as its know in Vietnam. We found that the people in the south were still very resentful of there Northern counterparts. We stayed in a city on the Cambodian border which was the least touristy place we visited which was refreshing not to see another westerner everywhere you looked. We headed to some waterfalls and had a swim in a little river leading to the falls, sharing it with a group of giggling clothed Vietnamese girls who were apparently laughing at us for wearing bikinis and shorts! The fact that we were also in a downpour didn't matter two hoots. After getting 20kms down the road we had another memory card scare and I was left with the familiar feeling of waiting by the side of the road in the middle of nowhere at some coconut stand with no one around who spoke English, while Chris went back to the waterfalls. After a couple coconuts and 40 mins of waiting I needed to pee. As I tried to communicate with the girl I needed to pee by actually squatting on the floor by the side of the road she finally understood and sent me to the coffee plantation in the back, quite a funny experience as truck loads of people were flying by when I was trying to get her to understand that I needed the loo. We carried on more driving after finding the memory cards and took the Ho Chi Mihn trail before heading to a village where we would stay that night. We spotted a ruined church, bombed by the Americans and smack in the middle of a corn field, it was very picturesque. Soon enough some curious children appeared out of nowhere and were enthralled by our 2 cameras and took great pleasure in taking a picture of the other child taking a photo of the other one with the camera! Was great fun after the clicker sound went out they all cheered in victory. It was pouring down with rain and my bare legs were being totally thrashed so much so I was sure it was hailing but riding through the rice paddies in the rain at sunset was probably the most memorable moment of the trip. We arrived at a restaurant and got tea, ate another huge meal and tried the local fermented rice wine, drunk out of a jar with bamboo straws. We walked to out longhouse where we had beds on the floor and shared on long room with about 10 other people who lived in the village. We woke up the next morning to find elephants walking up and down the "main street" and to the sound of all the farm animals roaming around. Dogs, cats, chickens, geese, pigs, goats, elephants; All walking around minding each others business. We rushed through more rice paddies, more buffalo, more villages to get to capitol of the central highlands, Dalat, by sun down. Me sure enough made it and said goodbye to Phong. After 5 minutes of looking around the "French Alps" of Vietnam we booked a ticket straight out of there to leave at midnight for Saigon. Swan boats, ritzy hotels, the huge fake Eiffel tower and tacky Moulin Rouge windmills weren't really our cup of tea!