An 11 hour bus journey took us from Laos to Hue where we started our Vietnamese adventure with a lazy, boozy boat ride along the river visiting various temples and tombs. 

boat trip, Hue

Then off to beautiful Hoi An, a Unesco World Heritage site and  arguably the best place in Vietnam to get clothes tailor made.  With around 200 tailors in town offering items from as little as $15 it would be rude not to stock up on new outfits – many new outfits to be precise!   In between shopping trips, some of the group hired scooters and bicycles to explore the town and surrounding areas while others chose to lazy by the hotel pool – bliss!

Riverfront Hoi An

Our next destination was the beach town of Nha Trang, our first beach since Turkey.

Tim and JMo enjoying early evening drinks on Nha Trang beach

White sands fringed with palm trees was the perfect backdrop for the sun lovers amongst us, whilst others took a boat trip to snorkel the reefs in the surrounding area.  Overall a perfect place to celebrate Stephs 22nd birthday!

Start as you mean to go on - Steph enjoying a glass of champagne at sunrise on Nha Trang beach

Kitesurfer - Mui Ne

Then onto Mui Ne, the home of   kitesurfing.  Yet more white sands, warm seas and an opportunity to chill out at the beach watching the kitesurfers expertly riding the waves whilst we sat on the beach soaking up the rays, swimming and re-living childhood by building sand castles :-)

Mui Ne

Laura and Jay, Mui Ne

Ho Chi Minh City was our final destination in Vietnam.  A bussling modern city full of more people on scooters than any of us have seen before – you really need 360 vision to cross the road here! 

Our next stop is Phnom Penh, Cambodia so until the next time …….

Chris and Steph on the sleeper bus



View from the bus window - it's monsoon season in Laos!!



After a 26hr sleeper bus (not as bad as it sounds!) from Kunming to Laos, we arrived in wonderful  Luang Prabang and a sense of peace and tranquillity washed over us.  4 nights here to sightsee and enjoy the laid back Lao lifestyle.   Days to chill out, shop and visits to the beautiful waterfalls and bear sanctuary. 

Then onto the party town of Vang Vieng where one of the main attractions is tubing along the river and drinking at the numerous bars along the way.  Despite a few injuries (Janet falling through the floor in Q bar - oops!), a fantastic day - for those who could remember it anyway :- )

Heading towards the Vietnam border, we stopped for 2 nights in Savannahket.  Hiring bikes is by far the best way to explore the town and surrounding areas to get a feel for the 'real' Laos.

boys going fishing - Savannahket

A bus ride from Savannahket to Hue kickstarts the Vietnam adventure - our 15th country to date!

 Until the next time …..

Our Chinese adventure started with 4 nights in Beijing which provided plenty of opportunity to explore the city and its wonderful sights – the Forbidden City and Summer Palace to name just two.  Of course a trip to Beijing wouldn’t be complete without a trip to the Great Wall of China.  A jaw dropping 6000km of wall of which we managed to walk a huge 3km of !!  - well it was hot and an awful lot steeper than it looks in photos – that was our excuse anyway :-)   at the end of our ‘exhausting’ walk we were treated to a toboggan ride from top to bottom – brilliant fun and possibly one of the best toboggan rides in the world ??

Great Wall of China

Toboggan ride!

We took the overnight train to Xian travelling ‘hard sleeper’ which in fact wasn’t hard at all, each bed had a comfortable mattress with each compartment consisting of 6 beds, 3 tiers each side and a small table and seats in the corridor outside.  With staff arriving at regular intervals with a food trolley, we were well catered for and the hours passed relatively quickly. 

3 nights in Xian was spent marvelling at the Terracotta Warriors and enjoying the cities other highlights and museums as well as enjoying the relaxing surrounds of the award winning Qixian (7 Sages) Youth Hostel where we were staying. 

Another train journey took us to Chengdu, the home of the Giant Panda Breeding Centre.  The very early start to get to the centre to be there for feeding time was well worth the effort to watch these cuddly endangered species enjoy their bamboo breakfast.  Super cute!



Panda Breeding Centre, Chengdu



An overnight train, followed by an all day train took us to our next destination,  Lijiang a popular place for the Chinese to visit on their holidays and home to the stunning Black Dragon Pool and a short hop to Tiger Leaping Gorge. 

Black Dragon Pool, Lijiang

restaurant in Dali

Then onto Dali, another popular holiday resort for the Chinese, before heading to the modern metropolis of Kunming for 3 nights of sightseeing, shopping, R+R and karaoke.  Surprisingly everyone still had a voice the following morning, though some who will remain nameless suffered more than others with hangovers!

Laura, Bob, Beks, JMo

Steph showing us how it's done!

… off to Laos later today – can’t wait!  Until the next time …..