25/10/09 Dalat to Siagon We were collected at the hotel in a small jeep which we thought would be for the whole nine hour journey but thankfully we were driven to another bus, with the sleep seats we had paid extra for. The other passengers , all 7 of them, only paid the normal rate we had, so our theory of paying for the companies mistake seemed correct. Anyway we boarded the bus and started the long drive to Saigon through the Vietnamese countryside. We passed...

23/10/09 Nha Trang to Dalat We woke up and went for breakfast but the dining area was deserted with no sign of any kitchen action so Phil went to the stall for cheese rolls again. The lady remembered Phil and started making his order almost before he asked for it. We boarded the bus to Dalat for a 4 hour journey into the central highlands region. The driver was an unusually fat Vietnamese guy who almost from the start of the journey stopped to get directions. Li...

22/10/09 Nha Trang (Friday) We all had a terrible night sleep and Liz woke first to see a lovely sunrise over the coastline we were driving past. It was only about 5.30 but all the fishermen were out and little boats were moving about the water in a pink haze. The others woke too and as we drove into Nha Trang we were all amazed to see hundreds of people at the beach swimming and joining excercise classes. We even wsaw a couple having wedding photos taken and it...

19/10/09 Hue to Hoi An (Tuesday) We had a short 4 hour ride to Hoi An and passed thorugh Da Nang on the way. It is a horrible place but there is a big port here and was the first place the Americans landed in Vietnam. Poor b*****s must have been in quite a shock when they arrived as it is not very nice. We arrived in Hoi An at 1 pm and the bus driver did the usual trick of stopping the bus outside a mates hotel to get a bit of commission if anyone stays there. P...

17/10/09 Hue We had a terrible nights sleep on the bus. We were over the back wheels and really got bounced around. Vietnamese drivers use their horns every few minutes to warn other drivers they are on the road, overtaking, coming behind them and seemingly for no apparent reason so we were woken constantly. There were several unexplained random stops at the side of the road for long perioods too as well as a few emergency stops. Poor Phil ended up being spooned...