Hi Saturday 1st April This is the fourth and final blog from my Vietnam odyssey. We checked out of our hotel in Ho Chi Minh City and headed south west towards the Mekong Delta. We stopped at Tay Ninh a visited a Cao Dai Temple. Cao Deism started in the 20th century and is a multi-faith religion which fuses east and western religions and secular philosophies. We travelled through the largely agrarian landscapes (check out the photos) and eventually we boarded ...

Hi, So we move onto the third leg of the tour. Arriving in Saigon or Ho Chi Min City (HCMC) from Danang, you immediately felt the rise in temperature from moving south. It was 31 Celsius on arrival. Our hotel, the Renaissance Riverside was centrally placed and ideal for getting around. We checked in and had dinner at a French influenced local restaurant. To be honest we kept being told that certain restaurants were French influenced but I didn't notice a great d...

11th April 2023 Hi, 24th March 2023 Continuing on our tour we left Halong Bay after a breakfast which included a green drink called Pennywort, which is from a plant of the same name. The hotel staff assured me it was good for my health and I can't say that I suffered any ill effects. On returning home I have since found that it does indeed claim a number of benefits for...

8th April 2023 Hi, Time to visit another new country! I believe this will be number thirty six. A number of people asked me prior to going…why Vietnam? My honest answer is that I had never heard of anyone going who did not think it was a great experience for a variety of reasons and in fact had never heard any negative remarks made. Combine this with the stunning landscapes I had seen in various brochures and it wasn't difficult to sell to me. As mention...

28th April 2018, Hi, Following on from our six day stay in Tokyo, on Monday 16th April we headed for a four day visit to Kyoto and Hiroshima. Visitors from outside Japan are allowed to purchase a JR Rail Pass which is available for a variety of time periods. We had bought a seven day pass prior to leaving which cost £192. The pass makes it very easy to get around the country and can also be used on local JR trains within cities but not on the subway or priv...