Siem Reap & Angkor: 17-22 Nov 2013

Early morning at Angkor Wat

Rach says:

In Siem Reap we stayed in the Tropical Breeze Guesthouse which was pleasant, although the room was a bit dank and the water smelt strongly of metal. They did cook a mean chicken curry. It was a short, but dark walk to the very touristy centre with restaurants, bars, shops and markets. We were surprised to find the prices here to be some of the highest of the trip so far (around $7 for a curry and our 3 day Angkor passes cost us $80).

The Journey to Siem Reap: 17 Nov 2013

Typical countryside home in Cambodia

Rach says:

A 7 hour bus journey with 'Giant Ibis' took us from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. The bus was very new, they provided food and drinks and even a change of driver halfway through. All was well until the second driver took over, driving directly down the centre of the road at high speed and swerving out of the way of oncoming traffic at the last millisecond. After our Bac Ha experience, this was enough to

Phnom Penh: 12-17 Nov 2013

Follow the Yellow Brick Road...
Outside the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh

Pete says:

To get to Phnom Penh we took a 6 hour luxury bus from Saigon with the very good "Mekong Express" bus company, a Cambodian group. The bus was not the newest but did have a toilet and they gave us snacks and water and, most importantly, dealt with the visa and border crossing hassles for us. This was the first time either of us had crossed a land border and it was much like I imagined, except that the bus company did all the hard work and told us where to queue and get our passports stamped and that was it. I had expected some searches but our bags remained on the bus and no-one checked them.

As soon as we got into Cambodia the landscape changed to be much less jungle-like and much flatter and open. It looked a lot like the fens at home apart from the occasional palm tree.  It was very obvious that Cambodia is far poorer than Vietnam and there was no development outside the cities, just farmland and

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon): 8-12 Nov 2013

Drinking on the streets of Saigon

Pete says:

Saigon was great fun. It is much bigger and busier than the capital Hanoi and more seedy as well.

Our hostel - Ngoc Thao - was very good and run by a family so you would have babies being looked after and people cooking their tea in reception. The hostel was down a side alley so narrow we could almost touch both sides at once, but people still rode their scooters down

Mui Ne: 4-8 Nov 2013

Just after sunrise at the White Sand Dunes

Rach says:

The train to Mui Ne was the dirtiest of the trip so far. Being really tired it didn't bother me too much and I got under the covers anyway and snuggled down to sleep. Then I felt something brush my arm. I opened my eyes ready to search out and deal death to the pesky mosquito... but a split second later, I was leaping and up and yelling "There's a RAT in the room!!" kicking the bedding away and

Hue: 2-3 Nov 2013

At the Khai Dinh tomb in Hue

Rach says:

We arrived in Hue at around 6.30pm, with a sleeper train booked to Binh Thuan (for Mue Ne) the following evening at 22.24, so we had one full day to explore, which we had been told was 'enough' for Hue. I was really glad that we made the effort to go, as we had a really good day of sightseeing.

My Son: 2 Nov 2013

Exploring the temple ruins at My Son

Rach says:

On our last morning in Hoi An, before taking the train two and a half hours back up north to Hue, we visited the ancient Cham Hindu temples at My Son. The shapes of the monuments made me think of pictures I had seen of Angkor. There used to be 70 structures, but after bombing during the war (it was a Viet Cong base), only 20 are still standing. The site was cleared of UXO just 10 years ago and huge bomb craters still remain.

Hoi An: 27 Oct - 2 Nov 2013

Enjoying a cocktail in a Hoi An bar

Rach says:

Beautiful, beautiful Hoi An! We relaxed for nearly a week in this lovely old riverside town, with its Mediterranean-style yellow-painted buildings with balconies and shutters, colourful lanterns, art galleries and beautiful clothes shops. It felt like a proper holiday place, with a beach just a short cycle ride down the road.

Every other shop was a tailor's and every short walk was accompanied by the repeated shouts

The Bac Ha Adventure Day 3: 20 Oct 2013

With Sun, Neil and Stacey outside the homestay

Rach says:

Sunday was Bac Ha market day, which we were able to reach in a safe 20 minutes carried on our own two feet! I really enjoyed seeing the local women in their traditional brightly coloured clothes and it was another great opportunity to practise my photography. I bought a couple of locally crafted bags and scarves.

The Bac Ha Adventure Day 2: 19 Oct 2013

Can Cau Market

Pete says:

Rachael had heard about a Saturday market in the village of Can Cau, 20km to the north, that was "off the beaten path", "tourists don't go there"... phrases that have become warning signs for me ever since. Sun told us the road to it was "broken" and "a bit bumpy" so we would either need to rent a motorbike to cross the broken bit or take the bus which would take a long route around to avoid the broken part.

The Bac Ha Adventure Day 1: 18 Oct 2013

With Neil and Stacey on the train to Lao Cai

Rach says:

In our Hanoi hostel we bumped into a Manchester couple we had first met in Yangshuo, Stacey and Neil - they had come to the same city and same hotel at the same time! We all wanted to visit the far north of the country, so decided to travel together on an over night train to Lao Cai and then stay at a 'homestay' in the town of Bac Ha, a small mountain town near the Chinese border. From there we would explore the surrounding rice

Hanoi: 12-17 and 21-26 Oct 2013

With friends from our hostel at Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum

Pete says:

We weren't sure what to expect in Vietnam and as we drove into the city I thought it looked horrible - really dark and not the safest of places. However, we stayed in the central 'Old Quarter' and it turned out to be the best place to be.

I liked all of the food and drink places which were just basic concrete rooms with tiny