Day 5 A day of lanterns This morning we left the hotel early, to fly to Da Nang. Blessedly, the domestic part of Saigon Airport is a lot more sane than the international bit. Effortless. Arriving in Da Nang we boarded yet another small bus and travelled to Hoi An. An absolute delight. Our hotel…

Day 4 Not a great deal to report. Woke up listening to roosters crow in our home stay house. Just an advanced form of tent, really. No air-con. Mosquito nets over the beds. A pretty place in the jungle. We had a substantial breakfast before walking out to meet our transport, and started our 3-hour…

Day 3 A day on the Mekong… We left Saigon by bus, and headed south for about 3 hours. We boarded a boat at Ben Tre, and spent pleasant hours cruising the islands in the Mekong. Vietnam is very dependent on the Mekong as a source of food, and transport. The first island we visited…

Day 2 A day of history We were up early for breakfast. The bus left at 7.15 to take us to Cu Chi to see the Vietcong tunnels. About an hour from the city, through the horrendous but endlessly amusing traffic. Our tour leader Tuyet gave us some history about the lead-up to the “American”…

Day 1 Not much to report. We left Siem Reap to fly to Ho Chi Minh. Must be one of the world’s worst airports for organisation. Also full of extremely rude Russians. We have parted from most of our Cambodia group, as they are now on a different tour. Only one other couple is doing…

Day 5 A day of villages. After breakfast we set off for a fishing village on the lake. We passed through a number of villages on the way. We stopped at a local market and had a look around. Sureth our tour leader is very good at explaining things and answering questions. All kinds of…

Day 4 A day of beautiful temples. We got up early and left the hotel at 5. We drove to Angkor Wat and settled in to watch the sun rise over the temple. Absolutely spectacular, particularly as an almost full moon was setting at the same time. So many spectacular pictures it is hard to…

Day 3 Mostly travelling today, but saw some interesting things on the way. We left PP after breakfast and travelled up to Siem Reap in our little bus. Our first break was for coffee, but we also watched some artisans working on silver. A bit further along we stopped to eat spiders, a traditional delicacy.…

Day 2 A diverse and somewhat challenging day. After breakfast, we went to the National Palace, an interesting conglomeration of buildings including the Silver Pagoda. It is not possible to take pictures in some parts. We did see the famous Emerald Buddha, part of a collection of over 1000 Buddha statues in one building. There…

Day 1 A long day travelling. Our flight left Sydney one hour late, but was quite pleasant. Vietnam Airlines. A bit disorganised, but the seats were roomy, the service nice and the food good. Changed planes in Ho Chi Minh. Also chaotic. Arrived in Phnom Penh more or less on time. They have a new…