Today was spent travelling. We headed out for one last walk this morning after breakfast and the boys picked up some ‘The North Face’ shorts. Apparently Bob’s clothes are feeling a bit tighter than they were at home… We piled into our bus and headed back to the airport. Travel is ridiculously slow in the traffic and we all were just glued to the windows watching the sights of daily life in a busy city. We passed by the famous…
Another day in Hanoi today that wasn’t on the original itinerary. We have had a full day of exploring with lots of information from our lovely tour guide ‘Tom’. We almost made it through the day without rain 🙂 . The day started with a visit to Turtle lake. We walked across the red bridge to the Ngoc Son temple. The lake has a long history as the home of rare large turtles, which have died out in the lake…
After the disappointment of finding out our 3 day cruise was being reduced to less than 24 hours, we got up this morning and caught the tender across to Ti Top Island where we walked up 400 straight steps to get a vantage point from the peak. It was a heart starter for sure! And the weather stopped raining for the duration of the climb which was a bonus. The 360 degree view from the top was once again amazing….
We were excited this morning when our tour guide informed us that the Halong Bay tour was confirmed for the next 2 nights. Everyone we have met over the last 2 days have had their tours cancelled (understandably), so we are feeling quite lucky that it is all coming together. A perfect start to Sandra and Glenn’s 30th wedding anniversary. We departed Hanoi at 9am and watched the change in urban density and typhoon damage over the next 2.5…
Today we headed out on foot for the 2.3km walk to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. The staff at our hotel told us it was too far to walk but we were keen. However, even though we had been out and about in the rain yesterday, today I (and I think the others too) found the combination of temperature, humidity and lack of breeze oppressive. The locals don’t walk around at all – hence the insane number of vespers on…
Before we start on today’s adventures, I need to finish off yesterday’s update…. After finally taking off from Sydney yesterday afternoon we had a bit of a bumpy ride across to Vietnam. With a couple of hours to go we were advised the weather in Hanoi was still too severe and the airport hadn’t opened. We were diverted to Da Nang where we sat on the tarmac for 2.5 hours until the weather had passed in Hanoi. Eventually at 330am…
Well, what a week! After some uncertainty due to Super Typhoon Yagi scheduled to hit Hanoi at approximately the same time as we arrive, it does appear we may actually make it to somewhere in the vicinity of where we want to be in the next 24 hours. We started very early with an early morning train from Cardiff and caught up with Sandra and Glenn at Morisset on the way. The trip down went well. Once we arrived the…
Wow! I can’t believe we are done! 125 nights on the road. I’m so glad that it’s all been recorded here as it’s already a blur in my mind. Although we had our familiar van to wake up inside each day, it sometimes was a surprise to look out the window and see where were we were once the sun came up. We’ve had some incredible experiences, and have shared them with just the best people. I can’t even rank the best times…
I woke this morning feeling contemplative. It’s weird to think this trip is drawing to a close – and wondering how we will all assimilate back to normal life. Apparently crocs aren’t suitable footwear in the office 🙁 . Today was spent doing our own things. Karen and Kieran continued with touristing for one last day while Bob and I went into van prep mode – Bob and I spent a few weeks working from the van here during covid in 2021 so not…
The march south continues….we didn’t hurry to depart Evans Head this morning though as we didn’t have much time to look around by the time we arrived yesterday afternoon. The Scott’s headed out on their bikes and Bob and I went for a walk along the breakwall and the river. We arrived in Sawtell in time for lunch. Karen and Kieran called in to the Big Banana while Bob and I took the van to get washed. Time to spruce…