​26th-30th April 2017 Driving from the airport to our accommodation it was clear that Ho Chi Minh City (previously known as Saigon, and renamed after the war) was quite different to Hanoi, the other big city in Vietnam. There were lots of skyscapers, big shopping malls, neon signs lit the streets and McDonalds and Starbucks … More Saigon – Vietnam Part 5

21st-26th April 2017 Hue wasn’t on our original list of places to go in Vietnam; we’d heard that unless you had a paid guide (out of our budget) or understood the history of the area, it wasn’t really worth visiting. However, we’ve done our fair share of long coach journeys in Asia so decided we … More Where emperors once walked – Vietnam Part 4

18th-21st April 2017 After arriving back in Hanoi after our trip to Halong Bay, we had a couple of hours to kill before our train to Dong Hoi, so we dropped our stuff at the Culture Hostel and went to grab a cup of coffee and some supplies for the journey. When we got back, … More Going underground – Vietnam Part 3

17th – 18th April 2017 As we drove past the Halong Bay harbour, all of us inside the minibus craned our necks to see if we could spot the boat we would be on. There were a lot of boats; some looked very luxurious, others barely seaworthy. What would ours be like? As ever in … More Sailing Halong Bay -Vietnam Part 2

12th – 17th April 2017 The pilot announced we had landed at Hanoi airport and almost immediately half the people on the plane stood up, despite the fact the seat belt signs were still on and they could go absolutely nowhere. These people had to stand in the aisle for quite a long time as … More On the trail of Ho Chi Minh – Vietnam Part 1