To London and Back

Well the trip did include London, and it sounds better in the title than ‘To Bournemouth and back’. Back to cool, cool Saigon weather, temperatures hovering between 20 and 28 degrees centigrade. A far cry from the -1 that was the ground temp when we landed. Actually I kind of enjoyed it and was pleased [...]

5 Christmases

Finally, this evening, not only do I get a break from AIS and from HCMC, I return home for Christmas for the first time since 2001. The last five of Jesus’s birthdays have been spent abroad, in various locations, and here for the sake of god knows what, I will recall them briefly.
2002 - Sydney, [...]

Kien Giang & An Giang

A horrific amount of my time is monopolized these days by such laborious things as ‘responsibilities’, ‘work’ and others. When I see TFW scratching around on the floor like a dying, wounded animal, a pang of guilt and remorse shudders through me — yet more often than not, pass by that poor creature I must.
Last [...]

Hà Nội.

Arriving on Thursday evening I laughed off the pilots announcement that ‘the outside temperature was 36 degrees’. Rolling my eyes knowingly towards Chi I asserted that he meant it was 26. No, he was right. Wow. 10.30pm sat on the street and the sweat was cascading down my front like a waterfall, crashing onto the [...]

Vũng Tàu

As we climbed out of the hydrofoil, breathing down that unpolluted air was like downing a liter of ice cool water after an hours run in the April sun…..wonderful. Recently the ever increasing congestion in HCM and the fumes that go with it have been getting to me, so a weekend in the relatively placid [...]

Jungle Beach

Jungle Beach is 50ks north of Nha Trang and about 10 ks from the turnoff on Highway 1. I went there sometime ago, in January, during my research trip for Travelfish. Although I didn’t stay there overnight, my visit gave me a taste of what a guest could expect…that is, a lot of quiet [...]

Cambodia : Transport

Yo yo yo! HOLD THE PHONE
Somehow I forgot to finish off my report of the Cambodia trip — well it’s just a few pictures really. Pictures however, that will perhaps bear some comic value — maybe you’ll smile a little (as if you were passing a little wind), maybe you’ll call your friend in [...]

Siem Reap to Battambang

Heading out of Siem Reap to Battambang, I bought two boat tickets which would take us out onto the Tonle Sap and then up the Stung Sanker. What a lovely day in store I thought -warnings that the journey took longer in dry season due to low water levels didn’t perturb me. They should have, [...]

Notes from Cambodia : Part 1

Let’s start from the beginning. Cambodia is a small country in the…..nah actually I can’t be bothered with that. I could rave about the miles of paddy fields and charming children, but I’ll give you the honest account as far as I saw it.
Our journey took us from the capital Phnom Penh to Siem Reap [...]

Nha Trang

A few pics from Nha Trang, that’s all….it’s a baby Saigon.

The river

Tran Phu from the ground

and from the air

These shacks still survive at the northern end of Tran Phu St. They overlook the new coastal bridge and the bay back towards the city, what a juicy piece of land.

The city

The countryside

And finally, something we can’t [...]