Vietnam.

[Glynw]

Whilst on holiday in Vietnam managed to squeeze in a day trip, here's a few photos.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsw68/sets/72157633128429477/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsw68/sets/72157633132845412/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsw68/sets/72157633128417311/

We rented a bike through Hoi An Motorcycle Adventures great way to see the real Vietnam.
http://www.motorbiketours-hoian.com/our_tours_vietnam.html

 

[Daisy Duke]

Always looks like a beautiful place. There seems to be a good few bike hire places too, that one is better than the last one I looked at.

 

[Peirre O`Bollox]

I spent a month in 1992 backpacking from Saigon to Hanoi. It was such an amazing experience. When modern mass Vietnamese tourism by westerners was slightly new, & Thomas cook holidays to Vietnam hadn`t been thought of, it was a bit like Skegness before they built Butlins. Albeit with a 2hrs+ exercise in visa form filling before you got out of the airport after arriving at Saigon. Where the sign at the Saigon museum of American war crimes, was painted over & renamed the American museum. The tunnels around Củ Chi hadn`t been excavated & enlarged for oversized American tourists to crawl through. Where anything you wanted was $1, a 1hr rickshaw ride around the sights = $1, a coke = $1, 1 litre of vodka = $1 etc.

 

[grez]

That is what it was like for me back then. I remember being in a taxi with a friend and we saw 3 girls on a moped. When I mentioned it the taxi screeched to a halt and 2 of the girls jumped in the back and offered to, er treat us. Friend pointed out he was married and got the response "I teach you new tricks to make wife happy"--------he declined telling her if he learnt new tricks the wife would divorce him.

Got taken to a remote village where westerners were still a rare sight and sat drinking plum brandy with the elders, spent a few dollars on paper and coloured pencils for the kids and from the look on their faces you would have thought they had been given the greatest presents on earth. I don't like kids but it brought a lump to my throat when I thought about what we take for granted.

Fantastic place, $10 a night for an air conditioned room over a shop with an en-suite, cheap food in corrugated iron shacks, drinking coffee with condensed milk and having local watch in amazement, crazy scooter rides with no regards for traffic rules or protective gear, cheap beer & friendly people.

Happy days.

 

[Robbo1200ADV]

Looks Great thanks for the heads up on my list now !!

 

[Peirre O`Bollox]

drinking coffee with condensed milk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DwPGkq8SFE
I have a Vietnamese Phin coffee filter in by camping kit, its the best way I know of getting a massive caffeine fix in a morning.
Stainless steel filters can be bought for around £3 on eBay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vietnames..._Food_SM&var=410022407759&hash=item19c3d8bb94