The journey to Hanoi was an experience as we travelled from Hue to Da Nang by sleeper bus even though it was day time. The bus was very battered and none too clean and the air conditioning wasn't very effective so the bus smelled a bit of sweaty bodies (ours included!). We secured the best seat for Rog, on the upper bunk level and over the gangway, so that he just stretched his legs and feet out. I did feel rather sorry for the people below as we had all had ...

We drove by private car from Hoi An to Hue stopping of at Marble Mountain (Da Nang) on the way where we took a lift up a mountain to visit a complex of temples and pagodas. One of the temples was situated in a huge natural cave with a large Buddha statue and was most impressive. The drive was spectacular across the Hi Van Pass with sweeping views of the coastline, fishing villages and US bunkers used in the Vietnam war. Our hotel in Hue is very comfortable (...

We're loving Hoi An and have decided to stay a whole week - can't believe it - the longest we have ever stayed anywhere since leaving Sussex is 3 days! The town is utterly delightful - very old and all the buildings are painted a sandy yellow colour with dark wooden fascias and interiors and lovely tiled oriental roofs, many are covered in bright bougainvillea or honeysuckle. We took a city tour and explored a Fujian Chinese temple dedicated to a goddess who p...

Had a lovely meal on our last night in Ho Chi Minh City. It was a top floor, open roofed, barbeque restaurant (called 3T) where the centre of your table doubled as a barbeque and we cooked beef, venison and fish all marinaded in wonderful sauces and spices and eaten with rice and salads. We followed this with an ice cream from the famous Fanny's ice cream parlour which was also delicious. The next day we caught the train to Nha Trang - and what an experien...

On our last day in Phnom Penh we did the other touristy things like the Royal palace and Silver Pagoda (so called because the floor is tiled with silver tiles), the museum where we were able to see some of the statues, carvings and inscriptions which had been removed there for safe keeping from the Siem Reap Wats and a temple or two. Nothing absolutely stunning but all interesting. When it came for the time to leave our adopted tuk tuk driver was desolate (pro...