We had been away for nearly six months. Yes, we had popped home for Christmas, but nearly six months of travelling around India and four countries in Southeast Asia had left us slightly pleased to see the daffodils out.We had things to do. But a little over a week had passed, and we were getting…
We were in Chang Mai. We had sought assistance from the hotel travel desk to obtain onwardbus tickets. As I stood speaking with the travel agent my eye was drawn to the rainbow displayof folded leaflets advertising local activities.My focus rested on a pamphlet for the Maerim Elephant Sanctuary. Plucking the leaflet off thedisplay I…
We crept over the border from Cambodia. We were looking for something. Not cities or nightlife. We had seen a lot of Temples over the last two months. Looking for insight. For an idea. A feeling. For an indication of how things might have been in Vietnam fifty years ago. We had spent most of…
One of the problems with the ‘no plan plan’ is that there isn’t any sort of plan. I know that sounds obvious, but sometimes constantly moving is exhausting. You are always planning a few steps ahead. We had already found ourselves in Ho Chi Minh City, where we needed its transport links. Thrust from there…
The draw of the beach at An Bang was so strong. Before we knew it we had stayed eight days instead of the originally planned five. It was a great place to celebrate the New Year and wait for things to return to ‘normal’. We didn’t want to leave the beach, but we had to…
We arrived in Hue. Tired from the overnight train. The train was fine, mostly empty. We chose to take sleeper seats rather than a sleeping berth. This was because berths in Vietnam were in groups of six. Our last long sleeper in India with Four Berths taught us that if you share your berths with…
Like all things in life, travel is subjective. Following the advice of other travellers, we found ourselves in Cat Ba. I was disappointed. We came to Cat Ba because it is widely advised that this place is quieter than Ha Long. The cruises are in a much more peaceful area of the beautiful limestone islands….
When I decided we were going to visit Vietnam, I was aware that I wasn’t going to be very popular with the Weirdo I go on adventures with. I knew he was going to balk at the idea of the food choices so I hatched a plan to win him around by indulging one of…
If I had to work it out then it would probably be close on thirty years. A lifetime since I had flipped through holiday brochures for Kerala; and the glossy enticement to spend a few days cruising the backwaters in Kerala. Year after year we had returned to Goa having decided against it. There had…
