No Vietnam holiday would be complete without a trip to world-renowned Halong Bay. We caught a fast boat from Hai Phong to Cat Ba island. No sooner had we pulled up at the wharf, and we were pedaling our way along the coastline to our overnight accommodation - a short but hilly 25-km's away. We had a 'day at leisure', so Jules, Jonathan and I went for a walk around the fishing port to see what we could find. It turned out to be a great choice as we got a real ...

Another early start for the intrepid travellers. First up was a hilly 7-km ride to the Dong Nguoi Xua 'caves of prehistoric man'. They are said to be 7,500 years old. The cave was excavated in 1966 by the the Institute of Archaeologists of Vietnam with the assistance of German experts where they found stone axes, cutting stones, animal bones, shells, and three ancient tombs with intact fossil skeletons. She was a very steep and very slippery climb up the mountain...

T'was an early start this morning. Brass monkey weather too. Damn near wore long pants. We headed off from the worst motel in Vietnam. s***e rooms. Freezing cold floors. Awful showers. Worst breakfast. Very friendly staff though. The morning ride was 40km's and the scenery was brilliant. Loads of small paths through enormous limestone karst. Totally different landscape to the South. No rain today. Mostly sealed surfaces. Very happy children. Maniac loads on...

A big day on the treadlie today. A 5 kilometre warm up along the foreshore at Da Nang beach prepared us for the 10 kilometre climb to the top of Hai Van pass. There were amazing views if you could catch your breath. For something a little different, the weather set in as we reached the peak of the mountain. Fog, rain, mud. More fog, more rain and whole heap more mud for the rest of the day. An awesome 15-km winding descent overlooking the coastline. I'm rig...

Wow. Gorgeous. Charming. Friendly. Energetic. Got to get me a job here… Hoi An was a major international seaport during the 16th and 17th centuries, and the foreign influences are obvious to this day. The serious shipping business has moved north to Da Nang and Hat Phong leaving a relaxed seaside township full of character and atmosphere. The heart of the city is the Old Town, which is full of narrow lanes and old Chinese styled shophouses which have been l...