The big trip. The single most exciting trip I've wanted to do in Vietnam. Known as the 'Top Gear' route since a few years, but before just 'Ho Chi Minh Trail'. On Sunday, the 22nd of August, we leave. The hotel receptionist girl Ngoc allows me to use her bike, Remko and Lee hire one. Around ten in the morning after filling up we set out. I have the whole trip planned, all the sights marked. We just have to pick what to see today, and what on the way back tomorr...

After a night's worth of good sleep the train pulls into Danang about 6 in the morning on the 19th. We will need to take a one-hour bus ride south to Hội An. The damn taxi driver taking us to the bus station scammed us I am sure of it, it can't cost $5 to drive four kilometres. a******. We are well prepared though for the next stage. The local bus costs 10.000 dong on paper, but they always overcharge tourists. And yes, we are no exception. We get on the bus...

'Lonely Planet' has horror stories about Nha Trang. Kamikaze hookers roam the beaches at night, holding your crotch in a death-grip while they relieve you for your money, local youth gangs tazering hapless tourists, massage parlours emptying your wallets while you enjoy massages, cabdrivers scamming ruthlessly - no surprises here - and so-called "guides" hang around in temples to offer you a helping hand. A very interesting place this is. We are well-prepared. ...

Finally. Finally. After more than six weeks of no sea, beach in sight, finally here we are. I have waited for this for such a long time. Love the sea. Love it! The weather is gorgeous, not a single cloud in the sky, the sun inviting! I could stay here forever! We get off the bus, take a moto to one of the hotels. It is now around 14:00 hours. The price is agreeable, I even manage to bargain some and we only pay $6 per person per night. Including beach-side s...

Vietnam. Platoon. Saigon. These are the first thoughts that spring into my mind. What else could it be? In the past decades we have been bombarded by the media about the Vietnam war. There is no escaping it. However, how horrible it may seem, the people here have been much better off than in Cambodia. There the war is still deeply encased in the national psyche, the old Khmer Rouge is still in power, people still killed, maimed daily by unexploded landmines. Vi...