Vietnam

So first and foremost, I know its about a month late, but Merry Xmas! We spent our christmas eve and christmas day in Ha Long Bay.





Great times, with great people...

So then we got back to Hanoi and decided that our pipeline idea of buying motorbikes, and riding them north to south, could actually happen.



The beasts.



After Hanoi we had 3 days driving through the Central Highlands to reach Hue. One day we stopped at what we thought was a restaurant which turned out to be a huge party with the whole village. Great food, rice wine, and karaoke was had by all. Mike even kissed a man on the lips.



One of the best things about the bikes was that we saw things you would never get on the bus, and could stop wherever we wanted.



We then stopped at the North South Divide (which somehow I managed to blaze straight through and not even notice!).

This is the Hien Luong bridge. The only structure which linked North and South Vietnam over the Ben Hai River.



We then reached Hue, and there wasn't much to do, bar celebrate New Year, and visit the Citadel. The Citadel is a royal palace, and a huge battle between North and South Vietnam took place here. The South Vietnamese army finally took control here on the 29th of February 1968.



The next drive, to Hoi An, included the Hai Van pass. This is an amazing section of road which starts next to the coast and heads up into the mountains. The best thing about it is a few years ago a tunnel was built through the mountains, so hardly any big trucks or buses go along here! Probably the best road in Vietnam.



Next stop Hoi An, a beautiful little city, and one of my favourite places in Vietnam. Lots of pretty lanterns hung up along the river. It's also fun getting suits made up as well....



As the river in Hoi An moves with the tide, at some point during the evening, it usually floods out onto the road. Makes for a rather strange picture.



Next stop was Quoy Nom, a little beach town above Nha Trang. They seem to have an interesting method of fishing, not even going to pretend I know how it works.



Nha Trang has a pretty cool cable car that goes across the sea to Vin Pearl. Shame we didn't have great weather while we were there.



Another token bike picture. Felt there was room for one more.





Next to Mui Ne, where the KTA kite surfing championships were being held, so that was cool to watch for a couple of afternoons.





We also visiting some large sand dunes, and slid down them on plastic boards, provided by our trusty guide/child. But didn't manage to go very fast, just ingested alot of sand...



We then visited Ho Chi Minh City, the journey in was interesting to say the least. About 200/300 bikes at every set of lights... Anyway we visited Cu Chi tunnels while we were there, hence the old American tank. Also fired an M60 machine gun, a step up from the mere M16 I fired last year.



I think these 2 pictures capture the craziness of Ho Chi. Real madness.



The second being one of my favourite photos of the trip. Got lucky with this shot I think!